Welcome to our third FAN instalment, where Project Aeroflight’s news team brings you the latest news and commentaries in the aviation world. Without further ado, let us dive into the hottest stories of the past few weeks.
By: Gareth
Published On: 3 December 2023, 9.00pm (GMT +8)
Chinese MH370 victims’ families demand compensation
Photo of 9M-MRO, the missing aircraft, pictured in December 2011. Photo: Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
Nearly 10 years after the disappearance of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, the families of the aircraft’s 239 occupants are getting impatient.
On Tuesday, China’s courts began hearings into the case as the families of the 153 Chinese citizens on board the aircraft. The families sued Malaysian Airlines, Boeing, as well as engine supplier Rolls-Royce for compensation. Damages cited were grief and the lack of information about their loved ones. Chinese state media reports that between US$1.4 million and US$11.2 million are being sought per person, with additional non-monetary demands such as psychological counselling and another search operation including the western Indian Ocean.
There has been much criticism over the years for the Malaysian Air Force’s failure to respond to an unidentified aircraft flying over the Malay Peninsula in the early hours of the morning on 8 March 2014, later determined to be MH370. Critics have argued that attempting to intercept the aircraft before it flew out into the Indian Ocean might have allowed it to be found much sooner after the crash. It is indeed saddening that so much uncertainty remains over the Boeing 777-200’s final resting place, and that of the people on board.
MH370 departed Kuala Lumpur for Beijing slightly after midnight on 8 March 2014, briefly entering Vietnamese airspace before turning around and crossing the Malay Peninsula. The aircraft then flew out over Sumatra and the Indian Ocean, and is believed to have crashed somewhere west of Australia after running out of fuel. Some experts, however, have argued that the aircraft must have entered the water vertically as an acute angle of attack would have caused debris to be clustered very close together. The possibility of sabotage has resulted in claims that 53-year-old Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah was suicidal and crashed the plane deliberately, although no evidence has been found that he was struggling with mental health issues.
QantasLink's A220 completes its first ever flight
The QantasLink A220 taking off from Montreal, Canada. Photo: Airbus (airbus.com)
On 30 November 2023, the first-ever QantasLink A220-300 took off into the skies of Mirabel, Montreal for a test flight, marking its first-ever flight.
The aircraft was airborne for 2 hours and 54 minutes, flying over the city of Montreal, as well as in the vicinity of the airport. The aircraft was using its registration as C-FPGP for the flight.
The aircraft is slated to operate from February 2024, connecting the capital city of Canberra with Melbourne. The QantasLink A220-300 is set to replace the existing Boeing 717-200s that are currently in operation with QantasLink, as the aircrafts are of an old age. This new aircraft is able to carry a maximum of 137 passengers - 10 in Business Class, and 127 in Economy Class. Do expect the number of A220s in operation with QantasLink to rise over the years, as it focuses more on its regional network.
IndiGo launches GPT-4 powered customer service chatbot
An IndiGo A320. Photo: IndiGo (goindigo.in)
Indian low-cost carrier IndiGo has launched a new innovation in customer service, with a chatbot on its website trained to answer queries in 10 languages. This comes after flag carrier Air India launched a similar feature on its website earlier this month.
The new chatbot, 6ESkai, was developed in collaboration with Microsoft and is trained on the GPT-4 model which is also used by OpenAI in developing ChatGPT. It is reported to reduce customer service officers’ workloads by 75%, and can even assist passengers in booking flights.
To determine which airline’s chatbot delivered a better customer service experience, I compared the responses of 6ESkai and Air India’s chatbot Maharaja to the same question, with the results shown below. Needless to say, one prompt was enough to make my decision, as you can see:
Evidently, 6Eskai is able to provide concise and accurate information to the user, whereas Maharaja simply directs users to the relevant page on the airline’s website. This additional feature of IndiGo’s digital services is truly incredible and can provide valuable information and assistance to users. With artificial intelligence replacing humans in customer service, airlines can invest more in cabin experience and less in resolving queries.
IndiGo is India’s largest airline by fleet size and passengers carried, and boasts a 63.4% share of the country’s domestic market. Its hub in Mumbai operates hundreds of flights a day to major cities across India and some destinations to Europe and South-East Asia as well.
The only hurdle in IndiGo’s expansion is the lack of capacity in Mumbai. Despite opening a second runway, most of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport’s operations occur on the primary runway, Runway 09/27. A quick glance on FlightRadar 24 shows just how busy the traffic sequence on Runway 27 is, with departing aircraft rushing to line up and depart in the gaps between arrivals. To this day, it puzzles me how Tower controllers at the airport manage to operate such a tight sequence, or how wake turbulence never seems to be a problem despite aircraft moving every 30 seconds.
Cathay Pacific to replace its 747-8Fs
The Airbus A350-F is slated to enter operations in 2026. Photo: Airbus (airbus.com)
Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific (CPA) is looking at purchasing Airbus A350-F aircraft to replace its ageing 747-400F and 747-8F fleet.
For most cargo airlines since the 1990s, Boeing 747s have been the best aircraft to transport large cargo since the nose cargo door allows much wider pellets to be loaded. In addition, cargo can be moved more efficiently as it is loaded from front to back, as compared to side cargo doors where pellets have to be rotated before moving into their spots.
However, to have a nose cargo door, you need a double-decked, four-engined aircraft. And the 2010s have shown that such aircraft are no longer in fashion, with both the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747 ceasing production in the last 3 years.
In addition to the A350-F, Cathay Pacific is also considering the Boeing 777-8F, which is one of the most popular choices among cargo airlines replacing their 747s. CargoLux and UPS, both heavy 747 users, have opted to continue operating a pure Boeing fleet after the Queen of the Skies retires.
As Hong Kong is the world’s largest air cargo hub and Cathay Cargo one of the largest carriers in terms of cargo volume, it is expected that CPA will be able to negotiate deals for both Airbus and Boeing freighter aircraft.
Ethiopian Airlines reveals Europe plans
An Ethiopian Airways B787. Photo: Ethiopian Airlines (ethiopianairlines.com)
Ethiopian flag carrier Ethiopian Airlines is expanding its presence in Europe, with announcements that the airline will add passenger flights to Lisbon, Dublin, Amsterdam, and Warsaw from its base in Addis Ababa. This is in addition to the addition of Copenhagen in May, London Gatwick in November, and the return of flights to Madrid in December.
In addition, the carrier has announced plans to add another flight in the northern UK to complement its current flights to Manchester and the two London airports. Glasgow and Edinburgh are speculated to be the most likely candidates for this addition. Analysis of booking data reveals demand for 317 passengers a day from both Scottish cities to sub-saharan Africa. The airline currently has traffic rights to operate 28 weekly flights to the UK, although it currently only uses 15 of those slots.
Ethiopian Airlines operates internationally primarily using a fleet of Boeing 787-8 and 787-9 aircraft. It is turning into a major hub to connect Europe to sub-saharan Africa, with multiple daily flights to other African destinations such as Nairobi, Lagos, and Johannesburg.
Singapore Changi Airport reopens runway 02C/20C; Closes runway 02R/20L
Runway 02C/20C in April 2023, marked with X's across the runway. Photo: Haotian (@plane.tian)
On 1 December 2023, in the wee hours of the morning, SQ605 became the first aircraft to touch down on runway 02C, after over 3 years of closure due to the infrastructure works, as part of the construction of Changi Airport's Terminal 5.
The runway closed on 3 December 2020, and traffic was diverted to runway 02R and 20L for operations.
On 25 November 2023, Changi Airport announced in a statement that the runway would be reopening on 1 December, at 0400 hours (GMT +8). At the same time, it was also announced that runway 02R/20L would concurrently be closed. THe statement released is as shown below:
"Changi Airport Group (CAG) announced today (25 November 2023) that Changi Airport will reopen Runway 2 for use from 1 December 2023 at 0400 hours (Singapore time). Runway 3, which was used during the closure of Runway 2, will concurrently be closed.
Runway 2 has been closed since 3 December 2020 for infrastructure works. With its reopening, Changi Airport will use both Runways 1 and 2 for operations."
Our member, Haotian, was fortunate enough to be one of the first passengers to depart from the newly-reopened runway, and the flight he was on, SQ950, was the first Boeing 777 to depart from the runway in over 3 years. Below is the takeoff from the newly reopened runway.
A Boeing 777-300ER lifting off from runway 02C. Video: Haotian (@plane.tian)
This would mean shorter taxiing times to the runways. Instead of the usual 10 minutes taxi to runway 3, the reopening of runway 02C/20C would mean that taxi time is cut by about 50%.
And with that, our third publication of FAN is over. Thank you for viewing, and see you in 2 weeks' time!
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