HONG KONG: Cathay Pacific Acquires First A350-1000 And Orders Twenty More

Cathay Pacific has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000, making it the variant's second operator after Qatar Airways, which received its initial example in February.

The Hong Kong carrier has ordered 20 A350-1000s and already operates 22 A350-900s, Airbus says. The airline has another six -900s on order and holds four options.

Airbus says Cathay Pacific will from September deploy the A350-1000 on nonstop services to Washington DC, which the airframer describes as the longest flight performed by any airline out of Hong Kong. Flight time will be approximately 17h.

Cathay Pacific chief customer and commercial officer Paul Loo states that the A350-900's introduction to the airline in 2016"enabled us to expand our long-haul network at a near unprecedented rate.

He adds that the larger -1000 variant has an incredible range, is remarkably fuel efficient and quiet, provides customers with an unsurpassed cabin environment, and has extremely attractive operating economics.

The A350 is exclusively powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

The first of 20 A350-1000s for Cathay Pacific has completed its initial test flight from Airbus's Toulouse plant.

Deliveries of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft to the Hong Kong carrier are scheduled to begin in June. It will become the second operator after launch customer Qatar Airways to receive Airbus's biggest twinjet.

The new twinjets will be operated alongside Cathay's existing fleet of smaller A350-900s, 22 of which are currently in service with six more on order, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer.

Cathay will deploy the A350-1000 on its new route to Washington DC from September. The airline says that at 8,153 miles (7,095nm/13,126km), the new service to Dulles will become the longest in its network.

Airbus's third test-flight A330-900, carrying the colours of launch operator TAP Portugal, has landed in Lisbon after commencing the initial stage of route-proving flights.

For the first state of route-proving, MSN1819 is set to fly on to Brazil, visiting cities including Recife, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Miami.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-powered aircraft took off on 19 June from Toulouse's runway 32R – using a full-thrust departure, rather than a flex setting, on the request of flight-test engineers – for a 1h 30min flight to the Portuguese capital.

MSN1819 had pushed back with just under 20t of fuel, and a weight of 164t, with a projected landing weight of 156.8t. The crew confirmed, after touchdown on Lisbon's on runway 21, that the twinjet had burned 8t of fuel.

The 298-seat aircraft – featuring the airframer's three-class revamped Airspace cabin interior, fitted with Recaro seating – was transporting board members from the carrier and the airframer, as well as government figures and media representatives.

Route-proving will subsequently take the aircraft to Asia, with stops in Kuala Lumpur and other regional hubs, before it returns to Europe via Mauritius. It also fly to Delhi before heading west again, operating through Reykjavik, Chicago and Atlanta.

The exercise is intended to demonstrate the A330neo's readiness for airline service.

As part of the testing the aircraft will undertake extended twin-engined operations flights, approaches to alternate airports, and tests with ground-handling systems.

Airbus head of A330 marketing Crawford Hamilton, speaking during the event, said the route-proving effort would involve about 150h of flights, spanning 18 days, and taking in 16 cities. The exercise is set to run to 7 July.

Hamilton says the A330neo test-flight campaign, which involves three aircraft including MSN1819, is around 80% complete. The fleet has logged around 1,000h in 267 flights.

Performance is in line with predictions, he adds.

Certification is still on track for summer this year, with subsequent entry into service with TAP.


Tourism Observer

CHINA: Russia And China To Develop Gas-turbine Engine For Joint New Long Range Passenger Jet

Russia will help China design the engine for the new long-range passenger jet.

The powerplant will be a joint development of the two countries.

Russia and China have agreed to develop a gas-turbine engine for the joint commercial aircraft (LRWBCA).

The memorandum of cooperation was signed by Russia’s United Engine Corporation (UEC) and China’s AECC Commercial Aircraft Engine Co. (AECC CAE) at Aviation Expo China 2017 in Beijing.

UEC says the program’s priorities are to research the widebody aircraft market and identify potential customer rquirements.

The Russo-Chinese intention to jointly develop the engine was first announced in 2014.

Back then, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Yury Slyusar now president of the United Aircraft Corporation, stated that the parties had already begun working on the project.

The powerplant was expected to produce upwards of 30 tons of thrust.

It was initially planned that China would work independently to create a new engine for the joint aircraft.

However, later on the Chinese authorities turned to UEC for help.

Now both the Russian party, which is developing the Aviadvigatel PD-35 engine, and China are going to propose their engines.

The PD-35, which is under development at UEC for future long-range widebody airliners, is still in the works and should hit the market in 2030.

The LRWBCA will be initially powered by Rolls-Royce or General Electric powerplants.

The official launch of the LRWBCA program got delayed until this spring, when COMAC and UAC registered a joint venture in China.

Overall demand for the future aircraft is estimated at 800 to 1,000 units; deliveries are to start in 2027.



Tourism Observer

BANGLADESH: Amari Dhaka Named Best Luxury Contemporary Hotel

Amari Dhaka has been awarded Best Luxury Contemporary Hotel of 2015 in Bangladesh. Kelly Lewis, General Manager, received the award from the Luxury Travel Guide team.

The Luxury Travel Guide Global Awards is an international awards programme in recognition of all accommodation options, from large hotels and resorts to small luxury hotels.

With its unique location, award-winning design and outstanding service, Amari Dhaka won this luxury travel guide award for the first time.

Amari Dhaka's General Manager stated, "As a true five-star hotel, Amari Dhaka sets the benchmark for unsurpassed service standards. It is both a humbling and heartening experience for Amari to win this award."

"We have a great team here. We would not have achieved this without the dedication of Amari Dhaka team members, who go their extra way to provide the finest hospitality service, leaving our guests with indelible experiences that they will remember for a very long time."

"We are confident that this award will further enhance our hotel's brand equity, which will eventually lead to greater business possibilities for us."

Amari Dhaka is an Onyx managed property. The group has 30 hotels in Thailand under six different brands, with the latest being Ozo which opened in China, India and Sri Lanka.

Amari Dhaka is now into its second year. There is now great awareness about Amari - everybody now knows who we are, Kelly Lewis said.
The hotel has five different room types, based on view - Lake View and City View. Twenty-eight out of 134 guest rooms are suites.
Besides 24-hour in-room dining, its food outlets include Amaya all-day dining, Cascade Coffee Lounge and Deck 41 rooftop bar. The Den private bar will be opening soon.

Amaya restaurant serves Indian, Chinese, Japanese and Thai, each with its ethnic chef. The restaurant has a good view of the Dhaka skyline. It's a good place for family gathering, he said.

The Breeze spa will open in 30 days, Kelly Lewis said.
F&B and security are two of our competitive edges. We take security very seriously. Security is very important to us as we have diplomatic guests as well as guests from high profile companies like Rolls Royce, Wal-Mart, Ikea and H&M.

Referring to two recent incidents - one in the city and another in the northern region of the country, he said, "Incidents hurt. Everyone lost business. But business is coming back."

"Guests are now coming back following government assurances and the government is also putting in its efforts security-wise," he said.
"When people left we did not charge cancellation fees. They just left. People remember that. That's why they are coming back."
"The hotel has now 60 to 68 per cent occupancy on an average. I have great hope of a rebound," Kelly Lewis said.

F&B is strong at Amari. I was F&B Director four times in my career. Indeed I started my career with F&B in Hawaii. F&B is my passion and has always been," he said adding "majority of the profit comes from the rooms.

He said, the hotel attaches great importance to human resources training. Everyone has to complete 50 per cent training each month on service, security and other aspects.

Kelly Lewis said, "Environmentally we are very conscious. Amari Dhaka puts great emphasis on recycling. There are sensors on every floor so that overall temperature remains constant."

Speaking on gender issues, he said, "I'm very gender friendly. When I came 98 per cent of the staff members were male. I hired female hospitality personnel. Now it is 89 per cent male and the rest are female."

"We can train, but it is important for us to have efficient women in high profile posts." He hoped the society will free up as time goes and more women will take up hospitality as a profession.

We are strong in corporate social responsibility (CSR) with a lot of schools - that's our future. As part of giving back to community programme, Amari Dhaka organised the "First Step" for the students who are currently enrolled in short courses in Hotel Management and Tourism on October 18, 2015.

"A large number of hotels are coming up - there is obviously a great interest in Bangladesh," he said.
"People here are very friendly and hard working. I am enjoying my stay in Dhaka. I am having a great time," Kelly Lewis, a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Arizona, said.