All Nippon Airways “Golden Week” international bookings collapse by 96.7%. (Photo: ANA)

• Japan

Japan’s All Nippon Airways (ANA) said this week flight bookings for the upcoming Golden Week – April 29 to May 6 – were down 96.7% for international and 87.4% for domestic travel compared with the same holiday week in 2019. In its Golden Week update, published on April 22, the airline said the Japanese government’s State of Emergency in response to the coronavirus pandemic and international travel restrictions world-wide were factors in the collapse in demand.

Like rival ANA, Japan Airlines (JAL) said flight bookings for the upcoming Golden Week period, which includes four national holidays, were down 96.7% for international and 87.4% for domestic travel, compared with the prior year. The JAL figures, published yesterday, noted international bookings during Golden Week – one of Japan’s busiest travel periods – were sluggish due to the suspension of some flights such as to China and Hawaii.

• Australia

The Australian Government has established a network of 15 airlines and freight companies to provide cargo links to major export markets around the world, with 55 freight flights secured. The 15 partners of Canberra’s International Freight Assistance Mechanism, announced today, are Air Menzies International (Australia), Cathay Pacific Airways, CT Freight, DHL Global Forwarding, Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Federal Express Corporation, Japan Airlines, Kuehne + Nagel Australia, Qantas, Qatar Airways, Schenker Australia, Toll Group, Singapore Airlines, Toll Group and Virgin Australia.

• Thailand

Thai Airways International (THAI) carried 532,000 passengers in March, a 68.4% decline from 1.682 million in the prior corresponding period. The airline’s monthly operating statistics, published on its website, showed revenue passenger kilometres [RPK], a measure of demand, tumbled 58.8% and load factor dropped 31.7 percentage points, to 54.1%.

Separately, Airports of Thailand (AoT) said on Wednesday it expected passengers passing through its six airports across the country to decline by 53%, to 66.58 million, in its fiscal year to September 30, Reuters reported. For its equivalent 2019 full year, AoT’s airports operated 900,000 flights and processed 141.8 million passengers.

• Vietnam

Vietnam Airlines and hotel company, Vinpearl, have joined forces to offer medical workers in the country 5,000 holiday packages as a gesture of thanks for their work during the coronavirus pandemic, The Voice of Vietnam reported yesterday. Vietnamese carriers stopped domestic flying on April 1, after the government imposed social distancing rules to stop the spread of COVID-19, and resumed limited flights on April 16, with authorities this week allowing for them to increase frequencies on certain routes.

Vietnam LCC, VietJet Air, said profit before tax for the 12 months to December 31, 2019 fell 14% to 5 trillion dong (US$212 million), compared with the prior corresponding period. Revenue eased 3% to 52.1 trillion dong, VietJet Air said in a slide presentation on its website.

• India

Indian Ocean-based Air Mauritius has gone into voluntary administration, the company’s board of directors announced yesterday. The coronavirus pandemic and resulting travel restrictions had led to a “complete erosion of the company’s revenue base”, the board said in a statement announcing the appointment of Grant Thornton as administrator.

Cre: Orient Aviation

Nguyen Xuan Nghia – COMM