Asia

Natilus, an aviation startup in the United States, announced on Wednesday that India's SpiceJet had ordered 100 of their blended-wing-body aircraft. The company is marking its entry into India's fast-growing market with the launch of a new local subsidiary. According to the industry group IATA the Indian aviation market is the fifth largest in the world. It is a lucrative spot for global airlines and planemakers, driven by a stronger demand for travel into and out of the country following the pandemic. Natilus also considers India as a possible location for a manufacturing plant, and plans to build approximately 300...

BAE Systems, a British company, announced on Tuesday that it would 'cut its stake in Kazakh airline Air Astana almost by half. The aircraft manufacturer, which holds 16.95% of Air Astana's shares, is selling global deposit receipts that represent?about 8 percent of the outstanding common shares. BAE's main business is to manufacture fighter jets and submarines. In?2001, it invested less than 10?million to fund Air Astana at a time that they were bidding to sell radar systems to Kazakhstan. After its dual IPO in London, and Kazakhstan last year, the?company has reduced its stake from?49% to?39%. According to LSEG, following...

The Philippines Bureau of Immigration announced on Tuesday that the two alleged gunmen who carried out the mass shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach travelled from Sydney to Manila on?November 1, aboard Philippine Airlines Flight PR212 and then onwards to Davao. According to a spokesperson from the bureau, Sajid Akram (50), an Indian national who lives in Australia, travelled with an Indian passport while his son Naveed, 24, an Australian, travelled with an Australian passport. Both passengers arrived on the same flight. On November 28, they flew back to Sydney via Manila on the same flight number PR212. This was weeks...

The Philippines Bureau of Immigration announced on Tuesday that two alleged gunmen responsible for the?massive shooting at Sydney Bondi Beach travelled on Philippine Airlines Flight PR212?from Sydney, to Manila, and then to Davao on November 1. According to a spokesperson from the bureau, Sajid Akram (50), an Indian citizen and Australian resident, travelled with an Indian passport while his son Naveed,?24 an Australian, used an Australian one. Both passengers arrived on the same flight. On November 28, they flew back from Sydney via Manila on the same flight, PR212. This was just weeks before the attack that left 15 dead....

IndiGo, India's largest airline, estimated on Friday that it would pay out more than 55.19 million dollars to customers affected by its massive cancellations of flights last week. After the airline cancelled 4,500 flights due to poor roster planning last week, it left tens and thousands of passengers stranded. The civil aviation regulator then ordered that 10% of their domestic winter schedule be cut. In a message on X, the budget airline stated that it was identifying 'flights in which customers were severely impacted on December 3, 4, and 5. IndiGo said it would compensate passengers whose flights "were cancelled...

By David Shepardson WASHINGTON DEC 12 - On Friday, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration announced that it would review Boeing's enhanced flight crew alerting systems for the Boeing 737 MAX 10. These include a synthetic improved angle-of attack?system as well as a way to turn off stall warnings and overspeed alarms. Congress waived a December 2022 deadline for a new standard of safety for modern cockpit alerts on the MAX 7 or MAX 10. However, it required retrofitting the planes with future enhancements in the three years following the MAX 10 certification. Congress adopted the requirements as part of an...

Hong Kong Police?said Friday that they had 'arrested' a passenger who was on Cathay Pacific CX811 flight between Boston and Hong Kong. The carrier claimed the individual attempted to?open a door in mid-flight, on December 10th. The airline stated that no passengers or crew were injured, and the flight safely landed early on Thursday. The incident is being investigated by the?police force of the city. Cathay Airlines said that the cabin crew acted immediately to resolve the issue, checked the door to make sure it was closed securely, and reported the incident both to the authorities and police. The case...

Cathay Pacific confirmed on Friday that on December 10, a passenger aboard flight CX811 from Boston to Hong Kong tried to open an aircraft's door in mid-flight. The airline stated that no passengers or crew members were injured, and the flight "landed safely" early on Thursday morning. The police are now handling the incident. Hong Kong Police Department did not?respond immediately to a request for comment. Cathay stated that "our cabin crew immediately attended to the problem, checked the door to make sure it was closed securely, and reported the matter to the appropriate authorities and police." The case was...

Canada's Transport regulator is re-examining its regulations in order to reduce pilot fatigue, due to concerns from the industry that they are too complicated. This is just one of many countries who struggle with rules designed to improve safety. India's aviation regulator has granted IndiGo, its largest airline, a "one-time" exemption from the new rules on pilot night duty, as well as other regulations. This was after IndiGo's poor planning resulted in 2,000 cancellations of flights this month. Transport Canada said on Tuesday that it had been "diligently" reviewing the regulations governing pilots' duty hours and flight times in consultation...

IndiGo, India's largest airline, announced on Wednesday that it had reduced its forecast for?capacity & passenger?unit revenues?for the third-quarter after the civil aviation regulator ordered the carrier to reduce 10% of its domestic winter flight schedule due to?massive cancellations. The airline has revised its forecast for the third quarter capacity growth to "high single-digit to early double-digit percent." This is down from an earlier estimate of "high teens." The third-quarter passenger unit revenue is expected to moderate by "a mid-single-digit percentage" as opposed to the previous forecast of flat or slight growth. Last week, the budget airline had to cancel...

India's aviation regulator deployed some of its own personnel at IndiGo's corporate HQ to monitor the carrier’s network and recovery. The country is tightening its scrutiny after mass flight cancellations. IndiGo?did not immediately respond to an inquiry for a?comment. An order stated that the personnel would monitor IndiGo operations, including crew utilization, unplanned leave, and routes affected due to "crew shortages", and be required to submit a report daily to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. IndiGo will have a second set of personnel to oversee its on-time performance. They will also be responsible for flight cancellations, luggage returns, and...

Air India's?investigation of why one of their Airbus planes flew eight commercial flights with no airworthiness certificate found "systemic failings", and the airline admitted that it needed to improve on compliance. According to the document, an Airbus A320 carried passengers from New Delhi to Bengaluru, Mumbai, and Hyderabad between November 24 and 25 without the mandatory Airworthiness Review Certificate (ARC), a permit that is issued by the regulator annually after a plane has passed safety and compliance tests. Air India said that engineers and pilots failed to check aircraft documents. It also stated that it was necessary to improve compliance...

Data from the London Metal Exchange showed that, in November, the share of copper made in China among all available stocks increased. A favorable price arbitrage encouraged Chinese exports. The percentage of copper stock that is available or on a warrant The data revealed that the percentage of - of Chinese Origin in LME Warehouses had increased to 85% by the end of the last month from 82% at the beginning of October. A LME warrant is an ownership document. The absolute amount of Chinese copper stocks on the LME rose to 130,225 tonnes at the end last month from...

Data released on Monday showed that the cargo volumes handled by Russia's largest commercial employer, state-owned Russian Railways, continued to decline in November. Russian Railways released a statement saying that November cargo volumes fell by 1.5% on an annual basis to 94.2 millions tonnes. Volumes from January to November also dropped by 5.6%, to 1.021 billion tonnes. The Russian government is examining different options to support Russian Railways. It has accumulated a debt of 4 trillion roubles ($50,8 billion). The railway cargo volume, a key economic indicator of the strength of Russia's export economy, fell to its lowest level in...

VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said in an interview that Russian banks were willing to restructure some Russian Railways' debt, as long as their central bank did not increase the reserve requirements on these loans. The Russian government is examining different options to support Russian Railways. This company, the largest commercial employer in Russia, has accumulated a debt of 4 trillion roubles ($50.8 billion), according to a report on Nov. 25, VTB is the second largest Russian bank and Russian Railways' largest creditor. The bank's top managers participate in weekly government discussions on how to handle the debt. These meetings are...

VTB CEO Andrei Kostin said in an interview that Russian banks were willing to restructure Russian Railways' debt, as long as their central bank did not increase the reserve requirements on these loans. The Russian government is examining different options to support Russian Railways. This company, which is the largest employer in the country, has accumulated a debt of 4 trillion roubles ($50.8 billion), according to a report on Nov. 25, VTB is the second largest Russian bank and Russian Railways' largest creditor. The bank's top managers participate in weekly government discussions on how to handle the debt. These meetings...

A notice published by the London Metal Exchange on Friday revealed that Henry Bath & Son, a warehouse operator in Hong Kong has been the latest company to register a facility at the London Metal Exchange. According to the LME's notice, the warehouse is located in Hong Kong’s New Territories in the Kwai-Chung district. It can store nickel, lead and zinc, as well as copper, aluminum and aluminium alloy. The LME approved the first Hong Kong warehouses in January of this year. Its aim is to provide a gateway into mainland China, which is the largest metals consumer in the...

Indian businessman Prateek gupta was accused of orchestrating a $600m metals fraud by commodity group Trafigura. He told a court in India on Friday that he didn't know who within his companies had allegedly made fake documents for selling the same cargo to multiple customers. The long-running trial concluded on Friday with the testimony. It will resume again on December 10, for closing arguments. Trafigura, a Geneva-based company, sued Gupta in more than two years. It claimed that he had orchestrated a ruse where he and his firms agreed to deliver pure nickel instead of steel or scrap. Trafigura's lawyers...

Lawyers at Trafigura said that Prateek Gupta’s claims that the group devised a secret plan to exchange expensive nickel for low value metals are full of contradictions. The Indian businessman was giving evidence in an ongoing fraud case. Trafigura, a Swiss commodity trader, sued Gupta two years ago. It claimed that he was behind a scam where he and his firms agreed to deliver pure nickel but instead delivered scrap steel or other metals. Gupta countered by claiming that Trafigura staff themselves designed the scheme at the heart of the case. Trafigura, however, has denied this claim repeatedly. Gupta, who...

Lawyers for Trafigura accused Prateek gupta, an Indian businessman who gave his first testimony on Wednesday, of a long history of fraud. Gupta admitted that he was under investigation for fraud in India but denied these allegations when he appeared in the High Court of London. Trafigura, a Swiss company, sued Gupta two years ago. It claimed that he was behind a scam where he and his firms agreed to deliver pure nickel but instead delivered scrap steel or other metals. Nathan Pillow, a Trafigura lawyer, cited two more fraud cases in which low-value metals were substituted with nickel. Gupta...

Two people familiar with the situation said that the Russian government is looking at different options to support Russian Railways. The company, the largest employer in the country, has accumulated a debt of 4 trillion roubles ($50.8 billion). The state-owned Russian Railways employs 700,000 workers and has seen its revenues fall amid the sharp slowdown of Russia's wartime economy. Meanwhile, debt costs are on the rise, driven by interest rates that have reached their highest levels in 20 years. Two people, who requested anonymity because the subject was sensitive, said that Moscow had been discussing ways to help the railways...

China Gas Holdings, a privately-controlled city gas distributor, has hired an ex-senior trader of the Chinese utility GCL Group as its head of global natural gas sales. Xiong Xin was the head of gas trading for GCL New Energy Holdings (a unit of GCL Holdings), a solar power company, until early 2024. He joined China Gas in Oct. Xiong has nearly a decade's worth of experience in trading at the state oil giant CNOOC, and privately owned Chinese gas company ENN, before he joined GCL. He now heads China Gas’ growing liquefied gas trading business, as well as liquefied petrol...

Investors cited concerns over Prime Minister Sanae Takayichi's plans to spend. The yield on the 20-year JGB rose by up to 2 basis points to 2,695%. And for the 30-year JGB, it rose by 2 bps to 3,195%. These are their highest levels since October. Takaichi announced this week that she would set a new fiscal goal extending over several years in order to allow for more flexibility with spending. This is a way to water down Japan's commitment towards fiscal consolidation. Takashi Fujiwara is the chief fund manager of Resona Asset Management’s fixed income division. The increase in yields...

In October, the share of Russian and Indian aluminum in London Metal Exchange warehouses fell as nearly 50,000 tons from Australia, Indonesia and the Middle East entered the system. LME data released on Monday showed that the percentage of aluminium stock of Russian origin available in LME warehouses fell to 51% from 59% in September. The share of Indian origin also decreased by one percentage point, to 40%. LME has prohibited metal produced in Russia after April 13, 2024 from its warehouse system. This is to comply with U.S. & British sanctions over Russia's invasion of Ukraine 2022. Metal produced...