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Weekly UpdatesMay 3, 2009
Asian airports, used to looking for H5N1 bird flu and SARS sufferers earlier in the decade, have dusted off their scanners for this latest crisis. But experts say these cannot help until the person has a fever, and an infected person can spread the virus around by coughing and sneezing a full day before the onset of symptoms. "Flu is infectious one day before the onset of symptoms, which means you may not have symptoms but you are already infectious while you are coming back to Hong Kong (on a plane)," said Yuen Kwok-yung, a microbiologist at the University of Hong Kong. "You are incubating and infecting others without knowing it." Being cooped up in a plane may spell trouble too. "A person with flu becomes infectious within 12 to 24 hours of infection. If he is traveling from Europe to Australia, a person can develop contagious capability while on the plane," Itzstein said. "It is an incubation spot, it is like a big incubator. People who are not infected can get infected in the plane." Yuen urged people to practice "self-quarantine." "For those coming back from risky areas, you should do some form of self-quarantine and wear a mask for seven days." Apr 30, 2009
Australia has imposed stricter measures on aircraft arriving from the Americas in an effort to contain the spread of swine flu. The Australian Department of Health and Ageing says in a statement that "before all planes are permitted to land in Australia from the Americas the captain will be required" to report to the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) on the health status of the passengers on the plane. Apr 27, 2009
Investors fled investments in air, land and sea on Monday as fears of a flu pandemic rekindled memories of the Asian SARS crisis that caused widespread industry turmoil six years ago. From Sydney to New York, selling hit the world's leading airline brands, hotels and cruise operators and the cost of insuring airline debt rose following the outbreak of swine flu. The United States declared a public health emergency and Americans and Europeans were urged to avoid non-essential travel to Mexico, where more than 100 people have died from the outbreak. US airlines most heavily exposed to Mexico racked up double-digit losses in trading. The AMEX airlines index was off about 10.9 percent in late afternoon. Continental Airlines, which offers more seats than any foreign airline into and out of Mexico, according to data provided airline schedules consultancy Innovata, saw its stock fall 16.5 percent. American Airlines parent AMR and US Airways, the second and third foreign airlines in terms of passenger capacity to Mexico, also suffered double-digit percentage falls. Apr 27, 2009
Air New Zealand
Air New Zealand said it will lock out Zeal320 flight attendants represented by the Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union, who voted to strike for four days beginning May 7. The carrier said it has around 100 trained employees ready to work on Zeal320's transtrasman and Pacific flights and said it issued the lockout notice in order to avoid any potential disruptions created by the strike threat. Parton said the carrier offered EPMU a "nearly 4 percent" increase in base pay and an "almost 8 percent" rise in allowances. Apr 27, 2009
China
China has quarantined more than 70 Mexican travellers as a precautionary measure, despite no new swine flu outbreaks being detected in Asia. In Beijing, Mexicans are being asked to identify themselves on arriving flights and isolated from other travellers after landing. But none have presented symptoms or had any contact with infected people. May 3, 2009
Jet Airways
Jet Airways will launch on June 14 2009, services to the kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the introduction of daily, direct services from Mumbai to the Saudi Arabian administrative and commercial capital cities of Riyadh and Jeddah respectively (subject to government approval). The airline will operate the new flights aboard a state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Flight 9W 524 will depart Mumbai at 19:30 hours, arriving in Riyadh at 21:05 hours. Flight 9W 523 will then depart Riyadh at 22:05 hours, arriving in Mumbai at 04:30 hrs. Flight 9W 522 will depart Mumbai at 19:00 hours, arriving in Jeddah at 21:30 hours. Flight 9W 521 will then depart Jeddah at 22:30 hours, arriving in Mumbai at 06:10 hours. Apr 28, 2009
Jet Airways
Jet Airways launched daily Chennai-Dubai service Friday aboard a 737-800. Apr 27, 2009
Jetstar Asia
Jetstar Asia will launch daily Singapore-Penang service on July 1, increasing to twice-daily on Oct. 1. Apr 28, 2009
Joy Air
Joy Air, the joint venture launched by AVIC and China Eastern Airlines in March 2008, is expected to be formally operational in June and the Xi'an-based carrier said it plans to conduct trial flights in May, although it has not yet obtained its airworthiness certificate. Joy plans to operate three MA60s initially and increase its fleet to 100 aircraft, comprising 50 ARJ21s and 50 MA60s, in the next eight years. Apr 27, 2009
Korea
Hospitals will be allowed directly to seek foreign patients from May as part of South Korea's efforts to become Asia's new medical tourism hub, officials said Tuesday. "We expect about KRW300 billion (USD 221 million) in revenue this year in this sector, which will grow fast thanks to our aggressive overseas marketing to be legalized this week," said Lee Young-ho, a marketing director of the Global Healthcare Business Center. The center, which is controlled by the health ministry, is forming a network of hospitals and travel agencies which will be officially allowed to seek patients abroad under a law which takes effect Friday. Apr 28, 2009
Korean Air
Korean Air will launch daily Incheon-Shizuoka service on June 4. Apr 27, 2009
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