Qatar Airways’ hub one of the great oases for travelers

Hamad International Airport has to be one of the great oases for travelers and it is apt that the theme throughout is that of an oasis.

Light, bright, and super cool, HIA is the new benchmark for airports.

Nine years in construction, it reflects the minute attention to detail that has defined Qatar Airways.

That attention means your experience in the airport is as seamless as it can be.

And that is exactly what CNN International Travel Editor Barry Neild found when he described the airport as “the most luxurious on the planet.”

Big call, no not at all.

It is spotless, delightfully quiet – just a sanctuary for the weary or not so weary traveler.

And if you are weary, a visit to the wellness spa is perfect.

The Vitality Wellbeing and Fitness Centre offers a selection of therapeutic massages, nail salon, and recreational spaces such as an indoor swimming pool, a hydrotherapy tub, gym, and squash courts.

The entrance fee of A$66 allows a passenger to access a range of facilities at the Vitality Spa that includes; 25m temperature-controlled indoor swimming pool; fully equipped gym; hydrotherapy tub and shower room.

And if you want to go further there are a variety of anti-jetlag massages, rejuvenating facials and body treatments available, starting from A$90. Also included in that cost is access to the Vitality Spa.

If you’re traveling in premium classes the Al Safwa First Lounge and the Al Mourjan Business Lounge and are the finest.

CNN’s Mr Nield says the Al Safwa First Lounge is “airport nirvana” and has the feeling of “hallowed ground.”

Indeed, perfectly described, for how else would you describe a lounge that offers fine dining with a four-course menu, private cinema, private bedrooms and a spa?

The problem is you get lost in time and forget you have to catch a flight.

And the Al Mourjan Business Lounge is adorned with exclusive marbles, designer furniture, and intricate embellishments.

Hand-crafted accents, high ceilings, and bronze walls, featuring traditional calligraphy, create an elegant Arabian ambiance.

For the peckish traveler, there are a variety of dining areas to suit your tastes. You can explore flavors from around the world on the spacious mezzanine floor, where you can choose between a continental or oriental brasserie, a global deli, and a patisserie.

To complement, there is an exemplary bar, serving some of the world’s finest beverages.

And delightfully unlike so many other lounges, this lounge is massive –being 10 times the size on an Olympic swimming pool.

If you want to stay connected, there are a range of business services, from conference rooms to business centers.

And customers looking for a quieter working space can use a private workstation, which comes equipped with personal display screens and complimentary Wi-Fi.

Qatar Airways and oneworld First Class and Business Class passengers can access this lounge at no additional cost, while Economy Class passengers throughout the network can purchase lounge access at the check-in counters, preferred travel agents, or Qatar Airways’ sales offices at a cost of A$170.

There is also a frequent flyer lounge, and Arrivals lounge and these can be accessed by Economy Class customers from A$75.

Another wonderful attention to detail is the Al Maha Services which offers a range of personalized meet-and-greet service to ensure a comfortable and speedy experience when arriving, departing or transferring through the airport.

And for those with a longer transit stop then the Oryx Airport Hotel is perfect. Located within the terminal it is there for in-transit guest. And it’s luxurious!

Luggage fees soar as airline bagmen strike

Steve Creedy

The airline bagmen are at it again with hefty luggage fee rises of up to 100 percent and new rules popping up on some airlines in North America and Europe.

JetBlue, WestJet and Air Canada have all raised baggage fees while Ryanair has reversed its stance on carrying wheelie bags for free.

Effective August 27, JetBlue raised the charge for the first bag by 20 percent from $US25 to $US30. The cost of taking a second bag also rose by $US5 to $US40 while for those taking a third the cost soared from $US100 to a whopping $US150.

The cost of overweight or oversized bags also jumped by 50 percent while fees for sports equipment such a bicycle rose 100 percent.

READ Investigators issue safety warning after Malaysia Airlines pitot cover incident

The increases make JetBlue luggage fees more expensive than Legacy carriers American, Delta and United — at least for now.

Westjet and Air Canada also raised the fees for first bag from $C25 to $C30. People who bring a second bag will particularly feel the pain with prices rising from $C35 to $C50.

Canadians get a little more grace with the new fees applying October 5 on flights across Canada and as well as to and from the US, the Caribbean and Mexico.

The North American airlines airlines say the rises are to help offset higher costs but over in Europe, Ryanair says it has backflipped on a policy to allow wheelie bags to be carried in the hold for free because it wants to avoid flight delays.

From November 1, it will charge customers who have not paid the priority surcharge €/£8 to check in a 10kg wheelie bag to reduce the volume of free second gate bags.

Priority boarding customers will still be able to bring their wheelie bag and another small bag into the cabin.

The airline had already changed the policy in January to stop “non priority” customers from boarding with wheelie bags as cabin baggage. Instead, it took the bigger cabin bags at the gate and carried them for free in the hold.

Under the new policy, non-priority customers will have to check-in their wheelie bags and fork out the €/£8 fee at the time of booking for the privilege.

“This new policy will speed up the boarding and cut flight delays,’’ said Ryanair chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs, who added 60 per cent of customers “will be unaffected by these changes” because they buy priority tickets or don’t have cabin baggage.

“We expect that the other 40 percent will either choose to buy priority boarding or a 10kg check bag or will choose to travel with only one (free) small bag as 30 percent already do so today.”

Read New Zealand to abolish bothersome departure cards.

The bag fees are among a widening range of charges, fees and commissions — known in the game as ancillary revenues — that airlines are levying customers under the banner of “choice”.

The IdeaWorks Company estimated ancillary revenues grew more than 20 percent in 2017 to reach US82.2 billion.

This included $US57 billion from “a la carte” passenger charges beyond the cost of a ticket such as extra legroom, food, drink and luggage.

Investigators issue safety warning after Malaysia Airlines pitot cover incident

Steve Creedy

piot covers malaysia ATSB safety — The streamers on the pitot covers. Photo: ATSB

Australian air crash investigators have issued a safety warning about pre-flight inspections of pitot tubes after a Malaysia Airlines jet took off with covers still on the crucial airspeed devices despite multiple opportunities to detect them.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau Thursday called on airlines operating to Brisbane to ensure they had rigorous processes in place to ensure pitot tube covers are removed prior to flight.

The warning came as a preliminary report confirmed the covers remained on the Malaysian aircraft throughout its flight from Brisbane Airport on July 18 despite separate inspections by the captain and a Malaysia Airlines engineer.

The Airbus A330, 9M-MTK, heading to Kuala Lumpur declared a PAN alert and returned to the airport after the pilots reported the airspeed indicators had failed.

Pitot tubes measure static and kinetic air pressure in a moving aircraft to determine the indicated airspeed. They provide critical information to the air data computers and flight instruments.

They are considered critical to an aircraft’s safety and there have been several incidents and accidents related to pitot tube failures, including the crash of Air France Flight 447, also an A330, in the Atlantic Ocean in 2009.

“This is a serious incident,’’ ATSB chief commissioner Greg Hood said. “The CCTV footage shows that the three covers were in place on the aircraft as it pushed back from the terminal and as it accelerated down the runway.

“Now this limited the amount of critical information that’s available to flight crew during the take-off and in fact during the short flight, up to 10,000ft, and then the return to Brisbane Airport, where the aircraft landed safely.”

The covers, which have red streamers attached to them, were placed on the aircraft’s three pitot probes soon after the aircraft landed. The covers are needed in Brisbane to guard against wasps which build nests in the tubes.

However, the covers were not identified during inspections of the plane and they were not moved prior to take-off.

pitot malayswian — Photo: Brisbane Airport, modified by ATSB.

Investigators said both Malaysia Airlines personnel and ground handling workers were responsible for conducting pre-departure checks.

On the day of the incident, aircraft turnaround duties were shared between a Malaysian maintenance engineer, two non-certifying engineers from an engineering support provider and four ground handlers.

“The presence of the pitot covers was not detected by the operator’s maintenance engineer or captain during separate external aircraft inspections,” the report said.

“The operator’s maintenance engineer boarded the aircraft during turnaround, and the engineering support personnel left the bay to attend to other aircraft. The pitot covers were not detected by ground handlers during pushback.”

READ: MH370 unlikely to be north or south of existing search area, says scientist.

The first officer was flying the plane and the captain was monitoring. Under Malaysia Airline’s standard operating procedures, the pilot monitoring was required to announce when the airspeed reached 100 knots and the pilot flying needed to cross-check this airspeed indication.

A transcript from the cockpit voice recorder shows the captain called 100 knots as the groundspeed reached 100 knots and the first officer initiated rotation when the groundspeed was 165 knots. The maximum decision speed at which a rejected take-off could be initiated during an emergency, known as V₁, had been calculated at 153 knots.

“The flight crew recalled that they detected an airspeed anomaly during the take-off roll, including red speed (SPD) flags on both primary flight displays (PFD),’’ the report said.

“The standard operating procedures stated that the captain held responsibility for the decision to reject the take-off or continue.

“ It stated that rejecting a take-off between 100 kt and V₁ was a serious matter, that a captain should be ‘go-minded’, and that very few situations should lead to the decision to reject the take-off.

“There was no indication on the CVR recording that the captain or the first officer discussed rejecting the take-off.”

After take-off, the crew carried out procedures for unreliable airspeed indications and made a PAN call, an international call that indicates an urgent safety problem but is below an emergency, to air traffic control.

The crew continued to climb above 10,000ft and took the aircraft to the north-east of Brisbane Airport where they carried out checklists and troubleshooting ahead of landing.

This included turning off three air data reference systems and gaining access to a color-coded speed scale derived from angle of attack and other information and altitude derived from GPS data.

They also obtained groundspeed information from air traffic control.

pitot Malaysia safety — The color-coded speed scale. Image: ATSB/Airbus.

“Normal landing gear extension could not be accomplished with all three ADRs off,’’ the report said.

“The flight crew performed a landing gear gravity extension before conducting an overweight^] landing on runway 01 at 0033.

“After landing the flight crew stopped the aircraft on the runway as nose wheel steering was unavailable following a landing gear gravity extension. The main landing gear doors, which remain open following a gravity extension, had minor damage where they contacted the runway surface.”

The aircraft was towed to the gate where passengers and crew disembarked without any reported injuries and a subsequent inspection revealed the pitot covers were still on the plane.

Hood said the continuing investigation would focus specifically on the role of flight and ground crew in pre-flight checks as well as the cockpit warnings received by the pilots as they accelerated down Brisbane’s runway 01.

“Today we’re issuing a safety advisory notice to all operators to take particular care and review their procedures for the fitment of pitot covers on landing at Brisbane Airport and ensure that their processes are robust for the removal of these covers prior to flight,’’ he said.

Ex Cathay boss Tyler to join Qantas board

Steve Creedy

Tyler Qantas Board — Tony Tyler. Photo: IATA

Former Cathay Pacific chief executive and International Air transport Association director general Tony Tyler is headed to the Qantas board.

Outgoing Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford announced on Thursday the intention to appoint Tyler to the board, saying he had significant experience in commercial aviation as well as in Key overseas markets.

The seasoned airline executive will join the board in October 2018, subject to shareholder approval.

Tyler was with Cathay Pacific from 1978 and held a series of commercial, operational and management roles in Europe, North America and Asia.

He was the Hong Kong carrier’s chief operating officer from 2005 to 2007 and its chief executive from 2077-11.

He headed IATA, the global airline lobby group, from 2011 to 2016, and has served on various airline boards.

Current board appointments include BOC Aviation and Bombardier and he has also been on the Dragonair, Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company and UK-based national Airt Traffic Services (NATS) boards

His knowledge of the growing Chinese market will be particularly useful to the Flying Kangaroo.

Clifford said Tyler was one of the world’s most seasoned airline executives with an involvement in commercial aviation spanning almost 40 years.

“His industry knowledge runs deep and so does his experience of doing business in Asia, which is a key market for the Qantas Group,” he said in the announcement.

“Tony’s perspective will be a valuable addition to the knowledge already on the Board,”

Tyler said he was excited to join the Qantas board.

“Qantas is one of the world’s most iconic airlines and it continues to be responsible for a lot of innovation in commercial aviation,’’ he said.

Clifford is due to step down in October after 11 years as chair of the Qantas board and will be succeeded by current board member and former Wesfarmers chief executive Richard Goyder.

Read Richard Goyder to be new Qantas chairman.

Rex tough enough to survive ‘brewing headwinds’

Steve Creedy

Independent Australian regional heavyweight Regional Express (Rex) Thursday declared it had the wherewithal to withstand headwinds such as the nation’s devastating drought as it reported a 34 percent increase in net profit t to $A16.9 million.

Rex executive chairman Lim Kim Hai said the strong results — which saw pre-tax profit rise 41 percent to $A25.1 million on revenue of $A295.5 million — had generated a healthy cash surplus and would result in a total dividend for the financial year of 12 cents per share.

He said the outlook for the next 12 months was too uncertain for a precise profit forecast but there were grounds to believe Rex could still achieve double-digit growth if the Australian economy remained robust.

Nonetheless, Rex was mindful of “brewing global and domestic headwinds” that included the potential for fuel prices to spiral with oil sanction against Iran, a global trade war, a weak Australian dollar, an acute pilot shortage and the drought.

“However, having seen through equally tumultuous times in the last 15 years (more drought, SARS, wars, volcanic ash, stratospheric fuel prices, GFC) that have brought down 20 regional carriers in Australia, three in recent months alone, I am quietly confident that we have the wherewithal to withstand the storm if it does materialise,” he said.

The Rex chairman also recognized the dedication and perseverance of staff, particularly pilots, in working hard during the year to sustain services in spite of the pilot shortage affecting regional operators.

Read Australia’s Rex accuses rivals plundering pilots

The airline saw a 3 percent rise in passenger numbers to 1.23 million in fiscal 2018 and the average fare was slightly higher at $A216.40.

The group load factor rose 4 percentage points to 61.3 percent as flying in terms of available seat kilometres fell by 3.5 percent.

In addition to its optimism about the Australian economy, Rex said tailwinds included a stronger enrolment in its pilot training academy and a new route in Western Australia that was expected to bring in an additional contribution to the group

Virgin boss confident despite headline-grabbing loss

Steve Creedy

Virgin boss confident despite loss — Vrgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti

Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti is confident the airline is headed for a first-half profit after accounting adjustments saw its fiscal 2018 statutory net loss deepen to $A653.3 million.

The statutory after-tax loss compared to a result last year of $A185.8m and came as group revenue grew by 7.4 percent to $A5.4 billion.

The group’s underlying profit before tax of $A109.6 million was up $A113.3 million on the 2017 financial year. Its net loss attributable to shareholders was $A681 million, a deterioration on the previous year’s negative figure of $A220.3 million.

The Virgin chief is aware that comparisons will be drawn between Virgin’s headline-grabbing statutory loss and the big profit Qantas unveiled last week.

“Clearly what we rely on is that people see through the numbers and look at the actual underlying strength of the business,’’ he said during the airline’s results announcement.

“And there is no doubt that this business is in the strongest position it’s been certainly for all the time I’ve been here — and beyond — on some metrics.”

Read:Virgin Australia orders 737 MAX 10s

Both Borghetti and chief financial officer Geoff Smith were bullish about the airline’s performance as it recorded the highest underlying pre-tax profit in 10 years — $A109.6 million — and its domestic operations produced record earnings.

Domestic earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of $A246.1 million were up 165 percent on the previous year, a record operating cash flow was up 108 percent to $A570.4 million and the airline’s cash balance of $A1.4 billion was the highest ever.

The airline’s Better Business Program, originally forecast to deliver $A300 million a year in savings, is also on track to deliver $A400 million in annualized savings.

The airline has also girded itself against fuel price rises, with 83 percent of its fuel hedged in fiscal 2019 and 48 percent hedged the following year, with the ability to participate if the price drops.

It wasn’t all beer and skittles: EBIT at Virgin International fell by $A13.3 million to a loss $A12.8 million, largely due to a $A13 million “headwind’ from rising fuel prices and an estimated $A10 million impact from volcanic activity in Bali.

Tigerair Australia’s EBIT fell $A11.9 million to a loss $36.2 million while similar earnings at the Velocity frequent flyer program declined $A32.7 million to $A110.1 million.

But the biggest contributors to the big statutory loss were non-cash accounting adjustments and restructuring charges.

The restructuring charges of $A148.5 million primarily related to the Better Business Program and are continuing to fall after reducing $A96.7 million compared to fiscal 2017.

Smith said these were one-off costs related to individual programs that would fall away while the benefits would remain

The airline also made an accounting adjustment to recognize an impairment of $A120.8 million on the value of a mixture of Virgin International aircraft and non-aircraft assets.

There was also a second accounting move to “derecognize” $451.9 million in deferred tax assets.

The executives emphasized that these accounting moves were non-cash and did not affect the airline’s underlying results or their confidence in its future.

They said they represented a prudent approach to the Virgin balance sheet and noted that the tax assets were still available for later use.

“I reiterate the fact that those tax assets, or those tax losses, are always available to this group to reduce the amount of tax payable into the future,’’ Smith said.

“This is an accounting adjustment and the tax shield, if you will, continues to remain.”

The upshot, according to Smith, was that Virgin would have “sustainable, profitable operations going forward.”

Borghetti, who has a legendary reluctance to predict future results, said he couldn’t recall giving as firm a view as he had in the airline’s outlook that it would be profitable on both an underlying level and a statutory level in the first half of this financial year.

“I think that should display a fair degree of confidence on where we believe we are on the journey and how important those fundamental metrics are that we’ve released today,” he said.

Virgin Australia orders 737 MAX 10s

Steve Creedy

Virgin Australia says it has the flexibility to introduce more Boeing 737 MAX 10s into its fleet after converting 10 of its Max 8 orders to the bigger planes.

Virgin Australia chief executive John Borghetti said the Max 10s, due to arrive from 2022, would form an integral part of the airline’s customer offering on “important business routes” but did not disclose the destinations to which they would be deployed.

They could also be deployed internationally, he said, adding: “For example, they could hypothetically be deployed to New Zealand.’’

Read: Virgin boss confident despite headline-grabbing loss.

Borghetti said the airline still had the flexibility to change the mix of aircraft types in its MAX order but said: “We don’t have to make that decision now”.

The MAX 8 can accommodate up to 210 seats and has a 3550 mile (6570km) range whereas the MAX 10 can accommodate up to 230 seats with a 3300 mile (6,110kms) range. Boeing also offers the MAX 9, which has the same range as the MAX 8 but can carry 10 additional seats.

The seat count would be reduced if Virgin follows through on suggestions it could introduce a business class similar to JetBlue’s Mint product that would offer passengers on longer flights lie-flat beds.

Both are powered by LEAP-IB engines from CFM international and offer advanced technology winglets, Boeing’s Sky interior, big flight deck displays and other improvements..

Boeing says The MAX 10 offers the lowest seat costs ever and it competes against Airbus A321neo.

Chief financial officer Geoff Smith earlier told journalists on a conference call for the airline’s results announcement that the MAX 10 would complement its existing order of MAX 8s, due to arrive from November, 2019.

Smith said the MAX 10s innovative interior featured a bigger cabin with increased seat numbers with an extended range and greater efficiency.

It also offered flexibility for Virgin’s network at slot-constrained airports.

“The delivery of both the MAX 10 and MAX 8 aircraft will support — again — the group in retaining its young average fleet age,’’ he said.

Virgin initially ordered the MAX 8 in 2012 with an order for 23 planes between 2019 and 2021.

It later brought forward the delivery date for the first aircraft to 2018 and in 2015 converted orders for 17 737-800s to MAX 8 orders to bring the total to 40 aircraft.

In early 2017, is postponed the delivery date to the final quarter of 2019.

Virgin Australia’s net loss deepens.

Steve Creedy

Virgin Australia’s statutory net loss has deepened to $A653.3 million for the 2018 financial year despite record earnings in its domestic business and an increase in underlying profit before tax.

The statutory after-tax loss compared to a result last year of $185.8 million and came as group revenue grew by 7.4 percent to $A5.4 billion.

The group’s underlying profit before tax of $A109.6 million was up $A113.3 million on the 2017 financial year. Its net loss attributable to shareholders was $A681 million, an deterioration on the previous year’s negative figure $A220.3 million.

Virgin chief executive John Borghetti said this was the highest underlying pre-tax profit in 10 years and pointed to the strength of the airline’s domestic business, which represents two-thirds of its revenue base.

“The Virgin Australia domestic business recorded its highest EBITDA, EBIT and EBIT margin results since domestic segment reporting began,’’ he said.

Borghetti said the group’s $A653.3 million statutory loss was affected by major accounting adjustments “following a review of the group’s asset values in accordance with accounting standards”.

“As a result of the review, approximately $A451.9 million in deferred tax assets have been derecognized and there has been an $A120.8 million impairment of the assets of the Virgin Australia International business,’’ he said.

The statutory result was also affected by restructuring charges due to the airline’s decision to simplify its fleet” and other initiatives, Borghetti said. These amounted to about $A148.5 million, $A96.7 million less than similar charges the previous financial year.

The Virgin chief said the adjustments were non-cash and did not impact the fundamentals of the group’s underlying business and he was confident long-term benefits from growth would be delivered.

“As the group moves into the 2018 financial year, we are continuing the strong momentum in our underlying performance,” he said. “In July 2018, the group recorded its highest ever July revenue outcome and there is further positive momentum in forward bookings.”

“Based on current market conditions, group revenue for the first quarter of the 2019 financial year is expected to grow by at least 7 percent on the prior corresponding quarter.

“The group expects to be profitable at the underlying profit before tax and statutory levels in the first half of the financial year notwithstanding an expected fuel price increases (net of hedging and foreign exchange) of $A85 million.”

Online duty-free now available 60 min before SilkAir flights

Steve Creedy

SilkAir online duty free 60 minutes — Photo: KrisShop

Passengers on select SilkAir flights wanting to make a last-minute duty-free purchase through the KrisShop online store will soon be able to do so as little as 60 minutes before departure.

KrisShop already offers pre-ordering services up to 24 hours prior to departure from Singapore on Singapore Airlines and up to 48 hours ahead of take-off on SilkAir flights. Passengers on inbound SIA flights from China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan can also order up to 72 hours prior to departure.

Read Singapore Airline’s New York non-stop heavily sold

The service allows passengers to choose from a wide variety of goods, some unique to KrisShop, and get them delivered to their seat. This saves the disappointment of ordering on the flight and discovering a choice is unavailable.

Starting September 5, the new 60-minute service will be available on select SilkAir flights departing Singapore on weekdays between 10 am and 4 pm.

However, SIA plans to extend it progressively to other SilkAir and Singapore Airlines flights.

““We understand that some customers may need a longer time to decide before they make a purchase, while others may be aware that certain items are available on KrisShop.com only after they have checked in for their flights,’’ Singapore Airlines senior vice president sales and marketing Campbell Wilson said

“With this new offering, KrisShop is able to provide more options in terms of duty-free shopping to our customers.

“This is part of SIA’s ongoing approach to innovate and provide a better travel experience for our customers using e-commerce platforms.”

The airline has also used blockchain to launch the world’s first digital wallet allowing frequent flyers to buy products in everyday settings using Krisflyer miles.

The KrisPay digital wallet launched in July with 18 merchants across Singapore and the promise of more to come.

It allows members to use as little as 15 KrisPay miles — or about 10 Singaporean cents (7.3 US cents) — to pay for purchases at partner merchants.

Boeing cuts Asia-Pacific forecast for airline pilots, technicians

Steve Creedy

Boeing’s latest forecast has cut predicted demand for commercial airline pilots and technicians in the Asia-Pacific region by 5 percent but strong growth will still see the region account for a third of global demand over the next 20 years.

The US aerospace giant’s 2018 pilot and technician outlook forecasts the Asia-Pacific will need 240,000 commercial sector pilots over the next 20 years.

Of these, 128,500 would be needed in the burgeoning China market, with 48,500 required in South-East Asia and 42,750 in South Asia.

Demand is closely linked to new aircraft deliveries and the region will account for 40 percent of new passenger planes over the two decades.

Boeing attributed the 5 percent fall in demand to regional trends that indicated a peak in pilot retirements in the first decade and a softening of replacement demand in later years due to a younger generation entering the pilot ranks.

The forecast demand for commercial technicians is also down 5 percent to 242,000.

This was due to increased maintenance efficiency on new generation aircraft such as the 737 MAX which require fewer maintenance hours over their life.

China again accounted almost half of the total with 126,750 technicians needed over the two decades, followed by Southeast Asia (54,000) and South Asia (35,000).

However, the demand for commercial airline cabin crew was up 3 percent to 317,000 due to the mix of aircraft in airline fleets, new cabin configurations and regulatory requirements.

More than 147,000 of these would be needed in China with 76,250 required in Southeast Asia and 43,250 in South Asia.

The forecast for the first time looked at the helicopter and business aviation markets. The inclusion of these sectors boosted the overall demand for pilots to 261,000 while the figure for technicians increased to 257,000 technicians and that for cabin crew to 321,000.

“Strong demand for pilots in the region continues, and we expect that this will continue for the next several years,” Keith Cooper, Boeing Global Services’ vice president of training & professional services said in a statement. “Through our pilot training solutions, including the Pilot Development Program, we are helping to ensure a pipeline of pilots is ready to meet the industry’s demand.

The tight pilot market has prompted Qantas to set up its own training academy and the airline confirmed last week this would be based at two locations in regional Australia.

The airline plans to train up to 100 pilots a year but expects this to grow to as many as 500 annually, including candidates from overseas, once it has more than one location.

Read Qantas underlying profit hits a new record.