We continue with the weekly series, in this case, regarding the Asia and Oceania market summary during October, with current news and some future developments for the coming months. To review the latest posts, click on the following links:
For one of the world’s fastest growing markets, several highlights can be noted. As the restrictions imposed by the Coronavirus pandemic continue to decrease and demand rises, airlines from Asia and Oceania are resuming and increasing their operations to the United States. Air China, Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern and China Southern will all have new services in the Asia/Oceania – US market.
Air China
After a three and a half year suspension due to the pandemic, Air China will resume flights between Beijing and San Francisco as of November 1st. The carrier will have twice-weekly services as follows: Wednesday and Saturday · Boeing 777-300(ER)
- CA985 Beijing PEK 15:00 · 12:00 SFO San Francisco
- CA986 San Francisco SFO 14:20 · 19:30+1 PEK Beijing
Air India
On October 22nd, the Indian airline began its seasonal flights between Bengaluru and Singapore. According to the company’s website, Air India will offer four services a week on Airbus A321 aircraft. Monday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday
- AI392 Bengaluru BLR 22:30 · 05:40+1 SIN Singapore
Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday
- AI393 Singapore SIN 06:40 · 08:35 BLR Bengaluru
Air India will operate to Singapore from Bengaluru, Chennai, Mumbai and New Delhi.
Schedule between Bengaluru and Singapore

- Air India (AI): 4 weekly · Airbus A321s
- IndiGo (6E): 7 weekly · Airbus A321s
- Singapore (SQ): 16 weekly · Airbus A350s and Boeing 737 MAX 8s
Air New Zealand
Effective December 2nd, Air New Zealand will boost its flights between Auckland and Los Angeles. The carrier currently operates seven weekly services with 342-seat Boeing 777-300(ER)s. Daily
- NZ6 Auckland AKL 20:15 · 11:15 LAX Los Angeles
- NZ5 Los Angeles LAX 19:55 · 06:00+1 AKL Auckland
New flight
- NZ4 Auckland AKL 23:30 · 14:30 LAX Los Angeles
- NZ3 Los Angeles LAX 20:40 · 06:45+1 AKL Auckland
The new operations will be carried out on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Flight NZ 4 and 3 was performed until early October.
Bamboo Airways
The company will cease its long haul flights as of November 2023 due to a major restructuring. Currently, Bamboo operates to Frankfurt, Melbourne and Sydney with Boeing 787 aircraft, all of which will leave the fleet in the short term. As a consequence of its corporate restructure, Bamboo Airways is expected to focus on narrow body planes and routes within Asia over the next few months. Fleet
- Airbus A320: 6
- Airbus A320neo: 6
- Airbus A321: 4
- Airbus A321neo: 6
- Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner: 3
- Embraer 190: 5
Destinations
China
Japan
South Korea
Taiwan
Thailand
Vietnam
- Buon Ma Thuot (BMV)
- Can Tho (VHA)
- Con Do (VCS)
- Da Lat Lien Khuong (DLI)
- Da Nang (DAD)
- Dong Hoi (VDH)
- Hanoi (HAN)
- Ho Chi Minh City (SGN)
- Hue Phu Bai (HUI)
- Nha Trang Cam Ranh (CXR)
- Phu Quoc (PQC)
- Pleiku (PXU)
- Qui Nhon Phu Cat (UIH)
Until mid-October, in addition to operations to Australia and Germany, Bamboo also had flights to London from Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, services that were discontinued.
Cathay Pacific
The Hong Kong International Airport-based carrier resumed its regular flights to Chicago on October 3rd, a route it had suspended since March 2020 as a result of the pandemic. Cathay will operate three times a week with Airbus A350-1000 aircraft, configured for 334 passengers in three seating classes. According to Cathay’s website, this will be their schedule: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday
- CX806 Hong Kong HKG 12:35 · 14:00 ORD Chicago
- CX807 Chicago ORD 16:05 · 20:45+1 HKG Hong Kong
Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco are Cathay Pacific’s destinations in the United States:

- Boston (BOS): 3 weekly · Airbus A350
- Chicago (ORD): 3 weekly · Airbus A350
- Los Angeles (LAX): 12 weekly · Boeing 777
- New York (JFK): 16 weekly · Airbus A350
- San Francisco (SFO): 8 weekly · Airbus A350
China Eastern
By October 29th, China Eastern Airlines resumed operations to San Francisco after a nearly four-year suspension because of the coronavirus pandemic. The carrier will offer two weekly flights from Shanghai using Boeing 777-300(ER) jets. Friday and Sunday
- MU589 Shanghai PVG 14:20 · 09:30 SFO San Francisco
Monday and Saturday
- MU590 San Francisco SFO 12:00 · 17:35+1 PVG Shanghai
China Southern
Wuhan will recover its non-stop connection to San Francisco starting November 4th. China Southern Airlines will fly once a week on Boeing 777-300(ER) aircraft configured for 360 passengers. The last scheduled flight between Wuhan and San Francisco was in February 2020. Saturday
- CZ659 Guangzhou CAN 11:20 · 13:10 WUH Wuhan
- CZ659 Wuhan WUH 15:10 · 11:55 SFO San Francisco
Sunday
- CZ660 San Francisco SFO 12:55 · 18:40+1 WUH Wuhan
- CZ660 Wuhan WUH 20:20 · 22:10 CAN Guangzhou (Monday)
JAL
Japan Airlines has increased its flights to Taiwan starting October 29th. A new destination from Taipei will be added, as well as more services from Tokyo Narita. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
- JL8667 Osaka KIX 10:00 · 12:15 TPE Taipei
- JL8668 Taipei TPE 13:25 · 16:55 KIX Osaka
Daily · no changes
- JL809 Tokyo NRT 18:05 · 21:15 TPE Taipei
- JL802 Taipei TPE 10:35 · 14:35 NRT Tokyo
Daily · new flight
- JL8663 Tokyo NRT 11:35 · 14:45 TPE Taipei
- JL8664 Taipei TPE 15:50 · 19:50 NRT Tokyo
Hong Kong Airlines
As can be seen on its website, Hong Kong Airlines plans to resume flights to the Maldives from January 19th, 2024. The company is scheduling three weekly services on its Airbus A330-300s with the following timetable: Monday, Wednesday and Friday
- HX791 Hong Kong HKG 15:40 · 19:35 MLE Maldives
- HX792 Maldives MLE 21:20 · 06:35+1 HKG Hong Kong
Qantas
Qantas’ Sydney to Tokyo Haneda operations will have an increase on their frequency starting November 26th, as the airline will duplicate services between the two cities. Daily
- QF25 Sydney SYD 22:05 · 05:55 HND Tokyo
- QF26 Tokyo HND 08:45 · 20:30 SYD Sydney
Daily – new flight
- QF59 Sydney SYD 12:10 · 20:00 HND Tokyo
- QF60 Tokyo HND 22:00 · 09:55+1 SYD Sydney
Singapore Airlines
Singapore will increase its flights to Johannesburg from Changi Airport, which currently operates seven times a week on 318-seat Airbus A350-900 aircraft. Starting January 3rd, 2024, the airline will have 10 weekly services: Daily
- SQ478 Singapore SIN 01:30 · 06:10 JNB Johannesburg
- SQ478 Johannesburg JNB 07:10 · 09:25 CPT Cape Town
- SQ479 Cape Town CPT 10:40 · 12:40 JNB Johannesburg
- SQ479 Johannesburg JNB 13:45 · 06:10+1 SIN Singapore
New flight · Wednesday, Friday and Sunday
- SQ482 Singapore SIN 16:35 · 21:15 JNB Johannesburg
- SQ483 Johannesburg JNB 22:30 · 14:55+1 SIN Singapore
As of October 29th, Singapore Airlines resumed services between Singapore and Tokyo Narita with Airbus A380 aircraft. This flight, SQ 638/637, was operated by Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner jets. Singapore’s last scheduled flight to Tokyo with Airbus A380s had been in late March 2020. According to its website, the company will operate once a day this route on the mentioned aircraft. Daily
- SQ638 Singapore SIN 23:55 · 07:30+1 NRT Tokyo
- SQ637 Tokyo NRT 10:00 · 16:55 SIN Singapore
Star Air
Beginning November 21st, Star Air will inaugurate commercial operations at Shivamogga (RQY). The airline will have three scheduled routes with its Embraer 175s, configured for 76 passengers.
Goa Mopa
- S5210 Shivamogga RQY 13:55 · 14:45 GOX Goa Mopa
- S5211 Goa Mopa GOX 15:15 · 16:05 RQY Shivamogga
Hyderabad
- S5212 Shivamogga RQY 09:30 · 10:35 HYD Hyderabad
- S5213 Hyderabad HYD 16:30 · 17:35 RQY Shivamogga
Tirupati
- S5202 Shivamogga RQY 11:00 · 12:00 TIR Tirupati
- S5203 Tirupati TIR 12:35 · 13:40 RQY Shivamogga

Each will be offered on a daily basis.
Vietnam Airlines
According to reports, Vietnam Airlines plans to launch flights between Hanoi and Beijing Daxing from January 2024. The carrier intends to operate three weekly services on Airbus A321 aircraft. Monday, Thursday and Saturday
- VN514 Hanoi HAN 01:10 · 05:30 PKX Beijing
- VN515 Beijing PKX 08:15 · 11:05 HAN Hanoi
At the time of publication, operations are not available for sale.
Vistara
Vistara will inaugurate services between Mumbai and Frankfurt from November 15th. The Indian company will operate six weekly flights on 299-seat Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner aircraft. Mumbai will be Vistara’s second destination at Frankfurt Airport, as it currently operates from New Delhi six times a week. Daily except Monday
- UK27 Mumbai BOM 13:00 · 17:30 FRA Frankfurt
- UK28 Frankfurt FRA 20:20 · 09:10+1 BOM Mumbai
Frankfurt, London and Paris are Vistara’s routes in Europe:

- Mumbai (BOM) – London (LHR): 5 weekly · Boeing 787
- New Delhi (DEL) – Frankfurt (FRA): 5 weekly · Boeing 787
- New Delhi (DEL) – London (LHR): 7 weekly · Boeing 787
- New Delhi (DEL) – Paris (CDG): 5 weekly · Boeing 787
Air Mauritius
The carrier will increase its flights to Kuala Lumpur in April and July 2024. Air Mauritius currently operates twice weekly from Port Louis, Mauritius with Airbus A330s. Monday and Thursday
- MK646 Port Louis MRU 23:00 · 10:10+1 KUL Kuala Lumpur
Tuesday and Friday
- MK647 Kuala Lumpur KUL 12:50 · 15:50 MRU Port Louis
New flights on Wednesdays from Port Louis, and Thursdays from Kuala Lumpur. The actual schedule will be carried out during May and June 2024, with the three weekly services returning in July.
Regarding the civil aviation situation in Israel, and the status of each airline, you can listen to AvTalk Episode 237.
Cover photo: Yoshiharu Ozaki – JetPhotos.