China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 華航) is planning to offer 40 percent more passenger flights this quarter than last quarter, as air travel demand is rising, the company said yesterday as it announced the launch of a Pokemon-themed jet.
The airline is planning to paint one of its Airbus A321neo planes with a livery representing the Japanese animation, video game and mobile game franchise, China Airlines told a news conference in Taipei.
Eleven Pokemon characters would be depicted on the fuselage, including Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Snorlax, while the Poke Ball, which players use to capture the characters in the games, would be depicted on the engines, the airline said.
Photo: CNA
“It is the first time that The Pokemon Co partners with a foreign airline to launch a Pokemon-themed airplane,” the company said, adding that it took about two years for the two sides to prepare for the launch.
As the COVID-19 pandemic affects air travel worldwide, the Japanese firm runs a project called “Flying Pikachu” to encourage people to regain their enthusiasm for travel, and the collaboration with CAL is part of the project, Pokemon executive Susumu Fukunaga said.
The Pokemon-themed airplane would be used for flights to North Asian and Southeast Asian destinations, China Airlines said.
It is not easy to forecast when travel demand will fully recover given the emergence of new variants of SARS-CoV-2, but demand should rise more than 40 percent this quarter, CAL president Kao Shing-hwang (高星潢) said.
The airline would steadily increase the number of passenger flights and is planning to offer more flights to London; Bali, Indonesia; and Sapporo, Japan, this quarter, Kao said.
Asked whether ticket prices would remain at a higher level than before the pandemic, Kao said prices would be determined by supply and demand, and might drop during the slow season.
The number of passenger flights would not increase drastically in the near term, the airline said, adding that it expects its air cargo business to remain stable this quarter.
HANDOVER POLICY: Approving the probe means that the new US administration of Donald Trump is likely to have the option to impose trade restrictions on China US President Joe Biden’s administration is set to initiate a trade investigation into Chinese semiconductors in the coming days as part of a push to reduce reliance on a technology that US officials believe poses national security risks. The probe could result in tariffs or other measures to restrict imports on older-model semiconductors and the products containing them, including medical devices, vehicles, smartphones and weaponry, people familiar with the matter said. The investigation examining so-called foundational chips could take months to conclude, meaning that any reaction to the findings would be left to the discretion of US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming team. Biden
INVESTMENT: Jun Seki, chief strategy officer for Hon Hai’s EV arm, and his team are currently in talks in France with Renault, Nissan’s 36 percent shareholder Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), the iPhone maker known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally, is in talks with Nissan Motor Co’s biggest shareholder Renault SA about its willingness to sell its shares in the Japanese automaker, the Central News Agency (CNA) said, citing people it did not identify. Nissan and fellow Japanese automaker, Honda Motor Co, are exploring a merger that would create a rival to Toyota Motor Corp in Japan and better position the combined company to face competitive challenges around the world, people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. However, one potential spanner in the works is
HON HAI LURKS: The ‘Nikkei’ reported that Foxconn’s interest in Nissan accelerated the Honda-merger effort out of fears it might be taken over by the Taiwanese firm Nissan Motor Co has become the latest buyout target in Japan as it explores a merger with Honda Motor Co and faces an overture from Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密), known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團) internationally. Shares in Nissan yesterday jumped 24 percent, the most on record, to hit the daily limit, after the two Japanese automakers acknowledged that talks are ongoing to better position themselves for competitive challenges during a time of upheaval in the global auto industry. Foxconn — a Taipei-based manufacturer of iPhones, which has been investing heavily in factories to build electric vehicles — has also
CHIP SUBSIDY: The US funding would help alleviate the financial pressure from building two fabs in the US and should lift gross margins in 2026, the company said GlobalWafers Co (環球晶圓), the world’s third-largest silicon wafer supplier, yesterday said it is to receive US$406 million in subsidies from the US Department of Commerce for two new US fabs under the CHIPS and Science Act, with the first batch of the funds likely coming next year. The grant represents 10 percent of the planned investments of US$4 billion in advanced semiconductor wafer manufacturing facilities in Texas and Missouri, GlobalWafers said. The commerce department is to disburse the funds based on the completion of project milestones over a multiyear timeframe, the company said. Along with the tax credit, which is equal to
RSS