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@AustinsAirways on 25 April 2023

Mark your calendars for an exhilarating week of aviation and community. Be among the first to learn the latest about Austin's Airways platforms, technologies, and initiatives. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage with Austin's Airways experts, representatives, and other people in the aviation industry. All in Taipei, Taiwan - the beacon of light in a new world.

@CEOAustinChow on 6 January 2023

Austin's Airways has placed new aircraft orders for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic began. Today, we ordered 20 new A35-1000XWB, and 10 new A321neo aircrafts, which will accelerate our recovery and expansion plans, and bring forward the delivery timeframe for these aircraft types. These aircrafts are a testament to our confidence in the aviation industry, and the broader travel sector outlook. Way to go!

@CEOAustinChow on 25 December 2022

2022: The year that we returned to normalcy

As 2022 draws to a close, it’s time for the annual year in review.

World Review

2022 is a year marked by our sustained return to normalcy, as the world continues to lift restrictions, re-open borders, and recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Russia’s unjustified invasion of Ukraine, which is the largest armed conflict in Europe since World War II, continues to cause grave hardship and suffering, threatens world peace and stability, and has led to united international sanctions for the perpetrator.

Together with record-high consumer demand, broad supply shortages including the chip and energy crises, and missteps by central banks, the disruptions caused by the war in Ukraine has led to surging inflation. It has been a rough year the stock market with persistent economic uncertainty.

The world lost many prominent people including Shinzo Abe, Mikhail Gorbachev, Queen Elizabeth II, and Jiang Zemin.

Hong Kong Review

The coronavirus pandemic dominated headlines in Hong Kong. After experiencing a severe fifth wave of infections early on in the year which resulted in the death of thousands of people, Hong Kong gradually pivoted towards opening up the economy in the latter months of the year.

The year also marked a change in government leadership.

Finally, the MTR line extensions provide additional convenience to residents and tourists alike.

Austin’s Airways Review

With the aviation and travel industry steadily recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, Austin’s Airways continues to improve our financial performance across the board.

Average passenger load was 51% per flight, and average cargo load was 84% per flight. In the first half of 2022, Europe and North America were our two best performing regions with average passenger loads of 60% (combined), while Southeast Asia stole the limelight in the second half of 2022 with an average passenger load of 79%. As with 2021, our best performing route continued to be between Hong Kong and London with average passenger loads of 76% in the first half of 2022.

We report an improvement of 85% in year-on-year profits. Despite our profit still falling short of pre-coronavirus level financial results, we anticipate that this trend would be reversed in 2023 and that we would be able to reach new heights next year. We took delivery of 5 new aircrafts in 2022.

Flagship World Expo 22 was held in Los Angeles, USA. We announced FlyOS 6 – the next generation of IFE, a comprehensive route network update, and enhancements to Around the World – the world’s best frequent flyer program.

The year that was reflects Austin’s Airways’ commitment to our customers, to the pursuit of innovation, and to leaving the world better than we found it. As we head into a new chapter our most powerful line-up of offerings and services ever, we are leading with our values in every action we take and every decision we make. We are deeply committed to advancing the traveling experience, to connecting people and places in ways never seen before, to protecting the environment, and to strengthening our services that can unlock humanity’s potential. 

@AustinsAirways on 20 October 2022

We've finally re-opened every Austin's Airways Lounge around the world, after some were closed due to the pandemic!

@AustinsAirways on 22 May 2022

Join pioneers worldwide from 27 June to 1 July for an inspiring week of aviation, technology and community. Get a first look at Austin's Airways' latest platforms and technologies in sessions, explore the newest innovations, and connect with like-minded individuals and companies.

And for the first time since the pandemic began, we are bring FWE back to an in-person format, held in Los Angeles, U.S.A. this year.

@CEOAustinChow on 30 December 2021

With the passing of another year, it’s time for the customary annual year in review. 2021 has been an eventful year.

Like 2020, the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate headlines. Yet, there is truly a glimmer of hope for we now have in our hands one of the greatest scientific inventions – safe and effective coronavirus vaccines. Starting in very late 2020 and continuing throughout 2021, many countries around the world rolled out vaccines. This changed everything and allows the world to now transition from a pandemic phase to an endemic phase. Infection is no longer a concern, as the leading vaccines have proven to be nearly 100% effective at preventing infection, severe disease, and death. Some fear mongering scientists hijacked the emergence of new coronavirus variant strains and caused unnecessary fear and confusion by doubting the effectiveness of vaccines. These fears are unfounded and there is no question that vaccines do work. 2021 also saw many notable events. The world rung in a new leader for the free world amid chaos on Capitol Hill. In March, the Suez Canal was blocked for six days after the grounding of Ever Given, which brought widespread disruption to the supply chain and logistics. In April, the Crown, the United Kingdom, and the Commonwealth lost a royal highness. The long awaited 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics were finally held. In August, the 20-year war in Afghanistan ended with the hasty and chaotic withdrawal of American and allied forces. In September, three beacons of democracy formed a new security alliance that will see one country acquire groundbreaking nuclear submarines to preserve security and stability in the Indo-Pacific. Towards the end of the year, countries failed to deliver tangible pledges at climate change conferences. Innovation for the world continues at Expo 2020 in Dubai.

In Hong Kong, the Government continues to pursue a zero-coronavirus strategy and stubbornly refuses to abandon it despite virtually every country (other than mainland China) moving on and embracing the notion of living with coronavirus. Throughout the year, the Government issued numerous testing mandates for people living in buildings with confirmed cases, with the first mandate being on 15 January. Hongkongers continue to live under repression, which is not least demonstrated by the unlawful and unjust arrest of 53 former lawmakers and other notable activists alike. In a matter of only a few months, Hong Kong has lost two media outlets, university student unions and so much more. On 1 July 2021, Hong Kong witnessed a symbolic act during a demonstration that will continue to live on in Hongkonger’s hearts. The number of Hongkongers emigrating also rose dramatically, with waves of Hongkongers leaving the city in droves in pursuit of democracy, freedom and liberty. Not all was gloomy in Hong Kong. At the Tokyo Olympics, Edgar Cheung Ka Long did Hong Kong proud by taking home a Gold medal – a truly extraordinary feat. Hongkongers from all walks of life united to witness this historic moment on massive TVs in shopping malls across the city. Other high-performance athletes continued the streak of achievements by bagging a total of two Silver medals and five Bronze medals for the city; in fact, it is already a huge achievement for an athlete to be able to compete in the Olympics.

With the World Review and Hong Kong Review out of the way, it’s now time to turn our attention to the Austin’s Airways Review. Austin’s Airways continued to operate against a challenging backdrop caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as well as constantly changing travel restrictions imposed by various countries. Average passenger load was 29% per flight, and average cargo load was 87% per flight. Europe was our best performing region with average passenger loads of 52%, and our best performing route was between Hong Kong and London with average passenger loads of 67%. Meanwhile, routes between Hong Kong and Australia were weakest due to severe caps on the number of arrivals imposed by the Australian Government; average passenger loads were only 17% to this region. Nevertheless, these are much improved results compared to last year. We report an improvement of 37% in year-on-year profits. Yet, our profit still significantly falls short of pre-coronavirus level financial results. And throughout the year, we took delivery of 13 new aircrafts. For the first time since we started hosting Flagship World Expo, it was not held this year due to continued uncertainty over the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on our route network and flight schedules. In November this year we re-set our operations, launched all-new routes, and pivoted to an even more global focus for our route network that is setting a new standard for performance and empowering our customers to connect in new ways. We are infusing our values into everything we do — moving closer to our environmental goal of being carbon neutral across our entire operations and services, and ever advancing our mission to build a more equitable future.

Cheers to a bright 2022.

@AustinsAirways on 27 December 2021

Today we took delivery of a brand new B787-9 Dreamliner, A350-900 XWB, and A320neo. These new aircrafts will drive stability across our operations, invest in our future and position our team to deliver for our customers as the market recovers.

@AustinsAirways on 24 August 2021

Announcing our most prestigious tier yet - Diamond Pro Max!

Diamond X has also been rebranded as Diamond Pro.

We've also made some generous changes to Lounge admittance.

@AustinsAirways on 6 May 2021

Unfortunately Flagship World Expo will not be held in 2021. There remains much uncertainty over the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, and Austin's Airways has had to make profound changes and adjustments to our route network and flight schedules. Although Flagship World Expo will not be held in 2021, we remain committed to this annual event and are continuing to develop exciting new services and products in the background. We look forward to seeing you at another Flagship World Expo in the future.

@AustinsAirways on 20 Feb 2021

Today we took delivery of a batch of 10 brand new aircrafts - albeit they went straight into storage due to decreased demand that resulted from the coronavirus pandemic. That's not to say we can't wait to welcome you back onboard these new aircrafts once this pandemic subsides!

@CEOAustinChow on 31 December 2020

As is customary every year, it is time to look back at 2020 as we look forward to 2021 and a new decade. 2020 has definitely been an unprecedented year, to say the least.

2020 started with news coming out of Wuhan, China about a mysterious virus that causes severe pneumonia, to which China had notified The World Health Organization on 31 December 2019. A new strain of coronavirus had emerged from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which was a wet market with narrow lanes and stalls in close proximity, where livestock were kept alongside dead animals. It was common to see animals openly slaughtered and carcasses skinned in the market. Sanitation was dismal with poor ventilation and garbage were piled on wet floors. This origin of the coronavirus was linked to an outbreak of 40 stall vendors. Soon, the novel coronavirus spread around the world quicker than wildfire, and wreaked havoc on a scale that was simply unimaginable before. As of 31 December 2020, the novel coronavirus has infected over 83,182,226 people, claimed the lives of over 1,814,712 people, and upheaved the lives of the entire world population. The world economy plummeted into a deep recession, trade was severely disrupted, and unemployment soared past those seen in the Great Depression. From complete lockdowns, to work-and-learn-from-home arrangements, to the postponement of the 2020 Olympic Games – which has only been cancelled three times, all during the world wars, in the entirety of its history since 1896, to supply shortages, the world has been plunged into a crisis like no other.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic shadowing the world, the rest of 2020 has also been very eventful. In politics, Joe Biden became the President-elect of the United States of America after a heated and contested election. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle announced that they would be “stepping down” from royal duties. In Taiwan, Tsai Ing Wen was re-elected President, reaffirming Taiwan’s will, capability, and strength as a beacon of democracy, freedom and liberty to the rest of Asia, and indeed to the entire world. The supreme leader of a hermit kingdom north of South Korea was rumored to have died or to be in a vegetative state, which turned out to be false. Towards the end of the year, Brexit finally delivered on its promise. 2020 was not without tragedies. In the beginning of the year a Los Angeles Lakers player was killed along with eight others when their helicopter crashed in California on 26 January. The sixth-largest accidental, non-nuclear explosion ever in human history occurred in Beirut, which caused unfathomable destruction and injured countless people. The summer was one marked by protests and the call for equity. The killing of George Floyd by a white policeman in Minneapolis initiated a summer of protests and the Black Lives Matter movement, which gained widespread traction in the United States and around the world – a wakeup call for fairness and the ideals that we stand up for. Despite the gloomy atmosphere, scientific progress continues to accelerate, and we are proud of the progress to invent the ultimate cure to the novel coronavirus – a vaccine. From initial doubt of whether a novel coronavirus vaccine could even be possible, unbelievable scientific progress has been made in this area.

In Hong Kong, the year has also been extraordinary for Hong Kongers. The coronavirus pandemic grounded all holiday-making plans – something that was so characteristic of Hong Kong people in the past. The beginning of the year saw some of the most surreal scenes ever, from the very real and existential threat of the Wuhan virus that warranted the closure of the border with mainland China, to the brave sacrifices of the strike by healthcare workers, to mask shortages due to the failure of the government to ensure an adequate supply of masks and personal protection. Hong Kong was struck by four waves of imported virus cases due to border loopholes after loopholes. In other areas of life, a draconian National Security Law was unfairly and unjustly imposed on Hong Kongers, and deprived Hong Kongers of fundamental humanistic freedoms. The wake of the Hong Kong anti-extradition bill movement which started in June last year continues to scar and mark Hong Kong.

With the annual World Review and Hong Kong Review out of the way, let’s turn our attention to the annual Austin’s Airways Review. The coronavirus pandemic has obviously impacted the airline industry on an unparalleled scale. From January to March, demand increased as people travelled to avoid the novel coronavirus. From March onwards, the rapid acceleration in the spread of the coronavirus around the world meant numerous travel restrictions were imposed by virtually every country, and flights were grounded on a scale never seen before. Austin’s Airways has been severely affected by the coronavirus pandemic. At one point in time, over 99% of Austin’s Airways flights were cancelled. Although demand and restrictions have since improved, there is still a long way to complete recovery, both for Austin’s Airways and the wider aerospace industry. For the fiscal year 2020, Austin’s Airways reports an unprecedented loss of 90% in profits from last year. Average passenger load was ranged from 13-49% per flight, and average cargo load was 97% per flight. Despite the destruction wrought about by the coronavirus pandemic, Austin’s Airways never stops innovating. In summer 2020, we held our annual Flagship World Expo in an all-new online format, where we unveiled FlyOS 5, and a revamped Partner Airlines program in place of our exit from being an affiliated oneworld airline. We took delivery of 3 new aircrafts, and retired our entire fleet of A380 and B747 due to the remarkable drop in passenger demand – which we anticipate will take years to recover to pre-coronavirus levels.

@AustinsAirways on 25 December 2020

While Christmas is looking very different in 2020, we wish you an amazing festival filled with love and cheers from friends and families. Gather round!

@AustinsAirways on 2 Oct 2020

Following our annoucement on 9 March 2020 that Austin's Airways will be leaving oneworld, Austin's Airways has exited the alliance today (2 October 2020). We look forward to continuing to co-operate with oneworld airlines on an individual airline basis in the future. Going forward, we will expand our Partner Airlines to incorporate more choice and benefits for our passengers.

@AustinsAirways on 3 Sept 2020

Premium Economy Max and Premium Economy R will be suspended indefinitely due to operational changes following the coronavirus pandemic. Premium Economy has been reinstated instead.

@AustinsAirways on 11 May 2020

Flagship World Expo will begin from 29 June 2020, and will last the week. Join us for this all-online, global event with lots of exciting announcements. Throughout the week, we will be making announcements, sharing our latest initiatives, and offering a range of varied courses for you to explore online. There's a lot to come.

@AustinsAirways on 2 April 2020

This June, the annual Flagship World Expo 2020 brings a completely new online experience to millions of talented and creative industry professionals, Around the World members, and customers around the world. Join us for a fully packed program — including Keynote and sessions — to gain early access to the future of Austin's Airways and engage with Austin's Airways engineers and staff. Dive into an exciting learning experience and discover how Austin's Airways is shaping the future with the the latest technologies.

Stay tuned for details.

@AustinsAirways on 13 March 2020

We've repainted 6 of our B777-300ER aircrafts with stunning new Gradient Series Special Liveries. Check them out here!

@AustinsAirways on 9 March 2020

Austin's Airways will end its affiliate membership in the oneworld alliance effective 1 October 2020, following the airline's decision to leave the alliance.

Oneworld benefits for Austin's Airways customers will be offered on oneworld flights up to and including 1 October 2020. Austin's Airways Around the World members will not receive oneworld frequent flyer benefits offered by Royal Air Maroc, which joins oneworld effective 1 April. Austin's Airways will not offer oneworld frequent flyer member benefits to Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer members.

A number of oneworld member airlines plan to maintain frequent flyer agreements amongst other cooperations with Austin's Airways after 1 October.

@CEOAustinChow on 24 Dec 2019  

With the end of 2019 fast approaching and the dawn of a new decade, it is time to look back at the past year. 2019 has been an unforgettable year for everyone in Hong Kong.

More than seven months and counting of turmoil and unrest in Hong Kong has undeniably affected everyone in society. The failure and incompetency of the inept Hong Kong Government has deeply affected everyone in Hong Kong. The deeply unpopular Extradition Bill sparked off intense protests, where Hong Kong citizens unfurled their frustrations towards deep-rooted social problems which are the result of a culmination of livelihood issues for many years.

A look back at the key events in Hong Kong:

9 June 2019: Despite knowing the deep unpopularity of the Extradition Bill, and more than 1 million Hong Kong citizens taking to the streets, the Government proceeded with the bill.

12 June 2019: Hong Kong citizens once again gathered outside the Legislative Council Complex to stall the bill's second reading resulting in an intense standoff between the protesters and the police, who unlawfully deployed tear gas and rubber bullets. This is police brutality and Austin’s Airways strongly condemns such irresponsible acts of the police.

16 June 2019: The largest march ever in Hong Kong’s history. Over 2 million Hong Kong citizens marched in protest of the Hong Kong Government and laid out the Five Demands.

1 July 2019: Hong Kong citizens symbolically stormed the LegCo complex, symbolising their rejection at the Hong Kong Government. 

21 July 2019: an armed mob of over 100 triads dressed in white indiscriminately attacked normal Hong Kong citizens, including the elderly, children, black-clad protesters, journalists, the pregnant and lawmakers, going about in their own business in Yuen Long MTR station. Citizens made many emergency calls from 7:00 pm, but police officers deliberately arrived more than three hours after initial calls for help were made. Many citizens could not connect to the reporting hotline as the police purposefully ignored serious emergency calls for help. To compound the evilness in the police’s conscience, the Yuen Long police station cowardly shut its gate and the police hid from those seeking help. This is truly disgraceful and cowardly as the police are bound by an oath to fearlessly and selflessly protect any Hong Kong citizens from danger. They completely failed this oath.

31 August 2019: Police stormed Prince Edward MTR station and murdered three Hong Kong citizens. After the brutal storming, the police continue to deny their wrongdoings.

Summer, Fall, Winter 2019 and counting: Countless strikes, countless brave scarifices and injuries by Hong Kong citizens including eye injuries, countless marches, the Hong Kong Way, Airport sit-ins and the cancellations of flights for days, death of Chow Tsz-lok and Chan Yin-lam caused by murder by Hong Kong police, ridiculous abuse of live ammunition by Hong Kong police which has grievously injured Hong Kong citizens and the epic failure of the anti-mask law.

Despite the challenging background, Austin’s Airways has performed well this year. Average passenger load was 69% per flight, and average cargo load was 73% per flight. Despite the drop in year-on-year average capacity load, Austin’s Airways has made up financially with strategic investments and operations. We took delivery of 17 new aircrafts and launched 9 new routes, including all-new seasonal routes to Europe during Summer 2019. This year, our annual Flagship World Expo was held in London, where we unveiled two entirely new Travelling Classes – Premium Economy Max and Premium Economy R – offering more choice to more customers than ever, FlyOS 4, refreshed branding, and Moment at AW.

In the aviation world, it was a record year for bankruptcies, with around 20 airlines going out of business amid a challenging global market. It was also a challenging year for Boeing, which was marked by two fatal B737 MAX crashes and the subsequent B737 MAX groundings, as well as the many scandals unfolded out of Boeing that have ensued. A380 productions were also announced to soon end in 2021. We also witnessed new mega-airports being opened around the world, including one in Singapore and Beijing.

The rest of the world has also been eventful. Spain and other countries saw protests erupt, signalling that society’s mechanism has put too much pressure on its people and is failing us. Setbacks continue in the unpredictable Brexit, and the UK saw a change in prime minister leadership. A cathedral in France was burnt, and terrorist attacks continued around the world, including one in New Zealand. On a more positive note, progress continues to be made in science and technological innovations continue to drive the world.

Finally, on behalf of Austin’s Airways, here’s to hoping for a better year ahead.

@AustinsAirways on 1 November 2019 

All-new turndown service is coming to Flagship First and Business Class, enhancing the sleeping experience on night flights. Enjoy premium duvet and pillows on a fully flat bed, complete with a bottle of water to sip before sinking into the night.

@AustinsAirways on 29 Sept 2019 

We are adding Qi wireless charging pads to all Flagship First Suites and Business Class seats, on all aircrafts. Simply place your phone down, and arrive with a full battery.

@CEOAustinChow on 18 March 2019

@AustinsAirways on 25 February 2019 

A leap forward: NFC is coming on our aircrafts for a hassle free shopping experience. With NFC, you can now pay for duty free shopping with just your phone - right from your seat. Entering credit card details will now be a thing of the past. This seamless experience is only made possible by Austin's Airways tight integration of hardware and software, especially FlyOS, the world's best IFE OS.

NFC will be installed on our fleet of B787 Dreamliners and B747-8I from Spring 2019, and will later be installed on other aircrafts.

@CEOAustinChow on 12 December 2018 

As is customary every year, it's time to look back at 2018 as we look forward to 2019. This has, again, been a very successful year for Austin’s Airways.

Austin’s Airways defied all expectations and records impressive financial growth and success. For the fiscal year 2018, we report a ground breaking relative arbitrary 45% increase in profits, led by sky high increases in revenue, all adjusted for increased capacity. Average passenger load was 89% per flight, and average cargo load was 95% per flight. Our fiscal 2018 financial results are driven by continued strong sales of full fares as well as ancillary fares, and we are very excited about the products and services in our pipeline. We took delivery of 57 new aircrafts, and launched 15 new routes across four continents. In summer 2018, we held our annual Flagship World Expo, this time in Toronto, where we unveiled a wealth of new initiatives, including the introduction of our first A350-1000 XWB.

The rest of the world also has had a very eventful and thrilling year. In February, a milestone in space travel was made by a private American company that sent the most powerful rocket into space. Other areas in science were also advanced, shown by the creation of the first monkey clones using somatic cell nuclear transfer. In sports, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, as well as the Commonwealth Games in Australia, showcased the best and brightest athletic talents in the world. Politically, an incident concerning Skripal came to light, and a very historic summit stabilised the Korean Peninsula in June – a symbolic event to shattered decades of hostility. Although diplomatic progress has improved in that part of the world, it has worsened in others, most notably for the unlawful killing of an innocent journalist in the Middle East, whose assassination was ordered by a Prince. More positively, the world’s most successful, beloved, and innovative company, which completely changed the world 11 years ago with a breakthrough product, became the world’s first ever and only publicly traded company to hit a market cap of 1 trillion US dollars, reaffirming its unimaginable scale of successes upon successes. However, 2018 has also been plagued by further evidence that the ways we use energy strengthen our adversaries and threaten our planet. Some may still deny the overwhelming judgment of science, but none can avoid the devastating impact of unpredictable weather, more powerful storms, and more frequently occurring natural disasters. The international community has stabilised better than last year, albeit the fact that war still rages on in parts of the world, where cowardice kills of thousands of innocent civilians.

@Austin'sAirways on 5 November 2018 

Today is a great day, with a new B787-8 Dreamliner, a B777F and a A320neo delivered straight from the factories.

Our cargo flights are performing extremely well financially, with amazing load factor percentages, so we are pleased to increase capacity with the newest B777F addition. The A320neo continues our commitment to offer the best shorthaul experience, with lie-flat seats in Business Class and an innovative Economy Class cabin. Boeing has made some very minor tweaks to the Dreamliner engines, ensuring peak performance at all times, and our existing B787s are all supporting peak performance as usual.

@Austin'sAirways on 15 October 2018 

Our 20th B787-9 Dreamliner joins our uber modern fleet today! Fly on the Dreamliner to your favourite destinations!

The B787 Dreamliner revolutionised 21st century flight. It is made of the most advanced composite materials ever, powered by brand new crisp cut engines that take your flight to the next level. In the cabins, next generation air management filter systems ensures a great atmosphere, while LED mood lighting sets the mood for a great flight. Welcome to the future.

@Austin'sAirways on 20 September 2018 

A great day today! Tremendous updates to Around the World makes flying and spending so much more rewarding. Have the options to spend even more on the largest catalogue! FlyOS 3, our most powerful IFE OS, will be available 21 September 2018, as will our brand new Austin's Airways Store.