2 November 2009
More flights to Thai beach destinations
PHUKET, Hat Yai and Krabi are getting a major access boost this quarter, according to the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT).
Last week, Tiger Airways resumed its four-weekly Singapore-Krabi flights on 180-seat Airbus A320 aircraft. From tomorrow, the carrier will launch a thrice-weekly Singapore-Hat Yai service.
Newly-established Thai carrier, Happy Air, also began operations last week with a weekly Phuket-Hat Yai flight. Operating a fleet of 34-seat Saab 340A aircraft, the Phuket-based airline will launch Hat Yai-Langkawi and Phuket-Langkawi services this week.
In May, Firefly started daily flights between Kuala Lumpur (Subang) and Phuket. A Kuala Lumpur-Hat Yai service is on the drawing board for the Malaysian low-cost carrier.
The TAT said the access boost would help South Thailand, which had been hit by weak regional traffic due to the financial crisis and the Swine flu scare. Hat Yai, in particular, has been struggling after being hit by a couple of bomb blasts over the last three years. To see airlines reinstating their services, TAT feels that there is no better sign of renewed confidence in the travel and tourism industry and hope that these renewed flights will help bring back visitors.
7 October 2009
Singapore eyes visitor surge with one-cent flight promotion
TIGER Airways is offering 100,000 seats at one Singapore cent each in a joint campaign with Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) to boost arrivals to the city.
One-cent trips, part of STB's ‘2009 Reasons to Enjoy Singapore', are available between the city and 12 regional points: Bangkok, Jakarta, Haikou, Hat Yai, Phuket, Krabi, Kuching, Kuala Lumpur, Langkawi, Padang, Penang and Ho Chi Minh City.
Travel must be done from 6 January 2010 to 30 September 2010, excluding Padang where travel dates are from 6 January 2010 to 27 March 2010.
A spokesman for Tiger Airways said although similar joint campaigns had been made between STB and other carriers, this was the first time so many seats were offered in one promotion between a low-cost carrier, STB and CAG.
7 October 2009
Sri Lanka carrier boosts Asian routes
SRI Lankan Airlines will add one flight a week to its current thrice-weekly Hong Kong-Bangkok-Colombo service from 27 October.
The additional flight follows the earlier boost of the carrier's 19 weekly flights between Colombo and Male to 23. Sri Lankan Airlines expects passenger load factor for this route to increase to 65 to 75 per cent this year-end holiday season, up from 60 to 65 per cent in 2008.
According to Sri Lankan Airlines manager for Thailand and Mekong Region, Amitabh Anthonypillai, Colombo is a key hub from which travellers head to the Maldives, with 40 to 50 per cent of the carrier's passengers to Colombo connecting to Male.
"The Maldives used to be an expensive destination but after the 2004 tsunami, there was a drop in European arrivals. The destination had to turn its focus to the more price-sensitive markets of India and China, which has resulted in the islands becoming more affordable."
Flights to Male during the 29 September to 4 October holiday season were full.
7 October 2009
Jet Airways targets Buddhist circuit
JET Airways has launched a Bangkok-Gaya-Varanasi route, connecting the Thai capital with two Indian cities on the Buddhist pilgrimage circuit.
The twice-weekly service operates on Tuesday and Friday.
Varanasi is one of the oldest cities in the world while Gaya is home to the Mahabodhi temple, a UNESCO heritage site.
9 September 2009
Zest Air goes international
ZEST Air from the Philippines formerly named Asian Spirit will make its maiden international foray on September 21 with a daily flight linking Clark Airport near Manila to Hong Kong.
The flight will be operated on the airline's new Airbus A320, which has an all-economy class cabin with 168 seats.
Zest Air is the third Filipino carrier to fly to Hong Kong after Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific Airlines.
Starting October 16, Zest Air will also fly between Zamboanga and the East Malaysian town of Sandakan. This route will run thrice-weekly using a 56-seater Chinese-built MA-60 aircraft.
At the recent NATAS Fair in Singapore, Zest Air indicated that further international expansion to Singapore from both Cebu and Clark Airport is being planned with possible Seoul, Fukuoka, Osaka and Macau routes on the horizon.
9 September 2009
Air Astana launches KL service
AIR Astana, the national airline of Kazakhstan, will be the second Central Asian carrier to serve the Malaysian capital when it launches a weekly non-stop flight between Almaty and Kuala Lumpur on October 31.
The eight-hour flight will operate every Saturday in both directions, operating a Boeing 767-300ER with 30 business class seats and 190 economy class seats.
Kuala Lumpur is Air Astana’s sixth destination in Asia after Bangkok, Beijing, Delhi, Seoul and Urumqi.
Uzbekistan Airways also serves the Malaysian capital from Central Asia, flying twice-weekly from Tashkent.
5 August 2009
Beyonce heads F1 concert line-up
SINGAPORE will welcome a host of international A-list stars such as R&B diva Beyonce at the F1 Rocks concert during the city's second F1 race this September.
The three-day concert will be held at Fort Canning Park from September 24 to 26 and broadcast worldwide to a potential 188 territories.
Costing an estimated US$8 million, the event was put together by Universal Music Group International, its joint venture All The Worlds (ATW) and the Formula One Administration.
Although the five-year agreement for F1 ROCKS was only inked between the parties in March this year, ATW managing partner John Simidian said the team had already managed to pool a stellar line-up including Beyonce, Black Eyed Peas, N.E.R.D, ZZ Top, Simple Minds and Jacky Cheung.
The concert is likely to run from 19.00 to midnight. However, Simidian said the team will be "working with the authorities to get the concert to run later" and will look at facilitating access to the concert site from the F1 track.
Singapore Tourism Board chief executive Aw Kah Peng said: "We will be working closely with our in-market offices and partners to promote F1 ROCKS alongside the Singapore GP Season and the race…for sure, there will be positive global branding for the destination."
Concert tickets, priced from S$150 to S$210 excluding booking fees, are limited, with only 10,000 available for each event day. Simidian said some 700 tickets would be set aside for STB's marketing efforts.
5 August 2009
Samui airport reopens this afternoon
Samui Airport remained closed, this morning, but was due to reopen at 1400 to commercial flights. It was closed to allow rescue teams to remove the wreckage of a disabled ATR 72 that collided with a former control tower, yesterday afternoon. Civil Aviation authorities temporarily closed the airport, while they carried out an initial investigation and verified that the airport was safe to reopen to commercial flight.
Bangkok Airways had flights on standby throughout the night at Surat Thani Airport to transfer stranded passengers between Surat Thani Airport and Bangkok. This morning, Bangkok Airways re-routed eight flights, bound for Samui, to the mainland airport at Surat Thani transferring passengers to and from the island by bus and ferry.
Most of the 68 passengers on board were foreigners. Bangkok Airways reported it has full insurance cover with Bangkok Insurance for passengers and aircraft damage.
The cause of the accident has still to be determined, but initial observations suggest the aircraft landed in stormy conditions, with strong cross winds, that caused the aircraft to skid off the runway and hit a disused control tower.
Samui Airport re-opened early this afternoon with the first departure on PG 100 leaving Samui at 1400 and arriving at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport at 1500. The first departure from Suvarnabhumi Airport is PG 153 at 1400 with an arrival in Samui at 1500.
4 August 2009
Fatal crash closes Samui airport
SAMUI International Airport has been temporarily closed after Bangkok Airways flight PG266 crashed upon landing killing one pilot and injuring seven passengers - five seriously - according to the airline’s press statement.
Flight PG266 had flown in from Krabi International Airport at 14.15 local time, carrying a total of 68 passengers, two crew members and two pilots when it skidded off the runway and crashed into an old air-control tower.
The remaining passengers, crew members, and pilot survived unscratched.
15 July 2009
Tiger resumes Krabi service
Singapore - TIGER Airways will resume its Singapore-Krabi service with four flights per week from October 25.
The airline suspended the service in March last year, after having operated the route for two years, citing increases in operating costs.
The trade in both Krabi and Singapore lamented the suspension as a huge blow to the destination, and had been pleading with the airline to resume the service.
Tourism Authority of Thailand Singapore office is confident the trade in Krabi would launch promotions to attract passengers on the route. According to the airline, the booking and ticketing system was activated on July 14 with seats for the peak season expected to sell out fast.
7 July 2009
AirAsia expands Penang hub, launches Hong Kong flights
Kuala Lumpur - Low-cost carrier, AirAsia, will commence four-weekly flights from Penang to Hong Kong and introduce a second daily flight from Penang to Singapore from July 31.
The budget airline will lower airfares on the Penang-Hong Kong route, currently served only by Cathay Pacific, said Malaysian Harmony Tours & Travel CEO Cooper Huang.
Zenmax Travel & Tours executive director Steven Choo Keong said AirAsia's flight timings to Hong Kong were suitable for business travellers as they arrive at 10am. He expected Cathay Pacific to come out with tactical fares in the near future, due to competition from AirAsia.
The Penang-Singapore route is already experiencing overcapacity, with legacy airlines such as Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines competing with low-cost carriers for business.
Scheduled carriers on this route have dropped their airfares from approximately RM800 (US$226) per person return economy in January to the current average of RM330.
24 June 2009
AirAsia increases regional frequencies, adds new routes
INDONESIA AirAsia (IAA) will increase frequencies to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and open new regional routes in response to the growth in traffic.
Starting next month, IAA's Jakarta-Singapore and Denpasar-Singapore services will increase from two to four times daily. IAA will increase services from Bandung to Singapore to twice a day and boost the Kuala Lumpur service from twice to thrice daily.
Tthe airline would also launch new regional routes, including Denpasar-Perth from July 17 and Jakarta to Ho Chi Minh City and Manila in September.
12 June 2009
Hong Kong to welcome 'super jumbo'
SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) will fly the Airbus A380, the world’s largest passenger aircraft, to Hong Kong from July 9, making the SAR the fifth destination serviced by SIA's A380 after Sydney, London, Tokyo and Paris.
The 471-seater aircraft will increase seat capacity by 10 per cent over the existing daily B777-300ER service to Hong Kong.
SIA executive vice president, marketing and the regions, Mr Huang Cheng Eng, said: "The operation of the A380 to Hong Kong shows our confidence in the demand for both business and leisure travel between Singapore and the famed 'Pearl of the Orient'."
SIA currently has eight A380 aircraft in service, a further 11 on firm order, and options on six more.
11 June 2009
Qatar Airways expands Indian network
QATAR Airways has brought up the launch dates of its two new Indian services.
Flights from Doha to Amritsar and Goa will start on October 11 and October 25, respectively, in time for the Diwali holidays and busy winter holiday season. The carrier earlier said these services would be mounted at the end of the year.
Both routes will operate four times a week on Airbus A320 aircraft with 12 seats in business class and 132 in economy class.
The carrier will be the first full-service international airline to fly to Goa.
The addition of Amritsar and Goa will take Qatar Airways' Indian services up to 64 flights a week.
3 June 2009
Garuda relaunches Saudi route
GARUDA Indonesia re-opened its Jakarta-Riyadh-Dammam service yesterday, after closing the Saudi Arabia route in the late 1990s.
The thrice-weekly service employs Boeing 747-400 aircraft in two classes.
Garuda said: "Demand for the route has always been great, but Garuda has lacked the resources to ply the route, and the market has been taken over by Middle Eastern carriers. Now that we have more capacity with a larger fleet, we are ready to reinstate the service and grab back market share."
Garuda is the only airline flying direct to Riyadh from Jakarta, and with competitive pricing (US$390 one way), new aircraft interiors and facilities, Garuda is optimistic the airline would gain back its market share in no time.
The inaugural flight was full, with over 90 per cent paying passengers. Forward bookings for the next two weeks are showing an average 80 to 90 per cent load factor.
The route targets Umrah (small pilgrimage) passengers to Mecca, workers, and inbound tourists from Saudi Arabia to Indonesia.
With five million residents, Riyadh is considered the heart of business and finance in the Middle East, while Dammam, with two million residents, is an industrial centre and the biggest port city in Saudi Arabia and Persian Gulf. These destinations hold great potential for generating inbound tourism into Indonesia.
2 June 2009
Emirates launches A380 service out of Suvarnabhumi
EMIRATES yesterday boosted its Dubai-Bangkok service by 30 per cent with the launch of its Airbus 380 service, making it the first carrier to introduce the super jumbo jet to Suvarnabhumi Airport.
The airline expects the service to run at more than 80 per cent load factor this year.
The Middle East market continued to deliver positive year-on-year growth on the number of visitor arrivals to Thailand despite the current economic environment.
Tourist arrivals from the UAE alone jumped by 99.46 per cent to 8,495 visitors for January compared to the same month last year.
According to Suvarnabhumi Airport general manager, Mr Serirat Prasutanond, the airport has the capacity to handle super jumbo aircraft with five contact gates and three remote aprons.
Additional conveniences such as an extra-long 110.76m conveyer belt, a five-hour advance check-in time and an extended number of check-in counters and boarding gate readers would be provided for flights operating with super jumbo jets, Mr Serirat said.
4 May 2009
Swine flu update
WTTC: 'Serious concern, but no cause for panic'
As the swine flu pandemic continues to evolve rapidly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the level of alert from phase 4 to phase 5.
Based on a study commissioned by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) after the outbreak of SARS, the impact of a pandemic could be severe and prolonged.
However, WTTC said while the current H1N1 situation was admittedly causing serious concern and the industry had to act responsibly, there was no need for panic.
WTTC president and CEO, Mr Jean-Claude Baumgarten emphasised that the level of preparedness for such a pandemic within the industry was much better than most people realised, since mechanisms to deal with global health risks had been stepped up considerably since SARS and avian flu last tested the resilience of the travel and tourism industry.
WTTC is monitoring the H1N1 situation as it develops, and is in close contact with the World Health Organization.
4 May 2009
Swine flu update
Two cases in two Asian countries
So far, only two Asian countries reported laboratory-confirmed cases of the influenza A(H1N1) infection with no deaths - Hong Kong (1) and South Korea (1) - according to the latest update from the World Health Organization.
In Hong Kong, a week-long quarantine of a downtown hotel where a Mexican tourist was confirmed to have the illness was ordered. All employees and 350 guests of the hotel were trapped. Seven Singaporeans were among the guests quarantined, Channel NewsAsia reported.
At press time, 20 countries officially reported 985 confirmed cases to WHO.
30 April 2009
Swine flu update
Alert level goes further up - to phase 5
As the swine flu pandemic continues to evolve rapidly, the World Health Organization (WHO) has raised the level of alert from phase 4 to phase 5.
At press time, updates from WHO's website showed 148 cases of the swine flu infection, as officially reported by nine countries.
The US government reported 91 laboratory-confirmed human cases, with one death. Mexico reported 26 confirmed human cases of infection including seven deaths.
The following countries reported laboratory-confirmed cases with no deaths - Austria (1), Canada (13), Germany (3), Israel (2), New Zealand (3), Spain (4) and the UK (5).
WHO still had not advised restriction of regular travel or closure of borders
Firefly to launch Kuala Lumpur (Subang)-Phuket daily service
FIREFLY, a fully owned subsidiary of Malaysia Airlines, will launch a daily flight between Kuala Lumpur (Subang) and Phuket from 1 May.
The service will complement the airline's existing route between Penang and Phuket, launched in April 2007.
Firefly is a full-fledged carrier for Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand - Growth Triangle (IMT-GT), and by the second quarter of this year, it will be introducing many more new destinations in this region.
Firefly's direct flights into Thailand and Indonesia are very significant for Malaysia as they established both Penang and Kuala Lumpur (Subang) as a gateway for IMT-GT.
Firefly's codeshare arrangement with MAS will open the gateway for Malaysia, Sumatera and Thailand to European, Oceania, Asian, Americas and Middle Eastern markets.
Jetstar to serve Penang, Langkawi in Malaysia
JETSTAR Asia has been given flying rights approval by the Air Traffic Rights Committee to commence services to Penang and Langkawi in Malaysia, its 17th and 18th destinations.
The airline will commence flights later this year, with schedule and fares to be announced in due course.
It currently operates services to Kuala Lumpur, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.
Garuda to terminate Darwin services, cut Bangkok frequency
GARUDA Indonesia has officially announced the termination of its Denpasar-Darwin services as of April 24 and will reduce Jakarta-Bangkok services from seven to thrice a week from May 1.
Garuda commented that the Darwin service is cut to avoid financial loss as the demand on this route has not been meeting target. The aircraft will be used to fly other profitable routes (such as the domestic network).
However, flights on May 7 and May 15 are still operational to serve passengers who have made confirmed booking for those dates.
In the mean time, other services to Australia (Perth, Sydney, and Melbourne) will remain the same.
The Bangkok route is actually a lucrative one and the decision to reduce the frequency is temporary, due to the escalation of the political conflict in Thailand.
Once the condition is back to normal, Garuda will resume the original schedule.
Qatar to provide inflight Internet, text messaging services
QATAR Airways and OnAir have announced an agreement to install Mobile OnAir inflight passenger communications services on board the airline's single-aisle fleet.
Qatar will install the technology on all 222 single-aisle Airbus 319, A320 and A321 aircraft in the fleet as well as several new aircraft on order.
Passengers will be able to stay connected inflight using their own mobile phones or BlackBerry-type devices to send and receive text messages and emails, and access the Internet.
They will also be able to access the Internet using their own laptops fitted with GSM data cards.
March
CX will kick off a daily service to India this summer
Cathay Pacific Airways schedules a new daily Bangkok-Delhi service at the beginning of the summer timetable, 29 March. The lowest fare offer is Bt8,300 roundtrip, exclusive of taxes and surcharges of around Bt2,500 .
For most flights the airline will use an Airbus A330 — 44 business seats and 267 economy seats. CX751 will depart Bangkok at 1725 and arrive in Delhi at 1955 and CX708 returns at 0330 and arrives in Bangkok at 0855.
On the same route, Thai Airways International, recently, increased services to double daily, while Indian Airlines and Jet Airways fly a daily service.
February
Malaysia Airlines Reduces Fuel Surcharge
Malaysia Airlines will reduce fuel surcharge from around 6% to 55% for travel from Malaysia to selected international destinations.
The new fuel surcharge will apply for tickets issued on or after Friday, 20 February 2009 for the following:
Malaysia New Surcharge
Penang- Medan: USD 27
Malaysia- Manila & Cebu: USD 27
Malaysia-Taiwan: USD 47
Malaysia- Korea: USD 57
Malaysia-UAE/Saudi: USD 85
Malaysia-Turkey/Lebanon: USD 95
Malaysia-Africa: USD 95
Malaysia-North America: USD 170
Malaysia-South America: USD 250
Earlier this month, the national carrier reduced fuel surcharge from around 23% to 57% for travel from Malaysia to all Asean destinations (excluding Manila, Cebu and Medan), Thailand, South Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Europe, United Kingdom, Frankfurt and Paris.
Jet Airways, MAS sign codeshare, frequent flyer agreement
JET Airways and Malaysia Airlines (MAS) have signed a codeshare and network-wide frequent flyer agreement.
Jet Airways will place its 9W flight code on MAS flights operating between Kuala Lumpur and five Indian cities of Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.
In return, MAS will place its MH code on Jet Airways' daily services between Chennai and Kuala Lumpur.
Tickets will be on sale from 25 February for travel commencing 3 March.
In addition, customers will be able to earn and redeem miles when they travel with the respective airlines.
Singapore Airlines Suspends Service To Vancouver Indefinitely
Singapore Airlines will suspend indefinitely its three-times-weekly service between Singapore and Vancouver, via Seoul. The last flight will be on 25 April 2009. The decision to suspend service is most regrettable, as Singapore Airlines has served Canada for over 20 years. However the economic conditions and performance on the route has been badly affected by the global economic downturn. The reduction is part of Singapore Airlines continuing commitment to ensure capacity is best matched with demand in the current economic conditions.
Singapore Airlines will continue to serve Canada via its existing schedule of 42 weekly flights between Singapore and its North American gateways – San Francisco, Los Angeles and Houston, as well as both Newark and JFK Airports in New York; then onwards to Canadian cities using the services of its Star Alliance partner airlines in North America. In addition, Singapore Airlines offers codeshare services on Air Canada to Toronto and Montreal from European gateways.
Thai AirAsia offers seat booking but at a price
Thai AirAsia, along with its sister company AirAsia, has introduced a ‘Pick-A-Seat’, assignment offer but at a price.
Assigning a seat prior to boarding costs an extra Bt250 per sector if the seat is designated “hot”. The hot seats are in the first five rows and two rows at the emergency exits.
As for the rest, the airline charges Bt50 per seat. Passengers who book a hot seat will be able to board the plane first.
This offer is available for flights operating from 17 February.
In Thailand, Nok Air and One-Two-Go Airlines still offer confirmed seat bookings free of charge.
January
Tiger Airways to commence flight to Jakarta
Tiger Airways receives the go-ahead to commence flights from Singapore to Jakarta by first half of this year. It is now setting its sight on Denpasar, Bali.
Etihad and Bangkok Airways codeshare
ETIHAD Airways, the national carrier of the UAE, and Bangkok Airways have signed a new codeshare agreement that will link passengers flying between the Abu Dhabi-based airline's global network and the Thai resorts of Phuket and Koh Samui.
