Corporate Travel Analysis Reports For Asia

If you haven't heard of Pepper the Robot, you soon will. Pepper is the world's first personal and emotional humanoid robot (yes you heard correctly, humanoid robot), who is set to take over the world. Airlines, airports, cruise companies and even restaurants around the world are beginning to introduce this artificial creature to improve the customer experience.

Emirates has Jennifer Aniston; Etihad has our Nic. Now Malindo Air has Schapelle to promote it.

CAPA - Centre for Aviation hosted the 2017 CAPA-ACTE Melbourne Aviation & Corporate Travel Summit this week. The event, which brought together a wide variety of key industry speakers and was attended by suppliers and buyers from all over Australia.

It seems members of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) Government and travel community in Canberra have been working hard to secure additional carriers and routes to the city. The airport has developed an international terminal capable of handling up to one million passengers a year, and key parliamentary members have been out lobbying carriers with gusto.

Batik Air has set a 21-Jun-2017 launch date for service from Bali to Perth, the first Australia route for the Indonesian full service airline. Batik, which is part of the Lion Group, will initially operate Bali-Perth with two daily flights using A320s in two class 156-seat configuration.

Malaysia's Malindo Air has placed into service Boeing's first 737 MAX, a new re-engined narrowbody aircraft family that also has been ordered by Virgin Australia and Fiji Airways and is under evaluation by Qantas.

Premium economy continues to be a key opportunity for carriers the world over. More and more airlines have introduced this important class into their aircraft to improve yields and assist with competitive load factors.

Hong Kong continues to block attempts by Australia to negotiate a new air services agreement, which would be a benefit to the Australian economy, consumers and tourism. Cathay Pacific's average load factor on Australia routes has been nearly 90% the last two years, an indication the market is undersupplied.

The Blue Swan Daily and CAPA - Centre for Aviation presents an exclusive Blue Swan infographic.

Thai Airways has been blocked for nearly a year by Australian authorities from operating its new fleet of A350s to Australia, forcing the airline to continue offering an outdated product in the Melbourne and Sydney markets.