Corporate Travel News For Asia

Japan Airlines Group (JAL) and Spring Airlines Japan entered (07-Jun-2018) an agreement with HAECO Xiamen covering line services for Spring Japan at all of its four destinations in China. The co-operation agreement follows an expanded engineering services agreement between JAL and Spring Japan in Dec-2017. Subsequently, HAECO Xiamen was selected as an exclusive partner to handle their line maintenance operations in China. HAECO Xiamen has set up two new line stations at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport and Harbin Taiping International Airport to serve Spring Japan. There are in addition to stations at Chongqing and Tianjin which are already part of HAECO's in the existing line services network. [more - original PR]

INFINI Travel Information unveiled (04-Jun-2018) its plans to launch new IATA New Distribution Capability (NDC) products in collaboration with Travelfusion, its UK based innovation partner and a NDC Level 3 aggregator. INFINI plans to integrate NDC-compliant contents into its existing product portfolio, allowing for the seamless introduction of NDC content into the Japanese market. INFINI and Travelfusion aim to further build on their partnership to provide a seamless and intuitive solution to help travel agents navigate challenges posed by the evolving NDC standard and the differing NDC solutions developed by airlines. 2018 will see the release of two innovative INFINI solutions aimed at simplifying travel agents' work processes:

• INFINI HOST-LINK: Intended to deliver NDC content via Travelfusion, supported by the API standard;
• INFINI LINX PLUS: Intended to integrates NDC-compliant airline content in the existing INFINI LINX reservation platform.

INFINI is 60% owned by ANA Holdings, and 40% controlled by Everest Investment Holdings Limited. [more - original PR]

Tourism Australia managing director John O'Sullivan reported (06-Jun-2018) Malaysia remains a significant source of visitors to Australia, contributing around 400,000 p/a. Mr O'Sullivan reported Malaysia Airlines new Kuala Lumpur-Brisbane service "will be crucial in opening up Brisbane and Queensland more broadly to Malaysian travellers so we can continue to grow this important tourism market". [more - original PR]

Air China and Sabre Corporation expanded (06-Jun-2018) their 12+ year partnership. Under the agreement, the carrier will extend the breadth of its Sabre AirCentre Operations portfolio to improve the management of major and minor disruptions that affect the airline's operations and passenger experience. [more - original PR]

AirAsia and Indonesia AirAsia commenced (06-Jun-2018) operations at Semarang Achmad Yani Airport's new terminal on 06-Jun-2018. AirAsia operates Kuala Lumpur-Semarang service and Indonesia AirAsia operates Semarang-Singapore service. [more - original PR - Indonesian]

Air China and Air Canada signed (06-Jun-2018) the first JV agreement between a Chinese and North American airline, deepening the two carriers' longstanding partnership. The JV enables the two countries' flag carriers and Star Alliance members to expand their existing codeshare relationship and deepen it by increasing commercial cooperation on services between Canada and China and on key connecting domestic services in both countries. The JV will be phased in over the next six months, and will include optimised flight schedules, harmonised fare products, joint sales including corporate and marketing programs, aligned frequent flyer privileges and reciprocal lounge access. Air China chairman Jianjiang Cai stated: "The Sino-Canada market is one of the important long haul markets to Air China, which has been developed rapidly in recent years with an increase of 17.8% in 2017". Air Canada president and CEO Calin Rovinescu added that the JV is an "important strategy in our global expansion as it significantly increases Air Canada's presence in an aviation market set to become the world's largest by 2022". Mr Rovinescu added: "Having served China for more than 30 years, and as demonstrated by Air Canada's average annual capacity growth of 12.5% over five years and the USD2 billion of aircraft assets currently committed on routes between Canada and China, China is an integral part of our global network". Air Canada has increased its capacity on routes between Canada and China on average by 12.5% p/a over the last five years. [more - original PR]

Cathay Pacific CEO Rupert Hogg, speaking at CAPA Airline CEOs in Sydney, stated (05-Jun-2018) the carrier sees strong demand for premium and corporate travel from Hong Kong, noting that there is an "awful lot of economic activity and an awful lot of people who are wanting to travel in the front end" of the aircraft. He described this premium demand as a "growing market", with the carrier "not seeing any indication why people would stop doing that'.

IAG CEO Willie Walsh, speaking at CAPA Airline CEOs in Sydney, said (06-Jun-2018) the largest impediment for a UK based carrier serving China is the UK Government's attitude to visas. He said: "The UK as an economy is losing out as a result".

AAPA director general Andrew Herdman, speaking at CAPA Airline CEOs in Sydney, stated (05-Jun-2018) the Belt and Road Initiative is a "China centric strategy", which touches 65 companies representing around 25% of China's foreign trade. Mr Herdman noted the Belt and Road Initiative encompasses transport infrastructure of all modes, including aviation, and other areas such as energy and communication. Mr Herdman noted that China added 203 new air routes under the Belt and Road Initiative in 2017, while acknowledging strong growth also in areas not covered under the initiative, with this strong growth supported by significant investment in modern infrastructure. Mr Herdman added that over the past 20 years, China has "poured more contract in that period than America did in the past 100 years".

Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) welcomed (06-Jun-2018) the relaunch of Malaysia Airlines four times weekly Kuala Lumpur-Brisbane service with A330 equipment. Queensland's Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones commented: "This route gives travellers the opportunity to pick Queensland as their gateway to Australia. Malaysia is a growing market for international tourists but more importantly, this route gives us a base in Kuala Lumpur which is a thriving international hub that will give us better access to a large number of growing visitor markets throughout Asia". Malaysian Airlines first launched operations at Brisbane Airport in 1972. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II]