Corporate Travel News For Asia

Australia's Minister for Innovation and Tourism Industry Development and Minister for the Commonwealth Games Kate Jones stated (31-Mar-2018) Scoot plans to expand Singapore-Gold Coast frequency from four to five times weekly from 02-Apr-2018 in a deal that will deliver an estimated AUD42.2 million (USD32.5 million) for Queensland over three years. Ms Jones said the boost to the service from Apr-2018 would bring almost 19,000 extra passengers to the Coast and support up to 170 jobs over the next 12 months. Ms Jones said Singapore was an important tourism market for the Gold Coast, particularly following the Commonwealth Games. "Singapore is an important international gateway for Queensland and this increased capacity will allow us to grow and better connect with this market, which is a major focus for Trade 2018 - the Commonwealth Games Trade and Investment Program. The great part about an expansion of services between the Gold Coast and Singapore is the potential this has to open up access with other key tourism markets in the UK, India and China". Scoot country manager Australia Jared Simcox said Gold Coast-Singapore services had been expanded because of the popularity of the Gold Coast as a destination. "The existing service has been doing well and passenger numbers continue to grow", Mr Simcox said. Gold Coast Tourism CEO Martin Winter added: "We currently welcome more than 30,000 visitors a year from Singapore to the Gold Coast and this will only increase with the expanded capacity".

Bulgaria awarded HNA Airport Group a 35 year concession to operate Plovdiv International Airport (Reuters, 28-Mar-2018). "The concession is for 35 years and the concessionaire is obliged to make investments amounting to EUR79 million during that period", the government said. HNA stated: "Plovdiv airport will become the second European airport operated by the HNA Airport Group after Frankfurt-Hahn Airport in Germany, indicating that HNA has further deepened its cooperation with European countries and played an active role in the construction of the "Belt and Road" initiative". HNA Airport Group plans to gradually develop the airport into a cargo distribution and regional tourist hub for central and eastern Europe.

Delta Air Lines launched (28-Mar-2018) its first international-only media platform, including advertising and social media, to support and build brand awareness outside the US. The platform will also strengthen its partnership with the Masters Tournament. The marketing campaign is running in 11 countries, across broadcast TV, digital, out-of-home and social media channels, with concentrated investments in London, Mexico City and Seoul. It will also run in Japan, China, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Spain and South Africa and with radio in the US. [more - original PR]

ACI World reported (26-Mar-2018) nearly all regions recorded airfreight growth of 8% or more in Jan-2018. ACI commented: "Despite the uncertainty regarding the protectionist rhetoric that swept across many countries, continued high growth in air freight volumes may very well be a trend in the short term. On the back of a strengthened global economy and trade, the air freight market has shown remarkable resilience to disruption in the last year". ACI highlighted growth in the following regions and countries:

• Africa: 12%;
• Asia Pacific: 8.3%;
  • Indonesia: 26.2%;
  • China: 12.5%;
  • India: 9.7%;
  • Philippines: -22.7%;
• Europe: 8.1%;
  • Turkey: 32.6%;
  • Spain: 19%;
  • Luxembourg, Belgium and Italy: Double digit growth;
• Latin America and Caribbean: 11.9%. Argentina and Brazil "recovered from challenging macroeconomic contexts";
  • Argentina: 29.1%;
  • Brazil: 21.1%;
  • Venezuela: -18.7%;
• Middle East: 0.7%. Rolling 12 month figures remained "strong" at 5.4%, but a downward trend was visible in the last four months, after a surge of growth in summer 2017;
  • Egypt: -5.4%;
• North America: 8.8%;
  • US: 8.8%;
  • Canada: 3%. [more - original PR]

easyJet expanded (27-Mar-2018) the 'Worldwide by easyJet' connecting product to seven airports and added new connections from airline partners. Details include:

• New airports:
  • Berlin Tegel Airport;
  • Amsterdam Schiphol Airport;
  • Venice Marco Polo Airport;
  • Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport;
  • Paris Orly Airport;
  • Edinburgh Airport;
  • Inverness Airport;
• New connecting airline partners:
  • Thomas Cook Airlines;
  • Corsair;
  • La Compagnie;
  • Loganair;
• All expanded agreements are effective summer 2018.

easyJet CEO Johan Lundgren commented: "We have been delighted with the appetite of partner airports and airlines to expand Worldwide across our network allowing us to access a greater range of passengers flying across Europe.... easyJet will sign up other airlines to Worldwide by easyJet throughout 2018, with talks already far advanced with middle and far eastern carriers amongst others and we also plan to expand to other easyJet airports across Europe". [more - original PR]

All Nippon Airways (ANA) and Alitalia signed (23-Mar-2018) an agreement to establish a commercial partnership. The carriers will codeshare between Japan and Italy and on domestic services in both countries, effective 28-Oct-2018. The airlines will cooperate on frequent flyer programmes, giving access to their members and activating mileage accrual on codeshare services and mileage redemption on their partners' network. The airlines plan to include further codeshare services in the near future. [more - original PR - ANA - English/Japanese] [more - original PR - Alitalia - Italian]

Tigerair Australia recently (23-Mar-2018) launched a new Chinese version of the website to cater to a broader demographic of budget and leisure travellers, as well as providing real time flight status updates available on the website, offering up to date information about scheduled flights. [more - original PR]

Air Belgium confirmed (22-Mar-2018) onboard experience aspects of its A340-300 aircraft to be used on Brussels South Charleroi-Hong Kong service:

• Three booking classes: Economy, premium economy and business;
• Passengers "offered a choice of Belgian products, great catering and comfort, inflight entertainment and many more features";
• Multilingual cabin crews, including Mandarin, Cantonese, English, Dutch and French;
• Two menus for economy and premium class passengers. Three menu options for business class passengers;
• Premium and business class passengers offered exclusive lounge near the departure gate. As previously reported by CAPA, Air Belgium also plans a new dedicated premium terminal at Brussels South Charleroi Airport in 2019. [more - original PR]

Air Belgium announced (22-Mar-2018) inaugural Brussels South Charleroi-Hong Kong service is targeted for the second half of Apr-2018. "Online sales will be undertaken as soon as cleared by the Regulator", Air Belgium said. Tickets will be sold through Air Belgium's official website and will be distributed through GDS and travel agencies. Air Belgium CEO Niky Terzakis said: "We are going to establish our Asian hub in this energetic city and our intention is to recruit about 100 staff members this year". He also reconfirmed: "We expect to add six more Chinese destinations by the end of summer 2018". [more - original PR]

Squaremouth released (21-Mar-2018) a report outlining the five fastest growing international destinations for US travellers who purchased travel insurance in 2017:

• Israel: +48% year-on-year. USD3318 per trip cost, +5.6%;
• Iceland: +43%. USD3938 per trip cost, +19.6%;
• Portugal: +42%; USD3527 per trip cost, -10.2%;
• Vietnam: +39%. USD3233 per trip cost, -3.2%;
• Norway: +36%. USD6360 per trip cost, +12.3%. [more - original PR]