Corporate Travel News For Asia

Jetstar Group CEO Gareth Evans, speaking on CAPA TV, commented (02-Mar-2018) on Australia-China growth opportunities. Mr Evans stated: "China is a huge opportunity for airlines based everywhere. There's going to be significant growth between Australia and China. There's going to be significant growth between everywhere and China. It's how we tap into that growth in a way that's sustainable and profitable over the long term that's going to be key for us". Mr Evans noted the universal appeal of the China market to airlines globally, stating: "I think every airline in the region, every airline in the world is looking at what they're going to do in China. We have a really strong position today, both with the Qantas brand and with the Jetstar brand. We're going to be working very hard on what our strategy's going to be to participate in that growth going forwards". [more - CAPA TV]

JETGO Australia Airlines, via its official Facebook account, reported (08-Mar-2018) discussions with the City of Karratha about planned Brisbane-Karratha-Singapore service "have moved to flight scheduling with final detail to be released upon regulatory approval". According to the airline, the proposed timeline is for Brisbane flight service to commence in Jun-2018, with Singapore service to follow in Sep-2018. JETGO also announced it will operate a 98 seat Embraer 190 aircraft on the new routes, upgauging from its original intent to operate an 88 seat E175.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker again criticised (07-Mar-2018) the "illegal blockade on Qatar" while noting the continued expansion during the blockade. Mr Al Baker stated the carrier "continued its march ahead. We kept our country supplied and we became prouder as a nation". Mr Al Baker added: "We are more independent than we were nine months ago. We are very defiant, and Qatar Airways will keep on expanding and keep on raising the flag for my country all over the globe". Mr Al Baker also confirmed 16 new destinations for 2018/2019, including the announcement that Qatar Airways will be the first Gulf carrier to begin direct service to Luxembourg. Other new destinations include London Gatwick, Cardiff, Lisbon, Tallinn, Valletta, Cebu, Davao, Langkawi, Da Nang, Bodrum, Antalya, Hatay, Mykonos, Thessaloniki and Málaga. In addition, Warsaw, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Prague and Kiev frequency will increase to twice daily, while Madrid, Barcelona and Maldives frequency will increase to three times daily. [more - original PR - English/Arabic]

Philippine Airlines (PAL) plans to increase Manila-Melbourne frequency from three to five times weekly from 01-Jun-2018 (Rappler.com/Manila Times/Business World Online, 07/08-Mar-2018). The airline operates the service with reconfigured A330s with lie flat business class seats, along with premium economy and new economy seats. PAL VP for sales Ryan Uy said: "Passenger loads between Melbourne and Manila have been consistently in the high 80s, while Sydney-Manila has been in the high 80s to 90s since we utilised the A330 tri-class for the equally popular route".

LOT Polish Airlines and Qantas Airways reportedly signed a special prorate agreement covering services from Singapore to Australia and Southeast Asia (Pasazer, 07-Mar-2018). As previously reported by CAPA, LOT Polish Airlines plans to launch three times weekly Warsaw-Singapore service on 15-May-2018.

Qantas and Jetstar Pacific entered (02-Mar-2018) a codeshare arrangement for service between Vietnam and several destinations in Asia, from 01-Mar-2018. The agreement will cover Jetstar Pacific services from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok and Singapore, as well as services from Hanoi and Danang to Hong Kong, operated by Jetstar Pacific's A320 fleet. [more - original PR]

Eva Airways and Copa Airlines received (05-Mar-2018) authority from the US Department of Transportation to operate a codeshare on US-Taiwan and US-Panama services, for an indefinite duration. [more - original PR]

Australia's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reported (02-Mar-2018) the following international traffic highlights to/from Australia for Dec-2017:

• Passengers: 3.8 million, +4.6% year-on-year;
• Available seats: 4.8 million, +4.9%;
• Flights: 18,179, +4.5%;
• Cargo: 105,771 tonnes, +13.6%;
• Aircraft movements: 18,457, +4.2%;
• Top 10 international carriers:
  • Share of passengers carried:
    • Qantas: 15.9%, +0.7ppt;
    • Emirates: 8.6%, -0.5pps;
    • Jetstar: 8.2%, -0.8ppt;
    • Singapore Airlines: 7.8%, -0.1ppt;
    • Air New Zealand: 6.4%, stable;
    • Virgin Australia: 5.9%, +0.1ppt;
    • Cathay Pacific Airways: 4.6%, +0.1ppt;
    • China Southern Airlines: 3.8%, +0.6ppt;
    • AirAsia X: 3.7%, -0.5ppt;
    • Etihad Airways: 3.1%, -0.1ppt;
  • Share of cargo carried:
    • Singapore Airlines: 15.6%, -0.1ppt;
    • Qantas: 10.8%, -1.3ppts;
    • Emirates: 8.2%, -1.6ppts;
    • Cathay Pacific Airways: 7.0%, -0.4ppt;
    • Air New Zealand: 4.7%, -0.9ppt;
    • China Southern Airlines: 4.1%, +0.7ppt;
    • Thai Airways: 3.2%, -0.5ppt;
    • Malaysia Airlines: 3.0%, -0.5%;
    • China Eastern Airlines: 2.8%, +0.5%;
    • Qatar Airways: 2.7%, stable.

BITRE also reported LCCs AirAsia X, Cebu Pacific Air, Indonesia AirAsia, Jetstar, Jetstar Asia and Scoot Tigerair accounted for 15.1% of total international passenger traffic to/from Australia in Dec-2017. LCC share in Dec-2016 was 17.5%. [more - original PR]

Melbourne Avalon Airport CEO Justin Giddings, speaking at the CAPA Global LCC Summit, said (01-Mar-2018) it would be "terminal for the airport" and "terminal for me" if the plan to transfer AirAsia X's operations from Melbourne Tullamarine Airport to Avalon is not successful. Avalon Airport will construct an AUD20 million (USD15.5 million) terminal to accommodate AirAsia X and Mr Giddings expects negotiations with Australian border control authorities to take a number of months. On the importance of the service, Mr Giddings said: "It's not just KL [Kuala Lumpur] for us", highlighting the AirAsia and AirAsia X groups' connections across Asia, particularly in China and India.

Virgin Australia announced (28-Feb-2018) plans to launch daily Sydney-Hong Kong service from mid-2018. The announcement comes seven months after the carrier launched Melbourne-Hong Kong service. The airline will operate A330-200 equipment on the route. The service will connect with operations by Virgin Australia's alliance partner Hong Kong Airlines and with Virgin Atlantic Airways' flights to London. [more - original PR]