Corporate Travel News For Asia

Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti reported "some pretty significant flows" in cargo bookings for Melbourne-Hong Kong service and said the service is "opening up opportunities for us on the cargo side" (Air Cargo News, 15-Aug-2017). Mr Borghetti commented: "As we go forward, once we establish ourselves, firstly with more services, we can then go into the second phase of seeing how we expand this with freighters etc".

AirAsia X introduced (16-Aug-2017) self service check-in kiosks at Gold Coast Airport as part of the airport's roll out of common use passenger processing systems. The airport is the first in Australia to feature AirAsia X self service check-in kiosks and will be followed by Sydney Airport, Melbourne Tullamarine Airport and Perth Airport. AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail said: "This major initiative is part of our ongoing mission to continuously innovate with technology and practice cost efficiency". [more - original PR]

Singapore Airlines announced (15-Aug-2017) plans to replace A330-300 and Boeing 777-200 aircraft with A350-900 equipment on three of four daily Singapore-Brisbane frequencies, changing aircraft on one daily frequency on 16-Oct-2017, 16-Dec-2017 and 16-Jan-2018. The change will add 24 premium economy seats per service and increase business class capacity by 42% to nearly 100,000 seats p/a. Overall two way Singapore-Brisbane capacity will increase by 53,040 seats to 750,000 seats p/a by Jan-2018. The carrier will increase frequency from three to four times daily in Aug-2017. The A350-900 is configured with 42 business class, 24 premium economy and 187 economy class seats. Singapore Airlines regional VP Tan Tiow Kor said: "The introduction of these three new Airbus A350-900 aircraft along with the introduction of a fourth daily service is in response to the growing demand we have seen from the Queensland market. While this growth is across all cabin classes the demand for additional premium cabin options has been encouraging". Brisbane Airport Corporation CEO and MD Julieanne Alroe said: "The passenger mix is changing and it's evident more travellers are wanting a premium experience". [more - original PR] [more - original PR - Brisbane Airport]

New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation & Employment (MIBE) released (14-Aug-2017) a report providing a snapshot of the experiences of international visitors to New Zealand from 3Q2013 to 1Q2017. Key highlights:

• A high proportion of visitors say New Zealand met or exceeded their expectations, and satisfaction was consistently high across different amenities;
• Most visitors were highly satisfied with their visit to New Zealand;
  • Overall, visitors reported high levels of satisfaction with visiting New Zealand, rating their visit on average 9 out of 10.
  • Visitors were most satisfied with the natural and built environment (9.1 out of 10) and with their sense of safety (also 9.1 out of 10);
  • Visitor satisfaction was higher among visitors from the US and UK. The US and the UK had the highest average overall satisfaction scores (9.4 out of 10), with Japan and South Korea having the lowest (8.8 and 8.7);
  • Other characteristics (such as age and gender) did not seem to influence visitor satisfaction;
• Most visitors said their experience in New Zealand met or exceeded their expectations;
  • Over 95% of visitors said their trip in New Zealand met or exceeded their expectations;
  • Visitors from the US and UK were more likely than visitors from other countries to say New Zealand exceeded their expectations;
  • More than 98% of visitors said New Zealand's environment met or exceeded their expectations. Environmentally conscious visitors were more likely to say the environment exceeded their expectations;
• Visitors were very likely to recommend New Zealand as a holiday destination;
  
  • New Zealand had a positive net promoter score of 78% when it comes to visitors recommending New Zealand;
  • More than 80% of visitors were likely to recommend New Zealand, with visitors from the US and UK being the most likely to say this;
• Among visitors who were less satisfied, common themes appeared in their reasons;
  
  • Of those visitors who gave lower satisfaction scores (1-7), high prices was a commonly listed reason;
  • Other reasons cited included no free WiFi or internet, and inconsistent quality of facilities, of public transportation and customer service. [more - original PR]

Philippine Airlines announced (14-Aug-2017) plans to commence three times weekly nonstop Manila-Auckland service and suspend Manila-Cairns-Auckland service, effective 06-Dec-2017. The carrier will operate Manila-Auckland service with dual class 254 seat A340 equipment, increasing capacity by 60%. The airline operates Manila-Cairns-Auckland service with 156 seat A320 equipment and the new route will reduce travel time to Auckland from 12.15 to 10 hours. [more - original PR]

Australia's International Air Services Commission (IASC) issued (11-Aug-2017) a series of determinations covering capacity allocations for Italy, New Zealand, the US, Fiji, Vanuatu and Samoa:

• [2017] IASC 119 allocating Virgin Australia 300 third country codeshare seats per week to Italy covering codeshare services with Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways;
• [2017] IASC 113 allocating to Virgin Australia unlimited passenger and freight capacity in each direction to New Zealand. The determination also permits the use of capacity by Virgin Australia for the provision of codeshare services with Etihad Airways, Delta Air Lines, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines, Alitalia, airberlin, Air Canada and Hong Kong Airlines;
• [2017] IASC 114 allocating to Virgin Australia unlimited passenger and freight capacity in each direction to the US with permission to use the capacity for codeshare services with Delta Air Lines;
• [2017] IASC 115 allocating to Virgin Australia 1260 seats per week in each direction to Fiji;
• [2017] IASC 116 allocating to Virgin Australia 180 seats per week in each direction to Fiji;
• [2017] IASC 117 allocating to Virgin Australia 720 seats of capacity per week in each direction to Vanuatu, and permitting the use of the capacity for codeshare with Singapore Airlines;
• [2017] IASC 121 allocating to Virgin Australia 180 seats of capacity per week in each direction to Vanuatu, and permitting the use of the capacity for codeshare with Singapore Airlines;
• [2017] IASC 120 allocating to Virgin Australia 880 seats of capacity per week to Samoa. [more - original PR]

Qantas announced (11-Aug-2017) a new agreement with Alibaba Group's online travel service platform, Fliggy, which will allow customers to book Qantas flights directly on the site. Qantas International CEO Gareth Evans and Fliggy VP Jerry Hu signed an MoU to establish a strategic relationship which also has scope for joint marketing campaigns to Alibaba Group's 507 million mobile active users. Mr Evans said a partnership with Fliggy makes it easier for a large number of potential customers to purchase Qantas flights. Together with its partners China Eastern and China Southern, Qantas operates more than 130 weekly return services between Australia and China. [more - original PR]

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) granted (10-Aug-2017) authorisation to coordinate airline services for five years to Virgin Australia Airlines, the HNA Aviation Group, Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express Airways. The Alliance Framework Agreement may see additional airline services operate between Australia and mainland China, and Australia and Hong Kong. ACCC commissioner Roger Featherston said: "The ACCC considers the alliance will likely realise significant public benefits, primarily through supporting the introduction of new services between Australia and mainland China and Hong Kong including by Virgin... The ACCC considers that the alliance is unlikely to result in any significant public detriment as there was unlikely to have been any material overlap between direct flights operated by Virgin and any of the other airlines in the short to medium term without the alliance in place". Since the ACCC granted interim authorisation in March, Virgin has commenced services between Australia and Hong Kong. Virgin also expects to launch services between Australia and mainland China. The airlines will coordinate their international passenger transport services such as codesharing, frequent flyer programme participation, lounge access, route planning and scheduling. [more - original PR]

Thai Airways plans to deploy Boeing 787-9 equipment on Auckland service from 29-Oct-2017 (Airline Route, 09-Aug-2017). The airline currently operates five times weekly Bangkok Suvarnabhumi-Auckland service with 777 equipment, according to OAG.

Thai Airways plans to operate A350 equipment twice daily on Melbourne service from 01-Feb-2018 (Airline Route, 09-Aug-2017). The airline currently operates twice daily Bangkok Suvarnabhumi-Melbourne service with Boeing 777 equipment, according to OAG, and operates five A350-900 aircraft with seven on order, according to the CAPA Fleet Database.