Corporate Travel News For Asia

Batik Air president director Achmad Luthfie said the airline plans to commence Denpasar-Sydney service with A330 equipment in Dec-2017 (Harian Nasional, 24/25-Jul-2017). The airline also aims to commence Denpasar-Melbourne service. Batik Air will receive one of three A330s to be delivered to Lion Air Group in 2017, with the other two to be allocated to Malindo Air.

Cebu Pacific Air confirmed (24-Jul-2017) plans to increase Manila-Sydney frequency to daily, effective 01-Dec-2017, "on the back of robust demand for frequency". The additional frequencies will increase cargo capacity for exports from Australia to the Philippines and onward to China, Dubai, Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. The airline is the only LCC on the route, operating up to five times weekly and holding the largest market share for passengers and cargo. VP for marketing and distribution Candice Iyog said: "Cebu Pacific continues to remain bullish over prospects in the Australia market". [more - original PR]

Air New Zealand announced (24-Jul-2017) plans to increase seasonal Auckland-Bali frequency from twice or three times weekly to five times weekly in 2018. The season will also be increased by an additional two months in 2018, operating from the beginning of Apr-2018 to Oct-2018. The service will utilise Boeing 787-9 aircraft, subject to regulatory approval. Air New Zealand chief revenue officer Cam Wallace stated the increase and extension to the seasonal service represented year-on-year growth of more than 90%. [more - original PR]

Air New Zealand launched (21-Jul-2017) three times weekly Auckland-Tokyo Haneda seasonal service, operating between Jul-2017 and May-2018 with Boeing 787-9 equipment. Air New Zealand chief revenue officer Cam Wallace stated demand for travel between the two countries continues to increase and the direct route will boost annual capacity to Japan by 15%. [more - original PR]

Virgin Australia issued (19-Jul-2017) a request to Australia's International Air Services Commission (IASC) seeking a determination allocating 300 third country codeshare seats per week of capacity on the Italy route, to be used to codeshare with Etihad Airways and Singapore Airlines. The request comes as a result of the recent conclusion of revised air services arrangement between Australia and Italy. The request includes:

• The allocation is requested for a period of five years;
• The capacity will be fully utilised by 31-Jul-2018;
• The capacity may be utilised by Virgin Australia, a wholly owned subsidiaries;
• The capacity may be utilised for joint services with Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways. [more - original PR]

Sydney Airport MD and CEO Kerrie Mather stated (20-Jul-2017) Jun-2017 international passenger traffic growth of 9.7% year-on-year "represents our strongest monthly result this year". Ms Mather explained traffic is driven by "higher load factors and larger aircraft" with routes to China doing particularly well. [more - original PR]

Australia's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reported (21-Jul-2017) the overall domestic on time performance for participating airlines for Jun-2017. Details include:

• On-time departures: 85.3%;
  • Qantas: 90.5%;
  • Virgin Australia Regional Airlines: 89.1%;
  • Virgin Australia: 88.2%;
  • QantasLink: 86.4%;
  • Regional Express: 83.8%;
  • Jetstar: 77.2%;
  • Tigerair: 74.1%;
• On-time arrivals: 85.0%;
  
  • Qantas: 89.5%;
  • Virgin Australia Regional Airlines: 87.7%;
  • Virgin Australia: 87.1%;
  • QantasLink: 86.5%;
  • Regional Express: 81.3%;
  • Jetstar: 80.7%;
  • Tigerair: 73.2%;
• Cancellations: 1.4%;
  • QantasLink: 2.6%;
  • Tigerair: 2.1%;
  • Regional Express: 1.7%;
  • Virgin Australia: 1.1%;
  • Jetstar: 0.7%;
  • Qantas: 0.7%;
  • Virgin Australia Regional Airlines: 0.4%. [more - original PR]

Tourism Tasmania released (Jul-2017) its International Market Approach report which aims to grow annual visitor numbers to Tasmania to 1.5 million and generate visitor expenditure of AUD2.5 billion (USD2 billion) by 2020. The report identified Tasmania's highest priority markets, which include North America, Continental Europe, Singapore, Hong Kong and China. [more - original PR]

Singapore Airlines plans to increase Singapore-Sydney frequency from 33 to 35 times weekly, effective 05-Dec-2017 to 31-Jan-2018 and replace A330-300 with Boeing 777-200ER equipment on one of four daily Singapore-Perth frequencies, effective 01-Mar-2018 (Airline Route, 18-Jul-2017). The airline will operate the additional Singapore-Sydney frequencies with 777-200ER equipment. The carrier also operates Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra and Melbourne services, according to OAG.

Tourism New Zealand (Tourism NZ) stated (18-Jul-2017) travellers from South Korea to New Zealand increased 14% year-on-year in the past 12 months. Tourism NZ partnered with Korean Air and Auckland International Airport to "capitalise on this trend" with a joint advertising promotion, referred to as 'Fall in love with Pure New Zealand charm'. Tourism New Zealand manager Korea Hee Jeong Kwon said: "Over the coming month visitors to the Korean Air site and its online social media channels will have a glimpse of what they can enjoy in New Zealand including tailored itineraries for solo travellers, couples, families, and older travellers". Korean Air has around 9.9 million frequent flyers and over 500,000 social media followers. [more - original PR]