Corporate Travel News For Asia

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) issued (02-Jun-2017) a draft determination proposing to grant conditional authorisation to Virgin Australia, the HNA Group, Hong Kong Airlines and Hong Kong Express Airways to coordinate international passenger transport services between Australia and mainland China, and Australia and Hong Kong. On 17-Feb-2017, the carriers lodged a request for authorisations A91575 and A91576 with the ACCC under subsection 88(1A) and 88(1) of the Competition and Consumer Act 2010. The request was seeking authorisation for a minimum of ten years however the ACCC has proposed to grant authorisation for five years. [more - original PR]

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, is expected to conduct a 12 month trial of nonstop Singapore-Karratha service(ABC, 01-Jun-2017). The first service is expected in Mar-2018. City of Karratha Mayor Peter Long stated: Further work would now be required to ensure the airport was up to the necessary standards. International services require Border Force and customs facilities built into the airport to accommodate them".

Melbourne Airport welcomed (01-Jun-2017) China Southern Airlines' three times weekly Shenzhen-Melbourne service, operated with A330-200 aircraft, on 01-Jun-2017. China Southern operates the largest number of seats to China from Melbourne Airport. [more - original PR]

Australia's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reported (31-May-2017) the following international traffic highlights to/from Australia for Mar-2017:

• Passengers: 3.1 million, +1.7% year-on-year;
• Available seats: 4.3 million, +6.2%;
• Flights: 16,155, +3.3%;
• Cargo: 96,220 tonnes, +9.6%;
• Aircraft movements: 16,155, +3.3%;
• Top 10 international carriers:
  • Share of passengers carried:
    • Qantas: 16.4%, +0.8ppt;
    • Jetstar: 9.3%, -0.4ppt;
    • Emirates: 8.3%, -1.0ppt;
    • Singapore Airlines: 8.2%, +0.2ppt;
    • Air New Zealand: 7.4%, -0.3ppt;
    • Virgin Australia: 5.9%, -0.8ppt;
    • Cathay Pacific Airways: 4.9%, -0.4ppt;
    • AirAsia X: 4.1%, +0.5ppt;
    • Etihad Airways: 3.1%, +0.2ppt;
    • China Southern Airlines: 2.9%, -0.1ppt;
  • Share of cargo carried:
    • Singapore Airlines: 16.3%, -1.3ppts;
    • Qantas: 12.8%, -1.0ppt;
    • Emirates: 10.0%, -2.8ppts;
    • Cathay Pacific Airways: 7.2%, -0.3ppt;
    • Air New Zealand: 5.5%, +0.4ppt;
    • Malaysia Airlines: 3.5%, +1.0ppt;
    • Etihad Airways: 3.2%, +0.2ppt;
    • Thai Airways: 3.2%, -0.3ppt;
    • Qatar Aiways: 3.0%, +0.5ppt;
    • China Southern Airlines: 3.0%, -0.2ppt. [more - original PR]

BITRE also reported LCCs AirAsia X, Cebu Pacific Air, Indonesia AirAsia, Jetstar, Jetstar Asia and Scoot accounted for 17.2% of total international passenger traffic to/from Australia in Mar-2017. LCC share in Mar-2016 was 17.8%.

Qantas provided (29-May-2017) a network update, covering additional and expanded codeshare arrangements with Fiji Airways. Qantas will add its code to Fiji Airways' twice weekly Adelaide-Nadi service, which commences on 30-Jun-2017. This adds to Qantas' existing codeshare arrangements on Fiji Airways services between Nadi, Suva and destinations in Australia, New Zealand and the US. Separately, Fiji Airways will add its code to Qantas service between Singapore and Perth. [more - original PR]

Melbourne Airport chief of aviation Simon Gandy welcomed (29-May-2017) Japan Airlines' (JAL) announcement it will launch Tokyo-Melbourne service from 02-Sep-2017, operating daily frequency with 186 seat Boeing 787-8 equipment. The aircraft is configured to provide a larger than normal allocation of premium seating, to capture business links between Japanese companies and Melbourne. This is the first time a Japanese carrier has operated to Melbourne. [more - original PR]

Pacific Air Express issued (26-May-2017) a request to Australia's International Air Services Commission seeking an allocation of unlimited freight capacity on the Brisbane-Guangzhou route. The proposed service will operate on Boeing 757-200F aircraft with 32 tonnes of freight capacity. [more - original PR]

Australia's Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester commented (26-May-2017) on the Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics' most recent International Airline Activity report, stating a highlight of the report was passenger traffic between Australia and China reaching 2.48 million in 2016, an increase of 28.7% year on year. Australia experienced a 7.9% increase in its international aviation passenger numbers in 2016, a number which will double passenger numbers in less than 10 years if the rate continues. [more - original PR]

Australia's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reports (26-May-2017) the following international traffic highlights to/from Australia for 2016:

• Passengers: 37.6 million, +7.9% year-on-year;
• Available seats: 49.3 million, +9.9%;
• Flights: 190,376, +8.0%;
• Freight: 1.0 million tonnes, +3.9%;
• Mail: 36,631 tonnes, -2.0%;
• Aircraft movements: 193,607, +7.7%;
• Share of operated seats by region:
  • Southeast Asia: 36.0%;
  • New Zealand: 19.9%;
  • Northeast Asia: 17.7%;
  • Middle East: 11.3%;
  • North America: 8.6%;
  • Oceania: 4.7%;
  • Africa: 1.0%;
  • South America: 0.4%;
  • South Asia: 0.3%;
• Top 10 countries by passenger movements:
  • New Zealand;
  • Singapore;
  • United Arab Emirates;
  • USA;
  • Indonesia;
  • Hong Kong;
  • China;
  • Malaysia;
  • Thailand;
  • Japan;
• Top 10 international carriers:
• Share of passengers carried:
  • Qantas:15.6%;
  • Jetstar: 9.5%;
  • Emirates: 8.8%;
  • Singapore Airlines: 8.1%;
  • Air New Zealand: 6.8%;
  • Virgin Australia: 6.3%;
  • Cathay Pacific: 4.9%;
  • AirAsia X: 3.9%;
  • Etihad Airways: 3.1%;
  • China Southern Airlines: 2.9%;
  • Others: 30.2%;
• LCCs share: 18.2%, +1.8ppts. [more - original PR]

Aviation Australia announced (24-May-2017) a cooperative partnership agreement with the Jakarta Aviation Training Centre (JATC) for the delivery of aircraft maintenance engineering training to Indonesian students. Training will be delivered at JATC's campus, located next to the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, as well as Aviation Australia's campus located next to the Brisbane International Airport. Aviation Australia CEO Bill Horrocks stated Indonesia is a very important player in the global aviation industry and has experienced massive growth over the past decade. [more - original PR]