News for South Pacific

Qantas Airways launched (28-Jan-2023) a commercial policy for customers impacted by Auckland flooding. The commercial policy is available to customers holding a valid 081 ticket for flights to or from Auckland for tickets issued on/before 28-Jan-2023 for travel between 28-Jan-2023 and 01-Feb-2023. Passengers are permitted to rebook with Qantas Airways operated flight within plus or minus 10 days. Where a cabin is no longer available, customers can be accommodated or rebooked on the next available Qantas operated flight in a lower cabin and offered a partial refund if applicable. Passengers may also retain the value of the ticket in credit. [more - original PR]

Air Caledonie stated (27-jan-2023) due to industrial action it has amended its flight schedule for 31-Jan-2023. [more - original PR]

Air New Zealand estimated (28-Jan-2023) it cancelled 240 services as a result of flooding at Auckland international Airport. The carrier introduced flexibility on all fare types for customers who hold tickets for travel to, from or through Auckland between 27-Jan-2023 and 30-Jan-2023 on an Air New Zealand flight. Domestic customers are able to rebook in the same class of travel between 28-Jan-2023 and 06-Feb-2023 without fare difference, penalty or service fees. International customers have until 13-Feb-2023. If travel is only available in a higher cabin, the fare differential will apply. [more - original PR]

Cebu Pacific announced (20-Jan-2023) plans to resume three times weekly Manila-Melbourne service from 27-Mar-2023 with A330 aircraft. [more - original PR]

Beijing Capital Airlines, via its official WeChat account, announced (19-Jan-2023) plans to resume twice weekly Qingdao-Melbourne service from 14-Feb-2023, increasing to three times weekly from 04-Mar-2023. 

Air China, via its official WeChat account, announced (19-Jan-2023) the following international service resumptions: 

• Beijing Capital-Bangkok: Weekly from 27-Jan-2023;
• Beijing Capital-Phuket: Three times weekly from 30-Jan-2023;
• Beijing Capital-Chiang Mai: Twice weekly from 14-Feb-2023;
• Beijing Capital-Geneva: Weekly from 09-Feb-2023;
• Beijing Capital-Melbourne: Three times weekly from 01-Feb-2023;
• Beijing Capital-Sydney: Three times weekly from 03-Feb-2023;
• Chengdu Shuangliu-Taipei: Twice weekly from 18-Jan-2023;
• Wuhan-Macau: Three times weekly from 20-Jan-2023.

China Airlines plans to reduce commission for New Zealand travel agents from 5% to 2%, effective 01-Feb-2023 (TRAVELinc Memo, 20-Jan-2023). The carrier said the amendments are "part of our recovery plan", allowing for the carrier to "operate in a competitive cost model".

Air Serbia and Qatar Airways signed (18-Jan-2023) a comprehensive codeshare agreement, offering passengers seamless travel to more than 40 destinations, effective 01-Feb-2023. The codeshare network will include Qatar Airways' service between Belgrade and Doha, and to destinations beyond Doha including Adelaide, Baku, Brisbane, Tbilisi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Muscat, Nairobi, Perth, Seychelles, Singapore and Sydney. Air Serbia plans to extend coverage to Bangkok, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Phuket, Seoul, Tokyo, Yerevan, Zanzibar and other destinations, subject to obtaining necessary government approvals and once all conditions are fulfilled. Qatar Airways operates five times weekly Doha-Belgrade service. The codeshare agreement also allows passengers to use a single booking to continue travel to European countries such as Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia among others served by Air Serbia. Air Serbia CEO Jiří Marek said: "Through this cooperation, we believe that we will be able to jointly bring to Serbia more traffic and opportunities for trade and tourism, as well as to increase the traffic between the two hubs". Qatar Airways group chief executive Akbar Al Baker said: "This partnership will allow us to expand our footprint in the Central and Eastern European markets". [more - original PR - English/Serbian] [more - original PR]  

United Airlines scheduled to suspend daily Houston-Sydney service from 25-Mar-2023 to 26-Oct-2023, as per a 16-Jan-2023 GDS inventory and timetable display. According to OAG, no other carriers are scheduled to operate the route.

United Airlines scheduled to increase San Francisco-Sydney frequency from 10 times weekly to twice daily from 28-Oct-2023, as per a 16-Jan-2023 GDS inventory and timetable display. The additional frequencies will also be operated using Boeing 777-300ER equipment.