Corporate Travel News For South Pacific

JBWere released research which shows overseas investment in Air New Zealand has increased 27 percentage points since 2013/14(NZ Herald, 16-Jul-2017). At the time of sale approximately 12% of the carrier was owned by overseas investors, however by Mar-2017 this had risen to 39%. The research also shows that if the Government's 52% stake is not counted then just 9% of Air New Zealand is owned by individual and institutional New Zealand investors.

Air Caledonie signed (14-Jul-2017) an MoU with the technical crew of the UT CFE-CGC union, following a strike which grounded services. All services have since been resumed and schedules are running on time. [more - original PR]

Alliance Airlines, via its official Facebook page, confirmed (17-Jul-2017) the launch of new services including Bundaberg-Brisbane, Gladstone-Brisbane and Port Macquarie-Brisbane. As previously reported by CAPA, Alliance Airlines is replacing Virgin Australia regional services on these route as part of a codeshare agreement with Virgin Australia. The carrier will utilise 80 seat Fokker 70 aircraft for the service.

New Zealand Air Line Pilots' Association (NZALPA) expressed (14-Jul-2017) its disappointment at the decision of the Supreme Court of New Zealand to uphold the Court of Appeal's jurisdiction to overturn the contractual right of all Air New Zealand second officer and Boeing 737 first officer pilots to be paid the same increase in remuneration regardless of union affiliation. NZALPA president Tim Robinson stated the specific 12.6% increase in remuneration of this group should apply to the much larger number of pilots in NZALPA. [more - original PR]

Tourism New Zealand regional manager South and South East Asia Steven Dixon said the average length of stay of Indian travellers to New Zealand for the 12 months ended May-2017 was 48.3 days, with the average stay for holidays being 12.4 days (Tourism Breaking News, 13-Jul-2017). Arrivals from India increased 15.2% year-on-year to 54,928 for the 12 month period, while holiday arrivals increased 10.3% to 26,320.

Fiji opposition MP Viliame Gavoka recommended the allocation of FJD18 million (USD8.8 million) provided by the Government to Fiji Airways for marketing be removed (Fiji Times, 14-Jul-2017). Mr Gavoka said the allocation was unnecessary for a company that was the most profitable in the country. Fiji Economy Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum responded, stating the Government wanted the carrier to get a bigger market share and the grant went towards marketing the route network of the airline.

Virgin Australia launched its first inflight duty free service on the Melbourne-Hong Kong route (The Moodie Davitt Report, 13-Jul-2017). Virgin Australia's launched Melbourne-Hong Kong on 05-Jul-2017, with the new duty free service already available.

Air New Zealand announced (14-Jul-2017) it will release its financial results for FY2017 on 23-Aug-2017. [more - original PR]

Fiji Airways announced (13-Jul-2017) its business class guests as Los Angeles International Airport will have access to the oneworld Lounge, located on Level 5 of the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Access to the lounge will be offered exclusively to Fiji Airways guests seated in business class and eligible Tabua Members. [more - original PR]

Australia's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) released (13-Jul-2017) the Domestic Air Fare Index for Jul-2017 which showed the 'Best Discount Fare' Index (Jul-2003 = 100) for domestic travel increased 4.4% year-on-year to 59.9 in Jul-2017. 'Restricted economy' increased 4.2% year-on-year and 'Business class' increased 0.8% year-on-year. [more - original PR]