Corporate Travel News For South Pacific

Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (HAECO) signed (21-Jun-2017) an airframe maintenance service agreement with Jetstar Airways and completed the first C Check on one of the airline's Boeing 787-8 aircraft. HAECO stated its team worked closely with Jetstar Airways onsite representatives to resolve technical issues and redelivered the aircraft on schedule. [more - original PR]

Qantas announced (22-Jun-2017) a new collaboration with the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre to develop a new approach to long haul travel ahead of the first Boeing 787-9 services. The centre brings together researchers across a variety of fields from nutrition to physical activity, sleep and complex systems modelling. Research projects include strategies to counteract jetlag, on-board exercise and movement, menu design and service timing, pre and post-flight preparation, transit lounge wellness concepts and cabin environment including lighting and temperature. Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce stated the partnership has the potential to transform the journey for passengers, particularly on the long haul routes that the 787-9 is scheduled to operate. [more - original PR]

Statistics New Zealand senior media advisor James Weir stated: "Departure cards are not obsolete in New Zealand", responding to Australia's plans to remove departure cards by 01-Jul-2017 (Stuff, 21-Jun-2017). Mr Weir explained Immigration New Zealand collects data on migration and international traffic, which will be used by the government in decision making.

Western Australia's Parliamentary Economics and Industry Standing Committee announced (20-Jun-2017) plans to conduct an inquiry into regional airfares in Western Australia. WA Tourism Minister Paul Papalia welcomed the announcement stating "the parliamentary inquiry has the power to shine a spotlight on this issue, get to the bottom of why these fares are so expensive and give airlines the opportunity to provide solutions." The committee will inquire and report on five specific issues surrounding regional airfares, investigate the factors contributing to the current high cost of regional airfares and evaluate actions the State Government, local governments and regional airlines can take to limit increases to airfares. [more - original PR]

Fiji Bureau of Statistics released provisional visitor arrivals for May-2017 showing record numbers as follows (Fiji Times, 22-Jun-2017):

• A total of 64,367 visitors arrived in Fiji, a 6.6% year-on-year increase;
• 48,074 visitors came to Fiji for holiday purposes, accounting for 74.7% of the total arrivals;
• New Zealand had the highest increase, with 24.8%.

Tigerair Australia launched four times weekly Melbourne-Townsville service on 22-Jun-2017, utilising A320 equipment (Townsville Bulletin, 22-Jun-2017). The service will provide more than 1400 seats each week and is expected to inject AUD12.5 million (USD9.43 million) p/a into the Townsville economy. Tigerair Australia head of communications Vanessa Regan stated the carrier is thrilled by the way Townsville had embraced Tigerair since the new services were announced earlier in 2017.

Australia's Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics (BITRE) reported (22-Jun-2017) overall domestic on-time performance for participating airlines averaged 87.4% for on-time departures and 87.5% for on-time arrivals for May-2017. Details include:

• On-time departures: 87.4%;
  • Jetstar: 77.8%;
  • Qantas: 91.3%;
  • QantasLink: 89.8%;
  • Regional Express: 88.2%;
  • Tigerair: 79.0%;
  • Virgin Australia: 88.6%;
  • Virgin Australia Regional Airlines: 87.0%;
• On-time arrivals: 87.5%;
  • Jetstar: 82.3%;
  • Qantas: 90.8%;
  • QantasLink: 89.7%;
  • Regional Express: 86.3%;
  • Tigerair: 80.0%;
  • Virgin Australia: 88.1%;
  • Virgin Australia Regional Airlines: 84.7%;
• Cancellations: 1.0%;
  • Jetstar: 0.6%;
  • Qantas: 0.6%;
  • QantasLink: 1.3%;
  • Regional Express: 1.2%;
  • Tigerair: 0.7%;
  • Virgin Australia: 1.4%;
  • Virgin Australia Regional Airlines: 0.3%. [more - original PR]

Air New Zealand passenger numbers up 9% - traffic highlights for May-2017:

• Passengers: 1.2 million, +8.7% year-on-year;
  • Short-haul: 1.0 million, +9.4%;
  • Domestic: 785,000, +9.8%;
  • Tasman/Pacific: 243,000, +8.2%;
  • Long-haul: 137,000, +4.0%;
  • North America/UK: 85,000, +7.2%;
  • Asia/Japan/Singapore: 52,000, -0.7%;
• Passenger load factor: 81.1%, +0.7ppt;
  • Tasman/Pacific: 83.2%, +1.7ppts;
  • North America/UK: 82.7%, +0.8ppt
  • Short-haul: 82.2%, +0.8ppt;
  • Domestic: 80.5%, -0.8ppt;
  • Long-haul: 80.3%, +0.6ppt;
  • Asia/Japan/Singapore: 76.2%, +0.1ppt. [more - original PR]

Air New Zealand: "For the financial year to date, Short Haul passenger revenue per ASK (RASK)* decreased 4.4% and Long Haul RASK* decreased 13.6%. Removing the impact of foreign exchange, Group-wide RASK* decreased 6.8%, and Group-wide yields for the financial year to date decreased 5.4% on the same period last year." Source: Company statement, 20-Jun-2017.

Batik Air commenced (21-Jun-2017) twice daily Denpasar-Perth service on 22-Jun-2017, operating with Boeing 737-900 aircraft. The new service will add 5040 seats per week on the route. Perth Airport CEO Kevin Brown stated Indonesian visitors to Perth increased 17.8% year-on-year for the 12 months ending Apr-2017, adding: "it's important that we continue to facilitate growth through greater flight options". [more - original PR]

Tourism Research Australia released (21-Jun-2017) results of the National Visitor Survey, which determines travel by Australians, for the year ending Mar-2017. Key highlights of the report include:

• Domestic travel by Australians:
  • Overnight trip spend increased 6% to reach a record AUD61.7 billion (USD46.6 billion);
  • Overnight trips increased 3% to reach a record 91.7 million;
  • Nights increased 4% to reach 335.5 million;
• Interstate travel vs intrastate travel:
  • Average trip expenditure for an interstate trip was AUD1150 (USD868.4), compared to AUD444 (USD335.3) for intrastate;
  • Average length of stay for an interstate trip is five nights, compared to three nights for intrastate;
• Overnight trips and regional expenditure by state:
  • New South Wales:
    • 29.4 million visitors, up 4%;
    • AUD16.7 billion (USD12.6 billion) spend, up 3%;
  • Victoria:
    • 22.5 million visitors, up 6%;
    • AUD12.7 billion (USD9.6 billion) spend, up 12%;
  • Queensland:
    • 21.2 million visitors, up 4%;
    • AUD15.3 billion (USD11.6 billion) spend, up 6%;
  • South Australia:
    • 6.1 million visitors, up 1%;
    • AUD3.9 billion (USD2.9 billion) spend, up 8%;
  • Western Australia:
    • 9.5 million visitors, down 5%;
    • AUD7.3 billion (USD5.5 billion) spend, down 2%;
  • Northern Territory:
    • 1.5 million visitors, down 7%;
    • AUD1.9 billion (USD1.4 billion) spend, up 2%;
  • Tasmania:
    • 2.5 million visitors, up 7%;
    • AUD2.3 billion (USD1.7 billion) spend, up 30%;
  • Australian Capital Territory:
    • 2.5 million visitors, up 3%;
    • AUD1.6 billion (USD1.2 billion) spend, up 16%. [more - original PR]