Corporate Travel News For South Pacific

Qantas and Alaska Airlines announced (20-Jun-2017) an enhanced partnership agreement with new codeshare services and reciprocal lounge access for eligible customers. From 26-Jun-2017, Qantas will codeshare on four new Alaska Airlines routes between San Francisco and Orange County, Minneapolis, Albuquerque and Kansas City, alongside service between Los Angeles and San Jose. The new services are in addition to Qantas' existing codeshare arrangements with Alaska Airlines to 15 destinations within North America. In addition, Qantas Frequent Flyer members with a Gold status or higher and Qantas Club members, will have access to Alaska's lounges in Los Angeles, Seattle, Anchorage and Portland. Alaska Airlines' top tier frequent flyers with Alaska Mileage Plan MVP Gold and above, and Alaska Lounge members, will have access to all 13 Qantas operated International Business and 24 Domestic Qantas Club lounges when they travel on a Qantas operated international or domestic flight. [more - original PR]

Flight Centre Australia released (19-Jun-2017) its first data report on the trends and habits of Australian Customers for the year ending Dec-2016. The report also includes an interactive website which allows customers to review data based on individual post code, top travel destinations, customer spend, the role and effects of social media on travel habits and travel dates. Key highlights from the report include:

• 59% of Australians travelled internationally;
• 50-54 year olds spent the most on travel than any other age group;
• 18-34 year olds make up 22% of cruise passengers, higher than Gen X;
• The average travel duration is 15 days. [more - original PR]

Melbourne Tullamarine Airport CEO Lyell Strambi reveal plans for enhanced use of facial recognition technology, more automated check-in kiosks and offsite check-in and baggage drop service at Southern Cross train station in the city (Herald Sun, 19-Jun-2017). Mr Strambi said: "It's just an expectation of a modern city and a modern airport", the new retail and restaurant offerings at terminal 2 also aim to create an environment that "lives up to the experience of the city". Proposed landside upgrades include an indoor theme park and driverless rail link to ease road traffic congestion.

Busselton Mayor Grant Henley announced "the city has made the proposal to postpone" Busselton Airport expansion project in order to "return immediate savings" to the Western Australia Government (The West Australian, 19-Jun-2017). Mr Henley assured the project will be prioritised "when funds can be made available" and the shortage of fund will not deter "overall project objective". The expansion project was initially expected to complete in 2018.

Nadi International Airport announced its second Burger King outlet will open on 21-Jun-2017 (Fiji Times/The Jet Newspaper, 19/20-Jun-2017). The fast food chain's first outlet was located in airside, providing limited access to general public.

Qantas announced an extension to its partnership with Teledyne Controls to include wireless data distribution of software parts within the GroundLink multi-application communication (Get Connected, 19-Jun-2017). Qantas and Teledyne Controls have been in partnership for over 15 years and recently installed the 10,000th GroundLink system for Qantas. As part of the extended partnership Qantas is conducting a new trial to deliver enhanced cockpit connectivity using broadband to include real-time aircraft parameter streaming. Qantas manager technical programmes Peter Alexander, stated: "Teledyne Controls continues to play an important role in further enhancing the airline's operational performance by enabling real time cockpit connectivity beyond the traditional means".

Australian Federation of Air Pilots (AFAP) safety and technical officer Marcus Diamond said public trust issues and safety requirements mean it will be "decades" before pilotless commercial aircraft are accepted, although the union is "a little concerned and we're watching it closely" (Daily Telegraph, 16-Jun-2017). Boeing has confirmed it is developing the technology to use a simulator to test pilotless commercial aircraft with artificial intelligence algorithms.

Sydney Airport, via its official Facebook account, announced (15-Jun-2017) renovation work commenced on Shep's Mound plane spotting lookout point.

Auckland Airport welcomed (19-Jun-2017) the arrival of its 30th commercial passenger airline partner with a chartered Nauru Airlines Boeing 737-300 service from Norfolk Island on 17-Jun-2017. The new weekly service is operated by Nauru Airlines for Norfolk Island Airlines, and re-establishes a direct connection between Auckland and the Pacific island. Auckland Airport acting GM - aeronautical commercial Scott Tasker stated the addition of Norfolk Airlines as the airport's 30th carrier highlights the breadth of travel opportunities now available through Auckland Airport. [more - original PR]

Virgin Australia's Velocity Frequent Flyer programme, via its official website, announced (17-Jun-2017) its partnership with Virgin America will end in Sept-2017, once the takeover by Alaska Airlines is completed. According to the website, Virgin America will dissolve its loyalty programme, Elevate, by 31-Dec-2017 and Velocity Frequent Flyer members will not be able to earn points on Virgin America flights from 30 Sep-2017.