Corporate Travel News For South Pacific

IATA announced (06-Jun-2017) Qantas will host the 74th IATA AGM and World Air Transport Summit in Sydney, Australia, from 03-Jun-2018 to 05-Jun-2018. [more - original PR]

Queenstown Airport CEO Colin Keel announced (06-Jun-2017) the airport will reinstate the public drop-off lane in front of the terminal from 01-Jul-2017. The improvement is part of a wider ground transportation upgrade project that aims to increase public parking capacity by 70% year-on-year in Dec-2017. [more - original PR]

Australia's Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester discussed (05-Jun-2017) the government's investment in infrastructure at the Victorian Transport Association state conference. Mr Chester stated: "The Turnbull-Joyce Government knows how critical the freight and logistics industry is to Australia's prosperity and productivity and we are developing a National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy in response to Infrastructure Australia's Australian Infrastructure Plan". The Government plans to invest AUD75 billion (USD56.2 billion) in the infrastructure budget for critical airport, road and rail projects to ensure the supply chain moving people and freight around the country keeps flowing more quickly, more safely and more efficiently. [more - original PR]

Brisbane Airport hinted its upcoming masterplan, scheduled to reveal in late 2017, may see alterations to its ground transportation plan (Sydney Morning Herald, 05-Jun-2017). According to the 2014 masterplan, the airport is expected to develop an elevated monorail system by 2022. With capacity for 3200 passengers per hour, the monorail will connect both terminals with the long term car park.

IATA regional vice president for the Americas Peter Cerda stated Auckland Airport has the potential to be a hub and catalyst in enhancing traffic from Asia to Latin America (NZ Herald, 05-Jun-2017). Mr Cerda urged New Zealand aviation authorities to improve air traffic management and airport infrastructures to enable this route development.

South Pacific Tourism Organisation (SPTO) launched a new website to promote tourism to the area and meet the requirements of SPTO's corporate clients, in particular clients who work with SPTO to market the region to the world (SPTO, 05-Jun-2017). SPTO CEO Chris Cocker stated: "The refreshed regional tourism website will strengthen SPTO's capacity in a number of different areas, including regional destination marketing and servicing membership requirements and providing more information in the area of niche markets".

Tonga Prime Minister Akilisi Pohiva believes there are only two options to assist with reducing expensive domestic airfares to the country's outer-islands, the introduction of another carrier to compete in the market or the Government to create its own airline to provide cheaper fares (Tonga Broadcasting Commission, 06-Jun-2017). Tonga Airways applied to the Government for a licence to operate domestically and is currently awaiting approval.

New Plymouth District Council closed public consultations for New Plymouth Airport expansion project and will address it on 07-Jun-2017 (Stuff, 05-Jun-2017). As previously reported by CAPA, the project aims to increase the terminal area from 1430sqm to 4092sqm and is estimated to require between NZD21.7 million (USD15.1 million) and NZD28.7 million (USD20 million). The council hopes to commence construction within 2017.

Virgin Australia Airlines Group believes Western Sydney's proposed airport at Badgerys Creek requires 24 hour operations to ensure success and growth in passenger traffic (The Australian, 06-Jun-2017). While in attendance at the International Air Transport Association's annual general meeting in Cancun, Virgin Australia Airlines group executive John Thomas stated: "It's the law of geography. For an Asian carrier to have a 07:00 or 08:00 arrival they need to leave post the curfew here. So we think it will actually generate more traffic by giving those later departures out of Sydney, which the city has never had. It is critical there is no curfew on flights at the proposed airport".

Qantas launched (05-Jun-2017) its own credit card with applications for the platinum card now open. The Qantas Premier Mastercard, issued by Citi, was announced at the May-2017 Investor Update and has been designed to reward Qantas Frequent Flyer members with an earn rate of up to two Qantas Points per dollar spent. Qantas Loyalty CEO Lesley Grant stated: "From our perspective, this is an important next step in evolving the Qantas Loyalty business. It's an expansion of the financial products we offer and opens the opportunity for us to share directly in the card economics". [more - original PR]