Corporate Travel News

Air New Zealand announced (17-Oct-2023) plans to withdraw the 'worksdeluxe' product on its 'Seats to Suit' services from 01-May-2024. According to the carrier's official website, the offering includes two priority checked bags, premium check-in, priority boarding and more. The worksdeluxe product will remain for available services up to and including 30-Apr-2024. [more - original PR]

CAPA - Centre for Aviation confirmed (17-Oct-2023) AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat, AirAsia Group chief revenue & network officer Paul Carroll, AirAsia X CEO Benyamin Ismail, All Nippon Airways EVP GM Asia & Oceania & Singapore Shinya Kanda, Atlas Air SVP sales & marketing Asia Pacific Alvin Tay, Batik Air group strategy director Chandran Rama Muthy, Beond CEO & chairman Tero Taskila, Capital A Digital president investments & ventures Aireen Omar, Japan Airlines senior research fellow, industry-academia research and cooperations Yoguchi Akihide, Malaysia Airlines Group MD Izham Ismail, Malaysia Airlines head group sustainability Rahimah Ali, Scoot CEO Leslie Thng, Teleport CEO Pete Chareonwongsak, Turkish Airlines SVP cargo marketing Fatih Cığal, VietJet Air member of board of directors Chu Viet Cuong, Air Control Tower managing director Neil Glynn, Airbus Malaysia head of technology Kan-Ern Liew, Airbus head of marketing APAC Bence Szabo, Air Transport World editor in chief Karen Walker, APAC Network chief strategy officer Oriel Morrison, Aviation Week senior air transport editor Adrian Schofield, Aviation Week Network MD Asia Paul Burton, CAE head of sales (Asia) Vivian Dsouza, Envest executive director David Wills, FLYR general manager APAC Clayton Grant, Hitit technical sales director Cemil Agagil, Hong Kong International Airport COO Vivian Cheung, IBS Software SVP for APAC & Middle East Gautam Shekar, Malaysia Airports chairman Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Datuk Zainun Ali, Malaysia Airports COO Gordon Stewart, Malaysia's Minister of Transport the Honourable Loke Siew Fook, Oliver Wyman partner, head of transportation & services Asia Pacific region Douglas Carlucci, SITA vice president airports, borders, communications & data exchange Sanjeev K, Skyscanner vice president strategic relations & development Hugh Aitken and Textron Aviation director Lachlan Cullen as speakers at the CAPA Asia Aviation Summit & Sustainability Awards in Kuala Lumpur on 02/03-Nov-2023.

Zurich Airport announced (16-Oct-2023) plans to launch the 'ZRH Comfort' service on 01-Nov-2023. The service provides travellers with access to a dedicated lounge area before departure, where they are offered snacks and beverages, and the option to use the priority lane at the security checkpoint. The service has been on sale since 16-Oct-2023 and can be booked by all travellers, regardless of booking class or airline, via the Zurich Airport website. [more - original PR]

Etihad Airways announced (16-Oct-2023) plans to gradually relocate operations at Abu Dhabi International Airport to Terminal A as follows:

• 01-Nov-2023 to 08-Nov-2023: All Etihad services will operate to/from Terminals 1 and 3;
• 09-Nov-2023 to 14-Nov-2023: The carrier will begin transitioning operations to Terminal A;
• From 11:00 14-Nov-2023: All Etihad services will operate to/from Terminal A.

The new Terminal A is set to open on 01-Nov-2023. [more - original PR]

American Airlines unveiled (16-Oct-2023) its new AAdvantage Business loyalty programme for corporate travellers, allowing business travellers to earn additional loyalty points and accelerate their path to AAdvantage status. For every USD1 spent on eligible business travel, businesses may earn one AAdvantage mile, while eligible individual travellers may earn one loyalty point counting towards AAdvantage member status. Additionally, corporate CitiBusiness/AAdvantage Platinum Select Mastercard cardmembers may earn twice the miles and an additional loyalty point for every USD1 spent. Rewards are in addition to regular AAdvantage programme offerings. American Airlines is the only US carrier to offer a dedicated business loyalty programme. [more - original PR]

Star Alliance inaugurated (12-Oct-2023) its second lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport on 12-Oct-2023. The new lounge will serve first and business class passengers and Star Alliance Gold status customers on member airline flights departing from gates 10 to 38 in Terminal 1. Eligible United Club and Air Canada Maple Leaf Club members may also access the lounge. The new 1300sqm lounge was designed by Gensler and can accommodate over 300 guests. The first Star Alliance lounge, which is located prior to security on level 10 in Terminal 1, will now serve passengers departing on intra-Schengen flights from gates 50 to 78 and guests from various lounge access programmes departing from all gates. [more - original PR]

Air New Zealand introduced (12-Oct-2023) a Multiseat upgrade option on southbound service from New York to Auckland. The Multiseat upgrade enables a passenger to secure three economy seats together in a row. Multiseat will be available for sale effective immediately for travel from 15-Jan-2024 and is offered as a seat selection in the GDS. [more - original PR]

EUROCONTROL reported (12-Oct-2023) the following highlights for European aviation, for the period between 02-Oct-2023 and 08-Oct-2023:

• The network recorded 31,099 average daily flights, -2.5% week-on-week, +8% year-on-year and at 94% of 2019 levels;
• Intra Europe: 24,439 daily flights, -3% week-on-week and 95% of 2019 levels;
• Intercontinental: 5871 daily flights, -1% week-on-week and 90% of 2019 levels;
• On the intercontinental network, the main regional flow was Europe-Middle East (1515 average daily flights, 4% above 2019 levels);
• Flows with other Europe (including Russia) remain "massively reduced" at -66% compared to 2019 (401 average daily flights);
• The Europe-North Africa is recording the highest growth compared to 2019 (+13%, 1175 average daily flights);
• UK-US was the top long haul country pair, with 343 average daily flights, +3% week-on-week and +6% compared with 2019;
• Mainline (+22% compared to 2022), non scheduled (+6%), low cost (+6%) and regional (+3%) sectors are recording growth since the pandemic;
• Business (+2%) has increased especially in Italy, Spain and France, owing to special events such as the Rugby World Cup in France, political summit in Andalusia and closing parties in Ibiza;
• All cargo (-5%) is levelling off with no more rebound effect from 2022 events such as Omicron or the start of the Russia/Ukraine war. [more - original PR]

MYAirline announced (12-Oct-2023) the suspension of its operations, effective immediately until further notice. The LCC stated the decision was made due to "significant financial pressures", pending a shareholder restructuring and recapitalisation of the company. The carrier stated: "We have worked tirelessly to explore various partnership and capital raising options to prevent this suspension". It added: "Unfortunately, the constraints of time have left us with no alternative but to take this decision". [more - original PR]

South Australian Tourism Commission welcomed (10-Oct-2023) VietJet Air plans to launch five times weekly Ho Chi Minh City-Perth-Adelaide service on 21-Nov-2023, stating it is the "first time any Vietnamese airline has included Adelaide as a regular destination". Vietnam is South Australia's 11th largest export destination, with exports having increased by over 30% in the last 12 months. Adelaide Airport MD Brenton Cox added: "If the service attracts strong passenger numbers, we'll be keen to have further discussions with VietJet with a view to turning this into a nonstop service between the two cities". [more - original PR]