Corporate Travel News

Deutsche Lufthansa AG launched (05-Dec-2017) 'Timepass', a prepaid "low cost deal" available from 05-Dec-2017 to 31-Dec-2017 for bookings from 01-Apr-2018 to 27-Oct-2018. Travellers can purchase either six, nine or 12 "flight time hours" and then decide "when and to what European destinations they would like to fly to". A 'Single Pass' from Munich and Frankfurt to European destinations starts from EUR249. The 'Companion Pass' for two people starts from EUR429. [more - original PR - German]

Finnair announced (05-Dec-2017) plans to increase frequency to the following destinations during the summer 2018 season:

• Lisbon: Increased to daily, effective Jun-2018;
• Barcelona: Up to 18 weekly frequencies during summer 2018 peak;
• Budapest: Three times daily during summer 2018 peak;
• Krakow: Two additional frequencies per week;
• Geneva: One additional frequency per week;
• Astana: Twice weekly during Jul/Aug-2018.

Finnair also plans to increase frequency to the following destinations during winter 2018/2019, in part to support increasing demand for connectivity from Asia:

• Madrid: 10 times weekly;
• Reykjavik: Two additional weekly frequencies;
• Finnish Lapland: More than 230 additional frequencies to destinations in Finnish Lapland during the season, including Ivalo, Rovaniemi, Kittila and Kuusamo. Finnair will offer 482,000 seats to Lapland during the 2018/2019 winter season, up 15% year-on-year. [more - original PR]

Seychelles Airlines reportedly expects to commence operations by the end of 2018, according to deputy CEO Robert Marie (Seychelles Nation/Seychelles News Agency, 29-Nov/02-Dec-2017). The carrier will submit revised documentation to the Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority for approval. The airline aims to launch with two 213 seat Boeing 767s and potentially other leased aircraft. The carrier is considering services to Frankfurt, Johannesburg, Mauritius, Paris and Singapore.

Doha Hamad International Airport (HIA) COO Badr Al-Meer said the airport's growth "stems from a clear vision and a sound investment strategy" (Airport Business, 04-Dec-2017). "Since its opening in 2014, HIA has stated its ambition to become a world-leading hub and our efforts across the board are directed towards this goal", he said, adding: "The next step will focus on exploring the use of facial recognition, biometrics, Artificial Intelligence, robotics, and augmented and virtual reality".

Edelweiss Air plans the following new long haul routes with A340-300 aircraft for winter 2018/19, according to a 04-Dec-2017 GDS inventory and timetable display:

• Zurich-Colombo: Twice weekly from 03-Nov-2018;
• Zurich-Ho Chi Minh City: Twice weekly from 15-Nov-2018;
• Zurich-Seychelles: Weekly from 03-Nov-2018;
• Zurich-Varadero: Weekly from 09-Nov-2018.

Alitalia signed (04-Dec-2017) a renewed distribution agreement with Travelport. The scope of the agreement includes Alitalia's offerings being added to Travelport's 'Rich Content and Branding' merchandising solution. [more - original PR - Italian]

Luxair signed (04-Dec-2017) a codeshare agreement with Alitalia, under which Luxair to add its 'LG' designator code on Alitalia's Milan Linate-Luxembourg service. Alitalia operates 88 seat Embraer 175 aircraft on the route. The codeshare is in addition to Luxair's Luxembourg-Milan Malpensa service, and brings the number of services between Luxembourg and Milan to 30 per week. [more - original PR]

Qantas stated it is not preventing Townsville Airport from proceeding with its proposed AUD80 million (USD61 million) redevelopment amid continued negotiations between the airline and airport (Townsville Bulletin, 02-Dec-2017). Qantas stated: "We've always been willing to support necessary upgrades to Townsville Airport but not on the scale proposed by Queensland Airports because of the pressure that would put on costs and ultimately the fares that passengers pay. We're not stopping the airport from choosing to fund the upgrades itself and our offer to invest in some key upgrades still stands". The comments were made after Townsville Airport told an advisory group meeting that the redevelopment was necessary due to declines in user satisfaction.

QantasLink launched (04-Dec-2017) Adelaide-Kangaroo Island service on 04-Dec-2017, operating three to five times weekly and complementing the existing Regional Express (Rex) and SeaLink ferry services. QantasLink will provide around 20,000 seats p/a on its two new Kangaroo Island routes using its 50 seat Bombardier Q300 and 74 seat Q400 aircraft The carrier will also operate three times weekly service from Melbourne to Kangaroo Island over the summer holiday season from later in Dec-2017. The State and Federal Government jointly invested AUD18 million (USD13.7 million) to upgrade Kingscote Kangaroo Island Airport. The new runway will be complete for the inaugural Melbourne service on 17-Dec-2017and the new terminal will open in Apr-2018. The new Qantas service has been secured after an ongoing collaboration between the Government of South Australia, Kangaroo Island Council and Adelaide Airport Limited. In 2016/17 there were 141,000 visitors to Kangaroo Island (00,000 domestic and 41,000 international). Of the domestic visitors, 70% were from South Australia. [more - original PR - Qantas] [more - original PR - South Australia Premier]

Air Niugini announced (04-Dec-2017) plans to upgrade services to Cairns, Chuuk and Pohnpei to cater for demand during the peak period. Services will operate with Boeing 737-800 series aircraft instead of the scheduled Fokker 100 and F70 aircraft. [more - original PR]