Corporate Travel News

Fly Corporate, via its official Facebook page, announced the launch of Melbourne Essendon-Orange service on 09-Oct-2017. The carrier will operated the route with Saab 340B equipment, operating five times weekly.

Air New Zealand chief revenue officer Cam Wallace reported (11-Oct-2017) the carrier's operation to Houston is "unlocking huge demand for travel to New Zealand from across the South, Mid-west and Mid-Atlantic regions". Annual arrivals to New Zealand from Texas have increased 21% year-on-year, and are up 25% from New York. Houston also offers New Zealand travellers better onward connections to US East Coast destinations like New York, Boston and Miami. Air New Zealand recently launched its global marketing campaign 'A Better Way to Fly in North America', marketing to Americans and Canadians to travel with the airline to New Zealand and Australia. [more - original PR]

Perth Airport, via its official Twitter account, reposted (09-Oct-2017) reports that it plans to expand its infrastructure over the next seven to ten years using AUD2.5 billion (USD1.9 billion). Perth Airport CEO Kevin Brown believes the expanded airport "will help unlock the full economic potential of WA [Western Australia]".

Condor Airlines announced (10-Oct-2017) plans to launch twice weekly Frankfurt-New Orleans service operating with 259 seat Boeing 767-300ER equipment, effective 17-May-2018. Condor currently operates 16 EU-North America services and also plans to launch Phoenix service in 2018. According to OAG, Condor will be the sole operator on the route. [more - original PR]

Tourism Australia country manager India and Gulf Nishant Kashikar stated the state of Maharashtra ranks as the leading source market for Australia, with over 59,000 tourists from the state, spending around AUD310 million (USD241 million) in the 12 months to Jun-2017 (Traveltrendtoday.in, 10-Oct-2017). Maharashtra contributed to a growth of 18% and 41% in arrivals and spend respectively, for the 12 month period. As previously reported by CAPA, Australia welcomed over 277,100 Indian tourists in the 12 months to Jun-2017, making India the ninth largest inbound market for tourist arrivals. This increase also marks a double digit growth for the fourth consecutive year.

WSA Co released (10-Oct-2017) a request for tender for the provision of geotechnical investigation services for Western Sydney Airport development project. WSA Co is seeking suitably skilled and experience geotechnical engineering consultants to conduct geotechnical investigation on the proposed site which will help prepare the reference design for Stage 1 works. Tender submission closes on 31-Oct-2017. WSA Co hopes to award the contract on or around 11-Dec-2017 and have works completed by 16-Mar-2018. [more - original PR]

Tourism Australia released (Oct-2017) its 'Business Events Market Profile' for China. Key highlights include:

• Inbound seat capacity to Australia grew 32% year-on-year in 2016, with "healthy" average load factors at 80%;
• New air routes to China in 2017 include:
  
  • Virgin Australia: Melbourne-Hong Kong five times weekly from Jul-2017. Connects into mainland China through the Hainan Airlines network;
  • Qantas: Sydney-Beijing daily from Jan-2017;
  • Air China: Beijing-Brisbane four times weekly from Dec-2017;
  • China Eastern Airlines: Shanghai-Brisbane daily from Nov-2017, Kunming-Sydney three times weekly from Nov-2016;
  • China Southern Airlines: Guangzhou-Cairns three times weekly from Dec-2017;
  • Tianjin Airlines: Chongqing-Melbourne three times weekly from Oct-2017;
  • Beijing Capital Airlines: Qingdao-Sydney twice weekly from Aug-2017. [more - original PR]

Jazeera Airways, via its official Facebook and Twitter accounts, announced (09-Oct-2017) the introduction of the first A320 aircraft featuring the airline's new logo, livery and seats. The carrier also launched new crew uniforms. The new livery and cabin interiors will be rolled out across the fleet over the next three months and will be complete by the end of 2017. [more - original PR - English/Arabic]

SAS reportedly postponed establishment of its London Heathrow Airport base due to delays with aircraft deliveries (Check-in.dk, 10-Oct-2017). The carrier was scheduled to open the London base in late Oct-2017, ahead of the winter 2017/18 schedule. As previously reported by CAPA, the carrier also plans to open a new base in Malaga, Spain.

fastjet, via its official Facebook account, stated (09-Oct-2017) its first Embraer 190 aircraft will arrive in Tanzania "this week". The aircraft will enter service following regulatory approvals, replacing A319 equipment. The arrival of a second E190 is expected in mid Nov-2017. Fleet changes will temporarily impact schedules for services between Dar Es Salaam and Mbeya.