Corporate Travel News

airberlin announced (11-Sep-2017) plans to suspend Caribbean services from Dusseldorf Airport. According to an 11-Sep-2017 GDS and inventory timetable display, details include:

• Duesseldorf-Cancun: Suspend twice weekly service from 23-Sep-2017;
• Duesseldorf-Curacao: Suspend weekly service from 19-Sep-2017;
• Duesseldorf-Havana: Suspend twice weekly service from 23-Sep-2017;
• Duesseldorf-Puerto Plata: Suspend twice weekly service from 21-Sep-2017;
• Duesseldorf-Punta Cana: Suspend three times weekly service;
• Duesseldorf-Varadero: Suspend twice weekly service from 22-Sep-2017.

airberlin plans to reimburse any tickets on the sectors purchased after the filing for insolvency proceedings on 15-Aug-2017. Tickets that were issued before the filing for insolvency proceedings will not be reimbursed due to insolvency law regulations. [more - original PR - English/German]

Qantas senior executive VP the Americas, New Zealand, Pacific Islands & Japan Stephen Thompson, speaking at CAPA's 2017 Latin America Aviation Summit, stated (11-Sep-2017) the airline is hopeful its proposed JV with oneworld partner American Airlines will get approval. "Right from day one it made a lot of sense", said Mr Thompson. US authorities rejected the proposed tie-up in late 2016, citing concerns about the combined market share in the US-Australia market. Qantas and American are ensuring they explain all of the consumer benefits of the proposed partnership, Mr Thompson explained.

Tourism New Zealand, Christchurch Airport and 14 SOUTH regional tourism organisation launched (11-Sep-2017) a NZD1 million (USD726,000) campaign, targeting Australia and marketing a selection of itineraries that include five well known touring routes covering a variety of experiences and attractions. The trips are being marketed through Tourism New Zealand's digital and social channels. The campaign will also include out-of-home advertising, with billboards and bus and train station advertising in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The campaign targets independent professionals and first time arrivals and focuses on travel between Mar-2018 and May-2018. Key trade partners are Flight Centre and Air New Zealand. [more - original PR]

Tigerair Australia introduced (11-Sep-2017) its official Facebook messenger chatbot 'Toby'. The chatbot is designed to help with searching and booking flights, retrieve existing itineraries and answer questions on common topics such as baggage allowances and how to check in. Tigerair Australia commercial director Andrew Maister said the chatbot is the latest in a line of product enhancements the carrier has introduced to improve the customer experience, such as mobile boarding passes and self-serve kiosks at our key ports. [more - original PR]

Tourism Australia and South Korea's largest travel company Hanatour signed (07-Sep-2017) their largest partnership for the year naming Australia as the 'Destination of the Month' for Sep-2017. In its fourth consecutive year, the partnership has continued to grow with the latest iteration also targeting the Busan market for the first time. The Aquatic and Coastal themed content will utilise a diverse range of online and offline platforms to drive conversion into the peak periods for Koreans travelling to Australia.

Emirates president Tim Clark said the airline is considering adding 'budget economy' and 'economy plus' tiers to its standard economy product, with the 'budget' version offering lower fares, narrower seats and fewer features than standard economy (Skift, 08-Sep-2017). Sir Tim said: "There is a whole stream of new market segments coming in that are budget conscious" and added: "I think we can adapt what we do to be able to accommodate not all of it, but some of it". Sir Tim stated: "We have some very big airplanes. We have the capability of slicing and dicing our product offering, and technology allows us to put in all processes to make that work. Is it doable? It's doable now - if I wanted to".

Saudia is among the state owned companies being considered for privatisation under the Saudi Government's 'Vision 2030' economic diversification programme, according to the National Centre for Privatisation (NCP) (Arab News, 09-Sep-2017). The privatisation programme is expected to increase the private sector's contribution to GDP from 40% to 65% over several years. NCP director general strategic communication and marketing Hani Alsaigh said: "The NCP is working hard with other partners to oversee the efficient and strategic transfer of the Kingdom's government assets to the private sector".

ACI EUROPE DG Olivier Jankovec stated (Sep-2017) there is a "paradox" in European airport regulation, concerning State aid rules and airport charges. He said if the Commission considers that State aid should be ruled out for airports with more than five million passengers p/a because these airports compete with each other, then "why would these same airports need to be systematically regulated ex-ante when it comes to their charges?". He said: "The current evaluation of the EU Airport Charges Directive should certainly look at addressing this paradox". [more - original PR]

ACI EUROPE DG Olivier Jankovec stated (Sep-2017) airlines "routinely" call on airports of all sizes to "make their best offers" for the launch of new routes. Mr Jankovec said a "major airline" believes the calls "give all of the airports in our network the opportunity to secure the best outcome" from their route planning. Mr Jankovec criticised the scheme, stating: "This is clearly nothing more than airport competition at play, orchestrated by powerful, dominant and profitable European airlines". Citing route liberalisation and airport privatisation, Mr Jankovec emphasised competition between European airports continues to grow. He reported that major European airports compete for point-to-point and transfer traffic "in order to expand both their route/airline portfolio and reduce their dependence on established hub carriers", while small regional airports "have also become accustomed to market pressures, as they compete for no-frills and regional services". [more - original PR]

Pegasus Airlines CCO Guliz Ozturk stated (08-Sep-2017) the carrier's focus on CASK, cash and capacity contributed to recovery in 2017. Ms Ozturk said: "With a focus on our 3Cs business strategy this year to streamline Cask, Cash and Capacity we have been able to weather the market conditions and remain as Turkey's fastest growing airline. A strong domestic market in Turkey and growing traffic from all the regions we connect via our hub and spoke model... has meant we're on track to meet and exceed the targets for 2017". [more - original PR]