Corporate Travel News

DHL commenced (08-Sep-2017) twice weekly service from Oslo to Seoul and Shanghai with Boeing 747-400F equipment on 08-Sep-2017. The service is expected to meet strong demand for Norwegian seafood and connects with DHL's existing Lakselv-Oslo service. The carrier will increase Lakselv-Oslo frequency from weekly to twice weekly. [more - original PR]

Sydney Airport MD and CEO Kerrie Mather stated (08-Sep-2017) the airport facilitates "58% of the passenger movements between the US and Australia". The airport will welcome United Airlines' new daily Houston-Sydney service on 20-Jan-2018, operating with Boeing 787-9 aircraft. The service will add 184,000 seats p/a on the route, increasing "the choice available to more than 2.4 million passengers travelling between our countries each year" added Ms Mather. [more - original PR]

Emirates president Tim Clark said the airline is not ready to commit to an order for additional A380 aircraft (Bloomberg, 07-Sep-2017). Sir Tim said: "I know they [Airbus] would like us to do something. At the moment we are not at that state of readiness. We need copper-bottomed undertakings that they would do everything they needed to do to keep the programme going. We don't want to be left with aircraft that have no value". Airbus reportedly hopes to secure an order from the airline at the Dubai Airshow in Nov-2017.

Pegasus Airlines plans to consider increasing the frequency of Germany, Spain and UK services in 2017, according to CCO Guliz Ozturk (Reuters, 07-Sep-2017). Ms Ozturk said: "If the market demand is there, because of the perception of an improvement in the situation in Turkey, we will utilise that demand".

TACV cancelled (06-Sep-2017) all services during the period 06-Sep-2017 to 11-Sep-2017 due to a lack of operational aircraft. The airline will accommodate all affected passengers through third party carriers, or issue refunds. The airline reported technical issues with its only aircraft, a Boeing 757, since 01-Sep-2017 and said it was unable to secure a replacement engine or lease a replacement aircraft. Praia-Lisbon and São Vicente-Lisbon services will be operated by EuroAtlantic. [more - original PR - Portuguese] [more - original PR - Portuguese - II]

Lion Air Group, via its official Facebook account, announced (07-Sep-2017) Lion Air plans to commence services from Balikpapan, Banda Aceh, Bandung, Padang, Palembang, Pekanbaru, Solo and Tanjung Karang to Jeddah in mid Oct-2017. The services will cater to demand from Umrah pilgrims and will operate with a refuelling stop at Thiruvananthapuram Trivandrum International Airport. As previously reported by CAPA, the airline plans to commence Bandar Lampung-Thiruvananthapuram-Jeddah service on 21-Oct-2017, Pekanbaru-Thiruvananthapuram-Madinah service on 22-Oct-2017, Palembang-Thiruvananthapuram-Jeddah service on 23-Oct-2017 and Padang-Thiruvananthapuram-Madinah service on 26-Oct-2017.

Samoa Airways, via its official Facebook account, announced (07-Sep-2017) it opened its planned routes to ticket sales. The carrier will take phone bookings from Samoa, Australia, New Zealand and American Samoa. The carrier plans to launch services from 14-Nov-2017, with Apia-Auckland. This will be followed by Apia-Sydney. The services remain subject to regulatory approval.

Australia's Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester announced (07-Sep-2017) a number of appointments to provide support and stability to the operations of two key portfolio agencies:

• John Weber appointed as deputy chair of Airservices Australia for a three year period, would bring a wealth of governance, government agency and legal experience to the role;
• Dr Marlene Kanga appointed to the Airservices Australia board for a three year term;
• Samantha Betzien reappointed to the Airservices Australia board for a two year term;
• Noel Hart reappointed to the Commission of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) for a further two year term. [more - original PR]

Qantas reached (07-Sep-2017) an agreement with Airbus to upgrade the cabins of its 12 A380s to improve passenger comfort on long haul operations while maximising economics. In particular, the upgrade will meet the airline's increased demand for revenue-enhancing premium cabins on flights to the US, Europe and Asia. Airbus will be responsible for the overall upper-deck integration. In addition Airbus will develop specific tailored monuments for Qantas and a new and unique business lounge area in the forward upper-deck. Capacity after the upgrade will be:

• 14 First class suites (unchanged);
• 70 Business class suites (up by six);
• 60 Premium economy seats (up by 25);
• 341 Economy seats (down by 30);
• Total of 485 seats (up by one).

The new interior takes advantage of the A380's large floor area to most efficiently embody Qantas' latest seat products for business class and premium economy. Installation will start in 2Q2019. All 12 aircraft are planned to be upgraded by around the end of 2020. [more - original PR]

Virgin Australia announced (07-Sep-2017) flight timing for services to and from Melbourne from Adelaide, Brisbane, Canberra, Coolangatta, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Sydney and Perth have all been altered to accommodate same-day travel on 30-Sep-2017, the day of the AFL Grand Final. Virgin Australia has also increased the number of flights, with an extra 2500 seats are already on sale across the Grand Final Week. An additional return A330 service has been scheduled between Adelaide and Melbourne on Grand Final day. Virgin Australia will monitor demand over the period and will look for other opportunities to offer more flights. [more - original PR]