Corporate Travel News

Fly Corporate and Narrabri Shire confirmed (06-Jul-2017) a new Sydney-Narrabri route to commence in Sep-2017. Narrabri Shire GM Stewart Todd stated: "An enormous amount of work has been undertaken to secure Sydney-Narrabri route. Fly Corporate have provided a great quality service to Brisbane and I think the Narrabri Shire and regional residents have shown their confidence in that service, which Fly Corporate have now seen and which has resulted in the expansion and announcement of the new service to Sydney". [more - original PR]

Amadeus IT Pacific announced (05-Jul-2017) two new agreements with key online travel agents (OTA) in Australia and New Zealand. Australian-based OTA Skiddoo and New Zealand-based OTA Kiwi.com, will now utilise Amadeus technology which will offer a wider variety of flight options and accommodation partners. [more - original PR] [more - original PR - II]

Flight Centre Travel Group (FLT) updated (05-Jul-2017) its FY2017 guidance after a solid second half recovery. FLT expects to achieve an underlying profit before tax of AUD325-330 million (USD247-251 million) for the year ending 30-Jun-2017, after achieving record full year sales and solid second half profit growth. FY2017 total transaction value is expected to top AUD20 billion (USD15 billion), in line with the company's expectations. FLT MD Graham Turner stated the company's second half profit growth had been underpinned by strong results in North America, with the US business now on track for a record profit and the Canada business set to record significant year-on-year improvement. [more - original PR]

Airservices Australia added (05-Jul-2017) six new sites to its weather camera portal that provides live camera views of weather conditions at locations across Australia. The six new locations are Albany, Coffs Harbour, Esperance, Kalgoorlie, Mount Gambier and Wagga Wagga. The locations were selected using public recommendation and a partnership with the Bureau of Meteorology to identify sites that have existing power, communication infrastructure and camera equipment. Airservices Australia plans to continue expand the service in the future. [more - original PR]

JetGo Australia announced (04-Jul-2017) plans to launch service from Illawarra Regional Airport (IRA) in Oct-2017, subject to final regulatory approval. The services will include nine times weekly Illawarra-Melbourne (Essendon) and six times weekly Illawarra-Brisbane services utilising 44 seat Embraer ERJ-140LR regional jet aircraft. Shellharbour City Mayor Marianne Saliba stated: "This announcement represents a significant milestone for our regional community. Our partnership with JetGo will directly link our region to the second and third most populous cities in Australia, providing a significant boost to our regional economy and tourism sector by offering greater connectivity for families, businesses and other services". JetGo MD Paul Bredereck stated the organisation chose IRA because it was the only major Australian population centre that did not have its own scheduled airline services. [more - original PR]

Fiji Government allocated FJD1.5 million (USD731,282) to replace the automatic weather observation system at Nadi International Airport and Suva Nausori International Airport (The Fiji Times, 05-Jul-2017). The upgrade will enhance accuracy of weather forecasts, leading to safer operations. Nadi Airport will receive an additional FJD620,000 (USD302,448) to upgrade its radar antenna.

Destination NSW announced (05-Jul-2017) NSW overtook Queensland as the most popular State in Australia for international travellers to experience Aboriginal tourism, with the sector growing by 62% in visitor participation in the year ending Mar-2017. NSW's Minister for Tourism and Major Events Adam Marshall stated the NSW Aboriginal tourism sector attracted visitors from around the world, including travellers from China, the US and UK. More than 332,000 international travellers to NSW took part in an Aboriginal cultural experience in the year ending Mar-2017. These visitors spent an estimated AUD1.3 billion (USD1 billion) during their visit. [more - original PR]

Virgin Australia confirmed the new Melbourne-Hong Kong route was just the start of the carrier's expansion into the region (Sydney Morning Herald, 06-Jul-2017). Virgin Australia CEO John Borghetti and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson advised the carrier had applied for 21 new slots at Hong Kong Airport, which would cover departures to Sydney and Brisbane.

Tourism Queensland announced (04-Jul-2017) its annual tourism industry forum, DestinationQ, will be held in Brisbane for the first time on 09/10-Nov-2017. Queensland Tourism and Major Events Minister Kate Jones stated the 2017 DestinationQ forum would coincide with the annual Queensland Tourism Awards gala ceremony and Queensland Tourism Industry Council's Indigenous tourism event on 08-Nov-2017. [more - original PR]

New Zealand's Green Party pledged (05-Jul-2017) to develop Auckland Airport's light rail link within four years, with construction to commence as early as 2017, if it wins the upcoming election in Sep-2017. The Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter stated: "Light rail to the airport is the most urgently needed transport project in Auckland", reducing travel time between the airport and city centre to 43 minutes and providing "far more consistent…travel times". Ms Genter admitted aiming to complete the project by "2021 is an ambitious goal", and "It will be difficult but not technically impossible…we can make this happen". The Party plans to fund the project with national transport budget. [more - original PR]