Corporate Travel News

Alliance Airlines CEO Lee Schofield confirmed the carrier has selected "another company" for ground handling at Bundaberg Airport, although the airline is "not in a position to announce who just yet as we are working to finalise the agreement" (NewsMail, 13-Jun-2017). Aerocare currently provides ground handling services for the carrier. The future of the company at Bundaberg Airport is in doubt as Virgin Australia is pulling its ATR turboprop services from the airport, replacing it with Alliance Airlines Fokker 70 regional jet operations from Jul-2017. Aerocare stated it will be "working pro-actively" with the new ground services provider to "transition as many staff as the new provider may require".

World Bank announced a new USD20 million project aimed at strengthening tourism in Papua New Guinea, which has seen international arrivals grow by an average of 13% since 2002 (SPTO, 13-Jun-2017). The PNG Tourism Sector Development Project will include upgrades to local infrastructure, strengthening of the tourism workforce, and improving marketing and promotion of the area. PNG Tourism Promotion Authority CEO Jerry Agus stated: "PNG's tourism industry has been steadily growing over the past decade, leading to jobs and development across the country. The government is committed to further developing our tourism sector in a way that benefits our people".

Tourism Australia reported (13-Jun-2017) visitor arrivals to Australia rose 15% in Apr-2017. Details include:

• Visitor arrivals: 701,300, +14.8% year-on-year;
  • New Zealand: 116,200, +1.8%;
  • China: 100,700, +3.6%;
  • US: 64,300, +28.1%;
  • UK: 57,500, +21.6%;
  • Singapore: 34,200, +4.3%. [more - original PR]

Talofa Airways, via its official Facebook page, confirmed (08-Jun-2017) the launch of four times weekly nonstop services from Tonga to American Samoa and Samoa are scheduled on 01-Jul-2017. The Fagali'i-Tonga service will operate on Mondays and Fridays, while the Pago Pago-Tonga service will operate on Sundays and Thursdays. These additional services have been added to the carrier's network, less than a year after it started operating in Aug-2016.

New Zealand's Transport Minister Simon Bridges stated (13-Jun-2017) the country is "in a strong position to attract airlines, with a liberal international air transport policy that allows most major airlines to operate services to New Zealand without restriction". Mr Bridges noted New Zealand attracted 404,384 inbound tourist arrivals from China for the year ending 31-Mar-2017, an increase of 7% year-on-year. Chinese nationals spent approximately NZD1.5 billion (USD1.1 billion) for the period. The Minister noted that the addition of the new Sichuan Airlines service "raises the number of airlines now operating from China to New Zealand from five to six", and praised it as "a testament to the success of our International Air Transport Policy, which provides additional opportunities for these airlines". [more - original PR]

Australia's Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) welcomed (13-Jun-2017) the Queensland Government's 2017-18 Budget which it believes is a significant step towards improving the state's visitor economy and future-proofing its transport network. TTF CEO Margy Osmond stated the Palaszczuk Government had delivered funding, including the Brisbane Cross River Rail and the Attracting Aviation Investment Fund, to further develop tourism as a key long-term driver of economic and jobs growth across the state. [more - original PR]

Australia's Tourism & Transport Forum (TTF) welcomed (13-Jun-2017) the latest ABS Overseas Arrivals figures, which show that 8.5 million people travelled to Australia for the year ending Apr-2017, an increase of 9.5% year-on-year. TTF CEO Margy Osmond stated the Australian tourism industry continues its record breaking run of international visitor arrivals, confirming its importance as our next super-growth sector. [more - original PR]

Australia's International Air Services Commission (IASC) approved (13-Jun-2017) Pacific Air Express' request for Determination [2017] IASC 111, which allocates unlimited freight capacity and frequency on the China route, valid for 10 years from 13-Jun-2017. [more - original PR]

Vanuatu Government Project Management Unit press officer Kiery Manassah reported USD59.8 million is being invested in the Vanuatu Aviation Investment Project, involving repair and upgrades of the Bauerfield International Airport runway and other upgrades and planning for the country's aviation sector (The Vanuatu Independent, 12-Aug-2017). Other work includes the purchase and installation of navigational aids for Bauerfield, Whitegrass and Pekoa airports, acquisition of new fire and safety equipment and major planning works - including an aviation sector strategy, Bauerfield airport master plan and a training needs assessment.