Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Asia travel news

Asia travel news

Au Co Cruises offers luxury cruise in Gulf of Tonkin

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 11:32 PM PDT

Asia 'becoming more popular among gap year travellers'

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 09:43 PM PDT

Lao Airline seals A320 deal

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 09:36 PM PDT

Ministry to inspect resort and tourism projects

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 09:08 PM PDT

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VIETNAM-The Ministry of Planning and Investment last week announced its inspection plan for resort and tourism property projects in Danang City at a working session with the city’s government and project investors.

Nguyen Van Dung, deputy head inspector of the ministry, said the inspection team would focus on certain issues such as the State management over resort and tourism property projects in the 2001-2010 period.

Land recovery, site clearance, compensation, resettlement and project progress would also be taken into account, along with environment issues and investors’ liability to their laborers and the government, he said.

Among those, Dung stated “project progress is the most important with change of land use purpose as the second.” In case a project is discovered violating the laws, it would be halted and possibly revoked.

At the working session, Vice Chairman Phung Tan Viet of Danang City assigned the city’s Department of Planning and Investment to work with the inspection team. The department will choose and inspect some typical projects from the current 46 projects in the city within 30 days.

As of June 2010, there were 46 licensed investment projects on resort and tourism property in Danang with the total investment capital of VND72.5 trillion, or US$3.5 billion. Among those, 26 projects are of local investors, worth some VND28.4 trillion, and 20 others are of foreign investors, worth VND44.1 trillion and US$27 million in total.

Six of these projects are under progress while 15 other projects have been delayed.

* Thai company Irving Seminar & Training and its local partner Lean Media Group said they would organize Vietnam Tourism Property Management 2011 Seminar at the Legend Saigon hotel in HCMC on September 15.

According to the organizing board, some 100 representatives of companies managing hotels, resorts and serviced apartments as well as consulting and design companies are expected to attend the event.

The organizing board said that the seminar will dig deep into the aspects of tourism property management, clarify problems and challenges to face, map out solutions, and survey new trends in the coming time so as to bring about effective applications to increase project value.

Apart from providing a deeper insight into Vietnam’s tourism property, the seminar is also expected to help investors and project owners fully understand their role in managing the projects and analyze reality as well as negotiation methods in management contracts.

Market observers assumed that the strong development of tourism property market over the past years has captured the attention of dozens of local as well as overseas investors and Danang is among places with quite strong development in this form of property.

Though the potential for markets was still high compared to other regional countries, the competition has become increasingly tougher when supply was abundant while customers’ criteria for choosing products were stricter, exposing challenges to investors.

Therefore, Vietnam Tourism Property Management 2011 Seminar is an opportunity for the participants to discuss and tune into the market trends of Vietnam tourism property market, and survey and set up relations with their partners.

BA and Qantas in talks on KL route

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 09:03 PM PDT

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MALAYSIA-Airport operator Malaysia Airports Holdings (MAH) is in ongoing negotiations with British Airways (BA) and Qantas over landing rights at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA).

The flag carriers suspended operations to Malaysia ten years ago because of limited connectivity. They renewed talks last month after Malaysia Airlines accession to Oneworld Alliance, sparking speculation the airlines had agreed to cross-sell tickets. Analysts told StarBiz that Qantas would likely launch Sydney-KL services before BA takes-off form London.

Cathay traffic growth fails to keep pace with capacity

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 08:58 PM PDT

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HONGKONG-Cathay Pacific Airways has released the combined traffic for Cathay Pacific and Dragonair for July 2011, with passenger demand rising 5.4% year-on-year.

This failed to keep pace with capacity however, which increased 7.0%, leading to a 1.4-percentage point drop in load factors, to a still-healthy 86.1%. Traffic on routes to Northeast Asia dropped 16.2%, due to the lingering effects of the Japan disasters, while demand for routes to mainland China fell 5.3%. Strong growth was seen on routes to Southeast Asia (+16.5%), North America (+15.4%) and India & West Asia (+8.7%).

For the first seven months of the year, Cathay and Dragonair experienced a 3.9% rise in passenger traffic on a 9.4% capacity expansion, leading to a 4.3% drop in load factors, which averaged 80.3%.

The airlines’ General Manager for Revenue Management, James Tong said; “Passenger traffic held up well in the first month of this year’s summer peak, though the increase in passenger numbers didn’t keep pace with the year-on-year increase in capacity and our load factor fell as a result. The weakness on routes such as Shanghai, Japan and the Middle East continued, but key long-haul routes held up well, as did traffic in Southeast Asia. Our premium business remained strong, with both volumes and yield showing growth over 2010.”

AirAsia Philippines takes shape

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 08:46 PM PDT

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PHILIPPINE-AirAsia group's newest subsidiary in Southeast Asia is on the last track before takeoff.

Last Monday, Clark International Airport – a former US base located 80 km north of Manila - saw the arrival of AirAsia Philippines’ first aircraft. The Airbus A320 carried 29 people, including Marianne Hontiveros, Chief Executive Officer of AirAsia Philippines; HE Mercedes Tuason, Philippine Ambassador to the Vatican; several Filipino media; as well as an all-Filipino crew.

The Airbus A320 flew direct from Toulouse, the headquarters of Airbus Industrie. It is the first among four aircraft that will be delivered to AirAsia Philippines in its first year of operation. The second aircraft will be delivered later this year, with another two due to arrive during 2012. Witnessing AirAsia Philippines’ first landing were Victor Jose I. Luciano, President and CEO of Clark International Airport Corporation; Felipe Antonio Remollo, President and CEO of Clark Development Corporation; and Alberto Lim, outgoing Secretary of the Department of Tourism.

AirAsia Philippines hopes to receive its certification from the government to start commercial operations by October. The first routes to be served will be regional destinations with Hong Kong, Macau, and Singapore. Once the second aircraft arrives, the airline plans to also launch routes to Bangkok and Seoul Incheon and to start domestic routes to Kalibo and Puerto Princesa. All the routes will complement the carrier’s current network from Clark to Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu.

“We will be substantially cheaper than our competitors,” promised AirAsia Philippines Chief Executive Officer Marianne Hontiveros during a press conference at Clark Airport. The CEO also explained that AirAsia Philippines has the ambition to turn Clark into a major transfer gateway between Southeast Asia and the United States. Mrs. Hontiveros remains extremely confident of AirAsia’s success despite strong competition to be expected not only from Philippine Airlines but also from the Philippines biggest low-cost carrier, Cebu Pacific. “We’re banking on the very strong brand of AirAsia. As an archipelagic country, air travel is necessary for Filipinos, and we are here to serve and help them stay or be better connected with their families and friends,” she indicated.

AirAsia Philippines is assured to be entirely supported by the current Filipino government, as 60% of the shares are in the hands of Antonio Cojuangco, a cousin of Filipino President Benigno Aquino.

Great deals at Centara Mae Sot Hill Resort

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 08:35 PM PDT

Qantas Group, Japan Airlines and Mitsubishi to form Jetstar Japan

Posted: 16 Aug 2011 08:29 PM PDT

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JAPAN-The Qantas Group, Japan Airlines Co., Ltd (JAL) and Mitsubishi Corporation announced today the launch of Jetstar Japan - a new domestic airline that will bring more low airfares to customers in Japan.

The Qantas Group, JAL and Mitsubishi Corporation will each hold 1/3 share in the new company (voting-rights-basis).

Jetstar Japan will commence domestic operations by the end of 2012 and expects to fly from Tokyo (Narita) and Osaka (Kansai International), with other destinations under consideration including Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Okinawa. Jetstar Japan also plans to ultimately offer short haul international services to key Asian cities making travel more accessible and appealing to millions more people.

The airline will launch with an initial fleet of three new Airbus A320 aircraft, configured for 180 customers in a single class, growing to 24 aircraft within its first few years. Total capitalization commitment for the new airline is up to ¥12 billion.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Alan Joyce, said the establishment of Jetstar Japan was an historic and important step for the Qantas Group.

"The Qantas Group has a long history of serving the Japanese air travel market, with Qantas and Jetstar operating regular services between Australia and Japan," he said.

"Qantas and JAL have a long-standing relationship, as codeshare partners and fellow oneworld alliance members. We are also delighted to be joining with Mitsubishi Corporation- one of Japan's great global brands - to launch Jetstar Japan, building on the successful expansion of the Jetstar brand across Asia."

"The Qantas Group has a wealth of experience in establishing low cost carriers and we're looking forward to working with our two partners on this new venture which will offer low fares to the Japanese travelling public. "

Jetstar Japan will be officially launched in Tokyo today by the President of Japan Airlines, Mr. Masaru Onishi, Executive Vice President & Group CEO, Industrial Finance, Logistics & Development Group Mitsubishi Corporation, Mr. Hideshi Takeuchi, and Jetstar Group Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bruce Buchanan.

JAL President Mr. Onishi said the partnership with Jetstar is a two-airline strategy that will allow the Japanese carrier to competitively serve a larger part of the Japanese market.

" We are confident that Jetstar Japan will broaden the spectrum of travellers as it creates new demand in this market,"said Mr. Onishi.

"It will encourage even more movement of people within the country and also increase the number of visitors from Asia to Japan. We anticipate this to stimulate consumer spending and play a role in revitalizing the Japanese economy."

Mr. Takeuchi said: "Jetstar's entrance to Japan, as a proven successful low cost airline operator, will revitalize our domestic air transportation market. That is the reason for our participation, and we would like to support Jetstar Japan's success in Japan as well as eastern Asia with our variety of services such as aircraft leasing."

Jetstar was the first low fares airline to enter Japan in 2007, and has already carried more than two million customers between Australia and Japan.

Jetstar's low fare model enables people to fly more often and encourages many people to fly for the first time. This new airline will help to stimulate the local tourism industry and broader economy.

The new venture confirms Jetstar's status as the Asia Pacific's largest low cost carrier by revenue as well as its fastest growing, having carried almost 20 million people in a single year just seven years after launching.

Strengthening its commitment to encouraging new travel demand, Jetstar Japan fares will be covered by its Price Beat Guarantee to ensure it is always the most competitive in the market place.
at 1:12 AM