Tiger Airways flies to Yogyakarta and Bandung from July and August 2013

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press and Travel Professionals

Tiger Airways is finally expanding its own Indonesian flight network without Mandala's involvement. Effective 1 July 2013, the budget airline begins its inaugural flight to Yogyakarta and on 1 August 2013, it starts flying to Bandung.

On 1 July 2013, Tiger Airways begins its first flight to Yogyakarta from Singapore at 1.05 pm and touches down in Yogyakarta at 2.20 pm under flight code TR2215. It then departs for Singapore at 2.50 pm from Yogyakarta and arrives in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 6.05 pm under flight code TR2216.

On 1 August 2013, Tiger Airways' first Singapore-Bandung flight begins at 10.15 am, arriving in Bandung at 11 am under flight code TR2204. Forty minutes later, it departs for Singapore at 11.40 am and lands in Singapore at 2.35 pm under TR2205.

Both new routes are operated by Tiger Airways' Airbus A320 aircraft.

Golden Myanmar Airlines starts daily flights to Bangkok from Yangon on 10 May 2013

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press and Travel Professionals

Myanmar's low-cost airline Golden Myanmar Airlines (GMA/Y5) begins daily scheduled flights to Bangkok-Suvarnabhumi International Airport from Yangon from 10 May 2013 using its Airbus A320 aircraft.

On 10 May, GMA flight under code Y5 237 departs from Yangon for Bangkok at 6.05 pm and arrives in Suvarnabhumi International Airport at 7.50 pm. It begins its outbound flight from Suvarnabhumi at 9.10 pm and touches down in Yangon at 9.55 pm under flight code Y5 238.

Bangkok is GMA's second international destination after Singapore, to which it operates daily scheduled flights during day time.  Golden Myanmar Airlines plans to introduce new flights from Yangon to Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong and Gaya by 2014.

Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines flies direct to Paro, Bhutan on Mondays from 20 May 2013

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Media and Travel Professionals

Increasing demand for Bhutan travel from Singapore has enabled Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines, the national flag carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan, to introduce a direct scheduled flight to Paro from Singapore without any stopover in Kolkata from 20 May 2013.

The first direct Singapore-Paro scheduled flight takes place on Monday (20 May 2013) at 6.30 am, arriving in Paro after 4 hours 30 minutes at 9 am Bhutan time under flight code KB501. However, the flight touching down in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 from Paro on Sunday (19 May 2013) at 3.15 pm under flight code KB500 continues to have a stopover in Kolkata.

Flights are operated using Drukair's Airbus A319 aircraft.

Therefore, during the the week that goes effect from 15 May 2013, Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines flies between Paro and Singapore three times a week. Two other flights between Paro and Singapore with a layover in Kolkata are operated on Wednesdays/Thursdays and Saturdays/Sundays. 

Vietnam Airlines launched Nha Trang's first international route to Moscow on 5 April 2013

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press and Travel Professionals

HANOI- Vietnam Airlines has launched Vietnamese coastal city Nha Trang's first international scheduled route to Moscow on 5 April 2013. The once-weekly flights will continue until end of September 2013 with a Thursday departure from Nha Trang. After October 2013, Vietnam Airlines will introduce two flights per week on Mondays and Thursdays departing from Nha Trang.

The Nha Trang-Moscow-Nha Trang routes aim to enable more international tourists to discover Vietnam's great beaches. These routes are part of Vietnam Airlines' efforts to diversity its products and expand its flight network.

Besides the direct Nha Trang-Moscow route, Vietnam Airlines has also opened new routes between Da Nang and Seoul-Incheon and between Da Nang and Siem Reap recently.

XiamenAir flies to Jakarta from Zhengzhou via Fuzhou and Xiamen from 10 May 2013

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Media and Travel Professionals

According to XiamenAir's Summer 2013 Timetable which is available in the Singapore office of the airline, XiamenAir flies to Jakarta from Zhengzhou via Fuzhou, and Xiamen, China from 10 May 2013.

On 10 May, XiamenAir departs for Jakarta from Zhengzhou at 1.40 pm, transits in Fuzhou at 3.25 pm  before leaving Fuzhou at 4.40 pm and arriving in Jakarta at 10 pm under flight code MF869. The return flight departs from Jakarta on 11 May at 9 am, transits in Fuzhou at 2.05 pm, leaves from Fuzhou at 3.10 pm and touches down in Zhengzhou at 5.05 pm under MF870.

The Zhengzhou-Fuzhou-Jakarta flights operate on Fridays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays while the Jakarta-Fuzhou-Zhengzhou flights operate on Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays.

Also on 10 May, the second Zhengzhou-Jakarta flight departs from Zhengzhou at 1.40 am, transits in Xiamen at 3.40 pm, leaves for Jakarta at 4.55 pm and touches down in Jakarta at 10 pm under MF867.  The return flight departs from Jakarta also on 11 May at 9 am, transits in Xiamen at 1.55 pm, leaves from Xiamen at 3 pm and touches down in Zhengzhou at 5.05 pm under MF868.

The Zhengzhou-Xiamen-Jakarta flights operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays while the Jakarta-Xiamen-Zhengzhou flights operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. These are the Zhengzhou's second and third XiamenAir international routes to a Southeast Asian destination after Singapore.

Flights to Jakarta from Zhengzhou via Fuzhou and Xiamen are operated with B737 and B757 aircrafts.

The Jakarta flights of XiamenAir are not available for online booking. However, interested customers can book Singapore-Xiamen-Zhengzhou-Xiamen-Singapore tickets and other Singapore-outbound XiamenAir tickets online at XiamenAir's official web-site at xiamenair.com using Singapore banks-issued debit and credit cards.

XiamenAir flies to Zhengzhou, Dalian, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Xiamen and Fuzhou from Singapore.

For the latest flight schedules of XiamenAir, pick up a copy of its Timetable at all XiamenAir's local offices.

Mystery over the rationale behind airlines' registered Singapore airport office addresses

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Media & Travel Professionals

Whenever new airlines operating to Singapore announced their inaugural flights, they will inform Changi Airport their registered office addresses. When they do so, the Customer Service Department of the airport believe the information provided is valid and correct. However, when the information given is wrong, there will be issues of numeric illiteracy on the part of either the airline or the airport and mis-communication issues among the airline, the airport authority and eventually the public. This is because wrong office addresses incur costs on phone calls and inconvenience for the public to look for the airline at the airport on sales and marketing, ticket refunds and problems over baggage handling. One example is Golden Myanmar Airlines.

Golden Myanmar Airlines which started international flight services from Mandalay to Singapore via Yangon on 5 April 2013 stated to Changi Airport that its Singapore office address is #04-18 Changi Airport Terminal 1 and this is the address still stated on Golden Myanmar Airlines' official web-site www.gmairlines.com. However, the office's actual unit number is #041-51 Changi Airport Terminal 1. This situation leads to the question why the airline came up with the unit number "#04-18" which does not in real fact exist and why the airport labels all airline office numbers on the fourth level under the number prefix "#041-" instead of "#04-". Terminal 1 has no 41 floors.

The public looking for Golden Myanmar Airlines might instead go to Delta Airlines at #041-18 for problems on baggage handling and other matters related to travel with Golden Myanmar Airlines, causing harrassment to Delta Airlines' ground staff.

Sayacinta - Airpost understands that the Myanmese budget airline has been in talks with Changi Airport Group on the change of its office label to #04-18 for one week now. However, the airport has not responded to the airline's official request at press time. To fulfill the airline's request, the airport must incur costs to change the other airlines' offices on the same level to unit numbers starting with the prefix "#04-" as well.

Other airline offices in Changi Airport Terminals also have one extra number behind the respective floor number prefix.

The rationale behind the existing office unit numbers of Changi Airport is a mystery from this reknown international airport.

Changi Airport has operational offices of China Airlines, Air China, Shenzhen Airlines, Eva Air, Turkish Airlines, Bangkok Airways, China Southern, China Eastern, Qatar Airways, Vietnam Airlines, Scoot, SilkAir, Singapore Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, JetStar Airways, JetStar Asia Airways/Valuair, XiamenAir, Air India, Saudia, Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Qantas Airways, British Airways, Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, Jet Airways, Emirates, Etihad Airways, SriLankan Airlines, Firefly, Philippine Airlines, PAL Express, Lufthansa German Airlines, Swiss International Airlines, Thai Airways International, Royal Brunei Airlines (RB), Tiger Airways Group, AirAsia Group, and branch offices of Myanmar Airways International, Air Timor, Lao Airlines, TransAsia Airways and Golden Myanmar Airlines.

Golden Myanmar Airlines Singapore office at #041-51 Changi Airport Terminal 1 is opened from 10 am to 1 pm and from 4 pm to 5.30 pm on weekdays and from 10.30 am to 1 pm on Saturdays for phone enquiries. Tel: 65425142. Email: sin.sales@gmairlines.com for ticketing matters.

The official web-site of Golden Myanmar Airlines has opened for on-line ticket purchases since 8 April.

Low-cost flight from Singapore to Nanjing begins on 3 June 2013

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Media and Travel Professionals

Singaporean low cost long-haul airline Scoot flies to Nanjing from Singapore three times a week effective 3 June 2013. The scheduled service operates on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

The outgoing flight from Singapore departs for Nanjing at 10.45 am and touches down in Nanjing at 3.50 pm. The return leg leaves the eastern Chinese city at 5 pm and arrives in Singapore at 10 pm.

Scoot is the only airline offering low-cost flights to Nanjing from Southeast Asia.

After the Seoul and Nanjing inaugural flights, Scoot will look into possibilities of starting long-haul flights to New Zealand according to information on its Facebook.