Garuda Indonesia takes delivery of Indonesia's first ATR 72-600 aircraft

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

Garuda Indonesia has taken delivery of Indonesia's first ATR 72-600 aircraft. The first ATR 72-600 aircraft arrived in Jakarta on 25 November 2013 and will be donned with Garuda's sub-brand "Explore" to start scheduled flight operations from Denpasar on 3 December 2013. The new aircraft has a single-class Economy configuration with a seat capacity for 70 passengers.

According to Garuda Indonesia's purchase order list of the turboprop aircraft, 25 ATR 72-600 aircraft will be acquired and delivered in stages up to 2017. Besides, Garuda has the option to acquire another 10 such aircraft from ATR.

On 3 December 2013, Garuda Indonesia's "Explore" ATR 72-600 aircraft will begin flights from Denpasar to Bima, Lombok, Labuan Bajo and Ende, destinations in eastern Indonesia. On 20 December, a second ATR 72-600 aircraft will launch flight to Tambolaka from Denpasar via Labuan Bajo.

The new ATR 72-600 aircraft will further enhance Denpasar's Ngurah Rai International Airport as a domestic hub for scheduled flight operations to eastern Indonesia and islands to the east of Bali, and eventually boost air traffic from the world to Denpasar.

With the addition of ATR 72-600 aircraft, Garuda Indonesia now has 126 aircraft including 4 new B737-800NG, 1 Airbus A330-200, 6 CRJ-1000 NextGen, 1 Boeing B777-300ER and 8 Airbus A320-200 aircraft which were inducted to its fleet during the first eight months of 2013.

Flight Suspensions

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

AirAsia Indonesia has ended its Singapore-Makassar-Singapore flights on 29 November 2013 due to operation reasons.

Jetstar Asia Airways will suspend its Singapore-Guangzhou-Singapore flights on 5 January 2014 as budget travellers shift their travel focus from the Chinese metropolis to larger cities such as Taipei, Seoul and Tokyo and emerging destinations such as Nanchang, Lijiang and Haikou. 

Uzbekistan Airways operates Changi Airport's first Central Asia flight on 4 April 2014

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

Uzbekistan Airways, Central Asia's largest airline, has confirmed on 14 February 2014 during a local roadshow its plan to launch its first direct scheduled flight to Singapore from Tashkent on 3 April 2014. It will be Changi Airport's first Central Asia scheduled flight service.

According to Uzbekistan Airways' planned flight schedules, Uzbekistan Airways flight HY551 departs from Tashkent for Singapore on 3 April 2014 at 9.35 pm and touches down in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 8.25 am on 4 April 2014.

At 9.45 am on 4 April, flight HY552 will take off  at 9.45 am for Tashkent with a stopover of 1 hour in Kuala Lumpur at 11 am before proceeding on the way to Tashkent at 12.25 pm and arriving in Tashkent at 5.20 pm on 5 April.

The new direct Tashkent-Singapore flight takes place on a fortnight basis as the following week will see Uzbekistan Airways operating a direct Singapore-Tashkent flight on 9 April 2014.

On 9 April, flight HY553 departs from Tashkent for Singapore via Kuala Lumpur at 7.55am, transiting in Kuala Lumpur at 6.30 pm (previously 7 pm) before leaving the terminal at 7.55 pm and touching down in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 9.05 pm under flight HY554. At 10 pm, HY554 leaves Changi Airport and arrives in Tashkent at 3.05 am on 10 April 2014.

The fortnight direct flights between Tashkent and Singapore on two Fridays and two Wednesdays are operated by Uzbekistan Airways' Boeing B767-300ER aircraft.

Singapore will be Uzbekistan Airways' third Southeast Asian destination after Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. It previously operated limited flights to Jakarta, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Tigerair flies to Ningbo after Christmas in 2013

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

Travellers that are planning to travel to Ningbo and cities near Ningbo such as Shanghai and Hangzhou will be delighted to note that Tigerair is launching twice-weekly scheduled flights to Ningbo on 26 December 2013.

On 26 December, flight TR2972 departs from Singapore at 12.05 pm, arriving in Ningbo at 5.15 pm. After one hour, flight TR2973 takes off from Ningbo for Singapore and touches down in Singapore at 11.15 pm.

The five-hour Singapore-Ningbo flight service is the longest Chinese route of Tigerair and it marks Tigerair's entry to the long-haul travel market. Direct flights operated by its Airbus A320 aircraft take place on Thursdays and Tuesdays every week.

Ningbo is connected to Hangzhou and Shanghai by expressways, trains and domestic flights.

Tigerair launches Singapore's first budget flight to the Maldives on 24 January 2014

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

Here is good news to travellers looking for budget fares to the Maldives for recreation, business and honeymoons! With effect from 24 January 2014, Tigerair launches Singapore's first budget flight to Male, the capital of the Maldives, located southwest of Sri Lanka.

On 24 January 2014, Tigerair Airbus A320 flight TR2502 departs from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 for Male at 9.50 am and arrives in Male at 11.25 am local time. Less than an hour later, flight TR2503 leaves Male at 12.15 pm and touches down in Singapore at 7.40 pm after 4 hours 25 minutes.

Subject to bilateral regulatory approval, direct flights of Tigerair from Singapore to Male will operate on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays.

It is a smart move for Tigerair to operate direct budget flights to the Maldives as currently AirAsia X is promoting to Singapore its budget flights to Male, which begin from Kuala Lumpur and transit via Colombo.

New Ipoh airline to launch flight to Kualanamu from 13 December 2013

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

The Kualanamu-Ipoh charter flight of Sriwijaya Air on 8 November 2013 will be converted to a full-scheduled flight on 13 December 2013 when Flying Fox Airways, the new Ipoh private airline, plans to launch scheduled flights with its leased Sriwijaya Air's Boeing B737-400 aircraft.

Flying Fox Airways was formed in Ipoh early this year and it launched its Facebook in September 2013 announcing its plans to fly from its main base in Ipoh Sultan Azlan Shah International Airport to Medan Kualanamu International Airport on 8 November. However, the airline has just announced that its maiden Ipoh-Kualanamu flight will be moved backward to 13 December in order to obtain the correct necessary paper approvals for the new Ipoh-Kualanamu flight.

The Boeing B737-400 aircraft will be repainted and operated under Flying Fox Airways' name, similar to the flight arrangement between Air Timor and SilkAir on the Dili-Singapore-Dili routes using SilkAir's aircraft.

Flying Fox Airways is not Sriwijaya Air's subsidiary as the Indonesian airline has not bought any stake in the Ipoh airline. However, it is Sriwijaya Air's GSA and airline partner in Ipoh.

Flying Fox Airways will use Kualanamu as its transit hub for its second international flight to Dhaka in December 2013, followed by its third flight to Shenzhen from Kualanamu by March 2014, and later Macau and an unidentified city in Japan. The new Ipoh airline also has plans to open a new scheduled route from Ipoh to Singapore by 2015.

Through its partnership with Sriwijaya Air, Flying Fox Airways hopes to market the Ipoh airport and Perak tourism to the international travel and hospitality industries.

Sriwijaya Air launched NAM Air and flight to Ipoh

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

BATAM, 8 November - Sriwijaya Air, Indonesia's third largest airline which suspended daily flights to Singapore from Jakarta on 1 November 2013, has launched NAM Air, its feeder medium-service subsidiary in Jakarta on 26 September 2013 with a fleet of Boeing B737-500W aircraft, each comprising a configuration of 8 Executive Class and 112 Economy Class seats.

The full-service airline Sriwijaya Air was granted permission from the Indonesian civil aviation authority on 2 August 2013 to form NAM Air.

NAM Air's first inaugural flight takes place on 10 November 2013 when a Boeing B737-500W aircraft will depart from Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (Cengkareng) for Pangkal Pinang, south of Batam. Later, other flight services will take off gradually from Cengkareng for Pontianak, Sorong, Kupang as well as from Surabaya for Biak, Denpasar, Luwuk, Pangkalanbun, and from Denpasar for Waingapu, Maumere and Kupang in eastern Indonesia.

NAM Air was launched to cater to the rising demands of eastern Indonesian passengers for direct travel to other parts of Indonesia and Asia.

Sriwijaya Air signed on the day of NAM Air's launch the Memorandum of Understanding with ex-politician Dr. BJ Habibie's Indonesian Aeropace to order 100 Regio prop R-80 Indonesian jets, including 50 firm orders and 50 future aircraft orders. The first R-80 aircraft which runs on fly-by-wire technology will be put into service in 2016.

Meanwhile, Sriwijaya Air started B737 flights from Kualanamu to Ipoh on 8 November to mark the airline's tenth Anniversary on 10 November. Kualanamu is Ipoh airport's second international destination after Singapore.

Sriwijaya Air did not reveal the reason of flight suspension to Singapore. Its Singapore branch office ceased operations yesterday. The airline began daily flights to Singapore 5 years ago.

Both NAM Air and Sriwijaya Air share the same inflight magazine Sriwijaya. Currently, on-line bookings for NAM Air and Sriwijaya Air flights are completed via Sriwijaya Air's web-site.

Mega Maldives Airlines' achievements and plans

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                / KUCINTA SETIA
Reported to All Press & Travel Professionals

On 5 November 2013, Mega Maldives Airlines has confirmed to Sayacinta - Airpost that the international long-haul airline of the Maldives plans to add further four aircraft to its fleet and introduce new destinations in Africa, the Middle East, Australasia and Northeast Asia.

Mega Maldives Airlines' existing fleet consists of 2 Boeing B767-300ER and 1 Boeing B757-200ERW aircraft. It plans to add two additional B767 jets in order to open new flights to Johannesburg, Perth, Melbourne and Tokyo from Male. It will also add a Boeing B737 aircraft to its fleet in order to start new services from Male to Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius and Dubai. The airline aims to operate seven aircraft by the end of 2014.

Ahmed Hamid, the corporate development manager of Mega Maldives Airlines, said that the Australia market is a huge travel market for the Maldives. Over 14,000 visitors travel from Australia to the Maldives via Asian or Middle Eastern cities. The proposed  new direct route between Male and Melbourne will not only reduce travel hours between the two countries but also enables the airline to become the preferred carrier of choice for visitors to the Maldives.

Mega Maldives Airlines has postponed its inaugural flight from Male to Johannesburg until further notice. The airline carried 163,000 passengers in 2012, up from 54,000 passengers in 2011. It claims up to 40 per-cent market share of all Chinese arrivals to the Maldives.

Mega Maldives Airlines operates scheduled flights from Male to Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, charter flights from Male to Chengdu, Chongqing and Hangzhou as well as seasonal domestic flights from Male to Gan. Its inflight service innovations such as Kiddie Flight Attendant and Honeymoon in the Sky services and well-trained ground and inflight services enabled the airline to be awarded with "Best Airline" in the "Excellent Service" category in 2012 by The Beijing Times (Jinghua).

Mega Maldives Airlines was founded on 23 February 2010 as a Maldivian joint-venture charter airline with majority Maldivian owners and American co-investors. It has more than 130 Asian and European cabin crew and more than 40 foreign pilots. It launched scheduled operations on 23 December 2010 initially flying from Male and Gan to Hong Kong and has since carried more than 400,000 passengers.

Mega Maldives Airlines attended the Aviation Forum held in conjunction with ITB Asia 2013 on 23 and 24 October in Singapore.

Regent Airways flies to Singapore from 14 December 2013

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

Another Bangladeshi airline, Regent Airways, flies to its fourth overseas destination, Singapore, from 14 December 2013.

On 14 December, Regent Airways flight RX784 departs from Dhaka for Singapore at 12.20 pm and arrives in Singapore at 6.35 pm before taking off at 7.25 pm for Dhaka and touching down in Dhaka at 9.40 pm under flight RX785.

Regent Airways' flights from Dhaka to Singapore on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays are operated by the airline's Boeing B737-700 aircraft which has a configuration of 114 Economy Class and 12 Business Class seats.

Regent Airways currently flies domestic routes in Bangladesh and operates international flights to Kuala Lumpur-Sepang, Suvarnabhumi and from 18 November to Kolkata.