SilkAir Ticketing Office Relocation Notice

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

The Singapore ticketing office of SilkAir will be relocated from its current location at KeyPoint to United Square, 101 Thomson Road, on 10 January 2014. On this day, the KeyPoint office will be closed at 12 pm for the relocation which will complete on 12 January.

The new ticketing office of SilkAir at United Square #10-03 will open on 13 January for business. It opens only on weekdays. The new location will be closer to Singapore Airlines' ticketing office at Ion Orchard.

SilkAir previously relocated its Shenton Way office to KeyPoint eight years ago.

With the relocation of SilkAir ticketing office, United Square will have 4 airline offices from January. They include Garuda Indonesia, British Airways, Singapore Airlines (Head Marketing Office) and SilkAir.

SilkAir wishes all readers of Sayacinta - Airpost Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

China Eastern Airlines links Singapore with Wuxi from 18 December 2013

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

China Eastern Airlines is increasing its China flights from Singapore in December. From 18 December 2013, it introduces scheduled flights to the beautiful city of Wuxi, near Suzhou, China from Singapore.

On 17 December 2013, the first China Eastern flight departs from Wuxi airport for Singapore at 7 pm under flight code MU5081 and arrives in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 at 12.20 am on 18 December. On 18 December, flight MU5082 takes off for Wuxi from Terminal 3 at 2 am, arriving in Wuxi at 7 am.

Flights are operated by Airbus A320 aircraft on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

For further information, please visit China Eastern web-site www.ce-air.com.

Scoot, Nok Air and Tigerair announced new overseas ventures and partnerships

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

Scoot, Nok Air and Tigerair announced new overseas ventures and partnerships on 16 December 2013.

Nok Air, the low-cost subsidiary of Thai Airways International, and Singapore's long-haul budget airline, Scoot, plan to establish a new budget airline based in Bangkok to capture a share of the burgeoning Asia-Pacific low-cost travel market. The airline, if approved by regulators, will be called NokScoot and operate on medium and long-haul routes.

NokScoot will take over routes previously operated by Thai private airlines U-Airlines, R-Airlines and P.C. Air that have recently grounded flight operations in Suvarnabhumi and  Don Mueang International Airports of Bangkok.

NokScoot will fly from both airports of Bangkok.

Both companies will make an initial joint investment of S$80 million, of which Nok Air will own up to 51 per cent of the joint-venture.

Nok Air Chief Executive Officer Patee Sarasin said both airlines are "excited" at expanding overseas.

"It has always been Nok's goal to offer Thais more choice and more value, of which this venture is yet another example. We're also excited at the opportunity to encourage more inbound tourists, to boost the Thai economy," he said.

Scoot Chief Executive Officer Campbell Wilson added: "Thailand is Asia's premier tourist destination and logical hub for Scoot to expand to."

Meanwhile, Scoot's other partner Tiger Airways also announced plans on Monday to form a new low-cost airline, this time in Taiwan.

It plans to set up Tigerair Taiwan through a joint venture with China Airlines, Taiwan's biggest carrier.

Tigerair said it would hold a 10% stake in the new company, which is aimed at tapping the budget-conscious travel market in North Asia. Tigerair Taiwan will be based in Taipei and will launch budget flights from Taipei  to China, South Korea and Japan in order to compete with rivals such as TransAsia Airways' unnamed budget flight subsidiary, China's Spring Airlines, Japan's Peach Aviation and South Korea's Eastar Jet, Jeju Air and T'way Airlines.

It has not been confirmed which Taipei airport Tigerair Taiwan will base its operations in since Tigerair flies only to Taoyuan International Airport, the international gateway to the city of Taipei.

Under existing Taiwan aviation regulations, airlines operating to China and Korea from Taipei are encouraged to operate flights from Taipei City's Songshan airport.

Tiger Airways, which is majority-owned by Singapore Airlines, also announced an agreement to enhance connectivity between flights with India's Spicejet, besides forming an official sales and marketing partnership with Scoot.

Tigerair started selling Scoot's tickets on its web-site one year ago while it is expected Scoot will start selling Tigerair's tickets on its web-site soon.