Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Cambodia Angkor Air launches direct scheduled flights from Phnom Penh to Seoul-Incheon four times a week, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, from 17 April 2016.
On 17 April 2016, flight K6 924 departs from Phnom Penh for Seoul-Incheon at 12.22 am, arrives in Seoul-Incheon at 7.35 am before taking off from Seoul-Incheon for Phnom Penh at 11.35 am and touching down in Phnom Penh at 3.15 pm under flight K6 925.
The return flights to Seoul-Incheon are operated by Cambodia Angkor Air's Airbus A321 aircraft. To celebrate the commencement of flights to Seoul-Incheon, Cambodia Angkor Air is selling air fares that start from 10 US Dollars on its web-site www.cambodiaangkorair.com.
Besides Seoul-Incheon, Cambodia Angkor Air plans to launch direct flights to Hong Kong, Danang and Tokyo as early as later this year.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
HK Express launches direct scheduled flights from Hong Kong to three Japanese cities, namely Ishigaki, Takamatsu and Kagoshima using its Airbus A320 aircraft.
On 16 June 2016, HK Express flight UO3812 leaves Hong Kong for Ishigaki at 7.20 am, arrives in Ishigaki at 10.25 am before taking off from Ishigaki at 11 am and arriving in Hong Kong at 11.55 am under UO3813. Return flights are on Thursdays and Sundays.
From 6 July 2016, HK Express flight UO504 departs from Hong Kong for Takamatsu at 7.55 am, arrives in Takamatsu at 12.45 pm before leaving Takamatsu at 9 pm and touching down in Hong Kong at 11.40 pm on 7 July under UO523. The outbound flights from Hong Kong to Takamatsu are on Wednesdays, Sundays and Tuesdays.
On 11 July 2016, flight UO3820 leaves Hong Kong for Kagoshima at 7 am, arrives in Kagoshima at 11.05 am before taking off from Kagoshima at 8.55 pm and arriving in Hong Kong at 11.05 pm under UO3821. Return flights are on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
All the above flights are subject to regulatory approval.
With the addition of three Japanese cities to its route network, HK Express has become the low-cost airline operating the flights to the most number of Japanese cities. HK Express currently flies to the airports of Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, Nagoya and Hiroshima.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Scoot launches its inaugural scheduled flight from Singapore to Jeddah on 2 May 2016, and not 1 May 2016, as previously reported by The Straits Times, Wikipedia and other on-line media.
On 2 May 2016, Scoot flight TZ592 departs from Singapore for Jeddah at 4.40 pm, arrives in Jeddah at 8.30 pm before leaving Jeddah at 9.45 pm and touching down in Singapore at 12.15 pm on 3 May under flight TZ591.
B787 passenger flights of Scoot land in Jeddah on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays and arrive in Singapore from Jeddah on Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays.
There is no promotion fare on this new route.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Garuda Indonesia launches one-way direct scheduled flight to London Heathrow from Singapore on 31 March 2016. It plans to fly from Singapore to London Heathrow on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using B777 aircraft.
On 31 March 2016, Garuda flight GA086 departs from Singapore for London Heathrow at 12.20 am and arrives in London Heathrow at 6.55 am London time. The flight to Singapore from London Heathrow will later transit via Jakarta Soekarno-Hatta where passengers have to alight and transfer to a Garuda Boeing B737 aircraft for Singapore.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Philippine Airlines celebrates its 75th Anniversary this month by launching Cebu's first long-haul scheduled flight to Los Angeles on 17 March 2016.
At 6.25 pm, Philippine Airlines' flight PR122 departs from Cebu for Los Angeles and arrives in Los Angeles at 5.55 pm American time. One day later, flight PR113 leaves Los Angeles at 8.40 pm for Manila and touches down in Manila at 3.30 am. Cebu-bound passengers have to transfer to Philippine Airlines' domestic flight which will depart at 5 am and arrive in Cebu at 6.15 am on 19 March 2016 Cebu time.
Flights departing from Cebu for Los Angeles are operated by Philippine Airlines' Airbus A340-300 aircraft every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.
The Los Angeles-Manila route is not new.
Philippine Airlines first launched flight operations on 15 March 1941 as Asia's oldest airline. It plans to launch direct commercial flights to Saipan from Manila from 15 June 2016.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Tigerair launches its inaugural scheduled direct flight from Singapore to Wuxi on 28 April 2016 .
On 28 April 2016, flight TR2940 departs from Changi Airport Terminal 2 for Wuxi at 3.50 pm, arrives in Wuxi at 9.30 pm before taking off for Singapore from Wuxi at 11 pm and touching down in Singapore at 4.50 am on 29 April 2016 under flight TR2941.
Tigerair's flights to Wuxi are operated on Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays while its flights return to Singapore on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays.
Wuxi is the prefecture-level city located in southern Jiangsu province that borders Suzhou to the east and Changzhou to the west. It is the gateway to the Singapore-China-run Suzhou Industrial Park in Suzhou.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
XiamenAir launches thrice-weekly B737 scheduled flights from Xiamen to Cebu from 28 March 2016.
On 28 March 2016, XiamenAir flight MF8905 departs from Xiamen for Cebu at 8.55 am, arrives in Cebu at 11.55 am before leaving Cebu at 12.55 pm and touching down in Xiamen at 3.55 pm under MF8906.
Flights are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
XiamenAir plans to launch further new routes from Xiamen to Seattle via Shenzhen, from Xiamen to Vancouver and from Fuzhou to New York later this year using its B787 Dreamliner aircraft.
XiamenAir is the Best Chinese Airline in the Chinese travel market.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
GX Airlines, short for Guangxi Beibu Gulf Airlines, has launched thrice-weekly scheduled flights linking Haikou and Yongzhou on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Mondays since 20 February 2016. With effect from 1 April 2016, the airline will fly four times a week to Yongzhou from Haikou. Flights are on Fridays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays.
According to GX Airlines, GX flight GX8889 departs from Haikou for Yongzhou at 3.50 pm, arrives in Yongzhou at 5.30 pm before leaving Yongzhou at 6.30 pm and touching down in Haikou at 8.10 pm under flight GX8890.
Yongzhou is a prefective-level city located in southern Hunan province. It has a civilization history of 2000 years.
No other Chinese airline operates on the route to Yongzhou from Haikou. Besides, GX Airlines has pioneered routes to 22 Chinese cities from Nanning not served by other Chinese airlines.
GX Airlines started communter flight operations in early 2015 and is a member airline of the HNA Group.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Fuzhou Airlines is introducing new scheduled flights linking Jiangsu prefecture-level city Nantong with Fuzhou and Tianjin with effect from 27 March 2016.
On 27 March 2016, Fuzhou Airlines flight FU6619 departs from Fuzhou for Nantong at 1.25 pm, arrives in Nantong at 2.55 pm before leaving Nantong for Tianjin at 3.40 pm and touching down in Tianjin at 5.25 pm. One hour later, flight FU6620 takes off from Tianjin at 6.25 pm, arrives in Nantong at 8.15 pm before leaving Nantong for Fuzhou at 9 pm and arriving in Fuzhou at 10.30 pm.
Flights linking Nantong with Fuzhou and Tianjin take place on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Fuzhou Airlines also operates direct afternoon flights to Tianjin from Fuzhou.
About Nantong
Nantong is located near the river mouth on the northern bank of the Yangtze River. Popular tourist sites include a Buddhist temple on Langshan ("Wolf Hill"), Cao Gong Zhu Memorial Temple and Shuihuiyang Garden where the tomb of Wen Tianxiang, the national hero of Nansong Dynasty is found. The city is also home to China Singapore, a joint-venture park between Suzhou and Nantong, built by Singapore and Chinese enterprises.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
9 National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) are exhibiting at NATAS Travel Fair 2016 from 4 to 6 March 2016 at Singapore Expo Hall 7. First-time NTO exhibitors come from Kazakhstan, Shandong and the US. NTOs that will exhibit at the travel fair again are from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Brazil and India.
The Kazakhstan tourism contingent which exhibited at previous editions of ITE & MICE held in June every year in Hong Kong is at NATAS Travel Fair this time to generate public awareness of Kazakhstan's rich tourism resources and visa-free facility although Singapore lacks direct flights to Almaty.
According to the tourism board of Kazakhstan, Singaporeans can enjoy visa-free entry to Almaty and Astana, the traditional gateways to Kazakhstan since July 2015. The viable ways to enter Almaty and Astana are via Air Astana's commercial flights from Kuala Lumpur and Suvarnabhumi, which Aviation Services Pte Ltd the GSA of Air Astana is marketing under Air Astana's stopover packages in Singapore.
The Kazakhstan pavilion also mentioned that Air Astana is planning to launch direct flights from Almaty to Singapore in 2017 as an incentive for Singaporeans to visit the country without paying any visa for transit in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. Return air fare including taxes should start from 800 US Dollars.
The Tourism Board of China is not exhibiting this time. Instead, a lone Shandong tourism booth has been set up in NATAS Travel Fair 2016 providing detailed travel and tourism information on Qingdao, Jinan and other tourist destinations in Shandong Province.
There are no Airlines Exhibitors for the second time in the history of NATAS Travel Fair according to NATAS Travel Fair's web-site www.natastravelfair.travel. However, Sayacinta - Airpost has spotted sales representatives of Garuda Indonesia and Malindo Air at the Indonesia and Nepal tourism booths.
The sponsor Singapore Airlines said it is not setting up its exhibition booth at NATAS Travel Fair 2016. Airbus A350 postcards and related paraphernalia are not distributed. Its Airbus A350 and aircraft seating models are not gracing the public.
Rather, Singapore Airlines' 8 informational standees are scattered around the exhibition hall Hall 7. Visitors must locate them, pick up contest entry forms, answers three questions related to Singapore Airlines' new route network developments such as new flights to Canberra, Wellington, Dusseldorf and additional flights to Colombo, Incheon, China and submit entries to enter lucky draws to win free Singapore Airlines aircraft models.
Other exhibitors include travel agents, 8 food and beverage booths, travel wear and baggage sellers in this carnival-like travel fair.
Travel agent Jetabout Holidays is selling return flight packages to Fiji and special promotion Fiji Airways tickets to Fiji. Fiji Airways starts to fly to Nadi from Singapore on 6 April 2016.
ASA Holidays is marketing and selling direct charter flights of Bhutan Airlines, to be re-launched on 26 November 2016. According to ASA Holidays, Bhutan Airlines plans to launch direct flights to Singapore from Paro and via Yangon, subject to bilateral regulatory approval.
ASA Holidays is also selling group tour packages to Sanya, Guiyang, Sihanoukville, Malaysia and has freed exhibition space to Malindo Air to market its destinations and air fares at the travel fair.
