Ethiopian Airlines flies to Kuala Lumpur via Singapore with effect from 1 June 2017

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

The largest full-service airline of Africa, Ethiopian Airlines, is launching its first non-stop Dreamliner flight to Singapore from Addis Ababa on 1 June 2017. On the same day, Ethiopian's outgoing flight to Singapore is also extended to Kuala Lumpur. The first Singapore-Addis Ababa direct flight will, however, be operated on 2 June 2017.

On 1 June 2017, Ethiopian Airlines flight ET638 departs from Terminal 2 of Addis Ababa Bole International Airport for Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 12.40 am, transits in Singapore Changi at 2.50 pm before leaving Singapore at 3.50 pm for Kuala Lumpur and touching down in Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Sepang at 5.10 pm.

A few hours later on 1 June 2017, Ethiopian flight ET639 leaves Kuala Lumpur for Singapore at 11.15 pm, arrives in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3 at 12.35 am on 2 June 2017 to pick-up Addis Ababa-bound passengers and depart from Singapore Changi at 2 am and arriving in Addis Ababa at 6.20 am.

Ethiopian Airlines' flights to Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are operated by its B787-800 Dreamliner aircraft on Thursdays, Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays while its flights from Singapore to Addis Ababa are operated on Fridays, Saturdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.

Customers can buy Ethiopian Airlines' tickets at www.ethiopianairlines.com as well as at Chinese online ticketing portal Ctrip.com, major travel agencies and Ethiopian Airlines' sales and ticketing offices around the world.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian Airlines has code-shared with Singapore Airlines on the latter's outgoing flights from Singapore to Jakarta, Hanoi and other parts of Asia while Singapore Airlines has code-shared with the former on African continental routes from Addis Ababa. This was announced to the public during the NATAS Travel Fair 2017 in February and in March.

Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines wins Changi Airport's Best Airline Marketing Award 2017

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

Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines has won Changi Airport's Best Airline Marketing Award 2017, according to a press statement released by Changi Airport in the evening of 27 April 2017.

This is not the first time Drukair has won the Best Airline Marketing Award. It did once in 2013.

In 2016, Drukair led by its Singapore representative Druk Asia exhibited in Travel Revolution Fairs, came up with unique Bhutan travel packages and organized the first Bhutan Travel Expo in 2016 at Takashimaya Shopping Centre basement.

Flights between Paro and Singapore have not been disrupted for the last five years. Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines first launches flight to Singapore from Paro on 1 September 2012.

Scoot resumes flight to Hong Kong on 15 May 2017

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

Due to a rebound in the number of visitors to Hong Kong from Singapore, Scoot resumes flight to Hong Kong on 15 May 2017 using its B787-800 Dreamliner aircraft.

On 15 May 2017, Scoot flight TZ2062 departs from Singapore for Hong Kong at 6.05 am, arrives in Hong Kong at 9.55 am before leaving Hong Kong for Singapore at 10.55 am and touching down in Singapore at 2.55 pm under flight TZ2063.

Scoot will fly between Singapore and Hong Kong on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Regent Airways launches direct flight to Doha on 19 May 2017

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

Bangladeshi airline Regent Airways is launching its first direct scheduled flight from Dhaka to Doha on 19 May 2017 using its B737-700/-800 aircraft.

On 19 May 2017, Regent flight RX0751 departs from Dhaka to Doha at 10.45 pm, arrives in Doha at 1.45 am on 20 May 2017 before leaving Doha at 2.45 am for Dhaka and touching down in Dhaka at 10.30 am under flight RX0752 on 20 May.

Regent's outbound flights to Doha are on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays while inbound flights to Dhaka from Doha are on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Regent Airways' flight to Doha on 19 May 2017 will be the first low-cost route service from Bangladesh while its competitor US-Bangla Airlines also has plan to launch flights to Doha next. 

Norwegian UK launches Singapore's first low-cost flight to London Gatwick on 29 September 2017

Press Release by : Changi Airport Group
Edited by : KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals

Norwegian UK's inaugural flight to South East Asia will connect Changi Airport directly with London Gatwick

Norwegian the low-cost long-haul national airline of Norway announced on 20 April 2017 that its UK subsidiary "Norwegian UK"  is launching non-stop services between London (Gatwick International Airport) and Singapore on 28 September 2017 with flight DI7407 taking off from London Gatwick for Singapore at 10.30 am and touching down in Singapore at 6.15 am on 29 September 2017. The first low-cost flight of NUK from Singapore Changi Airport to London Gatwick takes off on 29 September 2017 under flight DI7408 at 8.15 am and touches down in London Gatwick at 2.55 pm local time.

Norwegian UK will operate services to Singapore 4 times weekly from London Gatwick at different timings on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays with a 344-seat Boeing 787-900 Dreamliner aircraft in a two-class configuration offering economy and premium cabins manned by Gatwick-based crew.  The services will increase to 5 times weekly on a yet-to-be-confirmed date between 29 October 2017 and 24 March 2018, subject to regulatory approval (for the detailed flight schedules, please refer to the information at the end of this news).

With the launch of Norwegian UK's new service, the number of weekly flights from Singapore to London will increase to 50 flights weekly. This translates into an addition of 1,720 (+11%) one-way seats weekly. London is Changi Airport’s fourteenth busiest route, with over 1.2 million passengers travelling between the two cities in 2016.

Norwegian UK’s new service will benefit travellers from the United Kingdom, as they can capitalise on Changi’s excellent connectivity to about 120 destinations in South East Asia and South West Pacific for onward travel to the region. Likewise, passengers from Singapore will have access to a plethora of destinations in Europe and even the United States using Norwegian’s global network.

Changi Airport Group’s CEO Mr Lee Seow Hiang said, “We are delighted to welcome Norwegian to Changi’s portfolio of airlines in September; it will enhance options for Changi Airport's passengers as well as attract more UK visitors to Singapore. With changing consumer preferences and an improvement in aircraft technology, low-cost carriers have taken the opportunity to expand into the long-haul market. We will continue to work with our airline partners to exploit other such opportunities to grow their operations at Changi.”

Norwegian CEO Bjorn Kjos said: “Our transatlantic flights have shown the huge demand for affordable long-haul travel, so we are delighted to expand into new markets and offer our first route to Asia from the UK. Travel should be affordable for all so adding Singapore to our growing UK network will give passengers even more choice for affordable, quality travel to a range of global destinations.

“The UK is at the heart of Norwegian’s ambitious plans for growth so it is a significant moment not only to launch this exciting new route, but also for it to be the first long-haul route to take to the skies with our new ‘Norwegian UK’ subsidiary.”

To mark the commencement of Norwegian UK operations at Changi Airport, Norwegian (https://www.norwegian.com) is offering one-way Singapore-London fares starting from SGD 199 for economy class, and premium class tickets starting from SGD 839. Fares include all applicable fees and taxes. 

Flight Schedules of Norwegian UK (NUK) with effect from 28 September 2017:

Days of Operation	Flight No.	Route	Scheduled Departure (Local Time)	Scheduled Arrival (Local Time)
Tuesday	DI7408	Singapore Changi - London Gatwick	0850	1530
Wednesday	DI7410	Singapore Changi - London Gatwick	2340	0620 +1
Friday	DI7408[1]	Singapore Changi - London Gatwick	0845	1525
Friday	DI7408[2]	Singapore Changi - London Gatwick	0815	1455
Sunday	DI7410	Singapore Changi - London Gatwick	2340	0620 +1

Days of operation	Flight No.	Route	Scheduled Departure (Local Time)	Scheduled Arrival (Local Time)
Monday	DI7407	London Gatwick – Singapore Changi	1030	0615+1
Tuesday	DI7409	London Gatwick – Singapore Changi	2230	1815+1
Thursday	DI7407	London Gatwick – Singapore Changi	1030	0615+1
Saturday	DI7409	London Gatwick – Singapore Changi	2230	1815+1

Notes:

[1] From 29 Sep to 06 Oct 2017

[2] From 13 to 27 Oct 2017

About Changi Airport Group

Changi Airport Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd (CAG) (www.changiairportgroup.com) was formed on 16 June 2009 and the corporatisation of Singapore Changi Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS) followed on 1 July 2009. As the company managing Changi Airport, CAG undertakes key functions focusing on airport operations and management, air hub development, commercial activities and airport emergency services. CAG also manages Seletar Airport (IATA: XSP, ICAO: WSSL) and through its subsidiary Changi Airports International, invests in and manages foreign airports.

Changi Airport is the world's sixth[6] busiest airport for international traffic. It served a record 58.7 million passengers from around the globe in 2016. Including the soon-to-be-opened Terminal 4, Changi Airport will have 400 retail and service stores, as well as 140 F&B outlets. With over 100 airlines providing connectivity to 380 cities worldwide, Changi Airport handles about 7,000 flights every week, or about one every 90 seconds.

Source : Changi Airport Group

The quest for Hebei Airlines' inaugural flight "postcard"

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

On 28 March 2017, Sayacinta - Airpost reported that Hebei Airlines issued Bangkok inaugural flight "postcards" onboard its first flight to Suvarnabhumi on 27 March 2017. On Good Friday 14 April 2017, the journalist visited the headquarters of Hebei Airlines in Shijiazhuang and found one last remaining "postcard" of Hebei Airlines issued to celebrate the launch of its Shijiazhuang-Bangkok flight.

The "postcard" is not a conventional postcard with proper back for anyone to write his or her address. Hebei Airlines' "postcard" is actually a letter set consisting of the envelope indicating it as a souvenir of the inaugural flight with a stamp affix space showing Hebei Airlines B737-800 and an enclosed thick inaugural flight celebration card showing a section tourist map of Bangkok city centre. The user may paste a stamp on the envelope and mail the tourist card to a recipient. 

Above are Sayacinta - Airpost's pictures of the Hebei Airlines' letter set. The letter sets are said to be available more onboard Hebei Airlines' flights to Suvarnabhumi. 

Why was the letter set deemed as a "postcard"? It is traced to postal authorities' categories of postcards. For instance, Japan Post deems a letter set with enclosed  "postcards with high frequency of use and stored in a case" as a postcard category but for serious postcard collectors, a letter set is not a postcard.

Hebei Airlines reported incorrectly about the "postcard" to the public media but it did not apologize for the error as a conventional postcard was never issued and  Sayacinta - Airpost regret that the news was incorrect.

Hebei Airlines is not the only airline to have issued unconventional postcards. For example, Asiana Airlines' postcard onboard the Business Class of its flights is only a very small greeting card with no space for a stamp affix. OKAir, a Tianjin-based Chinese airline, issued aircraft comment cards on domestic flights.

Readers may wish to find out what other airlines issued unconventional postcard products. Sayacinta - Airpost wishes all readers to enjoy exploring the panorama of postcard issuance onboard flights.

US-Bangla Airlines launches flights among Dhaka, Bangkok and Chittagong on 3 May 2017

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

US-Bangla Airlines, the only ISO-2001-certified airline of Bangladesh, is launching flights among Dhaka, Bangkok Suvarnabhumi and Chittagong on 3 May 2017 using one of its Boeing B737-800 aircraft. With the domestic flights from Dhaka extending to Suvarnabhumi, the airline will fly to Bangkok four times weekly and between Chittagong and Dhaka seven times on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

On 3 May 2017, US-Bangla flight BS213 departs from Chittagong for Suvarnabhumi via Dhaka at 8 am, transits in Dhaka at 8.50 am before leaving Dhaka for Suvarnabhumi at 9.40 am and touching down in Suvarnabhumi at 1.10 pm.

At 2.10 pm, outbound flight BS214 leaves Suvarnabhumi for Chittagong, transits in Chittagong at 3.40 pm before departing for Dhaka at 4.10 pm and arriving in Dhaka at 5.10 pm.

US-Bangla Airlines faces direct competition from Regent Airways on the Bangkok routes. Besides Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, the airline also flies from Dhaka to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Kathmandu, Kolkata and Muscat using two other B737-800 jets and operates flights on several domestic routes from Dhaka using its three Bombardier Q400 aircraft. It has delayed plan to launch flights to Paro, Bhutan but it is on course to open future routes to Doha, Dubai, Jeddah and Guangzhou and other major Chinese cities from Dhaka.

Asiana Airlines to deploy its first A350 aircraft on Hong Kong route in May 2017

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

Asiana Airlines which completed the painting of its first Airbus A350-900 aircraft in Toulouse on 15 March 2017 is receiving it in April 2017. The aircraft's first commercial flight will be deployed on the Incheon-Hong Kong route in May 2017. Its second route will be to Manila from Incheon. 

From August 2017, the A350-900 passenger jet will fly on long-haul routes including Incheon-San Francisco.

According to Asiana Airlines, the A350-900 jet offers inflight handphone roaming services, inflight WIFI connection and has a much lighter fuselage, and it consumes up to 25 per cent less fuel than regular aircraft. It features a more comfortable cabin environment with a 5 per cent higher cabin humidity and 4 to 8 decibels lower cabin noise.

The Asiana 350's High Efficiency Particulate AIr (HEPA) filters keep the cabin air fresh even on long-haul flights by circulating the air every two to three minutes. At the same time, the A350-900 aircraft maintains the same cabin  pressure at the aircraft's maximum cruise height of 13,137 m (43,100 feet) as it does at 1,828 m to help reduce fatigue.

The aircraft seats named by Asiana Airlines as the Economy Smartium seats offer a seat pitch of 91.44 cm with 7 to 10 cm additional seat pitch compared with its regular economy seats. The aircraft has larger overhead bins, each of which can accommodate an additional travel bag compared to regular bins.

IndiGo launches flights to Doha on 5 May 2017

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

IndiGo, India's largest private low-cost airline, is launching daily scheduled flights from Delhi and Mumbai to Doha on 5 May 2017 using its Airbus A320 aircraft.

On 5 May 2017, IndiGo flight 6E1701 departs from Delhi to Doha at 1.50 am, arrives in Doha at 3.30 am to pick up passengers before leaving Doha for Mumbai at 4.30 am and touching down in Mumbai at 10.20 am under flight 6E1709.

Later at 11.20 am on 5 May, flight 6E1708 leaves Mumbai for Doha at 11.20 am, lands in Doha at 12.30 pm before taking off from Doha for Delhi at 1.30 pm and arriving in Delhi at 8 pm under flight 6E1702.

The circular route from Delhi to Doha allows travelers from Delhi to seal quick business deals or shop briefly in Doha and return to Delhi on the same day.

Doha is a favourite business and shopping city for Indian tourists. From Doha, tourists can connect to Qatar Airways' flights to major cities in all continents.

All the short-lived private airlines of Singapore including Saber Air

Heritage Report by : Gan Yung Chyan 
                                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone

Singapore Airlines celebrates 70th Anniversary on 1 May 2017 as the national flag carrier of Singapore. Prior to its designation as the national airline in 1973, there was a competitor based in Singapore. It is Saber Air. Years after 1973, there were other small private airlines formed in Singapore such as Region Air and Valuair.

Saber Air is Singapore's first private airline. It was founded in the 1960s with a fleet of C47s, Twin Otters and several light Cessnas and Pipers, operating mostly charter flights for the oil industry in Southeast Asia from 1966.

In 1969, the Singapore Government took over 80 per cent shares of Saber Air in an attempt to control the civil aviation industry in Singapore. In 1971, it started Singapore-London route with DC8-61 on lease from US-based Overseas National Airways (ONA). However the relationship between ONA and Saber did not last long. The DC8 was returned to ONA and replaced with B707 leased from British Caledonian Airlines.

In 1973, after the break-up of Malaya-Singapore Airlines (MSA) into Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Malaysian Airlines System (MAS), the Singapore Government decided that Singapore Airlines was the chosen flag carrier for Singapore and closed down Saber Air.

From then on, Singapore did not have private airlines that operate for a long period of time until the emergence of Region Air, Singapore's first private holiday charter airline initially operating the HPL Travel Bug franchise and later an aircraft leasing firm and airline General Sales Agency (GSA) in the 1990s. It operated limited charter flights from Singapore to Cairns, Brisbane, Melbourne, Pattaya, Hangzhou, Ulaanbaatar and Almaty from Singapore, code-sharing flights to Vung Tau with Vietnam Air Services Company (VASCO) and leased aircraft to Bulgaria's Jes Air, Vietnam Airlines and Myanmar Airways International during this period. 

Then in 2004, Valuair became Singapore's first low-cost private budget airline to launch flights to Bangkok Don Mueang and Hong Kong using Airbus A320 on 5 and 7 May. It quickly expanded its route network to include flights to Perth on 1 December 2004, Chengdu on 20 April 2005 and Xiamen on 25 April 2005 but it was merged with Australia-Singapore joint-venture Jetstar Asia on 24 June 2005 to form Orange Star. However, the name Orange Star was never used commercially. Jetstar Asia is now known informally as Jetstar.

Inflight Review : VietJet Air

Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
                              / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone

The reporter of this travel news medium embarked on his inaugural VietJet Air flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Singapore on 22 October 2016.

Airline and Routes : VietJet Air operates a fleet of A320 and A321 aircraft in Vietnam and flies to many cities in Asia including Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Siem Reap, Suvarnabhumi, Hangzhou, Ningbo, Taipei, Tainan and Incheon. Its sister airline in Thailand is known as Thai VietJet Air. 

News : VietJet Air is applying to be listed with the Stock Exchange of Hanoi with a 1.2 billion Dollars listing. Its CEO Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao is now a millionaire. On 27 April 2017, it launches scheduled flight between Hanoi and Singapore. There are plans for VietJet Air to expand its route network to include Kota Kinabalu, Manila, Tokyo, Dhaka, Vientiane, Novosibirsk, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Almaty, Dushanbe, Tashkent and Bishkek in the long run.

Livery : The airline logo is a word mark. Yellow and red suggest the Vietnamese heritage colours; yellow the colour of the lotus, Buddhism and red the Communist nation colour.***

Aircraft : The A320 seat legroom is not spacious. **

Baggage Requirements :A carry-on baggage measuring 115 cm in total to be stowed in the overhead compartment and a small item to be stowed under the seat are accepted.***

Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. Onboard an A320 aircraft, there are three kinds of safety cards (see pictures above). This is the first time an aircraft's seats can have more than one type of safety card. However, VietJet Air has previous record of flight arriving at the wrong airport.**

Inflight Magazine  : One 2 FLY! is the only official inflight magazine of VietJet Air. It is the thickest inflight magazine among the LCCs in Asia as it is bilingual in Vietnamese and English throughout.***

Inflight Service / Entertainment / Onboard Meals and Refreshments : The crew provide very good service for a budget flight. There is a short inflight game but there is no so-called "bikini show" onboard the flights. The air crew are decent models. So the Chinese media ought not to label VietJet Air as the "airline with bikini shows onboard". Only hot meals can be pre-ordered online and refreshments like fruit juice can be purchased onboard. Its duffel bag is worth the purchase. ****

Postcard / Stationery : None.  Write on the barf bag.** 

Sky Shop : Available on all flights.***

Surcharges :  Fuel surcharge exists. **

Bookings : VietJet Air competes with Tigerair and Jetstar to offer the lowest prices for flights out of Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City. It allows passengers to apply for changes of routes. It charges around 40 Singapore Dollars for a route change, for instance, in the journalist's case to change from Incheon-Ho Chi Minh City route to Ho Chi Minh City-Singapore route. In contrast, Tigerair charges a fixed amount of 70 Singapore Dollars for a route change while Jetstar charges the exorbitant amount of 600 Singapore Dollars to amend a route. VietJet Air thus holds the lowest cost for a route amendment. Travel itineraries are sent via email from Hanoi (for VietJet Air) and Suvarnabhumi (by Thai VietJet Air). Passengers are required to present the relevant credit card, the itinerary and passport for check-in verification. A passenger can reserve seats on-line for a fee.***

Check-In and Departures : Check-in at international airports three hours before departures. Check-in counter closes one hour before departure. Flights may or may not depart on time.**

Ground service in  response  to passengers' requests and enquiries : Nothing to distribute on the ground outside Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang.  It is not easy to get anything from the airline without flying with it. For example, One 2 FLY! is obtainable at Ho Chi Minh City CT Plaza office upon consent by a marketing officer of the airline and it is usually not allowed to be given to the walk-in public. Pre-arranged appointments are advised.**

Overall Impression :  VietJet Air needs to improve its public service, safety image and provide marketing products on the ground outside Vietnam. Set up branch offices in major overseas destinations like Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore so that customers do not need to enquire the airline offices in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Overall, the airline is a two-star airline.

** Poor / two-star
*** Good / three-star
***** Very good / five-star
****** Excellent / six-star (the highest category)