Inflight Review : HK Express

Inflight Review by : Gan Yung Chyan
                            / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press Media & Travel Professionals

Routes : Hong Kong - Taichung - Hong Kong on 13 June 2014 (in conjunction with ITE & MICE 2014 where HK Express and Taichung Tourist Authority are the exhibitors)

Airline : HK Express.

Aircraft : The Airbus A320 aircraft (still in the old livery) has bigger legroom than a Tigerair Airbus A320 aircraft. Obviously it is the only choice to travel budget from Hong Kong to other cities not served by Jetstar and Tigerair. 


Inflight Service : Service is excellent. The air hostesses and air stewards are passionate about their work though busy throughout the one hour plus flight. They speak competently in English, Cantonese and Chinese.

Safety Demonstrations : Adequate. Safety Card is in excellent condition.

Inflight Magazine : UO is the official inflight magazine of HK Express and is free for passengers. One may get it from HK Express' Head Office. Information about HK Express, cities' tourist destinations, tourism and cultures are precise helpful to passengers who wish to learn more about the airline's background and destinations. It is the best marketing tool of HK Express.

Postcard / Stationery : Aircraft postcards and stationery items are not available onboard or its offices, including the Head Office. It appears that HK Express only issues Customs Forms of Taiwan rather than Immigration Arrival/Departure forms on the Taichung route.

Sky Shop : There are duty-free items for sale onboard HK Express flights.  

Onboard Meals and Refreshments : Onboard meals and refreshments have to be paid and the air stewardesses issue receipts for sales of onboard meals and refreshments. Such a professional practice ensures no arguments between a passenger and an air stewardess over a particular inflight transaction. Hot meals are certainly better and more nutritious that hot meals of Jetstar, AirAsia X, AirAsia and Tigerair. There are two types of mineral water on sale.

Surcharge :  If a passenger wishes to upgrade his seat to one of the seats in Row 1, Rows 12 or 13, be prepared to pay a surcharge of 160 Hong Kong Dollars (less than 40 Singapore Dollars).

Booking : Electronic tickets are issued on hkexpress.com.  There is no Manage Booking function at the moment. Changes to existing bookings have to be made by contacting HK Express via an overseas call to its Call Centre outside its Head Office. HK Express accepts Singapore bank-issued debit card payments. Fares are not refundable.

Overall Impression : A low-cost airline that meets the needs of budget travellers and business travellers using boutique seats of its former full-service identity Hong Kong Express Airways and offers down-town check-in services at Airport Express Hong Kong and Kowloon Stations 24 hours before departure.  Everyone will like HK Express's inflight service.

Status of local ticketing address : No off-line ticketing office in Singapore yet. HK Express plans to launch scheduled flights to Singapore only within the next few years to replace Hong Kong Airlines. It is concentrating on opening routes to the Far East. 

Web-site : www.hkexpress.com.

HK Express inaugurates direct flights from Hong Kong to Ningbo, Busan and Nagoya

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

HK Express, Hong Kong's low-fare airline, is inaugurating direct flights from Hong Kong to Ningbo, Busan and Nagoya.

The first budget flight between Hong Kong and Ningbo begins on 31 July 2014.

The Ningbo budget flight schedules of HK Express are as follows:- departing from Hong Kong at 5.15 pm on Mondays and Saturdays, arriving in Ningbo at 7.25 pm on the same days, and departing from Hong Kong on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4.50 pm and touching down in Ningbo at 7 pm under flight UO1318. On the four days, flight UO1319 departs from Ningbo at 8.35 pm and arrives in Hong Kong at 10.55 pm.

HK Express will finalize the necessary formalities with the relevant Ningbo travel agents soon and train the agents before introducing fares on-line shortly.

Meanwhile, it goes well for HK Express' new Korean flights to Busan which will take off on 7 August at 10.20 am under flight UO1673, landing in Busan at 2.40 pm before taking off at 5.10 pm, arriving in Hong Kong at 7.35 pm under UO1674.

HK Express is also opening direct flights six-times a week to Nagoya from 25 September 2014, according to HK Express' Vice-Administrative Executive Officer Andrew Cowen. For the Hong Kong-Nagoya route, the low-cost carrier will introduce return special fares of 500 HK Dollars while a one-way fare starts from 160 HK Dollar.

HK Express' first Nagoya flight takes off from Hong Kong at 10.20 am on 25 Septmber, touching down in Nagoya at  3.10 pm under UO1655 before departing from Nagoya for Hong Kong at 4.30 pm, arriving in Hong Kong at 7.35 pm under UO1656.

HK Express currently has 8 Airbus A320 aircraft jets and aims to have 11 jets when it starts flying to Busan and Ningbo. Some of the aircraft still spot the previous livery of hkexpress.com. It currently flies to destinations including Penang, Phuket, Seoul-Incheon, Kota Kinabalu, Kunming, Taichung, Osaka, Tokyo-Haneda and Fukuoka..

A review on HK Express' Taichung flight in conjunction with ITE & MICE 2014 will follow soon.

Hunnu Air introduces tour itineraries at ITE 2014

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

Hunnu Air has started selling customised tour itineraries in Hong Kong. At ITE 2014, its GSA Global Union Transportation Limited markets holiday packages such as Wonders of Southern-Central Mongolia 8 Days/7 Nights, Mountain Biking Tour in Mongolia and Discover Nomadic Culture and Wilderness Nature 10 Days / 9 Nights. No other GSA in the world is known to sell packages using Hunnu Air aircraft.

For further information contact Hunnu Air GSA in Hong Kong at info@global.com.hk or hkgmr@hunnuair.com.hk.

Hunnu Air has also appointed GSAs in Singapore and Malaysia to sell tickets in the local markets. Visit www.hunnuair.com for more information.

MIAT links Ulaanbaatar with Hong Kong up to five times a week this year

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

MIAT Mongolian Airlines, which will open direct flights between Ulaanbaatar and Frankfurt on 19 June 2014, is adding two new return flights to Hong Kong during summer 2014.

Besides the existing flight schedules on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays which see the national airline of Mongolia departing from Ulaanbaatar at 6.25 am, arriving in Hong Kong at 10.55 am, taking off from Hong Kong at 12.05 pm for Ulaanbaatar at 12.05 pm, arriving in Ulaanbaatar at 4.45 pm, the other two new flight schedules are as follows:-

On Mondays effective 7 July to 26 August, MIAT will depart for Hong Kong at 6.35 pm, arriving in Hong Kong at 11.05 pm before leaving Hong Kong at 12.35 am, arriving in Ulaanbaatar at 5.15 am.

On Saturdays effective 7 June to 30 August, the carrier departs for Hong Kong at 9 am, arriving in Hong Kong at 1.30 pm before departing for Ulaanbaatar at 2.40 pm, arriving in Ulaanbaatar at 7.20 pm.

A relevant source from MIAT Mongolian Airlines revealed that the airline is in negotiations with Changi Airport on opening possible scheduled flights from Ulaanbaatar to Singapore via Hong Kong.

At ITE Hong Kong 2014, MIAT Mongolian Airlines auctioned round trip Economy Class ticket from 1 Hong Kong Dollar excluding taxes and surcharges, again. It is also selling Ulaanbaatar hotel room and 4 day-3 night holiday packages. Inevitably, one of the beautiful, friendly and helpful airline booths of ITE is MIAT Mongolian Airlines.

For further information and details on MIAT Holidays packages designed by Pacific Aviation Marketing Hong Kong, email pkg@pam.com.hk or visit holidays.pam.com.hk.

Etihad Airways plans to open flights between Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi from 1 November 2014

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

Etihad Airways which owns 40% stakes in Air Seychelles and Air Berlin plans to open flights under its own code between Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi, doubling the flights between the two cities, starting 1 November 2014, according to the airline's GSA in Hong Kong, The Walshe Group, which is also GSA for Air Seychelles and Air Berlin in Hong Kong.

On 1 November 2014, Etihad Airways flight EY4121 departs from Hong Kong at 6.55 pm and arrives in Abu Dhabi at 11.25 pm. This flight takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The Hong Kong-bound Etihad flight departs from Abu Dhabi at 9.40 pm and touches down in Hong Kong at 9.40 am. Flights are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

The new Hong Kong-Abu Dhabi flight links Air Berlin's Abu Dhabi-Berlin flight AB 7495 / EY departing at 2.45 am, arriving in Berlin at 6.35 am the next day, taking off at 10.45 am and touching down in Abu Dhabi at 7.50 pm every day.

During the winter season 2014/2015, Air Berlin will operate the Abu Dhabi-Berlin-Abu Dhabi services on its own. Flight AB7493 departs from Abu Dhabi at 9.10 am, arriving in Berlin at 1 pm before taking off at 10.45 am the next day, touching down in Abu Dhabi at 7.50 pm.

According to The Walshe Group Ltd, Etihad Airways plans to link Hong Kong with Dusseldorf via Abu Dhabi on a code-sharing basis on the Abu Dhabi-Dusseldorf route with Air Berlin.

28th ITE Hong Kong and 9th ITE MICE opened on 12 June 2014

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

The 28th edition of the International Travel Expo (ITE) Hong Kong and the 9th edition of ITE MICE opened in Hong Kong on 12 June 2014 and ended on 15 June 2014 at Halls 1A to 1E of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre. This event has attracted 12,308 trade and corporate visitors during the trade days with around 26% from mainland China and other countries, and 75,300 public visitors on the public days. Some 6000 visitors are travel agents and 2,500 from MICE and corporations.

The Travel Expo highlights themes like MICE, Corporate Travel, Cruise, Travel Photography, Wellness & Medical Tourism, Overseas Wedding & Honeymoon, In-depth Travel and Sport Tourism.

Repeated pavilions originate from Guam, Switzerland, USA with the largest contingent from Japan followed by Taiwan and China.

New pavilions or official stands by tourism boards originate from Berlin, Indonesia, Sweden and Tainan. This year's ITE has around 100 tourism boards and USA is the leading featured destination. Twenty seminars and business matching sessions were conducted on the trade days while 100 seminars are held on the public days
.

More than seven airlines participate in ITE Hong Kong this year. They include MIAT Mongolian Airlines, Hunnu Air, Ethiopian Airlines, SriLankan Airlines and for the first time, Jin Air, Air Berlin and Hong Kong's low-cost airline HK Express.

At Booth F126, Jin Air gave away exquisite Jin Air logo paper fans and street shopping bags upon registration as a Jin Air on-line member. The Korean airline did not confirm the inaugural flight date of its another Japanese destination but said that more information will be available in July on its web-site. It also confirmed no plan to launch any flight to Singapore from Seoul-Incheon in the near future.

Further airline news from ITE will follow shortly.

ITE & MICE 2015 will take place between 11 and 14 June at the same venue.

Source (partially) : TKS Exhibition Services Ltd

Ethiopian Airlines markets Ethiopia at ITE Hong Kong 2014

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

The Ethiopian Airlines booth at ITE Hong Kong 2014 was graced by the Ethiopian principals of the Hong Kong office on 12 June 2014. It distributed hardcopies of Selamta and Ethiopian Holidays magazine. Visitors to the booth can scan the QR code on the brochure to access for facts and more information about Ethiopia travel.

Ethiopia, the motherland of coffee, has opened domestic flights from Addis Ababa to Semera, the capital of the Afar Regional State in northeastern Ethiopia. Flights link Addis Ababa directly to Hong Kong with onward flights to Seoul-Incheon. The other destinations in Asia with flights linking to Addis Ababa include Delhi, Shanghai Pudong and Beijing.

The Afar region is well known for its early hominid fossil finds including 'Lucy', an Australopithecus afarensis, discovered in 1974, who lived about 3.2 million years ago, and more recently the Grandfather of Lucy' dubbed "Kadanuumuu", which means "big man" in Afar language and which dates back from 3.5 - 3.8 million years ago.

Round-trip Economy Class air tickets from Hong Kong to Addis Ababa in Grand Lucky Draws were up for grabs at ITE & MICE 2014 which ended today.

Hunnu Air resumes scheduled flight to Shanghai-Pudong on 25 June 2014

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

Hunnu Air, Mongolia's largest private airline, is resuming scheduled flights to Shanghai-Pudong on 25 June 2014, a postponement from 7 June as previously reported in one of our updates on Hunnu Air's new summer flights.

On 25 June 2014, Hunnu Air flight MR835 departs from Ulaanbaatar for Shanghai-Pudong at 2.30 pm, arriving in Pudong at 6 pm before taking off from Pudong at 7.30 pm, touching down in Ulaanbaatar at 11 pm on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Flights are operated by Hunnu Air's Airbus A319 aircraft

Hunnu Air launches flights to Paris from Ulaanbaatar via Perm on 9 June 2014 using Airbus A319 aircraft.

Hunnu Air is one of the airline exhibitors of ITE & MICE 2014.

Garuda Indonesia opens 5 new routes to meet summer travel demand

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

Since its entry into the worldwide airline alliance Skyteam in March 2014, Garuda Indonesia has opened several domestic and international routes.

On 1 May 2014, Garuda Indonesia launched daily domestic flights linking Banyuwangi with Surabaya and Denpasar. On the same day, it launched international flights from Makassar to Jeddah via Medan - Kualanamu after successfully launching Surabaya's first direct Middle East flight to Jeddah in April 2014.

On 1 June 2014, Garuda Indonesia launches a new domestic daily flight from Surabaya to Jember. Effective 15 June 2014, it operates direct scheduled flights to Tokyo-Haneda from Jakarta on a daily basis.

On 8 September 2014, Garuda Indonesia will fly to London from Jakarta via Amsterdam five times a week. Garuda's direct flights to Amsterdam from Jakarta begin on 30 May 2014.

To celebrate the new flights and promote Indonesia, Garuda Indonesia distributed brochures under the Indonesian tourism pavilion at ITE & MICE 2014 which took place in Hong Kong from 12 to 15 June this year and will exhibit later at ITB Asia 2014 which will held in Singapore in October 2014. 

Indonesia airport international departure taxes increase from 1 April 2014

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

Most Indonesia airport international departure taxes have increased since 1 April 2014. For example, individual travellers have to pay Rp200,000 per person to depart from Denpasar, Balikpapan and Jakarta. Passengers leaving Makassar and Lombok now have to pay Rp150,000 per person.

Domestic departure taxes which have also increased are now incorporated in the air ticket prices of Garuda Indonesia only but not in air ticket prices of other Indonesian airlines.