Skyrainbow Airlines exhibits at NATAS Holidays 2017

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

Skyrainbow Airlines, Taiwan's only hot air balloon flight company headquartered in Taitung, exhibits at NATAS Holidays 2017 in partnership with Taitung Government.

At NATAS Holidays 2017, Skyrainbow Airlines distributed printed brochures of its flight itinerary in Chinese, name cards, square aircraft cards and printed copies of Taitung tourism magazine showing Skyrainbow hot air balloons on the front covers.

Skyrainbow Airlines was founded in 2012 as a Taiwan GSA for Spain's Ultramagic Balloons. In 2014, it secured the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) from Taiwan's civil aviation body to launch hot air balloon flights in Taitung. In Taiwan, a hot air balloon flight company is regarded as a passenger airline.

Skyrainbow Airlines is exploring possibilities to train and educate Taiwan hot air balloon pilots, establish a hot air balloon repair and maintenance facility in Taitung and raise awareness and interest in hot air ballooning in Taiwan.

The booth of Skyrainbow Airlines and Taitung under NATAS Holidays 2017 is at Suntec City Mall West Atrium, Level 1. 13 August 2017 is the last day of NATAS Holidays 2017.

SilkAir launches inaugural chartered flights to Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Oita in November 2017

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

SilkAir, according to JTB, is launching its first direct chartered flight from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 to Kagoshima on 20 November 2017 using a B737-800 aircraft. Then on 21 November, another two SilkAir chartered aircraft will depart for Nagasaki and Oita in Japan.

On 20 November 2017, SilkAir departs from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 for Kagoshima at 2.15 am, arrives in Kagoshima at 9 am before leaving Kagoshima at 10 am and touching down in Singapore at 3.25 pm. SilkAir will leave Kagoshima for Singapore on 24 November 2017.

On 21 November 2017, the first SilkAir chartered flight leaves for Oita from Singapore at 1.45 am, arrives in Oita at 9 am. It will leave Oita for Singapore on 25 November 2017 at 10 am and touch down in Singapore at 3.35 pm.

On 21 November 2017, the second SilkAir chartered flight leaves for Nagasaki from Singapore at 1.50 am, arrives in Nagasaki at 9 am. It will leave Nagasaki for Singapore on 25 November 2017 at 10 am and touch down in Singapore at 3.15 pm.

JTB is the only travel agency that sells the chartered flight seats to Kagoshima, Nagasaki and Oita. For further information, visit JTB Travel Saloon at Takashimaya Shopping Centrre, $03-11C Ngee Ann City, Singapore or email the office at jtbtravelsaloon.hq@jtbap.com . The office is open daily.

Update on SilkAir's chartered flights

As of evening of 12 August 2017, according to another travel agency ASA Holidays, SilkAir also plans to launch its first chartered flight to Zunyi, the second largest city of Guizhou Province and the nearest gateway to Maotai Town, the home of China Maotai wine in Guizhou Province, on 1 November 2017, and to Wenzhou on 16 February 2018 using B737-800 aircraft. These China flights are subject to bilateral regulatory approval.

Air India Express launches flights to Madurai and Delhi from Singapore on 16 September 2017

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                  / KUCINTA SETIA
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Air India Express announced that it is launching Changi Airport's first direct scheduled flight to Madurai on 16 September 2017. On the same day, the Singapore flight to Madurai is extended to Delhi.

On 15 September 2017, Air India Express flight IX684, which first departs from Delhi at 7 pm, arrives in Madurai at 10.15 pm, takes off from Madurai to Singapore at 11.15 pm and arrives in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 6.15 am on 16 September 2017. At 10.40 am on 16 September, it takes off from Singapore for Madurai  and touches down in Madurai at 12.25 pm under flight IX683.

IX683 will continue to operate on the journey to Delhi at 1.50 pm and arrive in Delhi at 5.05 pm on 16 September 2017.

The Singapore-Madurai-Delhi flights are operated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays while the Delhi-Madurai-Singapore flights are conducted on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays according to Air India Express. Tickets are open for sale at www.airindiaexpress.in.

Madurai is the second Indian destination that Air India Express opens in 2017 after Kolkata in the first quarter of this year. It is located in Tamil Nadu state. With its history that dates back to the third century BC, Madurai is India's answer to Oc Eo of Vietnam as it has lots of Indian historical relics that are related to the Roman Empire trade routes. Notable tourist destinations to visit in Madurai include Meeakshi Amman Temple and Kazimar Big Mosque.

Madurai is mentioned in the works of ancient Roman historians such as Pliny the Younger and Ptolemy.

Fiji Airways held its biggest overseas exhibition at NATAS Holidays 2017

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
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Fiji Airways is holding its first and biggest overseas travel exhibition at NATAS Holidays 2017 of Singapore from 11 to 13 August 2017. The pictures below show how spectacular its booth 4H73 at NATAS Holidays 2017 is.

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Vietjet Air awarded Asia's Best Employer Brand 2017 in Singapore offers free tickets

Press Release by : Vietjet Air

                               c/o Media Services HK

Edited by KUCINTA SETIA

Distributed to Everyone

Vietjet is launching a five-day ticket promotion from 9 to 13 August 2017, offering 200,000 free promotional air tickets. The Autumn promotion is applied for all Vietjet’s international routes from Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Hai Phong (Vietnam) to Hong Kong, Seoul, Busan, Kaohsiung, Taipei, Tainan, Taichung, Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Yangon and Siem Reap for effective travel from 1 September  2017 to 31 May 2018.

The promotional tickets are available for booking within the golden hours from 1 pm to 3 pm at www.vietjetair.com. Payment can be easily made with debit and credit cards of Visa, MasterCard, JCB, KCP and American Express.

Besides, Vietjet continues to increase its flight frequency on many international routes. The Ho Chi Minh City-Seoul route will have 14 return flights a week from 29 October 2017, a double from the previous seven return flights/week. On the Da Nang-Seoul route, there will be an increase from seven return flights to 14 return flights per week from 6 November 2017.

The new promotion is also presented to celebrate the award of Asia’s Best Employer Brand in 2017 to Vietjet for its innovative solutions in recruitment as well as its efforts in creating an internationally standardized, professional working environment for all employees. The award was presented to Vietjet at an event hosted by the Employer Branding Institute, World HRD Congress with CHRO Asia as a Strategic Partner and endorsed by the Asian Confederation of Businesses in Singapore last week. This is the second year the airline has been honoured with this prestigious award.

The 12th Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards 2017 recognizes Vietjet’s excellence in building the company brand as an employer of choice with consistent improvement in HR Policy by measuring organizational health and inculcating values that help to achieve the vision, culture of Contribution and Innovation at Work, developing a future leader and being a Social Employee.

After more than five years of operation, Vietjet has become one of the most favorite working places for the international aviation community with Vietjet members coming from more than 40 countries and territories. They have been contributing positively to make air travel becoming a popular means of transport among passengers not only in Vietnam but also the regional market.

The Employer Branding Institute is a virtual organization. Senior leaders in HR connect with each other in the cyber space to share the best practices in Employer Branding and outstanding professionals in several countries who are contributing to “Talent Management, Talent Development and Talent Innovation” are a part of the Employer Branding Institute. This virtual organization is exemplary of the manner in which it is run and has created a platform to celebrate the best in Employer Branding in several Asian countries. The network of Employee Branding Institute is increasing in size and stature with several HR leaders from over 36 countries, recommended individuals and organizations who are doing exemplary work.

SATS launches Ready To Travel mobile app at Travel Revolution 2017 in Singapore

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

 

Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS), a former subsidiary of Singapore Airlines that is in charge of ground operation of 80 per cent of flights and catering of inflight meals at Changi Airport, has launched the Ready To Travel mobile travel concierge application at Travel Revolution 2017 on 4 August. 

SATS explains that with the Ready To Travel mobile travel concierge, users do not need to visit Changi Recommends at the terminals of Changi Airport to pay and collect pocket wiki tokens. Payment can be done mobile while wiki tokens will be delivered by hand by SATS staff. Users can select the time slots till 9.30 pm when they can expect to receive the wiki tokens at home preferably four days before flight departure from the staff. The staff can also deliver the wifi tokens to the users' offices.

The SATS staff will come to collect the wiki tokens from users after end of usage.

Besides the wiki token sign-ups and deliveries, SATS said the Ready To Travel mobile travel concierge allows subscribers to create and share itineraries with travel buddies, choose and book from 12000 activities or attractions over 90 countries. Users can further enrich their travel experiences with travel insurance, checks on entry-visa requirements, access to SATS airport lounges, flight and gate details and other important travel updates on the go.

With Ready To Travel, the travelers who are not Priority Pass members can access to SATS-operated lounges in Changi Airport at a cost of 45 Singapore Dollars per entry.

At Travel Revolution 2017 until 6 August 2017, to celebrate the launch of the convenient mobile travel concierge, visitors can participate in a roller wheel game and win up to 20 per cent discount of wiki token usage (normal price 5 Singapore Dollars per day), discount per entry to a SATS lounge and other prices. Redemption of the discount specials ends after 30 August 2017.

Snapshots from Second Edition of Travel Revolution Fair 2017, 4-6 August, Singapore

Pictures by : Gan Yung Chyan
                    / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone

XiamenAir ends non-stop flight to Los Angeles from Xiamen

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

In December 2017, XiamenAir is ending its long-haul non-stop Dreamliner flight to Los Angeles from Xiamen, which it introduced on 27 June 2017. Its last direct flight to Los Angeles will take off from Xiamen under flight MF829 at 9.50 pm on 10 December 2017.

On 11 December 2017, XiamenAir's flight to Los Angeles will have a stopover in Qingdao for Shandong passengers to board the Dreamliner flight for Los Angeles. At 5.30 pm, flight MF857 departs from Xiamen for Qingdao, arrives in Qingdao at 7.50 pm to pick-up more Los Angeles-bound passengers before leaving Qingdao at 10.20 pm and touching down in Los Angeles at 6 pm.

On 12 December 2017, flight MF830 leaves Los Angeles for Qingdao at 11.55 pm, arrives in Qingdao at 5 am before departing for Xiamen at 6.50 am and arriving in Xiamen at 9.15 am on 13 December 2017.

Xiamen-Qingdao-Los Angeles routes are serviced by a XiamenAir B787-900 Dreamliner jet on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Vietjet Air generated US$84.7 million group profit before tax in first half of 2017

Press Release by : Vietjet Air
                              c/o Media Services HK
Edited by : KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals

On 2 August 2017, Vietjet Air or Vietjet, short for Vietjet Aviation Joint Stock Company, announced its unaudited group financial statements for the first half of 2017 featuring substantial target exceeding growth compared to the previous period. In first half of 2017, Vietjet generated USD84.7 million group profit before tax, a 44.7 per cent increase year on year.

Following the release of the unaudited financial statements for the first half of 2017 last week, Vietjet’s overall revenue in the period stood at USD730.7 million, an increase of around 31 per cent compared to previous period. For Q2/2017, revenue reached USD503 million, an increase of 89 per cent year on year. The 2^nd quarter’s group profit before tax stood at around USD66.1 million.

Especially, growth in passenger carriage on international routes increased by nearly 130 per cent, making it the main momentum for the quarter’s growth. Also, revenue in aviation carriage in the first six months of 2017 stood at US$478.9 million - an increase of 45.1 percent compared to same period last year. The company’s profit before tax from aviation carriage reached more than US$48.6 million, an increase of 46 per cent year on year.

In  the second quarter of 2017, Vietjet received five more brand-new A321 aircraft from Airbus and generated US$250.6 million revenue from aircraft sale. Up to 30 June 2017, Vietjet’s total assets reached US$1,112.1 million, a 50.8 percent increase, with owners’ equity reaching US$ 355.04 million, an increase of 130 per cent year on year.

As at 30 June 2017, Vietjet operates 30 A320 aircraft and 15 A321 aircraft on 73 domestic and international routes, an increase of 13 routes compared to that in 31 December 2016 and an equivalence of 37.7 per cent increase year on year. It is also a 110.6 per cent increase over the year’s target. Vietjet carried 8.27 million passengers, an increase of 22.4% year on year, on 49,151 flights with an average load factor of around 88 per cent; the technical reliability rate of 99.55% and on-time performance rate of 85.7%. Other index in operation safety, technical operations and ground operations were among the highest in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hong Kong Airlines launches direct flight to Los Angeles on 18 December 2017

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

Hong Kong Airlines launches its direct scheduled flight four times a week from Hong Kong to Los Angeles on 18 December 2017 using its newly-owned Airbus A350 aircraft which it will receive by end of August 2017. 

Los Angeles will be Hong Kong Airlines' second North American destination after Vancouver, to which it launched its inaugural direct flight on 30 June 2017.

On 18 December 2017, Hong Kong flight HX068 departs from Hong Kong for Los Angeles at 12.10 pm, arrives in Los Angeles at 8.55 am before leaving Los Angeles for Hong Kong at 10.45 am and touching down in Hong Kong at 6.20 pm under flight HX069 on 19 December 2017. Hong Kong Airlines will fly between Hong Kong and Los Angeles on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

On 16 January 2018, the four-times-a-week return flight will be operated on a daily basis and from 11 March 2018 onwards till 24 March 2018, the daily flight HX069 leaves Los Angeles for Hong Kong at 11.45 am and touches down in Hong Kong at 6.20 pm.