Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
IndiGo's A320 aircraft launches daily flight from Chennai to Kuwait on 15 October 2018. On this day, flight 6E1751 departs from Chennai for Kuwait at 1.05 am, lands in Kuwait at 4.10 am before leaving Kuwait for Chennai at 5.10 am and arriving in Chennai at 12.25 am on 16 October 2018 under flight 6E1752.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
In line with its Vision 2025 Multiple Hubs Strategy in Africa, Ethiopian Airlines is on track to launch Chadian Airlines, the new national airline of Chad, on 1 October 2018, and relaunch Zambia Airways on 1 January 2019.
Mr Temolde Gebremariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, commented that Chadian Airlines is Ethiopian Airlines' Central Africa subsidiary which will operate flights from N'djamena to Addis Ababa, Lome, Nairobi and other regional African destinations. Passengers of Chadian Airlines can connect to Ethiopian Airlines' international flights in Addis Ababa seamlessly.
Ethiopian Airlines owns a 49 per cent stake in Chadian Airlines while the stake balance is held by the Chad Government.
The relaunched Zambia Airways is a joint-venture with the state-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) of Zambia. While IDC owns a stake of 55 per cent in Zambia Airways, Ethiopian Airlines holds the balance of 45 per cent stake in the Zambian national flag carrier.
Zambia Airways will own a fleet of 12 aircraft. Initially, Embraer E195 and Bombardier Inc's C Series aircraft from Ethiopian Airlines will be selected and deployed on domestic and regional routes from Lusaka before commencing non-stop intercontinental flights to London, New York, Brussels, Rome, Dubai and Mumbai using Boeing aircraft. The inaugural flight on 1 January 2019 is domestic.
Chadian Airlines and Zambia Airways are not only the African airlines to be established by Ethiopian Airlines and local partners.
Ethiopian Airlines already owns Malawian Airlines and Asky Airlines of Togo in partnership with the respective Governments. It has a 49 per cent stake in Guinea Airlines and manages CEIBA Intercontinental Airlines of Equatorial Guinea. It is also in talks with the Zimbabwe Government to revive Air Zimbabwe, besides leasing aircraft to Congo Airways and cementing business ties with Air Cote d'Ivoire.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Congo Airways, the "Flying Leopard" and the national airline of the Democratic Republic of Congo, announced on 22 August 2018 that it has completed its inaugural return flight to Moanda in Central Congo on 17 August 2018 using its Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 aircraft.
The debut flight arrived in Moanda from Kinshasa at 4.45 pm on 17 August and returned to Kinshasa on 18 August 2018.
Congo Airways, owning a fleet of 2 Airbus A320-200, 2 Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 and 1 B737-800 aircraft, is formed on 15 August 2014 to succeed Lignes Aeriennes Congolaises / Congolese Airlines (formerly Air Zaire). It conducts its first domestic flight on 20 October 2015 and flies to seven domestic destinations in Congo as well as to Douala, the capital of Cameroon, and Johannesburg. On 11 July 2018 it is awarded the certificate for passing IOSA safety operations audit.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Myanmar National Airlines, which marks its 70th Anniversary of flight operations on 15 September 2018, launches its first scheduled passenger flight from Yangon for Gaya on 24 September 2018 (Monday).
Twice-weekly regular flights to Gaya from Yangon begin on 1 October 2018, operating on Mondays and Fridays.
From 20 October 2018, Myanmar National Airlines flies to Gaya on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The flight schedules for the above days are as follows:-
Flight UB7001 departs from Yangon for Gaya at 11 am, arrives in Gaya at 12.30 pm before leaving Gaya for Yangon at 1.30 pm and touching down in Yangon at 5 pm under flight UB7002.
Before 24 September, Myanmar National Airlines operates charter pilgrimage flights to Gaya using its ATR 72-600 aircraft.
Beside Gaya, Myanmar National Airlines plans to open a future route to Chennai from Yangon on a scheduled basis in response to a rising number of Indian tourists to Myanmar.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
New Gen Airways, the only scheduled international charter airline of Thailand, has opened new routes linking Don Mueang with Tongren and Hiroshima using its state-of-the-art B737-800 aircraft.
The first international route of Tongren Fenghuang Airport, Don Mueang - Tongren, was opened by New Gen Airways on 21 August 2018. It takes three hours by air to reach Tongren, Guizhou's third largest city, from Don Mueang.
With the addition of Tongren to its route network, New Gen Airways flies to 18 Chinese cities from Don Mueang including Baotou, Changsha, Dayong, Fuzhou, Guilin, Guiyang, Hefei, Huai'an, Huangshan, Jinan, Nanchang, Nanning, Quanzhou, Wenzhou, Wuxi, Xuzhou and Zhengzhou.
New Gen Airways operates charter flights to China from Don Mueang, Chiang Mai, Surat Thani, Krabi, Utapao and Phuket and domestic scheduled flights from Nakhon Ratchasima to Don Mueang, Phuket, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Krabi with a fleet of B737-400 and B737-800 aircraft. It launched its first international charter flight to Hiroshima, Japan, from Don Mueang on 11 August 2018.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
VietJet Air, the fastest-growing airline of Vietnam, is opening two new routes to Japan in December 2018 and January 2019. These new routes are Ho Chi Minh City - Osaka Kansai and Hanoi - Narita.
On 14 December 2018, Vietjet flight VJ828 departs from Ho Chi Minh City for Osaka Kansai at 1.40 am, arrives in Kansai at 8.30 am before taking off from Kansai for Ho Chi Minh City at 9.30 am and landing in Ho Chi Minh at 1.30 pm under flight VJ829.
On 11 January 2019, flight VJ932 takes off from Hanoi for Narita at 12.55 am, touches down in Narita at 8 am before leaving Narita for Hanoi at 9.30 am and touching down in Hanoi at 2 pm under flight VJ931.
VietJet Air operates services to Kansai and Narita daily. With these new flights, Vietjet operates 21 weekly flights to Japan including the Hanoi - Kansai route operational from 8 November 2018.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Air Niugini, the national airline of Papua New Guinea, opens Micronesia's first route to Asia on 1 September from Port Moresby using its B737-800 aircraft. It flies every Wednesday and Saturday from Port Moresby via Chuuk to Narita, Japan from 1 September 2018.
According to Air Niugini, its flight PX56 departs from Port Moresby for Narita via Chuuk at 12.35 pm, arrives in Chuuk at 3.35 pm before leaving Chuuk for Narita at 4.35 pm and touching down in Narita at 8.25 pm on 1 September 2018.
Air Niugini's outbound flight from Narita, PX57, leaves Narita for Chuuk at 9.35 pm on 1 September 2018, transits in Chuuk at 3.25 am before departing from Chuuk for Port Moresby at 4.25 am and arriving in Port Moresby at 7.25 am on 2 September 2018. There are convenient flight connections to Singapore, Hong Kong, Manila, Honiara and other Air Niugini's Pacific destinations including five flights a week to Manila from Port Moresby from 1 September 2018.
Chuuk is the largest city of the Federated States of Micronesia, an independent sovereign nation of atolls in the Pacific.
The other future destination of Air Niugini is Shanghai-Pudong, which the Papua New Guinean airline has yet to announce its flight schedules.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
According to the Times of India, ITB Asia 2018 airline exhibitor GoAir is authorized to launch its first international scheduled flight from Kannur, an under-construction airport of the State of Kerala, to Dammam, Saudi Arabia from 31 October 2018.
GoAir, that first started domestic flight on 4 November 2005 from Mumbai to Ahmedabad, is eligible to launch international flights from 2016 when it inducted its twentieth aircraft to its fleet in June 2016. Its current fleet consists of 18 Airbus A320s and 7 A320neos and operates flights from its hubs in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata and Kochi.
GoAir's other planned routes include Mumbai - Phuket, Mumbai - Male, Kochi - Doha and Kochi - Dammam. It is not known when GoAir will open these routes.
It is not known when Kannur International Airport, built in Mattanur and 25 km from Kannur, will allow commercial scheduled flights to land in the fourth-largest international airport after Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Calicut.
For up-to-date flight information on GoAir, visit www.goair.in.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
Shenzhen Airlines launches its first long-haul scheduled flight on 30 October 2018 using its A330 aircraft.
On 30 October 2018, Shenzhen Airlines flight ZH9067 departs from Shenzhen for London Heathrow at 2.10 pm, arrives in Heathrow at 7.40 pm before leaving Heathrow at 9.40 pm and touching down in Shenzhen at 5.40 pm on 31 October 2018 under flight ZH9068.
Flights depart on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays from Shenzhen for London Heathrow.
Shenzhen Airlines is selling round-trip tickets from 3500 Chinese Yuan (around 700 Singapore Dollars) on its web-site until they are sold out.
Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
/ KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals
According to the latest Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines ticketing schedules as of 17 August 2018, the Bhutanese national flag carrier launches regular scheduled flights linking Guwahati with Paro and Singapore from Paro from 29 September 2018 onwards with its A319 aircraft.
According to Drukair's ticketing web-site, Drukair first scheduled flight KB540 departs from Paro on 29 September 2018 for Singapore via Guwahati at 7.30 am, arrives in Guwahati at 7.55 am to pick up Singapore-bound Assam passengers, leaves Guwahati for Singapore at 8.35 am and touches down in Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 1 at 3.35 pm.
The first outbound scheduled flight from Singapore to Guwahati, KB541, takes off from Singapore on 30 September 2018 at 6.30 am, transits in Guwahati at 8.30 am local time before leaving Guwahati for Paro at 9.10 am and arriving in Paro at 10.30 am on the same day.
Drukair flies from Paro to Guwahati and Singapore on Saturdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 29 September to end of November 2018. From 1 December 2018, the airline has adjusted the flight timings to Singapore from Paro as follows:-
Flight KB540 departs from Paro for Guwahati at 8.05 am, arrives in Guwahati at 8.30 am local time before leaving Guwahati for Singapore at 9.10 am and touching down in Singapore at 4.10 pm. There are no changes to the outbound flights from Singapore to Guwahati and Paro. However, Drukair operates flights from December 2018 onwards to Guwahati and Singapore on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and leave for Guwahati and Paro on Thursdays and Sundays only.
With the introduction of the Paro-Guwahati-Singapore flights, Drukair has delisted the Paro-Kolkata-Singapore-Kolkata-Paro flights (KB500/KB501) from ticketing for the last days of KB500 and KB501 are on 26 and 27 September 2019 respectively. Drukair's Guwahati-Suvarnabhumi route will close and Guwahati-Singapore route will be the Assam airport's only international route while Changi Airport adds Guwahati as its latest international destination on its route network.
Customers can now book Drukair's flights to Guwahati and Paro from Singapore on Drukair's web-site and at its sales offices.
Customers who have booked Drukair's flights to Kolkata from Singapore and Guwahati from Bangkok on the affected routes and dates should contact Drukair sales offices in Singapore and Bangkok, and relevant Little India travel agents on refunds if they have not done so. The Singapore passenger sales office of Drukair Royal Bhutan Airlines is Drukasia.
Guwahati is the largest city of the State of Assam in northeast India bordering Bhutan that sells and exports the famous Assam tea and Assam silk and engages in petroleum manufacturing and export. It is known also as the City of Temples. Other than plenty of temples, it is home to India professional football team NorthEast United FC of Indian Super League, India's largest cricket stadium and national parks where tigers, gaurs, one-horn rhinoceros, Asian elephants and endangered birds can be seen and orchids bloom. Foxtail orchid is the state flower of Assam.
For updated flight information, visit Drukair at www.drukair.com.bt.
