TransAsia launches A330 flights on its Taipei-Singapore-Taipei route sectors from 1 January 2013

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to www.just4airlines.com

TransAsia Airways has announced that its first new Airbus A330-300 aircraft will be deployed on its Taipei-Singapore-Taipei route sectors with effect from 1 January 2013.

On 1 January, flight code GE887 departs from Taipei Taoyuan International Airport for Singapore at 6.55 pm and arrives in Changi International Airport at 11.10 pm. The first TransAsia A330-300 aircraft flight departs for Taoyuan from Changi at 12.55 am under flight code GE888 and touches down in Taoyuan at 5.30 am on 2 January 2013.

The return flights to Taoyuan are operated daily sometimes with A330 or A320 aircraft, subject to passenger load considerations. With the new flight schedules, TransAsia Airways branch office at Changi Airport is opened for booking at nights after normal office hours.

Limited updated TransAsia flight schedules are available at KUCINTA SETIA while stocks last. Readers can email to asianperu@gmail.com their addresses and the journalist will mail a free copy to the readers for their references.

ITE & MICE 2013 covers Hong Kong and China under one roof

Edited by : Gan Yung Chyan

                / KUCINTA SETIA

In 2011, the number of Hong Kong tourists to Singapore and Thailand were respectively 464,375 (an increase of 19.8%) and 386,139 (a rise of 33.5%). Hong Kong incurred US$19.1 billion (+9.6%) on international tourism expenditure, and has a per capita spending per even higher than Japan! Click here to see the details.

Respectively, 20% and 73% of 12,000 buyers and trade visitors of ITE & MICE 2012  in the two trade days came from China and Hong Kong, with over 5700 from travel agents and from 3300 corporations and MICE industry. Therefore ITE & MICE is the effective platform covering under the same roof in these two significant source markets. The next ITE & MICE will be held from 13 to 16 June 2013 at Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Besides meeting visitors at booths, the Travel Expo's password-enabled online system allows exhibitors and buyers to make pre-appointments weeks before opening, and exhibitors can join the onsite Business Matching. ITE also assist exhibitors to hold seminars, including publishing on the Expo's trade websites for online pre-registrations by trade visitors.

ITE & MICE 2012 drew from 54 countries and regions worldwide 665 international exhibitors, 85% of which came from abroad. There were 30 official pavilions / participations including those ASEAN countries like Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia (Sabah, Penang & Malaysia Tourism Health Council), the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, as well as China, Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Bhutan, Mongolia and Macau.

The Expo ITE & MICE highlights trendy themes like Wellness & Medical Tourism, Cruise, Honeymooning & Overseas Wedding, Study Tours, and Travel Photography etc.

The two public days in 2012 draw some 70,000 quality visitors. Surveys found over 70 % of them prefer travelling in FIT; 18% made 5 or more overnight leisure trips in the past twelve months; and over 20% did or showed interest in booking tours and purchasing travel products.

ITE & MICE is supported by China National Tourism Administration, Hong Kong Tourism Board, Macau Government Tourist Office, and the Travel Industry Council of Hong Kong. 

Source : TKS Exhibition Services Ltd, Hong Kong

Note : As the representative media of Singapore, Kucinta Setia has covered the travel and tourism products and news of ITE & MICE during the last three years in the online publication Sayacinta - Airpost and hopes to report on ITE & MICE again in the next two years. Selected pictures from ITE & MICE in those years will be re-featured soon.

AirAsia launches connecting flights to Shanghai-Pudong from Singapore on 19 February 2013

Reported by : Gan Yung Chyan
                     / KUCINTA SETIA
Also available at asiaperu.multiply.com till 30 November 2012

At least one week since the launch of budget Phuket-Shanghai flights by Juneyao Airlines, another airline has brought the Shanghai budget skies closer to home. Effective 19 February 2013, AirAsia and its long-haul affliate AirAsia X will launch direct connecting flights to Shanghai-Pudong via Kuala Lumpur International Airport-Low-Cost Carrier Terminal (KLIA-LCCT).

According to AirAsia's web-site, the code-sharing flight from Singapore to Pudong begins at 1.25 pm with flight code AK1810 and arrives in Shanghai-Pudong under AirAsia X flight code D7330 at 12.45 am on 20 February 2013 after at least an-hour transfer at LCCT.

AirAsia X departs from Shanghai-Pudong at 1.45 am on 20 February 2013 and returns to Singapore via a transfer at LCCT in a code-sharing arrangement with AirAsia under D7331/AK1809 at 12.45 pm.

All return flights are on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays using A320 and A330/A340 aircrafts.

Currently, AirAsia X has connecting or code-sharing flights to Singapore from Chengdu, Beijing and Hangzhou in China via KLIA-LCCT. They are not considered as officially-direct as AirAsia X has not been given the light to launch direct scheduled flights to Singapore independently. It also has dozens or more connecting flights to Singapore from other parts of Asia-Pacific such as Bandar Seri Begawan, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, Gold Coast and Melbourne in the same arrangement with AirAsia. All flights do not involve any clearance at Malaysian Immigrations and Customs at KLIA-LCCT.

Sayacinta - airpost hopes that Scoot will be allowed to launch true-yellow direct low-cost long-haul flights from Singapore to Shanghai, Beijing, Dubai, Tokyo, Shizuoka and Seoul-Incheon using one type of aircraft in the years ahead.

Tiger's daily services to Surabaya begin on 4 January 2013

Reported by : Gan Yung Chyan

                    / KUCINTA SETIA

Distributed to www.just4airlines.com

 

Passengers looking for a cheap morning flight to Surabaya from Singapore need look no further as Tiger Airways is launching its first daily flight to Surabaya through its Indonesian affliate Mandala on 4 January 2013.

On 4 January, flight code RI880 departs from Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 10.25 am after flight code RI881 arrives in Singapore from Surabaya at 9.45 am. The first Mandala's Surabaya-Singapore flight takes place at 6.20 am. RI881 touches down in Surabaya at 11.50 am.

The Surabaya-Singapore-Surabaya flights are operated by Mandala using Tiger Airways' A320 aircraft.

Mandala's Surabaya flights to and from Singapore to Surabaya are the only budget morning flights for passengers departing from Changi Airport. All other Surabaya flights take off in the afternoons. Lion Air, SilkAir, China Airlines and Valuair fly to Surabaya from Singapore currently.

Airline GSA introduces global railway ticketing services

Reported by : Gan Yung Chyan
                   / KUCINTA SETIA

Deks Air, the General Sales Agent (GSA) of Air Niugini, Kenya Airways, Kuwait Airways, Royal Jordanian Airlines and Vietnam Airlines in Singapore, has joined hands with major rail network operators like German rail network operator DB Bahn, Japanese Shinkansen, BritRail, American Amtrak  and ACP Rail International to introduce railway passes, packages and discounts for the budget traveller.

From now on, budget travellers flying to Europe, Australia, Japan and the United States can take advantage of railway passes offered by Deks Air to travel domestically or across borders from major cities of the world like Tokyo, Sydney, Brisbane, Frankfurt, Berlin and London without booking their own tickets through Internet at home.

A comprehensive selection of railway routes and itineraries offered by the railway partners of Deks Air is featured in Deks Air's newest publication entitled Deks Air Global Rail Network available at Deks Air's office at #03-01 Beach Centre, Singapore.

Enjoy fabulous discounts on railway travel in the United Kingdom, Germany, across Europe and obtain rail passes of Australia, Japan and the United States before flying over to these countries right in Singapore.
The railway ticketing services of Deks Air are not available at its branches in Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong.

The shift of ticketing services from airline ticketing to railway ticketing is a signal to the travel trade that many travellers in Singapore have indeed chosen to book their air tickets online and they lack the knowledge of railway ticketing for cross-border or intercity overseas travels in their itineraries.

For further information on overseas railway services, email Deks Air at rail@deksair.com.sg.

Low-cost Phuket-Shanghai flights begin on 10 November 2012

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan

                 / KUCINTA SETIA

 

 

Passengers on low-cost airlines from Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Langkawi and Singapore can now connect to Shanghai budget flights in Phuket with ease as low-cost Phuket-Shanghai direct flights begin on 10 November 2012.

On 10 November 2012, Juneyao Airlines, Shanghai's second budget carrier, launched its first Airbus A320 Phuket-outbound flight to Shanghai Pudong International Airport from Phuket International Airport Terminal 2 at 3.45 am under flight code HO1312. HO1312 arrived in Pudong at 8.55 am.

Juneyao Airlines' Airbus A320 under flight code HO1311 first flew to Phuket International Airport Terminal 2 from Pudong at 10.35 pm on 9 November 2012 and arrived in Phuket at 2.45 am on 10 November 2012.

The Pudong-Phuket budget flights take place four times a week, on Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays and Wednesdays while Phuket-Pudong flights take off on Saturdays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

The Wednesday Pudong-Phuket flights of Juneyao Airlines follow the Friday schedule while the Thursday Phuket-Pudong flights follow the Saturday schedule.

On Mondays and Saturdays, HO1311 departs from Shanghai Pudong at 8.35 pm, arrives in Phuket at 12.45 am, takes off for Pudong on Tuesdays and Sundays at 1.45 am and touches down in Pudong at 7.15 am.

Phuket is Juneyao Airlines' first Southeast Asian scheduled destination. It plans to introduce new flights to other Southeast Asian cities in the next few years such as Singapore, Manila and Kuala Lumpur depending on market demand. Currently, its other international destinations include Hong Kong, Macau and Naha, Okinawa.

Juneyao Airlines is not the only Shanghai private airline to fly to Thailand. In July 2012, Spring Airlines, China's first low-cost airline, started regular scheduled flights from Shanghai to Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok. For passengers, Juneyao Airlines' new Phuket flights are good news as overall travel expenses to Shanghai via Phuket are lower than connecting via Suvarnabhumi.

Lao Airlines now flies four times a week to Singapore, introduces new flights to Guangzhou, Danang and Seoul in November and December 2012

Reported by : Gan Yung Chyan

                     / KUCINTA SETIA
Published in www.just4airlines.com

Lao Airlines has announced its latest new flight schedules through its inflight magazine Champa Holidays.

Lao Airlines flies four times a week from Vientiane to Singapore with effect from today, 28 October 2012, which marks the beginning of its winter schedule. It is also further expanding its scheduled flight network by launching new scheduled flights to Guangzhou in China, Danang in Vietnam, Seoul-Incheon, Busan in South Korea and continues charter flights to Tokyo in Japan during the winter season.

Lao Airlines flies from Vientiane to Singapore and returns to Vientiane on Sundays, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the following timings : Airbus A320 under flight code QV535 departs from Vientiane for Singapore at 3.40 pm, touches down in Singapore at 7.40 pm, takes off for Vientiane at 8.40 pm and arrives in Vientiane at 10.40 pm.

Besides the new frequency flight to Singapore, Lao Airlines is further expanding its scheduled route network by launching new flights to Guangzhou, Danang and Seoul in November and December 2012.

Lao Airlines' first flight to Guangzhou takes place on 24 November 2012 at 1.10 pm under flight code QV881, which arrives in Guangzhou at 4.10 pm and leaves for Vientiane at 5.10 pm, touching down in Vientiane at 6.10 pm under QV882. Flights are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Flights to Danang which were previously operated on a charter basis from Vientiane via Savannakhet in April 2012 will be operated on a regular scheduled basis from 4 December 2012 via Savannakhet and Pakse. On that day, Lao Airlines' ATR72 aircraft under flight code QV211 departs from Vientiane at 7 am, transits in Savannakhet and Pakse at 8,40 am, 9.50 am before arriving in Danang at 10.40 am. The return leg of the journey takes place at 11.40 am, transits in Pakse, Savannakhet at 12.30 pm and 1.40 pm before touching down in Vientiane at 3.20 pm.

Lao Airlines becomes the latest Indochinese airline to serve Seoul-Incheon International Airport when its first flight (QV911) departs for Seoul-Incheon at 11 am, arriving in Seoul-Incheon at 6 pm before embarking on the return journey at 7 pm, arriving in Vientiane at 10 pm on 23 November 2012.

Flights to Busan will begin on 30 December 2012 while four weekly charter flights to Tokyo which started on 25 April 2012 will continue throughout the winter season.

The new flight frequencies are operated due to increasing demand for business traffic to Vientiane from Singapore, China, South Korea and Japan.

In this updated route map, Lao Airlines in the long run plans to launch new flights to Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Denpasar, Osaka, Fukuoka, Manila and Varanasi in order to cater to the growing interest in travel to Laos.

SWISS begins non-stop direct flights from Zurich to Singapore on 12 May 2013

Reported by : Gan Yung Chyan

                     / KUCINTA SETIA

 

Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) begins non-stop direct daily scheduled flights from Zurich to Singapore from 12 May 2013. On that day, flight code LX178 departs from Zurich at 10.45 pm for Singapore and touches down in Singapore Changi Airport at 5.10 am on 13 May 2013. At 11.05 pm on 13 May, flight code LX179 takes off for Zurich at 11.05 pm and arrives in Zurich at 6.10 am Swiss time on 14 May 2013.

Cebu Pacific Air commences flights between Iloilo and Singapore from 9 November 2012

Reported by : Gan Yung Chyan
                     / KUCINTA SETIA
Published in www.just4airlines.com

Cebu Pacific Air is further enhancing direct transportation links between the Philippines and Singapore by commencing scheduled flights between Iloilo and Singapore from 9 November 2012.

The first-ever Iloilo-Singapore scheduled flight takes off under Cebu Pacific flight code 5J255 at 10.25 pm on 9 November 2012 and arrives at Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 1.55 am on 10 November 2012 for the inaugural Singapore-Iloilo commercial flight to depart Terminal 2 under flight code 5J256 at 2.40 am, touching down in Iloilo International Airport at 6.10 am.

The Iloilo international flight to Singapore follows Hong Kong which will be linked with another commercial scheduled Iloilo Cebu Pacific flight one day earlier.

Iloilo International Airport is the fifth international gateway to the Philippines after Manila, Cebu, Clark and Davao and it was recently unveiled as the second biggest international airport in the country which will also accept cargo flights from Panay, Hong Kong and Japan in the near future.

Jetstar flies direct from Singapore to Osaka from 1 November 2012

Reported by : Gan Yung Chyan
                     / KUCINTA SETIA
Published in www.just4airlines.com


Beginning 1 November 2012, Jetstar Airways in cooperation with Jetstar Asia Airways flies directly from Singapore to Osaka, the city famous for its castle and Shinsaibashi shopping street, among other attractions and exciting food cultures.

Onboard Jetstar's Airbus A330 flights to Osaka, passengers can experience Business Class comfort, which comes complete with an entire host of privileges, such as 30kg luggage allowance, complimentary meals and drinks and a comfortable leather seat with a 38-inch seat pitch.

The direct flight lands early in Osaka, giving passengers a full day to explore the city or transfer to flights of Jetstar Japan's domestic network, which includes Naha (capital of Okinawa), Fukuoka, Tokyo-Narita and Sapporo.

The thrice-weekly service increases to four times a week from mid-December. Currently, Jetstar Asia Airways flies up to three times daily to Osaka via Taipei or Manila.

The expansion of Jetstar flights to Japan has nevertheless resulted in the suspension of flights to Guilin from Singapore but more flights to Manila, Osaka, Phnom Penh and Yangon have been introduced in recent months.

Jetstar Airways and Jetstar Asia Airways have recently been voted as the top Low-Cost Airline Australia/Pacific at the 2012 Skytrax Awards and are two of the Global Top 10 Low-Cost Airlines.