Scoot records the most number of delayed flights up to more than 15 hours in June 2015

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

Scoot has recorded the most number of delayed flights up to more than 15 hours three times in June 2015. The return Hong Kong flight delayed more than 24 hours due to a technical glitch took place on 19 June and the outbound flight to Perth on 20 June was delayed to 21 June today. 

Scoot in its Facebook announcement states its B787 Dreamliner flight TZ8 to Perth was originally scheduled to depart from Singapore at 12.10 pm on 20 June. It  was delayed at Changi Airport due to a technical issue and they regret that the delay has inconvenienced their passengers.

Safety remains Scoot's top priority, as their engineers are fixing the issue.

The new provisional schedule (estimated) is as follows:

Dreamliner flight TZ8 departs from Singapore to Perth at 9.50 am and arrives in Perth at 2.45 pm local time.

Dreamliner flight TZ7 departs from Perth for Singapore at 3.45 pm and touches down in Singapore tonight at 8.55 pm.

Although Scoot promised all affected passengers  will be notified via email and SMS, passengers should also be notified via telephone calls if any did not have mobile phones. 

Scoot should consider reducing or avoiding sales of fluctuating fares in order to cover exorbitant costs of maintaining its Dreamliner fleet if the Dreamliners continued to experience technical glitches. 

Alternatively, consider the Airbus A350-900 aircraft which has not reported technical glitches since its inception by Qatar Airways in February this year.

Myanma Airways to resume flights to Singapore under the name Myanmar National Airlines in August 2015

Report contrbuted by : Chai Peng Kong
Original Source : Kyaw Hsu Mon, The Irrawaddy
Edited by : Gan Yung Chyan
                 / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals

Myanmar’s national flag carrier Myanmar National Airlines (MNA) announced on 16 June 2015 in a press statement that it will offer direct flights from Yangon to Singapore beginning in August 2015. Four other cities in the Asia Pacific region will join its international network in early 2016.

Coinciding with this week’s induction of one of 10 new aircraft into its fleet, MNA said the new planes consisting of six Boeing B737-800 and four B737 Max aircraft will link the company’s 26 domestic destinations with an expanding international network.

“With these beautiful, leading-edge aircraft we will create a premier airline that is the undisputed leader in the country, the rival of others in the region and that shares the spirit of Myanmar with the world,” MNA CEO Than Tun said in the statement.

In 2014, MNA secured six Boeing 737-800s and four 737 Max aircraft in a US$960 million deal with GE Civil Aviation Services, the largest commercial deal between the United States and Myanmar in decades.

MNA, formerly called Myanma Airways, was incorporated in 2014 as Myanmar's sole flag carrier and was authorized to operate both domestic and international routes. The airline currently has the largest domestic network.

The new international route to Singapore will bring MNA into competition with two other local carriers serving Singapore. Myanmar Airways International (MAI), owned by KBZ Chairman Aung Ko Win, offers seven international destinations including Singapore, and Golden Myanmar Airlines, owned by CB Bank Chairman Khin Maung Aye, that serves Singapore and Chiang Mai.

MNA will focus on safety and service to keep up in the market as it becomes more saturated.

Myanmar National Airlines was founded under the name of Union of Burma Airways in 1948. Initially offering only domestic routes, it later expanded its network to include Dhaka, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Kathmandu, Don Mueang and Singapore, but those routes were suspended in the early 1990s when it was known as Myanma Airways.

EVA Air operates 11 times weekly between Singapore and Taipei Taoyuan from 1 July 2015

Report by : Gan Yung Chyan

                  / KUCINTA SETIA

Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals

EVA Air, which has been operating daily flights between Singapore and Taipei Taoyuan International Airport for more than twenty years, will operate 11 scheduled flights per week between Singapore and Taoyuan from 1 July 2015. The overall increase in the airline's flight frequency is due to the official inauguration of its seventh Hello Kitty Jet flight on the route on 21 June 2015 following the launch of Eva Air's long-haul flight service between Taipei and Houston on 19 June 2015 using the same aircraft.

Flights of the seventh Hello Kitty Jet using the B777-300ER aircraft on the Singapore route between 21 June and end of June take place on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays while the additional Hello Kitty Jet return flight on Tuesdays takes off on 1 July 2015.

From 1 July 2015, EVA Air Hello Kitty Jet flight BR216 departs from Taoyuan at 9.25 am, arrives in Singapore at 1.50 pm and leaves Singapore for Taoyuan at 3.10 pm and touches down in Taoyuan at 8 pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays under BR215.

The new flight schedules support the current EVA Air non-Hello Kitty Jet daily flight schedule between Singapore and Taipei under flight codes BR226 and BR225. BR225 leaves for Singapore from Taoyuan at 7.40 am, arrives in Singapore at 12.05 pm before leaving Singapore at 1.10 pm and touching down in Taoyuan at 5.40 pm under BR226.

The Boeing 777-300ER aircraft donning the Hello Kitty Jet livery features the latest Panasonic eX3 inflight entertainment system, Sky Wi-Fi access and the Global Communication Suite which offers passengers a SMS roaming service to send and receive short messages on their personal mobile phones.

EVA Air first introduced the Hello Kitty Jet on charter flights between Singapore and Taoyuan in early 2015. The aircraft was welcome officially for a media preview on 15 June 2015 to announce the new summer flight schedules of the airline. Singapore Changi Airport is EVA Air's first and only Southeast Asian airport to serve a Hello Kitty Jet on a permanent scheduled basis until further notice.

The new EVA Hello Kitty Jet that will be deployed on EVA's new route between Taoyuan and Houston, USA, on 19 June makes connectivity for travellers between Singapore and Houston a convenient one from 21 June. EVA Air currently offers 55 weekly flights from Taipei Taoyuan to North America. With the introduction of Houston, Singapore passengers now have more choices traveling to North America, by just one easy stop at Taoyuan.

With the additions of Houston and Singapore, EVA Air's Hello Kitty Jet variants will fly from Taoyuan to more than 20 cities including airports in Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, China, Guam and Paris.

Each Hello Kitty aircraft comes fully equipped with over 100 in-flight service items featuring Hello Kitty including limited-edition duty free products, Hello Kitty shaped food, thematic pillows and even restroom amenities in accordance with the theme.

HK Express launches daily flights to Don Mueang from 20 July 2015

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

HK Express launches daily flights from Hong Kong to Don Mueang from 20 July 2015 and returns to Hong Kong from Don Mueang on the following days.

On 20 July 2015, flight UO322 departs from Hong Kong at 9.50 pm, arrives in Don Mueang at 11.45 pm before taking off for Hong Kong on 21 July at 3.15 am and touching down in Hong Kong at 7.05 am under UO325.

Flights operated by its Airbus A320 aircraft are subject to regulatory approval.

HK Express launches weekly charter flight to Magong from Hong Kong on 15 June 2015

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

At Booth M112 of ITE & MICE Hong Kong 2015, Hong Kong's low-fare airline HK Express, announces its inaugural direct charter flight from Hong Kong to Magong, the harbour city on Penghu Island of Taiwan, on 15 June 2015 (Monday).

The charter flight operates every Monday with flight UO2177 departing from Hong Kong at 2.25 pm, arriving in Magong at 5.50 pm before departing from Magong at 7.40 pm and touching down in Hong Kong at 9 pm under UO2178.

HK Express first commenced scheduled flight operations from Hong Kong to five cities including Taichung, Chiang Mai, Phuket, Kota Kinabalu and Kunming on 27 October 2013 focusing on safety, low fares and best-in-class on-time performance.

According to independent flight statistic monitoring web-site flightstats.com, HK Express is the best performing Hong Kong-based airline in terms of on-time performance since its launch in 2013. The airline recorded an on-time performance rate of 85.1 per cent in 2014.

Besides Magong, HK Express is commencing direct flights to Jeju on 27 June 2015 and to Siem Reap on 1 September 2015.

HK Express offers special deals for flights to its destinations at its web-site every week.

Information about Magong

The city name Magong is derived from the earliest temple of Taiwan dedicated to the goddess Matsu which is located in Magong. Magong is therefore also known as "Magong Ao" (馬宮澳 or originally, 媽宮澳), or "Matsu Palace Seaport". The first character of the name was changed from "mother" (媽, mā) to "horse" (馬, mǎ) in 1920 under Japanese rule. Known as Mako  in Japanese, the area was a major base for the Imperial Japanese Navy and embarkation point for the invasion of the Philippines.

Ethiopian Airlines now operates nine times weekly to Hong Kong and supports charity work

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

Ethiopian Airlines now operates nine times weekly to Hong Kong from Addis Ababa using one of its Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. These include six times a week to Tokyo-Narita via Hong Kong and three times a week to Incheon-Seoul via Hong Kong.

However, Ethiopian Airlines clarifies that it has no fifth-freedom rights to pick up passengers bounding for Tokyo-Narita from Hong Kong. Passengers flying to Narita need to book one-way Addis Ababa-Narita direct flight ticket on its web-site and its sales offices.

The flight schedules that started since 22 April 2015 will continue through July 2015 to October 2015.

Flight ET609 departs from Hong Kong to Addis Ababa at 12.35 am, arrives in Addis Ababa at 6.35 am on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays before it takes off on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 10.20 pm from Addis Ababa and arrives in Hong Kong at 1.15 pm on the next day under ET608.

Flight ET673 departs from Hong Kong to Addis Ababa at 1.35 am, arrives in Addis Ababa at 7.35 am on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays before it takes off on the same days at 10.15 pm from Addis Ababa and arrives in Hong Kong at 1.15 pm on the next day under ET672.

Ethiopian Airlines operates flights between Hong Kong and Incheon-Seoul on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Ethiopian Airlines. first established on 21 December 1945 initially with DC-3/C-47 aircraft, now provides onward connections to more than 50 African destinations from Hong Kong, Suvarnabhumi, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Tokyo, Incheon-Seoul via Addis Ababa. The airline will keep the press informed on the re-scheduled resumption date of its Singapore flight service.

To celebrate Ethiopian Airlines' once-again participation in ITE & MICE 2015, Ethiopian Airlines at Booth T110 has offered 30 per cent discount on flights ET672 and ET673 with connections to Cape Town, Johannesburg and Gaborone as low as 2040 Hong Kong Dollars.

Ethiopian Airlines also announces that it is organizing a travel agency and media familiarization tour to Ethiopia in September 2015 and January 2016 with the aim to promote and enhance public awareness of Ethiopia as the country with the most diversified traditional festivals in East Africa. Famous festivals include Ethiopian Christmas (Genna) on 7 January, Epiphany (Timket) on 19 January, Ethiopian New Year known as Enkutatash on 11 September and Finding of the True Cross (Meskel) on 27 September.

In sponsorship for Orbis Hong Kong's participation in the 2015 Great Ethiopian Run, Ethiopian Airlines as the official airline will bring Hong Kong runners who may be interested to compete in the event on 22 November to Addis Ababa, the world's third highest capital located at nearly 10,000 feet above sea level, where the annual Great Ethiopian Run takes place.

Participants of the Orbis team are urged to support Orbis's commitment to eliminating blinding trachoma and other eye diseases in Ethiopia by raising a minimum donation of 10,000 Hong Kong Dollars, in addition to the necessary travel costs estimated to be 22,000 Hong Kong Dollars. For further information about the Great Ethiopian Run, visit www.ethiopianrun.org .

For further updates and travel promotions of Ethiopian Airlines, contact Ethiopian Airlines' worldwides sales offices or Pacific Air (HK) Limited, Ethiopian Airlines' GSA in Hong Kong at hkgcto@ethiopianairlines.com, hkgres@ethiopianairlines.com, sandy.cheung@pacificair.com.hk or andi.cheung@pacificair.com.hk. Address : Unit 1606, 16/F New East Ocean Center, 9 Science Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, Hong Kong.

ITE & MICE Hong Kong 2015 attracts new exhibitors

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

ITE & MICE Hong Kong 2015, which began on 11 June 2015 and ended on 14 June, features some 600 international exhibitors from 50 countries and regions and highlight various trendy travel themes in Halls 1A to 1E of the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre.

Repeating official pavilions, such as Finland, Indonesia, Mexico, Japan and in particular Okinawa, Sabah of Malaysia, Thailand and Zagreb of Croatia etc, are taking substantial expansions, with Japan the largest of which is doubling its participation scale. 

There are new official tourism exhibitors from Tunisia, Ireland, Spain and new travel agent exhibitors from Lithuania from Europe Baltic region, Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan from Central Asia.

Unicorn Travel (HK) Limited, a Hong Kong-based outbound travel agent representing Samoa from South Pacific, claims that long-haul direct flights to Apia, Samoa from Hong Kong and Beijing may begin by late 2015 or 2016 using an Airbus A340 aircraft. Flights are pending regulatory approval and the actual airline operating the route has not been confirmed.

Among the airline exhibitors, Uniair, United Airlines and Vanilla Air are exhibiting at ITE & MICE for the first time. They only distribute brochures. 

Both Uniair and United Airlines distribute brochures under the respective Taiwan and American tourism board booths. Uniair has sales agreements with several Hong Kong-based travel agents.

Vanilla Air distributes Hong Kong inaugural flight stickers and company profile sheets under the Go!Japan Hong Kong-based travel magazine booth. From 13 June to 14 June, it is giving out free Narita flight tickets in the two-days' Go! Japan game-and-lucky draws.

Repeated airline exhibitors include Air Seychelles, Ethiopian Airlines, HK Express, MIAT Mongolian Airlines and Vietnam Airlines.

Air Seychelles under the Seychelles Tourism Board Booth at Booth S109 distributed hardcopies of Silhouette and year 2015 desktop calendars.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines at Booth Q110 distributed Timetables, Mongolia guide, luggage tags, company magazines marking the 60th Anniversary of Mongolian civil aviation and other MIAT collateral along with Juulchin Tourism Mongolian maps at ITE & MICE 2015. 

Vietnam Airlines unveiled its modified livery and logo on its B787-900 Dreamliner and Airbus A350-900 long-range aircraft and the services in their related Business Classes and Premium Economy Classes to Hong Kong by distributing related brochures at the event. It will also promote its new image and livery at the ITB Asia 2015 to be held in October in Singapore.

News on Ethiopian Airlines and HK Express at ITE & MICE 2015 will follow.

The next edition of ITE & MICE Hong Kong will take place from 16 to 19 June 2016 at the same venue. 

VietJet Air begins maiden flight from Ho Chi Minh City to Incheon - Seoul on 7 November 2015

News Contributed by : Chai Peng Kong

Picture and News Edited by : Gan Yung Chyan

                                              / KUCINTA SETIA

Distributed to All Press & Travel Professionals

VietJet Air begins its maiden scheduled service between Ho Chi Minh City and Incheon - Seoul on 7 November 2015. The inaugural flight departs from Ho Chi Minh City at 12.15 am (local time) and arrives in Incheon International Airport at 7.25 am on 7 November 2015. The return flight takes off from Incheon International Airport at 11:20 am and arrives in Ho Chi Minh City at 2.50 pm.

With this new route, VietJet Air operates daily flights connecting both Incheon - Seoul to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from November, where passengers can find it easy to fly to other Vietnam tourist-attraction destinations such as Danang, Nha Trang and Phu Quoc with the most affordable prices.

Visit www.vietjetair.com for more information.

Win free flight tickets from Singapore Airlines and SilkAir before 31 July 2015

Press Release by : Singapore Airlines Limited
Pictures and News Edited by : Gan Yung Chyan
                                               / KUCINTA SETIA
Distributed to Everyone

Singapore Airlines and SilkAir are marking Singapore's Golden Jubilee with a lucky draw where 50 customers will win flight tickets.

From 18 May to 31 July 2015, customers who book Singapore Airlines or SilkAir flights and travel within the same period will stand a chance to win an Economy Class ticket to any Southeast Asian destination in the Singapore Airlines and SilkAir network.

To participate in the draw, please visit www.SQMIsg50draw.com and complete the form with the following information (Name as per passport, Identification number, Contact Number, Email Address and Ticket number). The draw is open to Singapore citizens and permanent residents aged 18 years and above for all commercial bookings.

The prize ticket will include airfare and fuel surcharges while winners will undertake all excess baggage charges, airport taxes and other additional charges. The names of the winners will be announced in TODAY newspaper and Singapore Airlines and SilkAir’s Facebook pages before 31 August 2015. Prize winners will also be notified by email.

For full terms and conditions, please visit www.SQMIsg50draw.com .

Scoot flies six times a week to Osaka via Don Mueang and Kaohsiung from 8 July 2015

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

The Japanese and Taiwanese civil aviation authorities have approved Scoot, Singapore's long-haul budget airline, to operate scheduled flights from Singapore to Osaka via Don Mueang and Kaohsiung six times a week from 8 July 2015.

Scoot's flights to Osaka via Don Mueang take place on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays while its flights to Osaka via Kaohsiung take off on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. These flights are operated by Scoot's all-new B787-900 Dreamliner aircraft.

The first Scoot's flight to Osaka routes via Don Mueang on 8 July 2015 (Wednesday) when flight TZ298 departs from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 9.05 am, transits in Don Mueang at 10.10 am before departing for Osaka at 11.30 am and touching down in Osaka at 6.50 pm.

The first Scoot's outbound flight from Osaka leaves the airport at 8.25 pm on 8 July, transits in Don Mueang at 12.05 pm before taking off for the sky at 1.15 pm and returning to Singapore at 4.40 am on 9 July 2015 under flight TZ297.

The second Scoot's flight to Osaka routes via Kaohsiung on 9 July 2015 when flight TZ288 departs from Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 6.15 am, transits in Kaohsiung at 10.25 am before departing for Osaka at 11.35 am and touching down in Osaka at 3.15 pm.

The second Scoot's outbound flight from Osaka leaves the airport at 4.15 pm on 9 July, transits in Don Mueang at 6.55 pm before departing for Singapore at 8.05 pm and arriving in Singapore at 12.25 am on 10 July 2015 under flight TZ287.

The Japanese and Taiwanese civil aviation authorities have not yet approved Scoot's plans to operate flights to Sapporo via Don Mueang on 8 July 2015 under flight TZ298 on the Singapore - Don Mueang - Sapporo routes and flight TZ297 on the routes vice versa. Scoot will keep the media advised on the actual flight schedules of these routes.

Scoot is selling fares to Osaka via Don Mueang from 99 Singapore Dollars one way and to Osaka via Kaohsiung one way from 228 Singapore Dollars. However, these prices are not consistent.

Scoot is the only airline that most frequently sells tickets at fluctuating prices like a stock exchange with intermittent short-lived sale promotions on Tuesdays and Fridays although these prices hit its pocket a lot as it now manages a fleet of 3 B787-900 Dreamliner widebodies with additional orders for 7 more B787-900 and 10 B787-800 jets. Its fleet of B777-200ER aircraft are being taken over by NokScoot. 

Customers will find it difficult to pinpont at the date with the cheapest Scoot fares, if they intended to book tickets nearer to or eight months away from their desired departure dates, subject to changes in their itinerary plans.