China Airlines heads to London
On December 1, China Airlines will begin four-times weekly flights from Taipei to London’s Gatwick Airport. It is the only airline in Taiwan to offer this route.

The 13-hour flight will be serviced by the A350-900 XWB aircraft, which will be equipped with 32 premium business class, 31 premium economy class and 243 economy class seats.

Also from December 1, China Airlines will increase the frequency of services on the Taipei-Sydney route to twice daily, while the Taipei-Brisbane-Auckland flight will be upgraded to a daily service.

Hainan Airlines plans Brisbane-Shenzhen flights
Hainan Airlines will launch a twice-weekly Shenzhen-Brisbane from September 20, the airline’s second intercontinental flight from Shenzhen and its fifth direct flight to Australia and New Zealand.

Flight HU411 will depart on Wednesdays and Sundays from Shenzhen at 22.35 and arrive in Brisbane at 09.30 the following day. The return leg, HU412, will depart Brisbane on Mondays and Thursdays at 11.30, and arrive in Shenzhen 18.40 the same day. The route will utilise an Airbus A330 deluxe wide-body aircraft.

Tianjin Airlines takes off for Vladivostok
Tianjin Airlines has begun flights between Tianjin and Vladivostok, a major Pacific port city in Russia.

Flight GS7969 departs Tianjin on Mondays and Fridays at 23.55 and arrives in Vladivostok at 04.10 the following day, while flight GS7970 departs Vladivostok on Mondays and Fridays at 05.40, and arrives in Tianjin at 06.30 the following day.

The airline is also planning new air routes from Tianjin to London via Xi’an and from Chongqing to Melbourne later this year.

Route updates for JAL’s Heathrow, Bangkok service
Japan Airlines (JAL) has announced revisions to its flight frequency and fleet plans on certain international routes for fiscal year 2017, ending in March 31, 2018.

From October 29 to March 24, 2018, JL041 will depart Haneda at 02.45 and arrive in Heathrow at 06.25 the same day. The return leg will have flight JL042 depart Heathrow at 09.30 and arrive in Haneda at 06.25 the following day. This daily flight will be utilising a B787-8 aircraft.

From March 25, 2018 onwards, flights from Haneda to Heathrow will depart at 01.55 and land at 06.25 respectively. The return leg will see the plane depart Heathrow at 09.30, and arrive in Haneda at 05.15 the following day.

JAL is also increasing the flight frequency between Narita and Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport from October 29 to March 24, 2018. Utilising a B787-8 aircraft, the flight now operates daily.

JL717 will depart Narita at 12.40 and arrive in Bangkok at 18.00, while JL718 will depart Bangkok at 23.25 and arrive in Narita at 07.15 the next day.

Meanwhile, JAL will indefinitely suspend flights between Tokyo Narita and Seoul’s Incheon from March 25, 2018.

Fortune Wings Club, Virgin Australia launch frequent flyer partnership
Four member airlines of the Fortune Wings Club – HNA Group’s Hainan Airlines, Hong Kong Airlines, Capital Airlines and Tianjin Airlines – have begun their reciprocal frequent flyer arrangement with Velocity, the travel awards programme of Virgin Australia.

Members of the Fortune Wings Club can now accrue Fortune Wings status qualifying points and award points when flying Virgin Australia between and within Australia and New Zealand and Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan). Also, members of Virgin Australia’s frequent flyer programme can accrue Velocity points when using the airlines of the Fortune Wings Club.

Details on the award tickets redemption and reciprocal elite benefits will be announced later in August. Members of either programme will be able to redeem their points for award tickets on the other party’s flights, and elite members will enjoy a variety of privileges, such as priority check-in, additional free baggage allowance, lounge access and priority boarding.

Messe Berlin (Singapore) is anticipating the buyer programme to scale up at ITB Asia 2017, with 90 per cent of recommended buyers targeted to attend the 10th anniversary edition of the show this year.

There is an increase in the number of hotel groups participating in the programme this year, including names like Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group, Best Western Hotel Group, Meliá Hotels International, Resorts World Sentosa, WorldHotels and Pan Pacific Hotels Group.

The event is also seeing closer collaboration with key associations – including Malaysian Association for Tour & Travel Agents, Hong Kong Association of Travel Agents, Outbound Tour Operators Association of India and National Association of Independent Travel Agents – which helps to bring a fresh pool of buyers to the event.

“We want to continue this momentum by working with our partners to bring a fresh pool of influential buyers from across the region” said Katrina Leung, executive director of Messe Berlin (Singapore). “Working closely with our exhibitors this year has allowed us to increase the number of buyer programme partnerships and deep dive into each local market to identify key areas of growth and demand.”

In 2016, 895 buyers attended the show, leading to a 1:1 ratio between exhibitors and buyers whilst over 50 per cent of buyers signed deals with exhibitors post event. Some 43 per cent of attending buyers had purchasing power of US$500,000 to US$1 million while 85.7 per cent of attending buyers were direct decision makers.

For more information on ITB Asia 2017, visit www.itb-asia.com

The addition of Sambor Prei Kuk as Cambodia’s third and newest UNESCO World Heritage Site last Saturday is expected to drive tourism to the country’s less explored regions.

The site, a collection of 50 pre-Angkorian temples sitting between Phnom Penh and Siem Reap in Kampong Thom province, has till now either been “mostly ignored” or treated as a short add-on while transiting between the two cities, said Kimhean Pich, founder and CEO of Discover the Mekong.

With the new title, travel agents and tour operators are more likely to prioritise the attraction and tourism in the province, he continued.

Khiri Travel is one operator that has included the site in its tours, pushing Sambor as a stopover on land journeys between Siem Reap and the capital. The DMC has also developed a series of homestays and community-based ecotourism projects at nearby Isan Borei.

Miles Gravett, Khiri general manager, said: “With (upgraded) roads and this new recognition, more people will opt for the overland route, particularly in the green season when the Kampong Thom countryside is a sea of green rice fields and sugar palm trees, the iconic image of Cambodia’s heartland.”

The UNESCO status is expected to play a role in preserving the ancient site, said Chin Meankung, founder of Cambodian Experiences. “Hopefully, the temple will have enough funds (for preservation) and be a big boost to the local economy through tourism.”

Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts has unveiled an additional 2018 programme for its private jet experience, with its September 2017 journeys sold out and first two 2018 programmes selling fast.

The World of Adventures programme (October 19 – November 11, 2018) begins in Seattle and ends in Orlando, taking guests to Kyoto, Bali, Seychelles, Marrakech, Bogotá and the Galápagos Islands in between.

Itinerary highlights include exposure to samurai sword-fighting in Kyoto, a trek in Rwanda’s Volanoes National Park with a naturalist guide, a day in the Marrakech Atlas Mountains and a cruise through the Galápagos.

The first itinerary for next year (March 1-24, 2018) covers Hawaii, Bora Bora, Sydney, Bali, Chaing Mai/Chiang Rai, Taj Mahal, Dubai, Prague and London.

Named Timeless Encounters, guests will be offered adventures such as seaplane rides in Sydney, whitewater rafting in Bali and underwater exploration in Bora Bora.

The International Intrigue programme (September 14 – October 7, 2018) takes travellers from Seattle to London, with stops in Seattle, Kyoto, Hoi An, the Maldives, Serengeti, Marrakech, Budapest and St Petersburg.

Experiences range from cycling through the countryside around Hoi An to a hot air balloon ride across the Serengeti and a private tram ride along the Danube River.

Timeless Encounters and International Intrigue begin at US$135,000 (double occupancy), while World of Adventures is priced upwards of US$138,000 (double occupancy).

Each journey includes air travel aboard the Four Seasons Private Jet, ground transportation, planned excursions, all meals and beverages throughout the trip, and at Four Seasons accommodations. At two remote destinations part of the World of Adventures itinerary, guests will stay at accommodations selected by Four Seasons.

After being ousted from his post as chairman of Eva Air in a succession battle last month, Chang Kuo-wei announced his intentions to return to the aviation industry with his own full-service international airline StarLux.

Chang last week revealed that the “upscale international carrier”, which would have a mixed fleet of narrowbody and widebody aircraft, could start recruiting in September. Plans are for the airline to be headquartered in downtown Taipei and have its own maintenance department.

However, it remains to be seen if Chang will get approval to launch the venture. An article published to Focus Taiwan cited existing regulations that require any individual or company applying to operate civil aviation services in Taiwan to have been in the international transportation or trading sector for at least five years and generated revenue of over NT$6 billion (US$196.4 million) per year.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration of Taiwan will invite experts and business representatives for further discussion on the issue by the end of July.

RB Capital Group, the owner and developer of Park Hotel Farrer Park, has announced that the newly launched hotel will be put up for sale, owing to the interest received from multiple investors looking to access the Singapore hospitality market.

Opened in May 2017, the 20-storey hotel features 300 guestrooms and duplex lofts. The hotel is linked to 42 medical suites and is adjacent to an integrated medical facility which houses the Farrer Park Hospital. The property occupies a site in the Farrer Park area, and boasts direct connection to Farrer Park MRT station.

Park Hotel Farrer Park

The exclusive advisor of the sale, JLL Hotels & Hospitality Group’s managing director, Nihat Ercan, noted: “With the excitement of new brands coming into the market, the hotel is particularly attractive due to the vacant possession and ability of the incoming owner to brand the hotel of their choice. The Park Hotel Farrer Park is the first Singapore hotel to be offered to the market since the last comparable sale of the Grand Park Orchard and Westin Singapore in 2013 and presents a rare opportunity to own a significant asset in the tightly held Singapore market.”

RB Capital Group’s chief executive Kishin RK commented on the outlook for Singapore’s hotel industry: “Singapore boasts a consistently strong trading market which is poised for further growth off the back of major projects and partnerships, such as the addition of new Terminal 4 and Terminal 5, and global partnerships driven by the Singapore Tourism Board. Singapore is enjoying its best years of tourism statistics with 16.4 million visitors recorded in 2016 and excellent market-wide average occupancy levels of 84 per cent in 2016.”

Park Hotel Farrer Park is RB Capital’s third Singapore hotel. The group also owns the Holiday Inn Express Clarke Quay and the soon-to-open InterContinental Singapore Robertson Quay.

Dalian Wanda, China’s largest commercial real estate developer, will sell 76 hotels and majority of its 13 tourism complex projects to Tianjin-based rival Sunac China for RMB63.2 billion (US$9.3 billion).

Sunac China will take over 91 per cent equity and all existing loans of the 13 Wanda Cultural Tourism City projects, most of which are still in their planning stages, although Dalian Wanda will continue to plan, develop and manage the projects.

Visitors pose for photos at theme park in Nanchang Cultural Tourism City 

The equity transfer represents RMB29.6 billion, while the sale of the 76 hotels – including the Wanda Realm Beijing – is for RMB33.6 billion.

The deal comes less than a month since Dalian Wanda reportedly became one of several large overseas assets buyers probed by China’s banking regulatory commission.

Wanda’s billionaire owner Wang Jia Lin was quoted to have said that the deal would help trim debt for the recently delisted Dalian Wanda Commercial Properties, without giving a reason for the sale.

In an unusual development, the Wall Street Journal yesterday reported that Dalian Wanda had filed for a RMB29.6 billion loan to help fund Sunac’s purchase.

Japanese minimalist lifestyle brand Muji will open its first hotel on domestic grounds in Tokyo’s Ginza district come spring 2019.

Ryohin Keikaku, the company behind the Japanese retail giant, will be the main tenant in an upcoming retail and hotel complex developed jointly by Mitsui Fudosan and national newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun.

Concept art for the Ginza complex

The hotel will occupy the sixth to tenth floors of the building and sit above a Muji global flagship spanning the first basement to the sixth floor.

Ryohin Keikaku will provide the total concept and interior design including the supply of furniture and amenity goods while the rest of the designing and operation will be carried out by design firm UDS.

Construction of the tentatively named Muji Hotel has already begun last month.

Late last year, Shenzhen Investment too announced it was collaborating with Muji to bring the world’s first Muji “three-in-one” concept comprising a 79-room hotel, a 2,700m² retail store and 120-pax restaurant. The project is expected to open late this year in the Upperhills, in the central Futian district of Shenzhen.