Qatar Airways took top honours as the world’s best airline in the 2017 Skytrax World Airline Awards, beating last year’s winner, Emirates, and perennial favourite Singapore Airlines.

The Doha-based carrier’s win comes in turbulent times as Qatar battles a travel blockade imposed by its estranged neighbours, prompting Qatar Airways group CEO Akbar Al Baker to attribute the award “not to me, not to my airline, but to my country”.

Akbar (middle) celebrates the win; photo credit: Qatar Airways

In second place this year is Singapore Airlines, followed in order by All Nippon Airways, Emirates, Cathay Pacific, Eva Air, Lufthansa, Etihad Airways, Hainan Airlines and Garuda Indonesia.

Asian airlines dominated the overall top 10 but were in the minority in the LCC category – which saw AirAsia, Norwegian and jetBlue Airways, easyJet and Virgin America in the top five. Jetstar Airways placed sixth, AirAsiaX seventh and Indigo 10^th.

Meanwhile, the best airline economy class accolade went to Thai Airways, while Qatar Airways also bagged the world’s best business class award. Singapore Airlines got the winning votes for the best business class seats and Garuda Indonesia retained its title for the world’s best cabin staff.

The Tanjung Puting Destination Management Organisation has launched the Staying with the Dayak community-based tourism programme at the recent Bali & Beyond Travel Fair 2017.

Under the supervision of Swisscontact, the programme was created to introduce new attractions and extend travellers’ length of stay in the destination.

Sekonyer River entering Tanjung Puting Nature Park

The Staying with the Dayak programme brings visitors to Tanjung Puting National Park and includes a traditional welcome ceremony by the Dayak Tomun tribe and a stay in a guest house or long house, followed by trip to Lamandau Regency located three hours away.

Soraya Ragil Dien, programme officer destination development and marketing of Swisscontact, said the organisation has been working with the local community for years to create the product.

“The local community has developed one guest house with three rooms for FITs, but a number of local people have let their long houses to be managed as accommodation for tourists.”

Activities vary from cooking classes using local produce, basket weaving lessons as well as hunting and spearfishing with the locals.

There is also jungle trekking for beginners and adventurers (including an overnight stay in the jungle).

The package starts from 5D/4N with two days in Tanjung Puting and three days in Lamandau.

Before commencing the second phase of its restoration, Raffles Hotel will jointly run a tour and exhibition with Singapore’s National Heritage Board.

Through A Last, Lingering Look at an Icon tour, guests will be introduced to the history of the 130-year-old colonial hotel, whether through reminiscing its former beachfront or visiting rooms that once welcomed famous guests.

Raffles Hotel

The exhibition will include a recreation of the accommodation of one such guest, writer and Nobel Laureate Rudyard Kipling, who stayed at the hotel in 1889. The recreation is based on Kipling’s recorded remarks of his stay in his travel log.

Crockery and menu used for historical events such as the Coronation of King George VI will further give guests a glimpse into the past.

The exhibition and tour is curated by the Preservation of Sites and Monuments and guided by its volunteers. Tickets are priced at S$12 and include a delectable souvenir.

Tours will depart at 14.00 daily from August 1 to 12, with additional slots on Singapore’s National Day on August 9 ((10.00 and 11.30) and weekends (10.00 and 17.00). The tour is available to guests and members of the public, with spaces limited to 12 per tour.

Here’s our weekly roundup of new air routes.

Scoot’s off to Athens
Scoot has begun flying to Athens, the only LCC that offers a direct flight between South-east Asia and Greece. The flight is also the airline’s first to a European destination and maiden longhaul flight.

Operated on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, the 11.5-hour flight takes off from Singapore every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 02.45, and arrives in Athens on the same day at 08.45. Return flights will depart Athens at 11.30 and arrive in Singapore at 03.55 the following day.

In addition, Scoot has plans to add five new routes in the next year, including one extra longhaul destination.

Hainan Airlines links up New York and Chongqing
Hainan Airlines will introduce flights between Chongqing and New York on October 20 this year, becoming the first non-stop service between western China and New York.

The new service will depart Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport on Wednesdays and Fridays at 22.00, and arrive in John F Kennedy International Airport at 00.50 the following day.

Return flights depart John F Kennedy International Airport on Thursdays and Saturdays at 02.50, and arrive in Chongqing Jiangbei International Airport at 06.35 am the following day.

Kazakh national carrier starts flights to New Delhi
Air Astana will start direct flights from Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, to New Delhi, on July 2. The service will be operated thrice weekly utilising both the Airbus A320 and Embraer 190 aircraft.

On Mondays and Thursdays, flight KC 241 will depart Astana at 07.20 and arrive in New Delhi at 10.55, with the return flight КС 242 departing New Delhi at 12.00 and arriving in Astana at 17.00.

On Sundays, flight KC 249 will depart Astana at 20.35 and arrive in New Delhi at 00.10 the following day, with the return flight КС 250 departing New Delhi at 01.10 and arriving in Astana at 06.10.

Tianjin Airlines launches two routes from China to Moscow
Tianjin Airlines has started flying from two Chinese cities – Tianjin and Chongqing – to Moscow. Both flights utilise an A330 aircraft that offers 18 business class and 242 economy class seats.

GS7956 will depart Moscow at 16.50 on Tuesdays and arrive in Tianjin at 05.20 on Wednesdays and Saturdays, while return flight GS7955 will depart Tianjin at 09.20 and arrive in Moscow at 12.35 on Thursdays and Sundays.

Meanwhile, GS7942 will depart Moscow at 14.30 on Wednesdays and arrive in Chongqing at 04.00 on Thursdays and Sundays, while return flight GS7941 will leave Chongqing at 09.40 and arrive in Moscow at 13.30 on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

The airline will also launch new flights from Tianjin to Xi’an to London, and from Chongqing to Melbourne later this year.

“KWG has a small inbound travel business in Guangzhou and hence looks for experienced hands like Swire Travel,” she added.

The company is eyeing penetration into China’s main and secondary cites where there exists “a lot of unstructured corporate travel management for SMEs or larger corporations,” she explained.

The strategy for 2017 remains focused on Swire’s corporate travel core. “We will leverage KWG’s network and local expertise to build up Great Bay Area (Hong Kong-Macau-Guangdong) business for us, strengthening corporate business as a whole.”

Adapting and diversifying, including in its leisure segment, will also be key. In response to a declining preference for standard packages, the company has started building more itineraries on private tour basis.

“We’ll also implement a B2C platform for our leisure clients who want point-to-point dynamic packages. It will soft launch this month.”

Slethaug said transition in the past five months has been smooth as all staff are retained. A Greater China MICE team was set up, headed by Eva Lai who also heads the Shanghai and Beijing branches.

Uncertain whether Qatar Airways’ licence will be suspended in Indonesia, Indonesian outbound agents are concerned they might suffer losses from being forced to cancel packages especially with the peak Eid al-Fitr week coming up.

After a blockade was enforced against Qatar by its Gulf neighbours, Indonesia’s minister of transportation Budi Karya Sumadi stated Indonesia will temporarily suspend Qatar Airways’ flight licence, only to call it off the next day.

Rudiana, WITA tour director sales and marketing, said Umrah travellers are the main concern in the coming season. Although the government may divert the flight to other airlines, he opined “this is difficult and tedious work” in the high season.

In such a situation, the agency might have to cancel flights and packages despite incurring a loss.

“The government’s standpoint is questionable and creates confusion,” remarked ASITA Bali’s Ketut Ardana, who expects Bali’s inbound tourism to be affected as it is connected to Doha by Qatar Airways’ thrice-daily flights.

The Flight Centre Travel Group has announced plans to merge its FCM and Corporate Traveller brands in Greater China, Malaysia and Singapore to support growing regional travel demand.

Previously operated alongside each other, the larger FCM business targeted national, regional and multi-national accounts while the Corporate Traveller brand targeted SMEs.

“This merger will simplify our structure in Asia and strengthen our brand presence in the corporate travel sector,” said FCM Asia’s general manager Bertrand Saillet.

He added: “With a renewed focus on a regional approach for the growing travel programmes of our national clients, this merger means we are more ready to quickly scale up any travel programme for our customers as their business expands.”

According to a Flight Centre statement, customers who were previously with Corporate Traveller can enjoy better integration of product roll-out and travel technology, account management and data consolidation as their travel programme regionalises.

The FCM Asia businesses will continue to operate alongside the Flight Centre brand offering, which also caters for small corporate accounts.

Having made moves in China since its launch in Singapore last November, Webjet’s Asian B2B travel brand FIT Ruums now has India on its radar with its recent foray into the subcontinent.

According to Daryl Lee, director of FIT Ruums’ parent company, WebBeds FZ, India was “immediately identified as a key market for the company” following its inception, owing to India’s huge population, rising affluence, buoyant economy and a government that is prioritising tourism.

To make more headway in the country, the company has appointed Ashutosh Dogra to head FIT Ruums India.

Based in New Delhi, Dogra will develop FIT Ruums’ brand, relationships and operations across the country, as well as leverage on XML technology and partner with key stakeholders in the wholesale B2B market.

The seasoned travel industry professional was previously head of the Vacation Vertical for Vacation Exotica, a unit of Balmer Lawrie & Co, and also spent several years with the Kuoni Group.

Meanwhile, FIT Ruums has also launched its new industry incentive programme, FIT Rewards, in India. The rewards are showcased in a dedicated online store which has been created especially for the Indian market, further enhancing suppliers’ ability to target their local clients.

Its latest move will enable hotel suppliers to capitalise on the huge Indian domestic market and burgeoning intra-Asian inbound market, in addition to Webjet’s other global platforms such as Sunhotels and Lots of Hotels, said the company in a statement.

Boeing’s latest and largest version of its best-selling 737 aircraft unveiled at the 2017 Paris Air Show on Monday was met with interest from airlines worldwide.

Touted as Boeing’s answer to Airbus A321neo, the 737 Max 10 aircraft already has over 240 orders and commitments secured from more than 10 customers, among whom were launch customers at the Pairs Air Show – Lion Air Group, SpiceJet, TUI Group and BOC Aviation.

The Lion Air Group has committed to an order of 50 units, while aircraft operating and leasing company BOC Aviation agreed to 10, subject to internal approvals. The latter took delivery of its 200^th Boeing airplane in March 2017 and has an additional 74 737 MAXs on order.

SpiceJet signed an MoU with Boeing valued at US$4.7 billion (at current list prices), split evenly between 20 new orders for the 737 MAX 10 and conversions of 20 of its 737 MAX 8 airplanes from its existing order to 737 MAX 10s.

Also with a conversion deal is the TUI Group, which will convert 18 of its 70 existing 747 MAX orders to the 737 MAX 10.