AUSTRALIA’S Foreign Investment Review Board has announced that it would not object to Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) intention to increase its stake in Virgin Australia by 9.9 per cent.

The board’s approval now allows SIA to complete the purchase of the 9.9 per cent stake for A$122.6 million (US$113.2 million).

The transaction, which is expected to finish by the end of the coming week, will double SIA’s initial 10 per cent stake in Virgin Australia to 19.9 per cent.

Earlier this year, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission also approved Virgin Australia’s plan to acquire 60 per cent of Tiger Airways Australia (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 24, 2013).

HYATT Hotels intends to deepen its footprint in India by adding 15 more Hyatt Regency hotels by 2016 and roll out three more brands locally.

Currently, the company has 17 Hyatt properties or 4,900 keys in the country, of which six are branded under Hyatt Regency.

Hyatt Regency Gurgaon debuted last week (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 18, 2013) and will be joined by Hyatt Regency Ludhiana, Hyatt Raipur and Hyatt Place Pune Hinjewadi later this year, the three adding 400 rooms in total.

The hotel giant has launched only four of its seven brands in India – Park Hyatt, Grand Hyatt, Hyatt Regency and Hyatt Place – but intends to introduce Andaz, Hyatt House and Hyatt to the market soon.

Hyatt Hotels has 50 ongoing projects in India and intends to open hotels in key business and leisure destinations, having identified metro, Tier Two and Tier Three cities for development, according to Dhruva Rathore, vice president, Hyatt Hotels.

Anil Punjabi, director-eastern region, Travel Agents Federation of India, said: “Ever since the first Hyatt Regency was opened in New Delhi 30 years back, the brand has done well, carving their niche in a competitive and growing hotel market. Additional properties will add good quality, branded room inventory and help in attracting leisure, corporate and MICE clients.”

Arun Verma, director, New Delhi-based Allways Travel, commented: “The opening of Hyatt brand hotels in Tier Two and Tier Three cities will be a success. These are high-growth areas in India and (hotel openings) should help increase footfalls in such cities because the dearth of branded room capacity in the past has been a deterrent to both business and leisure travel.”

AIRLINE ticketing distributor Hahn Air wants to grow its presence in Asia as it foresees “big demand” from regional travel consultants for its services.

Hahn Air’s core business is supplying travel consultants with an e-ticketing platform that enables them to issue tickets for more than 260 partner airlines via all major GDSs.

The company also assists travel consultants in the resolution of possible plating problems, for instance where use of the Billing and Settlement Plan is not available. Such assistance is free for travel agencies and Hahn Air’s profits are derived from airline service fees.

Travel consultants and their clients who book through Hahn Air are automatically insured against flight cancellations. Ralf Masermann, director, global account management, Hahn Air, explained: “In case a passenger is affected by the insolvency of one of Hahn Air’s over 260 partner airlines, Hahn Air and its insurance partner will vouch for a full refund of the unused part of the ticket, including taxes.”

The company also operates executive charter services with its single business jet that can take up to seven passengers at any one time.

Speaking on Hahn Air’s intention to court Asia’s travel consultants, Masermann said: “We want to be closer to Asia so that the agents here will know that we are really 100 per cent accessible to them.”

Last month, Hahn Air opened its first service desk in Manila. The third after Frankfurt and Uruguay, the facility provides 24-hour support regarding Hahn Air’s services.

Hahn Air currently has an established presence in 190 countries worldwide and cooperates with 260 airlines and 91,000 travel agencies.

Still, Masermann noted that travel consultants in Asia were unfamiliar with Hahn Air’s services despite their need for it, which was why Hahn was aiming to expand into Asia.

Highlighting India, Japan and Singapore as Hahn Air’s top priority countries in the region, he said: “We want to get better acquainted with the consultants here to share the benefits with them.”

QUINCY Hotel, Residences and Suites is the latest hotel announcement on Bintan’s Lagoi Bay, and will form part of The Heritage Bintan project that broke ground on Monday.

The Far East Hospitality-owned chain will manage the 218-key facility to be built by Stareast Sejahtera and which sits within the 1.6-hectare The Heritage Bintan development.

The Heritage Bintan, slated to be ready in April 2015, is adjacent to the Bintan MarketPlace and a stone’s throw from Swiss-Belhotel Lagoi Bay, Bintan. Monday’s ground breaking ceremony also marked the entry of the Quincy brand into Indonesia.

Bintan’s Lagoi Bay has been a hotspot of development on the Indonesian island, with other resorts and developments scheduled to come on stream when phase one wraps up by the end of 2013, including The Plaza Lagoi (formerly Beach Village Mall), The Sanchaya and Alila Villas Bintan (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 9, 2013).

THE Langkawi International Powerboat Challenge 2013 F1 Nations Cup will be splashing down in Pekan Rabu, Kuah, Langkawi from August 27 to 29.

To be held for the first time in Malaysia, the event is the first leg of the F1 Nations Cup circuit, which will continue in Doha from November 20 to 22, and in Abu Dhabi from November 29 to December 1.

The three-day sporting highlight is organised by Associate Mediacom and hosted by the Langkawi Development Authority (LADA), sanctioned by the Monaco-based international governing body of power boating, Union Internationale Motoautique, and the Motorised Water Sports Association Malaysia.

LADA CEO, Khalid Ramli, said 10 powerboat teams from Hungary, South Africa, Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Australia, Brunei, Singapore and two teams from Malaysia were expected to participate in the Powerboat Challenge.

Khalid anticipated a crowd of 200,000 visitors over the course of the event, with races held daily and Pekan Rabu town transformed into an F1 Powerboat Village where other activities such as a public carnival and a night concert with local and international artistes would be staged.

Zarina Jaafar, event director, Associate Mediacom, said her company had signed an event promotion agreement with Union Internationale Motonautique to hold this event in Langkawi over three consecutive years, starting from 2013.

“It is hoped that the agreement will be renewed and this will be an annual event in Langkawi,” said Zarina.

STAR Alliance this week officially welcomed its EVA Air into its fold, strengthening the airline alliance’s presence in the cross-straits market.

EVA Air becomes the eighth Asian carrier in the alliance and its customers will now be able to access a global network of 28 airlines, 21,900 daily flights to 1,328 airports in 195 countries.

The airline brings to the Star Alliance network two more airports – Kaohsiung International Airport in Taiwan and Surabaya Juanda International Airport in Indonesia.

It also expands the alliance’s presence in the burgeoning cross-straits market, which has grown from an annual passenger volume of just over three million in 2009 to nine million in 2012.

Members of EVA Air Infinity MileageLands Frequent Flyer Programme will be able to collect and redeem miles for flights on any Star Alliance member airlines, while MileageLands Diamond and Gold Card holders will be able to access over 1,000 lounges globally, and enjoy extra baggage allowance on alliance airlines and priority baggage delivery as Star Alliance Gold Status persons.

EVA Air is now a part of Star Alliance’s fare products such as the Star Alliance Corporate Plus agreements, Star Alliance Conventions Plus and Meetings Plus, the Star Alliance Round the World Fare, the Star Alliance Circle Pacific Fare and the Asia Airpass.

Austin Cheng, president, EVA Air, said: “Star Alliance membership gives us the privilege of serving new customers from all corners of the globe and introducing our passengers to the seamless services and status recognition that the alliance provides. As a member, we have the opportunity to introduce travellers to new ways of connecting to destinations throughout Asia via our hub in Taipei.”

THE codeshare agreement between Jet Airways and Air France-KLM came into effect yesterday.

Under the agreement, Air France has placed its AF code on Jet’s domestic flights from Bengaluru, New Delhi and Mumbai to Chennai, from Kolkata and Hyderabad to both Mumbai and Bengaluru; KLM offers KL-coded flights from New Delhi to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad.

Furthermore, members of Jet Airways and Air France-KLM’s frequent flier programmes will be able to accumulate miles on each other’s flights.

Air France-KLM currently operates 27 flights every week between Europe and India.

Sudheer Raghavan, chief commercial officer, Jet Airways, said: “We are very happy with the addition of our relationship with Air France and KLM. The codeshare agreements will allow our guests enhanced connectivity to the global networks of Air France and KLM. The European gateways will benefit our guests flying to key destinations across India.”

Seema Ahmed, general manager, Kolkata-based Gainwell Travel & Leisure, said the codeshare between Jet Airways and the two European carriers would offer customers “good value” for longhaul flights as well as better value in terms of fares and convenient connections to Europe and North America.

The codeshare agreement comes on the heels of Etihad Airways’ purchase of 24 per cent in Jet Airways (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 4, 2012), as Jet looks to establish hubs in Abu Dhabi, Paris and Amsterdam to carve a slice of international skies for itself.