CHINA Southern Airlines is planning to suspend some flights to the Philippines in anticipation of an expected drop in cross-straits traffic, due to the ongoing territorial standoff between Beijing and Manila.

The Chinese carrier will halve its twice-daily Guangzhou-Manila services to a daily flight on certain days, during the period May 26 – June 30, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency.

The two countries have been locked in a tense standoff at Scarborough Shoal since April 10, when Philippine authorities attempted to curb Chinese fishing activities in the area.

AIRASIA has embarked on a US$5 million rebranding exercise that will see the carrier adopt an updated corporate identity in line with its ‘10 Awesome Years’ campaign launched last December.

Kathleen Tan, AirAsia’s regional head of commercial, said: “At AirAsia, we take branding very seriously. We felt it was time to give our brand a fresh and rejuvenated look, to stay relevant with the times. We are excited to give our look, feel and plane livery a little contemporary facelift.”

As part of the makeover, AirAsia’s advertisements, check-in counters and aircraft will be updated to reflect the new branding, while its flight attendants will now don a special outfit on weekends. The carrier will also launch a new television commercial featuring the AirAsia Allstars.

According to Bernama, AirAsia will first concentrate on rebranding its main hubs at Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok and Jakarta. Subsequently, the carrier will shift its focus to secondary hubs and the rest of its global network.

THE MALAYSIAN Association of Tour & Travel Agents (MATTA), which owns the organising rights to the World Islamic Travel Mart (WITM), is considering holding future editions of the annual event outside of Malaysia.

The inaugural WITM is scheduled to take place at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur from May 31 to June 2. As things stand, MATTA has secured this year’s venue for the next five editions of WITM.

“As this event is titled World Islamic Travel Mart and not ‘Malaysian International Travel Mart’, MATTA can host it in other parts of the world such as Dubai or Doha, should we decide to,” said MATTA president, Mohd Khalid Harun.

According to Khalid, the Malaysian tourism ministry’s decision to organise its first-ever Malaysian International Travel Exchange from May 31 to June 3, around the same time as WITM 2012, had not resulted in dampened demand for the latter.

“We announced our event (WITM) first. Both events also complement one other,” insisted Khalid.

“In any case, the more events you have, the more people will come (to the destination),” he added. “In fact, we will be providing a shuttle service between the two (event) venues at the request of the ministry.”

Reporting by N. Nithiyananthan

STARWOOD Hotels & Resorts Worldwide will soon have two of its hotel brands – Sheraton and The Luxury Collection – in Sri Lanka.

Earlier this month, India’s ITC Group, a franchisee for the Sheraton and Luxury Collection, finally pushed through a deal with Sri Lanka’s Board of Investment, allowing it to develop a mixed-used project with a Luxury Collection hotel on a two-hectare site in Colombo.

Simultaneously, Starwood signed a management contract with Lanka Hotels & Residencies, Greenwater Resorts India and Eurocon Building Industries UAE to operate the 306-key Sheraton Colombo Hotel.

Located about a kilometre from the proposed Luxury Collection site, the Sheraton is scheduled to open in September 2013.

Anura Lokuhetty, president, Tourist Hotels Association of Sri Lanka, said the country was experiencing a “second wave” of top international hotel chains entering the market.

“Brands look at places where there is potential…where others go. A good example is the Maldives, where all the big brands are present,” he said.

GARUDA Indonesia has signed an MoU with China Airlines to codeshare on the Taiwanese carrier’s flights between Indonesia and Taiwan.

The agreement will see the airlines codesharing on China Airlines’ Taipei-Jakarta, Taipei-Denpasar and Taipei-Singapore-Surabaya routes.

Plans to codeshare Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dubai flights are also in the pipeline.

Meanwhile, Garuda will introduce daily services between Jakarta and Taipei using a B737-800NG aircraft, starting May 24.

THE HONG Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) has appointed Aviareps as its official trade and PR representative in Russia, in a bid to boost inbound numbers from the market.

“We are excited about the robust growth of the Russian market in recent years, which is now our fourth largest source market in Europe,” said Anthony Lau, executive director, HKTB. The NTO has been targeting Russia since 2008.

“Riding on Aviareps’ professional knowledge in the travel industry, HKTB will build even closer (ties) and partnerships with the trade and media in Russia,” Lau added.

Following the implementation of mutual visa-free access between Hong Kong and Russia in 2009, and a subsequent increase in direct flight connections, arrivals from Russia to Hong Kong hit 86,800 in 2010 (+102 per cent over 2009), and 131,537 the following year (+51.5 per cent).

In 1Q2012, over 50,000 Russians travelled to Hong Kong, a 72.3 per cent jump over the same period last year.

Meanwhile, HKTB is planning to launch a series of marketing initiatives in Moscow and St Petersburg, which will be expanded to other Russian cities in the future.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) and Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) have signed a joint venture agreement which opens up the possibility of going beyond existing codeshare ties, to include co-ordination of flight schedules, joint sales activities and enhanced network connectivity.

The enhanced partnership is expected to lead to growth in air services between Singapore and Scandinavia, and pave the way for a new route between Singapore and Stockholm. SIA currently operates thrice-weekly flights between Singapore and Copenhagen in a codeshare partnership with SAS.

The two airlines are now awaiting regulatory approval from authorities in Singapore and Europe to go ahead with their plans.

SIA CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said: “This agreement is a win-win for SIA and SAS, and benefits our customers by making air travel more convenient between Asia and Scandinavia. We look forward to co-ordinating schedules to enable more seamless connections to points in Northern Europe, as well as Asia and Southwest Pacific, through our respective hubs.”

He added: “When market conditions allow for it, we also look forward to expanding frequency between Singapore and Copenhagen, and adding new destinations in Scandinavia.”

SAS president and CEO, Rickard Gustafson, said: “We are pleased that the joint venture agreement is now signed, and we can proceed with expanding our partnership and improving the service and benefits for Scandinavian travellers. SIA will be a vital part of our Asia strategy, and we look forward to jointly exploring further opportunities in this exciting and important market.”

A DISPUTE between Air India pilots and management with regards to the national carrier’s faltering merger with Indian Airlines has led to hundreds of its pilots engaging in a ‘sick leave’ protest.

At the centre of contention are efforts by Air India management to integrate and enforce parity in the employment status of both airlines’ flying staff.

More than 400 Air India pilots have called in sick for the eighth day in a row, wreaking havoc on the airline’s flight schedule. Earlier today, 10 international flights from Mumbai and New Delhi were cancelled.

The airline has reacted by suspending 11 of the ‘errant’ pilots, with a recommendation to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation to revoke their pilot licences.

The aviation authority has so far refused to engage in discussions with the suspended pilots and their de-recognised union, the Indian Pilots’ Guild.

Meanwhile, the authority warned that it may enforce a complete shut down of Air India’s international operations if the situation deteriorates over the coming week.

ACCOR has opened Mercure Okinawa Naha, its inaugural hotel in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan.

Located adjacent to Tsubogawa monorail station in Okinawa’s capital, Naha, the hotel offers 260 guest rooms, an all-day dinning restaurant, and several meeting rooms.

“We are very excited to extend the Mercure brand network and Accor’s presence in Japan to include Naha (Okinawa), and provide more choice to visitors to the Japanese Southern Islands,” said Patrick Basset, vice president for Accor Vietnam, the Philippines, South Korea and Japan.

Mercure Okinawa Naha is the sixth Mercure branded property in Japan, and the ninth overall in Accor’s local portfolio.