Singapore Airlines (SIA) and regional subsidiary SilkAir have signed an agreement to codeshare on Indian domestic flights operated by Vistara, with effect from March 14, 2017.

The codeshare agreement is Vistara’s first with an airline group, as well as SIA’s and SilkAir’s first with an India-based domestic carrier.

Under the agreement, SIA will add its ‘SQ’ designator code to Vistara-operated flights beyond Mumbai and New Delhi to 10 Indian destinations – Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kochi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Goa, Guwahati and Port Blair – of which the last four destinations are new to SIA Group’s network of 15 destinations in India.

Meanwhile, SilkAir will add its ‘MI’ designator code to Vistara-operated flights beyond Bengaluru and Kolkata to six destinations: Guwahati, Hyderabad, Kochi, Mumbai, New Delhi and Port Blair.

Members of both frequent flyer programmes, KrisFlyer and Club Vistara, can earn miles when travelling on SIA- and Vistara-operated flights. As well, KrisFlyer members can also redeem their miles for Vistara flights, and vice versa.

In addition, PPS Club and KrisFlyer Elite Gold members will enjoy lounge access, increased baggage allowance, and priority baggage handling, check-in and boarding when travelling on Vistara-operated flights.

Likewise, Club Vistara Platinum and Gold members will enjoy the same benefits when travelling on SIA-operated flights. PPS Club and KrisFlyer members will also earn Elite miles when travelling on SIA codeshare flights operated by Vistara.

South Korean start-up carrier KAIR Airlines has placed a firm order of eight A320ceo to launch its new low-cost operation.

Based in Cheongju in central South Korea, the airline is planning to focus primarily on services to international destinations in north-east Asia.

“We see enormous potential for the development of a low cost model linking central South Korea with destinations in China, Taiwan and Japan”, said Byung Ho Kang, KAIR Airlines’ representative director and chairman.

He added that the airline will “focus on point-to-point services at low fares” and that the single-aisle A320 will be “perfect for our business model and customers”.

The Little Guest Hotels Collection has debuted in Asia-Pacific with the appointment of Horus Development & Consulting as its marketing representative in Asia, as it seeks to expand from its current 20 hotels to 50 properties in 2017.

Founded by entrepreneur Jérôme Stéfanski, himself a young father, The Little Guest Hotels Collection concept was created when he could not get an emergency milk bottle for his baby at a five-star hotel in The Hague.

The collection brings together upscale hotels that meet the stringent standards of families with children under the age of 12, offering services such as children’s dedicated programme, shuttle with baby seat, baby cosmetics, pacifiers and milk bottles, and availability of medical expertise in the vicinity, among others.

Members of The Little Guest Hotels Collection include palaces such as Le Negresco (Nice), Royal (Evian) and Beau-Rivage (Lausanne) in Europe, as well as The Slate in Phuket and The Farm at Cape Kidnappers in New Zealand for Asia-Pacific.

The mountainous province of Guizhou in south-west China is hoping to promote its technological attractions, a large radio telescope and a series of high-level bridges, to lure more foreign visitors.

Leading a 40-strong tourism delegation to Europe, the deputy governor of Guizhou, Lu Yongzheng, said they were looking to promote the 500-metre Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), which opened in September 2016.

The surrounding landscape near Xingyi City, Guizhou Province

The world’s largest telescope, FAST is located in an area unaffected by man-made light and the visitor-viewing platform currently under construction will soon enable astronomy-based tours at the facility.

In a presentation to the Spanish travel trade in Madrid, Lu related that the province will also promote a series of new high-level bridges that were built specifically to open up the remote province. “We now have five of the 10 highest bridges in the world, including the first, third and fourth,” he said.

The improved accessibility will also help to open up Guizhou to eco-conscious tourists, especially from longhaul markets such as Germany and Switzerland, Li pointed out. “Up to now we have paid more attention to tourism from mainland China and South-east Asia,” he added.

Guizhou Tourism Development Commission’s director general, Li San Qi, believes that these attractions will enhance the province’s image as a destination home to natural landscapes and diverse ethnic groups. He told TTG Asia: “This new infrastructure provides a very different experience for visitors. We want to combine this technology with the beautiful scenic areas we have.”

Princess Cruises has announced that it will continue to feature Penang as a port of call for its homeporting seasons out of Singapore for 2017-2018.

Diamond Princess will make eight visits to Penang this season (November 2016 through March 2017) and Sapphire Princess will follow with another eight calls for the next season (November 2017 through March 2018). Both ships will bring in over 40,000 guests for two seasons.

Diamond Princess

Guests from Penang and northern Malaysia will continue to have the option of boarding the ship from Port Swettenham on her South-east Asian voyages. For the current season,Diamond Princess will call at 13 ports (including Kota Kinabalu for the first time this season) in six countries across the region, offering 16 round-trip departures with 25 itineraries, varying between three- to 12-day voyages.

Farriek Tawfik, director of South-east Asia, Princess Cruises: “Over the years, Penang has become one of our guests’ favourite port of calls, with over 80 percent of guests disembarking the ship when they visit Penang to enjoy the wonderful local food, great shopping and charming sightseeing attractions.”

Meanwhile, the cruise line’s newest ship, the 3,560-guest Majestic Princess, will make her maiden call to Penang in June before sailing to Port Klang, Singapore and then onward to China.

Bintan Resorts and Sriwijaya Air yesterday signed an MoU in Jakarta to promote Bintan as a tourist destination, as well as to develop a multi-destination concept by connecting the integrated resort with Yogyakarta, Bali and Manado.

Bintan Resorts, supported by Gallant Venture Group as its holding company, will develop the infrastructure, improve accessibility to and from Bintan for both domestic and international travellers, and pair destinations in the country.

Frans Gunara, vice president director of Bintan Resorts Cakrawala, said: “Now travellers need to go in and out of Bintan (via) Singapore. For those that need visas to Singapore like the Chinese, they need a multiple visa if they want to go to Bintan via Singapore.

“With the improved access, they can enter Bintan visa-free and out of Singapore with a single visa from the ferry terminal we are building close to the airport.”

Meanwhile, Bintan Aviation Investment is currently developing the airport in Bintan, which when completed in 2018 will be used by Sriwijaya Air as a base.

Toto Nursatyo, commercial director of Sriwijaya Air, said: “Bintan has all the facilities to make it a destination; for now it is a shadow destination for Singapore. With improved accessibility, we expect Bintan to be a destination (in itself) and (act as a) gateway to other parts of Indonesia.”

Bintan Resorts currently has 1,700 rooms and the number will increase to 7,000 rooms by 2020, according to Frans, who expects between six and eight million arrivals per year in the future.

The Indonesian Ministry of Tourism has set a target for both Batam and Bintan to contribute 24 per cent of total arrivals – or 4.8 million tourists – to the country in 2019. Last year, Bintan alone received nearly 700,000 arrivals, and the destination is targeting two million arrivals by 2019.

Celebrity Cruises has revealed details of the 2,918-guest Celebrity Edge, which has been dubbed a “innovative and transformational” ship that will feature expanded staterooms, new suite categories and the ship-climbing Magic Carpet platform.

Due to set sail on December 16, 2018, Celebrity Edge will homeport in Florida’s Fort Lauderdale and will be joined by three sister ships in 2020, 2021 and 2022.

Designed completely in 3D, the Celebrity Edge will sport the Magic Carpet platform cantilevered from the side of the 16-deck ship. The size of a tennis court, the platform will transform into a different venue depending on the deck – a restaurant for 90 guests on Deck 16, an open-air expansion of the main pool area on Deck 14, an al fresco extension one of the ship’s restaurants on Deck 5 and a luxury embarkation station at Deck 2.

Other features onboard the Celebrity Edge include the Rooftop Garden, which functions as a games area, live music space or a outdoor movie theatre.

The new Edge Stateroom with Infinity Veranda expands cabins right to the ship’s edge, and boasts 23 per cent more square footage and bathrooms 10 per cent larger than Celebrity’s Solstice Class. Within the room, guests can control and personalise everything from lighting, shades, temperature and service.

Celebrity Edge will also boast two new suite categories. At the top of the line are two new 242m² Iconic Suites situated above the ship’s bridge. These suites will have a dining room, living room, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a 65m² veranda offering 270-degree view of the ocean. The other new Suite Class comprises six split-level Edge Villas that offer private plunge pools and direct access to The Retreat Sundeck.

All suites and double occupancy Edge Staterooms will come with king-size cashmere mattresses, access to a new space called The Retreat, which will feature a private pool, lounge, restaurant, and around-the-clock personal butler service.

Bookings are now open at www.celebritycruises.com/edge or through travel agents for Celebrity Edge’s two seven-night itineraries.

Vietjet Thailand will introduce daily flights from Phuket to Chiang Rai and increase flight frequency from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to thrice daily from March 26, 2017.

Besides the two aforementioned sectors, Vietjet Thailand also offers a daily Bangkok-Phuket service since launching in the Thai LCC sector last year.

Vietjet Group’s vice president of commercial Nguyen Thi Thuy Binh said in a press statement that the airline is expected to increase domestic seat availibility between Bangkok and neighbouring cities around Thailand, with new connections slated to be announced later this year.