JETSTAR has unveiled FlexiBiz, an add-on which provides business travellers greater flexibility with their flight plans.

The upgrade allows business travellers to move their flight earlier or later for free on the same day of travel, take extra carry-on baggage (7kg) and select an upfront seat at no extra charge. Those who cancel their flights will also be entitled to a credit voucher refund that is valid towards a new booking within six months of issue.

Corporates who are signed up on Jetstar’s Business Hub can choose to include FlexBiz with their ticket purchases at an introductory price of S$32 (US$25). The ancillary product is currently only available directly through Jetstar’s website.

Barathan Pasupathi, CEO of Jetstar Asia, said the airline was responding to feedback from a new segment of business travellers in Asia, who preferred to reduce travel costs and paired value and flexibility at an affordable price.

“Asia is experiencing a savvy generation of cost-conscious corporate travellers who prefer to fly without the frills but are often required to make changes to their flights on the day of travel. The new FlexiBiz product provides these business travellers with much more flexibility and a few other on-board extras at a good price point,” he said.

Pasupathi added that the airline is expecting strong demand especially from SMEs.

“On some of our peak hour flights to Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Jakarta, Manila, Yangon and Hong Kong, a significant number of customers are budget-savvy business travellers. We want to grow this segment further by offering a fare tailored to their needs.”

Mimi Hudoyo (centre), all smiles with her award. Credit: Joen Damayanti

TTG Asia Luxury has clinched its first award through a feature-length article in the December 2015 issue, The New Glamorous, written by senior editors Mimi Hudoyo and Raini Hamdi.

The story wins a PATA Gold Award for Travel Journalism – Industry Business Article, which was presented at the PATA Travel Mart in Jakarta last week.

It studied how and why the old luxury of grand hotels, first-class air travel and limousine rides is simply not enough to satisfy a new breed of customers, and the extent to which the industry goes to provide out-of-the-world experiences for wealthy folks seeking deeper fulfilment in their travels.

The article can be viewed on pages 10-13 on TTG Asia Luxury’s e-book here.

TTG Asia Luxury is currently bi-annual and is directly overseen by Raini, who launched the publication in 2013. It is distributed to buyers of premium travel and luxury meetings in Asia-Pacific and gains an international read through an online presence on the ttgasia.com platform.

In another win for TTG Asia Publishing, S Puvaneswary, TTG Asia’s editor-Malaysia and Brunei, recently took home an award for Business Events Journalism Excellence, Print/Online, given by the Sarawak Convention Bureau.

She won the prize for an article published on TTGassociations in April 2015, titled Watching And Waiting, which was a profile of Ravi Chandran, congress president of the 24th Asian & Oceanic Congress of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, a convention held in Sarawak last year.

INDONESIA’s national carrier is planning to re-launch flights to the US via a transit in Japan after a safety ban imposed by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) lasting nearly a decade was lifted in August.

Garuda Indonesia is hoping to begin operations as soon as next year, pending preparatory work and a transit permit approval from Japan.

“Our plan to re-operate the US flight service is expected to strengthen Garuda’s position as a global aviation player, (especially now) with the upgraded rating from FAA which recognises Indonesia’s aviation safety and security standard,” said Benny Butarbutar, vice president of corporate communications at Garuda Indonesia.

He added that a Boeing 777-300ER will likely ply the route and transit at Narita International Airport before heading to the city of Los Angeles or New York, the two cities Garuda regards as having the highest market potential.

Japan currently grants fifth freedom rights to Indonesian carriers, which allows Garuda to pick up passengers in Japan before flying to the US.

Since 2014, Garuda has served Indonesian travellers flying to the US via a codeshare agreement with Delta Airlines.

Delta flies to Los Angeles and Seattle from Haneda Airport and is a member of the SkyTeam airline alliance, the same as Garuda.

LCC Mihin Lanka will be discontinued from October as part of cost cutting plans by its financially-troubled parent company, SriLankan Airlines.

The national carrier will be taking over the budget airline’s operations which first launched in 2007.

SriLankan Airlines chairman Ajith Dias said that of the four aircrafts that Mihin operates, one is already arranged to be taken over by its lessor while a second aircraft will be returned come January.

The remaining planes will go under the SriLankan Airlines banner and flights will continue on routes that Mihin currently operates.

But industry sources say the discontinuation of Mihin won’t have major impact as SriLankan Airlines still serve destinations that the LCC does.

Meanwhile, the deadline for a management partner to save the national carrier has been extended to September 23. It was supposed to close in August.

At least 10 airlines have expressed interest but the Sri Lankan government is keeping quiet as to who they are.

Locals and tourists at Ximending street market in Taipei, Taiwan

THIRTEEN travel industry unions in Taiwan joined hands to stage a demonstration yesterday to air their grievance over dwindling Chinese visitation since the Democratic Progressive Party took office in May.

Taiwan Tourism Bureau’s statistics showed Chinese traffic enjoyed 30 per cent growth in March but abruptly fell by 12.2 per cent in May, followed by a 12 per cent and 15 per cent decline in June and July, respectively.

From August 1-23, Chinese groups further dropped 55.3 per cent while FITs decreased by 13.9 per cent.

Golden Foundation Services Group president Jean Chang pointed out that protesters have come from all sectors, including agencies, hotels, bus companies and tour guides.

She said: “They hope the government will help them find a way to make a living as Chinese visitors are not coming.

“This happened after the new president took over and has been a problem ever since. Business from mainland China dropped by more than 50 per cent at least.”

Taiwan Visitors Association secretary general Wu Chao Yen believes the worsening political relationship with China is to blame, adding that it is rare for the travel trade to take to the streets.

Preliminary sources estimate 20,000 people representing over 200 companies to have participated in the demonstration.

ONE of South-east Asia’s most successful start-ups, Grab, has embraced travel agents, saying what is available in the market today is still “very far” from the traditional consultants who make travel more seamless.

Cheryl Goh, who is part of the early founding team at the Malaysian taxi app start-up, said the company for the first time had started to consolidate its travel programme with an agency. The impetus was safety, as employees were travelling to places where there were bombings and terror attacks.

The move was an eye-opener. Said the group vice president marketing of Grab: “We went from high-tech to low-tech. A lot of us travel in the region. It’s unanimous as an organisation that we love the experience,” said Goh, during a panel at Millennial 20/20 Summit last week, when she was asked what travel technology would look like in the next five years.

“Someone intelligent enough to figure out your habits and what kind of places you stay, gives you the best recommendations and makes payment seamless – that still does not exist in the way the travel agent works. After using it (travel agency), I think that really is the future. Right now, lower pricing is the impetus for people booking travel online, not the experience.”

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily afterwards, Goh said: “From that experience, we realised using a travel agent is a lot more convenient than what we’ve ever experienced before. Just having a real person with a real brain behaviour and capacity for learning, we realise that what we have in the market is still very far from the natural travel agent who makes it more seamless.”

She said what agents need to do is to embrace technology but also understand where they can add value.

“For example, my agent understands I want to be in the office by 10am but I don’t want to be up by 4am to make that, so finds me the best time. I’m not price sensitive. Or factors in a holiday season so arranges for me to be at the airport by this time. In theory it sounds simple but I have not experienced it, so I think that part of machine learning isn’t there yet,” she said.

During the panel, Goh also shared some of the lessons that enabled Grab to expand to 30 cities in six countries. One is understanding the question, “What is the pain point for customers?” and removing the pain. “This is why in Indonesia, for example, we went beyond cars and taxis to bikes, because of the traffic jams,” she said.

Understanding the customer habits and preferences through machine learning is another. As well, hiring locals who are familiar with the market.

Millennial 20/20 is a new company/summit which debuted in London last April. Its aim is to bring together brands in fashion and beauty, F&B, sports/fitness and hospitality to discuss the future of next-gen commerce. The next summit will be held in New York March 1-2, 2017.