THE Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA) is welcoming membership applications from more Asian airlines with scheduled international services and is “very keen” to woo major Chinese carriers to join its ranks, said its director general.

AAPA has already widened the geographical limits of its membership criteria to carriers based within the time zones of GMT+5 to GMT+12 earlier this year from GMT+7 to GMT+12.

Said AAPA director general, Andrew Herdman, during the AAPA 57^th Assembly of Presidents in Hong Kong: “We have good relations with CAAC (Civil Aviation Administration of China) and CATA (China Air Transport Association).”

He added that a few Chinese airlines participated in the assembly this year.

AAPA is also open to engagement with South Asian airlines as its recently redrawn geographical coverage now includes India and Pakistan, Herdman shared, although the Federation of Indian Airlines and the Indian aviation market have a “primarily more domestic focus”.

When questioned on the lack of LCC members in AAPA, Herdman remarked: “We are certainly open to LCCs – any business model is welcomed.”

However, the caveat is that any new airline member is required to invest the “time, efforts and attention”, which comes in the form of membership fees – the figure ranges but reaches a few hundred thousand dollars per airline at the top end – and participation in meetings and taskforces to develop positions and joint lobbying with the secretariat, he pointed out.

As for plans to include the budget offshoots of its member airlines, Herdman said: “We view those subsidiaries and associates as de facto members anyway; they are unable to attend the meetings and their parent companies share information. We have thought about additional incremental costs (for those LCC subsidiaries), which will be very modest and we won’t expect them to pay an individual share.”

CONTINUOUS growth from China is expected to drive rate increases in Asia-Pacific (APAC) across most categories of the business travel industry in the coming year, according to American Express Global Business Travel (AMEX GBT) Forecast 2014.

Andi Budd, vice president and general manager of Amex GBT for Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan, said: “While growth is slowing in some (specific) countries, Asia-Pacific is leading the rest of the world in terms of economic growth.

“Business travel is still a priority in this region and rates are likely to rise modestly across air, hotel and ground transport in 2014.”

APAC air routes will experience sustained demand next year and published airfares will likely increase in most countries, with the exception of Australia, China and Japan.

Hotel rates are expected to rise along with the region’s ongoing economic growth and supply is not expected to outstrip demand in most locations, with the exception of India.

Budd said Singapore remains as one of the top destinations for the rapidly growing base of Chinese tourists, adding: “We expect high-end hotel prices to remain largely unaffected. However, more mid-tier properties continue to open to capture some of the increased demand.”

The full 2014 forecast with further insights on airfares, hotel and car rental rates in APAC and other regions is available on the American Express Global Business Travel website.

Separately, American Express had in September announced plans to sell 50 per cent of its Global Business Travel (GBT) division to an investor group led by Certares International Bank.

Budd said there will be no potential changes from the joint venture, save for a “greater expansion” of the GBT business. The exact investment amount by Certares is expected to be unveiled in January 2014, while the joint venture will likely kick off in May, he added.

IN VIEW of a looming capacity constraint that is approaching faster than projected, Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) has embarked on a combination of mid- and long-term expansion strategies to cope with future demand.

“We are close to the movement ceiling,” said Tommy Leung, general manager of projects at HKIA, during his presentation of the airport’s development plans at the recent Association of Asia Pacific Airlines 57^th Assembly of Presidents in Hong Kong.

“Our HKIA Master Plan 2030 predicted HKIA’s two-runway system to reach saturation point between 2019 and 2022, but based on 2012 traffic volumes we are ahead of forecast by two to three years,” he added, emphasising the need for the airport to speed up its expansion projects.

According to Leung, HKIA’s annual passenger traffic has grown by close to 100 per cent to 56.6 million in 2012, up from 28.6 million in 1998 when the airport first opened. Likewise, air traffic movements per year have increased 115 per cent from 163,000 to 352,000 during the same period, he revealed.

In addition to the expansion of Terminal 2, due to complete by this year-end, HKIA has already started on the HK$10.2 billion (US$1.3 billion) midfield development project, which will see the airport island’s last piece of land developed to include a 105,000m² concourse and 20 parking stands by 2015, raising the airport’s handling capacity by a further 10 million a year.

For the longer term, HKIA will adopt a three-runway system to accommodate 100 million passengers and 620,000 flight movements a year. A 3.8km third runway and passenger concourses with approximately 60 air bridges and apron to accommodate 100 parking stands will be built on a 650-hectare reclaimed land, which lies to the north of the existing 1,200-hectare airport island.

Both the automated people mover network and baggage handling system will be extended to connect the new concourses with the existing terminals and passenger facilities.

However, despite the proliferation of LCC terminals in Asia, Leung sees remote possibility in Hong Kong developing such a dedicated facility due to the city’s severe land constraints. “Every inch of reclamation has to be justified. We’re not like Singapore with land reserves,” he said.

ACCOR has opened its fifth Ibis property in South Korea with the launch of Ibis Ambassador Seoul Insadong last week.

The new-build economy hotel is located in the city’s renowned cultural district of Insadong and within an hour’s drive to Incheon and Gimpo airports.

Ibis Ambassador Seoul Insadong offers 363 guestrooms, each equipped with LED TV, free Wi-Fi internet access, a working desk, and other in-room amenities.

F&B options available include the signature Taste Restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch between 06.30 to 12.00, and Le Bar where guests can kick back and relax with a light meal beverages throughout the day and evening.

Other facilities available are the hotel’s three meeting rooms that can accommodate up to 70 guests with audiovisual equipment; a rooftop garden featuring panoramic views of the city during receptions and events; a gym; and a sauna.

PATA and MyTravelResearch.com have inked a two-year agreement for the latter to provide PATA members with industry-related intelligence to boost their competitiveness.

The preferred partnership pact will enable MyTravelResearch.com and PATA to collaborate on the development of insights about the visitor economy in Asia-Pacific and beyond, supporting the association’s strategic focus to provide valuable insights, forecasts and analyses.

PATA’s CEO, Martin Craigs, said: “The partnership with MyTravelResearch.com provides vital support to the PATA Strategic Intelligence Centre. It helps us to extend the reach and effectiveness of our insights delivery – a key pillar of PATA’s mission.”

Carolyn Childs, director of MyTravelResearch.com, said: “MyTravelResearch.com has long shared PATA’s vision of building better businesses across the visitor economy in our region. The preferred partnership agreement is the tangible expression of that vision, enabling us to support PATA in making a difference.”

THE Indonesian government will open Jakarta’s second airport to scheduled passenger flights and relocate a number of commercial operations there in a bid to ease congestion at the city’s main airport.

Minister of transportation, Evert Ernest Mangindaan, said a number of airlines, such as Garuda Indonesia, Citilink, Mandala, Lion Air, Batik Air and Indonesia AirAsia, have submitted requests to run services from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in East Jakarta.

He said: “With 74 flights (movements) per hour, Soekarno-Hatta International Airport is overcrowded at the moment. This means (an average of) one flight per 40 seconds although normal operations would see between 35 flight to 40 flights per hour.

“We therefore plan to open Halim Perdanakusuma Airport and move a number of flights there probably in early 2014.”

Halim Perdanakusuma currently serves military, presidential and private or chartered airlines.

Mangindaan also explained that moving flights to the second airport would enable airport operator Angkasa Pura II to speed up the ongoing apron and runway development at Soekarno-Hatta’s Terminal 3, which is scheduled to open between April and May next year.

In the meantime, minister of state-owned enterprise, Dahlan Iskan, who oversees Indonesian airport authorities, said Angkasa Pura I and II would be extending operating hours of airports outside Jakarta to 24 hours.

INDIA’S Jet Airways and Garuda Indonesia yesterday concluded a codeshare agreement and launched a reciprocal frequent flyer programme.

Under the terms of the agreement, Jet Airways will place its code on Garuda-operated services between Singapore and Jakarta, while Garuda will do the same on Jet Airways’ flights linking Singapore to Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai.

The new frequent flyer programme will allow members to accumulate and redeem miles on all flights within the partner airline’s network.

Gaurang Shetty, senior vice president – commercial, Jet Airways, said: “Indonesia is a popular tourist destination for Indian travellers and a strategic trade and investment partner for India. With the seamless connections offered by this arrangement, we are confident that this codeshare will see a further increase in demand for business and leisure travel between India and Indonesia.”

Jet Airways is also preparing to enter further codeshare agreements with Malaysia Airlines, Vietnam Airlines, American Airlines and Kenya Airways (TTG Asia e-Daily, September 11, 2013) .

THE Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company will open a hotel in the former Chinese capital of Nanjing in 1Q2015 through an agreement with Nanjing New Universe Real Estate Development.

The Ritz-Carlton Nanjing will be located in the heart of designated central business district Xiejiekou, 30 minutes from the airport.

Featuring 297 rooms and 32 suites, the property will offer four restaurants and bars including a Chinese restaurant serving Nanjing cuisine, a luxury Spa by Espa, fitness centre and an indoor pool.

Meeting spaces at the hotel encompass a ballroom and seven function rooms.

BACKED by an extra NZ$30 million (US$25 million) annually over the next four years, Tourism New Zealand (TNZ) is stepping up its game in Asia, with a new interest in high net worth individuals and the MICE market.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Tourism New Zealand chief executive, Kevin Bowler, said the NTO is not cutting back on its leisure programme, but “branching out” from it, which will be supported by additional hires across the region.

“We have a very good high-end product with our luxury lodges, and increasingly very good activity providers offering everything from helicopter fishing and skiing to picnics on top of mountains,” he pointed out.

Conventions and incentives will be targeted by an expanded business events team that has grown from two to 14 people over the last few months (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 2, 2013).

Besides opening an office in Indonesia last month (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 30, 2013), TNZ has this year increased its investment in India, China and Japan. The latter, for example, has become a “70+ market”, said Bowler, with mostly senior travellers visiting New Zealand. The goal is thus to re-establish a foothold among youths by drawing attention to the destination’s “fun activities instead of just scenery”.

Film tourism also continues to be important for New Zealand, which will soon launch a PR campaign around the second Hobbit movie, premiering in December.

While TNZ is supporting more direct-to-consumer initiatives, Bowler said that travel agencies still play a vital role as New Zealand is “a touring, not flop and drop” destination.

The NTO is undertaking its first mega fam for the South and South-east Asian market next March, bringing 50 travel agencies to New Zealand, and has relaunched its online training programme earlier this year, which features new interactive modules (TTG Asia e-Daily, March 6, 2013) .

As the fastest-growing region for New Zealand, Asia contributed around 21 per cent of overall arrivals in 2012, up from 17.6 per cent in 2011. The UK, which used to be the second largest market after Australia, has been overtaken by China.

When asked how the country intended to compete with other countries that were also gunning for more Asian footfalls, Bowler said: “We attract a pretty small number of visitors, so we offer something different. Being less discovered is an advantage.”