SINGAPORE Changi Airport is taking another step to boost its non-aviation revenue with a new online shopping portal where passengers can buy duty-free products prior to their flights.

Launched yesterday, Changi’s online retail platform iShopChangi allows passengers to choose from over 1,800 products, settle the transaction online and pick up their buys at a designated spot within the airport terminal.

Changi is believed to be the first airport in Asia with such a service, and joins the ranks of airports around the world that offer online shopping, including London’s Heathrow where travellers can reserve products online, though payment and collection must be done at the shop.

According to The Straits Times, iShopChangi will be a critical source of non-aviation revenue that will be used to subsidise aeronautical charges such as airline fees, thus better positioning the airport to compete with regional counterparts.

The airport also began selling tickets and vouchers to places of interest, restaurants and shops last year.

CHARTER flights linking Manila and Russian city Vladivostok every 10 days are being planned for service commencement at the end of October.

According to Valeri Ishunkin, the Philippines’ Department of Tourism (DoT) marketing representative for Russia, the new service is in the care of Russian travel company Biletur and will run until April 2014.

The company had initially mulled charters to Boracay and Cebu, but eventually decided to launch flights to Manila in cooperation with a yet-unnamed airline.

“The charters are fully paid for by Biletur, and if everything goes well, the service could grow into a regular flight,” said Ishunkin.

Badette Anatalio, manager for inbound operations at Southeast Travel Manila, which has handled land arrangements for visitors from Moscow. said: “Vladivostok (charters) will open the doors to a more mid-market segment from Russia that’s interested in beaches and wellness.”

Ine Fautstino, vice president and general manager of CCT.168 Travel & Tours Manila, added: “The Russian market is familiar with diving in continental Micronesia. They could be guided towards beach resorts and diving in Palawan, Moalboal and Malapascua.”

Vladivostok is the largest Russian city closest to Asia, noted Ishunkin, who also added that the DoT is already focusing on Moscow, St Petersburg and Khabarovsk for inbound business. She revealed that the Philippines is also soliciting new travellers from Novosibirsk, Siberia.

DoT unveiled news of the charter during a fam trip it hosted for 10 Russian tour operators from Moscow, St Petersburg, Ukraine and Vladivostok, including two representatives from Biletur.

Julia Zamolodchikova, product manager at luxury operator Eurobusinesstour Moscow, said: “The Philippines will appeal to Russians for autumn and spring (travel), and as a winter destination from September till May. Distant islands (are appealing) as a winter destination.”

She added that she would be meeting Manila hotel properties and evaluating the “sights and shopping” in the capital in the hopes of extending the Manila component of her tour programme from overnight to two or three days, before moving travellers on to Boracay and Cebu.

AIRASIA X is introducing a new service from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo, Sri Lanka and Malé in the Maldives.

The four-times-weekly flight will be launched on September 28.

On Tuesdays and Fridays, flights will depart Kuala Lumpur, stop over in Malé, then continue on to Colombo, and return to Kuala Lumpur before the end of the day.

Thursday and Sunday flights will take passengers from Kuala Lumpur to Colombo first, heading on to Malé after, before travelling back to Kuala Lumpur on the same day.

Azran Osman-Rani, CEO, AirAsia X, said: “What’s unique about this new route is that guests may opt to hop on our flights to Sri Lanka, continue on to the Maldives, or fly direct to the Maldives and vice versa from the Kuala Lumpur hub.”

The carrier is offering a promotion on tickets for the route, with prices starting from RM219 (US$68) for economy seats and RM959 for premium seats to Colombo, and RM399 for economy seats and RM959 for premium seats to Malé.

Bookings can be made until September 29 for travel between September 28, 2013 and March 29, 2014.

CARLSON Rezidor Hotel Group’s core four-star brand is undergoing a global rejuvenation programme, which will see all its hotels sport a refreshed brand identity and more tech-savvy touches by the first quarter of 2014.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily, Carlson Rezidor Asia-Pacific’s executive vice president, revenue generation, Lucinda Semark, said the Radisson Reimagined exercise is to ensure that the brand has the “right facilities for the changing customer”.

Greater emphasis on connectivity and corporate social responsibility is at the heart of these upgrades.

These include Internet check-ins – which means that key cards are dispensed from a kiosk upon arrival – and an iConcierge app, which offers destination information to guests through their smartphones.

A new charity programme called Spread the Love will also be rolled out, allowing guests to give back to local communities through donations. Other tweaks include the use of branded bathroom amenities and healthier F&B options.

Semark pointed out the changes were in response to younger Gen X and Gen Y travellers who are starting to stay in four-star hotels for their business trips, especially in two of the Group’s key markets, China and India.

To increase its reach in the MICE market, work is also in progress on repackaging its meetings product to ensure consistency across hotels.

“Radisson is a full-service, four-star brand with the characteristics of caring, sharing and daring. We want to remain competitive in that positioning. This will help keep things like rates constant when faced with an increase in supply (within that segment),” she said.

Semark added that despite this being a global effort, cultural differences across markets will be taken into account. In Asia-Pacific, for example, check-in kiosks will be coupled with the availability of a usual check-in process due to the high levels of service customers in this region expect.

A pilot programme is ongoing worldwide, while the relaunch of the brand is expected to be in 1Q2014 over a 12-18 month period. There are no plans to drop any Radisson properties from the portfolio.

In Asia-Pacific, Radisson has 12 properties in seven countries, with another 10 in the pipeline in China (five), India (three), Indonesia (one) and Bangladesh (one).

Radisson Blu is Radisson’s five-star sister, which is also full-service but higher in the style stakes. Park Inn by Radisson, on the other hand, is a contemporary, limited-service three-star brand.

ROSEWOOD Hotels & Resorts relaunched yesterday with a new brand identity, a rejuvenated website and a new hotel programme, as the company makes further inroads into Asian and European markets.

A new brand logo incorporating Rosewood’s trademark A Sense of Place philosophy as well as seals for each individual Rosewood hotel have been designed.

In a departure from usual hotel advertising, Rosewood’s latest marketing campaign Living Canvas features striking black-and-white images taken in Beijing, New York, Abu Dhabi and Mexico. These images and video footage captured on site will be used in key print platforms in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia as well as electronic advertisements and Rosewood’s revamped website.

The spruced-up site will also carry insiders’ guides by a select group of tastemakers and high-profile personalities from Condoleezza Rice and Piers Morgan to Nina Garcia and Sarah McLachlan. This forms part of Rosewood’s new signature hotel programming known as Rosewood Curators. Beginning with 14 Curators, Rosewood will add more Curators on a regular basis.

Rosewood Hotels & Resorts is on an expansion binge, with a host of new properties in the pipeline: Rosewood London (October 2013), Rosewood Beijing (early 2014), Rosewood Dubai (2015), Rosewood at Baha Mar Nassau, the Bahamas (2015), Rosewood Phuket (2015), Rosewood Chongqing (2015), Rosewood Tanah Lot Bali (2017), and Rosewood Jakarta (2017).

Rosewood Hotel Group, the owning company of Rosewood Hotels & Resorts, was earlier this year rebranded from New World Hospitality. The company explained that the move made sense as the Rosewood brand, which New World acquired in 2011 for US$229.5 million, is the most widely represented (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 30, 2013).

HAVING taken delivery of the latest addition to its fleet, Garuda Indonesia has launched its new first class service in the Boeing 777-300ER.

Intended to immerse the traveller’s five senses in an authentically Indonesian experience, First Class will showcase Indonesia in everything from the plane’s interior design and exotic scent of Indonesian flowers to folk music and traditional food.

First class passengers will be able to enjoy private seating and the services of a dedicated on-board chef who will prepare food on the spot.

“The delivery of the new B777-300ER and the First Class service launch were in line with the airline’s effort to broaden its international flight network, particularly on longhaul flight routes, as part of its strategy to become a global player,” said Emirsyah Satar, president and CEO of Garuda Indonesia.

The B777-300ER is comprised of 268 economy-class seats, 38 business-class seats and eight first-class seats. It now serves the Jakarta-Jeddah route. After the arrival of three more B777-300ERs, they will be deployed on the new Jakarta-Sydney, Jakarta-Tokyo and Jakarta-Shanghai routes from November.

Garuda will take delivery of three more B777-300ERs in 2014 and a further three in 2015.

ALL flight operations in Manila and Hong Kong are back on track in the wake of Typhoon Usagi that brought gusts of up to 209kmh, forcing flight delays and cancellations in the two cities.

According to a government advisory, Philippines Airlines (PAL), Cebu Pacific (CEB), Cathay Pacific Airways, Dragonair and China Southern Airlines had cancelled a total of 49 flights between September 21 and 23.

The cancelled flights were from Manila to Hong Kong, Macau, China and Taiwan, destinations also in the path of Typhoon Usagi, or Odette as it is called in the Philippines.

CEB, PAL and PAL Express collectively cancelled a host of flights to Iloilo, Cebu, Clark, Boracay and Batanes, which were severely battered by the typhoon.

Affected passengers were allowed to rebook flights without penalty.

Over in Hong Kong, the tropical cyclone warning was lifted at 10.25 yesterday, prompting a resumption of most flights by 12.00. According to a Hong Kong International Airport source, some 370 flights had been cancelled and 76 delayed on Sunday.

Joseph Tung, executive director of the Travel Industry Council Hong Kong, said it was rare for all air traffic to be suspended.

“Airlines announced in advance they would halt inbound and outbound traffic from 18.00 onwards on September 22. This had never happened before and our members had to look for accommodation for group tours stranded overseas, whereas outbound group traffic couldn’t depart from Hong Kong,” said Tung.

Following the resumption of flights, carriers such as Dragonair have announced extra capacity and flights to Shanghai (Pudong), Qingdao, Sanya and Kaohsiung today to clear the passenger backlog.

Bigger aircraft will also be deployed on the Beijing and Fukuoka routes to accommodate more passengers.

Additional reporting by Prudence Lui