SWISS CEO Harry Hohmeister expects the airline’s daily direct Singapore-Zurich service which took off yesterday (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 13, 2013) to break even in the first year and return a profit in the third year.

Hohmeister is so upbeat on the route’s prospects that, despite investing CHF300 million (US$315 million) to launch it, SWISS will continue its existing Singapore-Zurich codeshare with Singapore Airlines (SIA).

“We believe the market is big enough for two frequencies. The Airbus A340-300 does not offer too much capacity, just 219 seats. So what we are doing actually is developing the market with a new frequency and timing, which also increases the attractiveness of the schedule for both airlines. Therefore it makes sense to keep the codeshare. Customers will have a choice of using the best service he needs,” he explained.

So far, the service has been well accepted, with a “promising booking development” in both economy and business, Hohmeister said. “We are lucky our intercontinental services are well booked throughout the year with a load factor of around 90 per cent. In the beginning, I don’t expect this service will have a 90 per cent load factor; I expect in the 80s in the first 24 months, then 87-88 per cent in the long run,” he said.

SWISS did not intend to dump prices, rather take the position of a premium airline offering “a genuine Swiss product”, he said.

Asked what would make the flight viable today compared with the Singapore-Bangkok-Zurich service, which was discontinued four years ago, Hohmeister said: “We learnt one-stop is not attractive enough for business travellers, especially in a competitive environment to Asia. Secondly, we have renewed our premium product, with lie-flat beds and innovative concepts such as top cuisine. Thirdly, the Singapore market in the last four years has grown more than 40 per cent. And last but not least, the cargo business is sustainable.”

SWISS has ordered a fleet of Boeing 777-300ERs. “We expect the Singapore market to grow further. The city is dynamic and therefore the market to Switzerland will grow and, with that, the B777 could be the aircraft (in 2016 or 2017),” he said.

– Read the View from the Top in TTG Asia soon

STARWOOD Hotels and Resorts’ Le Méridien brand has returned to Bali with the opening of its latest resort in Jimbaran.

Le Méridien Bali Jimbaran features 118 rooms and suites, and is located on the south-west coast of Bali, just beside Jimbaran Bay and a short drive from Denpasar International Airport.

Guests can choose from four F&B options: fusion Pan-Asian cuisine at Bamboo Chic, handcrafted cocktails at Smoqee Lounge & Sky Bar, coffee by day and tapas by night at Latitude 8, and handmade gelato and coffee at Wala.

Other hotel amenities include a spa with six treatment rooms and a lounge, a fitness centre and health programmes, a kids’ club, a dedicated outdoor pool and Kendra Art Gallery’s exhibition space, which comes under Le Méridien’s Unlock Art programme.

For meetings and events, Le Méridien Bali Jimbaran features a glass-encased Celebration Pavilion and Bale Banjar Ballroom on the rooftop, offering panoramic views of Jimbaran Bay and the sunset. A conference centre offers 600m² of space, state-of-the-art audio-visual technology, a business centre and creative event staff.

Le Méridien had earlier announced expansion plans for the region, with plans to launch nine new hotels throughout Asia in the next 12 months (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 29, 2013). Two openings are planned for China, and one each for Indonesia, Vietnam, India and Bangladesh.

BRAND USA will establish a foothold in the Hong Kong market through the creation of a marketing representation office within the next few months.

Appointed to represent the NTO in Hong Kong is BrandStory, a PR company with presence in Singapore and China, which hopes to get the Brand USA office off the ground by 3Q2013.

The Hong Kong set-up follows similar launches in China and Japan. Brand USA is also aiming to expand its presence to India, Australia and New Zealand within the year.

Besides Brand USA making landfall in Hong Kong, the Visit USA Committee (Hong Kong), a membership-based committee that promotes travel to the US, will also be reactivated, according to US Consulate General – Hong Kong & Macau, commercial specialist, Kimmy Lee.

In March, the local US Consulate General rolled out measures to streamline visa application procedures, a long-standing stumbling block for travellers.

Applicants can now settle visa fees at any 7-Eleven store in Hong Kong or Macau, book visa appointments through a new web-based system, seek assistance from a new call centre, and have their passports delivered to their home or office for free. They can also pick up their passports in person at three locations on Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.

Hong Thai Travel Services’ deputy general manager, Daniel Chan, said: “I hope the Brand USA office in Hong Kong will push more new destinations rather than the traditionally hot cities like San Francisco and New York. Out of all the states, there should be something new to excite Hong Kongers, for example, Miami.”

However, he pointed out that the stringent visa approval process remained a hurdle.

Air capacity is another major concern, as flights between June and September are usually full and tickets are expensive, said Chan. “Flight frequency has not returned to pre-September 11 levels, otherwise airfares would definitely be lower.”

THE changing lifestyles of Indonesia’s growing middle class are carving out a significant opportunity for travel and tourism players.

Speaking at the Indonesia Hospitality & Tourism Investment Conference in Jakarta recently, Indonesia Investment Coordinating Board chairman, Chatib Basri, said: “There was a 40 million increase in the number of middle-class Indonesians (between 2003 and 2010), and that is bigger than the populations of Malaysia, Singapore and Australia put together.

“People are willing to pay US$200 per dish at a food festival with a celebrity chef from France, and they spend thousands of dollars to buy batik products, something that would not have happened five years ago,” he noted.

“What I’m trying to say is that there is a huge opportunity for investment in tourism and hospitality in Indonesia to meet domestic customers’ demands.”

He cited how the growth of LCCs within Indonesia had not only improved domestic connectivity but allowed more people to travel to exotic local destinations such as Lombok by making flights affordable.

Marriott International’s executive vice president, Asia-Pacific, Paul Foskey, quoted China as a case study of a country that has been successful in developing domestic tourism.

“The country has seen huge infrastructure investment, everything from highways to airports and railways. (There has also been) a lot of encouragement for developers to build leisure destinations,” he said, adding that Sanya had managed to develop itself into a prominent domestic travel destination.

“Sanya has the highest RevPAR in all of China purely through the domestic leisure market,” noted Foskey.

The Chinese government has also created national holidays to encourage domestic tourism, he said.

“So hopefully the (Indonesian) government and private sector can really work together and promote domestic tourism.”

INDIAN OTA Ezeego1.com has ventured into selling sports tickets on its website by teaming up with Sports Events 365.

In partnership with the international sports and shows ticket broker, Ezeego1.com now carries tickets to international sporting events such as Champion League games, Grand Slam tournaments and Formula One races.

Under the site’s Online Sports Tickets section, users can perform location-based searches of future sports events or search for an event by selecting a competitor, allowing users to find out where their favourite team or player will be competing in the future.

The site also provides detailed information such as dates, times, seating charts for venues and local street maps.

Neelu Singh, COO, Ezeego1.com, said: “With sports tickets being the fastest-growing segment in the travel industry and our customer loyalty growing day by day, it was necessary to introduce an attractive product like this. It will not only enhance our product offering but will also attract a new category of customers.”

MALINDO Air will commence daily services between Kuala Lumpur and Sibu, Miri and Tawau next month, effectively ending AirAsia’s dominance on these routes for low-cost flights.

The services to Sibu, Miri and Tawau will commence on June 11, June 14 and June 26 respectively.

The new routes coincide with the delivery of Malindo’s two Boeing 737-900ER aircraft next month, bringing its fleet size to four.

All-inclusive economy fares start from RM98 (US$32) to Miri and Sibu, and RM138 to Tawau. Business class fares start from RM499.

Miri-based Planet Borneo Tours executive director, James Wan, said: “Additional seat capacity on the Kuala Lumpur-Miri route increases the possibility of having larger incentives and teambuilding groups in Miri.

“We currently have difficulties securing more than 50 seats. The new flight also provides clients with a new travel option on a low-cost carrier with added benefits such as in-flight entertainment and light refreshments.”

SWISS International Air Lines’ (SWISS) direct Singapore-Zurich service is launching today, marking the return of the airline to Singapore Changi Airport after a four-year hiatus.

The daily flight will be operated using an Airbus A340-300 aircraft, seating 219 passengers in a three-class configuration, and departs from Singapore Changi Airport’s Terminal Two.

Out of Singapore, flights leave Changi at 23.10 and land in Zurich at 06.10, while Singapore-bound flights depart Zurich at 22.45 to touch down in Singapore at 17.15.

Tourism arrivals from South-east Asia have grown 30 per cent over the last three years.

Urs Eberhard, executive vice president, Switzerland Tourism, said: “We expect a further positive quantitative impact of an additional five to 10 per cent growth from this region and Australia due to the new direct SWISS flight.”

VIRGIN Airlines has set an ambitious goal of using only clean-burning fuels on all flights by 2020, in a bid to make air travel one of the greenest industries.

Speaking at the inaugural Creating Climate Wealth Workshops Summit’s press conference today, Virgin Group founder and chairman, Richard Branson, said: “The airline industry is a good example (of how an industry) can minimise environmental impact by reducing carbon output, which can in turn save a lot of money.

“If you use clean fuels, the government does not have the excuse to tax you, and when you gain competitiveness over dirty fuels, you can reduce the cost of fuel, which will reduce the cost of your tickets and (result in) more people wanting to travel with you.”

Virgin Atlantic became the first commercial airline to partly power a flight by biofuel in 2008 when it flew from London to Amsterdam on fuel obtained from Brazilian babassu nuts and coconuts.

Virgin Atlantic is now piloting a low-carbon jet fuel derived from waste gases in New Zealand, and the Group hopes to see it utilised on commercial routes between Shanghai and New Delhi to Heathrow in a few years, according to David Addison, research executive, Virgin Earth Challenge under Virgin Group.

Addison noted that “with more intelligent customers today who care about the planet, they will likely want to travel with airlines who pride themselves on renewable fuel”.

Branson – also the founder of the non-profit Carbon War Room, which gathers entrepreneurs together to implement climate change solutions – called for more airlines to share their expertise in reducing carbon emissions.

He added that the latest member of Carbon War Room was AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, who accepted Branson’s offer when they were on board an AirAsia X flight yesterday.

Separately, Virgin Australia has integrated its recently acquired Skywest Airlines to form a new domestic carrier based in Western Australia. Named Virgin Australia Regional Airlines, the new airline will operate 32 aircraft deployed to 41 destinations.