TOP officials at Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) have indicated their willingness to twin Clark International Airport with Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), a system representing one possible solution to address critical congestion at the latter.

In a statement, CIAC president and CEO, Victor Luciano, said: “We support the development of a twin-airport system that is the overall development of both Clark airport and NAIA. Both airports will have a symbiotic relationship that will be beneficial to the travelling public.”

CIAC adviser Benjamin Solis noted at last month’s Clark Aviation Conference that a twin-airport system made sense in addressing capacity issues. NAIA would serve as the “catchment” for traffic to south Metro Manila and the regions in southern Luzon, while Clark would handle traffic to north Manila and northern Luzon.

AirAsia Group CEO, Tony Fernandes, whose LCC Philippines AirAsia is based at Clark, has also thrown his weight behind the twin-airport system.

“Clark has a very big future…In the end, Clark will be one of the main hubs,” he said. “In Japan, it’s very clear. You have Haneda – which is like NAIA – and you have Narita, which is much farther away, but Narita is the main airport.”

Transportation and communication secretary, Emilio Abaya, is expected to make a formal recommendation on whether to adopt a single or twin airport international gateway system soon, to be submitted directly to Philippine president Benigno Aquino III.

Clark has grown in importance as a gateway, welcoming slightly over one million international passengers in 2012 or 39.7 per cent more arrivals than in 2011. The Department of Tourism (DoT) expects Clark to bring in 1.7 million foreign arrivals by 2016 – 17.2 per cent of the country’s total, making the airport Philippines’ third largest for international arrivals, said DoT undersecretary Danny Corpuz.

CIAC has submitted plans for a new gateway terminal, budget terminal and additional navigational equipment to the Department of Transportation and Communication, which upon completion will expand the airport’s capacity to 2.5 million visitors annually.

MALAYSIA Airlines (MAS) is upping frequencies and capacities on routes out of Kuala Lumpur to Asia-Pacific destinations for the summer season.

Beginning March 31, MAS will increase weekly Manila flights from 25 to 28 while bumping up Yangon and Colombo services to ten times weekly.

From April 1, the airline will double flights to Dhaka for twice daily operations and on the same day, swap one Boeing 737-800 aircraft for a larger B777-200 on the Denpasar route to hike capacity by 20 per cent.

Flights to Brisbane will be increased from five times weekly to daily on June 17, adding 566 seats in each direction.

Capacity on the four times weekly route to Bandar Seri Begawan will rise 11 per cent when the currently deployed B737-400 is replaced by B737-800 aircraft, effective August 15.

Frequencies on domestic services are also set to increase.

Beginning June 15, Langkawi services will grow from 42 times a week to 49. The Johor Bahru sector, currently plied 27 times a week, will be increased by a further five on July 15.

MAS is due to expand flights to Kuching from 49 to 77 times weekly by August 15, starting with the mounting of 19 more flights on March 31.

Similarly, the number of Kota Kinabalu connections will go up from the current 68 weekly to 82 by July 15, with an initial six additional weekly flights to be introduced on March 31.

Links to Miri will soar with an upgrade to daily services on April 15, followed by three more weekly services beginning July 15 and one more on August 15.

The present seven weekly services to Tawau will also be doubled from June 15, while the 14 weekly Labuan flights will be boosted to 20 a week on the same day.

SINGAPORE has emerged as the top destination that Myanmar travellers want to visit, with shopping, sightseeing and experiencing different cuisines being the main motivations.

According to a survey by MasterCard Worldwide, the city-state trounced popular destinations such as New York, Bangkok, Seoul and Paris to take the crown.

The survey was based on interviews conducted with 411 residents with bank accounts in Yangon and Mandalay between December 2012 and January 2013.

MasterCard also reported that although less than one in five Myanmar residents had travelled abroad for leisure in the last 12 months, an overwhelming majority of people who did travel intend to do so again over the next one year.

Within Myanmar, 73 per cent of respondents had travelled domestically over the last 12 months. Top local destinations were Taunggyi, Mandalay and Pathein.

Four out of five of those who had travelled domestically plan to do so again over the course of the next year.

The survey stated that Myanmar’s travellers spend an average of 200,000 kyats (US$230) per person on domestic holidays. For international holidays, the amount was six times higher.

Consumers in the South-east Asian country reported high levels of optimism when it came to consumer confidence, according to the latest MasterCard Index of Consumer Confidence.

Myanmar’s liberalising economy has seen inbound tourist numbers shoot past one million in 2012 and arrivals are expected to grow another 30 per cent in 2013 (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 25, 2013).

VISITOR arrivals to Indonesia in January 2013 showed a 5.9 per cent year-on-year decline to 614,328.

The fall was led by China with negative 37.2 per cent growth, followed by Taiwan with 28.8 per cent and Singapore with 15.5 per cent.

Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy spokesman, I Gusti Ngurah Putra, blamed the Lunar New Year, which fell in January last year and in February this year, for hurting January arrivals to Indonesia.

While arrivals from Australia also crept into negative territory with a 1.9 per cent decrease, Japan and South Korea showed healthy growth of 14.7 per cent and 6.6 per cent respectively, while Malaysian footfalls rose by 8.2 per cent. Emerging markets India and the Middle East also booked an increase of 3.6 and 7.9 per cent.

Ngurah Putra remarked that the positive growth in arrivals had balanced out the fall in visitors from China, Singapore and Taiwan.

On the longhaul front, arrivals from the Netherlands decreased by 11.8 per cent while arrivals from the rest of Europe were up by between 0.3 and 6.6 per cent.

Ngurah Putra expects Indonesia’s role as the official partner country of the recently-concluded ITB Berlin, to boost inbound figures not only from Europe but also other markets.

The country is gunning for nine million arrivals this year, targeting South-east Asia, especially Singapore and Malaysia, and China as major source markets.

HOTEL and serviced apartment operator V Group has opened V Wanchai² in Wanchai, Hong Kong, the group’s first full-fledged hotel.

The 79-room hotel is minutes away from the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, as well as the Hong Kong Exhibition Centre.

Its design incorporates Chinese elements such as its abacus-inspired wall feature in the reception area and the custom-made bird and flower carvings on the doors and headboards of its rooms.

V Wanchai² offers 30 studio-style Luxe rooms, 26 Premium Deluxe rooms (47.4m²), 10 Deluxe rooms (55.7m²) and 13 V Grand Suites (68.7m²).

Rooms feature TVs, audio systems, bath and rain showers, and wine coolers in selected rooms. Guests can access a complimentary DVD library, high-speed wireless Internet and local calls.

THAI hotel chain Centara Hotels & Resorts has laid hands on a third property in the Maldives through a partnership with RPI.

Centara signed the management contract with RPI in September last year and the property is currently being developed at a cost of US$36 million.

To be opened within the second half of 2014, the 110-room Centara Hudhufushi Resort & Spa will be located on the eastern side of Lhaviyani Atoll, a 25-minute seaplane ride away from Male International Airport.

The Thai chain currently operates Centara Grand Island Resort & Spa Maldives and will open Centara Ras Fushi Resort & Spa Maldives this month.

Chris Bailey, senior vice president for sales and marketing, Centara Hotels & Resorts, said: “Our international presence has grown extremely strongly during the past few years, and the Maldives has been a major success for us.

“We believe that having a third Maldives resort, in a very different location among the Maldivian islands, and with a different style (from) the existing two resorts, will give us a very powerful marketing tool.

“Our marketing division for the Indian Ocean region has recently been strengthened, and we have great confidence in (both) the region and our latest venture.”

Over the next five years, the Thai hotel chain is aiming to acquire more than 45 hotels and resorts, with the intention of reaching 100 properties worldwide by 2017 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 1, 2012).