MALAYSIA’S AirAsia has entered into a joint venture agreement with Tata Sons and Arun Bhatia of Telestra Tradeplace to set up an airline in India to tap the country’s growing aviation sector.

This proposed partnership follows the September 2012 decision by the Indian government to open up the aviation sector to direct investment of up to 49 per cent from foreign carriers.

The joint venture plans to operate from Chennai, focused on providing domestic second- and third-tier city connectivity to Indian travellers. AirAsia currently connects Chennai, Bengaluru, Tiruchirappalli, Kochi and Kolkata to ASEAN destinations through its operations in Thailand and Malaysia.

AirAsia founder and group CEO, Tony Fernandes, remarked: “We have carefully evaluated developments in India over the last few years and strongly believe that the current environment is perfect to introduce AirAsia’s low fares, which stimulate travel and grow the market.”

Subject to the Indian Foreign Investment Promotion Board’s approval, the proposed joint venture company will make an application to Indian aviation regulators for the air operator permit.

THE growing number of consumer travel fairs in Indonesia are playing a significant role in creating a low-season market, with Indonesians enticed by cheap airfares, hotel offers and zero per cent interest on instalments for up to six months or more

Speaking at the recent Indonesia Travel and Holiday Fair (ITHF) 2013 in Jakarta, RajaMICE CEO, Panca Sarungu, said: “People are taking advantage of special prices during the show, which can be between 25 per cent to 50 per cent.”

Transactions during the three-day show reached Rp60 billion (US$6.3 million), 15 per cent higher than the previous show, he estimated.

“Travelling has become a lifestyle choice now. People do not only travel during the peak seasons but also during the low season.” Panca  added. For this reason, the semi-annual ITHF was held in February this year instead of before the school holidays from June to July.

Traditionally high seasons are during school vacations, Lebaran and the year-end period.

Dwidaya Tours & Travel managing director, Effendy Dharmawan, said: “Indonesians nowadays can travel out of the country three times or more.

“Families tend to travel during the peak seasons as all members are on holiday, while low-season offers usually attract professionals, office staff travelling with colleagues, incentive groups, as well as retired people travelling as couples or with friends of the same age.”

Indonesia’s outbound and domestic travel has grown significantly, aided by improved domestic and regional connectivity. According to Bank Indonesia, outbound tourists from Indonesia climbed to 7.7 million in 2012 from 7.2 million in 2011. Meanwhile, domestic tourists grew from 236 million in 2011 to 245 million last year.

Bank BNI general manager cards business, Dodit Probojakti, observed a similar trend. Credit card spending by 1.7 million BNI cardholders last year totalled Rp18 trillion and travel-related spending contributed 16 per cent or around Rp2.8 trillion.

“Travel-related businesses have been growing fast in Indonesia. The opening of Makassar as an (eastern Indonesia) hub (by a number of airlines), for example, have increased traffic movements within the area, which is reflected in the growth of credit card travel-related spending there,” he said.

QANTAS Group will upgrade its entire fleet of Airbus A330s and order new Boeing 737-800s to drive its international and domestic strategy.

Beginning in late 2014, the interior of 10 A330-300s and 20 A330-200s will be reconfigured with a new flat seat in business class, refreshed economy cabin and a new inflight entertainment offering.

The A330-300s will be operated by Qantas International on its network between Australia and Asia, while the A330-200s will be operated by Qantas Domestic on routes between the east coast and Perth.

Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce, said: “Last month we announced a new schedule for Qantas International’s Asian network (TTG Asia e-Daily, February 5, 2013) – today I’m delighted to confirm our plans to upgrade the A330-300 aircraft that we’ll be flying across that network.”

Qantas Group will also purchase five additional B737-800 aircraft for Qantas Domestic (for delivery during 2014) and extend the leases on two existing B737-800s this year, growing its B737-800 fleet to 75 aircraft.

The older narrow-body B737-400s will be phased out by end-2013 and B767s by mid-2015. The group has recently announced its order for five additional B717 aircraft and three additional Bombardier Q400s for regional operations.

Qantas today also announced its financial results for the six months ended December 31, 2012, highlighting that losses in Qantas International were reduced by 65 per cent in 1H2013 compared with 1H2012.

The Qantas Group reported statutory profit after tax of A$111 million (US$114 million), up 164 per cent, and underlying profit before tax of A$223 million, up 10 per cent. All operating segments of the Group’s portfolio were profitable with the exception of Qantas International.

FOLLOWING a record three million tourists from China over the Lunar New Year holiday to Hong Kong and Macau, which resulted in considerable strain on infrastructure, residents in both cities are calling for the authorities to review visa rules for Chinese visitors.

During the festive season, Hong Kong experienced a shortage of hotel rooms and saturation of visitors at popular attractions, while Macau saw run-ins at its border crossings.

Hong Kong chief executive, Leung Chun Ying, acknowledged that the influx of tourists was overcrowding the city and pledged that his government would ensure daily lives of people were not affected in the pursuit of tourist numbers, reported local broadsheet The Straits Times.

Blame has been accorded to the decade-old individual visitor scheme (IVS), which was conceived in 2003 in the wake of the SARS crisis to allow tourists from China to enter Hong Kong and Macau individually rather than as part of group tours. Last year, two-thirds of Chinese visitors entered Hong Kong through the IVS.

On the other hand, Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) chairman, James Tien, said calls to restrict the IVS and cap the number of visitors ran counter to Hong Kong’s free market ethos, The Straits Times report added.

HKTB executive director Anthony Lau was also quoted by the report as saying that since the social tensions partly arose from day-trippers from Guangdong, the problem should be resolved in ways outside the IVS’ purview, such as building a border shopping town for such visitors.

Meanwhile, the Macanese government said it would improve checkpoints and find ways to spread tourists in the city.

Hong Kong saw a record 48.6 million tourist arrivals last year, predominantly from China. The number of Chinese tourists surged 24 per cent from 2011, comprising 72 per cent of all arrivals. Macau received 28 million tourists, 17 million from China.

– Read Raini Hamdi’s blog and opinion in TTG Asia February 22-March 7, 2013

ANANTARA Xishuangbanna Resort & Spa has opened its doors in China’s Yunnan, ramping up the brand’s expansion in China (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 12, 2012).

Located an hour’s drive from Jinghong International Airport, the 103-key resort features 80 deluxe guest rooms as well as 23 one-, two- and three-bedroom pool villas set within lush gardens and water features.

Facilities at the resort include a variety of dining options, an outdoor swimming pool, a 24-hour fitness centre, the eight-suite Anantara Spa, Wi-Fi in the guest library and a business centre kitted out with iPads, in addition to a kids’ club and a teen’s centre.

Business amenities comprise a large 100-pax function room, which can be divided to cater for two smaller events, two meeting rooms and a boardroom.

The resort also offers visits to the many ethnic groups in the area, such as a tea picking with the Jinuo tribe, home-cooked meals with the Hani tribe and tours of the Dai village nearby.

LIFESTYLE and entertainment TV channel, Hello! Japan, will be launched on Singapore’s StarHub TV from February 25, even as the Japanese government has pledged to step up awareness of the destination among Asian markets through broadcast media (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 7, 2013).

Launched by J Food & Culture TV (JFCTV), Hello! Japan will also go live in 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, namely Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Vietnam, India, South Korea and Taiwan.

This marks the first-ever collaboration by media content companies in Japan to integrate and edit content for distribution overseas.

Japanese content currently being broadcasted around the world is either content purchased individually by overseas broadcasting stations or the NHK World TV (English) and NHK World Premium (Japanese) programmes.

PHILIPPINE Airlines (PAL) and OTA Agoda.com have joined forces to offer the airline’s passengers access to the latter’s 100,000-strong inventory of hotels.

Through a customised hotel booking page www.agoda.com/PAL, PAL passengers will now be able to book flights and hotels at the same time for domestic and international destinations.

This is Agoda.com’s 10^th partnership with national flag carriers, in addition to similar arrangements with seven traditional airlines and six LCCs.

Felix Cruz, vice president for marketing, PAL, said: “This strategic tie-up with Agoda.com provides passengers bound for PAL’s 28 international and 32 domestic destinations convenient access to the best hotel deals available online.”