INDIA’S travel trade has responded warmly to SpiceJet’s upcoming launch of New Delhi-Guangzhou flights, pointing to strong demand for services between the two countries.

SpiceJet will commence New Delhi-Guangzhou flights on February 8, and the LCC is looking at serving more destinations in Greater China including Chengdu, Macau and Hong Kong. The five-hour New Delhi-Guangzhou service will be the longest flown by SpiceJet, which also plies routes to Riyadh and Dubai.

Ajay Vinayak, CEO, Palomino Hospitality, said: “There is room for several daily flights between key Indian cities and China. Demand is not only from growing tourist interest but a fast-growing business and MICE travel market between the two countries that requires serious attention.”

Anil Punjabi, chairman-east, Travel Agents Federation of India, added: “(China Eastern Airlines’) Kunming-Kolkata flight carries an almost-full load daily, with passengers transiting from Kunming to other Chinese cities.”

Said Neil Mills, CEO, SpiceJet, said: “The relationship between India and China is strengthening, but connectivity between the two countries is poor.”

Currently, Air China flies to New Delhi from Beijing four times weekly, while China Eastern operates weekly flights between Shanghai and New Delhi, and daily flights between Kunming and Kolkata.

TRAVELPORT has launched a new fare management tool, which will allow travel consultants to simplify the way they manage, mark-up and control the onward distribution of airline-filed private fares.

Travelport Net Fare Manager reduces the key strokes related to fare management by up to 80 per cent with its web-based interface. From a single screen, it displays new and updated negotiated fares for easy updates and redistribution to any travel agency location in the world.

The tool is meant to automate the “often complex, time consuming and manual processes” that agencies follow today, said the press release.

BEST Western International today launched its sixth property in Malaysia – the 300-room Best Western Prima Inland Sea Resort.

A 40-minute drive from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in the coastal town of Port Dickson, the 9.3-hectare property is centred on a lagoon-style swimming pool, which comes with waterslides, pirate ships, whirlpools and waterfalls.

Amenities include a steam room, fitness centre, kids’ club, karaoke room, games room, bicycle rental, massage services and an open air theatre for live performances in the evening.

For corporate groups, Best Western Prima Inland Sea Resort is equipped with 16 multipurpose function rooms and a 875m² Grand Prima Ballroom able to accommodate up to 1,500 guests.

“The Malaysian hotel sector is currently booming, driven by the increasing spending power of Malaysian travellers, excellent transport links and the quality of accommodation on offer. As the beach resort of choice for so many Malaysians, Port Dickson is at the very heart of this growth,” said Glenn de Souza, vice president international operations – Asia & the Middle East, Best Western International.

The group had last year declared it would grow its Malaysian portfolio to 20 properties by 2015 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 29, 2012).

QANTAS is restructuring its Asian network as its partnership with Emirates gears up for take off soon (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 17, 2013).

Qantas International CEO, Simon Hickey, said: “Our first step has been to restructure existing services to Asia now that they are no longer tied to onward links to Europe. The number of dedicated seats on Qantas services to Hong Kong and Singapore is increasing significantly, because capacity previously set aside for customers going to Europe via these hubs can be freed up.”

Among the key changes, which will be implemented from March 31 onwards, include better access to the key Asian hubs of Hong Kong and Singapore, with a dedicated capacity increase of around 10 per cent and 40 per cent respectively on the Qantas network; earlier arrival times into Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore, with flights brought forward by up to three hours to increase the number of onward connections; as well as featuring Kuala Lumpur as a new destination via the combined Qantas-Emirates network.

Twice-daily Perth-Singapore services will be reduced to once per day from April 15, while Adelaide-Singapore services and Perth-Hong Kong services will cease from April 14 and March 31 respectively.

By June 24, Qantas will increase its Brisbane-Hong Kong flights from four to seven a week and ramp up frequency on the Sydney-Singapore route from thrice-weekly to daily.

Qantas will also look at expanding its Asian network using the Qantas Group’s B787-9 options from 2016. Direct destinations under consideration include Beijing, Seoul, Mumbai, Delhi and Tokyo-Haneda.

Following a A$9 million (US$9.4 million) investment, the new Qantas lounge in Singapore will open on March 31 and the new Hong Kong First lounge is scheduled to launch this September. The carrier is also examining a refresh of its international A330 fleet to include a lie-flat bed in Business Class.

Meanwhile, Qantas has also brought forward the end date for its loss-making Frankfurt services by six months to April 15.

ASIA to Africa (A to A) Safaris has opened an office in Singapore to tap the growing demand for African safari vacations in the country as well as the region.

A to A Safaris organises safaris to 70 exclusive camping destinations in 13 Southern and East African nations, including Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, Namibia, Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Customised packages are priced from around US$1,000 per person per day, inclusive of all accommodation, meals, outings, land transport and domestic flights within Africa, but excluding airfare from Asia.

Founded by Victor Dizon and Jose Cortes in 2002 and joined by Shy Perez-Sala in 2004, A to A Safaris boasts offices in Hong Kong and the Philippines.

Dizon, who is heading the Singapore office, said: “Singapore is an obvious choice for us to set up a third office. We have been servicing Singapore clients from Hong Kong, and the time has come to establish our presence in what has become a significant market for us. We are seeing interest from locals and expats from here and the surrounding region.”

Statistics from the South African tourist authorities showed that Asian visitors to Africa grew by about 30 per cent annually over the past three years.

A to A Safaris’ strong strategic partnerships with top travel operators in Southern and East Africa allow preferred access to leading safari camps, lodges and game reserves, Dizon said. “Since we don’t own these facilities, we have no vested interest and have the liberty to focus entirely on what a client wishes to experience and to plan an individually customised safari. We don’t subscribe to a ‘one size fits all’ philosophy.”

GARUDA Indonesia will commence six weekly services from Jakarta to London’s Gatwick Airport in the fourth quarter of 2013, as part of its international network development strategy.

Using the new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft – which Garuda is taking first delivery for this year – the Jakarta-London route will mark the airline’s second Europe service after Jakarta-Abu Dhabi-Amsterdam (TTG Asia e-Daily, December 7, 2012).

Garuda president and CEO, Emirsyah Satar, said the launch of the new route would foster economic activities between Indonesia and the UK, in addition to opening up direct access between South-east Asia and Europe.

Gatwick was selected as the operational airport for “its vast network and choice of accessibilities with other European countries”, said Emirsyah.

Added Gatwick Airport’s chief executive Stewart Wingate: “It is not only because of the significant potential Indonesian business development for the UK, but also because of the absence of direct air links connecting both countries (so far).”

British prime minister David Cameron was also quoted by the airline’s media release as saying that the direct route between the two countries would enable the UK’s business sector to tap the fast-growing Indonesian economy while stimulating Indonesia to be more competitive on the global arena.

Garuda’s B777-300ER aircraft will have 314 seats, comprising eight First Class, 38 Business Class and 268 Economy Class, and will be equipped with Wi-Fi facilities and a Chef on Board service in its First Class cabin.

TRAFFIC from China into the Philippines is showing signs of a comeback, as evidenced from the increased group tour bookings and resumption of charter flights in the run-up to the Lunar New Year period.

Philippine Airlines will start charter flights from Chengdu to Kalibo today and will offer daily charter flights between Hong Kong and Cebu from February 10 to 16.

Zest Air launched charter flights from Shanghai to Kalibo on January 11, while it increased the frequency of its regular Shanghai-Manila flights to four times weekly since last December.

Airphil Express is also expected to start charter flights from Hangzhou and Guangzhou to Kalibo in May 2013, in addition to its charter services from Guangzhou and Shanghai to Cebu since January 24 and from Shanghai to Kalibo since November 30.

“Whereas before there were Chinese airlines (launching flights), now there are more local airlines,” according to a spokesperson from the Philippine Department of Tourism.

However, Performance Travel & Tours’ assistant operations manager, Aileen Cada, estimated that the inbound traffic from China “has recovered only up to 75 per cent of the levels prior to the May-October 2012 travel ban (imposed by China)”.

During the Lunar New Year period in January 2012, the Philippines welcomed 42,868 Chinese visitors, and arrivals from China surpassed the 25,000 mark each month up until the travel ban. Following that, numbers dipped sharply to less than 20,000 monthly and only improved slightly when the ban was lifted.