SPECULATION that British Airways (BA) might discontinue services to Sydney in the aftermath of the Qantas-Emirates alliance has been laid to rest, as the carrier has elected to deploy its newest aircraft, the Boeing 777-300ER, on its London-Singapore-Sydney route starting March 30, 2013.

The new planes feature BA’s next-generation First Class, Club World, World Traveller and World Traveller Plus cabins.

In addition, flights on the London-Singapore-Sydney as well as London-Singapore turnaround service will be transferred to Heathrow Airport’s Terminal 5, offering convenient same-terminal transfers to BA’s European and North American destinations.

Premium class travellers will also be able to avail of BA’s Concorde Room and Galleries Club lounges within the terminal.

Jamie Cassidy, area general manager for Middle East & Asia-Pacific, BA, said: “Our new initiatives mark a new chapter in our history with Australia, and underscores our commitment to the route. The enhancements are great news for our passengers from Singapore.”

BA’s remaining turnaround service to Singapore will continue to operate with the Boeing 747-400. BA will take delivery of its first A380 in the second half of 2013, making it the ninth operator of this aircraft type.

TALKS to expand commercial air services between the Philippines and Thailand are set to take place in Bangkok on November 13-14.

According to Carmelo Arcilla, executive director, Philippines’ Civil Aeronautics Board, the negotiations seek to support the growth of tourism in the country.

He added: “Actual air negotiations are driven by a variety of triggers such as requests from local airlines on account of capacity or route expansion, requests from foreign governments for new or additional air services or routes, or simply to modernise the terms of existing agreements.”

The discussions come on the heels of the Philippines’ Department of Tourism’s ramped-up marketing focus on Thailand, which was recently grouped with Malaysia as a source market under the purview of its Malaysia-based marketing director (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 11, 2012).

Bangkok is a stopover for Philippine Airlines’ twice-weekly service between New Delhi and Manila. The national carrier and its sister airline, AirPhil Express, currently have the largest seat allocation on the Manila-Bangkok route, followed by Cebu Pacific.

VICTORIA has become the first Australian state to launch a marketing campaign targeted specifically at the Chinese outbound market.

Unveiled by Victorian premier Ted Baillieu during a trade mission to Shanghai in September, the A$8 million-plus (US$8.3 million) Open Up To More campaign centres around a 30-second television commercial depicting a young Chinese couple discovering Victorian landmarks such as Yarra Valley, Ballarat’s Sovereign Hill and the Great Ocean Road.

Lasting till May 2013, the campaign aims to drive traffic to Tourism Victoria’s new Chinese language website (cn.visitmelbourne.com), and will also incorporate advertising across various print and social media.

In addition, Tourism Victoria will work closely with Chinese airlines flying to Melbourne, and Australian tour operators specialising in Chinese inbound.

For the year ending June 2012, Chinese visitors had the highest expenditure of all international arrivals to Victoria, up eight per cent year-on-year to A$905 million. China also contributed the largest share of international visitors to Victoria with 280,100 arrivals, up 27 per cent year-on-year.

MARRIOTT International has unveiled plans to more than double the size of its Asia portfolio over the next few years.

With 132 hotels currently in operation and 143 properties in the pipeline in Asia, Marriott expects to grow its regional network to at least 265 hotels by 2016, encompassing more than 80,000 rooms in 16 countries.

The company already has 127 hotels opened and under development in China, and is also planning to beef up its India portfolio from 15 to more than 50 hotels.

Simon Cooper, president & managing director, Asia, Marriott International, said: “We have seen great growth across our portfolio and expect to be launching new brands in the region soon, with the introduction of Fairfield by Marriott in India next year and the launch of our Edition brand in Bangkok in 2014.”

Earlier this month, Marriott rolled out the Autograph Collection in Asia with the opening of The Stones Legian, Bali.

According to Cooper, China and India are “driving forces” for Marriott’s business in Asia, but the company is also “seeing growth with new signings and openings in Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam and elsewhere in the region”.

Having launched its Li Yu programme in July (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 5, 2012), the company is also training its associates and teams outside of China in anticipation of the expected 80 million outbound Chinese travellers this year.

TIGER Airways and Scoot have enhanced their network tie-up (TTG Asia e-Daily, October 2, 2012) by introducing joint itineraries to 13 more destinations in North Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and South-east Asia.

Starting October 31, travellers may purchase a single itinerary for travel from Sydney, the Gold Coast and Tianjin, served by Scoot; to Bangalore, Kochi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirapalli, Phnom Penh, Hanoi, Dhaka, Penang, Colombo, Kuching and Jakarta, served by Tiger, via a transit in Singapore.

This complements the existing cooperation to Phuket, Ho Chi Minh City and Kuala Lumpur, and brings the total number of destinations served under the Tiger-Scoot partnership to 16.

In addition, customers will be able to purchase flight itineraries originating from South-east Asia. New routes available on single-itinerary bookings include Jakarta-Tianjin, Hong Kong-Sydney/Gold Coast, Guangzhou-Sydney/Gold Coast, Hyderabad-Sydney/Gold Coast, Cambodia-Sydney and Chennai-Sydney.

Tickets purchased on these joint itineraries go on sale October 31, for travel from November 15.

IN A synchronised move, Singapore Airlines (SIA) has acquired a 10 per cent stake in Virgin Australia Airlines for US$108.8 million, while the latter has secured a 60 per cent share in SIA subsidiary Tiger Airways Australia for US$36.2 million.

Virgin Australia is now co-owned by founder & president Richard Brandson (26 per cent), Air New Zealand (19.9 per cent), Etihad Airways (10 per cent) and SIA (10 per cent), with the remaining 34.1 per cent publicly listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. SIA also has a 49 per cent share in Branson’s Virgin Atlantic Airways.

The development comes almost one-and-a-half years after the two airlines inked a partnership agreement during the IATA 67th AGM and World Air Transport Summit in Singapore (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 7, 2011).

Since then, Virgin Australia has transformed from a low-cost into a full-service carrier. However, the airline’s unexpected investment in Tiger Australia means it has re-emerged in the LCC arena to take on Jetstar Airways, which is owned by arch rival, Qantas Airways.

Virgin Australia and SIA plan to grow Tiger Australia’s current fleet of 11 Airbus A320 aircraft to 35-strong by 2018.

SIA CEO, Goh Choon Phong, said: “This major development demonstrates the importance and strength of the partnership between our two airlines, and our shared commitment to an alliance that provides a wide range of consumer benefits. With this development, there is no doubt that SIA and Virgin Australia intend to be alliance partners for the long haul.”

Virgin Australia CEO, John Borghetti, said: “This transaction allows Virgin Australia to access the budget market, and enables Tiger Airways Australia to expedite its growth, providing greater competition in this important market segment.”

Meanwhile, Virgin Australia has made a US$101.9 million takeover bid for Skywest Airlines, a regional carrier based in Perth, Western Australia.