IN ANTICIPATION of growing inbound traffic, Myanmar’s Department of Civil Aviation is redeveloping Yangon International Airport to double its handling capacity to 5.5 million passengers a year.

Tin Naing Tun, director general of the department, said the Ministry of Transport plans to develop Yangon International Airport into a “business centre” with private sector participation, which will see the expansion of both the international and domestic terminal buildings, apron and car parks.

The airport’s old terminal is used exclusively for domestic flights while the new terminal – in operation since May 2007 – handles international flights. In 2011, the international terminal handled 1.4 million passengers, while the domestic terminal handled nearly one million passengers.

“Yangon airport can handle only 2.7 million passengers a year. Last year we saw about 2.4 million passengers, (and) in 2012 we expect to handle about 2.8 million passengers,” said Tin Naing Tun. “If the number of passengers continues to grow as (predicted) over the next four years, we will urgently need to expand the terminal and aircraft landing area.”

He added that the number of passengers using the airport is likely to increase 20-23 per cent each year to reach 5.5 million in the next four years, based on a feasibility study conducted.

Located in Mingaladon, Yangon International Airport is Myanmar’s primary international airport and the second-largest airport in the country. Its revamp will take place at the same time as the construction of the new Hanthawaddy International Airport at Bago, 50km from Yangon.

CONNECTIONS between Malaysia and north Vietnam are set to receive a boost in January 2013 when AirAsia raises its Kuala Lumpur-Hanoi flight frequency from daily to 10 times weekly.

The new frequency, to start from January 22, 2013, will see the AK 1440 depart Kuala Lumpur at 18.30 and arrive in Hanoi at 20.30 every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, on top of current daily flights.

Return flights leave the Vietnamese capital at 21.00 and touch down in Kuala Lumpur at 23.15 on the same days.

To mark the introduction of these new flights, the LCC is offering a special all-in fare from RM126 (US$41) one-way from Kuala Lumpur to Hanoi. Booking has begun and will last through November 18 for the travel period January 22 to May 25, 2013.

CARLSON Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has acquired WorldMate, a San Francisco-based mobile travel technology company, which will operate as a subsidiary.

Douglas Anderson, CWT president and CEO, said: “This acquisition puts us in an exciting place within the industry; working with the expert in mobile technology puts us in control of our own ‘mobile destiny’. Injecting WorldMate’s proven mobile expertise into our existing range of products will bring additional services and functionalities to our clients and their travellers.”

According to CWT, the WorldMate mobile app is used by over 10 million travellers to organise their itineraries, get real-time local information, and book hotels and car rentals while on the go.

With the acquisition, business travellers will have access to a broader range of on-the-go services including airport parking, restaurant bookings, hotel reservations, ground transportation and airline offers such as in-flight internet, according to CWT. Users will also be able to tackle compliance issues, monitor travel spend, as well as better track travellers for safety and security purposes.

WorldMate will work with CWT teams to enhance existing tools such as CWT To Go, CWT’s mobile app for travellers. Developed with Rearden Commerce, CWT To Go includes itineraries, mobile check-in, flight alerts and gate changes, information on nearby restaurants, maps and directions.

CWT will continue to partner with Rearden Commerce on the distribution of Deem travel and merchant solutions.

THE Outrigger Phi Phi Island Resort and Spa, formerly Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort and Spa, will open its doors on November 3.

Since taking over the sales and marketing of the 156-key property in October last year, Hawaii-based Outrigger Hotels and Resorts has launched extensive improvements at the 28-hectare resort.

“We have started to implement Outrigger international standards across facilities, F&B and human resource services,” said Darren Edmonstone, managing director Asia-Pacific for Outrigger.

There are now 44 new 53m² Deluxe Garden Bungalows, with interiors appointed in contemporary style with Thai touches, a walk-in wardrobe, a flat-screen TV and iPod/iPhone docking station.

A new executive chef with extensive luxury hotel experience has also been hired to implement a refreshed F&B offering.

Located on a quiet peninsula of north-east Phi Phi, the beachfront resort offers facilities such as a gym, a spa, snorkelling, scuba diving, private boat excursions and fishing.

INTERGLOBE Hotels, a joint venture between Accor and InterGlobe, has outlined plans to beef up its Indian portfolio by launching 19 new hotels with 3,600 rooms by 2015.

“We will open a 145-key Ibis Hotel in Jaipur and a 465-key property in Gurgaon, Delhi NCR by the end of 2012,” said Uttam Dave, president and CEO, InterGlobe Hotels. “The asset value of all 19 properties is US$360 million and we have already invested US$170 million into the venture.”

Of the 19 hotels in the pipeline, nine are currently under construction and seven are already operational in Bangalore, Pune, Gurgaon, Nasik, Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. InterGlobe Hotels’ immediate plans are to build hotels in cities like Cochin, Coimbatore and Goa.

Another six properties under discussion are expected to be finalised soon, which will add 900 rooms to bring the joint-venture inventory to 25 hotels and 4,500 rooms by 1Q2017.

Jean-Michel Cassé, senior vice president of operations, Accor India, said: “Accor is focused on India as a core growth market, and the expansion in 2012 has been positive with a number of significant openings during the year. We are very happy with the opening of our properties in Navi Mumbai, Nasik, Thane and Pune.”

AIR Seychelles will introduce in February 2013 thrice-weekly services between the Seychelles and Hong Kong via Abu Dhabi, using Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

With the Abu Dhabi-Hong Kong leg operated via a codeshare with Etihad Airways, the additional capacity will boost Air Seychelles’ services to Abu Dhabi to seven flights a week.

Cramer Ball, CEO, Air Seychelles, said: “The Seychelles needs a national carrier which can support the growing number of travellers into the archipelago, not just from our historical markets in Europe, but also the powerful emerging ones.

“Hong Kong’s economy is among the fastest growing in the world, supporting a booming middle class with a high disposable income per capita by global standards.

“These factors have brought a remarkable increase in the number of travellers coming out of the region in recent years. In fact, since 2010, the number of travellers coming to the Seychelles from Hong Kong has more than doubled.”

Offering connections to more than 30 destinations across China, Japan and Australasia, Hong Kong is also seen as a gateway for expanding Air Seychelles’ reach within Asia-Pacific.

LUXURY travel operator Orient-Express has partnered with New Delhi-based The Luxury Trains to tap the high-end Indian segment for its train and cruise products across Asia and Europe.

Marco Rosa, director – global sales & marketing (trains & cruises), Orient-Express, said: “Many Indians can afford these luxury experiences. Indian outbound is growing phenomenally and discerning tourists are keen to have unique experiences. Our partner, The Luxury Trains, has years of experience in selling luxury products in the market.”

Upaneeta Sen, managing director, Altair Services Kolkata, said: “Many Indians have had multiple overseas travel experiences and are now looking for niche and customised travel itineraries. Cruises and heritage train journeys rank high among their priorities.”

Ashish Saran, group general manager, The Luxury Trains, said: “There are certain segments where people are well-informed and travel-savvy, and look for one-of-a-kind experiences. We will work with trade partners who have customers capable of affording US$1,000-US$2,000 per day packages, and who are able to educate and motivate their clients.”

THE Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO) is ramping up its promotions in India as part of a strategy to attract more leisure travellers from emerging markets.

Speaking during a recent cultural event commemorating 60 years of India-Japan diplomatic relations, Motonari Adachi, executive director, JNTO Singapore Office, said the NTO was looking to target the high-end Indian leisure segment.

“We will take 16 travel (consultants from India) on a fam trip to Japan in November to showcase our tourism products that can be offered to high-end Indian families. We have also roped in Bollywood starlet, Dia Mirza, to (help us) promote Japan,” he said.

Additionally, JNTO is leveraging social media platforms such its Visit Japan from India Facebook page (www.facebook.com/VisitJapan.India) to raise awareness among Indian travellers.

JNTO’s efforts look set to receive a boost from increasing air capacity between India and Japan. All Nippon Airways started daily flights from Tokyo to New Delhi on October 28, while Japan Airlines will reinstate daily flights on the same route in December.

“Close to three lakh (300,000) Indian tourists visit Japan every year. Enhanced (air) connectivity is likely to lure more tourists to (Japan),” said Prem Syal, CEO & managing director, Hi! Tours India.

Japan has set a target of 80,000 Indian visitors in 2012. From January-August, there were 45,200 Indian arrivals to Japan, an 18.4 per cent year-on-year growth.

BANDUNG’S Husein Sastranegara International Airport will kick off expansion works on its passenger terminal next year.

The airport’s operation services manager, Iskandar Hamid, said: “The airport serves 74 flights with an average of 3,800 passengers a day, (so) it is beyond capacity already. By the end of the year, we are expecting to serve 1.4 million passengers, therefore it is crucial that we start expanding the terminal building.”

The airport’s current annual capacity is only half that number – 700,000 passengers – according to Hamid.

State-owned airport operator Angkasa Pura II has set aside Rp370 billion (US$38.5 million) to expand the facility from 5,000m2 to 20,000m2, which will boost its annual handling capacity to two million passengers.

Meanwhile, Hamid said there were requests for 46 additional domestic and regional frequencies for November, which if granted, will see the airport serving 120 flights a day.

EVEN though visitor numbers to Sri Lanka remain on target for the year, high-end hotels and resorts in the country have registered 10 to 15 per cent dips in occupancy levels this winter.

Arrivals rose 18.1 per cent year-on-year in September, while visitor numbers from January to September increased 16 per cent year-on-year to 693,772, paving the way for Sri Lanka to reach its target of one million visitors for 2012.

“However the arrivals (growth) is not reflected among the high-end hotels because of poor promotion of Sri Lanka overseas,” lamented Malin Hapugoda, managing director of Aitken Spence Hotels, the second largest hotel chain in the country.

Hapugoda explained that the lack of overseas promotion put Sri Lanka at a disadvantage against regional competitors such as Thailand and Malaysia, which were “very visible on the world stage”.

Other industry players pointed to a changing inbound profile as tourists to Sri Lanka increasingly seek cheaper accommodation options.

“The three- to five-star range is not attractive anymore,” said a source from a top inbound travel operator, adding that bookings for this segment had dropped by 10-15 per cent for the current winter season.