TRAVEL consultants in Singapore were caught unawares last Thursday when the High Commission of Malaysia issued a notice on the appointment of Third Link as its one-stop visa application vendor in the country, effective today.

The notice informed the travel agencies that the High Commission of Malaysia would no longer be accepting visa applications “directly from agents” from October 19. In a subsequent email, Third Link indicated that it would impose a S$20 (US$16) service fee per visa application.

Travel consultants whom TTG Asia e-Daily spoke to lamented the fact that neither Tourism Malaysia nor the High Commission of Malaysia had given adequate warning or explanation for the change in visa application standards.

Speaking on condition of anonymity, a sales and marketing manager of a Singapore-based inbound operator that often handles trip extensions to Johor and other parts of Malaysia, said: “I wish the relevant authorities had given us a heads up before this happened, and at least tell us why this change is necessary and how it is supposed to benefit our customers, especially since they will have to pay two layers of service fees for visa application from now on.”

The manager added: “When the visa application was handled by us, we would charge the customer S$20 plus the visa fee levied by the High Commission of Malaysia. Now, to help the customer collect, prepare and deliver visa application documents to Third Link, a task that takes time and manpower on our part, we would still have to charge a service fee on top of the amount demanded by Third Link and the High Commission of Malaysia.

“We have yet to determine how much our service fee will be, but it could be the same amount we used to charge. That means the traveller will have to pay more just to go over the border to look-see, and I expect such demand to fall once the new visa application process is implemented.”

According to Lotus Ooi, general manager of Konsortium Express & Tours, demand for day tours to Malaysia might take more of a hit than overnight programmes, but travellers who “really want to see Malaysia will have no choice but to pay the higher cost of getting a visa”.

“More importantly, if the establishment of Third Link can ensure a quicker and smoother visa application process, customers will accept the higher fees. The processing time has been very vague. It can sometimes take more than a week, making it hard for travellers to book their tours for Malaysia,” she said.

When contacted, Ivan Hoong, a representative of Third Link, told TTG Asia e-Daily that the company would strive to reduce the current seven-day processing norm to three days.

INDIA’S Directorate General of Civil Aviation suspended Kingfisher Airlines’ air operator’s certificate on Saturday after the debt-laden carrier failed to meet the regulator’s concerns about its operations.

Kingfisher’s fleet has been grounded since October 1, due to an ongoing strike by its employees over unpaid wages.

Afflicted by debts estimated at US$2.49 billion by the Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation, analysts are doubtful that a buyer will emerge to bail out Kingfisher – which has yet to make a profit since launching in 2004.

With Kingfisher’s absence from Indian skies, airlines such as IndiGo, SpiceJet and Jet Airways have started operating additional sectors to make up for the sudden reduction in capacity.

Rajendra Churiwala, director – eastern region, IATA Agents Association of India said: “The other carriers have to fill up the seat capacity on routes in demand, without exploiting the customers with inordinately high fares during the upcoming festive and peak seasons.”

GARUDA Indonesia and Etihad Airways have entered into a codeshare deal that will see Etihad place its EY code on Garuda’s services from Jakarta to Denpasar (Bali) and Kuala Lumpur from October 28.

Subject to regulatory approval, Garuda will place its GA code on Etihad’s flights from Jakarta to three African, seven Middle Eastern, 13 European and three North American destinations, and will also switch its stopover on the Jakarta–Amsterdam route from Dubai to Abu Dhabi, effective December 2, 2012.

“The partnership with Garuda Indonesia will contribute to Etihad Airways’ efforts in expanding its network and its South-east Asian presence,” said James Hogan, president & CEO, Etihad Airways.

“Etihad would like to expand its cooperation with Garuda in adding new destinations, especially within Indonesia, and offer our consumers more variety and choice of travel.”

Emirsyah Satar, president & CEO, Garuda Indonesia, said: “The codeshare partnership will strengthen both airlines’ global networks and provide more benefits for our passengers.”

“This agreement will allow Garuda to expand its services to Europe, North America, the Middle East and Africa, while Etihad Airways will (receive) a better connection for its passengers in Indonesia, Australia and Japan.”

Additional reporting by Sim Kok Chwee

THE IATA Passenger Services Conference adopted a resolution on a foundation standard for a New Distribution Capability (NDC) during the World Passenger Symposium in Abu Dhabi last week.

With around 60 per cent of all air tickets by value currently sold indirectly through travel agencies utilising GDS technology, the NDC aims to create a set of open XML standards that will modernise airline retailing by enabling innovation in the way its products are distributed.

Once implemented, the NDC will allow airlines to offer personalised offerings to passengers, who will also have access to all airline products and services regardless of distribution channel. It will also facilitate new entrants into the distribution sector, resulting in increased competition.

“A foundation standard for the NDC is the first step to enabling the development of open XML standards that will be available for all interested providers to work on and develop their own offerings,” said Aleks Popovich, senior vice president, industry distribution and financial services, IATA.

ONE year after unveiling its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 28, 2011), travel search site Skyscanner has moved to a larger premises to accommodate blistering annual growth of up to 400 per cent across the region.

Driven by use of the company’s suite of free mobile apps that have been downloaded over 11 million times across the globe, visits to the Skyscanner site via mobile devices contribute as much as 50 per cent of overall traffic in some Asia-Pacific markets. Traffic to Skyscanner in the region now makes up more than 15 per cent of the firm’s 30 million online hits per month.

Skyscanner currently employs 12 nationalities at its Singapore base covering all areas of Asia-Pacific. It also recently opened an office in Beijing, where it signed a deal with Chinese search engine Baidu to display Skyscanner results directly on the results page after a user searches for international flights.

Ewan Gray, Skyscanner’s director for Asia-Pacific, said: “The rate of growth in Asia-Pacific is now surpassing that of many European markets. We fully expect this trajectory to continue and plan to capitalise on this progress over the next few years by expanding further across the region.”

Skyscanner aims to expand its workforce in Singapore with further hires in marketing, technical and commercial, in addition to bolstering its team of specialist market development managers for Asia-Pacific.

AMADEUS and Jetstar Japan have entered into a global distribution agreement that allows travel agencies access to the new airline’s fares, domestic schedules and inventories through the Amadeus Selling Platform.

Amadeus is the first GDS to offer Jetstar Japan’s content to agencies worldwide since the low-cost carrier began domestic operations earlier this year.

Miyuki Suzuki, CEO, Jetstar Japan, said: “This agreement will make our fares easily accessible to travel (consultants) in Japan and will provide more choice for Japanese travellers.”

The addition of Jetstar Japan complements the 70 low-cost carriers already available in the Amadeus system, including airlines in the Jetstar Group such as Jetstar Australia and New Zealand, Jetstar Asia, Jetstar Pacific and Valuair.

David Koczkar, COO, Jetstar Group, said: “Now (travel consultants) across the world will have the ability to book itineraries seamlessly for customers by combining flights across the Jetstar network.”