EVEN before the conclusion of its ad hoc Airbus A380 service on the Dubai-Singapore route from September 8-21 (TTG Asia e-Daily, August 30, 2012), Emirates has decided to permanently deploy an A380 to Singapore from December 1, becoming the first carrier to offer scheduled A380 flights on the route.

“Emirates is currently operating a two-week ad hoc Airbus A380 service between Dubai and Singapore which has received extremely positive response from our passengers,” said Salem Obaidalla, senior vice president, commercial operations Far East & Australasia, Emirates.

“In light of this, we have decided to bring our flagship aircraft to Singapore on a permanent basis.”

The 517-seat A380 aircraft will be deployed for flights EK354 and EK355, replacing the 354-seat Boeing 777-300ER – a 46 per cent hike in capacity. Emirates’ total capacity across four daily services from Dubai to Singapore will increase to 1,659 seats daily.

Additional A380 destinations that are scheduled to launch this year include Melbourne (from October 1) and Moscow (from December 1).

SILKAIR will become the first airline to provide a direct international air link to Visakhapatnam when it begins non-stop thrice-weekly services from Singapore starting October 28.
Flights will operate to the port city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays, with next-day return flights to Singapore. The services will be operated with Airbus A319 and A320 aircraft, featuring both business and economy class cabins.

SilkAir’s chief executive, Leslie Thng, said: “(The route launch) represents a significant milestone as SilkAir is the first carrier to offer international flights to and from Visakhapatnam. We are…confident that this direct service will further strengthen the strong economic ties between Singapore and India.”

He added: “This new route will also give business travellers access to one of the fastest growing commercial cities in India, while introducing a great sightseeing destination for leisure-oriented tourists.”

Visakhapatnam will be SilkAir’s eighth destination in India and will boost the carrier’s route network to 42 destinations in 12 countries.

CARNIVAL Corporation has appointed Costa Cruises chairman Pier Luigi Foschi to oversee the company’s growth strategies within the rapidly expanding Asian region.

In his role as chairman & CEO of the newly-created Carnival Asia unit, Foschi will be responsible for establishing Carnival Corporation’s new corporate office in Singapore and providing guidance to the organisation’s various operating units in pursuing their Asian strategies.

“With Asia being such an important part of our global strategy, it’s critical that we increase our presence in the region by establishing this new office in Singapore and appointing an experienced executive to coordinate our current operations and our future expansion efforts,” said Micky Arison, chairman & CEO, Carnival Corporation.

Currently, Carnival Corporation’s Asia operations include two Costa Cruises ships based in China and Singapore, and Princess Cruises’ Sun Princess, which will launch a series of voyages from Japan next spring.

Foschi, who retired as CEO of Costa Cruises in July (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 25, 2012), will continue to serve in his current role as chairman and managing director of the Costa group, and as a member of the board of directors at Carnival Corporation.

Foschi has extensive experience in Asia, having overseen Costa’s initial entry into the region in 2006.  Additionally, prior to joining Costa, Foschi resided in Hong Kong and Singapore for many years while serving as executive vice president of Asia-Pacific operations for the Otis Elevator Company.

PANORAMA Tours Indonesia is looking to reap a bumper crop of year-end outbound business by organising the World of Panorama (WOP) consumer travel fair from September 21-23 in Jakarta.

Meity Lukito, managing director-leisure travel management, Panorama Tours, said: “This is the first time WOP is being organised after the Lebaran holidays, which we hope will boost (business) during the shoulder season and year-end peak season.”

“With Lebaran dates falling about two weeks earlier every year, there is quite a long gap between the Lebaran holidays (which this year fell in mid-August) and the year-end, so we believe people will be eager to travel again.”

According to Lukito, WOP acts as a platform for Panorama customers to secure their holiday arrangements and pick choice dates available, before the programmes are released to other consumers during larger fairs.

“The year-end holiday season usually contributes between 15 and 20 per cent of (overall) business (for the year), but this year we are aiming at reaching the level of Lebaran – which was about 40 per cent,” she added.

TOURISM ministers of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam (CLMV) signed an agreement last week pledging to work together to attract 25 million international visitors to the four countries by 2015, and to consider the possibility of implementing a single tourist visa.

During the CLMV Tourism Ministers’ Meeting held in Ho Chi Minh City on September 14, tourism ministers from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam signed the Joint Plan on Tourism Cooperation 2013-2015.

Focused on ramping up joint tourism efforts, the pact laid out a roadmap to boost information exchange between the four countries, develop high-quality tourism products, attract investments to the tourism market and form partnerships with other nations and international organisations.

A significant goal in the agreement was the introduction of a joint target to bring in some 25 million international visitors to the four countries by 2015, of which four million are to be intra-country travellers.

To further promote the idea of ‘four countries, one destination’, the CLMV bloc is also considering combining tourist visas for international travellers to make country hopping easier, with Thailand likely to be the fifth partner in this scheme.

Any action on this issue however, is only likely to take place after all five countries have assessed the effectiveness of the joint tourist visa introduced by Thailand and Cambodia earlier this year (TTG Asia e-Daily, January 16, 2012).

The number of international tourists to CLMV countries has been on the rise over the last few years. The four countries jointly received more than 12.3 million visitors in 2011, a jump of 14.5 per cent year-on-year. Of that figure, 17 per cent were comprised of travellers from within CLMV.

SCANDINAVIAN Airlines (SAS) will suspend its daily Copenhagen-Bangkok flights from April 7, 2013 but will continue to operate the service during winter, citing lower-than-expected yields as well as growing competition from Thai Airways International (THAI) and Middle East carriers.

Both THAI and Qatar Airways operate direct flights to Stockholm and Oslo, while Emirates serves Copenhagen. Qatar has also announced plans to fly to Helsinki.

SAS has been operating the Copenhagen-Bangkok route since 1949 and was instrumental in helping to establish THAI – it previously held a stake in the latter and provided management and technical expertise. Several years ago, SAS decided to drop the Bangkok-Singapore tag-on and designated Bangkok as its hub for South-east Asia.

The two Airbus A340-300 aircraft that will be freed from the suspension of flights to Bangkok will be redeployed to SAS’ new Copenhagen-San Francisco service.

SAS will work with customers booked on the suspended flights to secure alternative travel arrangements with fellow Star Alliance member airlines, namely THAI and Singapore Airlines.

REGENT Hotels & Resorts (RHR), wholly owned by Formosa International Hotels Corporation, has signed a long-term Strategic Alliance Agreement for the Regent brand with Rezidor Hotel Group.

Effective immediately, Rezidor will exclusively develop and operate Regent hotels in Russia/CIS, the Baltics, the Middle East and Africa; and jointly develop and operate new Regent hotels across the rest of Europe. RHR will continue operating existing Regent hotels within Europe.

“Our cooperation (with Rezidor) will further strengthen our growth strategy, while RHR continues to focus primarily on luxury hotel residential mixed-use projects in the (EMEA) region. Together we hope to significantly increase the Regent hotel portfolio and international network,” said Steven Pan, chairman, Regent Hotels & Resorts.

Kurt Ritter, president & CEO, Rezidor, said: “The acquisition of the Regent brand and business by Formosa in 2010 allowed us to focus on our core brands Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson, and strengthen our network in 70 countries across EMEA. A luxury brand was however never off our agenda, and we are delighted to complement our portfolio with Regent now.”