RAMA Rebbapragada, founding chairman of the Asia Cruise Association (ACA), passed away on July 25, 2012 following a long battle with illness.

Serving as ACA chairman from January 2010 to June 2012, Rama’s passion in leading the association was apparent in the way he championed working together as an industry with cruise lines on a range of issues, such as building consumer and trade awareness for cruising through travel consultant training, and working with government agencies to develop a cruise-friendly environment in Asia.

Rama was also associate vice president, International Consumer Outreach & Business Development of Royal Caribbean Cruises, and an employee of the company, since 1983. Previously, he was regional vice president, International, responsible for business development in Asia, Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Africa. Based in Singapore from 2007 to 2009, he led Royal Caribbean Cruises’ entry into Asia-Pacific, opening its regional headquarters in Singapore, its first representative offices in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou, and its first office in Sydney.

Kevin Leong, recently appointed general manager of ACA after a long career with the Singapore Tourism Board (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 16, 2012), said: “I first got to know Rama when he was sent to Singapore to start the Royal Caribbean Asia office. His dynamism was infectious and when he started up ACA, I knew that Asia would become the next big cruise region sooner or later. We mourn his passing, but will continue his legacy and turn his dreams into reality.”

Trey Hickey, vice president International Sales & Marketing for Princess Cruises and Cunard Line, said: “Rama touched the lives of so many across the world; he kindly brought me into the industry 15 years ago and has served as my mentor ever since. Rama will continue to be an inspiration to all of us and will be missed.”

KOSMOPOLITO Hotels International is entering the Singapore scene with the Dorsett Regency Singapore, scheduled to open in 4Q2012.

Situated at the junction of New Bridge Road and Cantonment Road, Dorsett Regency Singapore will be a four-star business hotel offering 285 guestrooms.

Facilities at the hotel will include an infinity edge swimming pool, a business centre, as well as meeting and event facilities.

Philip Wong has been appointed as general manager and Frankie Lam as director of sales & marketing of Dorsett Regency Singapore.

QANTAS Airways is on the verge of an alliance with Emirates that will see the majority of its London-bound services routed through Dubai instead of Singapore, according to a report by the Australian Financial Review.

The proposed partnership between Qantas and Emirates is part of the Australian flag carrier’s efforts to turn around its loss-making international business, which was separated from its domestic arm on July 1 (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 22, 2012).

The two airlines are reportedly in advanced negotiations over a codeshare deal that will see Qantas launch inaugural flights to Dubai, and rely on Emirates to faciliate onward connections to destinations across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

The alliance with Emirates would signal the end of Qantas’s long-standing arrangement with British Airways on the Kangaroo Route  to  London and into Europe, the report added.

SILKAIR will be implementing several network adjustments during the upcoming Northern Winter operating season from October 28, 2012 to March 30, 2013.

An additional service will be introduced to Wuhan and Chiang Mai, with frequency to each destination increasing from three to four flights per week.

For the Indochina region, an additional Singapore–Danang–Siem Reap round flight will be introduced on Tuesdays from the start of the winter season.

In India, an additional frequency will be introduced to Hyderabad, boosting the number of weekly flights to nine. For Chennai, operations on Sundays will be moved to Wednesdays, with frequencies unchanged.

Meanwhile, some frequency reductions and service restructurings will be implemented in selected markets during the Northern Winter schedule.

Services between Singapore and Changsha will be reduced from the current four times to three times weekly. Flights between Singapore and Pekanbaru will also decrease from the current five times to four times weekly.

Singapore-Darwin flights on Wednesdays and Sundays will be retimed from the current night departure to a morning departure, with frequencies unchanged.

The current Singapore–Cebu–Davao round flights on Thursdays will be delinked, with two new direct services from Singapore to Cebu and Davao introduced instead.

TRAVELPORT has released Travelport Mobile Agent, a mobile app that enables Travelport-connected travel consultants to access the Galileo interface directly on their mobile devices (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 14, 2012).

Currently downloadable via Apple’s App Store, Travelport Mobile Agent is one of the first products to be released globally as a result of the Travelport Developer Network launched last November. The app has already been piloted across Portugal, Spain and Brazil, where it was downloaded more than 3,000 times.

Jason Nash, vice president Product Innovation at Travelport, said: “By enabling talented third parties to build products using Travelport technology, we are delivering on our strategy to launch new, innovative solutions for our customers worldwide.”

Marcio Ferreira, CEO of Aviateam, a GSA based in Portugal, said: “Being able to manage our travel bookings on the move is hugely advantageous in today’s mobile world. Travelport’s innovative mobile solutions enable us to enhance the services we offer to our customers and improve our processes.”

The launch of Travelport Mobile Agent comes shortly after the global release of Travelport ViewTrip Mobile, Travelport’s mobile traveller itinerary application (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 27, 2012).

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) posted a net profit of S$78 million (US$62 million) in the first quarter of its 2012-2013 financial year, a 73-per cent jump over the S$44.7 million earned during the same period last year.

The figure was also in stark contrast to the US$30 million loss the Singapore flag carrier registered in the last quarter (TTG Asia e-Daily, May 10, 2012).

In the first quarter of financial year 2012-13, SIA’s passenger carriage grew 9.6 per cent year-on-year. With traffic growth outpacing the 4.3 per cent capacity growth, the average passenger load factor of 79.5 per cent was 3.9 percentage points higher.

SIA took delivery of one A380-800 during the quarter. As at June 30, the airline’s operating fleet comprised 100 passenger aircraft – 59 B777s, 19 A330-300s, 17 A380-800s and five A340-500s – with an average age of six years and four months.