LOW-cost brand AirAsia is morphing into a global player by connecting its shorthaul and longhaul networks, and entering into joint ventures to establish multiple hubs in key cities.

Giving the conference’s opening keynote yesterday on the changing travel landscape, AirAsia X CEO, Azran Osman Rani, said: “Traditionally LCCs said we’re just these simple regional networks; we fly people from point to point…With AirAsia X, we found there were tremendous advantages in linking up the longhaul to the shorthaul model.”

He added that a huge percentage of Australian passengers flying AirAsia X into Kuala Lumpur were taking connecting flights on AirAsia to nearby destinations such as Bangkok, and even farther north to China, South Korea and Japan.

“An LCC that doesn’t have a longhaul component will suddenly find itself at a significant disadvantage. For example, in South-east Asia, how does a standalone LCC compare to an AirAsia network which is not only capturing the market within South-east Asia but able to tap markets from Australia, North Asia and the Middle East who are also flying within the South-east Asia network.”

Closely related is AirAsia’s strategy of adopting a multi-hub model in cities across Asia, with its longhaul arm acting as a feeder. Azran said this would involve “using joint ventures as a way of bringing in partners and dealing with a lot of the regulatory issues on foreign ownership”.

– Read more in TTG Asia May 18, 2012

THE ABILITY of social media to translate into profits is overhyped, said Scoot’s head of commercial, Steven Greenway, during a panel discussion at EyeforTravel’s Travel Distribution Summit Asia.

“Not a single airline has been able to co-relate how engaging consumers through social media adds to the bottom line,” said Greenway.

In addition, social media could potentially wipe out the intangible benefits it brings. “Scoot’s Facebook page, for instance, has also become a platform for customers to air their angst and complaints, which can be erroneous and highly damaging,” he said.

Grand Hyatt Singapore’s director of revenue management, Fiona Lau also pointed out that social media works better for leisure-oriented hotels rather than properties with a multi-market mix. Unlike leisure travellers who can make decisions based on recommendations, corporate travellers are “constrained by corporate travel policy that dictates where they can stay”, she added.

Greenway emphasised the relevance of social media in brand management, but concluded that it was hard to justify its use for revenue generation. “At the end of the day, someone has to pay the (advertising) bills,” he said.

WEBJET, Australia’s largest OTA, is poised to launch bundled flight and hotel packages in the second half of 2012.

The packages, which will be marketed as flash sales, will be first rolled out in New Zealand, followed by Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore respectively.

Webjet’s managing director, John Guscic, said: “The precursor to our decision (to offer these packages) lies in our committment to offer our customers value. So we experimented with daily deal offers – offering around two deals on our so-called Cheap Tuesdays. Soon enough, we observed an uptick in demand.”

The OTA adopts a cautious stance when it comes to expanding its reach, with no “immediate plans to go beyond where (it is) now”.

“For us, it’s not about accumulating large transactions. Instead, we want to build the Webjet brand (in Asia) for the long term by ensuring that we offer a value proposition that resonates with individual markets,” Guscic added.

When questioned about the reported loss in profit in Asia last year, Guscic replied: “Hong Kong and Singapore are now doing better than when we first started in Australia, and owing to the consistent level of investment received, we are optimistic that we will be successful in these markets.”

FLOCATIONS, a Singapore-based online travel start-up, is seeking additional capital to propel its interactive website onto the global arena.

In a presentation at the conference, Tudor Coman, one of the start-up’s four founders, demonstrated how the website automatically recognises the location of a user on an interactive map. By using the price slider, one can view flight and hotel options based on a chosen budget.

Currently, the fledgling startup derives its main source of revenue from Agoda.com’s affiliate programme. However, this is set to change.

“Monetising our wishlist function will enable businesses to offer targeted online advertising on our site. Further down the line, we hope to go the way of Groupon or Deals.com by offering flash sales.”

The website, which mainly targets shorthaul travellers within South-east Asia, has garnered around 7,000 visits a month since it was launched.

Flocations ultimately aims to transform itself into a “travel discovery and booking engine” by integrating information on local events and attractions, as well as curated content. It also intends to feature legacy carriers and not just LCCs in the future.

Said Coman: “With the interactive tools we provide, consumers will be able to create bespoke itineraries in a much shorter span of time than they do now.”

“Given that our interface is so unique, we’ve not even begun exploring the possible horizons it represents.”