UNITED Airlines (UA) has entered into a codeshare agreement with All Nippon Airways on the Japanese carrier’s once-weekly Manila-Tokyo (Narita) service, effective April 1.

According to James Mueller, UA vice president for Asia Pacific, the codeshare will allow the airline to connect the Philippines, via onward flights from Japan, to key hubs in the US such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and Houston.

In addition, UA’s Manila-Guam and Manila-Palau (Koror)-Guam flights will provide an alternative connection from the Philippines to the US, via Honolulu.

“Filipino travelers flying United will have the option to fly to Guam or Honolulu (into the US) and return via Tokyo,” said Mueller.

With the new link established, UA are pursuing American business and leisure travellers to the Philippines, as well as overseas-based Filipinos returning home. From the Philippines, UA is targeting business and premium travellers to the US.

UA reopened its Philippines country office last October after exiting in 1998. The carrier has since merged operations with Continental Airlines’ former GSA in the Philippines, Aerotel Manila.

THE STAR Alliance Chief Executive Board has accepted a bid from Taiwanese carrier EVA Air to join its ranks.

Air China, a member of the alliance since end-2007, has been appointed mentor airline to assist in Eva Air’s gradual integration.

“EVA Air is a very good fit for Star Alliance as the airline will add many new routes to our global network, with a specific focus on the growing Far East aviation market,” said Star Alliance CEO, Mark Schwab.

EVA Air’s network of around 60 destinations will add Kaohsiung in Taiwan and Surabaya in Indonesia as unique airports to the Star Alliance portfolio.

In addition, Taiwan’s geographic location will add to the quality of Star Alliance hubs in Asia, as it has the shortest average distance to all major cities in the region.

“After careful evaluation, we concluded that Star Alliance offers the best match for EVA Air,” said James Jeng, chairman, EVA Air.

“Our networks complement each other, and we will expand the existing alliance flight options in the growing cross-straits market. In addition, our partnership with Air China makes the Star Alliance especially attractive to us.”

Star Alliance will have eight member carriers based in Asia-Pacific by mid-2013.

CATHAY Pacific has added another daily flight between Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur, ramping up its service on the route to four-daily, effective March 25.

The flag carrier has also expanded Hong Kong-Penang services from seven to ten-weekly, bringing the total number of flights it operates between Malaysia and Hong Kong to 38 per week.

Elsewhere, Cathay has hiked frequencies to Nagoya (from 17-weekly to three-daily), Singapore (from eight-daily to 61-weekly), Bangkok (from five- to six-daily) and Taipei (from 108 to 114 per week).

Destinations that saw a reduction in services include Bahrain (from daily to four-weekly), Abu Dhabi (from four- to three-weekly) and Sydney (down one weekly flight to thrice-daily).

PHILIPPINES’ AirAsia has launched its maiden services from Clark International Airport to Kalibo (Boracay) in the Visayas, and Davao in Mindanao.

The low-cost carrier, which received its air operator’s certificate from the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines last month, operates two new Airbus A320 aircraft on the twice-daily services from Clark to Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao and twice-daily flights from Clark to Kalibo International Airport.

“We picked Davao, because it is an important gateway to Mindanao, and Kalibo, because of Boracay, which is an international popular tourist spot. Our Clark to Davao and Clark to Kalibo flights will make air travel for Northern and Central Luzon passengers more convenient,” said Philippines’ AirAsia CEO, Maan Hontiveros.

Meanwhile, the airline has ordered two more A320s to be delivered within the year, and is planning to tap into the Northern and Central Luzon and Metro Manila markets.

SANYA Huayu Tourism, a mainland Chinese conglomerate with hotel, retail and property assets, is suing InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) for RMB 200 million (US$31.8 million) in damages, over claims that the hotel operator mismanaged its property on Hainan Island.

Huayu alleges that IHG’s China subsidiary, InterContinental Holiday China, progressively racked up more than RMB 200 million in losses after assuming management of the Sanya Huayu Crowne Plaza Hotel in 2005, forcing the hotel owner to suspend the contract halfway into the 12-year term.

According to Li Tao, head of Hotel Business at Huayu, InterContinental Holiday China “failed to provide professional hotel management services in accordance with the contract”. “The (IHG) management team fell far below Huayu’s expectations and its management of the hotel was a complete mess,” he added.

Huayu also accused InterContinental Holiday China of “a series of dishonest behaviors such as high-price procurements, intentionally concealing information, alteration of hotel RGI data, and deliberately causing damage and loss of large equipment” during its tenure.

In a report by the South China Morning Post, IHG was quoted as saying that it was unaware of any legal action by Huayu, and that the claims of mismanagement were unfounded.

“All accusations in Huayu’s so-called statement are completely groundless,” IHG said in a statement. “During the years of co-operation, every decision relating to operation and procurement was discussed by both Huayu and IHG. IHG has always strictly abided by the law and has been completely honest.”

Keith Barr, IHG’s CEO for Greater China, did not respond to attempts by TTG Asia e-Daily for an official comment from the hotel chain.

CENTARA Hotels & Resorts is pursuing an asset light expansion strategy as it looks to grow its domestic and overseas footprint following robust performance in 2011.

Last year, group-wide hotel revenues rose by 19.9 per cent year-on-year to 4.9 billion baht (US$159 million), driven by 18 per cent hike in RevPAR, 22 per cent increase in management revenues to 133 million baht, and 3.6 per cent growth in room inventory.

Centara will beef up its portfolio of 31 hotels through the addition of eleven management contracts in 2012. Focusing on four-star and value brands, Centara is poised to open six properties in Thailand this year, and five more overseas.

Two Centra value brand hotels will launch in Bangkok in the second and third quarters. Chris Bailey, SVP sales & marketing, Centara Hotels & Resorts said: “We are finding this is a popular concept and demand is good.”

The group’s four-star Centara and five-star Centara Grand concepts will be exported to the Maldives, Mauritius and Sri Lanka, capitalising on demand from stalwart source markets in Europe and Australia, and emerging Asian markets to a lesser extent.

Demand is particularly strong in the French market, and Centara is set to open a sales office in France later this year.

“By the keeping same product, Centara is able to manoeuvre guests between locations and maintain client loyalty. These new destinations share source markets with existing hotels, so Centara can utilise its current sales infrastructure,” said Bailey.

The additional inventory is expected to take 2012 management revenues to 180 million baht. Thirayuth Chirathivat, SVP project management, Centara Hotels & Resorts, has forecast 20 per cent growth in overall hotel revenue to 5.5 billion baht, driven by improved business at properties in Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket.

Further ahead, Centara intends to boost its portfolio to 56 properties by end-2014, including market debuts in China and India in 2013.

Reporting by Timothy France

CHANGI Airport Group (CAG) has extended a five per cent across-the-board rebate on landing fees for all passenger airlines at Changi Airport in the new financial year, as part of its Changi Airport Growth Initiative (CAGi).

Other CAGi incentives remain in place to support existing airlines’ traffic growth at Changi Airport and the launch of services to new destinations, as well as to attract new airlines, CAG said in a statement.

Meanwhile, CAG will continue to work with airlines to drive traffic demand to their key markets through joint marketing activities targeting both trade partners as well as passengers.

Ongoing at the moment is a CAG-sponsored campaign with airlines and travel experts to boost travel demand for the new flights between Singapore and Chinese secondary cities such as Changsha and Zhengzhou.