AIRASIA X will increase its flight frequency from Kuala Lumpur to Taipei and Perth in June as part of its strategic shift to focus on key markets.

Services to Taipei will be increased from daily at present to eleven flights a week starting June 22, while services to Perth will be raised from daily to nine flights a week from June 24, the airline said in a statement.

AirAsia X CEO Azran Osman-Rani said: “AirAsia X is responding to the strong and growing travel demand to and from Taiwan and Australia. The demand for travel to Perth and Taipei recorded strong average passenger loads in excess of 85 per cent in 2011.”

“The additional flights will open up new horizons for commercial activities and boost tourism in the ASEAN region, Taiwan and Australia. We are confident that the network realignment plan (will) strategically expand our growth in Australia and Taiwan.”

PAN PACIFIC Singapore is set to undergo an S$80-100 million (US$63-79 million) makeover in the coming weeks to upgrade its guestrooms and consolidate its food and beverage outlets onto a single floor.

Speaking to TTG Asia e-Daily during yesterday’s Hotel Investment Conference Asia Pacific (HICAP) UPDATE in Singapore, Neo Soon Hup, CFO for Pan Pacific Hotel Group said details were still being fleshed out, but that he was expecting all refurbishment work to be completed by end-August.

“A lot of internal structural changes are anticipated, and to avoid inconveniencing guests, the whole hotel will be closed for three months, with the exception of our meeting rooms and Keyaki, the hotel’s rooftop Japanese restaurant,” he said.

Neo expects the hotel to start welcoming guests back in June, with rooms coming back online in phases.

KAGUM Hotels, an Indonesian hotel chain based in Bandung, is expanding its domestic portfolio, with a pipeline of 17 new properties to open by next year.

Kagum Hotel Management managing director Martono said: “The rapid development of accommodation and the high market demand has prompted us to continue expanding.”

Apart fron Bandung, Kagum also has ongoing projects ranging from budget to luxury villa accommodation in Jakarta, Bekasi, Bogor, Jogjakarta, Klaten, Surabaya and Bali.

The hotels in the pipeline comprise of two Gino Feruci Villas, five Amaroossas (boutique brand), three Grand Serelas (three-star), two Grand Tjokros (contemporary design) and three Zodiacs (budget).

Kagum will also take on the management of Sun Royal Sunset Road Bali and Hegarsari Suite Bandung, which will retain their original names.

At the moment, Kagum operates six hotels in Bandung, one in Surabaya and another in Bali.

EXPEDIA has launched its Travel Agent Affiliate Program (TAAP) in Thailand, and is offering a 3,000 baht (US$97) bonus on top of commissions for the first 30,000 baht worth of bookings for new partners.

Travel experts who sign up with TAAP will gain access to Expedia’s global inventory of 145,000 hotels, be able to check availability of hotel rooms, activities and flights, and make bookings in real time.

Commission levels for TAAP are up to 10 per cent on hotels and activities, and five per cent on packages (flight plus minimum of three nights’ hotel stay).

“Our Travel Agent Affiliate Program has been extremely successful in Europe, America, and Asia-Pacific, and we are very excited to bring it to the travel agent community in Thailand,” said Charee Guico, travel agent distribution manager Southeast Asia, Expedia.

“We recognise that offline agents are a critical part of the travel landscape, and TAAP provides the perfect way for Expedia to work with this community,” she added.

TAAP was first launched in Italy in 2002 and has since expanded to the rest of Europe, America and Asia-Pacific. In South-east Asia, TAAP was rolled out last June in Singapore, and in Malaysia last December.

For more information, visit access.expedia.co.th or call (66) 2267- 8135/6.

THAI Airways International (THAI) has sent out a memo informing its travel industry partners that earlier check-ins are now necessary at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, due to congestion at all immigration points including departure, arrival, first port and visa on arrival.

THAI has asked its partners to advise their clients on flights out of Bangkok to arrive at Suvarnabhumi “at least three hours prior to departure and immediately proceed to immigration with completed immigration card after check-in”.

Meanwhile, all passengers travelling into Bangkok have been advised to secure their entry visa for Thailand before embarkation at point of origin, and to complete the arrival immigration card prior to entering the immigration area at Suvarnabhumi.

Processing of visas on arrival now takes an average of two hours, the memo added.

According to THAI, the congestion has resulted in many flight delays since the beginning of the year. More delays are expected for the rest of this month, due to construction work on security checkpoints and lack of local immigration manpower.