FIREFLY, which ceased its jet services last December as part of a wider network rationalisation by parent company Malaysia Airlines, is looking to reassure consumers and travel industry partners that its turboprop operations will remain online for the foreseeable future.

Ignatius Ong, COO of shorthaul Malaysia Airlines/Firefly, said: “We strongly reiterate that the turboprop aircraft operating out of Subang and Penang hubs to other domestic and international destinations remain unaffected and plans for growth are in motion.”

“There are plans to expand Firefly’s existing network and acquire more turboprop aircraft to support the growth within the medium to longer term,” he added.

“Passengers can look forward to an increase in frequencies for selected routes in March and announcements of new routes in the near future.”

Firefly, which operates to 18 destinations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, flew 1.5 million passengers using 10 ATR-72-500 aircraft in 2011.

The carrier expects to grow the number of passengers handled by more than 30 per cent this year, following the addition of two more ATR-72-500s to its fleet.

SINGAPORE Airlines (SIA) and SilkAir have decided to increase the fuel surcharge for tickets issued on or after March 8, 2012 due to rising jet fuel prices.

The surcharge will see a raise of between US$2 and US$28 per sector, depending on distance and class of travel.

The surcharge now amounts to US$36, US$174 and US$287 for economy flights between Singapore and South-east Asia, Europe/South Africa, and the Americas, respectively.

The last time SIA and SilkAir raised the fuel surcharge was in March last year.

According to a statement from SIA Group, jet fuel now accounts for 40 per cent of the company’s overall expenditure.

HILTON Worldwide has signed a management agreement with Magnolia Finest Corporation, the property arm of Thai-Chinese business family Chearavanont, to open in Bangkok the first Waldorf Astoria in South-East Asia.

Due to open in 2015 along Ratchadamri Road in Bangkok’s Patumwan district, the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok will offer 170 guestrooms (including 34 suites), sized at a minimum of 50m2.

Facilities will include an all-day dining restaurant, two specialty restaurants, two bars, a lounge, two ballrooms, nine meeting rooms, a fitness centre and spa, as well as an outdoor pool.

“The Waldorf Astoria name is synonymous with timeless luxury and sophistication, and guests to the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok can expect a truly luxurious experience,” said John Vanderslice, global head of Luxury and Lifestyle Brands at Hilton Worldwide.

The Waldorf Astoria Bangkok will mark the entry of Hilton Worldwide’s ninth property and fourth brand in Thailand, joining Conrad Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Hotels & Resorts branded properties as well as the first DoubleTree by Hilton in Bangkok next year.

AIR CANADA has appointed Discover The World Marketing as its general sales agent in Malaysia.

Discover, which has its headquarters in Scottsdale, Arizona, is also the representative for Aeromexico, Air New Zealand and British Midland International, as well as Caesars Entertainment, Hyatt Hotels Corporation and Intrepid Travel in Malaysia.

PARK Hotel Group has launched a new series of brand advertisements for 2012, employing the use of the brand slogan Discover Love.

This follows an advertisement campaign in 2011 that focused on its 50th Anniversary celebrations.

With strong use of corporate colours—gold set against a black background, the refreshed advertisements emphasise the group’s guest services, illustrating various “moments of discovery” in its portfolio of eight hotels across Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Japan.

A CRIPPLED Costa cruise ship with more than 1,000 people on board finally arrived in the capital of Seychelles yesterday, after floundering without power in the middle of the Indian Ocean for the past three days.

A French fishing vessel managed to tow the Costa Allegra, which suffered a fire that knocked out its power generator and engines on Monday, to the port in Victoria, where medical personnel were waiting to tend to passengers.

The 636 passengers and 413 crew from 25 countries on board were reportedly in good health, according to Costa Cruises.

Representatives of the cruise line’s parent company Carnival Corporation had boarded the ship on Wednesday to make arrangements for onward flights and accommodation for guests.

This is the second major mishap for Costa since the start of the year, and a setback to its efforts to regain consumer confidence following the partial sinking of the Costa Concordia off the Italian coast on January 13, an incident which claimed 32 lives.

After the Seychelles, the Costa Allegra had been scheduled to sail along the Red Sea towards the Mediterranean.

AIR FRANCE-KLM has sold half its stake in Amadeus for 467 million euros (US$621 million), and is expected to channel the proceeds towards repaying some of its 6.5-billion euro debt, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP).

“Air France-KLM launched the sale of a block of shares representing 7.5 percent of (Amadeus) capital,” a spokesperson from the airline was quoted by AFP as saying.

The joint venture unveiled in January a restructuring plan to bolster its balance sheet within the next two years, which would involve various cost-cutting measures, restructuring of short- and mediumhaul routes, as well as debt reduction.

Meanwhile, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has reported that service capacity to Asia during the upcoming summer season (March 25 – October 28) will be similar to last year. On the other hand, Air France will ramp up its Asia capacity by 6.3 per cent during the period.

Besides maintaining services to destinations introduced over the past two years (Chengdu, Hangzhou and Xiamen), KLM will introduce a direct daily flight to Taipei, with an onward connection to Manila. During the high season (June-September), Hangzhou will be served four-weekly.

In South-East Asia, KLM will operate daily, non-stop flights to Bangkok, which was previously served en route to Taipei. Its services to Denpasar will increase from four-weekly to daily, with a stopover in Singapore.

As for Air France, the carrier will resume its daily Airbus A380 flights to Tokyo (Narita), in addition to a daily Boeing B777-300 service. Capacity to Shanghai will increase through the deployment of the A380 on three of 14 weekly frequencies.

However, Air France will reduce capacity to Hong Kong (12 weekly frequencies), as well as New Delhi, Bangalore and Mumbai (six weekly frequencies each).

TTG ASIA’s ongoing Facebook Contest finds its lucky February winner in Angela Koh, a travel consultant with Gullivers Travel Associates in Singapore.

Koh won a four-day, three-night stay in a Deluxe Room at Fairmont Singapore, after ‘liking’ the TTG Asia Facebook page and subscribing to the travel trade magazine.

Next month’s prize is a four-day, three-night stay in a one-bedroom suite at Courtyard by Marriott Phuket at Kamala Beach.

Members of the travel trade stand to win prizes every month by ‘liking’ the TTG Asia Facebook page, and increase their chances by subscribing to the magazine.

For more details, visit www.facebook.com/ttgasia

CIPUTRA Property, the real estate development arm of Indonesia’s Ciputra Group, is making moves to tap the domestic budget travel segment by opening 50 economy hotels across the country over the next few years.

According to Ciputra Property director Artadinata Djangkar, the company decided to enter the economy hotel segment in order to capture a slice of the fast-growing domestic travel pie.

Local media quoted Djangkar as saying that Ciputra would be setting aside a budget of 115 billion rupiah (US$16.5 million) to develop six economy hotels in Bandung, Semarang and Jogjakarta this year.

Other openings are targeted in Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Ciputra already owns a number of properties managed by Swiss-Belhotel International, and is also constructing a top-tier hotel as part of the Ciputra World Jakarta 2 mixed-use development on Jalan Dr Satrio, which will reportedly operate under Starwood Hotels and Resorts’ W Hotel banner.