AIR connectivity between Malaysia and the Philippines is set to increase from next month, following a meeting between Malaysia’s tourism minister Ng Yen Yen and senior officials from five airlines in Manila last week.

“The airline representatives have agreed to increase the frequency of flights (from the Philippines) to Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu from March,” said Ng, who was on an official visit to launch the Luxury Malaysia brand as well as discuss bilateral collaboration in tourism.

“From March 25, Malaysia Airlines will increase its flights to three times a day; Southeast Asian Airlines will fly three times a week (from Clark International Airport, starting May 1) to Kota Kinabalu; Zest Air will likely start flights (to Kuala Lumpur) from mid-year; and AirAsia is looking at increasing flights.”

Malaysia is targeting 400,000 visitors from the Philippines this year, compared to 362,000 last year.

Ng added: “With the strengthening of collaboration between the travel trade, Malaysia has the opportunity to leverage on connectivity and tourism strengths of the Philippines in the US market. Likewise, the Philippines can also leverage on the connectivity and tourism strengths of Malaysia in the European, Middle Eastern and Indian markets.”

Reporting by N. Nithiyananthan

INDONESIA’s Pacific Royale Airways is set to launch next month as a full-service carrier operating on domestic as well as international routes, a segment that is currently dominated by national airline Garuda Indonesia.

Pacific Royale Airways CEO Samudra Sukardi said: “Our mission at Pacific Royale Airways is to enter Indonesia’s market to address the public concerns in flight safety, punctuality and good services.”

Due to receive its Air Operator’s Certificate in mid-March, the airline has so far been granted approval to launch routes from four Indonesian hubs including Bandung, Surabaya and Jakarta, and to operate 62 domestic and 11 international city pairs. International destinations such as Mumbai, Singapore, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur are on the cards.

Domestic operations will start with two Airbus A320-200 aircraft, while two Fokker 50 planes will be deployed to serve feeder destinations within the country. Three additional Fokker 50s and two more A320s will arrive in May, with an Airbus A330 aircraft scheduled to arrive by year-end.

Meanwhile, Pacific Royale Airways has partnered with Abacus International to allow travel consultants within the Abacus network to access its published fares and inventory.

“As we plan to operate domestic flights and potential international flights to Asia, we hope to leverage on Abacus’ network to drive sales and yield,” explained Samudra.

THE ONGOING tussle between Universal Entertainment Corporation chairman Kazuo Okada and Wynn Resorts co-founder, chairman & CEO Steve Wynn has cast a cloud of uncertainty over Okada Resorts Manila Bay, one of four integrated resort projects to be located within the upcoming Entertainment City development in Manila Bay.

Okada, vice chairman and largest shareholder of Wynn Resorts, has been accused by Wynn of doling out US$110,000 worth of bribes to Cristino Naguiat Jr., chairman of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, as well as Efraim Genuino, his immediate predecessor, in the form of a 2008 Macau trip including luxury accommodation and gifts.

The accusation follows a suit Okada filed against Wynn earlier this year, for denying him access to the company’s financial records to investigate an alleged US$135-million donation by Wynn to the University of Macau leading up to 2022, the same year Wynn Resorts Macau’s gaming concession is due to expire.

The situation came to a head over the weekend when Okada was ousted from the Wynn Resorts board, and his 19.7-per cent share was forcibly bought back at 30 per cent below market value.

Various media reports have speculated that the tit-for-tat maneuvers are a result of Wynn becoming increasingly concerned over Okada’s plans to open the resort in Manila Bay, which would represent a challenge to Wynn Resorts Macau’s share of the regional gaming market.

The US$2.3-billion Okada Resort Manila Bay, to be managed by Universal’s Philippine unit, Tiger Resorts Leisure and Entertainment, will offer 28,000m2 of gaming space and 2,050 keys across three hotels when it opens in Q1 2014. Planned attractions include an oceanarium, a sports arena, and a ‘Manila Eye’ ferris wheel.

The other licensees in Entertainment City include Belle Corp, which is targeting the completion of Belle Grande Manila Bay’s six hotels totalling 1,000 keys and 19,626m2 of gaming space by end-2013; Bloomsbury Resorts, which will run the 500-room Solaire Hotel; and Travellers International, which will operate the 2,800-key Resorts World Bayshore.

UPCOMING hotel developments in Sri Lanka by Shangri-La Hotels & Resorts and ONYX Hospitality Group will add a bevy of international branded offerings to the destination’s room inventory.

The US$625-million Shangri-La Hotel, Colombo will offer 661 keys, including 43 suites, and 4,780m2 of meeting space spread across three floors when it opens in mid-2015.

Shangri-La is also developing a 315-key property in the southern city of Hambantota, scheduled to open in 2014.

Meanwhile, Thailand’s ONYX Hospitality Group will open three OZO-branded three-star hotels in Sri Lanka for a total investment of US$380 million.

The first property, the 150-room OZO Colombo is due to open in 2013, while construction on a 140-room hotel in Galle and 120-room property in Kandy is scheduled to start within the next three months.

OUTBOUND travel companies interviewed at today’s NATAS consumer fair were optimistic about business growth this year, expressing hopes in mid- and longhaul travel in particular, which are seeing robust demand due to a range of factors.

Anthony Chan, group managing director, Chan Brothers Travel said the company was gunning for a 10 per cent increase over S$9 million (US$7.2 million) generated last year, a similar growth rate as 2011’s.

This does not seem unattainable, going by the 10 per cent jump in sales the firm recorded at its pre-NATAS fair.

Said Chan: “Demand for longhaul destinations has been particularly good due to favourable currency exchange rates. At the same time, Japan has made an excellent recovery, and we are quite upbeat.”

Chan’s World Holidays, the company’s first self-owned franchise and bespoke travel agency, also reported brisk business. Chan Brothers Travel’s director of business development, Mary Kheng, said: “By year-end, we expect sales to rise by 50 per cent.”

Another major outbound player, CTC Travel, also had high hopes for farther destinations. Senior vice president, marketing & PR, Alicia Seah, said: “For Eastern Europe, for instance, we expect to see a jump of around 15 to 20 per cent.” Evergreens like China and Taiwan continued to do well, while Japan showed signs of revival, she added.

Business at CTC’s pre-NATAS fair was an estimated 30-50 per cent higher compared to last year.

This year’s NATAS Travel fair saw some 158 exhibitors, including 22 newcomers.

ANDRE Horner, founder of one of Thailand’s first travel agencies, passed away last Friday in Bangkok after a brave battle with cancer.

The Swiss-born owner and managing director of Asian Tours Centre is survived by his wife, Chalita, and two children.

Horner first discovered Thailand as an intrepid backpacker, after which he decided to make it his home and established Asian Tours in 1967.

Recalled Basil McCall, former vice president sales & marketing of Amari Hotels & Resorts: “His knowledge of the tourism industry was unmatched, and the newsletters he sent out to colleagues and friends over decades must now form one of the richest records of Thailand’s tourism history. These monthly masterpieces blended subtle humour with informative, often hard-hitting comments about hotels, airlines and national tourist offices, including descriptions of the many colourful personalities who formed part of the whole.”

“Andre was as highly respected for his integrity and honesty as he was for his observations and critiques on tourism and travel. He was held in equally high esteem for his sincerity, for he never displayed the false affections and cosmetic greetings that are so much a part of the travel scene. He made friends slowly, but all those who shared in his friendship came to know him as a warm-hearted, generous and wonderful man, whose curiously grumpy exterior somehow made him more endearing.”

A funeral service will be held for Horner at 10:30 on Tuesday, February 28 at the Holy Redeemer Church in Soi Ruam Ruedee.

IN A radical departure from its traditional model of not investing in real estate, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group in Asia-Pacific will soon announce several property deals which sees it pumping in cash alongside partners, as it brings the midscale Park Inn brand to India, China, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Speaking exclusively to TTG Asia e-Daily, Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group’s Asia-Pacific president, Simon Barlow, said the company would launch the next iteration of Park Inn in India on April 2 through the first of such business deals in the region.

The “fresh, fun, colourful, lively and funky” three-star Park Inn brand would be “positioned between a Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express and between an Ibis and Novotel from both an investment and consumer perspective”, he explained.

Said Barlow: “We’re introducing a very successful brand in Europe to Asia-Pacific. We think the timing is absolutely right because of the burgeoning middle-class wealth that is causing so much more domestic travel in India and China.”

While most of Carlson Rezidor Asia-Pacific’s pipeline today is in the upper upscale segment (Radisson Blu), its future growth will slowly lean towards the midmarket.

Going forward, Barlow listed three broad ways the group would invest in Asia: through joint ventures that deliver multiple hotels, single strategic hotels, and leases or income underwrites.

“We are investing because we need to in order to grow and catch up with large competitors,” he said.

Barlow added that Carlson had traditionally been a franchise organisation. However, following its recent marriage to The Rezidor Hotel Group, its contract make-up is now mainly 60 per cent franchised and 40 per cent managed/leased. Going forward, the group intends to focus more on management.

In the second half of this year, Carlson Rezidor Asia-Pacific will also reintroduce the four-star Radisson brand. Having rolled out Radisson Blu in the region last year, it now hopes to draw attention to a refreshed Radisson, which counts the Crowne Plaza, Novotel and Four Points by Sheraton among its competitors.

INDIA-based Kingfisher Airlines hit rock bottom yesterday with the cancellation of an additional 48 flights, bringing its current schedule to 120 flights. It is operating only 28 of its once 64-strong aircraft fleet.

Meanwhile, the reduction of seat capacity has led to a sudden rise in airfares across the board, including a Rs5,000 (US$102) increase on one-way business class fares on the Delhi-Mumbai sector. Since December, fares have gone up by 18 per cent since the fallout from Kingfisher and Air India flight cancellations.

The debt-ridden airline started its winter schedule of 418 flights last October with all 64 planes, but truncated its operations in November to 269 flights following accumulated losses due to high taxes on jet fuel and freezing of its bank accounts resulting from outstanding tax liability. Since then, several leased aircrafts have been released because of cash flow problems.

Although the airline was seeking restructuring of its debt with a consortium of Indian banks, earlier this week the banks have refused to supply more capital to the struggling carrier unless it offers more equity and pumps in sufficient funds of its own.

“If the banks find it good business, they will loan money (to Kingfisher). At the same time, the government is not going to ask banks to loan money to any private industry,” civil aviation minister, Ajit Singh, has been reported as saying. However, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation may seek punitive action against the airline for failure to adhere to its flight schedule.

To add to its woes, 30 senior pilots have quit – dissatisfied with delay in salary payments – to join IndiGo. The LCC is said to be India’s only profitable airline.

JETSTAR and Jet Airways have signed an interline agreement, aimed at making flight transfers between India and Asia-Pacific destinations more seamless.

By flying through Jetstar’s hub in Singapore, Jet Airways’ passengers travelling from locations including New Delhi and Mumbai can easily connect to destinations in Japan, China, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand.

Through this partnership, Jet Airways customers will be able to book a single combined ticket on Jetstar, Jetstar Asia or Jetstar Pacific flights as part of a single integrated transaction and travel itinerary sold on a Jet Airways e-ticket. This applies to customers who purchase via travel consultants or through Jet Airways’ reservations call centre.

Jetstar will accommodate the existing baggage allowance offered on Jet Airways’ flights. For international-international flights, bags will be through-tagged. Complimentary offerings such as meals and comfort packs will be provided on connecting Jetstar longhaul services.

Jet Airways COO, Sudheer Raghavan, said passenger loads between India and Asia-Pacific were “growing”.

Added Jetstar Group COO, David Koczkar: “India is one of the region’s strongest travel markets and a top inbound market for both Singapore and Australia. This innovative agreement will allow both airlines to cater for the growing appetite for air travel from the emerging Indian middle class.”