GROUNDED Tiger Airways Australia, which previously agreed to refund all July tickets while it awaited permission to fly again (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 19), has extended the refund offer for all of August.

Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has grounded the low-cost carrier until at least August 1, due to concerns over its ability to operate safely.

Graeme Samuel, head of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, was quoted by Agence France-Presse as saying: “We have managed to secure from (Tiger Airways Australia) an undertaking that for August flights, where there’s still some uncertainty as to whether they will be able to fly, they’ve agreed to provide some flexibility.”

Samuel said customers could cancel their flights up to seven days after Tiger Airways Australia resumes operations.

Meanwhile, Tiger Airways Australia has appointed Chris Manning, Qantas’s former chief pilot, as its head safety adviser.

THE HERTZ Corporation has signed a partnership with Mollah Netcom to operate the Hertz brand in Bangladesh.

The car rental company in January this year opened two offices in Malibag and Gulshan in Dhaka, the country’s capital.

Besides airport transfers, and chauffeur-driven and long-term rentals, Hertz will offer inter-city transfers between Dhaka and destinations such as Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar.

Malibag is located close to the central business district in downtown Dhaka. Gulshan is an affluent neighbourhood, where numerous local and multinational companies have their regional headquarters.

THE PULLMAN Putrajaya Lakeside, due to unveil a new look in December, will be repositioned as an airport and transit hotel.

The property’s general manager, Franck Loison, told TTG Asia e-daily that the hotel would target travellers seeking weekend breaks or short stays, as well as those transiting to other destinations.

“We intend to capitalise on our location, which is only 20 minutes drive from the airport,” he said.

He added: “The hotel has undergone a complete facelift of its facilities, guestrooms and public areas. The upgrading works were aimed to better suit Accor’s upscale Pullman brand.”

Loison predicted that the facelift and repositioning would boost hotel occupancy, currently at 70 per cent on average, and increase room rates.

MICE is a key market for the hotel, generating 60 per cent of its overall revenue.

By Ellen Chen

REDTOP Hotel & Convention Center, Jakarta is undergoing a major renovation of its rooms and facilities to compete against the slew of newer properties in Central and North Jakarta.

Erwin Boham, Redtop Hotel & Convention Center general manager, said hotel openings over the last few years had increased room inventory in the area by some 90 per cent.

The renovation will be the Redtop’s first since opening sixteen years ago.

Boham said: “We need to rejuvenate our hotel to stay in competition. On the other hand, our hotel is always running in the high 80s (percentage) in terms of occupancy, and our meeting rooms are in high demand, making it hard for us to close, even partially.”

Hence, Boham made the decision to renovate the property in stages, maximising low periods on weekends and long weekends. He is aiming to finish the refurbishment within three years.

Boham said the hotel would be targeting MICE and corporate clients, as well as the weddings market. The hotel’s MICE facilities, which can cater for up to 2,000 people, were added a few years back.

“We are fortunate to be located close to government offices, which have been one of our major clients over the years,” he said.

FOREIGN visitors to Thailand recorded some US$95.8 million worth of Visa transactions over the first two weeks of the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2011, which runs from June 15 to August 15.

According to Visa, the amount represented an increase of 62 per cent over a similar period (from June 15 to 28) during last year’s sale.

Visitors from Japan, the US and Australia currently hold the top three spots in terms of transactions, followed by arrivals from Singapore, the UK, South Korea, Hong Kong/China, France, the UAE and Malaysia.

The top three categories for foreign spending were accommodation, airlines and retail – the latter including sales at duty-free shops and department stores.

The Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2011 is part of Thailand’s efforts to position itself as a regional shopping destination and reach this year’s target of 700 billion baht (US$23.4 billion) in tourism revenue from overseas.

HILTON Worldwide is adding a third property to its portfolio in the Maldives.

Malwatte Hotels and Resorts (MHRL), a subsidiary of Sri Lankan tea and rubber farming company, Malwatte Plantations, will own the new, four-star resort on Maanagalaa Island.

A source from Malwatte Plantations told TTG Asia e-Daily that an MOU had been inked with Hilton to oversee resort operations. A formal agreement will be signed within the next two weeks.

Construction on the resort gets underway in September, and is scheduled for completion by September 2013. The property will offer 70 bungalows in the initial stages.

Malwatte Plantations intends to raise over 606 million Sri Lankan rupees (US$5.5 million) from a rights issue to finance the US$26 million project.

Hilton’s two other properties in the Maldives are the Conrad Rangali Island Maldives Hotel and Hilton Maldives/Iru Fushi Resort & Spa.

THE INDONESIAN Ministry of Transportation has ordered Lion Air to ground 10 to 15 of its aircraft within the next three weeks, in an effort to improve the airline’s safety and punctuality record.

The restriction was imposed following persistent delays by the Indonesia-based low-cost carrier, including a recent five-hour holdup at Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, which resulted in a warning from the ministry (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 13).

In a notice published on the ministry’s website, director general of air transportation, Herry Bakti Gumay, explained: “By restricting the (number of operational aircraft), there will be more ground time, and (we) expect this will create a balance between the number of aircraft and crew, and in time, reduce the frequency of delays.”

Gumay acknowledged that the restrictions might result in some of Lion Air’s routes being dropped. “There could (also) be an increase in ticket prices, but these will not exceed the economy (-class) ceiling price (set by the government),” he said.

Lion Air has issued a separate statement promising that it will not be reducing the number of routes and frequencies. The airline’s general affairs director, Edward Sirait, said: “By keeping the frequencies and routes, we are confident that we will be able to maintain the selling prices at the current level.”

INDIA tourism is already on the rebound following last week’s bomb blasts in Mumbai, the Maharashtra state capital.

The Leela Kempinski, Mumbai general manager, Biswajit Chakraborty, told TTG Asia e-daily that bookings were returning following last week’s incident, and that “cancellations at other Leela hotels across India were negligible”.

The hotel had cancellations for 250 roomnights in the immediate aftermath of the blasts, amounting to an estimated US$785,200 (3.5 million rupees) in losses, including from F&B.

Indian Association of Tour Operators president and India Vision Tours & Travels president, Vijay Thakur, confirmed that no tourists were affected by the terrorist act. “The incident had hardly any effect on inbound travel. Our interaction with countrywide members revealed that there were no cancellations at all,” he said.

Thakur explained: “Travellers have now become tough and understand this kind of syndrome happening worldwide.”

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra state government is taking steps to improve security in Mumbai. Maharashtra chief minister, Prithviraj Chavan, said that improving communication systems and expediting the purchase of surveillance equipment would be his top priority.

By Anand & Madhura Katti

CHOM VIEW Hotel in Hua Hin will spend more than 20 million baht (US$666,000) to turn its 52 two-bedroom garden view duplex suites into private residences, which it intends to lease out individually for 15-year terms.

The property owner, Koravic Bhanubandh Na Ayudhaya, said the rights for 10 of the residences had already been sold to repeat guests of the hotel. The units are priced between 1.23 million and 10 million baht each.

Koravic said the hotel was due to undergo a full refurbishment, in stages, between this year and next. The 52 units to be leased will be renovated in the first phase, which is slated for completion by November.

She added that prospective buyers could reap a full return on investment by renting out their units for hotel business for at least 60 days a year.

Over the past few years, the 134-key hotel has been running on weekends at 70 per cent occupancy to full house. On weekdays, it has been running at an average occupancy of 20 per cent during low season, and 80 per cent during high season.

Koravic said: “Our year-round average daily rate for the two-bedroom garden view duplex suites is 5,000 baht. For superior rooms, the rates start from 1,800 baht.”

Provided the Hua Hin lease project goes well, Koravic revealed that she was planning to build her third property in Phuket. Her second property, the 40-room Ma Du Zi hotel in Bangkok, is starting to see a rebound in business, after being affected by last year’s political crisis in the country.

By Sirima Eamtako

THAI Airways International (THAI) has reinstated its services to and from Japan to levels prior to the March earthquake and tsunami.

Pandit Chanapai, THAI executive vice president of commercial, said: “THAI has resumed all its regularly operated services on routes from Bangkok to five airports in Japan, back to the same level served prior to the Great East Japan Earthquake.”

He added: “Passenger traffic to and from Japan is regaining normal levels.”

Meanwhile, THAI will operate three additional flights per week on the Bangkok-Osaka (Kansai) route from November 16, utilising retrofitted Boeing 777-300 aircraft. With the introduction of these flights, THAI will operate a total of 17 weekly flights to Osaka (Kansai).

The carrier is also planning to adjust its winter programme for easier connections from Japan into Phuket.