SILKAIR will be launching thrice-weekly direct services to Koh Samui, its third Thai destination after Phuket and Chiang Mai, from September 27.

SilkAir will be using Airbus A319 aircraft on the Singapore-Samui route. It will also offer evening flights through Bangkok Airways’ once-daily service, using the same aircraft type.

Bangkok Airways senior vice president for network management, Peter Wiesner, said the codeshare agreement with SilkAir would allow it to drive traffic into Koh Samui from both Singapore and longhaul destinations connecting via Changi International Airport.

The bulk of Koh Samui’s traffic is from Bangkok through direct daily services on Bangkok Airways and Thai Airways International. The island also receives traffic from Hong Kong through a direct Bangkok Airways flight, and from Kuala Lumur on Berjaya Air and Firefly.

Meanwhile, SilkAir and Bangkok Airways also codeshare on SilkAir’s Singapore-Chiang Mai and Singapore-Phuket routes, as well as Bangkok Airways’ Bangkok-Samui, Samui-Phuket and Chiang Mai-Samui services.

INDIGO Airlines, which is poised to launch international operations to Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore from September 1 (TTG Asia e-Daily, June 15), is in no hurry to add more destinations to its international portfolio.

Instead, the indian low-cost carrier (LCC) prefers to explore the potential of the first three and concentrate on boosting frequencies, according to its president, Aditya Ghosh.

For the Singapore market, IndiGo will initially offer services to Delhi (starting September 15) and Mumbai, with Chennai and Bangalore to follow by end-2011 or early 2012.

IndiGo sets itself apart from other LCCs in offering low fares over a sustained period of time. Its introductory offer of S$276 (US$225) all-in return fare between Singapore and Delhi is expected to last for months.

Besides direct bookings on its website, which delivers about 35 percent of all business, IndiGo also facilitates bookings by travel agents who register on the website.

Jacqui Walshe, managing director of The Walshe Group, IndiGo’s GSA in Singapore, said: “Travel agents are a valuable distribution channel for us, and we will strive to facilitate their bookings.”

LION Air will deploy reserve aircraft to certain airports, and increase aircraft ground time in an effort to improve its punctuality.

Lion Air general affairs director, Edward Sirait, said: “Having reserve aircraft in a number of airports will enable quick replacement if and when an aircraft is out of order, or when there is an arrival delay from the previous departing point.”

He added: “Extended ground time will allow better checking-in, baggage and ground-handling processes.”

Lion Air and sister company Wings Air, which together serve 63 Indonesian and seven regional and international destinations, have been experiencing problems with aircraft punctuality of late.

The airline recently received a warning from the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation, following a five-hour flight delay at Hasanuddin Airport in Makassar, which left passengers stranded at the airport in the middle of the night.

The airline has also been on the receiving end of negative feedback due to repeated delays.

Director General of Air Transportation, Herry Bakti Gumay, warned that if the delays continue to occur, the government would be forced to reduce the airline’s flight frequencies.

AIRASIA X (AAX) will be shifting hub operations in London from Stansted to Gatwick Airport from October 24.

AAX will be offering six-weekly services from Kuala Lumpur’s Low-Cost Carrier Terminal to Gatwick from December 14, operated using Airbus A340-300 aircraft in a 327-seat configuration.

Gatwick is Britain’s second largest airport after Heathrow. It handles over 32 million passengers annually, and some 90 airlines including easyJet, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. In comparison, Stansted serves 12 airlines, and 18 million passengers a year.

Located closer to the city centre, Gatwick also has better public transportation access compared to Stansted, as well as connecting flights to over 200 destinations throughout Europe.

AAX will be offering one-way all-in fares from 1,039 ringgit (US$343) for economy-class seats, and from 3,429 ringgit for premium fly-flat bed seats through online bookings made from July 13 to 24, valid for travel from February 6 to June 6 next year.

THAILAND’s travel industry is offering a mass of discounts in a bid to boost inbound business during the May to October low season. The Chiang Mai travel trade is the latest to jump on the bandwagon with its Best Deal campaign, starting July 18.

Jointly launched by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT), Chiang Mai Tourism Business Association and local tourism partners, the campaign will offer discounts of up to 50 per cent at more than 180 tourism establishments and service providers in Chiang Mai, through a dedicated website.

The campaign is part of the city’s six-month stimulus initiative to help fill 50 per cent of available hotel rooms, and follows the conclusion of the two-month Chiang Mai Golf Festival (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 21).

Sansern Ngaorungsi, TAT deputy governor for Asia and South Pacific, said the campaign’s target is to attract at least 50,000 independent visitors from regional markets.

The efforts by Chiang Mai come amid the Amazing Thailand Grand Sale 2011, with shopping discounts of up to 80 per cent available at retail outlets in seven Thai cities until August 15.

In addition, an Amazing Thailand Grand Sale Fair will be held from July 28 to 31 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center in Bangkok. Some 600 Thai tourism-related product and service providers will be offering discounts of between 10 and 80 per cent.

Also on the cards is a Pattaya Grand Sale, with discounts of up to 70 per cent on offer by more than 100 hotels and tourism-related providers until September 30.

By Sirima Eamtako

THE TRAVEL Corporation will absorb the cost of a hotel tax recently started in Florence, as well as a soon-to-be-introduced hotel tax in Venice.

All travellers who have confirmed or are planning to book a holiday, including a Florence or Venice hotel stay this year with Trafalgar, Insight Vacations or Contiki Holidays, will be exempted from paying the levy.

This is an extension of the group’s pledge to absorb the cost of a similar hotel tax introduced in Rome at the start of the year.

The tax, which will commence in Venice from August 23, is charged at the rate of between one and five euros (US$1.4 to US$7) per person per night, depending on the hotel star rating.

JETSTAR is making further inroads into the Chinese market with the launch of a daily Singapore–Beijing service starting November 24.

Using an Airbus A330-200 aircraft with a two-class seating configuration, the Singapore–Beijing flights, codeshared with Qantas Airways, will be an extension of Jetstar’s Melbourne-Singapore service.

The move comes on the back of a new thrice-weekly Singapore-Ningbo service starting September 9 (TTG Asia e-Daily, July 11).

Jetstar CEO, Bruce Buchanan, said: “Beijing represents a critical step in the growth of our brand in China, and the continued rollout of our Pan Asian strategy.”

The new flights will offer Australia-based travellers a one-stop service to Beijing, Jetstar’s sixth destination in China after Guilin, Haikou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Shantou.

THE SIX-day visa-free Pearl River Delta access usually afforded to travellers from Hong Kong will be suspended from July 15 till the end of August, a move that is expected to dampen South-east Asian arrivals to Guangdong province.

The temporary halt is due to the 2011 Summer Universiade competition, scheduled to be held in Shenzhen from August 12 to 23.

Foreign travellers are usually allowed to visit Guangdong, via Hong Kong, for a maximum of 144 hours (six days), via entry ports in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Foshan, Dongguan, Zhongshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Huizhou and Shantou.

Hong Kong-based W Travel, which specialises in South-east Asia inbound traffic, often includes Shenzhen as part of a multi-destination itinerary. General manager, Wing Wong, said: “July and August is the peak season for Indonesia and Malaysia markets. This decision will result in a 15 to 20 per cent drop in group traffic.

“Moreover, it means our overseas partners will need a longer lead time, as last-minute bookings cannot be entertained,” he added.

Century Holiday International Travel Service has operations in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. General manager of its Guangzhou branch, Creamy Chen, is anticipating a 50 per cent drop in traffic due to the visa-free access hiatus.

“The visa-free access enables a six-day stay in Guangdong, and therefore draws a lot of traffic via Hong Kong and Macau,” he explained. “It costs Indonesians US$60 to obtain a visa. In fact, there are a lot of Malaysians and Indonesians traveling during this period.”

OAKWOOD Residence Garden Towers Bangna Bangkok has revamped its accommodation offerings and price structure to attract short-term stays.

The property’s general manager, Trevor MacDonald, said the property’s 66 one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments had been transformed into 117 studio and one-bedroom units. The property is still equipped with serviced residence amenities.

He added: “As we have noticed a larger-than-expected demand from our short-stay clients, we have adjusted our studio rates to range from 2,700 baht (US$88) per night, which is comparable to that of many hotels in Bangkok.”

The original rates ranged from 3,800 baht a night for a studio deluxe apartment, to 110,000 baht a night for a three-bedroom unit.

The property is also looking to partner with travel agents, tour operators, airlines and OTAs to promote its packages and value-added offerings for short-stay guests, especially transit passengers and aircrew.

TRAVEL search technology’s new kid on the block, Everbread, is making its presence felt across the globe with Haystack, its B2B proprietary fares and flights search offering.

According to Morten Lund, Everbread CEO, Haystack was developed by 50 scientists using complex algorithms, and is able to provide the lowest-priced flight tickets and the most convenient itineraries.

Ten clients have signed partnerships with the company since its June 2009 debut. These include notable OTAs and meta-search engines such as Cheapflights.com and Jetabroad, whose websites are now powered by Haystack technology.

In addition, around 100 different clients worldwide have signed up so far to try out the company’s Haystack Application Programming Interface (API).

Lund said some of the smaller companies testing the API were using it to build media-driven websites to sell travel-related products.

“Haystack is unlike any other B2B solution or tool. Companies will therefore take some time to integrate our software into their systems,” he said. “We are giving airlines and travel companies a chance to redefine their business model.”

Lund said that the opportunities for airlines were particularly attractive. “Haystack endows airlines with the ability to carry out ‘virtual interlining’, enabling carriers to offer destinations outside their network,” he explained.