GARUDA Indonesia will launch a new daily service from Singapore to Makassar from June 1. This is in line with the carrier’s plans to develop Makassar as its third domestic hub after Jakarta and Bali, and as a gateway to East Indonesia.

The airline will operate this route daily using Boeing 737-500 aircraft, with 12 executive-class and 84 economy-class seats.

“The launch of this new route will mark a significant step forward in our network expansion strategy,” said Risnandi, senior general manager, Area Asia, Garuda Indonesia.

He added that Garuda was experiencing strong growth in passenger traffic from Singapore to Makassar via Jakarta. “There is enormous potential in this market particularly in the leisure segment.”

With 2011 being declared Visit Makassar year, and the city busy adding new events and festivals to its attractions, Risnandi said Garuda would be “teaming up with the local tourism officials to promote Makassar as one of the Indonesian destination of choice”.

“We will be launching great deals and offers to entice travellers from Singapore,” he said.
To celebrate the launch of the new route, Garuda is running a sale from now till May 31. Singapore-Makassar economy-class return tickets are available for S$220, valid for travel from June 1 to August 31.

SINGAPORE Airport Terminal Services (SATS) and Royal Caribbean Cruises last week launched the region’s first cruise-fly service, offering cruise passengers a seamless and convenient transit process from the pier to Marina Bay Sands (MBS) for flight check-in and luggage deposit.

The cruise-fly service debuted on April 30 during Royal Caribbean’s inaugural summer season on Legend of the Seas in Singapore. Legend of the Seas guests who booked the service were personally met by SATS customer service agents at the cruise terminal upon disembarkation from the ship and ferried directly to MBS.

SATS senior vice president, Yacoob Piperdi, said: “Our cruise-fly service provides a seamless experience for Royal Caribbean’s cruise guests who arrive in Singapore in the day and plan to catch a flight later in the evening.”

“These guests can check-in for their flights at their convenience, deposit their bags and have the rest of the day to explore the island hassle-free, without having to worry about airport check-in times or what to do with their bags.”

SATS plans to continue offering this service for Legend of the Seas when it returns this November, as well as for Azamara Quest, also of the Royal Caribbean fleet, and slated to call again at Singapore from this December.

The service is available for guests travelling on Singapore Airlines, SilkAir, Qantas Airways, Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and EVA Airways flights.

SRI LANKA’S second international airport in the southern town of Hambantota will be ready by next October.

The first phase of Mattala International Airport, costing 24 billion rupees (US$209 million), will take up 800 of the total 2,000 hectares set aside for airport development, according to Johanne Jayaratne, executive director of the state-owned Airport and Aviation Services Ltd.

Parliamentary Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa said 40 per cent of the runway at Mattala, which is able to accommodate Airbus A380 aircraft, has been completed so far.

The new airport’s terminal will be able to accommodate one million passengers a year, compared to six million passengers at the country’s main international airport at Katunayake, about 30 kilometres west of Colombo.

THE RISING transportation cost in Vietnam is a bigger concern for the ICS Travel Group compared to the increase in Vietnam Airlines’ (VNA) domestic airfares.

The DMC’s chief sales officer Sabine Widmaan said she doubted the increase on domestic airfares would have an impact on foreign tourists to Vietnam, as the country has always been considered as pricey.

“But the biggest challenge will be the increase of transportation rates. A higher transportation rate makes everything so much more expensive, from packages to sightseeing and transfers.”

However, some Vietnam-based tour operators, including Phoenix Voyages and Exotissimo Travel, have expressed concern over VNA’s plan to increase airfares on all its domestic flights by about 20 per cent, and have informed their clients to buy tickets in advance to avoid the rate hike.

The flag carrier was said to bring the hike into effect on March 15 and then May 2, but it has yet to issue a formal notice, according to the tour operators. The airline has not yet responded to an email inquiry by TTG Asia e-Daily on whether it has already increased airfares on domestic flights.

– Read more in TTG Asia, May 13

By Sirima Eamtako

HANS Haensel, Emirates Group’s senior vice president, destination & leisure management division, passed away in Dubai on Monday.

A sad note from Arabian Adventures, Congress Solutions International, Emirates Holidays and Timeless Spa said: “As you would imagine, he remained standing and braving Mother Nature up to the last minute, but the odds were just not fair.

“Hans was an exceptional man in many ways, as demanding as he was humane, as loyal to his staff as he was dedicated to his employers. In the words of Emirates’ President Tim Clark, ‘his contribution both to the development of tourism in Dubai and to the company’s leisure division over the last 20 years was immeasurable’.”

A memorial service will be held in Dubai, the date and details of which will be published at a later stage.

SRI LANKAN travel agents have expressed reservations about the country’s planned switch to an online visa scheme, a change from present practice where visitors, particularly those from the West, get a visa-on-arrival (VOA).

While agents are worried the new system will hurt tourism compared to the convenience of a hassle-free VOA, they have agreed to the change provided the online application process is simplified.

Currently, visitors from some 80 countries including Britain, France, Germany, India, the US, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Russia, Germany, China, Pakistan, India and other EU nations, get a 30-day visa at no charge upon arrival.

Once the new system kicks in, these nationals would have to apply for an online visa and pay fees equivalent to what Sri Lankans are charged when travelling to the West.

No visa fee will be charged from Singapore or Maldivian travellers in a reciprocal measure, as these are the only two countries where Sri Lankan nationals are accorded a free VOA.

Sri Lanka Immigration and Emigration chief, Chulananda Perera, said visitors to the country would soon be able to apply for their visas through the website www.immigration.gov.lk.

Perera said the cabinet had only approved the initiative last week and implementation date has yet to be set.

THE MALACCA state government’s plan to impose a five per cent heritage fee on hotel guests from September 1 has drawn flak from the local travel trade.

“The heritage tax is unreasonable and irrelevant,” said Stadhuys Tours and Travel managing director William Chan. “It makes no sense to impose a tax, especially with the current economic situation. The state had already raised the water tariff recently, so an additional tax is a burden for the industry.”

Malacca Budget Hotels Association chairman Hendon Puteh said that as many members were already charging six per cent government tax, with some charging an additional 10 per cent service charge on hotel bills, the total 21 per cent fee imposed on guests would be too much of a disincentive for overnight stays.

Chan said that representatives from tour operators, hotels and the Malaysian Association of Hotels and Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents were planning to present a memorandum to the Chief Minister to hold a discussion to review the tax.

According to Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam, the estimated RM12.0 million (US$4.04 million) generated annually from the new tax will enable the state government to conduct maintenance and conservation of heritage sites and beautification programmes.

By Ellen Chen