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Tag: airlines

  • Myanmar National Airlines connects to Sabre

    Myanmar National Airlines connects to Sabre

    Myanmar National Airlines will now distribute its fares via Sabre

    Myanmar National Airlines‘ expansion strategy has taken another step forward, with the signing of a new distribution deal with Sabre.

    The Yangon-based airline started distributing its fares to travel agents last month via the Amadeus GDS, and it will now be able to access even more travel agents with the Sabre GDS deal. Effective immediately, the carrier’s fares and inventory will be made available to more than 100,000 Sabre-connected travel agents across the Asia Pacific region.

    “This agreement will help us to stimulate demand within the most important retail sales channel for Myanmar, supporting our ambitious expansion plans,” said Captain Than Tun, CEO of Myanmar National Airlines.

    “Shopping for flights to our 26 corporate and leisure domestic destinations becomes easy and more transparent, while we also promote our new international routes which have just started with Singapore.”

    In recent months Myanmar National Airlines has started taking delivery of a new fleet of modern aircraft, and also launched its first international services to Singapore. It now plans to add four more international destinations within the Asia Pacific region by early 2016.

    “Myanmar has become a strategic growth market in Southeast Asia for both tourism and trade. This agreement with Myanmar National Airlines provides travel agents across the region with access to the full domestic network, while the flag carrier enjoys a boost in ticket sales,” said Hans Belle, Sabre Travel Network’s vice president of supplier commerce & strategic partnerships for Asia Pacific.

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  • Jetstar Asia celebrates 2.5 mln passengers between KL to Singapore

    Jetstar Asia celebrates 2.5 mln passengers between KL to Singapore

    Jetstar Asia is celebratings its two and a half millionth passenger on the Singapore and Kuala Lumpur route, one of the busiest on the airline’s network.

    In a statement, the low-cost carrier said the milestone coincides with Jetstar Asia’s move of its operations to the klia2 terminal in Kuala Lumpur on July 8.

    Chan Kim Wah, a Malaysian national who works in Singapore, has won himself a RM1,000 flight voucher for being the 2.5 millionth passenger to travel between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

    After launching with one daily service in 2008, Jetstar Asia now operates up to 30 weekly services and continues to enhance the travel experience for thousands of passengers who fly between Singapore and the Malaysian capital each year.

    Marking the celebration in Kuala Lumpur, Jetstar Asia Chief Eexecutive Officer Bara Pasupathi said that demand for the route has continued to grow due to the strong business and cultural ties between the two countries.

    “Singapore travellers love visiting Kuala Lumpur, and our commitment to low fares has made more frequent trips for business meetings as well as great food and shopping more affordable.

    “The recent opening of Southeast Asia’s largest factory outlet malls less than two kilometres from the klia2 terminals will serve as new attractions for shopping-savvy Singaporean travellers to visit Kuala Lumpur more often,” he said.

    The malls are part of the KLIA Aeropolis, also known as Malaysia Airports’ airport city master plan.

    Meanwhile, Malaysia Airports Senior General Manager of Operations Services, Datuk Azmi Murad, said: “Airports are no longer just transit points but a destination in their own right.

    “klia2 is a shopping destination with a total of 225 retail and FB outlets throughout the terminal and nearly 200 retail and F&B outlets at gateway@klia2, a shopping annexe to the terminal which aims to cater not only to travellers but to the surrounding community as well.

    “We are delighted to welcome Jetstar Asia to the klia2 terminal today.

    They are joining an increasing number of airlines that recognise klia2 as an exciting, vibrant and convenient terminal especially in terms of its seamless connectivity and world-class facilities.” There are no changes to Jetstar Asia’s schedule and check-in facilities and timings as a result of the move to klia2, and customers can continue to use the enhanced web check-in service straight-to-gate in Kuala Lumpur.

    “The move to klia2, a purpose-built LCC terminal, is an exciting development for Jetstar Asia as our investment in self-service options like straight-to-gate will follow our customers to the new terminal,” Pasupathi noted.

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  • Qantas still positive about Jetstar’s Asian growth plans

    Qantas still positive about Jetstar’s Asian growth plans

    Jetstar’s Asian division reported an underlying loss before interest and tax of $33 million in the first half of the financial year.

    Qantas Airways has no plans of abandoning its investment in Jetstar’s Asian arms despite disappointing returns to date because the growth potential is so big, says Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.

    All of the airline’s other divisions are expected to report returns exceeding their cost of capital this financial year, amid forecasts the carrier could report an underlying pre-tax profit approaching $1 billion. But Jetstar’s Asian division, including businesses in Singapore, Japan, Vietnam and Hong Kong, reported an underlying loss before interest and tax of $33 million in the first half of the financial year.

    “What we are investing in Asia for the group, it is a very small amount of capital,” Mr Joyce said on Sunday on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association annual meeting in Miami. “It is done in a very capital-light way. So for the group to get its cost of capital, this year as an example, [Jetstar in Asia] won’t return its cost of capital but the overall group will. For us these are low capital cost investments for huge growth potential.””For us these are low capital cost investments for huge growth potential.”: Qantas boss Alan Joyce.

    Mr Joyce noted the Asian market is the fastest-growing aviation market in the world, and said he believed it would eventually become the most profitable aviation market in the world. Qantas has invested in Jetstar’s Asian arms through joint ventures with local shareholders.

    Jetstar Group chief executive Jayne Hrdlicka said Singapore-based Jetstar Asia an Vietnam-based Jetstar Pacific are expected to be profitable in the second half of the financial year.

    “Significant capacity has come out of the [Singapore] market post the FY14 results,” she said. “Everybody did it tough with too much capacity coming into the market. So that has rationalised. A little bit of it is starting to come back in because the Singapore dollar is so strong. But we are very confident that the outlook will improve.

    In the meantime, Jetstar Japan remains loss-making and Jetstar Hong Kong has yet to receive long-delayed government approvals to begin flying and it has sold all but one of its original nine aircraft.

    Ms Hrdlicka admitted Jetstar had misjudged the ease of gaining regulatory approvals in Hong Kong.

    “Our expectations were not lined up with the reality of the way this government is making decisions in Hong Kong,” she said.

    But she said fellow Jetstar Hong Kong shareholders China Eastern and Shun Tak Holdings were more “patient and longminded”, especially now that the Hong Kong government has committed to a third runway at the busy Hong Kong International Airport.

    “The other aspect that is brewing confidence in our shareholders is the Hong Kong economy needs the tourism flows into Hong Kong,” she said. “Chinese tourism is significantly down. For some retail sectors in Hong Kong, they are off by 30 per cent. So that flow of customers who need low fares to make Hong Kong affordable, to have the Hong Kong experience is really important to the Hong Kong economy and supports the Hong Kong people.”

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