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Tag: flights

  • Cebu Pacific opens Bacolod-CDO flights

    Cebu Pacific opens Bacolod-CDO flights

    CEBU Pacific (CEB) has expanded its inter-regional route network by opening its Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro (CDO) flights, one of the two new routes that will further connect the Visayas and Northern Mindanao. On March 15, the airline opened the Bacolod-CDO route with three flights every week specifically on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.

    The other route is between CDO and Tagbilaran City, with four flight schedules weekly during Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Both new routes will use the airline’s ATR aircraft. Alexander Lao, president and CEO of Cebgo, said these new routes will not only boost tourism, but also increase trade and productivity between Visayas and Mindanao.

    Lao said they are also optimistic that this will encourage a number of tourists and businessmen from Tagbilaran and Bacolod to visit Mindanao more often with direct flights. “We are very thrilled to begin flying to and from these destinations,” he said, adding that movement of goods between these islands will also be facilitated as Cebu Pacific cargo services are also available in these routes. The airline company, in a press statement, said the new routes going to and from CDO also provide travelers with the best connectivity option through direct flights that eliminates the need to pass through Manila or Cebu. Cebu Pacific offers its lowest all-in one way year-round fares of P1,806 and P1,235 from CDO to Bacolod and Tagbilaran, respectively, it added.

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  • AirAsia looking at 90% load factor this year with new flights

    AirAsia looking at 90% load factor this year with new flights

    In an interview, Dexter M. Comendador, Philippines AirAsia chief executive officer, said the parent firm is bringing in more aircraft for the expanded Philippine operations.

    “We’re one of the best performers in the group right now. Last year, we targeted 80-82% load factor and we were able to go over it… Our performance is giving us more planes, that is why we’re expanding,” Mr. Comendador said during the launch of the new Davao routes last Friday.

    While he did not specify how many aircraft will be added, he said AirAsia currently uses 14 for its Philippine local and international routes.

    The new flights starting April 22 using Airbus A320s are: twice a day between Davao and Cebu; daily Davao-Caticlan (Boracay); thrice a week Davao-Puerto Princesa; and four times a week Davao-Clark.

    With these flights, Philippines AirAsia now considers the Francisco Bangoy International Airport in Davao City as another one of its hubs.

    “Davao has so much potentials to be the next ‘wonder’ or the emerging tourism giant for the Philippines and the ongoing development will bear more fruit and contribute significantly to benefit our economy,” Mr. Comendador said.

    “Foreign tourists arriving in Cebu can skip the crowded airport of Manila and fly straight to Davao. With our newest routes, AirAsia would like to provide the much needed connections and tap the unserved markets, tourism and business, in Visayas and Mindanao,” he added.

    Meanwhile, Department of Tourism (DoT)-Davao Region Director Roberto P. Alabado III told the additional flights and routes are a very welcome development.

    “We need new routes that must be served for us to lure more visitors to the region,” said Mr. Alabado.

    DoT-Davao through Mr. Alabado, Mr. Comendador, and Visit Davao Fun Sale Executive Committee Chair Benjamin A. Lizada signed a memorandum of agreement last Friday for the annual summer event promoting the Davao Region.

  • Philippine Airlines to resume daily Manila-KL flights

    Philippine Airlines to resume daily Manila-KL flights

    Philippine Airlines will resume daily flights between Manila and Kuala Lumpur in June 2017 after a three-year hiatus, targeting at least 80% in load factor over the next 12 months.

    Its senior vice-president for commercial group, David A. Lim, said the flight resumption between both capitals was in line with the carrier’s route expansion and flight modernisation.

    “We are looking to not only ‘selling’ Manila to Malaysian travellers but also the Philippines as a whole and the Americas, as well as the Oceania routes,” he told reporters after announcing the Manila-Kuala Lumpur route on Wednesday.

    Present were Philippine Airlines vice president of sales Ryan T. Uy and Pacific World Travel Sdn Bhd president Tunku Datuk Seri Iskandar Tunku Abdullah.

    Pacific World Travel is a general sales agent for Philippine Airlines Malaysia.

    “We have expanded eight new destinations this year and we will expand more as we move towards the year-end,” Lim said.

    To date, Philippine Airlines has 29 domestic flights and 44 international destinations, including that of the Middle East and Europe.

    He noted that the reopening of the route was also aimed at capitalising on the Asean economic integration as it would provide direct access to new business opportunities.

    Lim expressed confidence that the airline would regain its market share in Malaysia as it planned to expand its code-share partnership with Malaysia Airlines in domestic flights.

    The carrier halted its flights to Kuala Lumpur in 2014 after a year in operation partly due to microeconomic factors, said Uy.

    He said 2013 was a challenging year for everyone due to high fuel prices.

    “That was part of the reasons why we stopped the route. We believe this is the best time to come in, especially with Asean celebrating its 50th anniversary, to grow our tourism industry,” he added.

     

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  • Sriwijaya Air Opens Direct Flight to Eastern Indonesia

    Sriwijaya Air Opens Direct Flight to Eastern Indonesia

    Sriwijaya Air this year expands its market share to eastern Indonesia by opening a direct flight from Surabaya to Jayapura in Papua. Sriwijaya Air commercial director Toto Nursatyo said that eastern regions of Indonesia have a huge potential even more so because the government has planned to step up development in the regions.

    He added that Sriwijaya also pointed to a trend in Indonesia’s aviation industry which has grown 15 percent in the past few years, way above other countries with less than 5 percent growth. The airline plans to serve 4 flights a week in Surabaya-Jayapura route with a load factor target of 85 percent. The ticket for a flight will cost starting from Rp1.4 million.

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  • China interested in establishing direct flight to West-Java

    China interested in establishing direct flight to West-Java

    The Executive Director of PT Bandara Internasional Jawa Barat, Virda Dimas Ekaputra, said that the Chengdu administration of China has stated its interest in establishing direct flight to Kertajati Airport of West Java Province.

    “They were excited when they knew that the West Java administration was to build a new international airport in Kertajati of Majalengka District,” Ekaputra said here on Tuesday.

    According to the director, the Chengdu administration has proposed the direct flight to Soekarno-Hatta Airport of Tangerang City.

    However, Soekarno-Hatta Airport could not accept their proposal due to the flight slot being full.

    Ekaputra stated that all ASEAN countries, except Indonesia, have maintained connection of their cities with Chengdu.

    He hoped that the establishment of the airport in West Java Province could develop the tourism sector in the area.

    Thus, the company will cooperate with West Java Cultural and Tourism Service to promote tourism in the region.

    “West Java would be one of the tourism destinations. The development would contribute to achieve 20 million foreign tourists,” Ekaputra added.

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  • Attapeu, Laos loses commercial service

    Attapeu, Laos loses commercial service

    Attopeu airport, located in the south of Laos near the borders of Vietnam and Cambodia, has ceased commercial operations.

    Lao Airlines (QV, Vientiane) had been running a scheduled service to the small aerodrome 2x weekly from Vientiane via Pakse since April 2016 using an ATR 72-600, but the service appears to have been suspended. According to FlightRadar24 ADS-B data, the last commercial flight to Attapeu was on October 26, 2016.

    Attapeu Airport was officially opened on May 30, 2015 after an investment from Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Group.

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  • Laos targets more international flights

    Laos targets more international flights

    Lao PDR’s Department of Civil Aviation says its priority is to encourage more international airlines to serve the capital Vientiane.

    In an interview the department claimed there were more direct flights to Laos, many of them charter flights during the peak tourist season November to April.

    Flights from China are on the increase. Previously, only China Eastern Airlines operated flights, but now Sichuan Airlines and Hainan Airlines, both serve the country direct from China.

    Nations with direct flights  to Laos include China, Vietnam, Thailand, South Korea, Singapore and Malaysia, the report said.

    Civil aviation officials are keen to see more airlines serve the capital to balance traffic to Luang Prabang, the country’s main tourist destination. Most airlines prefer to fly to the World Heritage town as flights quickly turn a profit, although there is a significant dip in bookings during the monsoon season June to October.

    Up until 2015, traffic rights were difficult to obtain particularly to Luang Prabang where there was virtual ban on low-cost airlines. However, 2016 saw a change in policy and low-cost airlines opened services from neighbouring countries.

    South Korea airlines serve Laos with both schedule and charter flights. Japanese airlines previously offered charter flights.

    Foreign airlines have access to three locations in Laos – Champasak, Luang Prabang and Vientiane, it added.

    Airline seat quotas on flights between Vientiane and Bangkok have been increased in a bid to promote trade, investment and tourism between the two destinations.

    Thai and Lao PDR officials approved, last year, a revised Thai-Lao accord that increases the ceiling on seat capacity on routes between the two countries to as many as 14,500 seats weekly depending on the route.

    The agreement paved the way for designated carriers, registered in both countries, to add more flights on routes that have been restricted for years.

    The seat capacity ceiling on the Bangkok-Vientiane route increased more from 2,100 to 14,500 seats weekly. Most of the flights use A320 with a maximum of 200 seats.

    On the Bangkok-Luang Prabang route, the weekly ceiling  increased from 1,000 to 10,000 seats.

    The seat quotas for other customs and immigration enabled airports increased from 450 to 2,100 per week.

    Thai Airways International, Bangkok Airways and Thai AirAsia operate flights to and from Laos there are two airlines; Lao Airlines and Central Airlines.

    Raising the seat capacity ceiling will now allow Thai Smile and Nok Air to apply for traffic rights.

    Thai Smile introduced a new flight connecting Bangkok to Luang Prabang, a world heritage town in Laos starting 16 January.

    The airline offers four weekly flights on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday using an Airbus A320 aircraft on the route.

    According to the Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, arrivals to Laos were expected to reach 4.3 million by the end of last year, representing an increase of 4% over 2015.

    Foreign visitor arrivals increased from 2.7 million in 2011 to 4.1 million in 2015.

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  • AirAsia X plans to lease two used 777-300ERs for London Gatwick summer 2017

    AirAsia X plans to lease two used 777-300ERs for London Gatwick summer 2017

    Malaysian long haul low cost airline AirAsia X is planning to dry lease two 777-300ERs from 2Q2017 to support the resumption of services to London Gatwick in Jun-2017. Its joint venture airline in Thailand is also aiming to launch long haul services to Europe in summer 2017 with a new route to Frankfurt, using the group’s existing A330-300ceo fleet.

    The lease of second hand 777-300ERs enables AirAsia X to accelerate the relaunch of flights between its main home market of Malaysia and Europe. Previously AirAsia X was intending to wait for the delivery of the A330-900neo to resume long haul flights, which it last operated in 2012 with inefficient A340-300s.

    The group was initially aiming to start operating A330-900neos from 2018, but first delivery has been delayed to early 2019. Short term leases on two 777-300ERs therefore give AirAsia X at least an 18 month jump on resuming London – a strategically important market.

    However, the 777-300ERs come with high risks and costs, particularly given the current market conditions and the relatively low density full service airline configuration that AirAsia X inherits with the aircraft.

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  • AirAsia to operate flights on Patna-Delhi route from July

    AirAsia to operate flights on Patna-Delhi route from July

    Malaysian budget airline AirAsia is most likely to start its flight operations from Jayaprakash Narayan International Airport here in July. It will operate two flights on Delhi-Patna-Delhi route from July following a final nod from the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA).

    In fact, different airlines have made proposals to operate total 32 flights from Patna airport under the summer schedule. Twenty flights operate from Patna airport at present under the winter schedule, which is likely to end by February 15.

    Patna airport director Rajendra Singh Lahauria told TOI on Friday, “AirAsia has submitted a schedule to the DGCA for operating two flights between Delhi and Patna from July. The first flight will land here at 8:30am and the second at 8:30pm.”

    AirAsia apart, four other airlines operating from Patna airport — Air India, IndiGo, GoAir and Jet Airways — have also sought permission to increase their number of flights from Patna in July.

    As flights are mostly not allowed to land at the city airport before 10am due to foggy conditions normally from first week of November, most airlines had cancelled or rescheduled their morning flights and added in the afternoon under their winter schedule, which came into effect from December.

    IndiGo sources said the total number of flights has been proposed to increase from 11 to 14 from February 16 under their summer schedule. Its seven flights would operate on Patna-Delhi route.

    GoAir has also proposed to increase the number of flights from Patna from five to eight. Also, both Air India and Jet Airways have proposed to increase the number of flights from 2 to 4.

    Patna airport has witnessed a steep surge in aircraft traffic over the past few years as it has increased from 10 flights in 2010 to 20 at present. Altogether 26 flights were operating from the city airport last summer.

    The rise in number of flights has been attributed to the increase in passenger traffic. The passenger flow at the city airport increased from 14.5% in 2014-15 to 32.4% in 2015-16.

    Efforts are also being made to expand the terminal building at the city airport with two-storey swanky building with six aerobridges in order to accommodate an expected traffic of 30 lakh passengers per annum. Union cabinet on Tuesday approved the transfer of 11.35 acres of land to Bihar government in exchange of equivalent land of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) at Anisabad. Airport director Lahauria said construction work is expected to commence from June this year.

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  • AirAsia X flying to London, Frankfurt this summer

    AirAsia X flying to London, Frankfurt this summer

    AirAsia X will return to London this summer with direct flights out of klia2, AirAsia group CEO Tony Fernandes told media on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last week.

    Additionally, Fernandes said that Frankfurt will be added to the list of destinations for the long-haul arm of the Malaysian-based low-cost carrier, but it will be a direct flight out of Bangkok.

    According to German news agency DPA, Fernandes said he hoped to set the airfare below €200 (RM953) for the Bangkok-Frankfurt flight.

    “I would like to offer them for even less. Due to the low oil prices, we could even afford to set the airfare as low as €150 (RM715).

    “We are keen on attracting more Europeans to come to holiday in Southeast Asia as well as to help Asians who wish to explore Europe. We see this as a mutual market,” he was quoted as saying by DPA.

    The airline had suspended all flights to Europe, including London and Paris, in March 2012, due to high operating costs. The Kuala Lumpur and London route was launched by AirAsia X in March 2009.

    AirAsia X currently flies to multiple destinations in China, India and Japan, as well as to a few Australian cities.

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  • Citilink to concentrate on flights to eastern Indonesia

    Citilink to concentrate on flights to eastern Indonesia

    Chief Executive of Citilink Indonesia Albert Burhan said the airline would focus on expanding flights to eastern Indonesia this year.

    Albert said there are potential routes to eastern Indonesia, which have not attracted other airlines.

    “There will be plan to open routes to other areas in Papua, but we start from Jayapura. In 2017 we want to focus on expanding flights to eastern regions of the country,” he said.

    He said he knew not all airports in eastern Indonesia could take wide bodied aircraft like Airbus, the main aircraft of the subsidiary of the nations flag carrier Garuda Indonesia.

    “Only a few could be used for Airbus A320. We might have to rely more on ATR aircraft to be safe,” he said.

    He said eastern Indonesia still needs more airlines to serve flight to and from eastern Indonesia.

    He said he was optimistic Citilink could chalk up quite high load factor in flights between Jayapura and Jakarta, although there are already a number of other airlines serving the route.

    “Our target is a load factor of 80 percent. In our first flight from Jakarta to Jayapura the load factor was almost 100 percent,” he said.

    Citilink Indonesia officially started serving the Jakarta Jayapura route on Monday using Airbus A320 with a seat capacity of 180 passengers.

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  • AirAsia Returns to Europe, Slashes Fares

    AirAsia Returns to Europe, Slashes Fares

    AirAsia, the Malaysian low-cost airline, is returning to Europe this summer when it will add London and Frankfurt to its destinations.

    The airline’s chief executive, Tony Fernandes, told German news agency DPA at the World Economic Forum in Davos that he planned to launch two new routes, from Kuala Lumpur to London and Bangkok to Frankfurt.

    Tickets to Frankfurt will cost less than €200 ($214). “Honestly, I would like to offer them for even less. Because of the low oil prices, we could afford about €150,” Mr. Fernandes said. He’s keen to attract Europeans who want to go on holiday in Southeast Asia as well as Asians wanting to explore Europe: “We see this as a mutual market,” he said.

    AirAsia is based near Kuala Lumpur and offered connections to London and Paris in the past but abandoned these in 2012 because planes were too small and energy prices too high.

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  • Cebu Pacific-Visa tie up for exclusive international seat sale

    Cebu Pacific-Visa tie up for exclusive international seat sale

    Cebu Pacific (CEB) allies with Visa to offer all-inclusive seat sale fares to some of the most popular international destinations within its extensive flight network.

    The seat sale exclusive for Visa cardholders, started last January 16, 2017 and will be available until January 22 (or until seats last). Flights will be for travel from May 1 to September 30, 2017.

    Cardholders who wish to make the most out of this year can still catch the last few days of the sale and book flights from Manila to Hong Kong for as low as P1, 599. Seats from Cebu, Clark, Davao and Iloilo to Hong Kong and Singapore are also available at the same low fare.

    Those who want to visit Busan and Incheon from Manila can avail of flights for as low as P2, 099. Flights to Incheon from Cebu and Kalibo and flights to Singapore, Guangzhou and Xiamen from Manila are also up for grabs at the same all-in fare. Passengers can also fly from Manila to Beijing and Shanghai (P2, 599), Guam (P3, 099) or Sydney (P4, 199).

    All fares quoted are for one-way flights, and are inclusive of country-specific taxes, web admin fee and terminal fee. Baggage allowance, meals, travel insurance and other ancillaries may be added to the fare per the passenger’s preference.

    To avail of this exclusive seat sale, Visa cardholders only need to input the promotional code “VISA” through www.cebupacificair.com. Terms & conditions apply.

    CEB currently offers flights to a total of 37 domestic and 29 international destinations, operating an extensive network across Asia, Australia, the Middle East, and USA. Its 57-strong fleet is comprised of four Airbus A319, 36 Airbus A320, seven Airbus A330, eight ATR 72-500, and two ATR 72-600 aircraft. Between 2017 and 2021, CEB expects delivery of one more brand-new Airbus A330, 32 Airbus A321neo, and 14 ATR 72-600 aircraft.

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  • Ministry terminates Australia`s Tiger Air charter flight operations

    Ministry terminates Australia`s Tiger Air charter flight operations

    The Airport Authority of the Transportation Ministry has terminated the operations of the Tiger Air charter flight from Bali to Australia for failure to abide by regulations.

    The decision to terminate the Tiger Air charter flight from Bali to Australia was made by the Airport Authority (OBU), Region VI of the Directorate General of Air Transportation, Wednesday, January 11, 2017.

    Spokesman of the Directorate General of Air Transportation Agoes Soebagio, in a written statement in Jakarta, Wednesday, said the OBU Region IV had also terminated, as of Wednesday (January 11), the operations of charter flights of the Tiger Airways Australia from Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide in Australia to Denpasar, Bali.

    The examinations by the OBU Region IV revealed that Tiger Airways Australia (TT) did not abide by the regulations contained in the charter flight permit provided by the Directorate General of Air Transportation.

    The Tiger Airways Australia did not comply with regulations as contained in the KM 25/2008 and PM 66/2015, which has been amended to PM 109/2016.

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  • Saigon-Hanoi ranks 7th among world’s busiest air routes

    Saigon-Hanoi ranks 7th among world’s busiest air routes

    The country’s aviation market is growing at the third fastest pace in Asia-Pacific as air travel has become more affordable. About 4.1 million passengers are estimated to fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi this year, putting the route among the world’s most busiest, according to the U.K.-based air travel company OAG.

    Latest data from the company showed that the northbound route came in at the seventh place in the list of global busiest air routes, up five spots from a year ago.

    The route accounts for about 35 percent of the country’s air traffic, with up to 700 daily flights carrying passengers.

    Huge numbers of passengers traveling between the two largest cities have also strained Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

    Lai Xuan Thanh, director of the Civil Aviation Administration of Vietnam, said that there were times dozens of flights had to fly around, waiting for 15-60 minutes before they could land.

    The airport is expected to handle 31 million passengers this year, far beyond its maximum capacity of 25 million.

    Thanh said that the situation is likely to worsen in the next four years as domestic carriers plan to expand to meet the local travel boom.

    National flag carrier Vietnam Airlines, low-cost Jetstar Pacific and VietJet Air, and newly-founded Vietstar had raised the total number of airplanes to 141 by the end of the third quarter, up 50 percent against five years ago.

    They are planning to expand their fleets to a combined 263 aircraft by 2020. Vietstar has not been licensed to fly.

    To handle the problem of overcrowded airports, authorities are considering increasing the number of night flights and putting a cap on the number of new planes local airlines can buy.

    Vietnam’s aviation market is growing at the third fastest pace in the Asia-Pacific region, according to the aviation administration.

    It is estimated that the number of passengers, including international ones, in 2016 will jump by 29 percent to hit about 52.2 million.