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Tag: travel

  • Lion Air to Serve Umrah Flight from Kertajati Airport

    Lion Air to Serve Umrah Flight from Kertajati Airport

    Managing Director of Lion Group, Captain Daniel Putut Kuncoro Adi said that his company will serve the first umrah flight from Kertajati Airport, Majalengka, on Saturday, October 13. Lion Air will use Boeing 737-800 Max8 made in 2018 with the capacity of 176 passengers. “Our hope is it the flight will increase. We are ready to serve every day. For now, we start with one flight in a week,” Daniel said. The flight route is from Kertajati to Madinah, and the return flight is from Jeddah to Kertajati.

    “We start with once a week flight frequency. Up to this year’s Umrah season, the slot is already full,” he said at Gedung Sate, Bandung, Tuesday, October 9

    Daniel said that Lion Air has planned to replace the aircraft with a larger one. “We have an Airbus 330 with a capacity of 440 passengers, then a Boeing 747 with a capacity of 500 passengers,” he said.

    Samira Ali Wisata’s Managing Director, Fauzi Wahyu Muntoro, said his Umrah travel agent DGI (Dini Group Indonesia) could get 90 people in a month, to depart from Kertajati Airport.

    President Director of West Java International Airport (BIJB) Virda Dimas Ekaputra said that Lion Air agreed to serve the Umrah flight from Kertajati Airport twice a week.

    West Java Governor Ridwan Kamil said the Umrah flight service from Kertajati Airport had long been awaited by the West Java people.

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  • Airbnb looms as major threat to HCMC hotels

    Airbnb looms as major threat to HCMC hotels

    Hotel and serviced apartment tariffs outside the city center are leveling off and on the brink of declining as a result of competition from apartments leased on Airbnb and others.

    CBRE’s senior director, Duong Thuy Dung, said since 2016 a total of nearly 100,000 apartments have been built and sold in Saigon, and a large proportion of them are on Airbnb.

    So far this year only 43 new properties have hit the HCMC serviced apartment market. This low number was because investors had to consider reducing supply to avoid the competition from short-term lease apartments, Dung explained.

    Nevertheless, grade A serviced apartments in the downtown area saw high occupancy rates thanks to their superior location and inherent differences in brand and utility, she said.

    But grade B and C serviced apartments are under pressure, as are hotels.

    CBRE study, released in September, showed demand for three-star hotels have been gradually falling because of growth of Airbnb in both HCMC and Hanoi.

    Airbnb, launched in 2008, has over five million registered rental properties in 191 countries, while the 10 largest hotel chains in the world only have 6.1 million rooms.

    As of August this year Hanoi and HCMC had 21,994 properties on Airbnb. The average rental is around $36 per room per night in Hanoi and $44 in HCMC, making them very competitive.

    CBRE concluded that with their rapid expansion in the Vietnamese market, short-term room rental services are now a direct competitor to three-star hotels due to the similarity in their prices.

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  • AirAsia announces direct flights between KL and Tianjin

    AirAsia announces direct flights between KL and Tianjin

    AirAsia is expanding its footprint in China with an exclusive direct service between Kuala Lumpur and Tianjin, a coastal city in China.

    Beginning Dec 2, the new route will connect more than 15 million people in Tianjin with South-East Asia and beyond.

    AirAsia’s long haul affiliate, AirAsia X, will not only provide direct services between the two cities, but also stimulate regional demand through great value airfares, enabling more people to travel.

    AirAsia will also beef up its direct route between Kuala Lumpur and Changsha, doubling the current number of seats on the popular route in response to demand, by operating its fleet of larger wide-body Airbus A330 aircraft commencing Oct 29.

    He said this will significantly boost tourism, trade and economic growth while paving the way towards China’s Year of Tourism and Culture 2020, envisioned by the leaders of both Malaysia and China.

    “Together with our existing routes into China, today’s announcement means we are further strengthening our foothold in Northern China and increasing our overall capacity to China – one of our  fastest growing markets.

    “We will continue to look for expansion opportunities that not only maintain AirAsia Group’s dominance as the largest foreign carrier to China by capacity, but also enable us to remain committed in our quest to making air travel affordable for everyone,” said Benyamin.

    With the launch of Tianjin as its latest destination, AirAsia will fly to 20 cities in China with 550 weekly direct flights from hubs in Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

  • AirAsia plunges into thriving Malaysian dive destination

    AirAsia plunges into thriving Malaysian dive destination

    Following the news in September that AirAsia is boosting the coverage of their Malaysia product with a new service between Kuala Lumpur and Kuantan, in Pahang, the airline has now announced another Malaysian connection with the launch of four-weekly flights from Kuching to Tawau starting 2 December 2018.

    AirAsia is currently the only airline in Malaysia to offer direct flights between the state capital city of Sarawak and Tawau, the third largest city in Sabah.

    “Tawau is gaining popularity as a gateway to the world’s best dive sites”

    Riad Asmat, AirAsia’s CEO in Malaysia, said: “We are excited to launch a new route from our ever-expanding Kuching hub. Our Kuching – Tawau route is a testament to our commitment to further boost the connectivity in East Malaysia and to expand economic opportunities in both cities. While Kuching is no stranger to tourists, Tawau is gaining popularity as a gateway to the world’s best dive sites, especially among Chinese tourists.

    90% of our Fly-Thru routes to Tawau are from cities in China and 76% of our guests visiting Tawau come from China. We believe we can further leverage on this direct route to attract more visitors to both Kuching and Tawau.”

    Flight schedule

    Table 1.jpg

    AirAsia Malaysia (flight code AK) now flies to 13 destinations from Kuching, namely Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kota Bharu, Johor Bahru, Bintulu, Langkawi, Penang, Sibu, Tawau, Miri, Shenzhen, Pontianak and Singapore. The airline also flies to four destinations from Tawau to Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Johor Bahru and Kuching.

    To celebrate the new route, the airline is offering promotional all-in-fares from RM79 (USD 19.02) one-way from Kuching to Tawau. The promotional fare is available for booking on airasia.com and the AirAsia mobile app from now until 14 October 2018 for travel between 2 December 2018 and 26 November.

    On top of the new Malaysian expansion, AirAsia has also beefed up another Asian product with two direct new services between Thailand and India with a Bangkok-Visakhapatnam, running four times a week, departing from Don Mueang Airport every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, as of 7 December. As well as Bangkok-Bhubaneswar, flying three times a week, departing Don Mueang Airport every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, starting 6 December.

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  • AirAsia to become a travel technology company

    AirAsia to become a travel technology company

    AirAsia is integrating Google Cloud’s machine learning and AI (artificial intelligence) technologies into every aspect of its business, as part of its transformation into a travel technology company.

    Speaking at the Google Cloud Next London ‘18 event, AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said, “It’s a huge mission, but we’ve never done anything easy.”

    “We are now in our next phase of development where we are expanding beyond air transport, and digitalising our operations and processes to become more efficient.”

    Google Cloud will allow AirAsia to make full use of the mountain of data it already owns, opening up opportunities for the carrier to build new businesses.

    AirAsia is building two big platforms – airasia.com, its one-stop digital travel platform to meet the travel needs of customers for flight, accommodation, tours, ground transport and entertainment; and BigLife which it claims will be “like Kayak, Tripadvisor, Groupon and eBay rolled into one”.

    “BigLife will incorporate all the investments under our digital arm Redbeat Ventures, such as our money app BigPay, in-flight connectivity platform Rokki, online marketplace Ourshop and logistics services RedBox and RedCargo.

    “Both platforms will help drive more business into AirAsia with the help of data,” he said.

    According to Google Cloud chief executive officer Diane Greene, AirAsia started using Google’s services with G Suite to transform the way the company works.

    “Now, with our advanced analytics platform and machine learning services, AirAsia will be able to digitise every aspect of its business to better serve its customers,” she added.

    AirAsia also hopes to use Google Cloud to maximise operational efficiency and reduce risk through predictive maintenance, real-time weather forecasting and crew optimisation.

    On top of that it aims to improve demand forecasting and targeted marketing and provide more personalised experiences to increase customer loyalty.

    AirAsia will also be able to enroll its technical teams in the same programme Google Cloud uses to train its engineers, allowing the airline to build its own internal machine learning system.

    To view Tony’s presentation on how AirAsia will work with Google Cloud to become a travel technology company, visit g.co/cloud/nextonair18.

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  • Bamboo Airways postpones maiden flight

    Bamboo Airways postpones maiden flight

    The carrier, owned by Vietnamese private firm FLC Group, is yet to receive its license. The delay in getting its license meant that the airline also missed out on its plans to start selling tickets from September 2.

    A Ministry of Transport official, who declined to be named, told Monday that the licensing procedures for the airline have not been completed. An official of Vietnam Aviation Authority also confirmed that the flight permit could not be granted on time to the airline.

    The transport ministry had asked the Prime Minister to allow it to issue an air transportation business license to Bamboo Airways in late August. However, the ministry is yet to receive an official reply.

    No one elaborated on the reason for the delay. An FLC Group spokesperson told that the airline’s first flight will be moved to the end of the fourth quarter of this year.

    “We have to rearrange the original plan. However, Bamboo Airways’ business strategy and pre-designated flight network will not be affected by this adjustment,” the spokesperson said.

    Bamboo Airways’ general director Dang Tat Thang said the airline is currently in the process of finalizing its airfreight business license.

    This is the final legal basis for the company to officially enter the market.

    Thang said that all preparations for the first scheduled flight for the fourth quarter had been completed.

    Bamboo Airlines will become Vietnam’s fifth airline when it becomes operational.

    The other four airlines are flag carrier Vietnam Airlines; budget operator Jetstar Pacific Airlines, which is partly owned by Vietnam Airlines; budget carrier Vietjet Aviation and Vietnam Air Services Co.

    Hanoi-based FLC, whose main businesses include housing, resorts and golfing, had said it planned to operate international and domestic flights to tourist spots in Vietnam, including where FLC has major properties.

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  • AirAsia strengthens east Malaysia network

    AirAsia strengthens east Malaysia network

    AirAsia is strengthening its connectivity in East Malaysia with four-weekly flights from Kuching to Tawau starting 2 December.

    AirAsia is the only Malaysian airline to offer direct flights between the capital city of Sarawak and the third largest city in Sabah state.

    AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said:  “To launch a new route from our Kuching hub to Tawau is a testament to our commitment to further boost the connectivity in East Malaysia.”

    Tawau is gaining popularity as a gateway to the Sabah’s dive sites, especially among Chinese tourists.

    The airline said 99% of passengers on Fly-Thru routes to Tawau were from cities in China and 76% of all passengers visiting Tawau come from China.

    AirAsia Malaysia (flight code AK) now flies to 13 destinations from Kuching, namely Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kota Bharu, Johor Bahru, Bintulu, Langkawi, Penang, Sibu, Tawau, Miri, Shenzhen, Pontianak and Singapore. The airline also flies to four destinations from Tawau to Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Johor Bahru and Kuching.

    To promote the new route, the airline is offering an all-in-fares from MYR79* one-way from Kuching to Tawau.

    The promotional fare is available for booking on airasia.com and the AirAsia mobile app from now until 14 October 2018 for travel between 2 December and 26 November 2019.

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  • AirAsia to launch flights from Taiwan to Boracay

    AirAsia to launch flights from Taiwan to Boracay

    Low cost airline AirAsia announced on Monday that it will launch flights from Taiwan’s Taoyuan International Airport and Kaohsiung International Airport to Boracay, as scheduled to reopen on Oct 26.

    AirAsia said the flights from Taiwan to Boracay will stop over in Manila, adding that it will offer at least 20% discount flight tickets to customers in the Taiwan market, the report said.

    Discounted tickets for flights between Nov 6, 2018 and Mar 21, 2019 will be available for sale from now to Oct 21, with a one-way ticket selling for NT$2,696 before tax, the carrier announced.

    Boracay, an internationally famous island resort, was closed by the Philippines government on April 26 to rectify the environmental pollution problem that was caused by overdevelopment and tourism. The government has recently announced that the island will be reopened to visitors on Oct. 26 and there will be a limit on the number of visitors, according to the report.

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  • AirAsia to launch Vizag-Bangkok flights from Dec 8

    AirAsia to launch Vizag-Bangkok flights from Dec 8

    AirAsia, a low-cost air carrier, is linking Visakhapatnam and Bangkok and the flights would begin from Dec 8.

    Making the announcement at a media conference here on Monday, Rajkumar Paranthaman, the head of marketing, said there would be flights on four weekdays from here to Bangkok (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) and the return flights from Bangkok to Vizag would be on Monday, Wednesday. Friday and Sunday.

    He said the travel to Bangkok would be hassle-free and visa on arrival would be given to tourists at Bangkok. Further, the airlines has air-connection from Bangkok to 21 destinations within that country. It is also a major hub with international flights to different destinations in the country.

    He said the promotional fare to Bangkok would be Rs 2,999 one way and the tourists and visitors to Thailand could book the tickets up to Oct. 21 to avail themselves of the promotional offer. Visa on arrival would be arranged for Indians, for a fee of roughly Rs 4,000 or so.

    He said, “AirAsia is operating flights to Bangkok from five Indian cities – Chennai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Jaipur and Kochi – and Vizag would be added to the list in December.

    Cholada Siddhivarn, the Director of the Tourism Authority of Thailand, said India was very important for Thailand. “Last year, 1.2 tourists from India visited Thailand and the number is likely to go up to 1.4 million this year,” she said and added that Indians should go to different parts of Thailand and not merely confine themselves to Bangkok. “Thailand is a friendly country to tourists, specially Indians,” she added.

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  • Indonesia’s online travel startup Traveloka in talks to raise US$400M

    Indonesia’s online travel startup Traveloka in talks to raise US$400M

    Jakarta-based online travel startup Traveloka is in talks with existing and new investors to raise about US$400 million in funding, citing multiple people privy to the development.

    The company intends to use the capital to “push beyond traditional airline tickets and hotel bookings into activities for travellers like concerts or amusement parks”, according to this report.

    When contacted, a Traveloka spokesperson said: “At this moment we cannot make a confirmation because as part of our corporate policy, we do not comment on rumor or speculation in the market. We will give updates at the soonest if we have new information.”

    Over a year ago, global online travel agency Expedia infused US$350 million primary minority investment into Traveloka. Its other investors are East Ventures and Global Founders Capital.

    Traveloka provides services including flights, hotels and trains booking services, besides tour packages for attractions and activities, connectivity products, airport transports, and buses.

    It has established partnerships with more than 100 domestic and international airlines, serving more than 200,000 routes worldwide, according to its website. It also has a direct accommodation inventory, varying from hotels, apartments, guest houses, homestays, to villas and resorts.

    Traveloka provides more than 40 payment options for customers in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. Its app has registered over 30 million downloads so far.

    Last May, the startup launched several new features, including car rental services. It already provides Traveloka Eats, and lending service PayLater.

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  • Flights from Da Nang to Osaka for Vietnam Airlines

    Flights from Da Nang to Osaka for Vietnam Airlines

    The first non-stop flights from Da Nang to Japan will begin on 28 October, the national flag carrier Vietnam Airlines has confirmed. The airline will use an Airbus A321 with services meeting 4-star standards to cover the 2,114 miles (3,403 kilometers) from Da Nang to Japan’s Osaka City, with flights taking around four and a half-hour.

    The airline will operate 7 return flights each week. The non-stop flights will depart from Da Nang at 00:20 am, and from Osaka at 09:30 am local time. This will be the 11th air route to Japan operated by the Vietnam Airlines after those from Ha Noi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang to Japanese cities of Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukuoka.

    Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh – Executive Vice Chairman of Danang Hotel Association, Deputy General Director of Furama Resort Danang, opined: “The Japan market recently makes up 10% of Danang tourism industry and continue to increase strongly. Thanks to this new direct air-route that we will have more opportunity to attract this potential market, as well as introduces the “fantastic-city” of Danang to Japan. We need to take advantage of this chance by providing more Japan-friendly services, promoting our venue as not only Leisure but also an ideal MICE destination. Danang tourism colleges and Hotels in Danang should provide more Japanese language training to their tour guides and staff to welcome more and more tourists from Japan to the City.”

    As reported, from 2011 – 2017, the number of visitors from Japan had increased 18 times, especially, 2016 – 2017 period eyes a rise of 23,000 tourists. Not only Japan market, overview the snapshot of Danang tourism, air travelers to Da Nang increased 40% over the same period last year. The number of international visitors to Da Nang is concentrated mainly in North East Asia (Korea, China, Japan) through direct flights to Da Nang. The number of international flights this year at Da Nang International Airport is 183, an increase of 76 flights over the same period of 2017.

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  • Suite sounds for Singapore Airlines first class with Bang & Olufsen

    Suite sounds for Singapore Airlines first class with Bang & Olufsen

    Passengers in Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A380 first class suites will soon enjoy sweeter sounds through a partnership with Bang & Olufsen.

    From October, travellers on Singapore Airlines’ newest A380s – the ones with the spacious room-like first class suites – will find a pair of Bang & Olufsen’s Beoplay H9i noise-cancelling headphones tucked away and ready to use with the suites’ massive 32 inch screen and KrisFlyer inflight entertainment system.

    Designed by Jakob Wagner, the Beoplay H9i headphones have a simple touch interface on the aluminium surface of the right ear cup to change the volume, pause the music and skip tracks, and are made from premium materials including genuine leather and adaptive memory foam.

    These will be progressively rolled out to the rest of Singapore Airlines’ A380 suites and Boeing 777 first class cabins from November.

    And, sometime later, selected A380 routes will see the suites upgraded to wireless version of the H9i.

    “Singapore Airlines is excited to embark on this partnership with Bang & Olufsen, an established and highly respected name in audio,” enthused Singapore Airlines’s Acting Senior Vice President for Customer Experience, Mr Yeoh Phee Teik.

    “With Bang & Olufsen’s assurance of high quality, precision sound as well as ergonomic comfort of its headphones, we are confident our customers will benefit greatly from this collaboration.”

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  • AirAsia to transfer International flights to MCIA’s new Terminal 2

    AirAsia to transfer International flights to MCIA’s new Terminal 2

    With the opening of the new Terminal 2 of the Mactan Cebu International Airport (MCIA) next month, AirAsia Philippines has announced its transfer of international flights to and from Cebu at the new terminal by July 1.

    In an interview on Tuesday morning, AirAsia Philippines CEO Captain Dexter Comendador said they are excited to transfer to the new P17.5 billion terminal.

    “We are delighted to be moving to a new terminal, which will provide our guests with enhanced travel experience. The relocation to the new terminal also provides us with great capacity for long-term growth and expansion in Cebu as AirAsia’s hub,” he said.

    The low-cost airline is advising their passengers traveling from Cebu starting July to be at the Terminal 2 at least three hours before their scheduled flights.

    Currently, AirAsia already operates several international flights in Cebu including Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, Taipei, Incheon, Shenzhen, Hangzhou.

    They will also be having their inaugural flight from Cebu to Shanghai in China this coming July 7.

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  • Air Asia X named cheapest airline in the world

    Air Asia X named cheapest airline in the world

    ASIA dominates the world’s cheapest airlines list, but the other results may surprise you.You’d think it would be difficult to find out which operator is the cheapest since airlines don’t all share the same routes on the same days. But Rome2Rio’s expert team of data scientists analyzed economy-class airfares sold on the site over  a two-month period to get the definitive answer.

    AirAsia X was declared the cheapest airline in the world for economy class tickets based on price per kilometre in US dollars. According to the survey, the carrier’s international flights cost US$0.07 per kilometre – cheaper than driving.

    Trailing closely behind AirAsia X is Air India Express, Indonesia AirAsia, Primera Air (Iceland), and IndiGo. Further down the list at number 18 is AirAsia Philippines, meaning AirAsia brands dominate the top 20.

    This, however, may not come as a surprise to those who have flown with any of the AirAsia brands before. The airline is constantly offering travel promotions, including the latest Free Seats deal where flyers only have to pay airport taxes.

    The surprising results

    However, there were a few unexpected results in the top 25 cheapest airlines, including higher-end airlines such as Etihad, Qatar Air, and Emirates.

    “Although Qantas ranks highly for value, we are often seeing travelers from the UK to Asia and Australia booking with carriers such as Etihad, Royal Brunei Airlines, China Southern and Emirates,” Rome2Rio chief operating officer Kirsteene Phelan told.

    Rome2Rio found Etihad’s economy tickets to be the fifth cheapest in the world at US$0.10 per kilometre. Etihad Airways’ first class service couldn’t look more different though. The airline boasts the world’s only three-room suites on board a commercial airline.

    Travelers flying from Abu Dhabi to New York, London, Melbourne, Sydney, and Paris can enjoy a living room, bedroom, en-suite shower and a personal Savoy-trained butler for the cool price of US$17,000.

    The report revealed “minor shifts” in pricing and ranking for airlines since the last gathered information in 2016.

    “In general, the low end of both the international and domestic rankings have shifted up in cost per km,” the report stated. “With reports of flight prices headed upwards, largely due to increased fuel costs, this may, unfortunately, be a trend that continues.”

    As aviation proceeds to push boundaries in the sky, flyers can only anticipate how airlines will keep costs down and improve economy comfort.

  • AirAsia X named world’s cheapest airline for international flights

    AirAsia X named world’s cheapest airline for international flights

    AirAsia X has been named the world’s cheapest airline for international flights.

    According to the 2018 Global Flight Price Ranking released by travel planning website Rome2Rio, the low cost carrier’s international flights cost 0.07 US cents per kilometer, making it the cheapest in the world.

    For international flights, the top three rankings were dominated by Asian airlines, namely AirAsia X, Air India Express and Indonesia AirAsia.

    Kirsteene Phelan, told that the AirAsia Group dominated the rankings with three of its airlines in the top 20.

    “Although Qantas (eighth) ranks highly for value, we are often seeing travelers from the UK to Asia and Australia booking with carriers such as Etihad (sixth), Royal Brunei Airlines ( 19th ), China Southern ( 20th ) and Emirates ( 25th ),” said Phelan, “This suggests that while overall value may be high for one airline over another, specific route pricing can vary greatly and travelers need to be vigilant for deals to ensure the best price to their destination.”

    As for domestic flights, Tigerair Australia was named the cheapest with 0.06 US cents/km followed by Jetstar with 0.08 US cents/km and Indonesia AirAsia with 0.09 US cents/km.

    The ranking was compiled based on the airline price comparison on economy-class airfares displayed on the website in January and February.

    “Airlines sometimes offer highly non-competitive fares for shopping queries, so for this analysis we included only fares that fell within two times the cheapest price available for each shopping query,” stated Rome2Rio, stressing that they only focused on economy-class for this study.

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