SINGAPORE, 20 March 2023: China Airlines will fully restore daily flights between Southern California’s Ontario International Airport (ONT) and Taipei beginning 26 March, airport officials announced last week.
The daily nonstop flights will connect ONT and Taoyuan International Airport (TPE), marking a major milestone in Ontario’s recovery of international air service, suspended at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic nearly three years ago.
China Airlines will resume daily service to and from Southern California’s Ontario International Airport later this month.
After suspending service in March 2020, China Airlines resumed ONT-TPE flights in June 2021, gradually increasing service levels as demand returned.
China Airlines will replace an Airbus A350-900 with the larger Boeing 777-300ER, increasing seat capacity on the route from 306 to 358 across premium, business, premium economy and economy classes. The daily service connects with flights to major Asian cities in its regional network.
TPE is northern Taiwan’s primary international gateway for more than 9 million residents. In comparison, ONT has more than 10 million Southern California residents in the catchment area of San Bernardino, Riverside, northern Orange and eastern Los Angeles counties.
About Ontario International Airport
Ontario International Airport (ONT) is located 35 miles east of downtown Los Angeles. The airport serves airlines flying nonstop commercial jet service to more than two dozen major airports in the US, Mexico, Central America and Taiwan.
KUALA LUMPUR, 20 March 2023: The Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents declared the 52nd MATTA Fair a resounding success hosted for the first time at Kuala Lumpur’s MITEC exhibition centre
According to the organisers, the show featured 1,420 exhibition booths occupying nine halls across 37,000 square metres with 222 participating organisations. They included 107 travel and tour agencies, 19 National Tourism Organisations, 13 State Tourism Offices, 37 hotels and resorts, seven theme parks, two cruise lines, six airlines, and 31 other travel-related services exhibitors.
From left to right: Roslan B. Ismail, Head Airlines Global Sales, Malaysia Aviation Group; Nur Zahra binti Zokronain, Tourism Officer, Tourism Perak; Datin Sri Dato Melissa Ong, Marketing Director, Tourism Promotion Board, Philippines; Rocky Khoo, MATTA Fair Organising Chairman; Datuk Tan Kok Liang, MATTA President; Valerie Tan, Business Development Manager, Hwajing Travel & Tours; Kenny Cheong, Managing Director, Hwajing Travel & Tours; Massine Yap, Marketing Manager, AmLeisure Media.
The MATTA Fair moved to the more spacious MITEC, which featured the latest state-of-the-art technology and facilities.
“MATTA defined new standards that paved the way for the MATTA Fair to realise its full potential as a truly-holistic consumer travel fair. The decision to move to the new venue resulted in the expansion and improvement of the MATTA Fair to a much higher level,” said MATTA President Datuk Tan Kok Liang.
This year’s MATTA Fair introduced an entirely new concept highlighting daily talk shows and a variety of multicultural performances from state and national tourist offices. They showcased their culture and raised awareness.
Key partners and sponsors:
Perak (Malaysia’s Favourite Destination); Malaysia Aviation Group (Official Airline Partner); Saudi (New Destination); Taiwan (Asia’s Favourite Destination); Royal Caribbean International (Cruise Partner); Philippines (Gold Sponsor); AmLeisure Media (Media Partner).
“The MATTA Fair is renowned for value-for-money travel packages, and this year was no different. Consumers were spoilt for choice,” Tan concluded.
HONG KONG, 20 March 2023: Cathay Pacific’s London-bound services from Hong Kong will increase to five flights daily on selected days starting in April, the airline reports in its February performance data released last week.
Commenting on the network increases the airline’s chief customer, and commercial officer Lavinia Lau said: “London will start to see five return flights a day on select days from April. For Japan, we plan to increase from 73 to 120 return flights per week by the summer peak.
“Meanwhile, for the Chinese Mainland, we aim to operate more than 110 return flights per week to 15 cities by the end of this month, including resuming services to Shanghai Hongqiao airport, which business travellers and Haikou will welcome.”
Passenger traffic picks up
Cathay Pacific released its traffic figures for February last week as the airline’s positive momentum at the start of the year continued.
It carried 1,114,727 passengers last month, an increase of 3,467% compared with February 2022. The month’s revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs) increased 4,720% year-on-year.
Passenger load factor increased by 38.6 percentage points to 86.2%, while capacity, measured in available seat kilometres (ASKs), increased by 2,562% year-on-year. In the first two months of 2023, passengers carried increased by 3,737% against a 2,071% increase in capacity and a 4,227% increase in RPKs, compared with the same period for 2022.
“We are pleased that our positive start to 2023 continued in February. Passenger numbers improved after the Lunar New Year holidays; we carried more than 1.1 million passengers last month, averaging almost 40,000 daily. We continued to add more flights and destinations, with February seeing passenger flight capacity increase about 6% month-on-month and the resumption of our Wenzhou flights,” Lau commented.
Outlook
Looking at March and beyond, the airline reports it is rebuilding connectivity at the Hong Kong international aviation hub. By the end of March, the Cathay Group will operate approximately 50% of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity, covering more than 70 destinations.
“For the Chinese Mainland, we aim to operate more than 110 return flights per week to 15 cities by the end of this month, including resuming services to Shanghai Hongqiao airport and Haikou.”
Starting on 26 March, passengers will be able to book first-class travel between Beijing and Hong Kong and on the route to Los Angeles,
KUALA LUMPUR, 20 March 2023: Malaysia’s tourism industry will play a big part in achieving a projected 4% GDP growth in 2023, according to a UOB Global Economics and Markets Research project highlighting the reopening of China’s outbound travel as a key driver.
The pivotal role of tourism in achieving GDP growth was underscored by a Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA) symposium last week that saw industry professionals from both the public and private sectors discussing post-pandemic trends emerging within the tourism and travel space.
Datuk Tan Kok Liang, President of MATTA.
YB Tuan Hee Loy Sian, Selangor State Executive Councillor for Tourism, Environment, Geren Technology and Orang Asli Affairs, delivered the keynote address.
Panel speakers included Dato’ Hj Zainuddin (Director General of Tourism Malaysia), Ahmad Luqman Mohd Azmi (CEO of Airlines Business, Malaysia Aviation Group), Ajay Prakash (President of the Travel Agents Federation of India, TAFI) and Hannah Pearson (Founder of Pear Anderson). Moderating the panel was Phillip See, Group Chief Sustainability Officer of Malaysia Aviation Group.
MATTA President Datuk Tan Kok Liang commented on the event’s conclusions: “Malaysia’s tourism industry will play a big part in the country achieving a projected 4% GDP growth in 2023, powered by the reopening of China’s outbound travel.
“Positive trends in visitor numbers to ASEAN countries post-pandemic bodes well for the region’s tourism industry in 2023. Countries like Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia stand to benefit the most from the predicted rise in tourism to the region.”
He noted that ASEAN countries are already taking moves to strengthen intra-regional mobility following the lifting o Covid-19 travel restrictions.
“The development of digital technology and opening new markets will further disrupt the ASEAN travel space, making way for ever more creative and individualised vacation experiences. A greater number of tourists means more potential customers for local shops and restaurants – this is the main strength of tourism; its lead-on effects on the greater economy of a country or region.”
Looking at the dynamic seascape of tourism for 2023 and beyond, he cautioned that Malaysia’s tourism sector needs to take immediate steps to position itself and take advantage of the many new opportunities that will emerge.
“As for MATTA, we recently embarked on a mission to secure collaborative partnerships with our European counterparts, particularly with nations such as Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, and Finland.
“These collaborative partnerships will accelerate recovery. We are now working closely to actively cross-promote tourism between our countries to achieve meaningful short and long-term results.
“In addition, we renewed our memorandum of understanding last week with two of our key Indonesian counterparts, ASTINDO and ASITA. This is to show that we are not neglecting our close neighbours and that Indonesia is still Malaysia’s primary source of tourist arrivals.”
HO CHI MINH CITY, 20 March 2023: Vietjet will launch twice weekly direct flights from Ho Chi Minh City in southern Vietnam to Queensland, Australia, this June.
It follows an earlier announcement that confirmed the airline would launch two services from Ho Chi Minh City to Melbourne and Sydney on 8 and 12 April. Three weekly flights are scheduled for each destination.
People relaxing on the grass near the Brisbane Sign, with the Brisbane skyline in the background
The Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) to Brisbane Airport (BNE), the state capital of Queensland, will begin on 16 June. Flights are scheduled every Monday and Friday taking off from Ho Chi Minh City at 1005 and landing in Brisbane at 2110. The return flights will depart at 2310 and arrive at 0450 the following day (all times are time).
Celebrating the new route, the airline is offering free ‘eco tickets, excluding fees and taxes, from now to 22 March 2023, on flights between Vietnam and Australia (Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney) at the airline’s website and Vietjet Air mobile app.(*)
In addition, Vietjet’s passengers from across Vietnam flying to and from Australia can gain free transfer domestic flights to and from Ho Chi Minh City. (**)
Vietjet’s vice president Nguyen Thanh Son said: “Through the addition of Brisbane to our list of destinations… Vietjet can bring more passengers from Asia and European countries to Australia. And vice versa, Australians can fly from Asian nations as our network serves Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Taiwan, mainland China, Thailand, India and Kazakhstan.”
“Vietnam is a rapidly growing market for Queensland, and we are delighted to have Vietjet join the BNE family. To have Vietnam and the Sunshine State connected for the first time by non-stop flights will benefit the two countries,” said Brisbane Airport Corporation Chief Executive Officer Gert-Jan de Graaff.
Vietjet will deploy the Airbus A330-300 on new routes to Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with 12 SkyBoss Business seats and 365 seats in SkyBoss, Deluxe and Eco classes.
The airline forecasts the new Brisbane route will attract more than 30,000 passengers during the first year, generate USD25.6 million for Queensland’s visitor economy and support 240 Queensland jobs in the first year.
(*) Excluding taxes, fees (**) Terms and conditions
DUBAI, UAE, 17 March 2023: The distinctive livery of the world’s largest international airline, Emirates, has been refreshed.
Emirates Airline president Sir Tim Clark said: “Aircraft livery is the most instantly recognisable brand real estate for any airline. It’s a visual representation of our unique identity, something we wear proudly and display in all the cities we fly to worldwide. We’re refreshing our livery to keep it modern without losing the key elements of our identity, such as the UAE flag on our tailfin and the Arabic calligraphy.”
Eagle-eyed plane spotters and fans will immediately notice changes to the tailfin and wingtips. In this latest design, the UAE flag on the Emirates tailfin is much more dynamic and flowing with a 3D effect artwork. The wingtips have been painted red with the Emirates logo in Arabic calligraphy “popping” out in reverse white. Passengers onboard with a window view will see the UAE flag colours painted on the wingtips facing the fuselage.
The signature gold “Emirates” lettering across the main body in English and Arabic is also bolder and 32.5% larger. Emirates has retained its iconic red branding on the aircraft belly, which it introduced in 2005. The website URL “Emirates.com” has been dropped from the design.
This is the third iteration of Emirates’ official aircraft brand colours. The original livery unveiled with the airline’s launch in 1985 had its first refresh 14 years later, with the delivery of Emirates’ first Boeing 777-300 at the 1999 Dubai Airshow.
The first aircraft to sport Emirates’ newest livery is A6-EOE, an Airbus A380, which has rolled out of Emirates Engineering this week after its makeover. Its first deployment will be to Munich on 17 March as flight EK51.
The new livery will be gradually applied across the rest of the existing Emirates fleet, with 24 aircraft, including 17 Boeing 777s, expected to sport the refreshed livery by the end of 2023. From the first Airbus A350 entering the fleet in August 2024, all new Emirates aircraft will be delivered in this new livery.
Emirates’ original livery in 1985 was designed by the UK design company Negus & Negus. All of the airline’s subsequent aircraft colours were created by its in-house design team. Over the years, Emirates’ numerous colourful and eye-catching aircraft liveries have included bespoke designs to drive sponsorship brand association and for special occasions such as the UAE’s 50th Jubilee livery and Expo 2020 Dubai.
KUCHING, 17 March 2023: Sarawak Tourism Board is taking bold steps towards promoting Responsible Tourism, in line with the UN’s 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The message was loud and clear at last week’s ITB Berlin as STB presented a clear commitment to responsible tourism to tour operators.
At home, prioritising responsible tourism focuses on communities, businesses and government agencies across Sarawak state maximising positive economic, social and environmental impacts on tourism.
Photo credit: STB. Tree planting tradition.
Such steps include introducing homestays in rural areas to sustainable waste management practices, which include recycling and reusing waste materials to create additional products and skills to earn side income.
STB’s waste management workshops have covered 46 registered homestays since it began in 2020, benefiting 11,779 households with a total of 82,688 residents. In addition, the aim is to provide a food source for local wildlife while creating a buffer zone for coastal areas.
The ultimate aim is to ensure local communities can benefit economically through:
Optimal use of environmental resources to maintain essential ecological processes and help conserve natural heritage and biodiversity;
Respecting the socio-cultural authenticity of communities – conserving the cultural heritage and traditional values;
Providing socio-economic benefits – stable employment, income-earning opportunities and social services, towards alleviating poverty.
Photo credit: STB. A beach clean-up.
Recognising festivals have a massive carbon footprint and that waste generated at events impacts the environment, proactive measures have been adopted to ensure the renowned Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) in Kuching and Borneo Jazz (BJ) in Miri are eco-friendly.
Since 2011, organisers of the two festivals, STB and Sarawak Forest Department, have collaborated to plant thousands of trees at the ecologically sensitive Kuching Wetlands National Park, a declared Ramsar Site. The annual mangrove tree-planting tradition remains a priority supported by music lovers who attend the two festivals.
RWMF and BJ are considered benchmarks for STB’s Responsible Tourism initiatives reflecting a commitment towards the three UN SDG goals – SDG 4 (Education and Lifelong Learning Opportunities), SDG 12 (Sustainable Consumption and Production); SDG 17 (Global Partnerships).
For more about the 2023 festivals and related STB events, visit:
Cutting Plastic Footprint – putting in place water-refill stations, encouraging reusable water bottles and eliminating single-use plastic bottled water at festivals.
Sustainable Procurement – sourcing alternative, eco-friendly products, including biodegradable tableware, procured locally to support local businesses, reduce carbon footprint and save energy.
Waste Management – proper disposal management of recyclables containers provided by a locally based waste management company.
Fashionable recycling – to make recycling fun and impactful, collaborative efforts with the local creative community resulted in eye-catching waste bin designs.
Food Composting – collaborative efforts with local social enterprises to collect and channel leftover organic waste into compost bins for worm farms to make bio-protein and for composting.
Tree planting – planting mangrove trees at the ecologically sensitive Kuching Wetlands National Park, a Ramsar Site, to create a buffer zone for the coastal areas.
Volunteer & Green Ambassadors – local university students and volunteers among social enterprises, termed “The Eco-warriors”, helped spread recycling and food waste composting messages.
Emissions and upcycling – shuttle busses ferry festival-goers to reduce carbon and prevent congestion. Promotional banners from previous years were upcycled into tote bags to be used as gifts and souvenirs.
All these undertakings allow visitors and locals to care for, connect and be mindful of the impact of tourism on destinations and communities – unfolding cultural experiences. It all adds up to Sarawak’s aspiration to be a ‘leader’ in ‘Responsible Tourism’.
SINGAPORE, 17 March 2023: Renfe, Spain’s national rail service, is rolling out 253 tourist trains featuring various themed experiences, which will embark on journeys through different autonomous communities throughout the year.
The train trips are being marketed in various categories, such as luxury, theme tourism, or heritage, operated by the Renfe tourist train division.
During 2023 the marketing initiative will deliver an increase of 30% in tourist-themed train journeys compared to what was offered in 2022 when Renfe launched 170 trains with tourist content that attracted 23,597 customers.
In the luxury tourism journey category, trips will increase by 57%. The greatest trip increase will occur in the luxury segment on the following luxury trains:
Transcantábrico (northern Spain, Bay of Biscay); Al Andalus (southern Spain); Costa Verde Express (Bilbao and Santiago de Compostela); and Expreso de la Robla (north:Bilbao and León).
These trains will make 87 round trips this year, which represents an increase of 52% compared to 2022. Thematic tourism trains carry out day trips with cultural and gastronomic content.
For more information on Spain as a tourism destination, please visit www.spain.info
BANGKOK, 17 March 15, 2023: Thai Vietjet is reintroducing its ‘Check-Thru’ service enabling passengers to connect with their transit flights easily without having to check in twice while receiving their luggage at the final destination.
First introduced by Thai AirAsia during the pre-Covid era, competing airlines such as Thai Vietjet and Lion Air quickly adopted similar services. Thai AirAsia was the first to resume check-through services following the easing of Covid-19 restrictions last November.
Thai Vietjet is now reintroducing a check-through service for connections between Phuket, Chiang Mai and Krabi to three international destinations Fukuoka, Taipei, and Singapore. Bookings for check-through are now open on the airline’s website.
“We believe this new service elevates our connecting flight operations and will bring further value to our passengers,” said Thai Vietjet head of commercial Pinyot Pibulsonggram.
Passengers can continue their flights from Phuket, Krabi, and Chiang Mai to Fukuoka, Taipei, and Singapore transiting at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport when on tickets issued on end-to-end routes.
The check-in process is required just once at the first departure terminal, with the passenger receiving two boarding passes for the trip that transits at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport. Passengers receive their baggage at the end destination.
Suvarnabhumi Airport serves as the intermediary hub for the ‘Check-Thru’ service. On arrival at Suvarnabhumi Airport, passengers follow the signs to their connecting flight and proceed to the waiting room after passing through a ticket check and carry-on bag scan in the airport’s transit area.
SINGAPORE, 17 March 2023: Royal Caribbean International names Clem Galindo as its senior manager of international corporate incentive and charter sales.
Based in Royal Caribbean’s Miami office, Galindo joins the team driving the cruise line’s international event business, often termed MICE – Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions. He will report to RCL’s global corporate incentive & charter sales director, Craig Jarrett.
Galindo has nearly 30 years of experience in the cruise industry, of which 25 years have been with the Royal Caribbean Group focused on international corporate business for Royal Caribbean International and Celebrities Cruises.
