The airline plans to increase frequencies to 27 flights weekly as early as this March.

The first flight to and from China recommenced on 10 February 2023 on the route to Guangzhou.

Complementing the resumption of the short-haul destinations, AirAsia X Malaysia (D7) will reconnect Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Chengdu with 10 weekly flights starting 1 March 2023.

AirAsia Malaysia CEO Riad Asmat said: “China is an integral market for AirAsia Aviation Group, where we were the largest international low-cost carrier by capacity pre-pandemic. Based on the impressive load factor of our inaugural flight to and from Guangzhou, the restart of our services will provide greater value and accessibility to essential travellers from Malaysia and tourists from China.”

AirAsia X Malaysia CEO Benyamin Ismail added: “China will be our next primary market focus as we resume our growth strategy flying our most popular and profitable routes. In the past, we witnessed tremendous success with our services to China, where we carried over 1.8 million guests to/from China in 2019 alone.”

As entry to China is limited to certain visas, guests are advised to check the travel requirements before booking flights. For the travel requirements to China, please refer here.

AirAsia Malaysia (AK) is offering all-in* one-way fare for essential travellers from MYR151/MYR223 from Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu to Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Kunming.

Starting one-way fares on AirAsia X Malaysia (D7) from Kuala Lumpur to Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Chengdu are MYR899/MYR1,088 in economy class or MYR2,199/MYR3,288 for Premium Flatbed.

*Promotional all-in fare inclusive of airport taxes, MAVCOM fee, fuel surcharges and other applicable fees. Other terms and conditions apply. The booking period is open until 19 February 2023 for a travel period ending 26 March 2023.

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Eid meals are being served on more than 60 routes departing Dubai; to the Gulf and Middle East region, Africa, UK and Europe, the Far East, and India.

The economy class selection includes Chicken Biryani or Lamb Gabuli for the main course, followed by the iconic Aseeda Eid pudding or classic date cake for dessert.

First and Business Class passengers enjoy Hamour Machbous, Chicken Biryani, or Lamb Gabuli, followed by decadent Baklava cheesecake or a fragrant cardamom cake.

A380 onboard lounges are also serving a selection of special Emirati-style pastries.

Eid al-Adha translates as the ‘Holiday of the Sacrifice’ and is the second and biggest of the two main holidays celebrated in Islam. It is just one of the many multicultural occasions celebrated onboard Emirates with cosmopolitan customers, including Diwali, Christmas, Easter and Orthodox festivals.

Passengers travelling over the busy Eid period are reminded to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their flight departure. They can streamline their boarding by using online and remote check-in options, self-check-in kiosks and ‘smart’ gates.

Visit: www.emirates.com.

(Your Stories: Emirates)

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Travelport is the first Global Distribution System (GDS) partner of US-Bangla Airlines and as part of the agreement, will provide agency customers access to the airline’s content via Travelport+, Travelport’s next-generation travel retailing platform.

US-Bangla Airlines managing director Mohammed Abdullah Al Mamun commented: “We have been extremely impressed with the collaborative spirit and flexibility demonstrated by Travelport. We are confident Travelport+ will provide US-Bangla Airlines and agencies the highest quality air content retailing experience.”

As travel industry recovery in Bangladesh is reaching pre-pandemic levels, this new relationship solidifies the value of modern, indirect channel retailing for airlines and agencies alike. Travelport agencies will benefit from seamless access to US-Bangla Airlines content, further enabling them to provide the most valuable, relevant offers for their travellers. 

Travelport head of Air Partners Asia Pacific  Sue Carter added: “This strategic partnership will provide both airlines and travellers with more attractive and customized offers, helping airlines to match traveller preferences with tailor-made bundles…we look forward to delivering great value for US-Bangla Airlines travellers and the agency community.”

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Boosting its frequency from six times weekly to daily flights, Emirates will now increase its average capacity and offer around 2000 seats per week to and from the Mexican capital. The service will provide customers worldwide with more connectivity, flexibility and choice while planning their travel. With the rise in frequencies, travellers from Mexico will have ample choice to connect safely and seamlessly to Dubai and through Dubai to Emirates’ global network of over 130 destinations.

Emirates flight EK255 will depart Dubai at 03:25hrs, arriving in Barcelona at 085 before departing again at 1050 and arriving in Mexico City at 1605 the same day. On its return leg, Emirates flight EK 256 will depart Mexico City at 1940, arriving in Barcelona at 1345 the next day. EK256 will depart once again from Barcelona the same day at 1530, bound for Dubai, where it will arrive at 0015 the next day (all times are local).

Emirates’ high-quality, daily international air service supports business and leisure traffic into Mexico and onwards to destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean region. For Mexico, the UAE is a gateway to the Middle East. Citizens from Mexico, Spain and the UAE only need their passports to enjoy visa-free travel to each country. Emirates’ Mexico City flight is a linked service with Barcelona, meaning that customers can cover three destinations in one trip in distinctive style and comfort.

Dubai also continues to attract leisure travellers from South and Latin America with its ever-expanding list of experiences. Known for its eclectic mix of offerings, Dubai offers stays at some of the world’s best hotels, sightseeing at the city’s newest landmarks, and an abundance of other activities.

The Dubai-Barcelona-Mexico route is operated with a two-class Emirates Boeing 777-200LR offering 38 Business Class seats in a 2-2-2 configuration and 264 seats in Economy Class. Travellers flying between Dubai, Barcelona and Mexico can look forward to Emirates’ signature hospitality and spacious and comfortable seats. Emirates also offers its customers an unmatched culinary experience in the skies with regionally inspired multi-course menus developed by a team of award-winning chefs complemented by a wide selection of premium beverages. Customers can sit back and relax with more than 4,500 channels of carefully curated global entertainment content featuring movies, shows, music, and podcasts, including channels in Spanish and more, with ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system.

Emirates has been building up connectivity in response to growing customer demand on the back of rising travel confidence and the easing of international travel protocols. Returning to Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro on 2 November and launching into Tel Aviv on 23 June provides leisure and business travellers more choice as they return to the skies.

For more information visit: www.emirates.com

(Your Stories: Emirates)

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HKIA handled 170,000 passengers in May, representing a year-on-year increase of 186.1%, although passenger volume remained significantly lower than the pre-pandemic levels.

Cargo throughput and flight movements recorded 365,000 tonnes and 10,440, respectively, representing 9.7% and 4.0% decreases compared to the same month in 2021.

The rise in passengers during the month was driven primarily by visitor and Hong Kong resident traffic growth following the relaxation of inbound travel measures. Passenger traffic to and from Southeast Asia experienced the most significant increases.

The continuing geopolitical tensions in Europe and disruptions to global supply chains caused by the pandemic led to the overall decline in cargo volume. Exports decreased by 15% year on year. Cargo traffic to and from key trading regions in Europe and North America registered the most significant drops.

Over the year’s first five months, passenger volume increased by 84.5% to 547,000. Cargo throughput and flight movements dropped by 8.0% and 1.5% to 1.8 million tonnes and 50,975, respectively.

On a 12-month rolling basis, passenger and cargo volume increased by 80.7% and 4.3% to 1.6 million and 4.9 million tonnes, respectively. Flight movements rose by 12.3% to 144,020.

Meanwhile, AAHK received the Grand Award at the Customer Service Excellence Awards and eight other recognitions across various categories offered by the Hong Kong Association for Customer Service Excellence.

Multiple distinctions were given to AAHK’s initiatives ranging from innovative projects to outstanding team and individual efforts.

AAHK executive director of airport operations Vivian Cheung said: “We are honoured to receive these awards, which reflect our staff’s caring attitude and dedication to meeting our passengers’ needs. I am also delighted that our innovations in passenger services are being recognised. We will continue to enhance the passenger experience by providing professional and high-quality services at HKIA.”

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The airline said that its production and business activities were hit hard by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic causing heavy losses during 2020, 2021 and the first quarter of 2022.

The airline was forced to hibernate its commercial passenger flight operations from March 2020 and only resumed service on 15 March this year.

In the statement to the stock exchange, the airline Vietnam Airlines said it suffered losses in consolidated business results, while consolidated equity has been negative as of 31 March.

The flag carrier has developed short-term and long-term solutions to minimise damage, improve production and business results, and supplement capital and cash flow for businesses.

Between 2023 and 2025, Vietnam Airlines will continue to implement solutions to improve production and business results and supplement equity to overcome the crisis, recover and develop gradually.

It proposes solutions to quickly recover and improve business operations and minimise losses in the transportation business as the market from 2022 to 2023 remains sluggish, creating a foundation to return to profit by 2025.

The airline is embarking on restructuring its assets and financial portfolios to increase income and cash flow. As part of the restructuring, Vietnam Airlines will sell or lease out older aircraft while applying divestment and capital transfer for some financial investment portfolios. According to the Vietnam News Agency report, the stated solutions will be implemented through to the end of 2024.

(Source: VNA)

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The launch marks Scoot’s first nonstop service to Tokyo. Until the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, Scoot operated flights to Tokyo with a stop in Taipei or Bangkok. The new service will fly daily from the airline’s home base in Singapore

Scoot resumes daily nonstop flights to Osaka after a two-year gap. On both routes, the airline will use its Boeing 787 Dreamliners.

Lead-in fares for the Singapore – Tokyo (Narita) and Singapore – Osaka routes start from SGD263 and SGD296 (taxes inclusive, one way).

As Japan kickstarts its first phase of reopening, travel agents in Singapore are monitoring an uptick in bookings for holidays in Japan.

TOKYO

OSAKA

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A media statement from Changi Airport said it was “another significant milestone as part of post-pandemic recovery initiatives”.

FY3124 departed from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport to Seletar Airport with 59 passengers on board, including Firefly’s chief executive officer, Philip See. They were welcomed by Changi Airport Group executive vice president, Airport Management Tan Lye Teck.

Firefly started flights to Seletar in April 2019 and suspended them in March 2020 due to the pandemic.

With the resumption of scheduled flights, the airline will operate twice-daily Kuala Lumpur-Singapore services from Sultan Abdul Aziz Shah Airport to Seletar Airport.

“This recommencement has become one of the highlights for Firefly this year, especially after the last flight in March 2020. Singapore has become one of the important destinations for us, connecting leisure and business passengers. Hence, this recommencement will be able to connect passengers from both countries whilst enhancing the economy via the tourism industry”, said Firefly CEO Philip See.

To prepare for the resumption of scheduled flights, Changi Airport Group, which manages Seletar Airport, has conducted multiple operational trials and system tests with Seletar’s airport partners. Airport staff also participated in refresher training sessions and briefings on operational and safety requirements to prepare them to serve passengers. CAG has engaged taxi companies to raise awareness of Firefly’s resumption of flights. Taxi drivers that make the trip to Seletar Airport to pick up passengers will also enjoy complimentary coffee and tea in June.

All Firefly passengers travelling to and from Seletar gain a 20kg complimentary baggage allowance, fast check-in and boarding and complimentary in-flight refreshments onboard.

Passengers travelling must be fully vaccinated and comply with all standard operating procedures (SOP) set by both countries before booking. International flights are subject to local government and regulatory approval.

Since the reopening of Malaysia’s borders and relaxation of Covid-19 standard operating procedures (SOP), Firefly has increased flights to several destinations in the country and will reinstate more international flights.

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The airline will expand its current five weekly flights to daily, providing fully vaccinated travellers with more options to visit Bangkok, Thailand.

Starting Monday, Jetstar Asia increased services between Singapore and Denpasar from five to daily as more travellers are booking trips to Bali.

As travel restrictions ease across the region, Jetstar, in collaboration with third-party technology company Sherpa, has introduced an interactive global map on jetstar.com to help travellers access the most up-to-date information as they navigate Covid-19-related travel restrictions and requirements.

The colour-coded map shows which destinations are open to visitors and the latest information on entry requirements, including Covid-19 testing and quarantine measures.

Jetstar Asia CEO Bara Pasupathi said: “Overseas business trips, international holidays and visiting family and friends abroad are back on our customer’s agenda”. Jetstar’s Fly Flexible policy offers customers who book flights before 30 June 2022 a ‘fee free’ date change when travelling before 31 August 2023. Jetstar also extended credit vouchers for use until at least 31 December 2022 for flights up to the end of 2023.

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The new cabin class, which offers luxurious seats, more legroom, and service delivery to rival many airlines’ business offerings, will be available to Emirates customers travelling on popular A380 routes to London, Paris, and Sydney from 1 August and Christchurch from December.

This means travellers from Thailand via connecting flights in Dubai will also have a chance to book and secure seats for the new Premium Economy experience. Currently, Emirates is the only airline in the region to offer a Premium Economy cabin.

Emirates president Sir Tim Clark said: “As with everything we do, Emirates Premium Economy will be exceptional in its class, with minute attention given to every aspect of the customer experience. Customers trading up from the economy will be getting excellent value.

“Since we first introduced our Premium Economy seats in January 2021, the positive response and demand have been tremendous. We currently have six A380s equipped with this cabin class, which limits our initial deployment, but our intention is to offer this experience to many more markets across our network. This November, we will begin our retrofit programme to install Premium Economy on 67 A380s and 53 Boeing 777s. At the end of the programme, Emirates will have 126 aircraft fitted out with Premium Economy cabins, as well as our latest interiors across other cabins. It is a major investment to ensure our customers continue to have the best experience in the sky.”

Emirates Premium Economy is in a class of its own, offering a signature experience unmatched in the industry.

Dedicated airport experience: Customers can look forward to a dedicated check-in area for Premium Economy at Dubai International airport or utilise one of the many convenient self-service check-in kiosks in the hall to avoid queues.

Luxurious seats: Once onboard, customers will immediately notice the quiet luxury in Emirates’ Premium Economy cabin. A wood panel finishing similar to Business Class sets the cabin’s mood, and each seat is designed to provide optimal comfort and support with 6-way adjustable headrests.

The cream-coloured leather seats have a generous pitch of up to 40 inches, are 19.5 inches wide, and recline 8 inches into a comfortable cradle position with ample room to stretch out. It also offers calf rests and footrests for additional comfort, in addition to many other thoughtful touches such as easily accessible in-seat charging points and a side cocktail table.

Comfort: Customers can get comfortable under soft, sustainable blankets made from recycled plastic bottles and snuggle into the generously sized pillow, both designed uniquely for Premium Economy. They can also refresh themselves with the complimentary amenity kits, which come in reusable, sustainable bags and contain items which are all made with some element of recycled or sustainable materials.

Dining experience: Incorporating elements inspired by Business Class, customers will be welcomed on board with a welcome drink in fine glassware. A selection of generous meals made with seasonal ingredients and regional influences will be served on chinaware, accompanied by stainless steel cutlery wrapped in a linen napkin during meal service. The drinks menu will include a selection of beverages, including premium wines and a sparkling Chandon wine. There are also liqueurs available after meals, with chocolates.

Unmatched entertainment at 40,000 feet: Each seat has a 13.3” screen, one of the largest in its class, to enjoy the unmatched array of up to 5,000 channels of music, movies, TV, news and other content on Emirates’ award-winning ice.

On a four-class Emirates A380, the Premium Economy cabin is located at the front of the main deck with 56 seats laid out in a 2-4-2 configuration. On the Emirates Boeing 777, up to 24 Premium Economy seats will be installed in a dedicated cabin section between Business and Economy.

For more information on Emirates Premium Economy, visit:

https://www.emirates.com/ae/english/experience/cabin-features/premium-economy-class/

(Your Stories: Emirates)

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