SINGAPORE: Singapore-Newark Route Is The World’s Longest

At over 8,000 nautical miles, The Singapore-Newark route is currently the world’s longest with regularly scheduled service. It’s a very prestigious route flown by Singapore Airlines using its Airbus A350-900ULR aircraft designed specifically with the route in mind.

First opened with the Airbus A340-500 earlier in the century, the route relaunched in October 2018 with the ULR aircraft being able to perform the flight with better economics than its predecessor.

Before the relaunch, the only other option for New Yorkers looking to head to Singapore and vice versa was through intermediary cities such as Frankfurt, increasing the journey time by hours.

It allows enough time for a business traveler to make it to their hotel early in the morning and freshen up before getting to the office to start the typical workday at 9 A.M.

Though timed perfectly, the flight regularly clocks in at an eye-watering 16 to 18 hours of flight time in each direction.

SQ22 leaves Singapore a bit before 1 a.m. and gets into Newark at around 5:30 a.m. or earlier. The proper strategy for this flight is to stay awake the first half of the flight and sleep the second half.

Qantas recommended a similar strategy to test subjects on its research flight from New York to Sydney in October.

This way, one basically sleeps during the nighttime of the destination and wakes up prior to landing. While not a perfect cure for jet lag it is the equivalent of having an early morning start vs dealing with a 12-hour time difference.

That’s what I did for the most part and this is something Singapore Airlines doesn’t seem to understand.

The airline insists on timing meal services around Singapore time instead of Newark time. The main meals on the flight are served at a time when people should be sleeping.

There is an initial meal service after take-off, which is acceptable, but the timing of the second meal service is downright disrespectful since it is more geared towards people operating on the departure time instead of the arrival time zone.

This effectively negates the notion of getting some proper rest on a business class flight.

Singapore Airlines insists in pairing meal times to the origin and not the destination.

The cabin on Singapore Airlines’ Airbus A350-900ULRs consist of only two cabins, premium economy and business. While the premium economy seats feature only recliner chairs, business class seats come fully-equipped with lie-flat seats.

There are a lot of complaints about this seat being cramped and having to sleep at an angle but for someone of average height, the seat is great and I actually prefer it to a lot of the reverse herringbone style type seats due to the width of the bed space in the upper body area.

Bulkhead seats in rows 11 and 19 are recommended for taller folk but those are hard to come by since Singapore Airlines reserves them as bassinet seats but will occasionally release them to high-value customers.

Many would say I missed out on the flight but I didn’t I accomplished exactly what I intended to do, maximize rest on the flight.

Often times we lose sight of what business class is about, it’s primarily a method of effectively get rest to be ready to go right upon reaching your destination.

Economy class is about being miserable and first class is about having fun. Business class is business.

The more you travel, the more you start to appreciate sleep. You can only be so excited sitting in a reverse herringbone seat for the umpteenth time, you don’t need to stay awake to revel at the fact I’m not in coach.

That’s what you do when sitting in Cathay Pacific first class because that’s first class. That’s supposed to be fun, even though you do aim to sleep well on those flights too.

FINLAND: Finnair Steady Growth

Finnair Chief Executive Officer, Topi Manner, started his speech by stating that the goal of the carrier now is to deliver sustainable, profitable growth, as the airline moves forward from its previous phase of accelerated growth.

Finnair, while it’s home market is fairly small, as Finland only has more than 5.5 million people living in the country, the airline and its main hub, Helsinki Vantaa Airport (HEL), became a connecting point between Europe and Asia.

We are also a big, small airline in a sense that we are big enough to do things, we are small enough to get them implemented, the airline’s CEO said, adding that we are agile, we are known to have made courageous and determined decisions.

Like the decision to become the launch customer for the Airbus A350 in Europe. Previously, Finnair also became the global launch customer of the ATR 72 and the MD-11.

Some of these bold decisions are also to be made going forward, notes Manner. So, where does Finnair go next

Helsinki (HEL) became a connecting point between Europe and Asia for Finnair and it would further strengthen ties between Finland and Asia, as the shortest northern route is available due to the optimal geographical position of Helsinki, the airline’s CEO stated.

In the past five years, Manner noted, Finnair doubled its capacity to Asia. Interestingly enough, 50% of the carrier’s revenues come from transfer passengers, while local traffic contributes 30%. 73% of the transferring passengers are from Asia, the airline’s data shows.

And Finnair plans to grow further in the continent by focusing on Asian megacities, such as Beijing, China or Tokyo, Japan, where the company plans to further increase frequencies, rather than adding more destinations in Asia.

Its current business model allows it to be placed between the giant airlines on one hand and low-cost carriers on the other hand, Manner says.

But low-cost carriers, namely Norwegian Air Shuttle, offer no resistance to Finnair in Scandinavia the only two destinations the long-haul low-cost carrier serves are Thailand, namely Bangkok (BKK) and Krabi (KBV), meaning Finnair has absolutely no pressure from the lower price point.

The only other local competitor in Northern Europe is Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), which flies to Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo.

The Finnish airline announced that it would introduce Premium Economy class cabin to further diversify its product on board in 2020. Finnair’s costs in fuel have been growing faster than its revenues, the company’s presentation highlighted, with the former growing by 6.1% since 2014, while the latter has grown 5.5% since 2018.

A premium economy cabin would allow Finnair to cater to the demand of the passengers and offer more comfort, as the Senior Vice President of Customer Experience, Piia Karhu, has highlighted by stating that over 50% of leisure and business class passengers responded that they would very likely or extremely likely travel on the newest cabin offering.

For Finnair itself, Premium Economy makes for very valuable real estate, Karhu said, as the airline is able to sell Premium Economy seats from one and a half to two times higher than basic economy prices, improving yields.

The airline plans to invest between $3.8-4.4 billion (€3.5-4 billion) into its fleet and other assets until 2025. Some of that investment would go into the growth, but most of it would be dedicated to the replacement of its aging fleet.

The average age of Finnair’s 83 aircraft is 10.2 years, with its narrow-body fleet, especially the Airbus A319 (eight aircraft) and the Airbus A320 (10 aircraft), being by far the oldest aircraft that the carrier operates, with an average age of 18.6 and 17.4 per aircraft, respectively.

As of October 30, 2019, Finnair only has five Airbus A350 aircraft on order and no other jets planned, Airbus Order and Deliveries file states.

Over the next six years, the Helsinki-based company plans to operate 100 aircraft in total, with approximately 30 of those being wide-bodies.

Ole Orvér, the Chief Commercial Officer of the company, did not specify any concrete plans about Finnair’s future fleet, however, stated that while the airline was happy with its current narrow-body fleet, not necessarily the same could be said in the future.

Going forward, we will have something that brings low cost, efficient operations and of course a customer proposition that works, Orver said, but whether Finnair will switch to a single type of short-haul aircraft, he was reluctant to answer, stating that it is purely down to price.

During 2019, the airline announced new partnerships with Fiji Airways and China Southern Airlines to further increase capacity and route offerings into Asia, including its existing oneworld alliance agreements with Cathay Pacific, Japan Airlines, Malaysia Airlines, SriLankan Airlines and Qantas.

Furthermore, the Finnish carrier plans to operate more than 100 weekly flights to Asia in Summer 2020. Newest destinations in 2019 include Beijing’s newest airport, Daxing International (PKX), Sapporo, Japan (CTS), while Busan, South Korea (PUS) and Haneda International Airport (HND) in Tokyo, Japan are set to be inaugurated in March 2020.

Currently, the airline has two main time banks when long-haul flights depart, between 5 and 10 AM and between 3 and 7 PM, with some flights departing around midnight.

In 2020, Finnair plans to offer midday departures, to allow smoother connections for transferring passengers. Following the expanded time banks, the airline will utilize its assets in a more efficient way, notes Ole Orvér.

All in all, Finnair’s goals are clear as the snow up in Lapland – expanding into the ever-growing Asian market and securing crucial slots and time windows to land or depart from the busiest airports in the region.

Finnair will hold the monopoly on direct flights between Busan, PUS and Sapporo for now, as no other European airline serves these two Asian cities.

However, the question remains how sustainable this model is long-term, even if the airline secures the limited capacity into the future, as current industry trends are shying away from the hub-and-spoke model and instead focusing on point-to-point traffic.

Nevertheless, the current conditions that Finnair operates in, including its top of the line wide-body fleet of 14 Airbus A350 and eight Airbus A330 aircraft, allows it to be the dominant airline on the Siberian air corridor, a crucial junction between Europe, China and Japan.

The fact that most of its passenger revenues come from transferring travelers, mitigates the risk of low-cost carriers putting a strain on the airline’s earnings on intra-European flights, as passengers are fed through its hub in Helsinki to connect either to or from Asia.

HONG KONG: Hong Kong Airlines To Seize Hong Kong-San Francisco Flights October 5

Hong Kong Airlines will stop its Hong Kong-San Francisco service from October 5 this year, less than two years after first launching the service.

The decision comes following a review of its network and a change in business plan for USA market, the airline said in a statement published on its website.

The final flights between Hong Kong and San Francisco (HX60 and HX61) will be operated on October 4 this year. Passengers who have bought tickets for Hong Kong-San Francisco flights beyond that date will be offered alternative arrangements.

They can change the departure date for flights between the two cities for free before October 5, while those who decide to cancel their flights will get a full refund.

Passengers are also eligible for a free change to any destination that Hong Kong Airlines flies to though applicable fare and tax differences may apply, or a free transfer to other partner carriers which will be arranged by Hong Kong Airlines but subject to availability.

Hong Kong Airlines first launched this route in March 2018 and it currently flies this route four times a week.

The carrier will reduce the frequency of the service to three times weekly (Monday, Wednesday and Friday) starting from August 31, with its Sunday service cancelled.

Affected passengers can find contact details for Hong Kong Airlines’ customer assistance.

Hong Kong Airlines is not the only carrier that flies non-stop between Hong Kong and San Francisco: Cathay Pacific operates this route three times daily; United Airlines has recently announced that it will add a second non-stop service between the two cities from October.

Singapore Airlines also flies daily between Hong Kong and San Francisco, though it should be noted that the flight (SQ2) is actually a direct service between Singapore and San Francisco, with a stopover in Hong Kong.

In addition to San Francisco, in the North American market Hong Kong Airlines also operates long-haul flights to Vancouver and Los Angeles.

Hong Kong Airlines is a subsidiary of HNA Group, a Chinese conglomerate which is facing huge debts and a financial crisis. HK Express, once a subsidiary carrier of HNA Group, was fully acquired by Hong Kong flag carrier Cathay Pacific this month.

Ricky Chong Wai-ki, director of corporate governance and development of Hong Kong Airlines, said the airline had not ruled out a complete cut of long-haul flights in an interview with Hong Kong-based newspaper the South China Morning Post in June.

For North American flights, even airlines like Cathay face a lot of pressure so we keep reviewing. Our North American flights will be our short-term focus that we need to consolidate, said Chong.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong Airlines has also announced that it will discontinue its Hong Kong-Fuzhou service from September 2, while it will boost flights to three short-haul destinations.

The carrier will add a daily flight between Hong Kong and Haikou from September 2, four additional weekly flights between Hong Kong and Hangzhou from September 8 and two additional weekly flights between Hong Kong and Sapporo from September 28.

The arrangements will bring the total number of its Haikou, Hangzhou and Sapporo services to three daily flights, 14 weekly flights, and 11 weekly flights, respectively.

Last month, the carrier rolled out a series of new amenity kits for its business class passengers travelling on long-haul flights to North America.


Tourism Observer

Safe And Unsafe Airlines

AEROFLOT OR ANY RUSSIAN AIRLINE

Russian airlines lead the world in crashes and fatalities. The only air disasters in the past ten years that stole the headlines from missing Malaysian Air flights were catastrophic Russian crashes which wiped out the Polish government, a hockey team, and hundreds of vacationers to Egypt.

Aeroflot is Russia’s flag carrier, and it has an ominous record as the airline with the most crashes in the world.

Today Aeroflot is modern and safe and hasn’t had a major incident since 2008, but the list of other Russian airlines, including S7 and Siberian Air and Nordstar, with huge crashes, is too hard to ignore. If you’re flying in or out of Russia, take Finnair.

AIR NEW ZEALAND

Air New Zealand was rated as the safest airline in the world by Skytrax for 2017, the third year in a row they won this prestigious, and important, award.

This is New Zealand’s flag carrier and they have flights to destinations mostly in Asia, but also to the UK, US, Australia, and Canada. The only incident they’ve had is when a flight carrying pilots, technicians, and a safety inspector crashed into the ocean in 2008.

Otherwise, Air New Zealand has never lost a civilian passenger, joining the ranks of Air Canada for the safest airline. With fewer accidents, crashes, and deaths than any other airline, rest easy when you’re traveling on Air New Zealand!

PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL AIRLINES

Pakistan's flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines, is one of the most messed-up airlines in the world. The airline has a near-zero rating fromairlinereviews.com and is in the top 10 least safe airlines in the Skytrax annual review.

The airline has suffered many crashes resulting in fatalities every single year since they were founded in 1947, and when they’re not crashing or blowing up mid-air, they have a long list of minor accidents caused by pilot negligence and lack of ground maintenance.

FINNAIR

Finland’s largest airline and flag carrier has an impeccable safety record.They haven’t had a fatality since 1963, and have had few mishaps and accidents than any other airline in the world since then.

There were a couple of hijackings and attempts at bombing a Finnair airline, but these were all dealt with efficiently by authorities and passengers and crew were unharmed.

Finnair keeps a fleet of modern, well-maintained aircraft crewed by excellent pilots and professional flight attendants. If you’re flying anywhere in Europe, you can’t go wrong with Finnair.

MALAYSIAN AIRLINES

Malaysian Airlines has had a bad decade. Several large airline disasters have captured the world’s media attention, including the disappearance of Flight 370 in 2014.

What seems like such a shock to the world was no surprise to airline safety agencies and industry watchdogs, such as airlinereviews.com. Malaysian Airlines has a history of minor crashes, unsafe maintenance, corporate corruption and half-trained pilots and aircrew.

When several planes went down more recently, it was a culmination of a bad corporate culture that resulted in one of the most unsafe airlines in the world.

BRITISH AIRWAYS

British Airways was founded in 1974 by a government commission and has since grown to become the largest carrier in the UK. British Airways is one of the safest airlines in the world and hasn’t lost a passenger since 1976 when Flight 476 collided with another aircraft on takeoff, hurting 63 people on board.

This is the only time British Airways has had fatalities. Their pilots and crew are top-notch, and thanks to their fantastic skills several notable disasters have been avoided, like when Flight 900 flew through a volcanic ash cloud and the pilots glided the aircraft to a safe landing.

Qr the time a windshield blew out and the pilot was sucked out of the aircraft, but hung on while the co-pilot landed the plane safely. Nobody was hurt.

AIR INDIA

Air India is an Indian government owned airline founded in 1932. It has a dubious safety record, with a habit of exploding in mid-air.

Thankfully modern security screening has drastically reduced airline bombings around the world, but that doesn’t stop things like Air India flights randomly catching fire, or skidding off the runway, or simply driving into parked airplanes at the terminal loading docks.

Skytrax rates Air India as one of the least safe airlines due to a lot of negligence-caused accidents on the part of pilots, aircrew, and ground maintenance.

AIR CANADA

Air Canada has a proud and long history as one of the safest airlines in the world. Canada’s flag carrier was founded in 1937 and has never had a single fatality in all that time. They have flights to 207 cities around the world, making them one of the top 10 largest airlines and one of the top five oldest.

They’ve had the odd mishap, like in 2017 when the pilot accidentally turned off his radio while coming into San Francisco International Airport and landed on a runway full of taxiing airplanes.

This was the most serious incident in the airlines, history, and nobody was hurt. The pilot was suspended and the airline launched a full investigation. Air Canada flights are modern, well-maintained, and professional.

THAI AIRWAYS

Thailand’s national carrier has had a tough run as a world-class airline. They try really, really hard to be safe, but bad things just keep happening. In 2001 an entire wing blew up thanks to a fuel leak, resulting in one death on board.

In 2009 a flight crash-landed on a runway, while another plane dove into a rice paddy in 1998, killing everyone on board. For the most part, Thai Airways is safe, as they’ve had very few fatalities.

It’s just that things keep blowing up or falling off their airplanes, which shows a lack of maintenance and, as is usually the case with airlines from the developing world, corporate corruption which stops new parts and aircraft from reaching the fleet.

CATHAY PACIFIC

Cathay Pacific was one of the most luxurious airlines in the world at one point, winning the coveted “best airline” year after year. It has since fallen from the top spot, replaced by newcomers such as Qatar Airlines and Emirates.

Cathay Pacific still holds on to its stellar safety record, however. Hong Kong’s flag carrier reaches destinations around the world, and its last disaster was in 1972 when a bomb took down a flight, which can’t really be held against the company.

Their airplanes are known to be well-maintained and crewed by professionals, and their customer service is the best in all of Asia!

JETSTAR PACIFIC

Jetstar Pacific is a budget-airline out of Vietnam. Officially called Jetstar Pacific Airlies Joint Stock Aviation Company, this airline is near the bottom of Skytrax’s annual airline safety list.

According to aeroinside.com, which tracks airline incidents, Jetstar Pacific has had numerous safety incidents including tail strikes on takeoff, when the plane rotates the nose up to takeoff, the pilot is supposed to lift the plane off the ground or the tail will smash into the runway, known as a tail strike.

Other reports include landing gear malfunctions, noxious fumes in the cabin, and failure to pass a safety inspection at an Australian airport.

LUFTHANSA

Lufthansa was founded in the 1920s and then regrown after World War II and is one of the largest airlines in the world today. You can catch a Lufthansa flight to pretty much anywhere in Europe, and rest confident that you’ll actually get there alive. The airline isn’t without incidents, however.

Between 1959 and 1993, Lufthansa had several major accidents resulting in fatalities. The past 25 years have been very safe, with no fatalities and very few accidents. Although they are expensive, you’re getting what you pay for when you choose to fly with Lufthansa.

EGYPTAIR

Egyptair is Egypt’s national airline, with flights to nearly a hundred countries around the world. It’s also rated by Skytrax as one of the ten least safe airlines.

Even if you discount the company’s disasters, such as Flight 804 flying into the Mediterranean in 2016, or Flight 990 flying head-first into the Atlantic in the 90s, you still have an airline with a long history of mishaps.

In 2016 a plan caught fire while sitting on the runway. Another’s engine fell off during takeoff. There have been multiple hijackings of Egyptair flights in recent years, which makes for an uncomfortable vacation.

EMIRATES

Emirates has a decent safety record. They’ve never had a fatality on any of their flights, although they have had several mishaps on takeoff and landing.In 2004, and again in 2009, Emirates flights ran out of runway and plowed through landing lights and fences.

Nobody was hurt, but come on, really?In both cases, the investigators blamed the pilots for not lifting off and blamed Emirates for not giving the pilots enough rest between flights.

The odds of such an exciting start to your travels are rare, so instead sit back and enjoy Emirates world-famous comfort and service.

PHILIPPINE AIRLINES

Philippine Airlines is the flag carrier of The Philippines and is also one of the safest Filipino-operated airlines.Unfortunately, they aren’t the safest in the world, with a string of accidents, most of them minor.

Philippine Airlines flights have also been targeted by terrorists in the past, with al-Qaeda blowing up an airliner in 2007, and local extremists knocking down local propeller-driven craft now and again.

For the most part, you’ll survive your flight with these guys, but they still remain accident prone. Engines seize up mid-flight, landing gear doesn’t retract, planes fall off the runway, minor stuff.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES

Asian-based airlines seem to have a fantastic safety record. Eva, Cathay Pacific, and Singapore Airlines are all represented in the top 10 safest airlines in the world.Singapore Airlines isn’t without incidents, however.

In 1991 Pakistani militants hijacked Flight 117, until Singapore Special Forces stormed the aircraft and freed all the passengers while dispatching all the terrorists.

In 2000, Flight 006 took off from the wrong runway in Taiwan and crashed into some construction equipment, and 86 people lost their lives. There haven’t been any other fatalities in the airline's history and they’ve had an accident-free 18 years!

CHINA AIR

China Airlines is the largest air carrier in China and is partially government owned. If you’re heading to China, chances are you’ll end up booked on a China Air flight.

They fly to more than a hundred cities around the world, and is considered the 10th largest airline in the world! China Air also has one of the worst safety records of all the major airlines, with more than 30 catastrophic crashes and hundreds of minor accidents.

Most of their pilots are well-trained and come from a military background, but it seems that the aircraft themselves are not well maintained, and the company tends to skimp on spending the money necessary to keep their fleet safe.

EVA AIR

Eva Air is a Taiwanese airline launched in 1989. They have one of the best safety records of all the Asian airlines, and to date has not had a single aircraft incident or passenger fatality.If you’re flying Eva Air you can rest assured that you’re in good hands.

I’ve never flown Eva, but passenger reviews online tell a story of friendly, professional treatment, comfortable flights and average food.If you’re heading anywhere in Asia, try Eva Air. At the very least you’ll get there alive.

CUBANA

Cubana Airlines is considered one of the most accident-prone airlines in the world, with an accident rating 60 times higher than British Airways! Cubana is Cuba’s national airline, wholly owned by the Communist government.

It was founded in 1930 as a subsidiary of Pan-Am Airlines, but after Castro’s takeover, it was nationalized. Today it is known as Crashbana by Cubans and Mexicans.

In 2018 it had a catastrophic crash with 107 fatalities, which came only a year after another crash, which was eight months after another crash. If you must go to Cuba, fly on Air Canada.

JAPAN AIRLINES

Japan Airlines is one of the safest airlines in the world, having only one catastrophic accident in its history. That was when Flight 123 flew face-first into a mountain back in 1985, taking 520 passengers with it.

The company has since fired all of its kamikaze pilots and passengers can expect a relatively comfortable flight. I’ve flown JAL several times and was once even upgraded to first class, the only time in my traveling career, so I have a soft spot for them.

According to airlinerratings.com, JAL has a 7.2 out of 10 rating, making them one of the top 10 safest in the world!


Tourism Observer

Doom Tourism Killing Great Tourist Sites

What do Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, Bagan, in Myanmar, and the Kazakh eagle hunters of Mongolia have in common?

They are all recipients of last-chance tourists, travellers keen to experience a place before it disappears or is transformed beyond recognition, the victim of climate change or globalisation.

In 2016, the Journal of Sustainable Tourism published a study titled “Last chance tourism and the Great Barrier Reef”, which found that 69 per cent of visitors to the natural wonder felt a sense of urgency, to see it before the water gets too warm, the corals all bleach and the 2,300km-long ecosystem dies.

The issue with this is the role these tourists play in the reef’s ultimate extinction.

To reach their destination, the visitor will board a fossil-fuelled plane, and seeing as the reef is in a far-flung corner of the globe, that is in most cases going to be a large, long-haul fossil-fuelled plane.

As they sit back to consume instantly forgettable food and films, our environmentally minded traveller is in many cases ignorant of the carbon impact they are making; after all, the airline industry hardly makes a song and dance of how polluting it is.

According to Cathay Pacific’s carbon-emission calculator, an economy-class round trip from Hong Kong to Cairns, the international airport that is closest to the corals, will produce 0.96 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions – about 15 per cent of the average Hongkonger’s annual carbon footprint – which the airline invites passengers to offset for a grand total of HK$22.65 (US$2.9).

Offset or not, any CO2 that ends up in the atmosphere advances the warming of the climate and the ocean, contributing to coral bleaching and the killing of the Great Barrier Reef.

Other tourists want to visit places before everyone else does and the experiences are ruined. The very act of doing so erodes the authenticity the last-chancer so desperately seeks.

It’s the sort of irony Alanis Morissette might sing about, but it has a much more transformative influence than a black fly in your chardonnay or rain on your wedding day.

There are those who argue that last-chance tourism raises public awareness of climate breakdown or overtourism but the difference between understanding the issues and taking action to help remedy them remains wide.

Eke Eijgelaar, a researcher and lecturer at the Breda University of Applied Sciences, in the Netherlands, said that he didn’t believe the awareness raised outweighed the negative effects tourism can have on increasingly fragile environments.

Last-chance travel also goes by another name, doom tourism. Suddenly, that trip to see Antarctica’s melting glaciers, or the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu, which is disappearing under rising seas and will reportedly be uninhabitable by 2050, doesn’t sound quite so appealing, does it?


Tourism Observer

TAIWAN: EVA Air To Feed North America Network

Regional Asia growth does not receive the attention that intercontinental long haul growth does, but regional expansion provides the foundation connections for an expanded range of long haul flights.

In Jul-2018 Eva Air inaugurated service to Chiang Mai, its 12th Southeast Asia destination. EVA Air disclosed that it is planning for its 13th and 14th destinations – Penang and Yangon. EVA Air may also fly to India.

Taiwan's Go South policy encourages the economy, transportation and tourism included to do more business in Southeast Asia in order to differentiate away from Northeast Asia and reduce reliance on mainland China.

The new destinations will also help fuel EVA's North America network, which accounts for approximately half of the airline's system-wide flying. Half of EVA's North American passengers connect beyond Taipei, mostly to Southeast Asia.

New destinations, especially those that few other competitors serve, add uniqueness. Rapid trans Pacific growth in recent years has necessitated a greater number of unique city pair combinations.

Cathay Pacific's regional arm Cathay Dragon is adding service to two Southeast Asian destinations not yet served by another Northeast Asian airline.

EVA Air is considering service to Penang and Yangon.

EVA Air studying India, dependent on aeropolitical instruments.

Taiwan is encouraging tourism and visitor growth in Southeast Asia in order to differentiate away from Northeast Asia, especially from mainland China.

Southeast Asian destination growth important for EVA Air to feed its North American network.

Taiwan is pursuing Southeast Asia tourism growth.

The new destinations, if launched, would further Taiwan's aim to grow tourism from Southeast Asia and reduce dependence on Northeast Asia.

Approximately two thirds of Taiwan's visitor arrivals are from Northeast Asia. This includes mainland China, with a 25% share of all arrivals, and Japan at 18%.

Taiwan's quest for Southeast Asia growth is partially out of opportunity, but also as a hedge should the uncertain mainland China market dip – which has occurred over the years, with significant impact on Taiwan tourism.

Taiwan visitor arrivals by market: 2017

Taiwan receives a larger share of visitors from the US before any Southeast Asia market. Taiwan's largest Southeast Asian source markets are Malaysia (5%), Singapore (4%), Philippines (3%) and Indonesia (2%).

Singapore has only a 1ppt difference from Malaysia, despite Singapore's much smaller size.

This is partially the result of LCC competition between Singapore and Taiwan with Scoot and Jetstar as well as ample full service airline capacity, as EVA Air and China Airlines use widebodies to feed their North American networks.

EVA Air has not served Penang. Penang would be a new passenger destination for EVA Air. The airline has freighter services to Penang, while China Airlines has freighter services as well as a daily 737-800 passenger service.

China Southern has twice daily Airbus narrowbody flights to Guangzhou, which connect with its North American network (albeit limited).

Penang International Airport international seat capacity by airline: week commencing 02-Jul-2018

The main competition is from Cathay Dragon, which has twice daily flights on narrowbody and widebody aircraft. Cathay Dragon's sister airline Cathay Pacific has a larger North America network but also links Penang to the rest of Northeast Asia.

No other Northeast Asian airline serves Penang with passenger service (Korean Air has freighter service). Cathay Dragon is the fourth largest international operator at Penang. 17% of Penang's international capacity is to Northeast Asia.

Penang International Airport international seat capacity by region: week commencing 02-Jul-2018

EVA Air briefly served Yangon. Yangon represents a service resumption for EVA Air, if launched. EVA Air was one of a number of airlines to launch service to Yangon after political change and an impending opening-up for business.

EVA Air entered Yangon with other Northeast Asian airlines, including ANA and what is today Cathay Dragon, both of which are able to link Yangon with their large North American networks.

EVA Air served Yangon for eight months from Oct-2012 to May-2013. Taiwan was initially a smaller business partner for Myanmar and EVA Air operated at lower frequency than Cathay Dragon. ANA also had low frequency, but operated a premium aircraft while Japan had larger business ties.

Yangon has far more Northeast Asian competition than Penang. Also, Gulf airlines are more present in Yangon. One-stop flights from Yangon to North America can be longer than transiting through a Northeast Asian hub, but fares can be low.

Gulf airlines tend to be more present in the Southeast Asia-East Coast North America market, which represents a smaller detour compared to Northeast Asia-West Coast North America.

Unlike service on Penang, the North American heavyweights ANA and Korean Air serve Yangon. Two mainland Chinese airlines – Air China and China Southern – link Yangon with their main hubs. China Eastern serves Yangon from Kunming and not Shanghai, the hub for its North American network.

Northeast Asia represents 19% of Yangon's international seats, which is a share not much higher than the 17% that Northeast Asia represents at Penang.

Yangon Mingaladon International Airport international seat capacity by region: week commencing 02-Jul-2018

India's high volumes but low yields are challenging. EVA Air has also said that it is considering service to India but would have to assess aeropolitical instruments.

Taiwan and India amended their air service agreement in 2016, with reports stating that each side was permitted 14 weekly passenger flights. The only passenger services are two weekly flights from China Airlines on the Taipei-Delhi route. This low frequency does not suggest a large unserved market.

Northeast Asian airlines have a number of challenges growing in India. Local demand is typically very small due to limited business, tourism and VFR markets – unlike in Southeast Asia.

Flights from Northeast Asian hubs to India can between five and nine hours – a long time to sustain a flight on mostly connecting traffic with little O&D traffic.

Gulf airlines do this across their network, but their market is connecting traffic, whereas Northeast Asian airlines are structured more towards a balance between O&D and connecting traffic.

The high cost of Northeast Asia-India flights is especially limiting to ANA and JAL, which are historically Northeast Asia-North America connecting airlines but have the highest cost bases in Asia.

The distance between India and Northeast Asian hubs requires a widebody aircraft to be used in most instances. Next generation narrowbodies (A321LR, 737 MAX) will only open so many markets in Northeast Asia-India.

This limits the opportunity to link thinner markets and offer high frequency, or trade three weekly widebody flights with a daily narrowbody traffic rights permitting; some are based on frequency and others on seats/units of capacity.

Southeast Asia growth fuels North America expansion. New Asian destinations will help EVA's North America network. North America accounts for 48% of EVA's ASKs, and more when the regional Asia capacity that exists largely to feed North American flying is taken into account.

An expanded Asia network can help EVA Air grow in North America while also improving the existing network.

As one-stop trans Pacific competition increases, EVA Air needs more differentiation.

EVA Air ASKs by region: Week commencing 02-Jul-2018

Should EVA Air add Penang and Yangon, it will have 14 destinations in Southeast Asia from its main hub.

In 2017, with 11 markets, EVA served the same number of Southeast Asian destinations as China Eastern did from its hub. This considers only destinations served, and not frequency, capacity or connectivity.

EVA will have much more differentiation than ANA, and come up to Korean Air. Penang and Yangon, besides being new destinations, bring more uniqueness to EVA's network.

In comparison, all of ANA's Southeast Asian destinations are served by three or more airlines in this benchmark study of leading trans Pacific operators with Southeast Asian connections.

EVA Air's additions of Penang and Yangon also reduce the dominance of competitors. Exceptions are Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon, which have added service to two destinations – Davao and Medan – not served by any other Northeast Asian airline.

Potential for the connectivity upside is still largely unrecognised. Yet for all the changes, there is still far more growth to be unlocked with improvements in narrowbody aircraft technology, slots, traffic rights and government transparency.

The inevitable focus on China market growth tends to disguise the great potential for growth of southeast and south Asian transfer markets over north Asia.

The large distances across the Pacific make direct services operationally difficult and often uneconomical, but as economies grow and trade links with north America expand, traffic flowing along the linkages made possible by connecting services will only increase.


Tourism Observer

More Airlines Expanding Routes

There’s a new entrant in the U.S.-Hong Kong market; Delta will put a new aircraft on a China route and will beef up transpacifc code-sharing; Cathay Pacific will add another U.S. gateway next year.

United is eliminating first class on many routes and cuts back China service; a Lufthansa affiliate is adding a new business class; LATAM is coming to Las Vegas; San Jose gets more service to Mexico; Copa begins Denver service; an Italian airline plans new U.S. routes.

Alaska ends its relationship with two European partners; and Norwegian revamps its U.S. schedules next summer, adding frequencies from the West Coast.

Hong Kong Airlines, a Hong Kong-based sister company of China’s Hainan Airlines, started service to the U.S. for the first time.

The carrier is using a new Airbus A350-900 on the Los Angeles-Hong Kong route, configured with 33 lie-flat business class seats, 109 premium economy seats with 34-inch pitch, and 193 regular economy seats with 31-32 inch pitch.

The new LAX-Hong Kong flights operate four times a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday), with a 10:45 a.m. departure from LAX. Hong Kong Airlines plans to add San Francisco service in late March, and New York flights later next year.

So far, all of Delta’s Airbus A350-900s have been scheduled for routes out of Detroit or Atlanta, but now the airline is planning to operate one of the new planes out of Los Angeles.

Delta plans to start flying the new plane from LAX to Shanghai Pudong on July 2, alternating days with a 777-200LR until July 18, when the A350 went onto a daily schedule.

Delta’s A350s – which feature the airline’s new Delta One suites and new international premium economy section – are already used on flights from Detroit to Tokyo Narita and Seoul Incheon, and are slated to start Detroit-Beijing service January 17.

Detroit-Amsterdam and Atlanta-Seoul March 24; and Detroit-Shanghai April 19.

Meanwhile, Delta will expand code-sharing with its transpacific partner Korean Air on January 10, putting the DL code onto Korean’s flights to Seoul Incheon from Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

In other transpacific news, Cathay Pacific has unveiled plans to add another East Coast gateway in mid-September 2018, when it will start flying from Hong Kong to Washington Dulles.

The carrier already serves Boston, New York JFK and Newark. Cathay reportedly plans to fly the route – which will be the longest in its system – four days a week with a brand-new Airbus A350-1000.

A couple of months ago, we reported on United’s plans to reconfigure its international long-haul 777-200s, putting in new lie-flat Polaris business class seats, taking out first class, and going from nine-across to 10-across seating in economy.

The reconfigured 777s will be deployed, based on the elimination of first class from seating availability. It shows the elimination of 777 first class in late April from San Francisco to London, and from Washington Dulles to Brussels, Frankfurt and Tokyo Narita.

At the end of August from Chicago O’Hare to Beijing, Hong Kong, Tokyo Narita, Shanghai, Sao Paulo, Frankfurt and Munich.

Meanwhile, United’s seasonal summer route from San Francisco to Xi’An, China, which had previously been scheduled for three 787 flights a week from May 6 through September 4, has been eliminated for 2018.

Las Vegas is due to get its first non-stop service to South America next summer.

LATAM Airlines Brasil has filed plans to operate a 767 three times a week between Las Vegas and Sao Paulo from June 21 through August 31.

Lufthansa’s lower-cost leisure affiliate Eurowings plans to launch new transatlantic routes in 2018, including JFK-Dusseldorf starting April 28, Dusseldorf-Miami as of May 4, and Dusseldorf-Ft. Myers beginning May 3.

Now it appears that the airline will try to entice business travelers onto those flights by adding a new business class cabin.

The new Eurowings cabin, simply called Bizclass, will feature seats that recline fully and will include upgraded meals and other special amenities. Details of Eurowings’ new Bizclass were introduced in March at the big ITB Travel Fair in Berlin.

Mexican low-cost carrier Volaris, which already had service out of San Jose to Guadalajara, has now added two more routes.

Volaris has started twice-weekly flights from SJC to Morelia on Fridays and Sundays, as well as twice-weekly service from SJC to Zacatecas on Mondays and Thursdays. Next summer, Aeromexico is due to begin SJC-Mexico City flights.

Panama’s Copa Airlines, a member of United’s Star Alliance family, has added Denver as its 13th U.S. gateway.

The carrier has kicked off new non-stop service four days a week from Denver to Panama City, with Denver departures on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday at 10:16 p.m. Copa offers onward connections in Panama to 55 Latin American destinations.

Italian carrier Meridiana plans to add two U.S. routes next summer. On June 1, it will begin daily service from Milan Malpensa to New York JFK, followed up on June 8 by four flights a week from Malpensa to Miami.

The airline will use a 247-passenger, two-class Airbus A330 on both routes.

On April 30, 2018, Alaska Airlines ended its Mileage Plan partnership with Air France-KLM – not really a surprise considering that the European duo has a joint venture partnership with Alaska’s arch-rival Delta.

Alaska and Delta ended their own mileage partnership last spring. The Alaskan carrier notes that it still has partnership agreements to Europe in place with British Airways, Finnair, Icelandair and Condor.

The latest schedule updates from Norwegian show the low-cost carrier plans to boost service on several U.S. routes in late March, increasing its weekly Barcelona frequencies from three to four out of Los Angeles, from three to five out of Oakland, and from four to six out of Newark.

The carrier will also boost LAX-Copenhagen service from three flights a week to four.

At Boston, Norwegian plans to increase London Gatwick service from four flights a week to seven starting June 12, but it will discontinue its seasonal Boston-Oslo and Boston-Copenhagen flights.


Tourism Observer

HONG KONG: Personalised Plating On Cathay Pacific’s Business Class

Long-haul Business Class passengers can enjoy a new, more personal, dining experience that caters to sophisticated palates, offering more choice and enhanced presentation

Business Class travellers on Cathay Pacific’s long-haul flights will soon have the option of ordering from a new à la carte menu with a new hospitality upgrade to be rolled out starting from July 30.

Cabin crew will take individual orders from passengers.

Main courses will be individually plated on board by trained staff, ensuring better presentation and quality, as individual dish components can be heated separately.

The new option is the result of passenger surveys that the airlines has been conducting since 2017 to find out how to improve the in-flight experience.

Customers have said they want to see improved food quality, presentation, greater choice and more personalisation during their in-flight meals.

The new service will offer a range of Hong Kong Favourites such as Hong Kong char siu pork with egg noodles, wok-fried seafood in lobster soup, beef brisket with flat rice noodle, and mango with pomelo and sago for dessert.

Trials are being run to determine the optimum amount of food to be loaded for each flight.

Technology is helping identify customer preference, says Bernard Mills, head of customer experience, F&B and hospitality, at Cathay Pacific.

Passengers will be offered three appetiser options and up to six main course choices on flights that are longer than 10 hours.

There is also the option of a new Express Meal, an alternative for customers who prefer to sleep during set flight meal service times.

In addition, passengers in need of sleep can fill in a new Breakfast Order Card to select their morning meal before nodding off.

The new service will be rolled out to all Business Class passengers on long-haul routes starting July 30 and is expected to be completed by mid-2019.


Tourism Observer

HONG KONG: Cathay Pacific Acquires First A350-1000 And Orders Twenty More

Cathay Pacific has taken delivery of its first Airbus A350-1000, making it the variant's second operator after Qatar Airways, which received its initial example in February.

The Hong Kong carrier has ordered 20 A350-1000s and already operates 22 A350-900s, Airbus says. The airline has another six -900s on order and holds four options.

Airbus says Cathay Pacific will from September deploy the A350-1000 on nonstop services to Washington DC, which the airframer describes as the longest flight performed by any airline out of Hong Kong. Flight time will be approximately 17h.

Cathay Pacific chief customer and commercial officer Paul Loo states that the A350-900's introduction to the airline in 2016"enabled us to expand our long-haul network at a near unprecedented rate.

He adds that the larger -1000 variant has an incredible range, is remarkably fuel efficient and quiet, provides customers with an unsurpassed cabin environment, and has extremely attractive operating economics.

The A350 is exclusively powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.

The first of 20 A350-1000s for Cathay Pacific has completed its initial test flight from Airbus's Toulouse plant.

Deliveries of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft to the Hong Kong carrier are scheduled to begin in June. It will become the second operator after launch customer Qatar Airways to receive Airbus's biggest twinjet.

The new twinjets will be operated alongside Cathay's existing fleet of smaller A350-900s, 22 of which are currently in service with six more on order, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer.

Cathay will deploy the A350-1000 on its new route to Washington DC from September. The airline says that at 8,153 miles (7,095nm/13,126km), the new service to Dulles will become the longest in its network.

Airbus's third test-flight A330-900, carrying the colours of launch operator TAP Portugal, has landed in Lisbon after commencing the initial stage of route-proving flights.

For the first state of route-proving, MSN1819 is set to fly on to Brazil, visiting cities including Recife, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Miami.

The Rolls-Royce Trent 7000-powered aircraft took off on 19 June from Toulouse's runway 32R – using a full-thrust departure, rather than a flex setting, on the request of flight-test engineers – for a 1h 30min flight to the Portuguese capital.

MSN1819 had pushed back with just under 20t of fuel, and a weight of 164t, with a projected landing weight of 156.8t. The crew confirmed, after touchdown on Lisbon's on runway 21, that the twinjet had burned 8t of fuel.

The 298-seat aircraft – featuring the airframer's three-class revamped Airspace cabin interior, fitted with Recaro seating – was transporting board members from the carrier and the airframer, as well as government figures and media representatives.

Route-proving will subsequently take the aircraft to Asia, with stops in Kuala Lumpur and other regional hubs, before it returns to Europe via Mauritius. It also fly to Delhi before heading west again, operating through Reykjavik, Chicago and Atlanta.

The exercise is intended to demonstrate the A330neo's readiness for airline service.

As part of the testing the aircraft will undertake extended twin-engined operations flights, approaches to alternate airports, and tests with ground-handling systems.

Airbus head of A330 marketing Crawford Hamilton, speaking during the event, said the route-proving effort would involve about 150h of flights, spanning 18 days, and taking in 16 cities. The exercise is set to run to 7 July.

Hamilton says the A330neo test-flight campaign, which involves three aircraft including MSN1819, is around 80% complete. The fleet has logged around 1,000h in 267 flights.

Performance is in line with predictions, he adds.

Certification is still on track for summer this year, with subsequent entry into service with TAP.


Tourism Observer

FIJI: Fiji Airlines Partners With Oneworld Connect

Oneworld has announced new Oneworld Connect partner concept following something that Star Alliance launched last year with one Chinese airline, although seems that the concept here is more deeper cooperation.

Oneworld Connect requires connect partners only to offer priority check in and boarding to all eligible Oneworld elite members.

Members from Oneworld programs that are sponsoring the airline will have the usual benefits of earning and redeeming miles in addition to having lounge access etc.

Oneworld states that they are in discussions with airlines in Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific regarding this concept.

oneworld has launched a new platform for linking up to the world’s premier airline alliance – enabling customers to enjoy more services and benefits across an even more extensive global network.

The first airline to join in the new capacity as a oneworld connect partner will be Fiji Airways.

A date will be announced in due course for when Fiji Airways will start offering oneworld connect services and benefits. Meantime, it is business as usual.

Oneworld connect is the first new membership platform unveiled by oneworld since the alliance was originally announced 20 years ago.

oneworld is in discussion with other carriers interested in participating in the programme, from various parts of the world including the Americas, Asia-Pacific and Europe.

Each oneworld connect partner will need to have a minimum of three oneworld members as its sponsors to be initiated into the programme.

The initial oneworld sponsors of Fiji Airways will be all four of oneworld’s original founding members – American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.

The Australian carrier will additionally mentor Fiji Airways through its oneworld connect implementation process.

American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas already code-share and have frequent flyer links with Fiji Airways.

British Airways and Fiji Airways are currently discussing areas for potential bilateral cooperation.

oneworld connect partners will provide select alliance benefits to frequent flyers from any oneworld member airline travelling on their flights, with a more extensive range of benefits offered with their oneworld sponsors.

Customers with Emerald, Sapphire or Ruby status in any oneworld member airline’s frequent flyer programme will be able to use priority check-in desks, where available.

Also, customers with Emerald or Sapphire status will be offered priority boarding.

The additional benefits offered by oneworld connect partners to customers from their oneworld sponsors and vice versa include:

Through check-in of passengers and their baggage for journeys including connections between a connect carrier and any of its oneworld sponsors.

The ability to earn and redeem frequent flyer rewards, and earn frequent flyer status points, for eligible flights.

For customers from oneworld connect airlines, these benefits depend on the oneworldconnect partner offering a frequent flyer programme.

Access to select lounges at key airports for First or Business Class passengers or those with eligible top-tier frequent flyer status.

Select other customer benefits may also be offered between oneworld connect partners and their oneworldsponsor airlines.

All oneworld connect partners will make their networks available via Global Explorer, the round-the-world fare offered by all oneworld members and select other airlines. Fiji Airways already does so.

All oneworld connect partners will be required to maintain IATA IOSA safety certification.

oneworld’s regular range of services and benefits remain in place for customers flying with the alliance’s full member airlines and their affiliates.

oneworld Governing Board Chairman Pekka Vauramo, CEO of Finnair, said: In the 20 years since oneworld’s conception in 1998.

Global airline alliances have expanded their breadth to the extent that they now account for 60 per cent of total industry revenues and capacity globally, and 70 per cent of revenues between the world’s top 125 business city airports.

With most of the world’s biggest airlines already signed up, global airline alliances have reached maturity.

In the future, oneworld will target as full members large airlines that have a significant presence in the alliance’s prime target market, providing connections between the world’s leading business centres.

Meantime, oneworldconnect enables us to bring together more airlines to complement the alliance’s global leaders, so customers can earn rewards and feel recognised while travelling even further.

oneworld CEO Rob Gurney added: oneworld’s current network of more than 1,000 destinations in 150 plus territories offers far-reaching global coverage, but there are still some regions where we would like to strengthen our presence further.

With fewer potential new candidates available to recruit based on our established membership criteria.

oneworld connect enables us to link up with other airlines whose networks are relevant to a subset of our members, who cannot meet oneworld’s full membership requirements at this stage or who are not interested in full membership at present.

This enables us and them to offer our customers more services and benefits across an even wider network and strengthen our relationship going forward, with a streamlined and rapid path to full membership later on where it makes sense for all parties.

Fiji Airways CEO Andre Viljoen stated: Fiji Airways is thrilled and honoured to be the first oneworld connectpartner globally.

We are delighted to link Fiji, and the South Pacific to the world’s premier airline alliance and deepening our relationships in particular with Qantas, American Airlines, British Airways and Cathay Pacific.

This important step for our airline enables us to offer more services and benefits to our own customers along with the others in the oneworld family, to achieve a greater presence for our airline internationally and to build on the in-bound tourism that is so vital to our home nation and our region.

Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said: “As a oneworld founding member, it is great to see the alliance evolve to bring additional benefits to more customers and expand its joint network. We’ve worked closely with Fiji Airways for many years and are pleased to serve as its mentor as it comes on board as the first oneworld connect partner.”

American Airlines Chairman and CEO Doug Parker added: As another oneworld founding member, American Airlines is excited to be playing our part in this latest key development for what has become the world’s premier airline alliance, now making access to the South Pacific more attractive than ever.

British Airways Chairman and CEO Alex Cruz stated: British Airways looks forward to developing links with Fiji Airways as a oneworld connect partner and sponsor, for the benefit of both our airlines, our customers and the wider oneworld community.

Cathay Pacific Chief Executive Officer Rupert Hogg concluded: Cathay Pacific was proud to play our part in founding oneworld 20 years ago and establishing it as the leading quality alliance.

We are proud today to be playing our part again in getting this exciting new membership platform oneworld connect off the ground, as a sponsor of our long-term code-share partner Fiji Airways.

So, three of the Connecting Partner backers of this airline have frequent flier agreement in place at this time BA and Fiji are exploring opportunities.

The benefits are very light borderline non-existent if you happen to be an elite member with an airline that is not one of the backers. One of the reasons in the future to go with one of the major programs within the alliance.

Not sure why Oneworld draws a line between Nadi and Santiago on the graphics that they use the market the alliance on the presentation? I am not aware of that there would be any flights between these two destinations unless there was an announcement made today.

The only other airline that would probably fit this model in my mind is the Air Tahiti Nui that already has partnership in place with both AA and Qantas and perhaps with other Oneworld airlines too.


Tourism Observer

HONG KONG: Cathy Pacific To Commence Hong Kong - Dublin Flights, June 2018

Cathay Pacific is all set to bring its brand of super efficiency and high spec in-flight service to the sky-ways of Ireland this summer, when it begins its pioneering non-stop routes linking Hong Kong with Dublin from June 2018.

In addition to the Irish route Cathay is also connecting Hong Kong with the Danish capital city Copenhagen on top of the non-stop flights between HK and Brussels.

Belgium introduced in March further strengthening the airline’s network as well as providing potential new trade and tourism opportunities between Europe and Asia.

Growing our reach to new destinations boosts the city’s status as Asia’s largest international hub and enables us to capture new and important sources of revenue

Cathay Pacific chief executive officer Rupert Hogg said that the announced services will meet customer demand for non-stop travel to these vibrant cities.

At the same time providing Europe-based passengers with more convenient access to key destinations in Asia and Southwest Pacific through the airline’s home in Hong Kong.

We’re excited to offer the only direct flights between Hong Kong and Brussels, Dublin and Copenhagen.

These are all fantastic destinations and attract business and leisure travellers from the world over.

We listened to our customers’ demands for more options and greater flexibility and have responded by building direct air links with these great cities.

Hogg added: Growing our reach to new destinations that aren’t served from Hong Kong boosts the city’s status as

Asia’s largest international hub and enables us to capture new and important sources of revenue.

To welcome the new European connections OZO Wesley Hong Kong is offering stays at a starting price of GBP 114+ per night including breakfast and exclusive of VAT and service charge.

This is subject to season and availability.

Meaanwhile, The first of 20 A350-1000s for Cathay Pacific has completed its initial test flight from Airbus's Toulouse plant.

Deliveries of the Rolls-Royce Trent XWB-powered aircraft to the Hong Kong carrier are scheduled to begin in June.

It will become the second operator after launch customer Qatar Airways to receive Airbus's biggest twinjet.

The new twinjets will be operated alongside Cathay's existing fleet of smaller A350-900s, 22 of which are currently in service with six more on order, according to Flight Fleets Analyzer.

Cathay will deploy the A350-1000 on its new route to Washington DC from September. The airline says that at "8,153 miles" (7,095nm/13,126km), the new service to Dulles will become the longest in its network.



Tourism Observer

QATAR: Qatar Airways Buys Into Cathay Pacific As Black Stars Football Club Captain Asamoah Gyan Goes Aviation

Qatar Airways has announced it is taking an almost Qatar Airways 10% stake in Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways.

The agreement, which Qatar Airways said it expects to complete Nov. 6, means the Gulf carrier will hold a 9.6% stake in Cathay at a value of about $600 million.

Cathay and Qatar are both members of the oneworld global alliance.

Qatar Airways already has a 20% stake in International Airlines Group, parent of British Airways, another oneworld member, as well as a 10% stake in LATAM Airlines Group, and a 49% investment in Meridiana.

Qatar backed off from a move in June to take a 10% stake in American Airlines, also in oneworld, after American chairman and CEO Doug Parker sharply rebuked the bid as puzzling at best; concerning at worst.

American is campaigning with Delta Air Lines and United Airlines to constrain growth of the major Gulf carriers – Qatar, Emirates Airlines and Etihad Airways – over claims that they are heavily subsidized by their government owners.

Qatar Airways Group CEO Akbar Al Baker said in a statement Monday that Cathay was one of the strongest airlines in the world, respected throughout the industry and with massive potential for the future.

There was no press statement from Cathay, which in August posted a net loss of HKD2.1 billion ($268.2 million) for the first half of 2017, a reversal from a HKD353 million net profit in the same period last year.

Cathay faces increasing competition in many of its markets, particularly from mainland China’s major airlines.

Cathay’s major shareholders are Swire Pacific, which holds 35%, and Air China, which holds almost 30%.

A Transavia Boeing 737-700 performing flight from Eindhoven to Tel Aviv was near Prague, when the crew decided to return after both autopilots had failed and the aircraft thus had lost its capability to operate in reduced vertical separation minima.

The aircraft descended to FL360 for the return and diverted to Amsterdam (Netherlands) for a safe landing on runway 27 about one hour later.

A replacement Boeing 737-800 registration PH-HSM departed about 2 hours after landing and reached Tel Aviv with a delay of 3.5 hours.

Air China has taken delivery of the airline’s first 737 MAX 8. China’s national flag carrier is the first airline in the country to receive the 737 MAX.

Customers throughout China will take delivery of nearly 100 737 MAXs by the end of next year. Boeing’s partnership with Air China dates back to the 1970s.

Air China’s fleet includes seven Boeing 747-8s, 26 777-300ERs, 11 787-9 Dreamliners and more than 140 Next-Generation 737s.

WestJet announced it has been recognized as Best Low-Cost Airline – The Americas for 2018 by airlineratings.com. The website rates more than 425 airlines around the globe to determine its award winners.

It is an honour to be named Best Low-Cost Airline for the whole of North and South America, said Ed Sims, WestJet Executive Vice-President, Commercial.

This is a reflection of the hard work and caring nature of our more than 13,000 WestJetters. The timing on this award is welcome as we begin to build our international reputation in preparation for the arrival of our Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners in 2019.

WestJet was selected on its innovation of bringing affordable and safe travel to millions across North America, said AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas.

In addition, WestJet’s employees have brought back the magic of flying to its guests.

Meanwhile,the Captain of Black Stars Football Club of Ghana, the country’s national football team, Asamoah Gyan has obtained an air carrier license for the establishment of a commercial airline called Baby Jet Airlines

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo who disclosed this recently while declaring open, the African Airshow in Accra, Ghana said he was enthused about the development.

He called on Ghanaians, both home and abroad, to take advantage of the prevailing friendly environment and invest in the rapidly growing aviation sector, adding that the government had successfully created the right conditions for the private sector to thrive in the industry in order to propel growth and create employment, especially for the youth.



Tourism Observer

HONG KONG: Typhoon Hato - Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon And Hong Kong Airlines Flights Affected

Hong Kong dug in on Tuesday night for a siege by a storm on track to be one of the worst in recent years, and expected to cripple air travel, as Typhoon Hato barrelled towards the coast of southern China, the city in its path.

As the Observatory prepared to raise the No 8 signal before 5.30am, airlines on Tuesday were already warning of cancellations and ­delays on Wednesday that could turn out to be the worst disruptions since Hong Kong International Airport opened nearly two decades ago.

The Education Bureau announced schools would be closed on Wednesday.

The EDB announces that classes of all day schools are suspended today. If classes of evening schools are required to be suspended, the bureau will make the announcement in due course, the bureau said.

The approach of Hato, the ­Japanese word for pigeon, was packing enough of a punch for China’s national weather authorities to issue their second highest alert for rainstorms and warn of downpours hitting the region.

The Observatory said the structure of Hato remained rather intact and compact, tracking steadily towards the coast of Guangdong. It would be closest to Hong Kong at noon on Wednesday, coming within 100 kilometres of the city, before making landfall in neighbouring Guangdong province.

Hato will pose a considerable threat to Hong Kong, senior scientific officer Queenie Lam Ching-chi said. With an intensity of 120km per hour at its centre, it has all the conditions to develop into a stronger storm.

A higher signal, if the typhoon warranted it, would mean a rare No 10, which has not been issued since the city felt the ferocity of ­Typhoon Vicente in 2012.

By 2am on Wednesday, the typhoon was about 240km southeast of Hong Kong and was forecast to move west-northwest at about 25km per hour ­towards the coast of Guangdong.

The No 3 signal was raised at 6.20pm after a sweltering day ­setting another record for summer temperatures, with meteorologists forecasting winds of up to 117km per hour.

The Airport Authority said flights were operating normally on Tuesday but warned that it could be a different story on Wednesday with severe disruptions, and advised travellers to contact their airlines before going to the airport.

At least 320 flights operated by Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon and Hong Kong Airlines, scheduled to take off or land between 6am and 5pm on Wednesday, have been cancelled. The storm could be at its peak during those hours.

Hundreds more flights to and from the city, and across the ­region, were also expected to be cancelled due to Hato.

Wind speed and direction are severely impacting flight operations, and are forecast to do so throughout Wednesday regardless of the typhoon signal level, Cathay Pacific said as it announced today’s cancellations.

The last major storm to cause major travel chaos in Hong Kong was Typhoon Nida, in 2016. It affected 1,000 flights.

Across the city yesterday, people rushed to supermarkets for food and supplies before heading home to batten down the hatches.

A mother of a two-year-old girl, surnamed Chan, snapped up instant noodles, drinks, and even tissue papers to prepare for the typhoon. We are mainly worried that supermarkets could be closed during signal No 8, said Chan.

Meanwhile, staff at a bakery on Johnston Road in Wan Chai said they had not yet seen a sales surge. A sales assistant, Jojo Lau, said: Our business remains the same as usual.

With Hato exerting its influence long before nearing the city, Hongkongers endured another day of very hot and smoggy conditions on Tuesday.
Maximum temperatures hit 36.6 degrees Celsius at the Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui, the ­highest ever to be recorded there in 132 years.


Tourism Observer

Wizz To Have A Fleet Of 120 By 2020, Cathay Pacific Disappointing Says CEO

Low-cost operator Wizz Air expects to have 15% more aircraft in its fleet by March 2020 than it had indicated a year ago.

The airline’s latest fleet schedule, disclosed during its first-quarter results presentation, shows it will have a fleet of 120 aircraft by the end of the 2019-20 fiscal year.

This figure is a substantial increase on the 104 aircraft – equally split between Airbus A320s and A321s – listed in the fleet plan in July last year. Wizz Air says it expects to receive 13 new aircraft, including 10 A321s, in the current fiscal year.

Chief executive Jozsef Varadi says this will give the airline 26 A321s, accounting for a third of the carrier’s planned seat capacity.

He says this will give the airline a “clear cost advantage” against most of its rivals. The airline recently opted to order another 10 A321s.

Wizz will take 15 A321s, including its first three A321neos, in 2018-19, and the expansion will continue with 20 A321s – all but three of them A321neos – over 2019-20.

Cathay Pacific chief executive Rupert Hogg says the airline’s operating performance during the first half of the year was “disappointing” due to the challenging competitive environment.

“When we announced our results for 2016 in March, we said we expected the operating environment in 2017 to remain challenging. This has been the case,” says Hogg in Cathay’s June traffic statement, which also covered the operations of its Cathay Dragon regional unit.

“Our airlines’ performance in the first half of 2017 continued to be disappointing. In particular, strong competition from other airlines put intense and increasing pressure on passenger yield and revenue.”

In the six months to the end of June, Cathay’s group ASKs increased by 1.1%, while RPKs climbed 1.4% despite passengers carried falling 0.5% to 17.2 million. Load factor climbed a marginal 0.2 points to 84.7%.

Passenger yield continues to come under pressure in the face of strong competition. The overall load factor remains high, with front-end traffic showing a pick-up, although the back-end, particularly on short-haul routes, has been sluggish, says Cathay’s general manager of revenue management Navin Chellaram.

Cargo and mail tonnage however jumped 11.5%, against a 2.3% capacity increase and an 8.9% climb in RTKs. That saw freight load factor rise four points to 66.2%

The airline adds that the two Boeing 747-8 Freighters wet-leased from Atlas Air are operating at full capacity and generating good revenues on North American routes. It expects the air freight market to remain strong.



Tourism Observer
www.tourismobserver.com

CHINA: Air China, Emirates Most Popular Domestic And International Carriers For Chinese Luxury Travelers

According to a new report on 2017 luxury travelers in China, travelers have visited an average of 18 countries, and take an average of 3.3 overseas trips annually, amounting to 27 days, of which tourism accounts for 69%.

These are the results of the 2017 Chinese Luxury Traveller report, issued jointlyby Hurun Report and ILTM, focusing on the behaviour and demands of China's high-end tourists, to understand and interpret the direction in which the industry is heading.

When it comes to destinations, Europe and Southeast Asia are preferred by a considerable margin. Europe of course, with its cultural heritage and picturesque natural scenery, is long-established as the destination of choice among the Chinese jet set, while Southeast Asia is more newly established, having surpassed the Americas as one of the hottest destinations for luxury travelers over the past two years.

The latter finds particular favor among the millennial generation, with a staggering 34% choosing it as their top pick, transforming it from the fourth most popular destination last year to the first.

The region's convenient geographical proximity and lush tropical climate are the factors attracting ever-increasing droves of high-end Chinese tourists.

In terms of reasons for travelling abroad, travelling for leisure remains the most common motivation, with 41%. The recent trends of polar exploration and adventure travel continued to grow in popularity, with 31% and 20% respectively.

Island travel saw the most noticeable upsurge in 2016, becoming the third most popular reason for travel at 23%, ahead of taking road trips (13%) and cruises (14%). Among millennial respondents, visiting islands was the most popular choice, with 46%.

Luxury travelers are becoming increasingly adventurous, with the growth in popularity of polar exploration a case in point.

Islands, with their balmy climates and sparkling ocean views and beaches, also hold a particularly strong allure for respondents, especially for the millennial generation.

As well as offering exciting water sport opportunities like surfing and diving for the more active, islands are also viewed as a family-friendly option which allow for a high degree of personal space.

Air China, Emirates Most Popular Domestic and International Carriers

Air China is by far the most popular domestic airline, selected by 53.9%, followed by China Southern Airlines (22.4%) and Cathay Pacific (21.9%).

Between both age categories, Air China comes out on top, earning impressive customer loyalty, with more than half of respondents ranking it the highest due to its good reputation.

For overseas airlines, Emirates and Singapore Airlines set the benchmark for luxury flight experiences, leaving their competitors trailing far behind with figures of 23% and 22% respectively.

Both airlines count cost-effective services among their main selling points.

The fact that Singapore and Dubai airports are such important hubs for flight transfers also contributes to their popularity.

Respondents have taken an average of 1.7 cruises before, although 34% have never been on one.



Tourism Observer
www.tourismobserver.com

CHILE: Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group Goes To Chile

Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group has announced that it has signed a management contract to manage, and ultimately brand, a 310-room hotel currently operating in Santiago, Chile.

The group will take over management of the property from August 2017, and rename it Hotel Santiago.

Following an extensive guestroom and public area renovation, the first stage of which is scheduled to complete in August 2018, the hotel will be rebranded Mandarin Oriental, Santiago.

This will be the group’s first property in South America.

Hotel Santiago is located in the heart of the city’s most important commerce and leisure district, known as Las Condes, home to two luxury shopping malls, restaurants, museums and theatres.

It is also close to the exclusive residential neighbourhood of Vitacura.

The property is owned by Hotel Corporation of Chile.

The property comprises 310 guestrooms including 23 suites with commanding views of the city and the Andes.

Its 25,000-square meter grounds contain a large free-form outdoor pool and landscaped gardens which provide a resort environment for guests.

The hotel currently features five restaurants and bars as well as extensive banqueting and meeting space.

Additional facilities include a spa and fitness centre.

Hotel Santiago will continue to operate throughout the first phase of the renovation which will reposition the property as a Mandarin Oriental hotel from August 2018.

The new luxury accommodation, public areas and landscaped gardens will be redesigned to reflect local culture, with features inspired by Mandarin Oriental’s Asian heritage.

The group’s expertise in design, award-winning restaurants and spas will contribute to the overall renovation, which includes a future second phase covering the spa, food and beverage facilities and banqueting space.

This will commence in late 2018.

Exponent Private Equity has acquired three leading sightseeing attraction pass companies: Boston-based Smart Destinations, parent company of Go City Card; UK-based Leisure Pass Group; and The New York Pass.

Ted Stimpson, currently chief executive of Smart Destinations, will take up the role of global chief executive of the newly combined Leisure Pass Group.

The three entities will operate as independent subsidiaries of a newly formed parent company, which will retain the Leisure Pass Group brand name and become the largest tourism attraction pass provider in the world.

The new Leisure Pass Group will operate in more than 30 destinations across the US, Europe, and the Middle East, and is projected to deliver over 12 million attraction visits worldwide.

The sightseeing and attractions industry is big business, with a total global economic impact in excess of $300 billion, according to the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

Attraction passes - which allow travellers to access a variety of attractions and tours with a single purchase and at significant savings versus buying tickets individually (as much as 55 per cent depending upon the pass selected) - comprise a growing segment of this industry.

Leisure Pass Group’s attraction passes can be conveniently downloaded to a mobile app, and allows customers to present their passes right on their smart phones for access at each location.

The passes are available for purchase online, through a variety of third-party resellers, and can also be acquired by travel agents with commission from Viator, Hotelbeds, GTA-Travel, and Tourico Holidays.

According to Stimpson: “This merger provides Leisure Pass Group with an amazing opportunity to leverage the collective power of three market leading attraction pass providers and aggressively pursue growth in existing markets as well as many new markets around the world.

“Leisure travel shows no evidence of slowing down, and as long as consumers have the desire to get out there and experience the various theme parks, tours, and attractions, we want to be able to provide them with a cost-effective way to explore and save.”

To demonstrate the continued growth of this market, Stimpson added that LPG in North America has seen eight consecutive quarters of 30 per cent year on year growth and doubled the number of sold passes in the last two years.

Gatwick Airport welcomed 3.8 million passengers in April, up 15 per cent on 2016, and marking 50 months of consecutive growth.

The airport benefitted from the whole of the Easter school holiday falling in April, with an additional 496,200 passengers passing through the airport.

Long-haul routes continue their booming growth at Gatwick, up 23 per cent on April 2016 and driving a 27.2 per cent cargo increase.

North Atlantic routes performed particularly well, up 35.2 per cent, with New York up 70 per cent, Los Angeles up 56 per cent and Fort Lauderdale up 53 per cent.

Gatwick Airport chief executive Stewart Wingate said: “Gatwick’s vital role for Britain shines through our latest traffic figures as the airport continues to go from strength to strength as we gear up for our biggest Summer yet.

“Confidence in Gatwick is unrelenting as our existing carriers increase frequencies, Cathay Pacific will be providing a daily connection Gatwick to Hong Kong from June, and new routes are announced.

“We continue our trailblazing low-cost long-haul revolution, bringing more parts of the Globe within reach of more Britons, with the world’s furthest low-cost long-haul connection just announced between Gatwick and Singapore, from Norwegian.”