Air China Open To Mergers With Rival Carriers

Air China, now the world's most valuable carrier, will consider the option of merging with other Chinese airlines, including China Southern Airlines, if the opportunity arises.

Air China is examining a possible restructuring of the sector as competition from foreign airlines and newly arisen local carriers is growing following the opening of China's civil aviation market, President Cai Jianjiang told reporters.

"Air China will not exclude the possibility of a group restructuring with sister companies, including China Southern," Cai said, responding to market speculation that the airline would merge with China Southern.

Beijing is restructuring state-owned companies and the number of central government-controlled firms will fall sharply in coming years as they adapt to market changes and fend off competition, he added.

Air China's rivals include Shanghai Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines and Hainan Airlines.

The airline reported late on Tuesday a more than three-fold surge in first-half net profit to CNY1.57 billion yuan on strong demand and an CNY868 million foreign exchange gain on the appreciation of the yuan during the reported period.

Shares of Air China fell 4 percent on Wednesday but have gained 98 percent this year, beating a 29 percent gain on the index of Chinese companies listed in Hong Kong in the same period.

According to an IATA electronic-ticketing implementation status report issued 13 August 2007, Singapore Airlines is ranked first outside of the US region, and third in the overall industry, in terms of interline e-ticketing implementation.

Singapore Airlines customers whose journeys involve connections with any of the Airline’s 84 airline e-ticketing partners require only a single interline electronic-ticket.

The Airline expects to implement interline e-ticketing facility with all STAR Alliance partner carriers by October 2007 and plans to conclude interline e-ticketing arrangements with all 155 interline partners by end of 2007.

Mr Huang Cheng Eng, Singapore Airlines Executive Vice-President, Marketing and the Regions said, “Singapore Airlines is a front-runner in adopting technology in our business model, and we have embraced e-ticketing as a means to simplify air travel for our customers.”

“With more than 95 percent of our interline traffic enabled on the e-ticketing platform, customers can now enjoy the convenience of using just one interline e-ticket to connect from our flights to our partner carriers.”

With e-tickets, travel itinerary and passenger information are maintained electronically in the airlines’ reservations systems. As a result, any amendments to bookings can be made easily and customers do not have to worry about misplaced paper tickets.

The Airline targets complete issuing of e-tickets by end-2007; ahead of the IATA guideline of end-May 2008. Currently, e-tickets make up more than 90 per cent of Singapore Airlines tickets issued in countries such as Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand and the UK.

The interline e-ticket arrangement is available online at Singapore Airlines` website and at all Singapore Airlines sales offices in cities where e-ticketing is available. They are also available at selected travel agencies.

Singapore aims for new record in visitor numbers

Officials from the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) and Singapore Airlines (SIA) have revealed their plans to build on the impressive number of Middle East tourists visiting the South East Asian nation. The region has made an important contribution to Singapore’s record-breaking tourism performance so far in 2007, with 4.9 million visitor arrivals recorded from January to June. Total visitor arrivals from the Middle East have grown 23 percent year-on-year, with key markets like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait all showing high double-digit growth.

Plans are in place to continue this strong performance throughout 2007 and into 2008, with a particular focus on attracting visitors to cultural and religious festivals like Hari Raya Puasa or Hari Raya Aidilfitri, which celebrates the end of Ramadan.

Other upcoming highlights include the inaugural flight of the double-decker A380, the world`s largest passenger plane, on October 25 this year. Singapore is hoping to attract Middle East-based aviation enthusiasts to be among the ‘first to fly’ the pioneering aircraft.

An online auction for seats on the first commercial flight of the super jumbo Airbus A380, between Singapore and Sydney, started this week, with proceeds going to a number of charities. “We have a packed series of events lined up for 2007 and 2008, and our research demonstrates how receptive Middle East travellers are to the message that Singapore has something to offer for everyone,” said Siew-Kheng Kang, Regional Director, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Singapore Tourism Board.

“The Middle East region is a priority market for Singapore, particularly given our deepening bonds with countries in this area,” she added.

Research carried out for Singapore by global agency Millward Brown shows that Singapore – along with Malaysia, India and Dubai – is the in the top four destinations for Middle East residents considering future travel options.

The study, which surveyed over 400 residents in the region, revealed that a key perception of the destination was that it had “strong word of mouth” and a good variety of attractions. “One of the main reasons why Singapore is very popular among Middle East travellers is because the city offers an unforgettable experience to every type of visitor, whether they come as a family, with friends, or on business,” Kang added.

Singapore is also planning ahead to 2008 for the first F1 Singapore Grand Prix, which will bring thousands of motor-sport enthusiasts to the Lion City. It will be the first night race on the F1 circuit. The date of the first F1 Singapore Grand Prix has been set for 28 September 2008.

Qantas introduces bigger planes and more services to the West

Qantas would move to an all wide-body, twin-aisle aircraft on all of its services from Perth to Sydney and Melbourne within the next two years as the carrier announced. Qantas Executive General Manager John Borghetti said the move, which would see Airbus A330 and Boeing 767 aircraft exclusively used on these services, would provide more than 61,000 seats - an increase of more than 11,700 seats on these routes.

"This decision is a sign of our commitment to Western Australia, which is one of the biggest growth markets in Australia," Mr Borghetti said.

"We believe our all wide-body service on these key trans-continental business routes will ensure Qantas is offering the capacity, frequency, and comfort appropriate for the market," he said.

Mr Borghetti said Qantas was equally committed to intrastate markets, with 5,000 additional seats coming on line by June 2008.

"In the year ahead, we will continue to grow capacity within the state, operating larger aircraft and increasing frequencies," Mr Borghetti said.

He said that from June 2008, Qantas and QantasLink would add:

• five additional B737 services a week between Perth and Karratha;
• five new B737 services a week between Perth and Port Hedland, replacing the current B717 services;
• three additional B717 services a week between Perth and Broome;
• two additional B717 services a week between Perth and Newman.

"This follows our announcement earlier in the year about new QantasLink services between Perth and Karratha, Kalgoorlie and Broome, all of which commence in November 2007. Together these new services will take the total number of seats on our intrastate WA services to 34,380 seats a week."

Mr Borghetti said Qantas was also making changes to its international services out of Perth.

"We will introduce Airbus A330 services between Perth and Hong Kong from January 2008, replacing the current B767s operating on the route and providing customers with Skybed in Business Class and our Audio Visual on Demand (AVOD) inflight entertainment system in both Business and Economy class cabins," he said.

Mr Borghetti said the international B767 fleet currently operating these services would be deployed on domestic Perth services.

He said Qantas` $50 million development at Perth Airport, announced last week, would improve the airport experience for Qantas passengers as the airline continued to grow its Western Australia services.

"The airport development, which will commence by the end of 2007, will be a two year project and ensure we have better facilities for passengers, aircraft and baggage for our current operations as well as meeting the growth demand of the future."

In Western Australia, The Qantas Group currently operates: 47 return services per week to Melbourne, 37 return services per week to Sydney from Perth; seven return Perth-Melbourne (Avalon) services operated by Jetstar, and 109 return services weekly to Karratha, Port Hedland, Paraburdoo, Newman, Broome and Kalgoorlie by QantasLink and Qantas.

Airline executives predict more fees for services

Today’s consumers might be reminded of inflight turbulence when contemplating the fees they might be asked to pay in the future for assigned seats, checked baggage, and paying by credit card. Most airlines currently don’t charge extra for these benefits. But survey results by IdeaWorks suggest airline executives will charge for these, and other services, in the future. While frequent travelers may consider extra fees a major annoyance, airline executives call these fees ancillary revenue.

How far has this practice spread among airlines? What new fees are airline executives planning for the future? To answer these questions, IdeaWorks surveyed airline executives all over the globe. Here is a sampling of observations from the analysis:

• 63% of airline executives predict unbundling (charging for amenities) is becoming more prevalent.
  
  
• 39% indicate their airlines now sell meals and sandwiches on board aircraft.
  
  
• 80% indicate fees are currently charged for call center bookings or are anticipated to be charged in the future.

Buckle Your Seat Belts - Airline Executives Predict More Fees and Plan to Sell More Services via Their Web Sites was released as a 8-page Industry Analysis.

Click here to view the report.

Egypt to place more regions on its tourism map

Known for being candid about issues tackling tourism, Egypt`s Tourism Minister Zuhair Garranah, has expressed concern about Taba and Nuweiba- two Sinai Peninsula tourist regions with a potentially high levels of tourism levels.

Garranah has given the Egyptian Tourism Federation (ETF) full responsibility for compiling a full Strategic Market Planning Report in order to turn the two areas into Economic or Investment Regions, which are expected to boost the nation`s tourism income.

Following this, ETF Chairman Ahmed El-Nahas, Board Member Alaa Hafez, Director General Ayman Altaranissi, and Chairman`s Executive Consultant Ahmed Yousri, met with Dr. Samir Makari, Economic Consultant to the ETF, to highlight main focal points in order to post the Strategic Market Planning Report within the coming weeks.

Makari had compiled a similar such economic report in 2005. Highly successful, it was presented to the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI), headed by Minster of Investment Dr. Mahmoud Mohieldin.