Industry News
February 2010
Corporate Traveller arrives
Flight Centre Limited (FLT) this week launched its Corporate Traveller brand to the market as part of a strategy to improve service and capture the growing needs of the SME market. Corporate Traveller's service and product offering will focus on SMEs, providing businesses with a combination of expert advice, personal service and tailored travel management to maximize savings for small to medium sized travel budgets. Corporate Traveller will be closely aligned to FLT's key global corporate travel business FCm Travel Solutions to ensure a high standard of service is maintained through dedicated travel managers. Introduced in 1993, Corporate Traveller marked FLT's first push into the business travel market. As part of FLT's plans to grow the Corporate Traveller brand, Flight Centre Business Travel will now operate as Corporate Traveller, as will some FCm Travel Solutions teams that service SME clients.
Upgrades start at Perth Airport
Renovations have started on the domestic Qantas Club and Chairmans Lounge at Perth Airport. As part of the upgrades, 120 new seats will be added to the Qantas Club. Members will still be able to access the Qantas Club while work continues however in the early stages there will be reduced seating and between 18 January and 31 May 2010 there will be no access given to guests of members.
A Marc Newson designed Chairman's Lounge will be constructed in a new location at Perth Airport during the redevelopment period. The new lounge will be bigger and have improved facilities such as private work suites and a fully equipped meeting room. The new lounge is expected to open mid-April 2010. During redevelopment members will still be able to access the existing Chairman's Lounge.
Sofitel promotes new meeting space
Sofitel Gold Coast Broadbeach has unveiled a new meeting space on the top floor of the hotel. Level 23 caters for up to 35 guests and includes two main spaces, an open plan lounge area and an executive boardroom.
Melbourne hotels
Mantra on Little Bourke now features new LCD TVs, new furniture, bed heads, linen and an improved a la carte breakfast menu. Meanwhile business travellers staying at Mantra on Jolimont from next month will notice new bed heads, linen, wireless internet and gym equipment. Mantra on the Park has added a new onsite dining venue The Terrace Restaurant and early this year Mantra on Russell will introduce new LCD TVs to all guest rooms.
Asia to Europe services boosted
China Airlines is starting a thrice-weekly service between Taipei and London from March 28 2010. The carrier also intends to boost services on its non-stop London route to include five new European destinations, which takes the total number of flights to Europe to 21 per week.
Increased bag fees - Delta
Delta Air Lines is lifting its fee for passenger's checked luggage on US domestic flights. The carrier's first checked bag levy goes up from $US15 (approx AUD$16.65) to $US23 (approx AUD$26), while the second checked bag charge rises from $US25 (approx AUD$28) to US$32 (approx AUD$35).
Melbourne to London flights
Qantas has started its Melbourne to London A380 services. Qantas now offers A380 services on four routes - two from Melbourne and two from Sydney. The carrier will operate one to two services a week between Melbourne and London via Singapore. Regular twice-weekly flights will commence on 29 March 2010.
Jetstar and AirAsia team up
Jetstar and Malaysian-based low-cost carrier AirAsia have announced a new partnership agreement. Key to the alliance is the proposal to investigate opportunities for joint procurement of the next generation of narrow body aircraft. Both airlines claim closer cooperation between the two companies will help to reduce operating costs, pool their expertise and ultimately deliver cheaper fares for travellers.
The partnership is expected to deliver efficiencies across procurement, spare parts inventory and passenger disruption services for both carriers. As part of their alliance the airlines said they would be looking at a coordinated approach for future service disruptions and recovery across both the AirAsia and Jetstar networks.
Free chauffeur service
Virgin Atlantic is offering Upper Class passengers a complimentary chauffeur transfer service from selected destinations. Transfers for both ends of a journey are available in Sydney, Hong Kong and London's Heathrow Airport. The free service covers addresses within a 60km radius of the Sydney Airport, any address on the Hong Kong island or the mainland within the Hong Kong special administrative region (SAR) and any mainland UK destination within 120kms.
Plush conference venue opens in Hunter Valley
New luxury conference and incentive venue Chateau Elan at the Vintage in the Hunter Valley includes five flexible conference rooms boasting state of the art spaces for business groups from three to 330 people. The resort is expected to open this month and offers a range of team building activities, premium dining, lavish accommodation and a Greg Norman designed golf course.
Regional upgrades
Almost $10 million will be spent on upgrading Queensland's Mackay Airport. The regional airport will receive a $2 million facelift to its passenger terminal including a larger departure lounge. A bulk of the funds will be spent on resurfacing the runway.
Pacific Blue targets Cairns route
Pacific Blue is launching a twice weekly direct service between Cairns and Auckland increasing seat capacity on the route by 79%. The service is expected to start March 23 2010, operating on Tuesdays and Saturdays.
REX drops North Queensland services
Regional Express has ceased services between Mackay and Townsville. The service stopped on January 1 2010, just three months after it was launched.
Lie-flat beds for Economy Class
Air New Zealand has announced plans to introduce a lie-flat bed in Economy Class later this year. The beds will be known as the 'Skycouch' involving a row of three seats engineered to create a seat-bed. Twenty-two sets of Skycouch seats will be available from November with the seats taking up the first 11 window rows on the new long range Boeing 777 aircraft.
Larger passengers to pay more
From next month Air France is expected to charge obese passengers the full price of one seat plus 75 per cent of the cost of a second seat. Customers will receive a refund on the extra seat charges if the plane is not full. The new system applies to people who book their tickets from 1 February for all flights from April 1 2010.
