Qantas has announced it will operate six direct return services between Sydney and Vancouver in January to account for demand during the peak of the North American winter holiday season.

The Vancouver services follow last week’s announcement of a new codeshare with WestJet, which provides new connections from Qantas’ trans-Pacific services to an expanded network across Canada.

Qantas has also announced an increase in services to the US and Santiago from early 2015, as well as upgrading its Dallas Fort Worth service to an A380.

Travel Indochina is celebrating the launch of its newest Small Group Journey portfolio with a special that allows the second person of a booking to fly free.

The deal applies to any bookings made between October 1 and 31, and is valid on Small Group Journeys of 14 days or longer to Indochina travelling between October 16 and December 7, and January 16 to December 7 2015.

Tigerair Australia has marked flying its 15 millionth passenger by launching a three-day sale commencing today at 3pm.

The sale features four popular routes between Sydney and Adelaide, Melbourne and Adelaide, Brisbane and Cairns and Gold Coast and Sydney, with 1500 seats available each day of the sale.

The first group of Etihad Airways’ inflight Butler trainees has departed Abu Dhabi for specialist training at the Savoy Butler Academy in London, with 13 men and women chosen to fill the roles.

The training will run for three weeks, with the butler experience exclusive to The Residence by Etihad onboard Etihad Airways A380 aircraft.

Virgin Australia has introduced its first Premium Exit, which offers passengers more efficient access to the departure pier directly from the Melbourne Lounge.

Members of Velocity Platinum and Gold Frequent Flyer, Lounge members and Business Class guests will now exit the lounge through a private security screening point, minimising connection times to the departure gates.

Tourism Australia has appointed Adele Labine-Romain as its new executive general manager for strategy and research.

Labine-Romain replaces Nell Anderson, and joins the team after a five-year career as executive director of the Tourism & Transport Forum.

Malaysia Airlines has launched its Early Bird specials in all cabins for travel in 2015 onboard the A330-300 and A380 services to Europe and the UK.

The deals are available for those travelling between April 1 and August 10 2015, with flights starting from $1328.

Emirates and Jetstar have announced the expansion of their codeshare and frequent flyer partnership, now incorporating 30 routes across the Asia Pacific region.

From October 26, Emirates will grow its codeshare on Jetstar services between Melbourne and Ayers Rock, Christchurch to Wellington, and three new destinations in south-east Asia.

The new Jetstar Asia codeshare services from Singapore will now connect Emirates passengers to Penang in Malaysia, Yangon in Myanmar and Medan in Indonesia.

Tickets for the Rugby World Cup 2015 are currently on sale until September 29, with a range of supporters packages also available.

Visit http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/ticketing/index.html to book tickets.

Hamilton Island’s luxury resort qualia has been named the Best Resort at the 2014 HM Awards, making the resort the winner of the title every year since opening.

The resort’s executive head chef Alastair Waddell was also named Best Hotel Chef in the HM Awards.

Bench International has launched the first of a series of volunteer programs in rural regions of Kenya and Tanzania, with the 14-day trips designed for people over 26 wanting to contribute to community projects.

Two itineraries to the Rukinga Sanctuary near Mombasa on the Kenyan coast will depart on November 4 2014 and February 15 2015, while tours to the Mwambani Village in Tanzania departing on November 18 and February 17.

Fiji Airways Group has welcomed its new ATR 42-600 aircraft for its subsidiary Fiji Link at the airline’s head office in Nadi today.

The new aircraft is in line with the National Airline’s Five-Year Masterplan, which aims to increase its fleet size by 25% and expand the Fiji Link capacity by over 12% in the domestic market.

The Visit USA Nationwide Expos will take place in Newcastle and Wollongong on September 16 and 23 respectively, offering the chance to meet with representatives from American tourist offices, hotels, airlines and attractions.

The expos will include a formal presentation, one-on-one presentations and additional time to meet with the representatives, as well as prize giveaways and entertainment at the regional events.

Travel Trade Recruitment has announced their expansion within the Australian travel recruitment market, launching a new Brisbane office yesterday.

The company has developed solid relationships with Queensland clients and candidates, and by having this new office in Queensland, will strengthen its industry ties.