We know you’re all busy bees so we’ve made this Airline Wrap short and sweet. We wanted to say ‘just like us’ but our colleagues deny we’re sweet.

Lufthansa reintroduces Singapore – Munich with A350

Starting on 27 March 2018, Lufthansa will reintroduce the route between Singapore and Munich. This service will be available five times a week with the Airbus A350-900. Singapore becomes the first destination in Southeast Asia to receive Lufthansa’s A350-900.

The new route will be operated five times weekly on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. The flights depart in Munich late in the evening and arrive in the afternoon of the next day at Singapore’s Changi Airport. The flights from Singapore leave late in the evening and arrive in Munich early the next morning.

Lufthansa ordered a total of 25 Airbus A350-900 and received three of them so far, which were deployed to Delhi, Boston and Mumbai.

The aircraft offers Lufthansa’s best on-board product, assuring passengers the highest level of comfort in all travel classes, with a wider cabin, new seats in Economy Class, bigger windows, large TV screens, innovative mood lighting, personalized playlist and much more. The Lufthansa A350-900 is configured to seat 293 passengers: 48 in Business Class, 21 in Premium Economy and 224 in Economy Class.

In comparison with similar types of aircraft it consumes 25 percent less fuel and produces 25 percent fewer emissions. The noise footprint is up to 50 percent smaller than comparable aircraft types.

Tigerair Australia flies Melbourne to Townsville 

Tigerair Australia’s inaugural service between Melbourne and Townsville took to the skies last week, providing the only direct low cost daytime services between the Victorian capital and North Queensland destination.

Tigerair will operate four weekly direct return low cost flights between Melbourne and Townsville on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. These services will deliver almost 75,000 additional passenger seats through Townsville Airport annually.

The new service launched today has created ten new jobs at Townsville Airport and is supported by the Queensland Government’s Attracting Aviation Investment Fund through Tourism and Events Queensland, in partnership with the Townsville City Council and Queensland Airports Limited (the owner and operator of Townsville Airport).

Malindo Air takes East Coast Agents to Bali

To celebrate Malindo Air’s recently inaugurated Brisbane-Denpasar-Kuala Lumpur service, the airline, with Tourism Malaysia, recently invited a group of agents from the East Coast (Brisbane, Cairns and Sydney) to experience the product and two destinations.

The “flop & shop” famil spent two days at each destination, staying in Kuta, Seminyak, and the golden triangle area of KL.  Accommodation was provided by the Bali Hotel Association at The Bali Beach Garden Resort and The Villas Seminyak to contrast the different budget options available.

Berjaya Hotels and Tourism Malaysia provided accommodation and tours, respectively, in Kuala Lumpur along with a Ramadan dinner buffet feast!

Image: (left to right): Marc Parsons (ARS/Malindo Air), Jigisha Patel (Fantasy Travel), Jess Van Kempen (Infinity Holidays), Martine Gautier (Travel Managers), Kirsten Wallis (Journeys Worldwide), Amy Trumata-Paatan (Philippine Travel & Trade), Kylie Stokes (Travel Managers), Mohit Chopra (CCS), Calvin Lim (Berjaya Hotels)

AirAsia orders 14 more A320ceo

AirAsia has signed an agreement with Airbus to order an additional 14 A320ceo aircraft to meet higher than expected near-term growth on the carrier’s regional network. The contract, which is subject to AirAsia board approval, was announced at the Paris Air Show.

Today’s announcement will see the total number of A320 Family aircraft ordered by AirAsia rise to 592, reaffirming its position as the largest airline customer for the Airbus single aisle product line. To date, 171 A320ceo and eight A320neo have already been delivered to the airline and are flying with its units in Malaysia, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Tony Fernandes, AirAsia Group Chief Executive Officer said, “Demand is very strong in AirAsia’s traditional countries, but now we have Indonesia, Philippines and India doing extremely well. The robust demand has led us to expanding our fleet, and Airbus has been a great partner in finding us slots.

“We still need to find more aircraft to expand our regional reach and are actively sourcing from the leasing market. The competitive environment is at its best, coupled with a stable oil price. With the lowest cost in the world, AirAsia is back on aggressive growth.”

Hainan Airlines to launch Shenzhen – Brisbane services

Hainan Airlines of China has announced the commencement of direct flights between Shenzhen and Brisbane with the first flight arriving 21 September this year.

The flights will operate two times per week arriving on Thursdays and Mondays using an Airbus A330 aircraft.

Julieanne Alroe, Brisbane Airport Corporation (BAC) CEO and Managing Director, said, “BAC welcomes Hainan to Brisbane and we look forward to partnering with them to make the route a success, further strengthening the ties between China and Queensland”.

Shenzhen has had a Sister City relationship with Brisbane’s since 1992, making it Brisbane’s longest held Sister City.  It is the major city of the Pearl River Delta manufacturing area and home to 12 million residents, located on the China – Hong Kong border, a convenient 90 drive to/from Hong Kong.

For Brisbane Airport, Shenzhen will be its 80^th destination and Hainan Airlines its 31^st airline. Passengers will be able to connect all across China with Hainan Airlines’ extensive next work from Shenzhen.

Hainan Airlines is a 5-Star airline, as rated by Skytrax, and is celebrating its 7^th year at the top rating for quality. Hainan Airlines is part of the HNA group which is part owner of Brisbane based Virgin Australia.

SilkAir add extra Singapore-Cairns rotation

SilkAir will fly an additional direct return service between Singapore and Cairns each week on a year round basis, starting in November.

Cairns Airport Chief Executive Officer, Norris Carter, welcomed the extra flight, saying it will offer an excellent increase in connectivity for international visitors to Cairns and Great Barrier Reef.

“SilkAir announced earlier this year they would operate five flights per week for the peak period of July and August.”

“To hear that this level of frequency is going to become part of their year round schedule from November is very good news.”

“The Singapore service has gone from strength to strength since it commenced in May 2015 with three return flights per week. It attracts European, Chinese, South East Asian and Indian travellers, who make up almost 60 per cent of all international visitors to Cairns.”

“It also provides residents of Far North Queensland with the convenience of a direct link to Singapore and beyond, saving them travel time.”

SilkAir Manager Cairns, Ravindran, said the airline is pleased with the performance of their Singapore – Cairns service.

“We are introducing this additional rotation as a permanent part of the service’s schedule in response to demand,” Ravindran said.

“Since we began the service we have seen demand on the Singapore – Cairns route continue to grow as we’ve increased from three to four and soon to five rotations each week.”

AirAsia flies boxing champ Manny Pacquiao to Brisbane

Nine-time world champion AirAsia will be flying boxing legend Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao to Australia for his World Boxing Organization (WBO) title defence.

Pacquiao, the only boxer to have won titles in eight weight classes, will be defending his WBO welterweight title against Australia’s Jeff Horn at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on 2 July 2017.

It will be his first defence of the title since winning it in a unanimous decision from American boxer Jessie Vargas in November 2016.

AirAsia will fly Pacquiao and his team from their training camp in General Santos City in the Philippines to Brisbane on an Airbus A330 with special livery.

The aircraft will feature an image of the Filipino boxer next to the Pacman and Pound-for-Pound logos.

WBO world welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao said, “In all my years of boxing, I have never been as motivated and fired up as this fight. With this agreement forged with AirAsia, I am inspired to give it all I got.

“Teaming up with AirAsia makes it more special because we have been accorded the respect of the fans. I have been called the People’s Champion and AirAsia is a world champion airline, and I’m extremely proud to be flying with the Asean world champions.”

AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes said, “Manny is a huge inspiration to the Philippines and the whole of Asean. We want to show that this region makes world champions and no one is a better example of this Manny. Manny is like AirAsia, climbing to the top and staying there after all these years through blood, sweat and tears, and we are very honoured to be able to support him once again.”

South African Airways special

If you have been lurking for Perth specials, they now have some very special fares in both economy and business class ready for your customers:

Economy Saver fares:

• Valid for departures effective 14 July – 31 Aug & 01 – 31 Oct 2017
• Generous baggage allowance of 2 pieces of 23kg
• Sale ends 30 June 2017.
• Get the FARE SHEET

Business Class Specials:

• Valid for departures effective 01 Dec 2017 – 15 Jan 2018
• Generous baggage allowance of 2 pieces of 32kg
• Sale ends 30 June 2017.
• Get the FARE SHEET

Philippine Airlines support Habol Ilonggo Fashion Festival in Australia  

On Saturday 24 June 2017, the Philippine Department of Tourism, Philippine Airlines, the Philippine Embassy in Canberra and the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney were delighted to support the Habol Ilonggo Fashion Show at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

SBS also attended to report on the event, which was the first time in Australia that the Habol Ilonggo fashion parade showcased Filipino dress collections of four Filipino designers as part of the opening day of Passion and Procession: Art of the Philippines at the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

This Habol Ilonggo Fashion Festival Sydney event attracted nearly 400 guests, who gathered to enjoy the stunning collections from the Philippines’ top contemporary designers including, PJ Aranador, John Montinola, Sidney Eculla and Jun-G Candelario.  In addition, guests learned about the Philippines’ traditional hand weaving process, known as Hablon, via a live demonstration of hand weaving looms.

The Sydney event follows the success of the Habol Ilonggo Fashion Festival’s Canberra fashion show, which took place at the Park Hyatt Hotel, last week on 19 June 2017.