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Government approves Canberra Airport’s ‘Master Plan’

The federal government has approved the Canberra Airport 2020 Master Plan, which is set to create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity over the coming decades.

The Master Plan sets out a 20-year strategic vision for the airport to ensure appropriate development and cater for future growth, with passenger numbers set to rise to more than nine million people by 2039.

Approval of Canberra Airport’s 2020 Master Plan follows a comprehensive statutory referral and consultation process that attracted support from all major stakeholders. The 2020 Master Plan will in force for eight years or until a new one is approved.

Canberra Airport will publish the final Master Plan on its website in the coming days.

South African Airways celebrates 86th birthday with special fares

South African Airways is celebrating 86 years of flying with special fares available to Africa from Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Perth.

The sale is valid until 7 March 2020 for travel from until 2 April 2020, as well as from 15 April to 24 June, 7 July to 17 September, and 30 September to 20 November.

Economy fares from Australia to Johannesburg start from $1,107 inclusive of taxes and government charges.

For more information, contact SAA’s reservations team on 1300 435 972 or visit the airline’s website.

Prince Charles tours British Airways base

The Prince of Wales recently toured British Airways’ engineering base in Cardiff, seeing firsthand the changes that the airline is making as it works towards more sustainable flying.

In front of more than 400 BA staff, Prince Charles was shown the airline’s nose-to-tail focus on sustainability, from its heavyweight investments in new fuel-efficient aircraft, to the smallest detail of using a lightweight solder in aircraft repairs, bringing down the carbon footprint of each journey.

Travelport extends partnership with five Pacific airlines

Travelport has signed new multi-year content agreements with Regional Express, Solomon Airlines, Air Vanuatu, Samoa Airways, and Air Tahiti Nui.

Under the agreements, the five airlines will continue to be supported by Travelport’s technologies and solutions, which enable more than 68,000 agencies worldwide serving hundreds of millions of people to search, book and sell their air content and inventory.

Air New Zealand’s Cook Islands sale

A South Pacific holiday to the Cook Islands has become all the more appealing thanks to Air New Zealand.

The airline is offering flights to Rarotonga from $495 per person return (including taxes) on Air New Zealand’s direct service from Sydney.

This fare price is valid for travel from 28 August to 30 October. For anyone who is looking at travel in the short-term, this fare is also valid from 28 Feb to 27 March.

The fare increases to $555 for travel from 23 July to 21 August and 5 November to 13 December, yet it’s still close to half the price of a normal direct service flight.

Premium economy fares start from $819 per person return and business from $1,319 return for travel periods of 28 February to 27 March, 28 August to 30 October, 23 July to 21 August, and 5 November to 13 December.

Air New Zealand’s direct service to the Cook Islands departs Sydney weekly on Friday evenings and returns on a Friday evening.

LAX pilots expanded on-demand food service

Aussie travellers transiting through Los Angeles Airport (LAX) can now take advantage of a new on-demand food service in Terminal 2.

The new service offers travellers healthy dining options and the convenience to order anytime, anywhere, for a speedy pick-up on their way to the gate or upon arrival.

The pilot uses the concept of a ghost kitchen, in which food will be prepared in existing kitchen space within the terminal. This innovative model supports sustainability and small business development at LAX without the need for new construction or infrastructure.

Lufthansa Group and Amadeus renew IT partnership and expand collaboration

Lufthansa Group and Amadeus have renewed and expanded their longstanding technology partnership.

The partnership will see Amadeus’ passenger management and retailing solutions power the airline group’s digital and retail transformation, while enabling “innovation and business resilience”.

Through this agreement, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Swiss International Air Lines, and Air Dolomiti will continue to rely on the Altéa Passenger Service System (Amadeus’ airline IT system) to manage reservation, inventory, ticketing, disruption management at the airport, and departure control.

Also included in the partnership are “an array of exciting new services which are set to transform the way the airline group serves its customers, both online and at the airport”.

MIAT Mongolian Airlines selects Sabre to drive ambitious growth plans

Mongolia’s national carrier has announced a new long-term agreement with Sabre to implement the travel tech company’s Market Intelligence Global Demand Data solution.

The country has set a goal of attracting one million foreign tourists and earning US$1 billion ($1.5 billion) from tourism during 2020.

The partnership with Sabre follows the launch of MIAT flights in 2019 linking Mongolia to the key Chinese markets of Shanghai and Guangzhou, as well as the airline’s announcement of plans for further long-haul routes, including a drive to develop a US route.

Hawaiian Airlines, HawaiianMiles members donate 35 million miles to non-profits

Hawaiian Airlines and HawaiianMiles members donated 35 million miles to 13 local non-profits in 2019 via the carrier’s member giving program.

Each organisation received an average of 2.8 million miles to support services aligned with Hawaiian’s corporate pillars of culture, education, environment, and health and human services in Hawaii.

The 35 million gifted miles constitutes the largest annual donation since the program’s inception in 2005.

SaudiGulf Airlines achieves NDC Level 4 certification

SaudiGulf Airlines has received the Level 4 New Distribution Capability (NDC) certification from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on schema 18.2.

NDC is a key transformation project launched by IATA to modernise airline distribution.

SaudiGulf Airlines has partnered with TPConnects to accelerate its NDC-enabled retailing, distribution and fulfillment strategy.

The carrier’s controlled Offer and Order Management solution, along with the platform from TPConnects based on NDC Level 4 Schema 18.2, enables SaudiGulf Airlines to introduce exclusive air and ancillary contents to travel agents and OTAs.

SaudiGulf Airlines will be rolling out TPConnects’ platform and NDC APIs for agents who already have a booking engine.

Hahn Air celebrates 40 million insolvency-safe tickets sold

Hahn Air is celebrating the milestone of 40 million insolvency-safe tickets sold. The figure counts tickets issued since 2010 when the airline introduced the free ticket insurance Securtix.

The insurance guarantees reimbursement if a flight issued on an HR-169 ticket with any of Hahn Air’s more than 350 partner airlines is cancelled due to insolvency of the operating carrier.

Featured image: Canberra Airport/Facebook