News in Brief: Thursday May 29
A healthy increase in demand for global air travel was seen in April, according to the latest figures from the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
Total revenue passenger kilometers (RPKs) rose 7.5% compared to April 2013, an improvement over March growth of 2.9%.
However, the year-on-year comparison is affected by the timing of the Easter holiday, which occurred in April 2014, a month later than in 2013. April capacity increased 5.8%, propelling load factor up 1.2 percentage points to 79.4 %.
“April’s demand growth was a pleasant surprise in the face of the moderating trend of recent months but it is not clear whether the acceleration in demand is sustainable in view of global economic trends including slower growth in China,” director general and chief executive Tony Tyler said.
Cook Islands Tourism will launch exclusive nationwide campaigns with Escape Travel and Flight Centre to promote the destination as a "distinctive South Pacific holiday option" for Australian travellers.
The destination will partner with Escape Travel until June 6, with the Flight Centre promotion to kick off in June..
“We are excited about these high reach campaigns to increase exposure of the Cook Islands,” Cook Islands Tourism Australian General Manager Kerryn Cook said.
Emirates will expand its A380 network to 28 destinations with the launch of daily A380 services to Mumbai International Airport on July 21.
In addition, the airline will deploy larger Boeing 777 aircraft to Delhi and Hyderabad to serve “growing demand”.
A combined total of 3,779 one-way weekly seats will be deployed on Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad through these aircraft upgrades. It follows recent bilateral discussions between the governments of Dubai and India, which provided a phased increase of 11,000 seats for Dubai carriers.
Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au
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