Philippine visitors to Guam grew by 125 percent in March 2016, compared to the same month last year, latest data from the Guam Visitors Bureau (GVB) showed. This led to the second best March in Guam's tourism history, with 133,335 visitor arrivals – just a few notches behind March 2013 with 136,728 visitors recorded. Total visitor arrivals for March 2016 rose 0.8 percent year-on-year.
The dramatic collapse in the price of oil is helping to boost the bottom line of airlines but, ominously, the old adage says that what goes down will, inevitably, go up again. Routes News investigates.
A strong local economy and increasing demand for air travel is proving an ideal foundation for a revamped Vietnam Airlines to reach out to the region and beyond, reports Routes News magazine.
The airline will offer the only non-stop flights between Vancouver and Delhi when it debuts the three times weekly route beginning October 20, 2016, in time for Diwali festivities. The service will be operated using Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner equipment and will offer the fastest elapsed flying time into the India from Calgary, Edmonton and the US West Coast cities of Seattle, Portland and Los Angeles.
The airline launched the route on April 18, 2016 and is operating three flights a week between the two capitals using a 138-seat Airbus A319 aircraft in a dual business and economy class configuration. This summer a fourth weekly flight will also operate between June 22, 2016 and August 10, 2016.
The Asian-Budapest market last year experienced an impressive 20 percent increase, with the number of Korean visitors alone increasing by ten percent, having tripled over the last five years.
Latest figures from VisitBritain state that tourist numbers to the UK from China were up 37 percent in the first nine months of 2015 as more than 200,000 Chinese holidaymakers visited the UK in the nine month period. VisitBritain is hoping to double spending from Chinese visitors to £1 billion by 2020, - they were already among the highest spenders ringing up £2,688 a head and already account for almost a quarter of tourist spending in the UK.
The Chinese city will become Iberia’s first Asian destination ahead of its previously announced launch of flights to Tokyo from October 18, 2016. This year the Spanish airline is also resuming services to Puerto Rico (from May 15, 2016) and to Johannesburg (from August 1, 2016), while its seasonal flights to Boston, previously offered from March to October, will operate through December this year.
The new services to Amritsar, Chennai and Jaipur, will boost the SIA Group’s international network into India to 15 destinations, served by its mainline business, regional operation SilkAir, low-cost brand Tiger Airways and now its medium- and long-haul, low-cost unit, Scoot.
Tokyo will be Hong Kong Airlines’ seventh destination in Japan and will complement its existing twice daily flights to Routes Asia 2017 host city, Okinawa, daily flight to Okayama, five times weekly service to Sapporo, three times weekly service to Kagoshima and twice weekly flights to Miyazaki and Kumamoto.
Alitalia will offer a four times weekly service between Rome and Beijing from July 18, 2016 using a three-class, 250-seat Airbus A330-200. The Rome – Beijing city pair market has grown over the past ten years from around 50,000 O&D passengers to over 130,000 passengers last year.
A report from industry body International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that average global fares fell by more than ten percent in the 2015 calendar year compared to the year before. It is believed that this will continue as oil prices remain low.
The new year-round service will operate three times a week using Boeing 767-300 equipment with a flight time of around 10 and a half hours in each direction, subject to government and regulatory approvals. Flights are due to commence from December 2016 and full schedules will be confirmed when reservations are opened around mid-year.
Tianjin Airlines was awarded licences by the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) last year to introduce flights between Tianjin and both London and Vancouver in conjunction with Chongqing as well as services to Moscow from both Chinese cities. It now appears that with its first two A330s currently under assembly that is making final preparations for its long-haul launch. The first is due for delivery next month.
There are now almost 390 Boeing 787 Dreamliners flying to destinations around the world and there remains a ‘buzz’ around the modern generation airline programme with the positive impact of what the manufacturer describes as a “game-changing airplane” being used in airline marketing to highlight the equipment.
Xiamen Airlines is significantly expanding its international presence following the arrival of its new Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet. Over a three year period (2015 -2017) it plans to introduce seven new long-haul markets to its network. This has commenced with flights starting to Amsterdam and Sydney last year. Alongside Vancouver the airline plans flights to Melbourne and Seattle in 2016 and it has recently applied for rights to serve Los Angeles and New York from 2017.
Huge aircraft orders, the removal of dated regulations and a growing middle class who are eager to travel are all helping to bring India to the forefront of the aviation market. Passenger numbers are growing at a faster rate than the rest of the world, as India is on course to become the largest market by 2030.
The newly available daytime slots at Haneda herald a potential transformation in US air service to the Japanese capital and the regulator wants to start with a blank canvas so it can look at all options and explore opportunities for alternative US cities that are capable of supporting commercially viable service to Tokyo.
The new initiative will be led by senior executives from both carriers, who will meet regularly to coordinate new initiative rollouts, promote closer cultural integration between Air China and United, and prepare both companies for future joint opportunities, according to a joint statement.
The 2016 summer season will mean more scheduled flights between China (including Hong Kong) and Europe than ever before, with 75 city pairs connected. ASM’s Nigel Mayes, senior vice-president consulting & product development, and Kate Meng, business development manager – Beijing, report.
This will be Delta’s fifth daily nonstop flight to the Asia-Pacific region and will add to existing links to Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo; the latter being served by flights to both Haneda and Narita airports. The Shanghai service was only added in July 2015, and Delta will be the only carrier to offer service to both of China’s biggest cities from Los Angeles.
The major US carrier is making strides in one of the fastest growing markets in the world, with a third secondary Chinese city route in their schedule. United will serve routes to Shanghai, Beijing, Xi’an, Chengdu and now Hangzhou.
Emirates cannot hold claim to the world’s longest route – a service from their hub in Dubai to Auckland, New Zealand – for much longer. Fellow Gulf carrier, Qatar Airways have announced their service from Doha to Auckland to begin in December.
Last night’s Networking Evening at this year’s Routes Asia forum certainly supported the Department of Tourism's marketing message that "it is more fun in the Philippines". Our host and its partners have made tremendous efforts to showcase the hospitality and variety of the Philippines archipelago.