ASEAN destinations and hotel offers packaged in Shangri-La, Singapore Airlines campaign

In celebration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' (ASEAN's) 50th founding anniversary, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts and Singapore Airlines have partnered to launch a regional travel campaign called ASEAN Is More - First Stop Singapore.

Source: Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts. Banner for the ASEAN Is More - First Stop Singapore campaign.

The campaign will showcase Southeast Asia's destinations with curated leisure travel offers. Flight offers and hotel deals are available for any Shangri-La hotel or resort in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar and Thailand; Hotel Jen properties in Singapore and Malaysia; as well as Traders Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Travellers can also take part in the ASEAN 50 Holiday Memory Match game, which ends 31 October 2017. Game participants score points by correctly matching all the cards in the shortest time and the accumulated scores will be displayed on a leaderboard on the game's microsite. The top 10 fastest contestants will each win a four-day three-night stay at Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore that includes a S$200 dining credit at NAMI Restaurant and Bar.

At the end of the game, participants are encouraged to submit their answer for the question, "What is your favourite ASEAN country and why?" to stand a chance of winning a four-day holiday from their home country to Singapore. The prize includes a round trip economy class air ticket on Singapore Airlines with accommodation in the newly-refreshed Tower Wing of Shangri-La Hotel, Singapore.

Said Shangri-La Executive VP Cetin Sekercioglu: "As a destination, Southeast Asia has so much to offer - art, culture, heritage, nature, culinary experiences and innovative events that attract and engage all kinds of travellers. There is truly something for everyone in ASEAN."

Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President Sales and Marketing, Campbell Wilson stated, "With SIA's home base of Singapore located in the heart of ASEAN and coupled with our wide global network, we are well-positioned to bring visitors across this beautiful region."

Interested?

Hotel and flight reservations for ASEAN Is More can be made up to 31 October 2017 for stays until 31 December 2017. Book flights and hotel deals. Terms and conditions apply

Singapore Airlines and Changi Airport Group extend Changi Transit Programme

Source: Changi Airport Group.

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Changi Airport Group (CAG) have extended the Changi Transit Programme, which provides SIA and SilkAir customers with rewards during their transit in Singapore.

Under the extension of the programme to 31 March 2017, customers who transit through Changi Airport on SIA and/or SilkAir can redeem a Changi Dollar Voucher (CDV) valued at either S$20 or S$40, depending on the point of origin.

Singapore Airlines’ Divisional Vice President Sales & Marketing Foo Chai Woo, said, “SIA’s global network combined with the superior offerings of Changi Airport presents a compelling proposition to travellers all around the world.”

Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group’s Senior Vice President for Market Development, said, “We are delighted to continue this partnership with Singapore Airlines, which has served us well in strengthening the appeal of Changi Airport as a transit hub. For our transit passengers, a host of exciting shopping, dining and leisure offerings await them at Changi. The Changi Transit Programme will make exploring our terminals even more exciting for SIA and SilkAir passengers.”

The CDVs are valid for one-time use at retail, food and service outlets in the transit and public areas of Terminals 1, 2 and 3. They may also be redeemed for one-time access to the Ambassador Transit Lounge at Terminals 2 and 3 for up to two hours. Services at the lounge include showers, light refreshments and a wide range of reading materials.

Travellers can also look forward to amenities such as airport-wide complimentary Wi-Fi, movie theatres and themed gardens while transiting at Changi Airport, where a convenient Skytrain transport system and shuttle buses provide easy access to all three terminals.

Through the Singapore Airlines Boarding Pass Privileges Programme, SIA and SilkAir passengers can also enjoy exclusive privileges when they present their SIA or SilkAir boarding passes at participating outlets in Changi Airport.

Interested?

Read the terms and conditions for the Changi Transit Programme

Read the WorkSmart Asia blog post about the programme in 2014

PIA cuts fares for international and domestic flights post-strike

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has reduced fares on domestic and major international flights. Fares on the Karachi-Islamabad-Karachi and Karachi-Lahore-Karachi routes will start from Rs7,500.

PIA had been dealing with what it said was an illegal strike, and praised the teamwork of PIA employees in managing passengers in the face of resulting flight reductions. The airline made arrangements with Air Blue on 4 February to accept PIA's confirmed ticket passengers for flights to Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Dubai, Muscat, Jeddah and Riyadh. Arrangements had also been made with Shaheen Air to accept PIA's confirmed ticket passengers for domestic flights.

On 12 February PIA reported that its flight schedule has fully returned to normal within two days of ending the strike, expressing gratitude to customers for their confidence in the national carrier. PIA has also pledged to give full refunds for any international and domestic tickets that were not utilised during strike days.

Interested?

According to a Suroor Asia blog post, PIA also announced fare discounts in January 2016 

Capital Express Service from Singapore Airlines connects Singapore, Canberra and Wellington

• New service to bring international flights to Canberra

• First to link Canberra with Wellington

Singapore Airlines is to introduce services to both Canberra and Wellington with the launch of a new ‘Capital Express’ route. The new flights from Singapore will connect the capitals of both Australia and New Zealand. Subject to regulatory approvals, flights will be operated four times per week from 20 September 2016 on a Singapore-Canberra-Wellington routing. Return flights will be on a Wellington-Canberra-Singapore routing.

Flights will be operated with 266-seat retrofitted Boeing 777-200s fitted with 38 Business Class seats and 228 Economy Class seats. Singapore Airlines will be the first airline with flights between Canberra and Wellington. It will also be the first airline to operate regularly scheduled international services to and from Canberra.

“This new service linking Singapore, Canberra and Wellington reflects the close ties between the three countries,” said Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong. “We are excited about the prospects for our new ‘Capital Express’ route, which we are confident will appeal to leisure, government and corporate travellers. We are especially pleased to be bringing more convenient travel options to customers with Canberra’s first regularly scheduled international flights and the first non-stop links between the capitals of Australia and New Zealand.”

The new Canberra services will add to Singapore Airlines’ already extensive Australia network, which currently includes flights between Singapore and Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. Subsidiary SilkAir also serves Cairns and Darwin, while a wide-ranging partnership with Virgin Australia extends Singapore Airlines’ Australia network to another 40 codeshare destinations.

Singapore Airlines’ new Wellington services will complement existing services between Singapore and both Auckland and Christchurch. Singapore Airlines also has an extensive partnership with Air New Zealand.

Flight Schedules*

Flight Number	SQ291	SQ291
Routing	Singapore-Canberra	Canberra-Wellington
Days of Operation	Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday	Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday
Time of Departure	23:00	09:50
Time of Arrival	08:35+1	15:05

Flight Number	SQ292	SQ292
Routing	Wellington-Canberra	Canberra-Singapore
Days of Operation	Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday	Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Sunday
Time of Departure	20:15	23:30
Time of Arrival	22:05	05:50+1

*All times stated are local based on a launch date of 20 September 2016. Timings will change soon after due to daylight savings in Australia and New Zealand.

Interested?

Flights will be available for booking on a progressive basis through the Singapore Airlines website, call centres and travel agents in the coming weeks.

posted from Bloggeroid

Hong Kong Airlines adds two more flights a week on Hong Kong-Haikou route

Hong Kong Airlines will increase the flight frequency on its Hong Kong – Haikou route service from seven to nine flights a week, commencing 25 December. The newly-added flights to Haikou will operate on Fridays and Sundays.

Flight no.*	Route	Departure/Arrival time*	Frequency
HX157	Hong Kong to Haikou	19:25/20:50	Every Friday
		18:15/19:45	Every Sunday
HX158	Haikou to Hong Kong	21:55/23:15	Every Friday
		21:15/22:35	Every Sunday

*Flight number and schedule may change without prior notice.

Li Dianchun, Commercial Director of Hong Kong Airlines said, "We are happy to see amazing growth in passenger traffic between Hong Kong and Haikou. The increasing passenger demand encouraged us to further enhance our flight frequency. We hope the additional flights will provide our passengers with more flexible options for leisure and business."

Hong Kong Airlines is also offering a 3D2N golf tour in collaboration with Mission Hills Resort, Haikou. Passengers can fly to Haikou on Hong Kong Airlines' additional flights and enjoy exclusive privileges, premium entertainment and wellness facilities as well as world-class golf courses. The travel package is offered from US$3,250, available for sale at China Golf Club, Greenice Tours and Golf007 in Hong Kong till 23 December.

Changi Airport, Singapore Airlines and SilkAir introduce FAST check-in trial

Editor's note: I've tried a variant of FAST check-in in Europe this year, with another airline. The passenger does more work, though it is actually quite easy to go through the different steps in this process once someone has shown you how to do it. While counters manned by people are still going to be easier for passengers, there is less of a queue and it saves money for the airlines and the airport. It is likely that this type of self-service check-in will become more common in future, so passengers who have the opportunity should at least try it once in order to familiarise themselves with the process.

Passengers travelling on Singapore Airlines and SilkAir flights and departing from Changi Airport can now take advantage of a Fast and Seamless Travel (FAST) check-in trial in Terminal 2.

The trial, a collaboration between Changi Airport Group (CAG), Singapore Airlines and its regional wing, SilkAir, will build up to a full suite of FAST options in 2016, giving passengers of both airlines more choices for check-in as well as potentially faster processing through automated check-in kiosks and bag drops. Another 24 kiosks will be introduced in Terminal 3 subsequently.

For passengers with baggage to check in, FAST check-in is a two-step process. They first obtain their boarding pass and bag tags at the 24 kiosks. Once they have tagged their own bags, passengers drop them off at the bag drop counters. There are instructional videos, signs and staff on ground to guide passengers on this process.

Passengers with carry-on bags can print their boarding passes at the kiosks and proceed directly to Departure Immigration. Alternatively, passengers who have done online or mobile check-in can skip the counters and proceed to Departure Immigration with their home-printed or mobile phone boarding passes (offered on selected itineraries).

Based on past trials conducted by CAG, 97% of passengers polled indicated that they were satisfied with the FAST check-in experience and would consider using it again. The entire FAST check-in sequence – including printing of boarding pass and bag tags, together with tagging and baggage drop off – can be done in a matter of minutes. The time taken is expected to reduce as travellers gain familiarity with this mode of processing, given the growing use of automated check-in options in airports around the world.

In addition to providing passengers with a faster and more flexible check-in experience, automation will also help raise efficiency and productivity of check-in operations, thereby providing cost savings for airlines.

Jayson Goh, CAG’s Senior Vice President for Airport Operations Management, said: “The adoption of FAST initiatives is in line with a wider global push towards self-service options at airports to improve productivity and efficiency, while at the same time providing passengers with greater flexibility and convenience. CAG is pleased to partner Singapore Airlines and SilkAir on the FAST journey and will work closely with the airlines to continuously refine the process where necessary, so as to bring about a greater travel experience for our passengers.”

“We welcome the new FAST initiatives, which will streamline the check-in process for our customers. This reflects our ongoing efforts to offer customers more options and improve their travel experience with us,” said Tan Pee Teck, Singapore Airlines Senior Vice President Product & Services. 

Scoot to take over SilkAir's Hangzhou flights

From 25 October 2015, Scoot, the long-haul low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines, will commence flights to Hangzhou, taking over from SilkAir. The full-service regional wing of Singapore Airlines currently has four-times-weekly flights to Hangzhou, on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

Scoot operating the Singapore-Hangzhou route will better optimise the utilisation of the SIA Group’s resources and present a better match of capacity to demand, the group said.

“Hangzhou will be our fifth destination in China, in addition to services to Tianjin, Shenyang, Qingdao and Nanjing. It is also the fourth new route added to Scoot’s network in the last eight months after Kaohsiung, Osaka and Melbourne. We look forward to offering guests great value travel to Hangzhou aboard our new 787 Dreamliners featuring modern conveniences such as inflight Wi-fi and in-seat power and of course, our unique attitude- our Scootitude on board,” said Scoot CEO Campbell Wilson.

Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, is well-known for its breath-taking scenery and cultural sites. The city is centred largely around the West Lake, where attractions such as Solitary Hill and Six Harmonies Pagoda can be found. The city is also famous for its longjing or dragon well green tea.

Customers who have made advance bookings to fly the Singapore-Hangzhou route on SilkAir can opt for a refund or be re-accommodated either on Scoot’s new services or on Singapore Airlines’ flights to Shanghai.

Details of flight numbers and flight schedules for services between Singapore and Hangzhou on the new Scoot service are as follows:

TZ 108 departs Singapore 5.10pm, arrives Hangzhou 9.45pm, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

TZ 107 departs Hangzhou 11.00pm, arrives Singapore 3.55am the next day, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays

* Schedules are correct at time of print and subject to change. All times listed in local. +1 refers to arrival on the next day. Services on Saturday will commence December 2015.

posted from Bloggeroid

Garuda and Turkish Airlines enter into codeshare agreement

Garuda Indonesia and Turkish Airlines are implementing a codeshare agreement from Jakarta to Istanbul and vice versa. This new agreement is in effect from until October 24 2015.

The updated codeshare flight schedule between Garuda Indonesia and Turkish Airlines is as follows:

Source: Garuda Indonesia. CGK is the airport code for Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta, Indonesia, while IST is the airport code for Atatürk International Airport in Istanbul, Turkey. STD refers to the time of departure, and STA to the time of arrival. +1 next to a number indicates that arrival is on the next day.

Enquiries on the codeshare agreement should be directed to +62 8041 807 807 or +6221 2351 9999.

Scammers using Singapore Airlines brand in attempts to harvest personal data

Singapore Airlines has warned that its brand is being used by scammers to harvest personal details. 

A May travel alert states that scammers are using emails and phone calls that claim to be from Singapore Airlines, and which inform recipients that they have been selected for a draw or have won air tickets, and then proceed to request their personal data. 

"To appear more authentic, such callers are also able to modify their caller ID to imitate our official telephone numbers," states the warning on the website.

The company advises recipients to verify calls and emails by sending details here. It also asks recipients to exercise discretion when revealing personal data and if they have any doubts to lodge a police report.