Sheraton opens the Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort

Source: Sheraton Hotels & Resorts. The Sheraton Okinawa
Sunmarina Resort.

Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, part of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, has opened the Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort, owned and managed by Ishin Hotels Group. Located on Sunmarina Beach on the Okinawa main island, the resort is a conversion project featuring extensively renovated guestrooms and public spaces.

“This is an exciting chapter in the Sheraton brand’s history as we bring Starwood’s most global and iconic brand back to Okinawa with the opening of Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort,” said Lothar Pehl, SVP, Operations and Global Initiatives, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Asia Pacific. “Catering to leisure and business travellers alike, Sheraton will deliver its highly-personalised service, premium amenities and compelling programming to ensure an effortless stay for guests in this tropical oasis.”

Okinawa is renowned for its tropical climate, broad white sand beaches and pristine coral reefs. The destination offers exciting marine activities, including blue cave snorkel tours, glass bottom boat cruises and sunset cruises. Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort is approximately a 60-minute drive from Naha Airport, and provides easy access to Okinawa’s attractions, including the Churaumi Aquarium, heritage sites, golf courses, and an oceanographic institute.

Each of the resort’s 200 guestrooms and suites offers the Sheraton brand’s signature amenities and services, including a premium sleep experience and rain shower, as well as balconies with views of the East China Sea. The resort also features an open, airy lobby.

Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort serves up a variety of dining options, including Senses, an all-day restaurant offering fresh, local flavours and ocean views. The Atrium Lounge serves the Sheraton brand’s recently-introduced lobby bar menu, which includes the Paired programme, comprising artisanal small plates and eclectic bar snacks complemented with appropriate beverages.

For meetings and functions, Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort offers 260 sq m of indoor space, including a large ballroom, smaller meeting rooms and a pre-function area. Corporate or social gatherings can also be hosted in the garden and on the beach.

“Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort is set to elevate the local hospitality landscape here in Okinawa, especially as the island continues to be a sought-after beach resort destination for domestic leisure tourism and also increasingly, for affluent global travelers,” said Jean-Raphael Felus, General Manager and Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort. “We look forward to welcoming guests to this beautiful location, and in delivering an effortless experience that will enable them to explore everything this island has to offer.”

Sheraton Okinawa Sunmarina Resort is in the process of expansion plans, seeking to add 46 guestrooms in a newly built South Wing, which will be unveiled in December 2016. The resort will also add Beach Bar, a relaxing restaurant that offers light meals and refreshing drinks. Other facilities currently being added include a new wellness centre with an indoor pool, gym, communal bath, family bath, spa and beachside café, as well as a restaurant.

SilkAir to offer direct charters to Okinawa

As part of continuing efforts to promote a direct Singapore-Okinawa air link, SilkAir, the Okinawa Prefecture government, Japan and Changi Airport Group will launch seven direct SilkAir charter flights between Singapore and Okinawa, Japan’s southernmost prefecture, between 1 and 25 June 2016.

These full-service flights will be sold via Singapore travel agents*. The flights will be operated with SilkAir’s latest Boeing 737-800 aircraft, featuring both Business and Economy class cabins. Passengers will be offered a suite of SilkAir’s full-service offerings, including 30kg and 40kg baggage allowance for Economy and Business class respectively, inflight meals, and complimentary inflight entertainment via SilkAir Studio, which allows them to stream movie, TV and audio content directly to their personal devices.

Departing from Singapore Changi Airport, the flight time is approximately five hours and 15 minutes on the service, which arrives in Naha, capital of Okinawa. “SilkAir is pleased to offer these direct charter flights to Okinawa once again, as a follow up to our first ever series of charters between September 2014 and January 2015, which garnered high interest. We are confident that this new series of flights will continue to receive good response, with the support of the Okinawa Prefecture government and Changi Airport Group,” said SilkAir’s Vice-President Commercial, Ryan Pua.

Lim Ching Kiat, Changi Airport Group's Senior Vice-President for Market Development, said, “Changi Airport welcomes SilkAir’s non-stop charter flights to Okinawa. These nonstop flights will halve the usual journey time between the two cities and bring greater convenience to Singapore passengers visiting Okinawa during the June holidays. We are excited about the potential of establishing more such flights on a regular basis, and eventually building a sustained travel demand that will drive the launch of scheduled passenger services on this route in the future.”

Okinawa comprises hundreds of the Ryuku islands which extend southwest from the southern end of mainland Japan towards Taiwan. Shuri Castle, a registered UNESCO World Heritage Site, is in Naha. Flight schedules*:

Date/Day	Flight No.	Depart	Time	Arrive	Time
1 June 2016 Wednesday	MI8384	Singapore (SIN)	1100	Okinawa (OKA)	1715
5 June 2016, Sunday
9 June 2016, Thursday
13 June 2016, Monday
17 June 2016, Friday
25 June 2016, Saturday

Date/Day	Flight No.	Depart	Time	Arrive	Time
1 June 2016 Wednesday	MI8383	Okinawa (OKA)	1815	Singapore (SIN)	2245
5 June 2016, Sunday
9 June 2016, Thursday
13 June 2016, Monday
17 June 2016, Friday
25 June 2016, Saturday

* Schedules are subjected to regulatory approval.
SilkAir is the regional wing of Singapore Airlines.

Interested?

Contact the following Singapore travel agents to book:

1. Airelated Travel +65 6532 5686
2. ASA Holidays +65 6303 5303 

3. Chan Brothers Travel +65 6212 9679 

4. CTC Travel +65 6536 3995 

5. Dynasty Travel +65 6338 4455 

6. Hong Thai Travel +65 6533 1788 

7. JTB +65 6595 0600 

8. Jetabout Holidays +65 6734 1818 

9. Follow Me Japan +65 6221 4250 

10. HIS International Travel +65 6224 1512 

Did you know that an empty Boeing 737-800 weighs 41,410kg? Picture by: @iwanbaser #SilkAir #DidYouKnow #SilkAirFunFacts #aircraft #avgeeks #airplane

A photo posted by SilkAir (@silkair) on Feb 21, 2016 at 11:51pm PST

SilkAir to fly between Okinawa and Japan to January 2015

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, will operate its first-ever charters between Singapore and Japan via a series of direct charter services to Okinawa, the country’s southernmost prefecture. 

Chartered by the Okinawa Tourist Service (OTS) and Jumbo Tours Okinawa, the monthly charters will be from 9 September 2014 till 3 January 2015. The flights will be operated with the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, featuring both business and economy classes. These charters are launched in collaboration with Okinawa-based travel agencies and SilkAir’s local travel agencies, to provide customers visiting Okinawa with the convenience of a direct service from Singapore. 

From September 2014 to October 2014, the flights will depart Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 2 at 10am and reach Okinawa Naha Airport at 4.15pm. From November 2014 to January 2015, the flights will depart Singapore at 10am hours and arrive in Okinawa at 4.05pm (all times stated are local and scheduled). 

Flight schedules to Okinawa are as follows: 

13 and 15 September, 9 and 13 October 2014   

MI8384 departs SIN 1000 arrives OKA 1615

MI8383 departs OKA 1715 arrives SIN 2125

20, 24 November, 22, 27 and 30 December 2014, 3 January 2015 

MI8384 departs SIN 1000 arrives OKA 1605

MI8383 departs OKA 1700 arrives SIN 2130

(All local times; timings may be subject to change)

Hong Kong Airlines adds flights to Okinawa, Hangzhou and Ho Chi Minh

March 19 marked the inaugural additional Hong Kong Airlines flights for its Hong Kong-Okinawa and Hong Kong-Hangzhou routes in response to expected demand for business and leisure travel. To commemorate the official launch of these new flights, Hong Kong Airlines held celebrations at Hong Kong International Airport and both destination airports.

 

 

 

 

Representing Hong Kong Airlines, Alex Wu, General Manager of the Hong Kong Sales Office, surprised the passengers of Okinawa's first additional flight HX678 by presenting them an aircraft model souvenir. All passengers also received an inaugural flight certificate in gratitude for their support at the boarding gate. After the aircraft touched down at Okinawa, the flight crew and passengers were warmly received by Hong Kong Airlines local staff. 

The newly added HX228 to Hangzhou departed Hong Kong at 1700. Before departure, Stanley Kan, Hong Kong Airlines Director of Service Delivery, presented aircraft models and inaugural flight certificates to all passengers to commemorate the flight launch. Flight crew and passengers were also welcomed by Hong Kong Airlines representatives at Hangzhou upon arrival.

Details of the additional flights are as follows:
Okinawa

Flight no.	Route	Depart/Arrival time*	Frequency
HX678 (new)	Hong Kong to Okinawa	09:05 / 12:25	Daily
HX658		11:10 / 14:30
HX677(new)	Okinawa to Hong Kong	13:25 / 15:15
HX657		15:30 / 17:20

*All local time.  The schedule may subject to change without prior notice.

Hangzhou

Flight no.	Route	Depart/Arrival time*	Frequency
HX126	Hong Kong to Hangzhou	09:30 / 11:50	Daily
HX228 (new)		17:00 / 19:30
HX128		21:55 / 23:55
HX129	Hangzhou to Hong Kong	08:10 / 10:30
HX127		12:50 / 15:10
HX229 (new)		20:30 / 23:00

*All local time.  The schedule may subject to change without prior notice.

The celebrations follow a similar one carried out in honour of for first Ho Chi Minh flight on March 17. The Hong Kong Airlines Hong Kong-Ho Chi Minh route is operated by Airbus A320 configured with an all-economy class, and flies every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 

The new flight service to Ho Chi Minh City is complemented by the Airlines' daily flight to Hanoi, making it a total of 10 weekly flights between Hong Kong and Vietnam.
 
The flight schedule for Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) is as follows:

Flight no.	Route	Departure/Arrival time*	Frequency
HX534	Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City	12:20/13:55	Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday
HX535	Ho Chi Minh City to Hong Kong	14:55/18:30	Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday

 *All local time 

For more details, please visit http://www.hkairlines.com, or call the Hong Kong Airlines Call Center at +852 3151 1888 (Hong Kong).