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AirAsia captures market leadership award
AirAsia captured the prestigious Market Leadership Award
at the recent 2005 Airline Achievement Awards given out by Air Transport
World (ATW) Magazine. The awards ceremony held in Washington, DC, is a
coveted annual event to recognize excellence in the airline industry. Other
notable winners this year were Air France – KLM Group (ATW Airline of The
Year), and Virgin Atlantic Airways (Passenger Service Award.
AirAsia
was named Asia Pacific Low Cost Airline of the Year 2004 by Centre for Asia
Pacific Aviation (CAPA). AirAsia also received the Euromoney award for Asia
Best Managed Company in the Airlines and Aviation Sector
AirAsia’s award lets it join an alumnus of luminaries
such as Virgin (1998), Ryan Air (2000), and Jet Blue (2002), all previous
winners of the ATW Market Leadership Award.
One of the only two Asian based airlines to be recognized
in the history of the Awards, Jet Airways being the other, AirAsia has come
a long way from its humble beginnings three years ago as a start up low cost
carrier in Malaysia operating with just 2 Boeing 737-300s.
Today, AirAsia commands a fleet of 28 Boeing 737-300s, and operates over
100 daily flights from its hubs in Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Bangkok, and
Jakarta. In its bid to offer low fares to the people and to integrate ASEAN,
AirAsia spread its wings to neighboring Thailand and Indonesia through the
strategic formation of Thai AirAsia (Thailand), and AWAIR (Indonesia), both
of which are joint ventures with local entities.
Foreign media, tour operators see tsunami-hit areas fast improving
On March 5 more than 1,000 foreign journalists and tour
operators visited areas along Thailand’s southern Andaman coast which were
devastated by tsunamis last December and agreed that reconstruction had
improved significantly.
Sponsored by 18 overseas offices of the Tourism Authority
of Thailand (TAT), Thai Airways International Public Company Limited (THAI)
and the Tourism Industry Council of Thailand, the foreign journalists and
tour operators visited the tsunami-hit resort provinces, especially Phuket,
Phang-nga and Krabi, and held talks with tour operators there.
TAT Governor Juthamas Siriwan said it was a great success
in bringing the journalists from across the world to visit the areas, as
they could witness themselves that the negative impact of the December
tsunamis is much less than news coverage that was sent out after the
disaster. She said she was optimistic that the local tourism industry could
improve in the next couple of months. (TNA)
Thailand wants World Heritage label for more sites
Thailand’s Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment has submitted applications for UNESCO to consider two of the
country’s cultural treasures for inclusion in its list of World Heritage
Sites.
UNESCO Bangkok project manager, Montira Horayangura
Unakul, said applications were now under consideration for the historical
remains of Phu Phrabat and Prasat Hin Phimai in the northeast. “The sites
are unique and the applications are complete, including long-term management
schemes, so they have every chance of being inducted into the World Heritage
List,” she said.
The ministry is preparing to submit 10 more applications
for cultural and natural sites throughout the country. Among them are three
Bangkok temples, a historical section of the Chao Phraya River, the Andaman
Sea coastal area, and the forests of Khao Yai National Park. (TNA)
Energy Minister pushes natural gas cars
Thailand’s public sector car fleet could soon be
abandoning costly petrol and filling up on cheaper, cleaner natural gas
instead, if Energy Minster Prommin Lertsureedej gets his way.
In response to continuing high oil prices on the world
market, the minister said a proposal would be put to the government for
state agencies to start using natural gas vehicles. He said government cars
should be installed with new engines capable of running on natural gas
instead of gasoline.
The minister called on everyone to take the energy saving
issue seriously, saying the new government had no choice but to reduce oil
imports in the face of rising global oil prices.
The Energy Ministry will also be launching a campaign to
promote the wider public use of alternative energy sources such as gasohol
and bio-diesel. Prommin said another major source of waste was the 40
percent of trucks being driven around empty. “If we can manage to cut this
number, it will help save a lot of energy,” he said. (TNA)
THAI to launch charters to Buddhist destinations
Thai Airways International (THAI) is launching a series
of chartered services to India for a tour of sacred Buddhist destinations.
A Boeing 737 aircraft left Bangkok on March 11 for a
three-day journey to the holy sites of Bodhgaya, Saranath and Varanasi, to
be followed by a second service on March 25 to 27.
Vice-president for travel planning and special projects,
Nareeluck Wimooktanon, said the new product involves several challenges.
“Runways have limited capacity for large aircraft and
three-star accommodations are scarce, but we are urging the Indian
government to improve infrastructure in these important destinations,” she
said.
The service will not be operated during the coming rainy
season but will be offered two to three times monthly from September to
early November. “We will be adding the sites of Kushinagar and Lumpini to
the itinerary, providing we can gain landing rights at a nearby air force
base,” she said. (TTG Asia)
No to “volun-tourism”
A new niche for inbound travel to Thailand is in danger
of being struck down even before it has taken root in the marketplace. The
niche, called “Volunteer Tourism”, comprises individuals who wish to
visit a foreign country and use their holiday-time to help others or to
advance a good cause such as education or the environment on a voluntary
basis.
The niche was just beginning to gain ground in Thailand
when the head of the Phuket Provincial Employment Service Office, Sayan
Chuaiyjan, told reporters foreign volunteers found without work permits
would be liable for a penalty of three years in jail and/or a 30,000 baht
(US$750) fine.
North by North-east Tours general manager, Nick Ascot,
greeted the announcement with dismay. “We are inundated with requests to
volunteer for tsunami cleanup but this volunteer market will now go to Sri
Lanka or another place that welcomes them fully,” he said.
Work permit application can be a complicated process, has
to be done in person with supporting documentation from an approved
organization, and is often turned down on spurious grounds.
A spokesperson for the Tourism Authority of Thailand
international niche markets section said the situation was lamentable, but
“volun-tourism” is not among the niche markets being pursued this year.
(TTG Asia)
Space travel for US$12,000
Space tourism has officially landed in China, Hong Kong
Space Tours Corporation CEO, Jiang Fang, announced at a recent press
conference in Shenzhen. The Hong Kong-based company and US firm, Space
Adventures, signed a contract to recruit Chinese tourists for adventures in
space.
Four programs are being offered: zero-gravity training,
fighter-plane training, sub-orbit flight, and space orbit tour. Prices for
the different packages range from RMB 100,000 (US$12,048) to US$20 million.
A Space Adventures spokesman told Chinese newspapers a man surnamed Jiang
from Shenzhen had already paid a deposit of RMB 1 million for a sub-orbital
flight. He is expected to embark on his zero-gravity joyride to the edge of
outer space for a bird’s eye view of the earth in 2006 “if all goes
well”.
Besides having deep pockets, those interested in signing
up must be above 18 and in good health. Trips last about seven days and
tourists will only be launched into space after receiving several months of
training. (TTG Asia)
Thailand plans tsunami disaster museum
Plans have been announced to build a museum in Phang-nga
province to commemorate the devastation inflicted on the Andaman coast by
the December 26 tsunami. The regional rehabilitation committee said
international architects will be called on to submit designs for the museum,
which is to be located in the hard-hit Khaolak-Lamru national park area.
Rehabilitation committee chairman, Suwat Liptapanlop,
said the museum will be built on 100-300 rai (16-48 hectares) of land,
either public or donated by the private sector. No land will be bought for
the project.
There will be an exhibition to educate the public about
the disaster; the tsunami’s impact on local residents and the environment;
as well as measures to prevent another such calamity.
A ceremony to commemorate those who lost their lives in
the disaster will be held annually at the museum on December 26. Suwat said
the rehabilitation of the Andaman coastal area will be complete on October
1st when the high season starts, as Cabinet has approved a budget of about
1.1 billion baht for 33 restoration projects. (TNA)
Lion City low-cost carriers add routes
Tiger Airways will begin flights to Macau on March 25, Ho
Chi Minh City on April 1 and Hanoi April 7. The budget carrier will operate
five weekly flights to Macau, four weekly flights to Ho Chi Minh City and
three weekly flights to Hanoi.
Ticket sales for Tiger’s new routes, including the
thrice-weekly additional flights to Phuket that was announced earlier,
started on February 3. The airline also plans to fly to Indonesia and Manila
by the first half of this year.
Meanwhile, Jetstar Asia will operate two daily flights to
Bangkok starting March 23. Tickets are already on sale. To accommodate the
flights, the low-cost carrier has suspended its daily flight to Pattaya. But
it did not rule out resumption of flights to the resort in the future.
Vice-president Operations, Greg Thompson, said the
decision was made “to redirect our assets towards serving a route that
continues to see growth in demand”. Jetstar Asia’s entry into Bangkok
means all LCCS operating out of Changi Airport now fly there. (TTG Asia)
Malaysia’s low-cost terminal to be sited at Sepang
Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang,
Selangor will house Malaysia’s proposed new terminal RM100 million
(US$26.3 million) for low-cost carriers (LCCs) rather than the Sultan Abdul
Aziz Shah airport in Subang, dashing AirAsia’s hopes.
The decision to build the terminal at KLIA was recently
made in Cabinet after months of speculation. Transport Minister, Datuk Seri
Chan Kong Choy, said Malaysia could not afford a two-airport policy as it
did not have a large hinterland and population mass.
The government had considered the opinions of various
parties such as the Department of Civil Aviation, Malaysia Airport Holdings,
the Board of Airlines Representatives, and the Association of Asia Pacific
Airlines.
The new terminal, slated to begin operations mid-2006, is
expected to enhance KLIA’s position as a regional hub and an LCC hub in
Asia. Datuk Seri Chan said it would cater for some 40 aircraft and between
10 and 12 million passengers a year.
Meanwhile, AirAsia group CEO, Tony Fernandes, said, “We
will re-energize ourselves to focus on making the low cost terminal in KLIA
an efficient design for AirAsia’s low cost model, and make it the center
for low-cost travel in Asia despite stiff competition from Singapore.”
(TTG Asia)
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