Airline News and Hotel Updates

Friday 28 October 2011

Pegasus Solutions Acquires Open Hospitality

Pegasus Solutions has acquired Open Hospitality in a move that positions Pegasus as one of the top online hotel marketers in the hospitality industry.

With the internet marketing company operating as a division, Pegasus will now offer its own website design, online marketing and booking solutions, search engine optimization (SEO), mobile website development and social media services.

?Pegasus is committed to being the most trusted and valued partner in the travel industry,? said Mike Kistner, chief executive officer of Pegasus Solutions. ?By acquiring an online marketing company known for increasing web traffic volume, improving booking conversion rates and reducing marketing operating costs, we reaffirm that commitment. We can now offer hotel customers our own award-winning web marketing solutions to raise online visibility and increase reservations.?

Open Hospitality delivers a full array of online marketing solutions and accommodation booking options that help independent, group and chain hotels raise visibility and increase reservations online. The company?s expertise will enable Pegasus to design websites optimized for major search engines and create high-impact email marketing campaigns.

Pegasus? Open Hospitality division will be led by David Millili, CEO of Open Hospitality.

Pegasus? New York-based Open Hospitality Division will provide website and mobile site development, internet marketing, search engine marketing, and social media services, including Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. Together with Pegasus? acclaimed reservations and booking solutions, the blended offering will position hotels to market and sell their most profitable room inventories on the internet.

See other recent news regarding: Airlines, Airports, Awards, Flights, Codeshare, FFP, Inflight, Lounges, First Class, Business Class, MICE, GDS, Rewards, Miles, Hotels, Apartments, Promotions, Spas, Yoga, Retreat, New Hotels, Traffic, Visitor Arrivals, Cruises, Free Deals, Interviews, Videos, Pegasus Solutions, Utell, New York

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Christoph Szymanski Appointed Manager of Mandarin Orchard Singapore

Christoph Szymanski has been appointed Manager of the Mandarin Orchard Singapore.

Christoph joins Meritus from his previous capacity as General Manager for Crowne Plaza Hong Kong Causeway Bay where his leadership successfully steered profitability and brand presence for the then newly opened hotel, garnering 3 hospitality awards within just over a year of its 2010 opening.

Before taking the helm at Crowne Plaza, Christophe was Resident Manager at The Holiday Inn Golden Mile, Hong Kong, one of InterContinental Hotels Group?s most profitable hotels in Greater China. In this capacity, he oversaw an extensive renovation of the hotel and repositioned the Food and Beverage department through viable revenue strategies and action plans.

Christoph holds a strong food and beverage background, having gained valuable experience in Michelin-rated restaurants and proving his food and wine knowledge through his successful participation in several European trade competitions.

He had been based in Hong Kong since 1992, working with some of Hong Kong?s most prestigious hotels including The Peninsula Group?s Kowloon Hotel, The Langham Hong Kong, and The Regent, Hong Kong (now the InterContinental Hong Kong). He was also previously with The Harbour Plaza Hotels and Resorts as Group Food and Beverage Director.

A German national, Christoph holds a Diploma in Hotel and Restaurant Management, majoring in Tax and Finance, from Heidelberg Management School in Germany.

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Latest HD Videos

The HD videos ASIA Travel Tips.com features includes interviews with leading personalities within the travel industry, press conferences, events, travel trade show coverage, traveller's insights into destinations, visual guides to run along with reviews and other articles, stock footage, and of course, a few just for the sheer fun of it.

Most of the videos are serious, others less so, but we hope that the majority will be of use and/or interest to at least a few people.

All the videos are shot using High Definition (HD) 1920 x 1080 (or greater) video recorders and many of the HD videos are also contained within articles featured here on ASIA Travel Tips.com

Tips on how best to watch the videos are at the bottom of the page. There are many more videos on Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13 and the LATEST ARCHIVE: Page 14. We also have HD Videos from the ATF 2010, HD Videos from the ATF 2011, HD Videos from the Singapore Airshow 2010, HD Videos from Asian Aerospace 2011, HD Videos from the Hua Hin Kiteboarding World Cup 2010, HD Videos from Hua Hin in August 2010, HD Videos from Rest Detail Hotel in Hua Hin, HD Videos from the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens 2010, HD Videos from the 2010 Bintan Triathlon and HD Videos from the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi Chiang Mai, with much more on the way.

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Interview with Mr Carlos Guzman, Under Secretary of Tourism Promotion of Ecuador, at ITB Asia 2011.

HD video interview with Elsia Grandcourt, Deputy CEO Seychelles Tourism Board, at ITB Asia 2011.

Classic Room at Conrad Centennial Hotel in Singapore.

Interview with Senior Vice President Park Hotel Group - Mr. Mohd K. Rafin.

Deluxe King Room at the Grand Park City Hall Hotel in Singapore. Great location just opposite Funan Computer Centre and within very easy walking distance of City Hall MTR, Raffles Place as well as Clarke/Boat Quay. The Grand Park City Hall Hotel is a member of the Park Hotel Group.

Plus! There are many more videos on Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5, Page 6, Page 7, Page 8, Page 9, Page 10, Page 11, Page 12, Page 13 and the LATEST ARCHIVE: Page 14. We also have HD Videos from the ATF 2010, HD Videos from the ATF 2011, HD Videos from the Singapore Airshow 2010, HD Videos from Asian Aerospace 2011, HD Videos from the Hua Hin Kiteboarding World Cup 2010, HD Videos from Hua Hin in August 2010, HD Videos from Rest Detail Hotel in Hua Hin, HD Videos from the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens 2010, HD Videos from the 2010 Bintan Triathlon and HD Videos from the Mandarin Oriental Dhara Dhevi Chiang Mai, with much more on the way.

To watch the video, simply click play. If you are not on a fast connection, we suggest you click play, then pause immediately after, so that the video can be downloading as you do other things. Then, once complete (the red bar is all the way across), simply return to this page (without closing the browser window) and watch the video smoothly. If you prefer to watch the video in HD just click the HD button.

If you have any requests for videos on a particular topic, then please do let us know and we will be happy to consider it. To do this, simply send us an email: Contact Us.

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Qatar Airways to Launch Flights to Benghazi

Qatar Airways is launching four-times-a-week non-stop scheduled flights to Libya?s second largest city of Benghazi on 1 November 2011.

Benghazi, Libya?s north eastern Mediterranean port city and major economic centre, is a key destination for trade and exports. Many industries including oil refining, food processing, cement production and tuna fishing, reside in the surrounding region of Cyrenaica, of which Benghazi is the capital.

Qatar Airways has a well established presence in Libya, having initially operated services to the capital Tripoli eight years ago. Flights to Tripoli are currently suspended due to the political situation, but are expected to resume soon.

?Qatar Airways continues to strive to provide a network to cater for all travel segments, conveniently connecting through our Doha hub. Almost a year ago in Nice, I spoke about the possibility of expanding our Libyan operations, and I am delighted that we are now, within this short of a period, set to start flights to Benghazi, another key city in the country, said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker. ?We identified Benghazi as an underserved, primarily business destination, and now have the opportunity to bring this city into our fold.?

Qatar Airways will operate the route with an Airbus A320 dual configuration aircraft, offering 12 seats in First Class and 132 in Economy.

Benghazi will be the airline?s 13th route of the year, and precedes two other new route launches ? Entebbe and Chongqing ? starting on 2 November and 28 November respectively.

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Etihad Airways Signs Codeshare with TAP Portugal

Etihad Airways has signed a new codeshare agreement with TAP Portugal, the national carrier of Portugal. The deal offers Etihad Airways passengers a wealth of new flight options to destinations in Portugal including Lisbon, Faro, Funchal (Madeira) and Porto.

The agreement is Etihad Airways? 34th such commercial partnership.

Under the codeshare, Etihad Airways will place its ?EY? code on services operated by TAP Portugal from Lisbon to Brussels, D?sseldorf, Faro, Frankfurt, Funchal, Geneva, London, Milan, and Porto. TAP Portugal flights from Porto to Brussels and Geneva will also carry the ?EY? code.

TAP will place its ?TP? code on Etihad Airways flights to and from Brussels, D?sseldorf, Frankfurt, Geneva, London, and Milan.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways? Chief Executive Officer, said, ?This new codeshare illustrates Etihad?s growing ambitions in Europe. It opens up four key destinations in Portugal that we have been eager to offer our customers for a long time and we are certain the connections and seamless flight experience offered by Etihad Airways and TAP Portugal will appeal to business and leisure travellers.?

Fernando Pinto, TAP Portugal?s Chief Executive Officer, added, ?TAP has been very active in providing new and more diverse quality services to its worldwide customer base. Through this new agreement with Etihad Airways, TAP will be reaching the United Arab Emirates for the first time ever, not only offering faster and more convenient links between the Gulf region and Portugal, but also attracting and carrying new passengers to its own network, based at its functional Lisbon hub.?

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Positive Q3 2011 for AirAsia X

AirAsia X, the long haul low cost affiliate of AirAsia, has reported strong growth in Q3 2011, carrying 0.62 million passengers, an increase of 21.3% over the same quarter in 2010.

In terms of passenger traffic, AirAsia X grew by 27.2% to 3.6 billion Revenue-Passenger-Kms (RPKs) for Q3-2011, achieving similar levels in the earlier two quarters. Capacity grew by 17% to 4.5 billion Available Seat-Kms (ASKs), resulting in a load factor of 80%. This represents an increase of 6 percentage-points from the same quarter in 2010, where it registered a load factor of 74%.

For the 9-months Year-to-date, AirAsia X has carried 1.9 million passengers, up 42.6% from the previous year?s corresponding period, and a higher load factor of 80%, up 5 percentage-points from the previous year. This brings total passenger traffic to 10.6 billion RPKs and 13.3 billion ASKs, a growth of 46.8% and 37.2% year-on-year respectively.

Cargo operations continue to be strong, with AirAsia X carrying 9,220 tons of freight in Q3-2011, registering a 33.2% growth from a year ago. Cargo load factor stands at 69% while its Flown-as-Booked ratio has reached an industry-leading level of 93%.

Azran Osman-Rani, CEO of AirAsia X, said, ?In addition to our continued unit cost industry-leadership, AirAsia X has focused on achieving superior on-time performance reliability for our flights, registering an on-time rate of 89% flights departing within 15 minutes of schedule, for both Q3-2011 and 2011 year-to-date. This proves that even though we are a low cost carrier, we do not compromise on reliability.?

Currently, AirAsia X?s aircraft fleet remains at 9 Airbus A330s and 2 Airbus A340 with an order of 3 new A330-200s scheduled for delivery in 2012. This new aircraft purchase will replace the A340 used for flights into Europe and is expected to help increase fuel efficiency.

AirAsia X is expecting further growth in the final quarter of 2011, as it will be launching its flights to Osaka, Japan from 30 November, as well as additional flights to Australia and Taiwan during the peak December period.

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Cebu Pacific Launched Online Check-In Service

Cebu Pacific has launched a web check-in service with free seat selection, in anticipation of high passenger traffic at the airport this November and December travel peak.

Passengers automatically get assigned a seat for free during the web check-in process. The airline also added flights and seat capacity in the last quarter of 2011 to cope with demand.

?Passengers on Airbus flights can check-in online from 48 hours up to 4 hours before their flight, and get assigned a seat for free. We hope this added service will help minimize lines at the airport and provide added convenience to our guests,? said CEB VP for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog.

Passengers on international flights with no check-in luggage need to drop by the web check-in counter for verification of travel documents at least 45 minutes before departure time.

Those on domestic flights with no check-in luggage can go straight to the boarding gate at least 30 minutes before departure time.

Passengers with check-in luggage have to drop their bags off at the web check-in counter at least 45 minutes before the flight.

CEB currently operates 10 Airbus A319, 17 Airbus A320 and 8 ATR-72 500 aircraft. By the end of 2011, CEB will be operating a fleet of 37 aircraft with an average age of less than 3.5 years. Between 2012 and 2021, Cebu Pacific will take delivery of 23 Airbus A320 and 30 Airbus A321neo aircraft orders, and 2 Airbus A320 aircraft on operating lease agreements.

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