Thursday 10 November 2011

Best Western Signs Plus Hotel in Malaysia

Best Western International has expanded its portfolio of hotels in Malaysia with a new 139-room project which is scheduled to be opened in 2015.

The Best Western Plus hotel reception lobby is located on the ground floor of the 31-storey tower whilst the sky lounge, fitness center and swimming pool are located on the 18th floor.

There are also 90 SOVO (small office variable office) suites available for the local and international business travelers.

Mr. Lim Thiam Huat, Executive Director of Lagenda Erajuta Sdn Bhd., said, ?Best Western International is the world?s largest hotel chain with 4,000 independently owned and operated hotels around the world. Best Western Plus is suitable for Port Klang as it?s a Free Trade Zone and surrounded by other international business development, which is right at 1Gateway?s doorstep. Foreign and local businessmen will find it convenient and comfortable to stay in and will enjoy the right ambience for conducting business.?

Changi Celebrates New A380 Connection to Germany

In celebration of Lufthansa?s inaugural A380 service from Singapore, visitors will be able to immerse in special fun and festivities at Changi Airport over the next two weeks.

From 31 October 2011, Lufthansa will operate a daily A380 service between Singapore and Frankfurt, joining Singapore Airlines and Qantas in making Changi one of the world's busiest multi-carrier A380 hubs. To mark this milestone, and to promote Changi Airport?s air links to the various German cities, Changi Airport is organising a lively festival in true German style ? complete with fun-filled games, beer, music and delightful treats.

Running from 29 October to 13 November 2011, the ?Germanfest? will be held at Changi Airport Terminal 3, Basement 2. At the fair, visitors can try their hands at traditional German games such as ?Slide the Beer? and ?Pretzel Throw Challenge?.

On site, an eight-foot giant beer mug filled with many smaller mugs will be on display. One lucky participant with the correct guess of the number of mugs in the giant beer mug will walk away with Sin$1,000 in Changi Dollar vouchers (minimum spend and other terms and conditions apply).

On weekends and public holidays, visitors will be able to enjoy cultural dance and music performances, while children interested to experience more of German culture can sign up for workshops to learn how to make pretzels and German hats.

And, like a true German party, the ?Germanfest? would not be complete without some hearty German food. On weekends, visitors can enjoy a glass of beer or apple spritzer and German pastries.

Jet Airways and JetBlue Launch Interline Services

India?s Jet Airways and New York?s JetBlue Airways have entered into a new interline agreement that will offer guests new travel options from India to JetBlue destinations in the USA, via New York?s John F Kennedy and Newark airports.

Jet Airways offers daily non-stop services from its international gateways in Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai to its European Hub in Brussels, the international political centre and home to NATO and European Union headquarters. At Brussels airport, customers can transfer to non-stop Jet Airways flights bound for New York?s John F. Kennedy and Newark Airports.

 In India, Jet Airways also offers an unrivalled domestic network to 53 cities including Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Kolkata, Goa, Hyderabad, and Thiruvananthapuram.

JetBlue is one of the largest domestic airlines in New York, offering more than 150 daily flights that feature all-leather seating, free inflight entertainment at every seatback, and unlimited free snacks and drinks. The airline offers non-stop services from JFK to dozens of destinations including Boston, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C and from Newark to Boston, Orlando and Ft. Lauderdale.

Through this partnership, customers will now be able to book a single combined ticket for JetBlue and Jet Airways-operated flights with one stop check-in and baggage transfer between the two airlines.

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Qatar Airways Launches Flights to Uganda

Qatar Airways has launched daily scheduled flights to Entebbe International Airport, near Uganda?s capital city of Kampala.

Entebbe becomes the 16th destination in Qatar Airways? African network. The latest route is also the carrier?s third East African point in a regional network that already covers the Kenyan and Tanzanian capitals of Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, respectively.

The Doha ? Entebbe route is served with an Airbus A320 featuring up to 12 seats in Business Class and up to 132 seats in Economy. The aircraft offers seatback TV screens providing all passengers with the next generation interactive onboard entertainment system featuring a choice of more than 700 audio and video on demand options.

Furthermore, the aircraft is equipped with a special OnAir service allowing passengers to use their mobile phones onboard for SMS, MMS messaging and emails.

?Since we announced plans to serve Uganda with daily passenger flights, this new route has been highly anticipated by the travel trade, business community and the travelling public. I would like to stress that we are here to stay, building strong relationships with our business partners for the long term,? said Qatar Airways CEO, Akbar Al Baker. ?I am extremely confident Entebbe will be just as successful as our other destinations in Africa and this will further strengthen our position across the Continent where we now operate to 16 cities from Doha.?

Uganda is known as the Pearl of Africa for its abundant wildlife, natural lush green scenery and rich culture. From eco tours, white-water rafting, hiking, safaris and the country?s most famous attraction ? the elusive and treasured mountain gorilla ? Uganda has plenty to offer for leisure visitors.

Kampala is also fast becoming a business hub, helped by the Ugandan government offering incentives to overseas investors.

More Seats to North and South East Asia from Changi

The Northern-Winter 2011/121 season, which started this week, sees an additional 280 weekly flights and 30,000 weekly one-way seats being made available at Singapore Changi Airport to Southeast and Northeast Asia, cementing Changi?s position as a major gateway to the region.

In Southeast Asia, Jetstar Asia, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways and Tiger Airways will operate 50 additional weekly flights to and from Bangkok while AirAsia and Jetstar Asia will operate 42 additional weekly flights to and from Kuala Lumpur. In total, Changi will be connected to and from Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur by 364 and 607 weekly flights respectively.

Separately, Changi will be connected to all nine of Singapore?s ASEAN neighbours later this month when Lao Airlines commences thrice-weekly services from Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

Changi Airport will also strengthen its connectivity to China with an additional 6,700 weekly one-way seats to Beijing, Changsha, Chongqing, Guangzhou and Shanghai.

SilkAir launched thrice-weekly services to Changsha, a new city link for Changi, from 31 October. Changi is now connected to 25 Chinese cities via more than 650 weekly flights.

Passenger traffic between Singapore and Japan experienced its third consecutive month of growth in September 2011, after the earthquake and tsunami in March this year. With Singapore Airlines having restored an additional daily service to Tokyo Haneda from 30 October, the frequency between Singapore and Tokyo (both Narita and Haneda) returns to pre-earthquake levels with some 150 weekly flights connecting the two cities.

Along with the commencement of Lufthansa?s A380 operations in Singapore this week, Changi?s connectivity to Europe has been boosted by KLM?s additional weekly service to Amsterdam.

 In January 2012, Changi Airport will welcome Transaero?s weekly service to Moscow and Singapore Airlines will increase capacity on its existing Singapore-Frankfurt-New York route with an A380 service.

With the increase in frequencies for the Northern-Winter 2011/12 season, Changi Airport is set to serve more than 6,200 weekly flights by the end of March 2012. This is an increase of about 5%, compared to the over 5,900 weekly flights Changi handled at the end of the Northern-Summer 2011 season.

On the cargo front, there is also additional capacity from Changi Airport to Germany and Europe with the commencement of Lufthansa?s all-cargo freighter operations at Changi and Singapore Airlines Cargo?s new twice-weekly services to Frankfurt. Using the 89-tonne MD11F aircraft, Lufthansa?s all-cargo carrier will complement its existing Aerologic services. Lufthansa will operate twice-weekly services to Frankfurt with stops in Cairo, Dhaka, Mumbai, New Delhi and Sharjah. Singapore Airlines Cargo?s services to Frankfurt will include stops in Bengaluru, Chennai and Sharjah.

As at 1 November 2011, Changi Airport serves 14 all-cargo carriers operating more than 380 weekly scheduled flights, an increase of 17% compared to a year ago.

KLM Launches Flights to Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Havana and Punta Cana

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines launched flights to four new destinations in Latin America this week: Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires, Havana and Punta Cana.

KLM now operates 24 flights to and from destinations in Central America, and 28 flights to and from destinations in South America.

Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Havana/Punta Cana are also served by Air France.

 With the dual-hub strategy through Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and Paris Charles de Gaulle, the schedules of Air France and KLM are designed to connect seamlessly.

Together, the two airlines operate 17 weekly flights to Rio de Janeiro, 13 weekly flights to Havana, 10 weekly flights to Buenos Aires, and 7 weekly flights to Punta Cana.

JetBlue Finalises Order for 40 A320neo

JetBlue Airways has finalized a firm order for 40 A320neo (new engine option) aircraft.

With this contract, JetBlue also converts 30 of its pre-existing orders for A320s to the larger A321 model with enhanced wingtip devices called Sharklets.

In total JetBlue currently has on order 40 A320neo aircraft, 30 A321s and 22 A320s.

The airline has not yet unveiled its engine selection for the A320neo order.

We commenced operations with Airbus aircraft nearly 12 years ago, and have since used the A320 family as the backbone of our fleet, receiving great feedback from our customers and crewmembers, said Mark Powers, Chief Financial Officer of JetBlue Airways. ?Our business model is focused on a sustainable growth strategy with emphasis on cost control, while providing the most comfortable experience to our customers. We believe the A320neo fleet with help us meet these goals.?

The A320neo family is one of the fastest selling airliners ever, with more than 1200 orders and commitments since its launch in late 2010. The new A319, A320 and A321 models feature a choice of two new engines ? the PurePower PW1100G from Pratt & Whitney or the LEAP-X from CFM International. The aircraft also feature large wingtip device known as Sharklets. Together, Airbus says this results in a 15% fuel burn reduction, corresponding to an annual carbon dioxide reduction of 3,600 metric tons per aircraft.

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