In The News: AirAsia takes second shot at Japan; BeMyGuest adds two industry veterans to its team; Virgin Australia implements Sabre Branded Fares; CWT in new deal to remove distribution fees for customers
AIRLINES: Second edition of AirAsia Japan takes off end October
Sapporo with its famous tower near Odori Park (Image credit: Hin255/iStock-Getty Images)
In June 2013 when the joint venture between AirAsia and All Nippon Airways (ANA), then known as AirAsia Japan ended, the low cost carrier’s group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said, “We have not given up on the dream of changing air travel in Japan, and look forward to returning to the market.”
And Fernandes has done just that, as AirAsia Japan is back in business. It will commence its maiden flight connecting Nagoya – AirAsia Japan’s main hub – to Sapporo, the capital of northern Hokkaido prefecture, on October 29.
The carrier will operate the twice-daily service with two Airbus A320-200 aircraft from Nagoya’s Chubu Centrair International Airport.
Fernandes said it was great to be back in Japan, although it has not been easy and took a long time to take off.
“Many people thought we would give up and not bother but we owe it to the people of Japan and our staff to keep going.”
The first JV with ANA ended after less than two years due to a difference of opinion in management and on ways to operate the business. The Tokyo-based airline relaunched in December 2013 as Vanilla Air, now wholly owned by ANA, based out of Tokyo’s Narita Airport.
Fernandes said Japan is a “fantastic market” that had been “underserved in the budget segment for too long”.
“I believe Japan is ready for a true low-cost experience, and AirAsia will be at the forefront of that revolution, starting with today’s route launch. With new partners who share our vision, I have no doubt that AirAsia is poised to become an important part of how people fly in Japan.”
The new AirAsia Japan will have an initial capital investment of about ¥7 billion (US$69 million), with AirAsia owning 49%. The other partners in the JV include Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten Inc, Octave Japan Infrastructure Fund I GK, Noveir Holdings Co Ltd and Alpen Co Ltd.
ON THE MOVE: Industry veterans Graham Hills and Kei Shibata get on board BeMyGuest
Graham Hills (left) and Kei Shibata now part of BeMyGuest’s team
BeMyGuest, the leading provider of travel activities and tours in Asia, has appointed travel veterans Graham Hills as its chief commercial officer and industry leader Kei Shibata to its board of directors.
The appointments followed the company’s successful Series A and to support the rapid expansion of BeMyGuest Labs.
Hills’ career spans 15 years, 10 of which were in Southeast Asia working in various sectors of the travel industry including Tourism Western Australia, Octopus Travel, Yahoo! and Wego.
“We are excited about the growth opportunities that Graham’s expertise in product development, data analytics, digital media as well as his track record in revenue generation and success scaling business operations, especially in Indonesia, will bring to our company,” said Clement Wong, CEO & founder of BeMyGuest.
Shibata co-founded Venture Republic Inc. and took the company public in 2008 after seven years of operation. Over the past 16 years he has built a variety of online vertical media including Travel.jp, the leading travel metasearch site in Japan, Hotel.jp and Coneco.net. He has also led multiple investments in travel and ecommerce startups in Asia including Allstay in South Korea and Trip101 in Singapore.
“Kei’s appointment to our board of directors will allow us to work closer together, and leverage his extensive knowledge of ecommerce and his strong entrepreneurial business acumen,” said Blanca Menchaca COO & co-founder of BeMyGuest.
AVIATION: It’s a Fares solution for Virgin Australia to personalise travel experience
Virgin Australia adopts Sabre Branded Fares
Virgin Australia has implemented Sabre Branded Fares to give its customers a more diverse and personalised travel experience.
The solution allows travel agents and online travel agents (OTAs) using the Sabre GDS to access enhanced branded fare functionality that simplifies the retailing of Virgin Australia’s full-service benefits.
Agents can easily view, compare and sell the airline’s branded fare families across the network, offering their customers greater choices and personalisation at better value.
Rakesh Narayanan, vice president of air commerce for Sabre Travel Network Asia Pacific, said that with the rapid growth of the travel market in Asia Pacific airlines need to be able to cater to changing traveller demands.
“We are going to see extraordinary levels of personalisation take off within the travel industry and creative fare branding can be a great differentiator.”
The fares allow airlines to go beyond basic fare rules and.package additional benefits and features such as additional air miles and lounge access. Travellers get better value and personalised experience, while driving revenues for airlines.
“We recognise that many travellers today look at overall value rather than just the price alone. While we continue to offer increased benefits across our fares, we also need to be able to cater to specific traveller demands,” said Anne Elliott, Virgin Australia’s general manager corporate and industry sales.
Sabre Branded Fares allow airlines to distribute their branded fares to more than 425,000 travel agents and OTAs on Sabre’s travel marketplace.
TOUR OPERATOR: CWT inks airlines deal to remove distribution fees for customers
Iberia Airlines is one of the new partners of CWT (Image credit: Alfonso Fernández Gómez/iStock-Getty Images)
Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has signed a multi-year distribution agreement with British Airways (BA) and Iberia Airlines (IB), enabling its customers to avoid the airlines’ proposed surcharge on bookings created within participating global distribution systems (GDS) that agree to these terms with International Airlines Group (IAG).
The agreement, effective November 1, applies to CWT business travel and leisure clients.
Brian Mogler, CWT’s senior vice president, global supplier management, CWT, said the agreement highlights the mutual commitment of all the partners to the concept of new distribution capabilities (NDC) to drive improved product differentiation.
“While we believe GDSs provide the best technology platform available for CWT to enable best-in-market user experience and operating efficiency, we will continue to monitor and assess new technologies and capabilities.”
In May, IAG (parent company of BA and IB) announced it would add a US$10 distribution technology charge’ on each airline fare component of a booking, effective November 1, 2017.
A fare component is a portion of a journey, or itinerary, between two consecutive fare breaks, or legs. For r example, a round trip ticket typically contains two fare components, and therefore would have an IAG surcharge of US$20.
• Featured image (autumn in Nagoya) credit: SeanPavonePhoto/iStock-Getty Images