Carry on: Accor app, Nelson airport, Qantas in Asia and more

Accor launches travel app
French hotel group Accor, which owns the brands Sofitel, Sebel, Mercure, Novotel, Pullman, Ibis and St Moritz brands in New Zealand, has launched a new travel app that enables consumers to book with hoteliers both inside and outside its stable.

The $300 million investment is aimed at keeping Accor competitive with online travel agencies (OTAs), which can take 12-30% of a hotel booking in fees.

Singapore-based Accord Asia Pacific chief executive Michael Issenberg says the move will provide extra revenue as well as client information.

“We’re going to do it in destinations where there’s a lot of traffic and, even then, the independent hotels we choose can’t be directly competitive with an Accor hotel,” he says.

“OTAs cost us money ... you want people to book direct because it saves us money and, also, word of mouth is the most powerful marketing tool there is.”

Accor aims to boost business on the mobile app from about 12% to 40% in five years’ time by taking business from the likes of Trivago and Expedia.

Nelson to build new terminal
Nelson Airport will build a new terminal to handle growth expected to reach one million passengers a year by the end of 2017. This means around 300 flights a week from six existing and potential airlines. Jetstar has named Nelson as one of its four regional destinations, while Hamilton-based Kiwi Regional Airlines will also fly to Nelson. In addition to Air New Zealand, Nelson is also served by Soundsair, Air2There and Robert Inglis’ recently launched Originair.

Qantas expands Asian routes
Qantas is launching new flights to Manila and Hong Kong from Sydney. The Hong Kong service will increase from seven to 11 flights a week, while Manila will get an extra flight over the summer season, boosting them to five a week.

Emirates upgrades to Russia
Emirates Airline will upgrade its services to St Petersburg by replacing an Airbus 330-200 with a Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The change in the six flights a week from Dubai to Russia’s second biggest city will start on October 25. From December 1, the service will become daily, also using a B777-300ER in a three-class configuration.

Gulf Air to buy 50 Airbus airacraft
Bahrain’s national carrier Gulf Air is planning to buy up to 50 Airbus narrow- and wide-bodied aircraft.

Information Minister Isa Al Hammadi revealed this after a meeting with French President François Hollande.

Mr Al Hammadi says, “Discussion will be finalised by the end of the year and an announcement will be made during the Bahrain International Airshow,” which takes place in January next year.

Route news of the week
Cathay Pacific will start a non-stop service to the Spanish capital of Madrid in mid-2016. The four times weekly Hong Kong-Madrid flights will be operated by a three-class Boeing 777-300ER and start on June 2.

Air Canada rouge will run northern summer flights to Glasgow, Budapest, Prague and Warsaw from Toronto.

The Toronto-Glasgow route was last served by Air Canada Mainline in September 2005. A rouge Boeing 767-300ER will operate three times a week from June 13 to September 25, 2016. Air Canada last served Prague in the mid-1970s. This and the other two Eastern European destinations will also be served three times weekly from June 13 to September 25, 2016.