Carry on: Nelson terminal video, Vanuatu, new routes and more
Business travel news also includes EuroWings deal with Singapore Airlines and most Europe-Asia Pacific routes. With special feature audio.
Nelson airport unveils new terminal
Nelson Airport has unveiled a $32 million terminal redevelopment scheme that will replace the existing facility within two years. In a staged project, the new terminal will half-erected on a greenfields site and then the existing one will be demolished.
The airport expects to handle nearly one million passengers this year and says the new terminal will be capable of handling 1.4 million a year up to 2035. Plans include extra retail space and a trebling in the car parking to 900 places.
Chinese gain foothold in Virgin Australia
Two Chinese airlines have ended up with a total 40% shareholding in Virgin Australia after a $A1.1 billion capital-raising issue. All existing major shareholders, including Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways, took up their entitlement in a 1:1 non-renounceable rights at 21Ac per share.
The new Chinese shareholders are HNA Aviation, with a 19.2% stake, and Nanshan Group, with 19.98%, which was sold by Air New Zealand. The Virgin Group and Air New Zealand (6%) remain minor shareholders. Virgin raised $A852 million through the capital raising at 21Ac a share. The remainder was a capital injection by HNA. Reports say minority non-airline shareholders shunned the rights issue, with these shares being allocated to existing shareholders.
Virgin Australia halts, then resumes Vanuatu flights
UPDATED (Aug 6) Virgin Australia says it will resume flights to Vanuatu on Sunday after halting them last Monday. The latest suspension comes after staff spotted a hole in the runway of Bauerfield Airport in Port Vila. The runway has had temporary repairs ahead of a full renovation funded by the World Bank.
This has yet to happen. Virgin earlier suspended flights along with Air New Zealand over safety but began flying again in May following the repairs. Air New Zealand says it won't resume commercial flights until the major redevelopment is fully designed and contracted.
Eurowings joins SIA-Lufthansa joint venture
Lufthansa Group subsidiary Eurowings has signed a cooperation agreement with Singapore Airlines (SIA) that will link European feeder traffic into SIA’s longhaul network via Dusseldorf and Munich. Eurowings flies to various destinations in Germany, UK, Italy, Portugal, Croatia, Sweden, Greece, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, France, Poland, Kosovo, Romania and Switzerland.
In November last year, SIA signed a partnership agreement with Lufthansa to operate on routes between Singapore and Europe on a joint-venture basis. The agreement also covers Austrian Airlines, Swiss and SilkAir.
Top 10 Europe-AsiaPaific routes
Bangkok is by the far the most popular destination of European travellers to Asia. It has half of the 10 most popular routes as measured by Amadeus IT’s Origins & Destinations report for 2015:
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Frankfurt-Bangkok
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London-Bangkok
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London-Delhi
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London-Mumbai
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Paris-Tokyo
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Paris-Seoul
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Munich-Bangkok
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London-Hong Kong
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Amsterdam-Bangkok
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Paris-Bangkok
Qantas Airways is planning to introduce additional frequencies to two Southeast Asian destinations, operating on a seasonal basis. The routes are Perth-Singapore (Dec 12-Feb 17, 2017), increasing from 10 to 14 weekly; and Sydney-Manila (Dec 15-Jan 19, 2017), increasing from five to six weekly. Thai Airways plans to operate a service to Iran, from October 1. The Bangkok-Tehran Imam Khomeini route will run four times a week using Boeing 777-200ER aircraft. Emirates says it will restore its Dubai-Conakry-Dakar-Conakry (Guinea) route on or after October 30. The service will run four times a week using B777-300ER aircraft.
In codeshare news, LATAM Airlines Chile has expanded its links with Qantas and Jetstar to include these routes: Auckland-Gold Coast, Auckland-Melbourne, Sydney-Gold Coast and Sydney-Perth (all Jetstar) and Auckland-Perth, Sydney-Adelaide and Sydney-Brisbane (Qantas).
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Nevil Gibson
Mon, 08 Aug 2016
Mon, 08 Aug 2016
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Carry on: Nelson terminal video, Vanuatu, new routes and more
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