Tag Archives: Singapore

Dream Cruises has announced that its inaugural vessel, Genting Dream, will be home-ported year-round in Singapore starting from December 3, 2017. This marks a first for Singapore to host a new and large-scale 151,300-tonne cruise ship year-round. The ship will call at more than 10 ports in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam during 2018. Naresh Rawal, Vice President Sales, Star Cruises, Dream Cruises & Crystal Cruises, added, “Apart from this, we are also waiting for the launch of World Dream sailing, the second ship under Dream Cruises, from Hong Kong. We also have something lined up for the new year with Crystal Air’s six-night itinerary that includes Sydney and Honolulu from December 30 to January 4, 2018.” The privately-owned luxury jet has the highest staff-to-guest ratio with Crystal Skye butlers, fine wines, Champagnes and premium spirits, networking area, a bar, 88 handcraft, fully-reclining Crystal Exclusive Class flatbed seats, state-of-the-art in-flight entertainment system and complimentary Wi-Fi.

According to Passport Index developed by global financial advisory firm Arton Capital, Singapore tops the rank of being the most powerful passport in the world under the Global Passport Power Rank 2017. This ranks passports of the world by their total visa-free score. Singapore is closely followed by Germany, Sweden and South Korea who are tied at number three, followed by eight other countries holding the number four spot jointly. The Indian passport appears at number 75 with a visa-free score of 51, ranking even lower than African countries like Zimbabwe, Rwanda and Sierra Leone. Some of the countries with a lower ranking than India are Egypt, Bhutan Cambodia, Jordon and our neighbours Sri Lanka and Nepal. The last on the list is Afghanistan with a score of 22 preceded by Iraq and Pakistan with a joint visa-free score of 26.

Vietnam’s low-cost airline, VietjetAir has appointed Bird Travels as its GSA in India. Vietjet has been expanding its flight network in Vietnam and will continue to spread its wings to new destinations in the Asia Pacific region and around the world. Vietjet’s flight network covers Vietnam extensively and includes connections to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Myanmar and eight destinations in China. It is operating a fleet of A320s and A321s having an average age of 3.3 years.

For May 2017, Changi Airport’s biggest source market was India with a 21 per cent y-o-y growth in passenger traffic. Traffic to and from Mumbai and Chennai have risen by more than 20 per cent, states the official report.For the month of May, passenger traffic was boosted by a robust 17 per cent growth in South Asia traffic, while 5.0 million passenger movements were recorded which was 4.6 per cent higher than in the same period last year. As on June 1, 2017, more than 100 airlines operate at Changi Airport, connecting Singapore to some 380 cities in about 90 countries and territories worldwide. With more than 7,000 weekly scheduled flights, an aircraft takes off or lands at Changi roughly once every 90 seconds.

ILTM Asia will become ILTM Asia Pacific and move to Singapore in 2018, taking place from May 21–24 at the Marina Bay Sands hotel. A new event, ILTM China will remain in Shanghai in October 2018, to be re-focused for buyers and planners of outbound luxury travel from China. The changes were announced at the ILTM Asia 2017 Opening Forum in Shanghai last night by ILTM Portfolio Director Alison Gilmore. She commented, “Research amongst our clients shows that the luxury outbound market is growing so fast that many companies are now separating their current and future business plans and marketing strategies to focus on China and Asia as two independent opportunities. ILTM has listened and is responding with two dynamic events dedicated to their own audiences.” ILTM Asia Pacific will be re-positioned to represent the whole of Asia, bringing more international buyers, similar in context to ILTM in Cannes. “We will create the show to be as international as Cannes, with the same ambiance, story and stature but set in the dynamic heart of Asia – Singapore – considered to be both the region’s gateway and its hub,” continued Gilmore.

IndiGo has announced its first non-stop flight and 5th overall flight between Singapore and Bengaluru, which will start from June 30, 2017. The launch of the daily direct flight would offer an affordable and a convenient option on two of the busiest business sectors. Sanjay Kumar, Chief Commercial Officer, IndiGo, said, “Both Singapore and Bengaluru are strong business and tourism hubs and attract significant passenger traffic.  It gives us pleasure to introduce a direct flight on Singapore-Bengaluru route which will save flyers upto three hours of travel each way. We have been witnessing an encouraging traffic to Singapore from the cities in the south of India. There is a large Indian diaspora that resides in Singapore and regularly travels to their home to connect with their heritage and loved ones. Increased to and fro flights will not only boost tourism but also provide an affordable fare and a superior travel experience to flyers.”

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the oneworld alliance will be adding four more frequencies to its current daily operations to/from New Delhi from July 15, 2017. A total of 11 flights a week will operate to and out of Delhi. The purpose of adding these flights is to provide passengers with added convenience and a wider choice in terms of travel between the two countries and seeking onward connectivity. The morning arrival time in Colombo for the new flight will also give convenient connections to destinations like Maldives, Beijing, Shanghai, Singapore and Bangkok. Commenting on the occasion, SriLankan Airlines, Manager Northern & Eastern India, Chinthaka Weerasinghe, stated, “North India is a key market for us and with most of the industrialists and business families spread across Delhi & neighboring states. While we have always received a strong response from this market, Delhi serves as a key business hub for all multinational corporations. These additional flights will cater to growing business, corporate and leisure demand between Sri Lanka and Delhi.”

Jet Airways has expanded the scope of its popular eduJetter programme for upcoming 2017-18 academic year. The revised program will make it easier for Indian students and those from Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal – holding confirmed admissions for studying at universities/ institutions in Australia, Canada, Europe, Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, United Kingdom, and the USA, to commence their new academic journey. Effective this year, privileges include special baggage allowance of up to 69 kg, free SIM cards (with exclusive calling rates), and through baggage check-in up to the final destination. Participating students also receive a free ISIC Forex Card  that offers easy and safe access to foreign exchange besides enjoying a five per cent discount on JetEscapes Holidays. Jet Airways has also simplified the entire process of eduJetter application and booking, as part of widening the appeal of the programme. The new, automatic application process is user-friendly and allows students to apply in three steps – book a flight ticket, visit the EduJetter page on the Jet Airways website to fill an online request form. The student then receives  an updated ticket from the airline with applicable eduJetter benefits within 72 hours. Commenting on the programme and its enhancements, Jayaraj Shanmugam, Chief Commercial Officer, Jet Airways said, “Jet Airways  has always endeavored to provide exceptional value to guests by way of special programmes and partnerships. EduJetter is one such initiative that offers tremendous value to the student community travelling abroad for higher education from India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal, in the form of a bouquet of services that have been specially created by anticipating their needs at this significant moment in their life.”

Tourists and businessmen from India and 17 other countries can now travel to Russia’s Far East without a visa, informed Dmitry Medvedev, the Prime Minister of Russia. In order to boost tourism and investment in the region, the nationals of these 18 countries will have simplified entry procedures into Russia through the free port of Vladivostok. According to Pavel Volkov, Deputy Minister, Development of the Far East, tourists and entrepreneurs will only be required to fill a form on the website of Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Applications will be approved within four days. Electronic single entry visas will be issued directly at the Russian border and will be valid for 30 days. The 17 countries apart from India include Algeria, Bahrain, Brunei, Iran, Qatar, China, North Korea, Kuwait, Morocco, Mexico, UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia, Turkey, and Japan. “I have recently approved the list of countries, whose nationals can take advantage of the preferential regime. We are proactively forming the modern infrastructure and creating special regimes in the far East; the law on visits to the Vladivostok free port was approved in March. This is not because these states are situated at a closer or longer distance – we are appropriately introducing bilateral agreements on visa-free travel for those ready to use such an approach for us,” said Medvedev. Volkov further said, “We’d like to see an increase in tourism to the region by at least 30 percent. Given the fact that every wealthy tourist spends at least $1,000 in the territory, we assume this will significantly increase the opportunities for the development of the region, trade turnover, and currency flows.” Source: Live Mint  

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and its regional subsidiary SilkAir have signed a codeshare agreement with Air France-KLM, which would come into effect from April 27, 2017. According to an official statement, under the agreement, Singapore Airlines will add its ‘SQ’ designator code to Air France-operated flights beyond Paris to 10 destinations – Aberdeen, Bordeaux, Edinburgh, Lisbon, Lyon, Madrid, Marseille, Newcastle, Nice and Toulouse. On the other hand, Air France will add its ‘AF’ designator code to Singapore Airlines-operated flights beyond Singapore to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, as well as on SilkAir-operated flights to Kuala Lumpur and Penang in Malaysia, and Phuket in Thailand. Both the airlines would later discuss opportunities to expand the code-share to other airlines within their respective groups. The agreement is intended to provide customers more options and seamless connectivity when travelling between Australia, Southeast Asia and Europe. The airlines will also explore the possibility for Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer and Air France-KLM’s Flying Blue members to earn and redeem miles when travelling on the code-share flight segments