Wednesday 27 April 2016 Issue 3295

News......................................p1, p2, p4Cruising Today................................. p3

5 Pages This Issue

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Germany Strike UpdateLufthansa is warning of extensive can-cellations at Frankfurt and Munich on Wed 27 Apr, as well as disruptions and delays at other airports in Germany, due to a strike by ground handling, passenger check and airport fire ser-vice staff. LH will only offer around 90 flights to or from Munich and will also cancel flights to other German airports. Travellers with a booking for 27 Apr should check their flight status on LH.com, and those with cancelled domestic flights will be able to swap their ticket for a rail ticket on Deutsche Bahn.

. . . Rules Of PlayThe strike shows the ‘urgent need for certain ‘rules of play’ on industrial ac-tion in the aviation field’, says LH chief officer corporate human resources and legal affairs Bettina Volkens. “We want to see binding mediation or con-ciliation procedures here before such strike action can be taken.”

The proportion of bags delayed or damaged by airlines—and the amount they cost the industry—hit a new low last year.According to the SITA Baggage Report 2016, the rate of mishandled bags was 6.5 bags per thousand passengers in 2015—down 10.5% from the previ-ous year and the lowest ever recorded, says SITA. Within Asia Pacific the mishandling rate actually increased 8%—but only to 2.02 bags per 1000 pax, with carriers continuing to out-perform those in other regions.Mishandled bags cost the aviation industry USD2.3 billion last year, a 3.75% reduction on 2014, and now cost around USD0.65 per passenger, another all-time low.Meanwhile ongoing growth in passen-

ger numbers shows no sign of slowing down, and the industry is making changes to how it handles bags as a result, says SITA.

. . . Bag TrackingIATA has called for airlines to track each bag throughout its entire journey through IATA Resolution 753, which is to be implemented by airlines by Jun 2018 and will see passengers able to track their bags like a parcel.Another key focus for airlines over the next few years is offering more self-service options. Around 40% of airlines and airports now offer self-bag-tag printing at kiosks and more than three quarters expected to do so by 2018; and some airlines are trial-ling permanent electronic bag tags.SITA has also highlighted Air New Zealand for its innovative new self-bag-drop stations at Auckland Air-port, which use biometric technology similar to SmartGate.Customers can scan their passports and boarding passes to have their identities verified by a biometric cam-era before being invited to place their bags on the scale to be weighed and sent to baggage handling.“We can now streamline the check-in process for our customers at Auckland International Airport and provide a more seamless airport journey,” says NZ group general manager John Whittaker.

Airlines Getting Better With Bags

Chengdu Next For NZ?Air New Zealand could be planning to announce services to Chengdu, with the money earned from sell-ing its stake in Virgin Australia to go towards further expansion, ac-cording to aviation analysts Centre for Aviation (CAPA). NZ is due to receive nine 787-9s through 2019, and the sale of its stake in NZ could fund three more widebody aircraft, says CAPA. It adds that Chengdu’s vice-mayor Liu Shoucheng met with the New Zealand consul-general and NZ network and strategic alliance president Stephen Jones on 30 Mar to discuss the possibility of a new flight; and New Zealand opened a visa cen-tre in Chengdu in 2015.

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Agent’s Disappearing ActAn Australian travel agent has disappeared after he was ordered to pay almost AUD30,000 in fines, costs and compensation to clients after ripping them off and leaving them stranded, say reports. Two elderly ladies thought they paid the agent AUD2200 each for flights between Sydney, Greece and Dubai after receiv-ing receipts and itineraries, but when they arrived for their first flight, the found their tickets were cancelled as they had never been paid for. Another client spent AUD10,000 on flights to Lebanon for his family, but again, the airline never received the payment. The travel agent has not been seen since his conviction last month.

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Extra VA ADL FlightsVirg in Aust ra l ia has released additional Adelaide services for fans travelling to the Hyundai A-League 2016 Grand Final over the week-end. The additional flights include: SYD-ADL and MEL-ADL on 29 Apr; SYD-ADL, departing 30 Apr; and ADL-MEL, departing 02 May.

Bats Disrupt FlightA Qantas Link plane was stranded in mid-air for around 30 minutes due to a colony of bats. Reports say the pilot couldn’t land at Gladstone Airport as if he hit the bats, the plane could be in serious danger or grounded for repairs. However, once the bats dispersed the plane was free to land.

Cathay Pacific is boosting its capacity on the Auckland-Hong Kong route over summer by intro-ducing a B777-300ER, in addition to an extra morning A340 flight.The airline will introduce 340 extra seats daily 02 Dec-01 Mar, offering a total of 54,450 seats on the route over the peak season.The capacity increase is a result of demand from Kiwi travellers as well as inbound visitors looking to come to New Zealand for the Christmas holiday peak, says sales and market-ing manager Vanessa Traille.“On the back of last season’s high load factors we are upscaling our regular afternoon service to the larg-er aircraft while adding a further morning A340 service,” she says. “Cathay Pacific will now offer 54,450 seats over the popular holiday period including the Chinese New Year peak

which will ensure efficient operations for our long-haul passengers.” The airline plans to release ‘competi-tive fares’.

CX Launching B777 On AKL-HKG Route

More Bags On NZAir New Zealand is adding another bag to its economy class baggage al-lowance for flights to Honolulu, China and Singapore ex New Zealand or Aus-tralia. Passengers will be allowed two 23kg bags in economy and premium economy (or The Works for HNL), and three in business premier. The change is effective for sales and travel from today. See airnzagent.co.nz

New Munich TerminalThe new satel l i te bui lding at Munich Airport Terminal 2 has start-ed welcoming its first flights and Star Alliance says its customers using the terminal will notice improvements to their overall experience. The 27 new contact gates at the satel-lite building will allow more aircraft to be parked directly at the terminal, reducing the number of bus transfers between the terminal and aircraft parked on remote stands. In total the number of contact gates at T2 more than doubles from 24 to 51. “The joint investment by Munich Air-port and our member airline Lufthan-sa allows for a further improvement in the travel experience, especially for the connecting passenger,” says Star chief executive Mark Schwab.In terms of enhanced customer ser-vice for Star Alliance Gold Card hold-ers, dedicated check-in counters are offered by all member carriers operat-ing from Munich; Gold Track priority security lanes are also available; and with the opening of the new building, the number of lounges accessible to card holders will rise to nine.

AKL-LON SaleWorld Aviation Systems has Virgin Atlantic Airways flights from Auck-land to London from $2031 economy and $4384 premium economy. Routes include SHA/HKG/SFO/LAX as well as open jaws in the USA. The offers are valid for sales to 29 Apr and travel 16 May-12 Jun and 04 Sep-30 Nov.

APT are thrilled to have been nominated for

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RCL Cruises Ltd has marked the end of its 2015/16 summer cruise season, in which ships from its three brands brought more than 73,500 cruise tourists to New Zea-land. Together the three cruise lines (Royal Caribbean International, Azamara Club Cruises and Celebrity Cruises) introduced three new ships to New Zealand during this season—Ex-plorer of the Seas, Legend of the

Wed 27 Apr 16 Page 3

No Limits For RCL’s Local Season

Seas and Azamara Quest, the latter marking the New Zealand debut of a brand new cruise line in Azamara Club Cruises. “For the first time, we had our trifecta of three brands and six ships sailing in the region. All up, that represents 20% of our worldwide fleet—a very signifi-cant number and a testament to the strength of the Kiwi cruising market,” says managing director Australia and New Zealand Adam Armstrong. Looking forward, the company’s outlook for next season is also very positive, with even higher numbers of Kiwis cruising the region, with the choice of eight ships across its three brands. “We said it would be a record-breaking summer and we’re excited to see booking volumes beat our own projections. Australia and New Zealand’s appetite for cruising with us continues on a very positive trajectory, driven by strong early booking offers and the biggest and best ships in the region.”

2 For 1 Europe CruisesTempo Holidays has launched a last minute 2 for 1 Europe river cruise sale. Highlights include an eight-day cruise from Amsterdam to Basel, priced from $2201 for two; while a 15-day cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam, is from $5072 for two; and an eight-day cruise from Nuremburg to Amsterdam, or vv, is from $2537 for two. The sales are are valid to 30 Jun.

Ponant’s Polar HighlightsPonant has released its first Polar Collection, which provides extensive information on its 26 voyages to the Arctic, Alaska and Antarctica in 2017 and 2018, with itineraries ranging from seven to 21 nights. Highlights include the lure of the Geomagnetic Pole; famed Inside Passage; crossing the Arctic or Antarctic Circles and the famous Drake Passage; meeting traditional hunters and fishermen; visiting regions home to polar bears, king penguin, orcas, seals and more.

NCL’s Cuba PlansNorwegian Cruise Line has its sights set on Cuba, with chief executive Frank Del Rio saying he is seeking approvals to sail there. “Florida and Cuba are only 222 miles apart. That’s what makes it so exciting. God put that body of land in the right place for the cruise industry,” he was re-ported as saying. The move comes on the heels of rival Carnival Corpora-tion’s announcement last week that it had reached an agreement with the Cuban government, which dropped a policy banning Cuban-born people from arriving by sea.

New Europe River BoatCroisiEurope GSA, Innovative Travel, advises agents that the cruise line’s newest paddle river boat, the MS Elbe Princesse has been christened. Provid-ing 40 cabins, the vessel will cruise the shallow waters of the Elbe all year round, including travel right to the centre of Prague. A nine-day cruise between Berlin and Prague is priced from $3550pp t/s, with many inclu-sions. See croisieurope.co.nz for more.

Myanmar CruisesBelmond is set to host a num-ber of guest speakers during its Myanmar cruises throughout the year. Speakers include yoga teach-ers; photogragraphers; army of-ficers; and language professors. See belmond.com for more

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VA Changes To US FaresVirgin Australia has announced chang-es to its public structural and tactical fares ex New Zealand to North Amer-ica. Effective 02 May, fare application will only allow VA flights operated by VA if travelling between Australia and New Zealand. Agents are advised to ticket any bookings by 2359 on 01 May to avoid fare rule changes.

World Animal Protection is calling out TripAdvisor for continuing to promote wildlife tourist attrac-tions like elephant rides and tiger selfies—and says it’s another rea-son travellers should instead trust agents and their expert knowledge.WAP says at least 550,000 wild ani-mals are suffering at tourist attrac-tions around the world, and many of these are promoted and sold via TripAdvisor to its 300 million visitors each month.Despite ‘numerous attempts’ to work with TripAdvisor, it hasn’t taken any action, says WAP. The charity is calling

on TripAdvisor to stop sales of tickets to these attractions, stop them from receiving a certificate of excellence or being ranked in the popularity index, and introduce a WildlifeLeaders pro-gramme to help users make informed choices and encourage businesses to implement better welfare and conser-vation standards for animals.TripAdvisor has pointed out that the listings on its website don’t represent any form of endorsement and actually offer a platform for travellers to share their positive or negative opinions.However WAP says eight out of ten tourists leave positive reviews for cruel wildlife attractions because they don’t see the abuse.“TripAdvisor is hugely influential and has a critical role to play in helping to end the cruel abuse of wild animals in tourism,” says WAP’s Julie Middelkoop.According to WAP, the 10 cruellest ani-mal attractions are riding elephants, taking tiger selfies, walking with li-ons, visiting bear parks, holding sea turtles, performing dolphins, dancing monkeys, touring civet cat coffee plan-tations, charming snakes and kissing cobras, and farming crocodiles.

Animal Charity Vs TripAdvisor

QLD Family PackagesGO Hol idays has seven-nig ht Queensland family holidays (based on two adults and two children) on sale now. Gold Coast is from $1159 per family; Sunshine Coast is from $619; and Tropical North Queensland is from $899. There are also sightsee-ing add-ons available. The offers are for sale to 31 Jul and travel 09-24 Jul and 24 Sep-09 Oct, with limited availability.

Explore Drops WaihekeThe Explore Group has announced it’s ending its Waiheke ferry service, and will instead focus on its core busi-ness of tourism. The group says the initial strong support from consumers wasn’t sustained, and admits infra-structure problems ‘that prevented Explore from offering a comfortable experience’ were a contributing factor. Explore will now focus on its existing Australia and Sydney sailing busi-nesses, is investing further in its Bay of Islands operation, and taking over as the sole owner of the Hamilton Island tourism operation (which had been a joint venture).

Bondi Beach RevampPlans for a revamp of Sydney’s iconic Bondi Beach reportedly haven’t been well received by the whole community. The council’s planned AUD38 mil-lion revamp of the Pavilion includes a new 200-seat theatre, expanded community areas and changes to the building’s first floor to allow for a café or restaurant overlooking the beach. However, opponents of the revamp say that it would lead to increased commercialisation, loss of commu-nity facilities and the likes. Meanwhile Aussie radio host Garry Linnell has slammed the beach and said it ‘just needs a complete hosing down’.

Fri 15 May 15 P3Wed 27 Apr 16 p5

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Ninja Turtles For NYCThe Tee n age Mutant Nin j a Turtles have been recruited as official Family Ambassadors for New York City, and will feature in a year-long campaign highlight-ing the city as a family-friendly destination. The turtles are natu-rals for the job as they’re NY locals (although admittedly they spend a lot of their time in the city’s sewers). Family visitation now makes up some 30% of total visitation to the city. For family-friendly New York itinerary ideas, see nycgo.com/family

QLD Accor RebrandAccorHotels will rebrand its Grand Mercure Apartments Twin Waters in Queensland to The Sebel Twin Waters, effective 02 May. “The Sebel brand is a recognised name in the leisure space, a market that the Sun-shine Coast is famous for attracting,” says AccorHotels Pacific chief operat-ing officer Simon McGrath. “We saw an opportunity to further revitalise and leverage The Sebel brand’s pres-ence in this destination, and as such are excited to rename and introduce The Sebel Twin Waters.”

Ireland And Star WarsTourism Ireland has launched phase three of its Star Wars campaign, including another specially commis-sioned behind-the-scenes film cre-ated during the filming of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Skellig Michael in 2014. The film showcases why director JJ Abrams and other crew members chose why they chose this location for filming, and highlights the Stars Wars connection to Ireland, as the tourism office continues to capitalise on the exposure. To view the film, CLICK HERE

The 30th anniversar y of the release of Crocodile Dundee is expected to provide a signifi-cant boost to tourism in Kakadu, where most of the film’s Austra-lian scenes were shot. “In the 30 years since Crocodile Dundee was released, tourism in-frastructure such as roads, accom-modation and tour programs have made visiting Kakadu much easi-er, but what hasn’t changed is the unique landscape and Indigenous character of the region,” says Ka-kadu Tourism’s Rick Allert.To commemorate the anniversary, and just how far the region has come since then, the first Kakadu Discovery Month has been held during Apr, in a bid to inspire a new generation of fans to head Down Under. “Crocodile Dundee had an incredibly powerful impact on the destination. The Paul Hogan character and the stunning landscapes of Kakadu combined to present a powerful im-age that had rarely been seen before on the screen,” he says. The tourism office is anticipat-ing that the focus of the film will boost both international and do-

mestic tourism to Kakadu in the year ahead, with the first quarter of 2016 already seeing the best results in five years. The film was first released in Apr 1986, showing many of Kakadu’s landscapes, including Ubirr, Nou-langie and Gunlom, along with the region’s Aboriginal culture and rich wildlife, particularly its saltwater crocodiles. See kakadutourism.com for more.

Crocodile Dundee To Boost Kakadu

DXB Theme Park SalesDubai Parks and Resorts, set to become the Middle East’s largest integrated theme park destination on its opening in Oct, has revealed details of its Annual Pass program, which opens for sales today. With over 100 rides and attractions spread across three theme parks and one water park, the Annual Passes will provide visitors with unlimited ac-cess to the individual parks for 365 days from the first visit. Other ben-efits include invitations to exclusive preview days, 10% discounts on food, beverages, merchandise, ad-ditional park tickets and separate ticketed shows. There are eight dif-ferent Annual Passes, including op-tions such as access to a single theme park, a theme park and water park, or a resort-wide pass for all four. There’s also a VIP annual pass on of-fer, among others. For full details see dubaiparksandresorts.com

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IndustryDiaryAPRILAvalon Waterways 2017 LaunchNelson: Wed 27, Monaco Resort, 1730. Blenheim: Thu 28, Watery Mouth Cafe, 1730.

Wendy Wu Tours Update & ‘Jungle Book’ film eveningChristchurch: Wed 27, Hoyts Riccarton, 1745. Wellington: Thu 28, The Embassy Theatre, 1800. Auckland: Thu 28, Rialto Newmarket, 1800.

Adventure World, Exo Travel and Accor Hotels Vietnam MasterclassAuckland: Wed 27, Mercure Auckland, 1730-1930.

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Aloha DownunderWellington: Mon 09, Rydges Hotel, 0700-0845.Auckland: Mon 09, Pullman Hotel, 1730-2100.

Viva Expeditions and Chimu Adventures Experience Sth AmericaAuckland: Thu 12, Takapuna Boat Club, 1730-2000.

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T h e J a p a n e s e i s l a n d s o f Hokkaido, Honshu and Kyushu have finally been linked by bullet train—43 years after plans for a national high-speed rail network were first laid out in 1973.The first Hokkaido Shinkansen train, Hayabusa No. 10, departed Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto Station at 0635 on 26 Mar.The combined basic fare and express ticket between Tokyo and Shin-Ha-kodate-Hokuto is less expensive than the fares of major airlines between Haneda and Hakodate airports, but the difference, when discounted tick-ets are taken into account, is minor, says reports.The fastest train between Tokyo and Shin-Hakodate-Hokuto takes four hours and two minutes—just missing the four-hour barrier at which high-speed trains are considered competi-tive against airplanes.To make the longer train journey more desirable than a flight the focus will be on luxury and price and this is critical, said analyst Masayuki Kubota. Passengers on the GranClass can check into a lounge at Tokyo station

Japan Rail Expansion

before taking their 52 cm wide seats which compare favourably with the 50 cm in ANA’s business class. The seat pitch, a measure of legroom, spans 130 cm, 3 cm more than on ANA.Business and first-class travellers also get complimentar y drinks, snacks, internet access and newspa-pers in the business lounge before-hand. There will be 18 first class seats on each of the 10 daily return trains to Tokyo, along with 55 business class and 658 regular seats.The bullet train is also gener-ally cheaper. On the day the line opened, the lowest business class fare on ANA to Hakodate from To-kyo’s Haneda airport was JPY44,900 yen (NZD558). That compares with JPY38,280 yen for a one-way first class ticket on the bullet train.

Ruapehu InvestmentRuapehu Alpine Lifts, operator of Whakapapa and Turoa ski fields is investing around $7.5 million in a new chairlift, which is set to allow for shorter queuing times, a com-fortable ride with cushioned seats, ease of loading for snow boarders and foot passengers and more. The new chairl i f t w i l l replace the Centennial and Rockgarden Chairlifts at Whakapapa and will transport 2800 people per hour in comparison to 1900 per hour; there will also be additional open days due to the lift being able to operate in stronger winds. To get the best value out of both the season and the new chairlift, there’s a special offer on season passes for Mt Ruapehu until 02 May with adult passes $495; youth passes $171; and a child pass $59. The season is scheduled to begin 02 Jul.

Responsible AccorAccorHotels has launched new global corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments as it reveals the results of its Planet 21 sustainable develop-ment programme over the past five years. The programme has achieved ‘solid’ results, says AccorHotels, with two thirds of the 21 objectives de-livered in the 2011-2015 period. In Asia Pacific, most hotels are using eco-labelled products, promoting bal-anced dishes, recycling their waste, us-ing locally-sourced products and have banned endangered seafood. The next five years will see AccorHotels scale up its ambitions with a focus on innova-tion and accountability.