| AIRLINE
QUICK UPDATES
Cathay
Pacific is to strengthen Hong Kong's connections to
Europe with a daily service to Rome, starting 27 March 2006.
A daily service, increased from the current five flights a week,
will provide passengers greater flexibility for travel between
Italy, Hong Kong and connecting points in Asia, Australia and
New Zealand.
China
Airlines and China Eastern Airlines
are expanding their mileage programs cooperation effective 1
January 2006. In the future, when flying with one of the airlines,
frequent flyer members will be able to choose to accumulate
mileage on either frequent flyer program.
Continental
Airlines now daily nonstop flights between Houston
and Buenos Aires, Argentina. The flight originates in New York/Newark
with a stop in Houston before continuing to Buenos Aires. Continental
is utilizing a 174-seat Boeing 767-200ER aircraft on the flight,
carrying 25 passengers in the BusinessFirst cabin and 149 in
economy. Flight
times between Houston and Buenos Aires are 10 hours and 20 minutes
traveling south, and 10 hours and 30 minutes traveling north.
Executive
airline, Hong Kong Express, has launched flights
between Hong Kong and Ningbo in Mainland China. Using its most
recently delivered 76-seat Embraer 170 aircraft, Hong Kong Express
will service the new route with two flights daily to provide
travellers with the convenient option of same day return trips.
The
Board of Qantas Airways approved the establishment of a new
long haul value based airline under the Jetstar brand.
Jetstar is expected to its international operations no later
than January 2007. Jetstar's initial route structure will require
10 aircraft and will involve point-to-point routes between Australia
and Asian and Pacific cities. Chief Executive Officer of Qantas,
Mr Geoff Dixon said "At all times Jetstar's international
services will complement Qantas' mainline international operations,
with an emphasis on inbound and outbound leisure routes."
Jetstar
Asia and Valuair are to commence a
new five-times-weekly service between Singapore and Bangalore
and a three-times-weekly service between Singapore and Bali
in January 2006. To celebrate the launch special fares of Sin$98
for one-way travel to Bangalore and Sin$99 for a return ticket
to Bali will be available for a short one-week only sales period.
The fares will be available for bookings made from December
13th – 19th for travel completed by March 25th, 2006.
Jetstar
Asia will fly to Bangalore on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday,
Saturday and Sunday starting from January 23rd. Departing Singapore
at 1:05 am, Flight 3K 573 will touch down at Bangalore’s
International Airport at 2:45 am. The return flight, 3K 574,
will depart from Bangalore at 3:35 am, arriving in Singapore
at 10:25 am. Every day low fares to Bangalore after the launch
period will start from Sin$228 for a one-way ticket.
Singapore
Airlines customers can now keep abreast of the latest
news, when the airline launches Live Text News this month, which
can be accessed free on KrisWorld, the airline’s inflight
entertainment system. The content provided covers several categories
including world news, business, technology, sports, entertainment
and weather; and is obtained from an extensive list of news
sources, including Associated Press, Financial Times, The Wall
Street Journal and Dow Jones. Also from December, Singapore
Airlines customers can look forward to an even wider selection
of games on KrisWorld. New games introduced include Super Breakout,
Super Pinball Arcade, Robot Factory and Solitrio, ensuring that
all customers will have a variety of arcade, board, puzzle,
leisure and sports games to keep themselves entertained while
flying with Singapore Airlines.
United
Airlines is now offering customers convenient travel
between the Pearl River Delta cities and Hong Kong International
Airport using the SkyPier ferry service and pier-side check-in.
Valuair
will service Bali on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday from January
27th. VF 541 will depart Singapore at 3:15pm arriving in Denpasar
at 5:55pm. The return leg will be VF 542 and will depart Denpasar
at 6:45pm, arriving in Singapore at 9:30pm. Every day fares
to Bali after the launch period will start from SG$199 for a
return flight.
Passengers
who are travelling in Virgin Atlantic’s
Upper Class cabin on Christmas Eve (arriving on Christmas Day)
will find a stocking full of traditional Christmas goodies at
the end of their beds when they wake up. In addition all passengers
can enjoy a full Christmas dinner when travelling over the festive
period. The
stockings will include an Ozwald Boateng keyring, Silver Virgin
Atlantic pen, Bombay Sapphire miniatures, Molton Brown warming
eucalyptus bath and shower therapy, Limited Edition Winter Warmer
Tic Tacs, Ferrero Rocher, candy canes, chocolate coins and a
200ml bottle of Mumm Cordon Rouge Champagne.
HOTEL
QUICK UPDATES
Crowne Plaza Muscat is now able to offer its guests
access to a private beach. The development, which stretches
the hotel’s service beyond the lush green surrounds, down
to the water’s edge, is a first in the beachfront property’s
long history. Crowne Plaza Muscat opens new Private Beach for
hotel guests. With
the private beach now open, it is planned that the hotel will
offer a variety of beachfront activities in the near future.
The first major development to occur on the waterside will be
the addition of comfortable sun lounges and the inclusion of
restaurants and restaurant service. The overall appearance of
the beach will also be upgraded with fresh sand to be deposited
before the end of the year.
InterContinental
Grand Stanford Hong Kong: with the press of just one
button on the guest room telephone, the InterContinental Grand
Stanford Hong Kong is now able to provide guests with newspapers
from over 50 countries with NewspaperDirect, ensuring the very
latest news from around the world. Currently, the NewspaperDirect
service can provide more than 250 newspaper titles from 50+
countries through its Internet-based system to ensure the most
up-to-date issue of the publication. The World News service
is HK$40 per newspaper title while InterContinental Ambassador
members can receive a complimentary newspaper of their choice
every day of their stay.
Radisson Treetops Resort & Spa Port Douglas, in
North Queensland, Australia, is offering three nights accommodation
in a Superior Room and daily buffet breakfast for just A$274.50
per person. This offer is valid from until March 31st 2006,
and is subject to availability.
Sydney
Harbour Marriott Circular Quay: Centrally located in
the heart of the city in the prestigious Rocks area, Sydney
Harbour Marriott Circular Quay is a perfect base to enjoy Sydney’s
glorious harbour just minutes walk to the buzz of restaurants,
bars and entertainment the city has to offer. The hotel is offering
a special December and January Escape Package which starts from
A$279 per night and includes full buffet breakfast for two,
a De Bortoli Wine pack (2 bottles), a Bvlgari bath pack, parking
and late checkout until 4pm. The package is available during
December 2005 and January 2006 on Friday, Saturday and Sunday
nights only.
TRAVEL
NEWS UPDATES
 Linksys
launch travel Wi-Fi router to create wireless network anywhere
A Wireless Network in Your Pocket! The Linksys Wireless-G Travel
Router with SpeedBooster lets you carry a wireless network wherever
you go. There's a built-in access point, which lets you connect
SpeedBooster-enhanced and regular Wireless-G and Wireless-B
devices to the network. There's also an Ethernet port to connect
your wired PC. The Router function ties it together and lets
your PCs share a wired or wireless Internet connection.
The
travel-friendly form factor includes a built-in power supply
and antenna - it even comes with a travel case! Create a temporary,
personal, wireless access "bubble" in your hotel room.
Just plug the Router directly into the wall, and connect the
hotel's fast Internet service cable. Then use the Router's push
button setup feature to easily connect and configure your wireless
devices - push the button on the Router and on your other SecureEasySetup-enabled
wireless device to automatically create an encryption-secured
wireless connection. You can also create a shared-access bubble
attached to a wireless Internet connection to use multiple devices
on a single hotspot account in a coffee shop or airport lounge.
To protect your data and privacy, the Wireless-G Broadband Router
can encode all wireless transmissions with WEP or extra-strength
WPA Personal encryption. The Router can serve as a DHCP Server,
has a powerful SPI firewall to protect your PCs against intruders
and most known Internet attacks, and supports VPN pass-through.
Configuration is a snap with the web browser-based configuration
utility.
|
