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The Federal Government has doubled the value of duty free goods travellers can
bring into and take out of Australia, effective from 1 February.
Customs
Minister Senator Chris Ellison says the travel industry has been pushing for the
change for many years. "We'll see an increase from $400 to $900 for duty free
goods and for a child from $200 to $450," he said. "As well as that we'll see a
doubling of the alcohol allowance from 1.125 litres to 2.25 litres. Tobacco will
remain unchanged."
Flight Centre will stop using its �lowest airfares guaranteed� slogan for five years and undertake extensive corrective
advertising in response to ACCC concerns. ACCC�s investigations into the
use of the slogan claims has led Flight Centre to make the court-enforceable undertakings, but no
admissions.
ACCC chairperson Graeme Samuel said the ACCC believed the slogan indicated to
customers that Flight Centre�s airfares were guaranteed to be the lowest
available, when it was not always the case.
�The ACCC had serious concerns that customers may have been misled by FC�s slogan which may have led them to decide not
to �shop around� for lower prices from competing agencies,� Samuel said.
Airbus has unveiled its A380 super jumbo. This huge new aircraft, which
can carry up to 840 people on its two full decks, supersedes the ageing 747 by
US rival Boeing as the biggest passenger aircraft ever made.
When it starts flying commercially early next year, it will become the flagship
of many airline fleets and offer unprecedented amenities on long-haul services,
including, in some cases, gyms, bedrooms and bars. Thirteen airlines have
already placed firm orders for 139 of the planes. And it doesn't come cheap -
the "catalogue price" is between 263 and 286 million dollars!
Although already HUGE - wingspan of 80 metres, overall length of 73m, height of
24m - Airbus is under pressure to make the world's biggest passenger aircraft
even bigger! Airlines including Emirates and Virgin Atlantic are already
lobbying for a stretch version of the plane, which could carry more than 1000
people on shorter, heavily travelled routes.
Passengers flying the so-called Sydney to London Kangaroo route will be the
first to experience the new jet, with a Singapore Airlines service commencing
from the middle of next year. The airline plans to eventually use the
planes on routes from Australia to the US (see next story).
Qantas said it has ordered 12 A380 aircraft with the first being delivered in
October 2006. Qantas plans to deploy its first four Airbus A380 aircraft on
flights between Los Angeles and Sydney/ Melbourne.
Transport ministers from Australia and Singapore will, at Singapore's request, meet next month to discuss opening routes from Australia to the US
to Singapore Airlines, a move hotly contested by Qantas. Qantas has argued
that it needs protection amid the turbulent world airline market after the
attacks of September 11, 2001.
Singapore�s transport minister, Yeo Cheow Tong claims the aviation industry had recovered strongly since Singapore and Australia last discussed access rights in
September 2003. Then, the Australian government had cited the poor state of the local aviation industry following the September 11
attacks on the US in 2001, as a reason for holding back on full liberalisation.
But Yeo said the timing was now right to discuss further liberalisation.
Yeo said in the past year he had given Qantas permission to establish Jetstar
Asia in Singapore, putting it in direct competition with the Singapore flag
carrier in its home market.
See what our members have to say about this
HERE.
The Oneworld alliance, of which Qantas is a member, has added four new destinations to its network:
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Pucon, Chile (Chile�s LAN to
introduce flights between Santiago and Pucon three times a week)
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Xiamen, China (Cathay Pacific begins services between the city and
Hong Kong three times a week)
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Bangalore, India (British Airways will connect London and Bangalore with three flights a week)
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Chihuahua, Mexico (American Eagle introduces a daily service from
Dallas/Forth Worth hub)
French President Jacques Chirac has suggested that governments should slug
international travellers with another tax, this time to pay for research into
AIDS! Speaking to political and business leaders attending a World
Economic Forum in Switzerland, Chirac said funds to help fight AIDS could be
raised through a levy on the 3 billion airline tickets sold each year.
A snake found its way onto an Air New Zealand flight from Brisbane to Auckland
in late January. A passenger discovered the non-venomous green tree snake
in the economy cabin one hour into the flight. Air NZ said the in-flight
service director put the 50-centimetre reptile in a bag and placed it in the
fridge, then handed it over to the NZ Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry when
the plane landed.
Virgin Blue has introduced a new marketing initiative called "Happy Hour". The concept - a global aviation first according to the airline - will involve offering discounted fares across various domestic routes
for sale via the internet for one hour every day on a permanent basis.
Happy Hour will be from 1-2pm (EDST) and will offer the best deals of the day.
Different routes will be on sale each day. Fares could be as low as $1
plus taxes.
Virgin Blue says that it will put thousands of seats on sale each Happy Hour.
In January Virgin Blue's share price plummeted after the carrier dramatically cut its profit
forecast following weaker than expected passenger numbers. It was their
second profit warning in three months, prompting the share price to drop by as
much as 15 per cent.
... and then a few days later, one of its major share holders, Patrick Corporation
makes a $1.1 billion offer for the 54.6 per cent of Virgin Blue it does not already own,
by offering $1.90 per share - 10c more than its closing price.
... and then on the same day,
Richard Branson has raises his stake in Virgin Blue by purchasing 5.1 million shares in Virgin Blue.
This takes Virgin's stake from 24.6 to 25.1 per cent.
Maybe its just the effects of the "Happy Hour", but lets watch this
space closely...
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