TokyoTomo Travel Guide

David Brett, President Amadeus Asian Pacific (Amadeus) told the Travel Vision News on February 17 that Amadeus endeavors to become a global leader in technology and distribution solutions, always providing the future-oriented technology to the travel industry. When asked about its business performance in the Japan market, he said, “We, Amadeus, are constantly expanding our market share.” “We are not necessarily striving for the market share, but we would definitely like to address the role Amadeus can play in the industry” Joining forces with travel agencies and airlines to develop products, Amadeus would “build a travel industry of the future,” said Brett.

Commenting further on the present market environment, Brett mentioned that the entire Asian-Pacific region, mainly with the emerging markets including India and China, would regain the excellent growth level of 2007. Japan, however, is an advanced country and it may be difficult to return to its level of 2007, yet it would be accurate to say that Japan will continue to grow. Meanwhile, under these circumstances, both travel agencies and airlines are eager to take advantage of IT technology in a drive to improve the efficiency and reduce the costs as well. Amadeus would certainly like to regard this movement as a business opportunity, Brett said.

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BRUSSELS, Belgium – December 9th, 2009 – At an official ceremony held in Brussels’ historic “Grand-Place” today, the CEOs of the Star Alliance member airlines welcomed Brussels Airlines to the family.

Brussels Airlines is the Belgian airline offering the widest choice of flights to and from the “capital” of Europe. With a fleet of 51 aircraft the airline operates some 200 daily flights to 55 European airports and 14 African destinations.

With the addition of Brussels Airlines, customers on the Star Alliance network can now choose from more than 19,700 daily flights to reach 1,077 destinations in 175 countries. New to the network are more connections from Brussels Airport, which has now become a Star Alliance hub. These include four destinations in Africa which are presently not being served by other Star Alliance member carrier: Bujumbura, Burundi; Conakry, Guinea; Kigali, Ruanda and Monrovia, Liberia. Eleven Star Alliance member carriers serve 81 destinations in 40 countries across Africa.

Belgium has now become a home market for the Star Alliance network, thereby improving the customer proposition for both business and leisure customers. Hence, Star Alliance can now offer an enhanced portfolio of flight connections from Brussels, including a large increase in nonstop flights, to the advantage of many multinational companies as well as the various political institutions residing in Belgium.
On the fares side, Brussels Airlines is participating in three of the alliance’s fare products: the Round the World fare, Europe Airpass and Africa Airpass. For the Star Alliance Round the World fare, customers can make use of Brussels Airlines flights when creating their itineraries, especially for flights within Europe and to and from Africa.
For visitors to Europe, the extensive network from Brussels creates new possibilities to travel on the Europe Airpass. For the Africa Airpass, Brussels Airlines provides numerous connections to Africa, from where customers can commence their travel.

Last but not least, Frequent Flyer benefits have also been enhanced, with customers from all member airlines now able to earn and redeem miles on more flights than ever before.

Brussels Airlines HON Circle and Senator cardholders have been given Star Alliance Gold status while Brussels Airlines Frequent Traveller cardholders have Star Alliance Silver status. All other Star Alliance Gold and Silver status holders will be given the appropriate benefits when travelling on Brussels Airlines. Gold status privileges include access to 980 lounges across the network.

About Star Alliance:
The Star Alliance network was established in 1997 as the first truly global airline alliance to offer worldwide reach, recognition and seamless service to the international traveller. Its acceptance by the market has been recognised by numerous awards, including the Air Transport World Market Leadership Award, Best Airline Alliance by both Business Traveller Magazine and Skytrax. The member airlines are: Adria Airways, Air Canada, Air China, Air New Zealand, ANA, Asiana Airlines, Austrian, Blue1, bmi, Brussels Airlines, Continental Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines, Shanghai Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, Spanair, SWISS, TAP Portugal, Turkish Airlines, THAI, United and US Airways. Aegean Airlines, Air India and TAM have been announced as future members. Overall, the Star Alliance network offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries.

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On the occasion of its 10th anniversary of joining Star Alliance, All Nippon Airways (ANA) held a media briefing. Asked to comment on the outlook for the joint venture with the alliance partners on the trans-Pacific routes, Keisuke Okada, ANA’s member of the board of Directors, Executive Vice President, mentioned that the airline is studying it only within the limits of what is allowed under the present circumstances where ATI (Antitrust Immunity) is not yet granted. Over the Atlantic routes, Star Alliance member airlines including Air Canada (AC), United Airlines (UA), Lufthansa German Airlines (LH) and Continental Airlines (CO) have already implemented a joint venture called “Atlantic Plus-Plus.” Okada explained that ANA, as a member of the Star Alliance, is getting ready for the opportunity to arise.

Citing that the alliance is now shifting its efforts from the expansion of scale to the enhancement of customer services, Okada explained that the joint venture should further be able to meet with the customers’ expectation. Taking an example of the current trans-Pacific flight schedule, he pointed out that there are three partner carriers, ANA, United Airlines and Continental Airlines, which are scheduled to leave from Narita International Airport nearly with the same departure time. Should departure take place every one hour, it would be more convenient to US-bound passengers. It would be feasible if the respective carrier could retain its share of the trans-Pacific market under the joint venture, which would be otherwise not possible alone on its own operation, said Okada, underlining merits that the joint venture can bring to the partner airlines and further hinting at the future scenario once it is realized.

Star Alliance CEO Albrecht Underlines Fair Competitions among Alliance Partners
Jaan Albrecht, CEO Star Alliance and Christian Klick, Vice President, Corporate Office visited Japan to attend the media briefing in connection with the 10th anniversary of ANA’s entry with the Star Alliance. While explaining the vision and the policy of the Star Alliance, Albrecht stressed that it remains an indispensable position to encourage competition among the member airlines. Currently, there are three airline alliances, to which two-thirds of the airlines worldwide already belong. In this respect, an airline alliance provides an important system in the airline industry worldwide, said CEO Albrecht, adding that competition among the alliances is becoming severe as well.

Source: Travel Vision

Travel Vision Inc. provides information on the travel industry in Japan via "Daily Travel Vision", a Japanese-language e-mail newsletter, and the "Travel Vision" website. There are nearly 110,000 people working in the Japanese travel industry, and Travel Vision is proud to be bringing travel news to more than 30,000 people through Daily Travel Vision.