Japan Travel Trade Weekly News
Keeping you abreast of what's going on in the
Japanese travel and tourism industries.
News consolidated by Travel Vision, Inc. updated every week.
JATA Makes Request to CAB on Oil Surcharge; Mr. Suzuki Says,
"Inclusion of Its Fixed Portion into Fare System Conceivable"
Late-March 2008
On behalf of Japan Association of Travel Agents (JATA), Takashi
Sasaki, president of JTB and chairman of Overseas Travel Committee at
JATA, submitted a demanding paper on March 7 to Hisayasu Suzuki,
director- general of Civil Aviation Bureau (CAB) at Ministry of Land,
Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The paper was intended
to request solution of pending issues with relation to the fuel
surcharge.
It is summarized to the following four points: (1) to include the
surcharge into the fare system, (2) to implement alternative measures
in case such an inclusion is not feasible, (3) to alleviate the
burden of collecting the surcharge on the part of travel agencies,
and to authorize the gross pricing method of travel products for
simplification to consumers, and (4) to give necessary instructions
to airlines so that they provide clear-cut explanation of the
surcharge to consumers.
During the discussion with Mr. Suzuki, Mr. Sasaki cited a few
examples of the problems travel agencies are facing. One is that, in
case of a school excursion, there is a no small discrepancy between
the quoted price at contract time and the final price on ticket
issuance because of the surcharge hike effected by the lapse of time,
which causes considerable confusion and complaints on the consumer
side.
Another point is agency staff at the sales front are tormented by
frictions with customers over the surcharge issue. In fact, it does
not stand to reason from the consumers' viewpoint that the amount of
this extra charge comes close in some cases to the original ticket
value they pay for, or even exceeds it.
He proposed to Mr. Suzuki that once CAB approves of a new fare
whatsoever, it should officially be regarded as part of published
fare, excluding IT fares that are fixed by individual negotiation
between airlines and travel agencies for every six-month period.
"The confusion the oil surcharge is causing at the business front
is understandable. Of course, the lower the surcharge is, the
better," replied Mr. Suzuki. "However, the fare system is clearly
under the control of International Air Transport Association (IATA),
not of the Japanese Government." Thus he stands back from direct
involvement in the affair.
CAB, while taking the stance that it should ultimately be
resolved by two private sectors of airlines and travel agencies, is
willing to discuss this matter with airlines to establish the basic
frame. CAB appears to have an opinion that it does not hope the
surcharge gets still higher and that airlines should study where the
bottom of fluctuating oil price is about and try to include the
invariably fixed portion of the surcharge in the fare system.
LOOK JTB and JALPAK to Line up Inexpensive Tours Additionally for
Spring Holiday Season to Solicit More Travelers
Late-March 2008
JTB World Vacations, Inc. has put on sale on March 10 and 14 a
bunch of inexpensive tours for the spring holiday (Golden Week) as
addition to LOOK JTB series.
The company admits that the bookings for the holiday season are
weaker than expected and, as means to spur demand, has urgently
released additional tour courses in a bid to outstrip the good
performance achieved a year ago. At the same time, it published a
special edition of tour brochure just for this season to feature
these new releases with all destinations covered. It contains, for
instance, a 5-day tour to Bali at 49,800 yen and up, other than tours
to Hawaii, Europe, and Oceania.
JALPAK announced steep discounts of overseas package tours of
I'll and AVA brands for the spring holiday period. Discounts are
applicable to 242 tours bound for 19 destinations in six regions
including Hawaii, Guam, Australia, the U.S., Europe, and Asia with
departure from April 24 through May 6.
Some tours were marked down as much as 108,000 from the original
price in order to entice travelers. Apart from this, a 5-day tour to
Hawaii for a stay at Sheraton Princess Kaiulani departing on May 1 is
discounted by 10,000 yen, and a tour to Paris with departure from
April 26 to 28 was reduced in price by 31,000 yen at a maximum.
JALPAK aims to have 1,200 customers booked during the period.
People will find it harder to take a long vacation during the
spring holiday season than last year, so package tour wholesalers
appears to rush into an intensified price competition.
Cathay Pacific to Operate Charter Flights during GW Using Special
Slots at Haneda
Late-March 2008
Cathay Pacific Airways will operate 2 round trip charter flights
from Tokyo Haneda to Hong Kong during the "Golden Week" holiday,
utilizing the late evening and early morning take-off and landing
slots available at Haneda.
Airbus A330-300 aircraft will be put into service with a total
capacity of 311 seats. The charterer is on of the major travel agents
who will exclusively sell all available seats as a 3-day and 2-night
package tour including hotel and sight-seeing in Hong Kong with
various optional programs including a visit to Macau in order to
attract a broad customer base.
The airline has meanwhile scheduled to operate 2 round trip
charter flights also between Hong Kong and Tokyo Haneda from April 4
to 6 with the late evening and early morning slots available at
Haneda.
These charter flights are planned to attract basically inbound
traffic from Hong Kong during the 3-day Chinese holiday, whereas the
charter flights during Japan's Golden Week holiday are targeted on
outbound travel demand from Japan.
Cathay Pacific once again indicated its endeavor to start
scheduled operation to Haneda Airport, citing, "By operating charter
flights, the airline intends to boost traffic continuously between
Japan and Hong Kong, hoping to eventually inaugurate regular service
to Haneda."
Alitalia Summer Schedule to Choose Rome as Main Hub; 14 Weekly
Flights from Japan
Late-March 2008
Alitalia Airlines (AZ), as part of the new network strategy to
focus on Rome Airport as the main hub, will increase its Tokyo
Narita/ Rome flight frequency to 14 flights a week while reducing a
weekly frequency of the Narita/ Milan route as the summer schedule
comes into effect on March 30.
Excluding the code-sharing flights with Japan Airlines, Alitalia
will increase the Narita/ Rome flight frequency to daily operation
from the current 3 weekly flights, and serve the Narita/ Milan route
3 times a week. The airline will operate its Kansai/ Rome route with
4 weekly flights instead of the current 5 flights per week to Rome
via Milan.
Alitalia says these changes are in line with the company strategy
for the new network positioning. Focusing both international and
domestic flights on Rome Fiumicino with an exception of the Japan
route, the airline anticipates enhancing the connectivity at Rome.
As far as product planning and travel demand in the market are
concerned, Alitalia believes that there will be no significant impact
on the Japanese travel industry since many Japanese anyway visit Rome
and the travel agents were duly informed on the changes to the summer
schedule already last year. In connection with the schedule changes,
the airline has launched a special campaign "ENJOY ITALY" in
newspapers, offering special fares.
Furthermore, the airline also plans to launch "Alitalia Cafe
Campaign" from March 19 to 30 in four cafes in Tokyo called
"Espressamente illy" where public will be able to enjoy Italian
atmosphere with interior decorations and cappuccino topped with an
Alitalia logo made with chocolate dust.
|
RSS
