Asia

The physical presence of Mövenpick in South-East Asia is still relatively small, but this may soon change. The Swiss brand certainly enjoys a certain notoriety with the Asian public - the ice creams of the same name are a big part of that - as are a number of flagship hotels. "We currently manage eight properties in Asia...

Continuing its international expansion, Louvre Hotels is preparing to become a major player in India, a key market in Asia, both in terms of the size of its population and its growing economic weight. Europe's second-largest hotel operator - and a subsidiary of China's leading Jin Jiang group - has just announced that it is to take over the Indian...

Asia-Pacific is now our number one market in the world, just ahead of France, which has traditionally been our main market," explains Patrick Basset, AccorHotels Chief Operating Officer for South-East and North-East Asia. The strength of the Asian market is due to the strong growth in demand, stimulated in particular by China but also by...

Identity card Formalities: a valid passport. Area code: +66 (Thailand); 02 (Bangkok). Time difference: +5 hours in summer, +6 hours in winter. Currency: Baht (THB). 1 euro = 38.5 THB (Nov. 2016). Getting there THAI AIRWAYS INTERNATIONAL, Thailand's national airline, flies daily to...

At the beginning of August, Thai National Railways presented to the public for the first time the future trains that will run before the end of the year on the Bangkok-Chiang Mai line. Between now and September 2017, they will equip the lines to Hat Yai in the south, as well as Nakhon Ratchasima and Ubon Ratchathani in the north-east. Spacious,...

Thai Airways International seems to be over its period in the wilderness. The Thai airline has confirmed the expansion of its intercontinental network with the resumption of certain routes abandoned during its restructuring in 2013 and 2014. The national carrier has announced that it will be returning to Moscow from Bangkok from...

Polish airline LOT is keen to continue expanding its network in Asia. LOT has just announced the launch of a new route to Seoul. Launched in October, the route will be served three times a week from Warsaw with a Boeing 787 offering three classes of service (Business, Premium Economy and Economy). In the...

Because travelling for business doesn't necessarily mean spending the entire Paris-Mumbai flight glued to your seatback, airlines are regularly improving their entertainment offerings. The latest innovation concerns Jet Airways, which will be integrating a new wireless streaming service during the second quarter. The first aircraft concerned will be...

Finnair's new Airbus A350 XWB took off from Helsinki on 6 December, bound for Beijing airport. It has 297 seats in two classes: 46 seats in Business Class and 208 seats in Economy Class, plus 43 seats in Economy Comfort, which offers extra space for passengers...

The new daily flights linking Amsterdam to Mumbai and Delhi will take off on 27 March 2016, and will be operated by Jet Airways' new latest-generation Airbus A330-300. The aircraft has 34 seats in 'Première', the airline's business class, and 259 seats in Economy Class. The flight...

 From modest beginnings, with two weekly frequencies in October 1990, All Nippon Airways has rapidly established itself as a key player in air services between the two countries. "In 25 years, more than four million passengers have flown on ANA," says Pascal Cousseau, ANA's Sales Director in France. In...

Malaysia Airlines is set to continue reducing its network in this way, and Asia is now at the forefront, with the long-haul network already reduced to a minimum. The carrier no longer flies to America and has closed Frankfurt and Istanbul, leaving it with just three destinations in Europe: Amsterdam, London and Paris. The airline had originally planned to...

Malaysia Airlines is rethinking its business offer, unveiling the new business class that will equip its fifteen A330-300 aircraft between now and September 2016. In addition to the new seats (52.32 cm wide and 193.04 cm long when flat), which will be installed from next April, the airline is introducing a new configuration in...

The Archipelago awakes from its slumber It has often been said of the Philippines that it missed out on becoming Asia's "little dragon", unlike its neighbours in South-East Asia. Now it's time for revenge, as over the last five years the country has posted the best economic results in the whole of Asia, just behind China. Economic growth...

Manila by night is a wild party, with a rare sense of conviviality, but also a great weakness for the emotion experienced around a green carpet. In Asia, there was already Macau, the world's leading destination for the gambling and casino industry. Then came Singapore, of which casinos are just one element...

What are the advantages of putting the Airbus A350-900 into service? Nguyen Quoc Phuong - We are very proud to be the second carrier in the world, after Qatar Airways, to put the new aircraft into service. We are even the first in Asia, which is extremely positive in terms of image. It demonstrates that Vietnam...

Philippines Airlines is expected to announce its decision on fleet renewal by the end of the year. Airbus A350 or Boeing 787 Dreamliner? PAL President Jaime Bautista recently indicated that up to eight aircraft would replace an ageing fleet of Airbus A340s. The aircraft would be delivered from 2018. In the meantime, the...

In the 17th century, Ngawang Namgyal unified the "Land of the Thunder Dragon" and created a network of dzongs across Bhutan. Like the Rimpung Dzong in Paro, these fortresses had several functions. One was, of course, to protect the valleys from invasions from neighbouring Tibet, but they also served to house...

Bangkok Airways is currently facing very stiff competition in its domestic and regional markets. How is the airline coping? Peter Wiesner - I think we are resisting the competition well because we remain a niche airline, defined by a high-quality product, a network of secondary destinations...

Already present on the Vienna-Beijing route, with five flights a week, Austrian Airlines is preparing to take a new step in its Asian development. On 4 April, the Austrian carrier will be making its grand return to Shanghai with a Boeing 777. Austrian Airlines will operate five flights a week, and will soon be increasing the number of flights to...