Asia

The seven countries affected by the new restrictions imposed by France are Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Turkey. They join five other countries already considered to be at high risk of contagion since April 24 (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, South Africa and...

There's a wind of panic blowing through Asia, and it's coming from India. The Covid-19 pandemic in the world's second most populous country seems to be out of control. In just one month, the number of Covid-positive cases has almost doubled. As of yesterday, India had 21.07...

While we wait for collective immunity to the Covid-19 virus, vaccination campaigns are being stepped up worldwide. However, there are major variations from one continent to another. These are the findings of an investigation by the New York Times. In partnership with the University of Oxford, the American daily has created a Covid barometer, which analyses the state of...

The Maldives, a tourist paradise with a string of islets dotted around the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean, is dreaming of just such an idea. Before the pandemic, this paradise managed to attract 1.7 million international visitors, a figure that rose by 14.5% between 2018 and 2019. At the time, France was one of the top ten markets...

We've been talking about it for several months, but the ASEAN countries seem to be having bad luck with events. Praised by the WHO for its control of the pandemic, the group of ten ASEAN countries (Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) seemed to have the spread of the virus well under control. From March 2020,...

Since 1 April, Vietnamese airlines have once again been authorised to operate international flights, albeit in very limited numbers. The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) announced this at the end of March. The CAAV then submitted a three-stage plan to the Ministry of Transport for the reopening of international flights. In...

"Travel corridors", "travel bubbles": these two expressions have become part of everyday vocabulary in many regions, to designate a country-to-country arrangement that allows foreign tourists to return. This is particularly the case in the Asia-Pacific region, where Australia, Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore are already talking about or applying this partial opening-up...

The future of travel is on the move. And while we know that the road ahead will be a long one, Singapore is already showing the way. Buoyed by the success of its sanitary measures, the Asian hub intends to take in its wake all the players likely to shape the travel of tomorrow, and with it the organisation of MICE events...

Gulf Air is to resume flights between Bahrain and Singapore after a 14-year hiatus. Flights will begin in April. This return will be rather modest, with the carrier starting with a single frequency per week using a 282-seat Boeing 787-9. Two flight classes will be offered on board. Singapore joins Bangkok and Manila...

Since China launched its high-speed rail system in 2008, it has steadily gained market share. A recent study on the impact of high-speed rail on China's three airline giants indicates that around 80 % of China's domestic air routes will be competing in 2025 with...

For many travellers, a possible arrival in Bangkok by train ended with the grandiose hall of Hua Lamphong station. Built between Chinatown and the Silom district, the station was inaugurated in 1915, inspired by Turin's central station with its neo-classical architecture. However, it will now close...

A major surprise in Asia: the region's busiest international airport in 2020 will now be Seoul Incheon in Korea. The hub has dethroned Hong Kong, which is now probably the fourth, if not the fifth busiest international airport on the continent. The first figures for Asia's airports come on...

How would you sum up 2020 for Singapore Airlines? Franklin Auber - Inevitably, 2020 has had such an impact that comparisons with 2019 are not very meaningful... From the point of view of the IATA year 2020-21, which we end in March, over the first six months, we are...

Faced with a slump in travel with the coronavirus pandemic, arrivals in Hong Kong fell by almost 94 % compared to the previous year. By 2019, Hong Kong SAR had welcomed nearly 56 million international visitors. This figure included more than 43.5 million visitors from China...

The Covid crisis has had a lasting impact on Air Astana's business. Kazakhstan's national airline, which had become a specialist in air transport between Europe and Asia, has been forced to completely review its strategy. At a recent conference, the CEO of Air Astana, Peter Foster, explained that "the market in South-East Asia is at the point...

Are we going to see the birth of another mega-carrier in Asia? Asian governments and their obsession with keeping their borders sealed are decimating air transport in the region. And forcing new survival strategies. This is confirmed by AAPA, the Association of Asia Pacific Airlines. It has just published the activity of its members...

The hope of an upturn in international travel with the development of vaccines is giving some airlines wings. This is the case for AirAsia and Turkish Airlines. At the end of November, Asia's largest low-cost carrier and one of Europe's aviation giants signed a cooperation agreement that will enable the combined sale of flights...

In the space of just a few years, Grab has become the leading car-sharing and meal delivery service in South-East Asia. Founded in 2012, the company operates in 500 Asian cities across eight countries. On average, more than 2.5 million people use the app every day. A windfall of customers that could not have been left to chance.

Postponed four times, Thai Airways International's return to the European continent is struggling to materialise. The Thai national airline is mired in a catastrophic financial situation after seven years of losses over the last decade. Political intervention, a lack of strategy and a patchwork fleet of aircraft have brought the company to its knees...