ZENITH Payments has confirmed plans to launch its TravelPay B2B product in New Zealand next month.
The company said it would be providing travel agents and suppliers with more information shortly, and in the meantime enquiries can be directed via email to b2b@travelpay.com.au.
Recent suppliers added to the platform include Sundowners Overland, Total Holiday Options, Outback Spirit and Bench Africa.
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THE International Air Transport Association (IATA) has expressed “surprise and concern” at a decision by the European Parliament to adopt changes to the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) which would expand its scope to include all flight departures from Europe.
The proposed measure would become effective in 2024, with IATA saying it would lead to “serious distortion of competition and weaken the global competitive position of EU airlines and hubs”.
IATA said the CO2 emissions of international flights departing EU airspace is already covered under the Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation (CORSIA), while the current EU scheme covers flights within Europe.
“A unilateral decision by the EU to expand the scope of ETS extra-territorially to non-EU destinations will threaten the prospects for major global decarbonisation efforts,” fulminated IATA CEO Willie Walsh.
He harked back to a similar “misguided” proposal in 2012 which was unanimously rejected, urging EU officials to support CORSIA instead.
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NORWEGIAN Cruise Line (NCL) has released its 2021 Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) report, confirming a commitment to pursue net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
The cruise line is currently investigating the introduction of methanol fuel by 2025, along with the feasibility of retrofitting existing ship engines to operate with both diesel and methanol.
NCL has set a target for about 70% of its fleet to be equipped with shore power capabilities by 2025 and boosting offsets to help bridge the decarbonisation gap.
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VIRGIN Atlantic overnight conducted its inaugural flight from London Heathrow to Austin, Texas, with human headline Sir Richard Branson on board to celebrate the carrier’s first new US destination since 2017.
The year-round service is now operating four times weekly using a three-class Boeing 787-9 aircraft, with plans to increase frequencies to daily from the second quarter of 2023.
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VIRGIN Australia is considering a public listing on the ASX as early as 2023, just three years after the carrier was placed into Administration and subsequently taken over by private equity firm Bain Capital.
CEO Jayne Hrdlicka cited record leisure demand as well as a strong recovery in corporate flying, telling The Australian the recovery was “a lot faster than we thought it would be”.
“We are flattered that this soon after becoming a new company and starting from scratch we’re in a position where we’re having these conversations” she said.
Hrdlicka confirmed that VA had returned to profitability, with domestic leisure now seeing demand at about 125% of pre-pandemic levels.
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AMERICA’S continued insistence on pre-travel COVID-19 testing for international inbound visitors arriving by air is threatening the recovery of the country’s tourism industry, with the issue a major lobbying focus for the sector in Washington DC.
Speaking at the 53rd annual IPW trade show in Orlando today, outgoing US Travel Association (USTA) President Roger Dow described the inbound testing measure as an “illogical, unnecessary hurdle”.
“Many countries have eliminated testing…we have to follow very quickly,” he said, adding that the measure was a “tremendous deterrent to travel”.
He cited recent USTA research of vaccinated international travellers in six key markets in which more than half of all respondents said the added uncertainty had “caused them to cancel a trip or have a negative impact, while 71% of those surveyed said they prioritised travel to destinations without cumbersome requirements”.
Recent efforts have included a letter to the White House signed by more than 260 key travel and tourism suppliers urging the lifting of the testing measure (TD 03 Jun), with Dow adding that “we’re now turning up the heat on this issue”.
Removing pre-departure testing in the near future is estimated to add another nine million international arrivals and billions in visitor spending in 2022, Dow told delegates at IPW.
“We are hopeful of a decision in the near future,” he said.
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AIRBNB Inc is the latest digital accommodation platform to be hauled before the courts by the ACCC, with the company accused of misleading consumers into believing prices for Australian stays were in Australian dollars, when they were in actual fact priced in US dollars.
The ACCC alleges that between Jan 2018 and Aug 2021, Airbnb made false or misleading representations to thousands of Australian travellers by displaying prices on its platforms using only a dollar sign “$”, without making it clear that those prices were being charged in US dollars.
While at least on “some occasions”, the consumer watchdog concedes Airbnb referred to the price in US dollars in small font on the last page of the booking process, the ACCC said this happened only after the platform had already displayed numerous “$” amounts on earlier pages, without clearly referencing US currency, and importantly, only after the consumer had clicked to “reserve” their accommodation.
The ACCC also alleges the site engaged in further misleading conduct by telling many complainants that it had clearly displayed prices in US dollars, when this was often not the case.
Adding insult to injury, the ACCC also stated some consumers found themselves further out of pocket through currency conversion fees charged by their credit card providers.
During the time period of the alleged deceptive behaviour, the average Australian dollar to US dollar exchange rate was $0.72c, resulting in Australian consumers who thought they were paying $500 for their accommodation booking paying close to $700.
“Despite thousands of consumers complaining to Airbnb about the way prices were displayed, Airbnb didn’t amend its booking platform until after the ACCC raised the issue,” ACCC Chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb claimed.
The ACCC is now seeking injunctions, pecuniary penalties, and orders for the compensation for affected consumers and costs.
The latest case follows Trivago being hit with a $45 million fine for deceptive behaviour back in Apr (TD 22 Apr).
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JET fuel prices have surged to “record levels” which will result in airfares increasing over the coming months, the ACCC’s latest Airline Competition in Australia report has warned.
The consumer watchdog’s report stated that the monthly price of jet fuel reached its highest point on record in May 2022, with the margins between jet fuel and Brent crude oil prices widening from $10 per barrel through most of 2021 to over $80 by Apr, placing immense pressure on airline ticket prices as a result.
Higher demand for air travel as the sector recovers from the pandemic, the conflict in Ukraine, and refiners in North America and Europe focusing on meeting demand for diesel have conspired to increase the price for jet fuel.
Although the cheapest available discount airfares were at a low for flights in late-Apr, the ACCC observed that Rex’s airfares for post-Easter flights were $10 higher than its airfares for pre-Easter flights across many of its routes, while Virgin and Qantas followed Rex by hiking airfares by $10 in Apr on several routes, including services where both airlines compete with Rex.
Jetstar’s airfares generally remained stable during Apr.
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COLLETTE has introduced 29 new ‘Explorations’ tours, expanding its overall small group offering to 44 different itineraries.
President and Chief Brand Officer, Jaclyn Leibl-Cote, said the expansion made small group travel the fastest growing and largest of all of Collette’s various tour offerings.
“Many travellers want to meet local people and experience their cultures and ways of life…small groups make that possible,” Leibl-Cote said.
The trips are conducted in groups of 14-24, with hands-on activities and experiences in four-star or better accommodation that reflects local culture.
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CARNIVAL Cruise Line is in the advanced stages of planning for the deployment of a second ship in the Australian market, with President Christine Duffy saying she expects the addition to be deployed for the upcoming 2022/23 season.
Duffy was speaking to Travel Daily on the sidelines of the IPW conference in Orlando, Florida today, and without giving specifics hinted that the vessel, likely the new addition to the Carnival fleet formerly sailing as Costa Magica, would operate from the newly christened Brisbane International Cruise Terminal.
For more information on this exclusive story, see today’s edition of Cruise Weekly.
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