Carry On: Alliance boosts Singapore tourism, Cathay's last jumbo flight and more

Singapore boost for tourism
Tourism New Zealand says the new alliance between Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines that will boost capacity between the two countries by up to 30% can only benefit the industry. Under the proposal, Singapore Airlines will operate a daily Airbus A380 service between Auckland and Singapore, progressively replacing an existing daily service operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. Air New Zealand will operate a daily Boeing 777-200ER service to Singapore from as early as December 2014, taking over five flights currently operated by Singapore Airlines and adding two weekly flights, increasing the frequency to daily. “There is a lot of airline capacity into Singapore from Europe and across Asia but until now there has been a lack of onward capacity between Singapore and New Zealand, affecting our ability to grow visitors through Singapore,” Tourism New Zealand chief executive Kevin Bowler says. Travel agents say the increase is long overdue and will benefit travellers with a wider fare choices. Jetstar is the only competing airline on the Auckland-Singapore route. Visitor arrival numbers from Singapore alone increased 13% in the past year.

China Southern adds New York
China Southern Airlines, which offers a daily service to its Guangzhou hub from Auckland, will launch a non-stop service to New York JFK from August 6. The service will operate with a new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Kiev joins Dubai's network
Emirates has launched a scheduled daily service to Kiev, its first route to the Ukraine and its 35th destination in Europe. The flight leaves Dubai at 5.10pm and arrives in Kiev at 8.30pm local time the same day. The return flight to Dubai leaves Kiev at 10.05pm and gets into Dubai at 4.45am the following day, providing connections to all of Emirates four daily services to New Zealand. The service uses an Airbus A340-500 aircraft and has 12 private suites in first class, 42 in business Class seats and 204 in economy.

Cathay sets final jumbo flights
Cathay Pacific is moving forward its planned final Boeing 747-400 scheduled long-haul services. The last San Francisco flight is scheduled on August 31, while the Johannesburg service is scheduled on August 31/September 1. The airline previously planned to operate its last Boeing 747-400 scheduled long-haul service on October 25.

Hogan to take up board seat
The Australian-born chief executive of Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways, James Hogan, says he will personally take up the board seat on offer from Virgin Australia. The airline has also offered board seats to its two other major shareholders, Air New Zealand and Singapore Airlines. The three control a combined 67% of Virgin after backing a $A350 million capital raising. Air New Zealand and Singapore have not yet announced who will represent them on the Virgin board.