EU To Press Russia On Siberian Overflight Charges

The European Union will press Russia to set out a timeframe this year for its promise to phase out more than USD$300 million in annual charges it collects from EU airlines to fly over Siberia, EU officials said on Monday.

EU transport ministers meeting in Brussels gave the European Commission a mandate to negotiate a timeframe for the phase-out with Moscow on behalf of the 25-nation bloc.

Russia has agreed to phase out the charges by 2013 as a concession to Europe in its efforts to join the World Trade Organization.

Russia had promised to lay out a plan for the phase-out, but has not yet done so, an EU official said, prompting the need for talks.

Transport Commissioner Jacques Barrot called the charges "exorbitant" and said he hoped to have a phase-out plan established before the end of Finland's presidency of the EU in the second half of 2006.

"This is not in accordance with international rules," he said of the charges.

A European Commission spokesman said negotiations with Russia would also address increasing the number of EU flights permitted over Siberia to meet carriers' increasing demand to serve growing markets in China and Japan.

The talks would also address what system would replace the current charges, he said.

(Reuters)

Cathay And Others Lower HK Fuel Surcharges

Cathay Pacific Airways, Hong Kong's dominant carrier, and other airlines will lower passenger fuel surcharges by up to 3.4 percent with effect from April, the first cut since the costs were imposed last June.

The Hong Kong Civil Aviation Department said that by March 27 it had approved applications from 28 airlines to extend fuel surcharges through to April and May.

Of the 28 carriers, 22 had requested a 3.2 percent to 3.4 percent cut in fuel surcharges compared with those charged in February and March.

The airlines must seek government approval regarding fuel surcharges every two months.

Cathay will reduce its surcharge on short-haul flights by 3.2 percent to HKD$90 (USD$11.50) per ticket and by 3.4 percent on long-haul flights to HKD$370.

Cathay currently charges its customers an additional HKD$93 on short-haul flights and HKD$383 on long-haul flights.

Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Dragonair, Shandong Airlines, Shenzhen Airlines and Xiamen Airlines, will lower their surcharges by 3.2 percent to HKD$90 per ticket from April 1.

A further five airlines asked for an extension of their current surcharge, while Finnair requested that fuel surcharges be increased by 20.1 percent and 36.5 percent, respectively, for its flights linking Hong Kong and Bangkok, and Hong Kong and Helsinki.

Fuel accounts for a large share of airlines' costs and record high prices last year have severely crimped earnings.

Investors also worry that higher ticket prices could eventually curb travel demand.

(Reuters)

Delta May Explore Comair Sale

The chief financial officer of Delta Air Lines said on Monday the company may explore the sale of its regional carrier Comair as the bankrupt airline seeks to raise money and cut costs.

Delta would explore the possibility of a sale of Comair if the wholly-owned unit could be restructured, although the airline does not have a plan in place, said Delta CFO Edward Bastian at a hearing in New York's bankruptcy court.

"If Comair is able to restructure, we will explore" the possibility of monetization, he told the court.

Bastian was testifying during hearings at the bankruptcy court, where Comair is seeking to tear up its flight attendants' contract as part of its push to cut costs.

Comair, which filed for bankruptcy protection in September with Delta, has said it needs about USD$42.3 million in annual cost cuts, including about USD$8.9 million in savings from its flight attendants, to restructure and be competitive. The airline already has agreements with its pilots' and mechanics' unions.

The flight attendants' union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, has argued that the airline's demands for cuts are not justified and place a disproportionately large burden on its members.

The union has threatened to strike if its contract is thrown out, with the flight attendants having already voted to authorize a walkout at the carrier. The airline has about 970 flight attendants.

"That is certainly a serious action that we have to look at," union spokeswoman Victoria Gray said in an interview. Gray said the average annual salary of flight attendants was USD$28,000 and the cuts proposed by Comair would reduce pay by about USD$10,880.

Judge Adlai Hardin told the two sides it was in their interest to negotiate an agreement rather than him ruling on it. "I suggest you negotiate and resolve the matter yourself."

(Reuters)

Venezuela, US In Talks To End Air Dispute

US aviation officials on Monday met for talks with Venezuelan authorities to resolve a dispute over international aviation rights after Caracas threatened to suspend flights by US airlines.

A five-member delegation from the US Federal Aviation Administration arrived in Caracas over the weekend to carry out technical inspections of Venezuela's aviation safety standards and attempt to reach an agreement.

Venezuela's INAC aviation agency warned in February it would curtail flights by American Airlines, Continental Airlines and Delta Air Lines from March 30 if the FAA did not lift decade-old restrictions on Venezuelan airlines flying to US airports.

"It's a matter of public confidence and trust that safety oversight organizations work together," FAA representative Mike Daniels told reporters during a meeting with INAC in Caracas.

The threat of an airline showdown has fueled tensions between left-wing President Hugo Chavez and the United States, which receives about 15 percent of its energy imports from Venezuela, the world's No. 5 oil exporter.

Venezuela says that it has made significant progress in aviation safety since it was first downgraded to a category 2 by the FAA in 1995, a move which imposed restrictions on Venezuelan airline services to US airports.

Caracas believes it has since complied with international standards and should be restored to a category 1 rating to allow its carriers to compete on those routes. Officials say they could suspend the ban depending on the FAA talks.

"The government has shown willingness to temporarily suspend the measure, depending on the atmosphere during the talks," Infrastructure Minister Ramon Carrizalez told reporters. "We are here to discuss this and the aviation authorities are going to verify we are in compliance."

Washington has warned it will respond in kind to any move to ban flights by US carriers to Venezuela.

Venezuela's government is caught up in a heated diplomatic squabble with the administration of US President George W. Bush, who Chavez constantly attacks for his "imperialist" foreign policies and free-trade proposals for the region.

US officials want their Latin American allies to help curb Chavez, a close ally of Cuba who Washington says has become a negative influence by using his country's oil wealth to spread a message of socialist revolution.

(Reuters)

BAA Eyes China As UK Passenger Growth Slows

Bid target BAA said on Tuesday it was considering investing in airports in China as passenger growth at its UK airports slows this year, but said no more on the takeover proposal from Spain's Grupo Ferrovial.

BAA, which owns London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports, said it was performing in line with its expectations and predicted passenger numbers at its UK airports would rise just over 2 percent this year.

Chief Executive Mike Clasper said BAA was looking at investing in secondary airports in China, though any investment would not be on the same scale as last year's GBP£1.3 billion (USD$2.27 billion) acquisition of Budapest Airport.

"What we are looking at are the secondary airports, but given the way the Chinese economy is booming, the secondary airports are millions and millions of passengers," Clasper told reporters after releasing a trading update.

BAA earlier said passenger growth at its UK airports would slow as expected from 4 percent over the past two years, partly due to the impact of July 7 bombings in London and a softer economy. It was expected to rise to 3.3-3.5 percent next year.

This was partly offset by cost savings and higher sales at airport shops in the second half of the year. Net retail income per passenger at its UK airports was expected to grow about 2 percent for the current year.

However, higher staff costs, energy prices and business rates would push operating costs up 8 percent for the year, it said.

Clasper declined to say anything new on Ferrovial's GBP£8.8 billion (USD$14 billion) bid for BAA. BAA rejected the offer earlier this month, and Ferrovial is meeting shareholders this week to promote its offer.

He repeated comments the company made earlier in March that Ferrovial's bid did not reflect the true value of its assets and its "exceptional set of opportunities".

Britain's Takeover Panel has set Ferrovial a deadline of April 24 to either announce a firm bid or walk away.

BAA said Budapest Airport was performing in line with its business plan, while construction of a fifth terminal at London's Heathrow Airport remained on budget.

(Reuters)

Malaysia Airlines To Shed 6,500 Staff

Malaysia Airlines aims to shed almost a third of its work force under plans to cut unprofitable routes and return to the black.

Under a shake-up of domestic routes, the government announced that Malaysia Airlines would operate just 19 domestic trunk routes with 96 others being handed over to the country's low-cost carrier, AirAsia.

The rationalization of domestic routes would require the loss of around 6,500 jobs from Malaysia Airlines' work force of 23,000 and a reduction in its fleet to 21 from 40, the airline said.

"The news on shedding jobs and reducing aircraft is positive for MAS," Ngu Chie Kieng, head of research at local brokerage TA Securities, said on Tuesday.

Malaysia Airlines is trying to overcome a crisis brought about by stiff competition, lower fares, rising fuel prices and its traditional role as a full-service carrier with a big and increasingly unprofitable route network.

Last month, it reported widening losses and said it would raise a USD$1.1 billion cash lifeline and increase local fares for the first time in 13 years to return to profitability next year.

AirAsia may buy six to eight aircraft from Malaysia Air, AirAsia chief Tony Fernandez said on Tuesday.

(Reuters)

Bulgaria Approves Airline Sell Off

Bulgaria's parliament approved a strategy on Thursday to sell flag carrier Bulgaria Air in an attempt to boost the airline's competitiveness ahead of the country's planned European Union entry next year.

Under the scheme, Bulgaria will offer 99.9 percent of the small airline to strategic or financial investors but will keep a golden share to ensure its viability.

Transport Minister Petar Mutafchiev said he hoped to complete the sale quickly to prepare the airline for tough competition once the country opens its skies for EU airlines as early next year.

The airline flies to 19 destinations with nine leased Boeings.

"With the proposed criteria and requirements for investors, we have done everything to guarantee the state interest and the future development of Bulgaria Air," Mutafchiev told parliament.

"I am convinced that this (sale) can happen in a very short time to ensure Bulgaria Air's stable position on the expanding Bulgarian and European markets."

Mutafchiev has said he hoped the sale will attract serious interest and could be closed by June.

So far Scandinavia's SAS, Austrian Airlines and small Bulgarian private company Hemus Air have expressed initial interest in the deal.

Bulgaria Air was formed after the collapse of Balkan Airlines in 2002 and is Bulgaria's biggest airline.

Its revenues grew by 40 percent to 210 million levs (USD$129.5 million) last year, but its profit dropped to 0.5 million from 1.5 million levs a year earlier, mainly due to a surge in fuel prices.

(Reuters)

Northwest, Union To Resume Talks

The union representing ground workers at Northwest Airlines said on Thursday it expects to resume formal talks with the carrier after a bankruptcy court scheduling conference next week.

The International Association of Machinists, which represents the workers, said it hopes to reach an agreement with Northwest before a judge rules on the airline's request to void the workers' contract.

Northwest hopes to win a total of USD$190.4 million in annual concessions from the ground workers. IAM members this month delivered a split decision on a cost-cutting proposal from the airline.

IAM spokesman Frank Larkin said the union is in informal talks with Northwest.

"I don't think they ever end in this kind of situation," Larkin said. "It's our intent to make any ruling by the judge unnecessary."

The IAM said the scheduling conference is set for March 29. At that time, the judge may set a date for the continuation of a trial on Northwest's motion to terminate the contracts with work groups that have not yielded the concessions the airline says it needs to survive.

In the meantime, the workers have an interim contract in place that grants the carrier part of the savings it has requested.

The IAM-represented workers that have yet to reach deals are Northwest's 5,632 equipment service workers and stock clerks and 42 flight simulator technicians and simulator support specialists. Two other IAM work groups ratified contracts on March 7.

Northwest also is awaiting the results of ratification votes by its pilots and flight attendants unions. Negotiators for both unions have reached deals with the airline. But the contract proposals need membership approval to become final.

Northwest filed for bankruptcy in September, weakened by soaring fuel costs and low-fare competition that makes it hard for carriers to raise ticket prices enough to cover expenses.

The airline has said it needs a total of USD$1.4 billion in labor concessions in order to exit bankruptcy.

(Reuters

Aeroflot To Buy Boeing MD-11 Freighters

Russian airline Aeroflot said on Thursday it would sign a deal with Boeing in March or April for the delivery of six cargo planes.

The deal comes ahead of the result of a USD$3 billion tendering competition for 22 passenger aircraft, with Boeing's 787 competing with Airbus's A350 aircraft.

Both Boeing and Airbus have declined to disclose the details of their bids. Aeroflot is expected to announce the winner of the tendering by the end of this month.

Aeroflot's deputy director general, Igor Desyatnichenko, had said that the financial terms of delivering the six MD-11 cargo jets would depend on whether Boeing wins the deal on the passenger planes.

"We ought to sign the final contract (on cargo jets) by March 31, although it is quite probable that there will be a delay of one or two weeks," Desyatnichenko told a news conference, adding that the MDs would be delivered in 2007-08.

Aeroflot's cargo fleet now consists of four McDonnell Douglas DC-10 planes. McDonnell Douglas was bought by Boeing in 1997.

(Reuters)

Jet, Sahara Extend Takeover Deal

Indian carriers Jet Airways and Air Sahara said they had extended by 90 days an agreement on Jet's purchase of Sahara as they try to get the government to allow the deal.

Jet had announced in January it would buy Sahara for USD$500 million in cash to cement its dominance in the quickly growing market. Their agreement was extended after expiring on Thursday, as the private carriers failed to get a regulatory nod in time.

Jet Airways Chairman Naresh Goyal said on Friday he was hopeful the acquisition would win government approval.

"I'm very sure that the government of India will look at it because they are very, very concerned that the industry must be healthy, must remain healthy and it must grow," Goyal told a television news channel.

Consolidation in the nascent industry, which saw four airlines launch last year, appears inevitable as more airlines wait to launch. Cut-rate pricing is putting pressure on the profit margins of all carriers.

The merged airline would have about half of India's domestic market, which is forecast to grow by more than 20 percent a year over the next five years, due to higher incomes and lower fares.

Goyal said Jet had paid Sahara INR1 billion rupees (USD$22.4 million) to meet its working capital needs, and would also pay INR5 billion (USD$112.1 million) through an escrow account in the next few days as an advance payment.

Should the agreement fail to win government approval, the INR5 billion would be returned to Jet without interest, he said.

Earlier, local media reports said Jet might walk away from the Sahara deal after a government agency laid down conditions for the proposed acquisition.

Local media reported India's director general (investigations and registrations) had laid down conditions limiting the scope of the deal because the combined entity would bag a large proportion of scarce infrastructure, such as parking bays and flying rights.

India's Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission (MRTPC) had issued notices to the two companies earlier this week seeking details of the deal to see if it violated the law.

A merged Jet-Sahara will increase the competition for domestic airlines such as state-owned Indian, Paramount and United Breweries-backed Kingfisher, as well as discount carriers SpiceJet, Air Deccan and GoAir.

Sahara, which began operations just months after Jet in 1993, is part of a USD$12 billion group owned by flamboyant tycoon Subroto Roy, who also has interests in financing, housing and media.

(Reuters)

US NTSB Urges Airbus A300 Rudder Checks

US safety investigators issued an urgent recommendation on Friday for new rudder inspections on Airbus A300-600 jets.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommendation to the Federal Aviation Administration covers the A300-600, a wide body jet used in passenger and cargo service with around 400 models estimated in service worldwide.

The recommendation for checks of the rudder's composite skin stemmed from an inspection of a FedEx A300-600 rudder after it was damaged during maintenance last November.

"The board noted that this incident might have applicability to a more serious rudder separation that occurred last year," investigators said.

"The board believes that this urgent recommendation, if acted upon quickly, will go a long way to prevent a catastrophic failure of the rudder," said Mark Rosenker, the acting safety board chairman.

Airbus notified airlines three weeks ago of potential problems with the rudder's inner skin and urged inspections within six months or 500 flights. But the safety board wants the checks immediately and wants the FAA to make them mandatory.

In addition to FedEx, American Airlines also flies the A300 series. An American A300-600 crashed in New York in November 2001, killing 265 people, after its tail fin snapped off.

Investigators mainly centered on the pilot's aggressive rudder use in that crash and rudder system design. But a good part of the probe focused on the durability of composites and other materials used in construction of the tail fin. No problems were found.

A rudder is a vertical panel on the back edge of the tail fin that swings from side to side to help maintain lateral control of an aircraft.

(Reuters)

13 Countries To Introduce Air Ticket Tax For Poor

Thirteen countries forged an alliance on Wednesday to adopt a levy on plane tickets to help poor countries fight AIDS and other killer diseases, despite resistance from airlines.

A further 25 countries opted not to impose the tax but promised to contribute to a central pot which the core group of 13 will create from the levy to fund the purchase of generic drugs and other medicines to help the poor.

"We are creating something that is completely new and revolutionary," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told reporters at the end of a two-day conference in Paris on finding new ways to fund development.

"This is a decisive step for aid and development... There are six million people on the planet who need urgent treatment against AIDS and don't get any medicine."

Brazil, Britain, Chile, Congo, Cyprus, France, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nicaragua, and Norway have now agreed to raise or started raising a sum from air tickets to help the poor, they said in a closing statement.

The 25 others included countries such as Germany, Belgium, Austria, South Africa, South Korea and Mexico.

The alliance builds on a proposal by President Jacques Chirac to impose a levy of one euro (USD$1.20) on plane tickets to help spread the benefits of globalization to people living on less than a euro a day, a level of poverty that prevents the hardest hit by malaria, AIDS and tuberculosis from receiving treatment.

Britain and France have also announced a joint study on funding education and health through the airline ticket levy, a decision welcomed by some aid groups.

Already concerned about high fuel costs, airlines are wary of the idea, which faces opposition from the United States and European Union tourist destinations such as Italy and Greece.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) urged governments this week to reject the proposal.

"Airlines make a massive contribution to development by bringing tourists to destinations and transporting goods to markets. Making air transport more expensive is akin to biting the very hand that feeds development," said Giovanni Bisignani, the head of IATA.

From July 1, a French law will levy one euro on domestic and European flights and 4 euros on long-haul flights. Business and first class travelers will be charged an extra 10 euros, rising to 40 euros on international flights.

France expects to raise EUR200 million (USD$238.3 million) in a full year from the levy. Other countries will decide individually what charges to apply.

French officials said the drug purchase facility would provide stable, long-term funding for anti-retroviral drugs used to fight the HIV virus.

They hope it will eventually encourage pharmaceutical firms and makers of generic drugs to increase production, stimulate competition and so lower prices.

UN estimates say about USD$200 billion a year will be needed in official development aid by 2015 to meet the so-called Millennium Development Goals of halving world poverty.

(Reuters)

UK Government Says Airport Owners Need To Invest

The UK government warned potential bidders for airport operator BAA on Tuesday that they will need to invest heavily to meet an expected rise in travelers to and from south-east England.

Backing comments made by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) regulator last month, Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said essential future air travel investment in the region included two additional runways by 2030.

"The government therefore supports the view, recently expressed by the CAA, that it is important that any owner of a London airport should recognize the significant near- and medium-term investment requirements," Darling said in a statement.

"This is likely to require the maintenance of credit quality sufficient to ensure the cost-effective financing of future investment."

Spain's Grupo Ferrovial last week made an GBP£8.8 billion (USD$14.87 billion) takeover bid for BAA, which owns Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted airports. BAA rejected the bid.

Ferrovial said last week it was committed to the continued development of BAA's businesses.

BAA is building a GBP£4.2 billion (USD$7.35 billion) fifth terminal at Heathrow and plans a second runway at Stansted under government-backed plans to cope with growing air travel demand.

Darling was responding to a consultation by the CAA on price caps to airport charges. The CAA is currently reviewing the price BAA can charge airlines to use its London airports.

Ferrovial plans to lobby major BAA shareholders to support its proposal this week before deciding whether to take the bid hostile or walk away. Major shareholders have said its offer is too low.

Sources familiar with the situation have said Australia's Macquarie Bank is also looking at a possible bid.

Ferrovial's consortium included an investment company directed by GIC Special Investments and Canadian fund manager Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec.

(Reuters)

Airlines Will Lose 30 Million Bags In 2006

Some 30 million pieces of airline luggage -- about one percent of the bags passengers check in -- will go astray this year, the air travel industry's information technology systems provider SITA said on Tuesday.

The Geneva-based company, which tracks baggage in 220 countries and territories, said virtually all missing bags would be returned to their owners within an average of 31 hours after being reported missing.

Around 204,000 pieces -- a minute proportion of the 3 billion bags expected to be checked in at world airports by around 2 billion passengers in 2006 -- would never be found after getting lost in the system or stolen.

Francesco Violante, managing director of SITA INC, the commercial arm of SITA, said the air transport industry spent about USD$2.5 billion a year tracking down and returning luggage and compensating passengers for lost items.

While the present rapid growth in air travel -- about 6 percent a year -- is welcome, Violante said, "it has to be better managed if airlines and airports want to improve the passenger experience by eliminating delays from the system".

SITA, which along with the global airlines body IATA operates a baggage-tracing system used by 391 carriers, issued its report for an exhibition in Paris.

More and more bags are going missing because of airport congestion, short transition times, frequent switches from one airline to another during a journey, tight security rules and rising passenger and baggage volumes, SITA said in the report.

More sophisticated systems linking bags and owners and more self-service check-in kiosks could help the industry keep better tabs on luggage, SITA added.

The report said the chief cause of late-arriving bags was mishandling when luggage is transferred between flights. This accounted for 61 percent of hold-ups in 2005.

Next came failure to load bags at the original departure point, which made up 15 percent of delays. The attaching of incorrect destination tags at check-in accounted for just 3 percent, according to the report.

(Reuters)

EasyJet Considers Madrid Expansion

Low-cost airline easyJet said on Wednesday it is looking at establishing Madrid's Barajas Airport as its operational base for southern Europe, confirming press reports.

"We've been talking to AENA (the Spanish airport authority) about opening a new base in Madrid but no decisions have been taken yet," said an easyJet spokesman.

The spokesman added that Madrid offers good growth opportunities because of the opening last month of a new passenger terminal.

"The idea is that the new base would be operational in 2007 and would use one of the old terminals where traffic has been reduced by half since the new T4 terminal started," the spokesman said.

(Reuters)

Emirates Urges Airbus To Define A340 Plans

Dubai-based airline Emirates wants Airbus to clarify upgrade plans for the slow-selling A340 model before it takes delivery of the latest version on offer, it said on Tuesday.

"Our order for 20 A340-600s still stands. (But) We are waiting for (information on) the enhanced version," Emirates President Tim Clark said.

Emirates is the launch customer for the A340-600 High Gross Weight (HGW), the latest version of the plane set to begin deliveries this year.

If it defers those deliveries, Airbus would be forced to find other carriers to take delivery slots for the A340-600 HGW, such as rival Qatar Airways, which has also ordered the plane.

Airbus is facing questions about the fate of the A340 model after it was hammered in sales by the rival Boeing 777 model in 2005.

Airbus sold 15 A340s while Boeing sold more than 150 777s as carriers opted for the lower operating costs of a twin-engined model versus one with four engines.

Airlines say Airbus is now fighting back by offering to build an upgraded, more fuel-efficient version with new engines dubbed the A340-600 Enhanced, though the planemaker has remained tight-lipped about the project.

John Leahy, Airbus' chief commercial officer, said last month that airlines were asking about changes to the A340 but declined to comment about the mooted A340-600 Enhanced.

An Airbus spokesman on Tuesday also declined to comment.

Airline officials say the A340-600 Enhanced would use a variant of the engine being developed by Rolls-Royce for the new, smaller Airbus A350 model due in 2010.

A Rolls-Royce official declined to comment, but noted that consultations with planemakers about new models were a normal part of their business.

When Emirates originally ordered the A340-600s, the A350 project and its engines had not been launched.

New, more fuel-efficient engines have paved the way for upgrades and new planes, including the A350 and two models from Boeing -- the mid-sized 787 due in 2008 and a stretched version of the 747 jumbo jet dubbed the 747-8 Intercontinental.

(Reuters)

Sydney’s A$352m Winning Spree Sets New Record

The Sydney Convention and Visitors Bureau has set a new record in winning business for its city, securing A$352 million worth of conferences and other events in less than nine months.

With more than three months still remaining in the 2005/06 financial year, the result has already eclipsed the previous annual record of A$291 million set in 2002/03.

“The SCVB has already won bids for 33 major events during 2005/06, which will attract almost 245,000 additional delegates to Sydney,” SCVB Managing Director Jon Hutchison said. “In bidding for these events, we’ve achieved a success rate of more than 76%, which is an enviable strike rate for any city.”

The new record was set this week when Sydney was chosen as the host city for the 2014 Rotary International Convention, which will bring 22,000 delegates to Sydney and inject an estimated A$63.8 million into the local economy. The Rotary event is one of the world’s largest annual international conventions.

According to the SCVB Market Overview, the world business events sector will continue to prosper during 2006 and beyond. It says the global meetings industry is expected to grow for a third consecutive year, with meeting planners forecasting a 7% increase in meetings and suppliers forecasting a 9% increase in meeting budgets.

Mr Hutchison said the SCVB’s results were likely to improve further during the remaining three months of the financial year, with several bid decisions still pending.

“While this has been a standout year for us, we are conscious that competition for international meetings is more intense than ever. Good event research and strong bids remain paramount to our success,” Mr Hutchison said.

Source: ASIA Travel Tips .com