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Singapore Airlines unveils luxurious new A380 cabins

On 15 October, Singapore Airlines revealed the new cabin interior designed to deliver unprecedented comfort, space and luxury to all customers flying its new twin-deck Airbus A380 aircraft.

The configuration of 471 seats in three classes includes 60 innovative new Business Class seats on the upper deck, 399 comfortable new Economy Class seats across the main and upper decks and 12 exceptional Singapore Airlines Suites on the main deck.

Singapore Airline Suites - a cabin class beyond First

Setting a new standard in premium air travel, the exclusive Suites feature a bold and unique design to give each customer a private cabin in the sky, which behind discrete sliding doors, includes fully adjustable seats almost a metre wide, plus a separate full-sized flat bed with plush mattress.

"Developed with our most valued and distinguished customers in mind, the concept of the Singapore Airlines Suites is nothing less than ground-breaking in the luxury travel market", declared Mr. Yap Kim Wah, Singapore Airlines. Senior Vice President, Product and Services.

The intelligent design offers customers the choice to rest in their preferred positions, and also allows them to sit and lounge in bed to read or catch movies on their personal 58cm LCD screen. For couples travelling together, the beds in the middle two suites can be converted to an optional double bed.

For customers who choose to catch up on work on board, their Suite can be transformed into a stylish office space, complete with generously wide, height adjustable tables that can function as a workstation or meeting table, as well as a large dining table. Tapping into the in-seat power supplies will get laptops up and running, whilst customers with thumb drives can plug into the USB ports and take advantage of the comprehensive package of office tools available on the bigger and better new Krisworld, the airlines. award-winning in-flight entertainment system.

To complete the luxurious experience, customers can wine and dine on board as they would in a world-class restaurant, with the flexibility to choose what and when to eat. Sumptuous gourmet dishes feature among a wide choice of meals, including those exclusively designed by top chefs on the Singapore Airlines. International Culinary Panel, such as the UK's Gordon Ramsey, France's George Blanc, Matt Moran from Australia and Sam Leong of Singapore.

Specification

Visit www.singaporeair.com for more information.

Fresh-look trade site for Air New Zealand

Air New Zealand's trade website (airnewzealandtrade.com) has undergone a major refresh in content, look, feel and navigation to make the new site as relevant and seamless to use as possible.

Geared to both corporate and leisure agents, the brand new user-friendly site will be updated weekly with relevant industry and airline news to keep the site fresh and up-to-date, and will soon include blogging and picture loading functionality to enable the site to carry images and stories from events or industry parties!

As an added incentive to visit the site regularly, airnewzealandtrade.com will also feature monthly promotions, "fresh rewards", offering the trade the chance to win amazing prizes including hot-air balloon rides, luxurious spa experiences, Air New Zealand round the world flights plus much more.

Key website changes include:

• New URL - airnewzealandtrade.com
• Completely new look and feel
• Ease of navigation
• No more log-in required
• Monthly "fresh rewards" promotions on the homepage, eg cases of
• 42 Below, hot-air balloon rides, Top Shop makeovers etc

The website is due to launch on the 2 November and to celebrate, the airline is giving away 30 Air New Zealand flights (10 to Hong Kong/ 10 to Los Angeles/ and 10 to New Zealand). All the UK based trade need to do is to sign up to the database and they will automatically be put into the draw.

Buy Business, fly First with United

As an early Christmas bonus, United Airlines is offering to upgrade all full fare roundtrip United Business class tickets (CR2UA) for United First tickets! For departures up to by 14th December 2007 to the airline.s gateway cities of Chicago (CHI), Los Angeles (LAX), San Francisco (SFO), Washington (WAS) and New York (NYC) all qualify. All you have to do is make your customers. booking in A class.

Customers travelling to selected non-gateway cities can take advantage of a special offer too. By purchasing a full fare United Business class return they.ll have the opportunity to upgrade to United First in one direction . either westbound or eastbound. Simply book the desired sectors in A class with the Business class sectors C class.

The fare basis for this promotion comprises: AR2UP1, AR2UP2, CR2UP1 & CR2UP2.

New services for TAP

On October 28, TAP inaugurated regular direct flights to the city of Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, with four flights a week departing from Lisbon on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 9:50pm. This new destination reinforces connections to the Portuguese-speaking country, as daily flights to Sal will be maintained, establishing a total of 11 flights a week between Portugal and Cape Verde.

For more information, please go to http://www.flytap.com/UK/en/Company/Press/PressReleases/6534

To increase the network still further in 2008, TAP will run five flights a week between Lisbon and Belo Horizonte from February 11, bringing the total to 65 flights a week between Portugal and Brazil. These new flights to the state capital of Minas Gerais will run in both directions on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.

Operating on Airbus A330 aircraft with a capacity of 259 passengers, flights on this new route leave Lisbon at 10am and arrive in Belo Horizonte at 5:30pm. On the return leg, they take off from Belo Horizonte at 7pm and land in the Portuguese capital at 6:05am.

For more information, please go to http://www.flytap.com/UK/en/Company/Press/PressReleases/6523

New investment, services, lounges and a new award for SWISS, "Europe's Leading Airline"

At the 14th World Travel Awards on October 9, SWISS was presented with the prestigious award for "Europe's Leading Airline", for the second year running.

"We are delighted to receive this award", announced Christoph Beckmann, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at SWISS, at the ceremony in Newcastle, "And we are proud and honoured that industry specialists from over 190 countries have named SWISS Europe's top air carrier. This award confirms to us once again that the travel trade values our high service standards, our hospitality and our innovative flair".

The World Travel Awards are bestowed for outstanding performance in the tourist and travel sector, based on the voting of over 150 000 travel agents all over the world. And this latest distinction was earned in competition with 14 other airlines, and encourages the airline to further maintain its alignment and commitment to the highest quality standards.

Over CHF 1 billion investment in fleet renewal

SWISS is to invest substantially more than CHF 1 billion in renewing its intercontinental aircraft fleet, replacing nine Airbus A330-200s with bigger and more advanced A330-300s.

Continuing its programme of renewal, in the coming years the airline will provide First Class cabins throughout its long-haul fleet. It will also be the only airline in the world to offer First Class to all its long-haul destinations, further reinforcing its position as a top quality airline.

With the Airbus A330-300s accommodating more seats than the aircraft they replace, the fleet renewal will also increase SWISS.s long-haul seating capacity, enabling the airline to benefit from the present market growth while simultaneously achieving a 13% reduction in the specific CO2 emissions of its A330 fleet.

SWISS will also be adding four more Airbus A320 aircraft to its European operations over the next few years.

SWISS expands its winter service

During the winter timetable, effective from October 28, SWISS will serve 43 European and 28 intercontinental destinations with a fleet of 72 aircraft. In addition to these routes, codeshare flights between Switzerland and 15 other cities will also be available with the airline's partners.

For intercontinental travellers, a new daily service will begin between Zurich and Delhi with Airbus A330 aircraft. Flights to and from Chicago are now operated with Airbus A340 aircraft, which means passengers can be offered both SWISS First Class and SWISS Business Class, each cabin fitted with comfortable lie-flat seats. Departure times on the Zurich-Boston route have been changed to an early-evening departure from Zurich and a late evening departure from Boston. This allows for improved connections while simultaneously giving customers more time for their business or leisure activities.

Within Europe, SWISS is expanding its service to and from Geneva with seasonal scheduled flights between Geneva - Moscow on Saturdays (29 December 07 - 22 March 08) and Geneva - Manchester on Sundays (16 December 07 - 23 March 08). A second daily codeshare flight between Geneva and Porto and a daily codeshare flight between Zurich and Porto are also being introduced. These flights are operated by TAP Portugal, our Star Alliance partner. On the Zurich . Berlin route, SWISS is increasing service to four flights daily. Together with Lufthansa, a total of seven flights every day will be available.

More comfort and elegance: the new SWISS lounges

Following the successful opening of the new SWISS Business Class Lounge this spring, two new SWISS lounges will open at Geneva Airport at the end of October: one exclusively for frequent flyer members with Senator or Gold programme status and one for SWISS First Class and VIP customers as well as Miles & More customers with HON status.

Conveniently located within a short walking distance of airport passport and security control points and designed specifically to meet the needs of the most discerning customers, both new facilities underline the airline.s commitment to hospitality. The fresh and elegant interiors, created especially for SWISS, convey the .at-home. feeling that lies at the heart of the airline.s travel experience. The same concept will soon be apparent at the lounges in Zurich, which are to be refurbished during the winter.

New online shop for Miles & More members

Since October 1, members of the airline.s Miles & More frequent flyer programme have been able to redeem their miles online in the new SWISS SHOP. The products offered include a wide range of 250 items from top Swiss manufacturers and international brands. They also include the four different lines of the new SWISS travel baggage range, which is available exclusively at the SWISS SHOP.

The initial product range is to be constantly expanded, too. The top-quality travel, lifestyle, sports, household and home electronics goods, along with various items from the fascinating world of aviation, can be purchased either with Swiss francs or with Miles & More miles.

Once registered, SWISS SHOP customers will also receive regular newsletters with details of the latest innovations. This new benefit of Miles & More follows the programme.s extension at the beginning of September to SWISS.s in-flight sales. Which has enabled Miles & More members to earn or spend miles when duty-free shopping on board.

SWISS helps customers to protect the environment

SWISS now offers its customers a simple option for voluntarily offsetting the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions caused each time they travel, by paying a corresponding amount along with their airfare. The additional amount is paid to the reputed Swiss-based myclimate foundation, SWISS.s partner in providing the new option.

The projects selected by SWISS for its customers. carbon offset amounts comply with internationally agreed criteria and have been awarded the Gold Standard, currently the highest seal of approval for carbon offset undertakings. The Gold Standard sets criteria that have been devised by the WWF and other international environmental organisations, and guarantees that the projects concerned fulfill the highest sustainability criteria in both environmental and social terms.

New excess baggage concept as of winter timetable

From the start of the winter timetable on October 28, SWISS will introduce a new concept for excess baggage charges and simplify charges for sporting equipment.

By aligning its charges more closely with that of partners Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines, the new structure features a more evenly balanced rate formula across all six geographical travel zones for which the baggage weight concept applies.

Only six rate levels will now apply per zone, so some areas will experience a decline in the rates, while others will experience an increase. This streamlining is also expected to facilitate faster and smoother check-in. And, whilst it does not affect the piece concept, for flights to and from the USA and Canada, the rate will increase on baggage items weighing between 23 and 32 kg for passengers flying in Economy Class.

In preparation for their departure, customers can obtain all the information they need on excess baggage charges and other baggage-related matters by visiting swiss.com/baggage

New double daily services to Vienna and award-winning catering on the menu from Austrian

From 29 October 2007, Austrian Airlines will begin double daily weekday services from London City Airport to Vienna giving passengers a choice of seven flights a day between London and Vienna.

Specification

As an added bonus, members of the Miles & More frequent flyer programme using the new LCY services between 29 October 2007 and 31 January 2008 will qualify for double award points.

Austrian is also offering Economy returns, LHR/Vienna from just £99 including taxes for flights booked between 15 October . 10 November 2007 with travel to be completed between 15 November 2007 and 31 March 2008, check your CRS for details.

No. 1 for Business Class catering

Austrian offers a complimentary meal service in all classes on all flights and has just been voted No. 1 for Business Class catering worldwide by Skytrax.

Austrian Arrows (formerly Tyrolean Airways), has also been awarded Regional Airline of the Year, Silver 2007/2008 by the European Regional Airline Association (ERA). And, as the icing on the cake, Austrian Chief Executive Officer, Alfred Oetsch, has been voted onto the Presidents Committee of the Association of European Airlines (AEA).

Air Canada introduces winter timetable

Air Canada's extensive winter schedule, which includes four daily direct flights from London Heathrow to Toronto, offers connections onward to 67 Canadian and 53 US destinations as well as flights to the Caribbean, South America and Asia, And to make flying Air Canada an easier option, at Toronto's world class International Airport, all Air Canada and Air Canada Jazz services operate from a single state-of-the-art terminal building, Terminal 1.