All posts tagged: News

Mandarin Orchard to be rebranded as Hilton Orchard Singapore

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Property set to be the largest Hilton in Asia Pacific region OUE Limited and OUE Commercial Reit (OUE C-Reit), owners of Mandarin Orchard Singapore, has announced that it will be rebranding the property into Hilton Singapore Orchard. Located in the heart of Orchard Road right across from Ngee Ann City, Hilton Singapore Orchard will be Hilton’s flagship in Singapore and the largest Hilton hotel in Asia-Pacific. The refurbishment was originally planned for later, but OUE has brought it forward to commence in Q2 this year, given the challenging climate due to Covid-19. The works are scheduled to complete by end 2021, for a 2022 opening. When completed, the hotel will boast of 1,080 rooms, three ballrooms and five restaurants, one of the largest non-IR properties in Singapore. In the meantime, the hotel will still continue to operate under the Mandarin Orchard brand, managed by Meritus Hotels & Resorts. Final thoughts This is definitely very exciting news for Hilton, given that the group has not put out any new properties in Singapore despite growing its footprint …

Singapore Airlines cuts 96% of planned capacity as Singapore shuts borders to visitors

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All but some essential routes will be axed Following Singapore’s announcement over the weekend to bar all foreign visitors and even restrict long term visitors to come in, Singapore Airlines announced it will be cutting 96% of its scheduled capacity till end-April 2020, along with it, grounding 138 out of 147 aircraft. This comes after Scoot suspended most of its network until late April, grounding 47 out of 49 aircraft. Deeper cuts Singapore Airlines have previously said it will cut its capacity by up to 50% just last week, after drastic measures put in by the Singapore government to place most travellers on 14-day Stay Home Notice (SHN). With the latest tightening of Singapore’s border control, Singapore Airlines is definitely an inevitable victim of circumstances, with virtually zero As of last Saturday after all in-bound travellers are required to serve 14-day SHN, only a mere 600 odd visitors entered the country – probably the lowest Singapore has ever seen in decades – and this number will be zeroed in the weeks ahead. Flights to be …

Cathay Pacific slashes 96% of capacity in April & May

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The Hong Kong based airline will only operate three weekly flights each to 12 cities worldwide. Following a major reduction of capacity since earlier this year, Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon has announced a further reduction of capacity. All Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon flights are essentially cancelled, except for three flights a week to 15 cities around the world. The cities are: Singapore Kuala Lumpur* Bangkok Jakarta Manila Ho Chi Minh City Beijing* Shanghai Pudong* Tokyo Taipei New Delhi Sydney Los Angeles Vancouver London Heathrow *operated by Cathay Dragon The skeletal operations will last through May, after which Cathay Pacific will review the situation and make further announcements. The reduction means a 96% reduction in capacity by the carrier. As again, affected travellers (who is actually still travelling?!) will be reaccommodated on appropriate services, although I would reckon that may mean up to 2 days’ wait at the airport for your connecting flight! The full schedule of this skeletal service is not out yet, but I will imagine they will not be regular (i.e. …

Singapore Airlines waives change fee for all tickets issued between 6 and 31 March

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No change fees for all commercial or award tickets issued between 6 and 31 Mar 2020 for all destinations Singapore Airlines has over the weekend announced that it will waive change fees for all Singapore Airlines and SilkAir tickets issued between 6 and 31 Mar 2020. The change fee waiver is applied across both commercial and award booking, and for all ticket routing worldwide. This is the full announcement from Singapore Airlines: Singapore Airlines will waive change fees for all SIA and SilkAir tickets issued between 6 March 2020 and 31 March 2020. This new policy will give customers the flexibility to change their travel plans without incurring additional change fees, given the concerns over the growing global scale of the Covid-19 outbreak. Global travel waiver policy We will waive change fees for customers with SIA or SilkAir tickets issued on 6 March 2020 through 31 March for travel to and from all destinations. The new travel date must commence before 31 March 2021. Top-up fees may still apply for fare differences in the new itinerary. For cancellations, refunds …