To make things as easy as possible for the agents and industry to get updated, here is a run down of the latest updates in the travel industry.
CRUISE
Royal Caribbean suspends cruises
Royal Caribbean Cruises LTD. announced that it is suspending cruising in Australia for 30 days. They are reaching out to guests to help them work through this disruption to their holidays and communicating with crew to work out the issues this decision presents for them. Cruises that departed from Australian ports prior to our announcement will continue to operate and return to Australia as planned.
Virgin Voyages’ postpones Scarlet Lady’s inaugural sailing
The decision has been made to postpone the Showcase Tour launch and inaugural sailing season for Scarlet Lady until July 15, 2020, with the Maiden Voyage taking place August 7, 2020. Virgin Voyages are offering a range of options from a full refund and a voyage credit to extra special bonuses if you book a future sailing.
AIRLINE
Air New Zealand makes capacity reductions
Air New Zealand is further reducing capacity across its network as a result of the impact of Covid-19 on travel demand, placing itself into a trading halt. On its long haul network Air New Zealand will be reducing its capacity by 85 percent over the coming months and will operate a minimal schedule to allow Kiwis to return home and to keep trade corridors with Asia and North America open. Full details of this schedule will be advised in the coming days.
The airline can advise it is suspending flights between Auckland and Chicago, San Francisco, Houston, Buenos Aires, Vancouver, Tokyo Narita, Honolulu, Denpasar and Taipei from 30 March to 30 June. It is also suspending its London–Los Angeles service from 20 March (ex LAX) and 21 March (ex LHR) through to 30 June. The Tasman and Pacific Island network capacity will significantly reduce between April and June. Details of these schedule changes will be announced later this week. On the Domestic network, capacity will be reduced by around 30 percent in April and May but no routes will be suspended.
Singapore Airlines flexible rebooking policy
Singapore Airlines is waiving all rebooking fees for tickets issued on or before 15 March 2020, for travel up to 31 May 2020, with immediate effect. Customers can cancel their existing flight itineraries, retain the value of their tickets and rebook their travel at a later date, when they are able to firm up their new travel plans. The new flight itinerary should be completed by 31 March 2021. This new policy will allow customers the flexibility to defer their travel plans and applies to all bookings for travel up to 31 May 2020. All rebooking fees will be waived, although a fare difference may apply for the new itinerary.
Hawaiian Airlines suspends Australia & NZ service
Hawaiian Airlines announced it will temporarily suspend nonstop service between Honolulu and its Australia and New Zealand gateways starting later this month. The five times per week flight between Honolulu (HNL) and Sydney Airport (SYD), will suspend service through April 30 after its SYD to HNL flight on March 22. The carrier will pause three-times-weekly Brisbane service through May 31 after operating the flight from Brisbane Airport (BNE) to HNL on March 23. In New Zealand, which Hawaiian also serves with three-times-weekly flights, service will stop through May 31 after the flight that departs Auckland Airport (AKL) to HNL on March 22. For further information, please visit HawaiianAirlines.com or call Hawaiian Airlines’ reservations department at 1-800-367-5320.
Finnair updates on rebooking policy
Finnair customer service is currently handling a large volume of requests and apologises for the longer than usual response time. The latest rebooking policy is:
Applicable to all tickets issued by 30APR20:
Customers can change their travel date flexibly without a change fee and travel until 30 November, 2020, if
- Ticket issued by 30 April 2020
- Original travel date is latest on 30 November 2020
- Finnair operated and marketed flight on Finnair ticket
- Rebook into the same class as the original flight or lowest available in the same cabin
- Ticket revalidation permitted
- Change made by 30 November 2020
- Applies to all ticket types
- OS AY CHANGE OF TRAVEL DUE TO CORONA must be added to all changed bookings
Please note that the change in the ticket rules doesn’t apply to tour operator bookings with special agreements with Finnair (Finnair Holidays, Aurinkomatkat (Suntours) and others) or Group bookings.
For all cancelled flights, the options are:
- Postpone of travel until 30 November, 2020 with no extra cost
- Full refund for unused flight ticket and ancillaries
The following policy will apply:
- Finnair operated and marketed flight on Finnair ticket
- Rebook into the same class as the original flight or lowest available in the same cabin
- Ticket revalidation permitted
- Rerouting not permitted
- Postpone the trip so that the return flight is latest 30Nov20
- Full refund of unused flights and ancillaries permitted
- OS AY POSTPONE OF TRAVEL DUE TO CORONA / OS AY REFUND DUE TO CORONA must be added to all changed or refunded bookings
You can find the policy on Finnair Easy by clicking on this link – HERE. For any further questions, you can call our Agent Helpdesk on 1800 491 791 – option 3. They are open 7 days a week, so you can get assistance from them at any time. The opening hours are: Monday to Friday from 8.00 to 20.00 AEDT. Saturday & Sunday from 9.00 to 18.00 AEDT.
TOURS
Bunnik Tours suspends tours until 30 April
Bunnik Tours has taken the difficult decision to suspend all tours departing between 16 March and 30 April 2020. Tours currently in progress will continue to run as planned however the company will be providing options for travellers wanting to return home to Australia early. Bunnik will work with third parties to minimise costs and maximise credits. Due to the large number of airline and land suppliers across the touring programs, Bunnik has advised clients that this will take some time to finalise. All suspended tours will have the funds placed on hold for future travel on a Bunnik Tour. Bunnik Tours will continue to monitor the situation taking their lead from the relevant health authorities and the Australian Government. At this time, they are not recommending that anyone who has a booking post 1 June make any decisions to cancel.
INDUSTRY
Breakaway Travelclub COVID-19 Announcement
For cruise lines that are offering a full refund, Breakaway Travelclub will also waive cancellation fees. For questions regarding specific cruises, please visit that cruise line’s website for up to date information. Bookings on industry fares are covered by the airlines reprotection policies. Any questions can be directed to breakaway@travelclub.com.au.
EVENTS
WITS 2020 – Postponement Announcement
The World Indigenous Tourism Summit (WITS 2020), being hosted by WAITOC and WINTA, has advised that the WITS 2020 that was scheduled to take place from 6 – 9 April has been postponed to 2 – 5 November, 2020 due to the evolving COVID-19 virus situation.
Rendez-Vous Canada 2020 cancelled
With increased Canadian (local, provincial and federal) and foreign government restrictions, and an increasing number of large-scale events around the world cancelling in efforts to fight and contain the spread of COVID-19, Destination Canada and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada regrets to inform that Rendez-vous Canada 2020, scheduled to take place in Quebec City from May 5-8, 2020, is cancelled. Rendez-vous Canada will return next year from May 16-19, 2021 in Edmonton, Alberta.
