TRAVELLIVE MAGAZINE Travellive 05-2016 | Page 139

GENERAL NEWS VIETJET AIR Vietjet Air is going to open a new flight route from HCMC to Taiwan and Malaysia. Accordingly, the Ho Chi Minh City - Tainan City route will operate every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday from June 22nd, with about three hours and 15 minutes per leg. The airline wil l also increase flight frequency between Ho Chi Minh City and Taipei from one round trip per day to twice from June 18th, 2016 with flight time of 3 hours 25 minutes per leg. The Ho Chi Minh City - Kuala Lumpur route will run from June 1st. Flying time is about one hour and 55 minutes. SINGAPORE Starting from 20 April 2016, ICA is progressively introducing the BioScreen system at the passenger halls of the sea and land checkpoints. With BioScreen, travelers six and above using the manned counters at immigration checkpoints will be required to scan both their thumbprints upon arrival and departure. Implementing the BioScreen system will allow the authorities to verify the identity of each traveler and spot potential security risks as early as possible. TOUR DE VIETNAM "Tour de Vietnam" will be broadcast at 7 :50pm on SCTV12 channel and at 12:00 on NetViet (VTV10) from Monday to Saturday. "Tour de Vietnam" is a tourist television series introducing Vietnam's tourist attractions, tangible and intangible cultural heritages, superb cuisine, as well as the country's long-standing traditions. "Tour de Vietnam" is expected to provide information on Vietnam's tourism for more than 50 million TV subscribers around the world, contributing to promote Vietnamese tourism. THAILAND The Thai Government is attempting to prevent "zero price" tours and groups coming to this country for a low price. Very cheap tours supposedly ruin the images of Thailand as visitors consider Thailand a cheap place while the government wishes to attract more high-class travelers. The Thai Government will introduce more tours at reasonable prices for visitors from China, Korea, Russia, and other countries. Cheaper tours will be prohibited. JAPAN Japan will test a system that enables visitors to have their identities verified and buy things from shops by stamping their finger when their card details have been processed. This system will encourage visitors from abroad in the lead up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. As well as making the tourism process more streamlined, the data received will be used to help Japanese ministers understand spending habits and locations when visitors arrive. Tokyobased Aeon Bank are set to finalise thier system whereby people will be able to withdraw cash with a fingerprint. 2:55 to 23:11 daily with one cargo coach, and 2 airconditioned soft-seat coaches for suburban passengers and 5 air-conditioned softseat coaches for transiting passengers. Passengers are picked up at Sai Gon, Go Vap, Binh Trieu, Song Than and Di An stations within 1 minute. EMIRATES Emirates has unveiled its plans to boost capacity to London with the addition of a tenth daily flight to the British capital starting 1st October 2016. EK 023 flight will depart from Dubai at 9:50, arriving in London at 14:30. The return flight, EK 024, will leave London at 16:50, arriving in Dubai at 02:40 the next day. The early morning arrival will enable seamless connectivity to key destinations in the Middle East, West Asia and the Far East. The Dubai-London Gatwick service will be operated by a state-of-the-art Boeing 777300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration, with eight Private Suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class. Passengers travelling in premium cabins from Gatwick Airport will enjoy a brand new, exclusive drop-off zone for Emirates' Chauffeur-drive service where porters will assist with their luggage. Emirates also operates a dedicated lounge for First and Business Class passengers which was recently refurbished. HO CHI MINH CITY Sai Gon Railway Transport Joint Stock Company has operated trains Saigon - Di An to meet the people's demand of travelling from HCMC to Dong Nai, Binh Duong, and vice versa. Trains run from AIR NEW ZEALAND As planned, Air New Zealand is opening the first direct route connecting Auckland, New Zealand, and HCMC on June 2016. Accordingly, from June 4th to October 29th, there are three flights each week between Auckland and Tan San Nhat Airports by Boeing 767 - 300. Air New Zealand will continue opening the flight season in the upcoming years. Ho Chi Minh City is the 30th international destination of Air New Zealand, as a part of its plan to expand and promote its brand in the Asia - Pacific. Updated information about new flight routes, culture programs, tourism policies, ranking & awards... in Vietnam and other countries RUSSIA The Russian Federal Agency for Tourism has based its Asia national tourism office in Hanoi. The Hanoi-based Visit Russia office is the country's eighth representative office around the world. It is in charge of promoting Russian tourism in Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Republic of Korea. Sergey Kornev, deputy head of the federal agency, in addition to the office's establishment, Russia will offer Vietnamese tour guides in Russia so that Vietnamese visitors are best served. TRAVELLIVE 139