Business Traveller Asia-Pacific Edition November 2017

It’s official: Mother Nature is not happy. If 2016’s headlines were dominated by political shocks and untimely celebrity deaths, it feels like this year has been an endless report of natural disasters, from the devastating 7.1-magnitude earthquake in Mexico to the succession of intense hurricanes that have battered the Caribbean and US east coast this summer. As I write, Hong Kong is on lockdown yet again as we ride out the seventh typhoon of the year, and even the mild-weathered UK is dealing with a visit from Hurricane Ophelia. Also at time of writing, Bali has been left hanging by a rumbling Mount Agung. The island’s largest volcano has been on the brink of eruption for over a month, prompting a slowdown in visitors to the tourist-dependent island. However, while people…

Dubai Airports plans “smart tunnel” passport checks DUBAI Airports plans to introduce biometric “smart tunnels” that will enable travellers to complete immigration checks in just 15 seconds. The smart tunnel will conduct a two-step iris and facial recognition scan, eliminating the need for travellers to show their passports. It is expected to be operational in Dubai International Airport's (DXB) Terminal 3 by next summer. Officials also revealed the new system will be accompanied by the introduction of Tesla car airport transfers. dubaiairports.com Thai Airways receives its first B787-9 Dreamliner THAI Airways has taken delivery of its first B787-9 Dreamliner, which will operate the airline’s Singapore route until its deployment to Auckland and Taipei on November 16. November 16. The aircraft is an improvement on Thai Airways’ existing six B787-8 Dreamliners, which have a smaller capacity and shorter…

LOW COST IT WAS NOT I am a frequent flyer of Air Asia having taken hundreds of flights in the past, and wish to highlight the following skulduggery. As usual I checked in via the web and printed my boarding pass, noting the 1950 flight time and my seat number for flight FD505 (Hong Kong to Bangkok) on August 25. On passing through immigration (I only had hand luggage) the officer pointed to a note at the top of my form that I hadn’t noticed, which said: “This is not a boarding pass”. I immediately went back to the check-in counter, arriving more than 35 minutes before the flight “officially” departed, and asked them to verify my passport. However, the supervisor said the flight had closed for check-in one hour before take-off and…

Malaysia Airlines B737-800 Business Class Kuala Lumpur-Hong Kong BACKGROUND Malaysia Airlines currently flies two aircraft on its thrice-daily Kuala Lumpur-Hong Kong route. The B737-800 operates two flights, while the newer A330-300 operates the other. CHECK-IN I was travelling on flight MH432 to Hong Kong (the second leg of a stopover journey from Kuching, the Sarawak state capital). Luggage check-in was done in Sarawak and processed all the way through. However, as Sarawak is considered a different administrative region to Kuala Lumpur, an additional immigration check is required even on domestic flights. LOUNGE Malaysia Airlines is in the middle of renovating its Regional Golden Lounge in the Main Terminal Building of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA). I therefore took the shuttle to the Satellite terminal to reach the Malaysia Airlines Satellite Golden Lounge. This is a…

Hyatt Regency Xian BACKGROUND Following the closure of the Hyatt Xian in 2011, the hospitality group returned to the ancient Chinese city in July 2016 with a new Hyatt Regency property. WHERE IS IT? The hotel is located in Qujiang District, a fast-developing industrial and tech hub in the southeastern part of Xian, about a 45-minute drive from Xian Xianyang International Airport. The area is also an important cultural district, home to the Great Tang All Day Mall, Xian Concert Hall and Xian Art Museum. WHAT’S IT LIKE? Unusually low-rise: the hotel is only five storeys due to building restrictions that dictate no structure can be taller than the nearby Unesco-listed Wild Goose Pagoda. The architectural style echoes Xian’s rich history and the palatial grandeur of the Tang dynasty. This is immediately evident…

The lobby lounge of the new hotel in Washington DC is filled with people seated on blue velvet couches under glittering chandeliers that would look at home in the Palace of Versailles. A bell rings, and, to a ripple of applause, a waiter slices the top off a bottle of champagne with a sabre. The glass-encased cork flies across the room and skids across the polished marble floor. Opened in September 2016, two months before Donald Trump’s election as the 45th president of the United States, the hotel occupies the prestigious Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue. The location is prime, being on the street that connects the White House at one end to the US Capitol, home of Congress, at the other. Constructed in 1899, the building’s pièce de résistance…