Qatar Airways warns the decision by a private airport operator in the Maldives to hike handling fees will affect the airlines operations and threaten services to the popular destination.

Australia’s flag carrier could be forced to withdraw Darwin and Cairns connecting services to Asia and Europe if Government proposed amendments to crew legislations are approved, according to Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce.

In an effort to strengthen its ties with China, South African Airways has this week launched non-stop flights to Beijing.

Travellers are being urged to lock in their cheaper deals now if they wish to beat Qantas’s impending airfare price rises, according to Flight Centre Limited managing director Graham Turner.

Tourism New Zealand has reported that a hike in visitor arrivals for the month of December 2011 has resulted in visitor arrival numbers hitting 2.6 million, an all time annual high.

Korean Air Lines, South Korea's leading airline has reported that its earnings rose almost fivefold in the fourth quarter year on year.

Air New Zealand has just launched its new twice weekly service between Auckland and Denpasar offering Kiwis a non- stop service to the popular destination.

TripAdvisor has had a shake up after the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) told the travel website it could not claim that all of its reviews are genuine and written be real travellers.

The Philippine flag carrier Cebu Pacific has released plans to update its fleet and launch services outside of Asia, including Australia, the Middle East, part of Europe and the US.

Qantas has announced a surcharge increase on domestic and international fares, citing the rise to the cost of fuel and carbon pricing.

Driving air and ground transportation savings has hiked up as one of the most important priorities for travel managers this year, with many hoping to optimise their spending.

Travel agents have started the first month of 2012 with a “bang” according to agent only online wholesaler Excite Holidays, who reported an increase of 171 per cent in new sales compared to the same period last year.

More political capital is needed to make 2012 a stable year in aviation after the International Air Transport Association (IATA) found the industry to be very contrasting in 2011.

SEIT Outback Australia says travellers can still experience and learn the Australian indigenous culture despite recent pay disputes axing the operations of Anangu Tours.

Travel agents have shown strong support to assist airlines in selling ancillary services through the GDS as revealed by a survey of global airline merchandising by Travelport.

Taking bookings back to basics, ZUJI has announced it is adding consultants into the travel pot as part of its new phone bookings feature.

The strong Aussie dollar is doing favours for Hong Kong’s tourism industry, with Australians now the second biggest spenders in the region.

A large upsurge in visitor numbers from Australia helped Hawaii achieve a year-on-year 3.8 per cent increase in tourist arrivals in 2011.

Actual footage shot by traveller’s experiences in Canada will be used to entice Aussies to visit as the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC) launches its new campaign to the Australian market.

The Qantas Group says its financial position is still strong despite risk management company, Moody’s downgrading the carrier’s credit rating late yesterday.

Tiger Airways has announced its return to Cairns later this year, months after the carrier was forced to suspend all its operations down under due to safety concerns.

Sydney’s biggest cruise month starts today, according to Carnival Australia, as the city welcomes a record number of ships this month to celebrate this year’s Festival of Cruising.

Since the success of Tropical North Queensland’s charter which brought 12 special direct flights from China to Cairns for Chinese New Year many airlines have followed suit.

Although passengers were offered a compensation package of up to 11,000 Euros, six passengers on board the Costa Concordia the day it hit rocks off the coast of Tuscany have filed a US$460 million lawsuit against Costa Cruises.