Media Releases

Flight Centre Retail Travel Brand Takes Off In Singapore

Jun 6, 2011

Flight Centre Retail Travel Brand Takes Off In Singapore

TRAVEL agency group Flight Centre Limited (FLT) has opened its first leisure store in Asia, with a new shop opening in Singapore.

The Australia-based company, which has a comprehensive corporate travel presence in Asia, today opened its first Flight Centre-branded leisure travel shop in Singapore’s Stanley Street.

The Singapore shop will offer the company’s famous lowest airfare guarantee and its trademark “unbeatable” leisure fares and rates.

The store’s experienced travel consultants – both native English speaking and bi-lingual – will offer a full range of airfares, accommodation, car hire, tours, insurance, cruises and other travel products.

FLT’s executive general manager for Singapore, Suyin Lee, said the introduction of the Flight Centre brand to Singapore would fill a niche in the local market for specialist leisure travel services and products at globally competitive rates.

“Flight Centre has an extremely strong global presence in leisure travel and our aim is to capitalise on this by offering the brand’s powerful mix of price, product and service in the Singaporean leisure market,” she said.

“Over recent years we have developed a solid understanding of the needs of both expatriate and local travellers through our corporate travel operations in Singapore and other parts of Asia.

“Singaporeans are frequent travellers and expect highly personalised and responsive service from knowledgeable and professional consultants.

“We invest heavily in destination and product training in addition to service excellence to create a different experience for our customers in a very competitive market.”

Flight Centre brand is the best known and most successful business in the Flight Centre Limited group of companies, which also includes global corporate travel brand FCm Travel Solutions.

FLT’s global network currently comprises more than 2,000 stores and businesses across Singapore, Greater China, Australia, New Zealand, India, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Dubai.

The company is Australia’s most successful travel retailer and one of the world’s fastest growing travel groups. It has also been recognised as a leading travel agency and employer of choice in various countries.

The new Flight Centre store is located at 29 Stanley Street, Singapore. For enquiries and bookings, phone 6221 4510 or visit www.flightcentre.com.sg

END

Time To Take Off Batman: Airports With Unusual Call Signs

May 27, 2011

Time To Take Off Batman: Airports With Unusual Call Signs

AUSTRALIANS may be more accustomed to Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney, but travellers can also touch down at the likes of Batman, Moron and SIN.

There’s literally a world of unusual names and abbreviations out there when it comes to airports.

“For every Heathrow or Manchester, there are a HAM and a Mafia,” Flight Centre brand leader Robert Crack said.

“In particular, some of the three-letter IATA airport codes that are in place around the world are likely to bring a smile to the face.

“For example, travellers can actually land at AIR (Aripuna, Brazil), take off from SEA (Seattle-Tacoma, USA) or fly to FLY (Finley, NSW).”

Flight Centre has scoured the world’s flight paths to find a selection of quirky airport names and codes.

Batman Airport in Batman, Turkey is a perennial favourite when lists of unusual airport names are compiled.

And naturally, wherever there’s a Batman there’s also a Robin. In this case, Robin is Robin Hood Airport in Sheffield, England.

Tanzania has a Mafia Airport, while Oklahma has the LAW (Lawton Fort Sill Regional Airport) in its backyard.

Those who believe that airport facilities are a little on the nose, won’t be surprised to know there is a POO Airport (real name Pocos De Caldas Airport) in Brazil. Until it closed in the mid 1980s, there was also a Flushing Airport in Queens, New York.

Mongolia and Argentina both have Moron airports, while the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport in West Bengal India was formerly known as Dum Dum.

There’s a privately-owned Beer Airport in Wisconsin, Brest Airport in Brittany, France and Butte airport (real name Bert Mooney Airport) in Montana.

The aviation world has also delivered more than its share of quirky airport codes.

In addition to POO and LAW, there are SIN (Singapore), FAT (Fresno Yosemite), DUD (Dunedin), LAP (La Paz, Mexico), HAM (Hamburg) and MAD (Madrid).

And that’s without even mentioning the obvious code for Japan’s Fukuoka Airport.

Inevitably, there’s TAX (Taliabu, Indonesia). And, if you’re in to politics, you can find the ALP (Nejrab, Syria) and the LNP (Wise Airport, USA).

Inter-galactic flights are on the way, but you can already fly to SUN (Sun Valley, Idaho).

There’s also a CAT (Cat Island Airport, Bahamas), a DOG (Dongala Airport, Sudan) and a PIG (Pitinga, Brazil).

For those seeking holiday romance, LUV (Langgur Airport, Indonesia) may be a good place to visit. Lovers may also fancy Germany’s Sembach Airport, although we won’t divulge its three-letter code.

If you’re planning to pop the question after all that holiday excitement, take off to YES (Yasouj Airport, Iran).

R&R may be on the agenda at NAP (Capodichino, Italy) or BED (Hanscom Field, USA).

If you feel like a drink, try RUM (Rumjatar, Nepal) or ALE (Alpine, USA).

Sporting examples include NBL (San Blas, Panama), NFL (Nas, USA), NRL (North Ronaldsay, UK), MLB (Melbourne, Florida), EPL (Mirecourt, France) and IPL (Imperial Court, USA).

There’s also an AFL (Alta Floresta, Brazil), but there doesn’t seem to be a FEV.

For keen texters, there’s no WTF but there is an LOL (Derby Field, USA) and an OMG (Omega Airport, Namibia).

If you’re short of cash while travelling, ATM (Altamira, Brazil), FOC (Fuzhou, China), ANZ (Angus Downs, Australia), CBA (Corner Bay, USA) or NAB (Albany, Nas, USA) may be good places to visit.

If you’re trying to unravel the mysteries of life, try flying to FAQ (Freida River, PNG).

And if your holiday didn’t quite go to plan, maybe it’s because you visited SUX (Sioux Gateway Airport, Idaho) or DOH (Doha Airport, Qatar).

ENDS

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