COVERSTORY Non-air products: Moving beyond ticketing GDS companies today are shifting focus from airline tickets their core product and are rapidly enhancing their non-air products like hotels, car rentals, cruises, innovative products like sms updates, global sim cards etc. The non-air product segment is believed to be the sought after solution to expand a travel agent’s portfolio. TravelBiz Monitor explores this emerging trend and the opportunities it offers the Indian travel trade ...read more>>    BIG DEBATE Agency Commissions v/s Transaction Fee Where is the Zero Commission crisis headed to? Read on to find out how Biji Eapen, President, IAAI and Shubhada Joshi, Vice President, TAAI battle it out in this week's Big Debate ...read more>>    ON RECORD SITA / AIR TRANSPORT WORLD PASSENGER SELF-SERVICE SURVEY - 2008 (PART - II) Preference towards Self-Service Check-in Population: Those who knew Self-Service Check-in was available ATL:63%; BOM:60%; CDG: 69%; DME:8%; GRU: 61%; JNB:35% Weighted Average: 61% ...read more>>    DESTINATION FOCUS Malaysia on drive After having explored the leisure, honeymoon and adventure tourism segments, Malaysia Tourism is now keen to venture into self-drive tourism. ...read more>>    VIEW POINT The real Madrid and the unreal New Delhi A tale of two cities, make it three ...read more>> www.travelbizmonitor.com This Week's Top Headlines ATF prices cut along with scrap in customs duty   According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, prices of jet fuel prices will be cut drastically as a result of 16.8 per cent reduction in sale price and customs duty exemption. Indian Oil Limited (IOL) ...read more>>     British Airways bid for LCC GoAir grounded   According to a PTI report, British Airways' (BA) multi-million pound takeover plan of Low Cost Carrier (LCC) GoAir got derailed and the Europe's leading carrier may now negotiate for a marketing alliance instead ...read more>> GoI approves new Air Services Agreement between India and Iran   According to a Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) report, Government of India (GoI) has approved the signing of a new and more liberalised Air Services Agreement (ASA) between India and Iran. The existing one...read more>>   Howrah region to get Kolkata’s second airport   According to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, Kolkata’s Howrah region is proposed to get a second airport in a bid to ease the passenger congestion at the existing Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport ...read more>> Lufthansa to take control of British carrier bmi   According to an AFP report, German airline Lufthansa earlier this week said that it will boost its stake in British carrier bmi to 80 per cent by giving control of the company and a large foothold in Europe's biggest airport...read more>>     IGI Airport’s new runway thrown open for round-the-clock operations   According to a Press Trust if India (PTI) report, the third runway of Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA), which was recently inaugurated, has been opened for round-the-clock operation from yesterday ...read more>> Galileo, Apollo and Worldspan to introduce unified desktop in 2009   Travelport, the parent company of Galileo and Apollo GDS which acquired Worldspan last year, will launch a new desktop globally in 2009, which will offer products and services from all the three GDS companies...read more>>     Cathay Pacific introduces Self-print Boarding Pass for passengers departing Hong Kong   Cathay Pacific Airways yesterday announced its latest innovation to help simplify the travel experience for passengers, with the launch of a new Self-print Boarding Pass service for departures from Hong Kong ...read more>>     Emirates to further expand services to India   According to a Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) report, Emirates will be adding 31 weekly flights to its existing service in India between now and February 2009. The expansion will be implemented in a phased ...read more>>     Meru Cabs rolls out corporate travel programme on test mode   Meru Cab Company Pvt. Ltd., which currently operates on a pure B2C model i.e. directly dealing with the end consumer, now plans to cater ...read more>>     Tourism Australia opens its India office   After having a representative office in India for ten years, Tourism Australia (TA) unveiled its tourism office in Mumbai. Martin Ferguson, ...read more>>     Planet Scuba India to set up string of inland centres across the country   Planet Scuba India after the launch of its first inland centre in Bangalore is planning to set shop in Mumbai, New Delhi and Hyderabad ...read more>>     Malaysia Airlines to roll out new Indian menu from today   Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will roll out its new Indian menu from today in all classes on flights between Malaysia and India. According to ...read more>> This e-newsletter has been sent since you are part of Travel Biz Monitor Magazine's subscriber list. If you wish to unsubscribe, please send UNSUBSCRIBE as a reply to this e-mail.