In the news: Skyscanner’s recruitment drive, Singapore’s Changi Asia’s best airport, good July for APAC airlines

New openings at Skyscanner as it kicks off recruitment drive

Want to be part of the Skyscanner’s team? Here’s your chance to join this global travel search company as it is creating 250 new jobs to double its team over the next 12 months to support its international growth.

The first wave of recruitment is for new roles across the business including engineering, web development, IT services and sales and marketing.

“Successful candidates will be at the top of their profession and in a position to pioneer innovative ways of working, as well as apply all their knowledge in a fun, hard-working, international environment. It goes without saying they will have a passion for travel,” Skyscanner listed as requisites.

The company currently has 250 employees of 35 different nationalities across four offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Singapore and Beijing, with a fifth office in Miami opening in September. It plans to triple its staff numbers in its Asia Pacific headquarters in Singapore and office in Beijing to 100 within the next year, while over 150 new jobs will be created in Scotland.

The regional headquarters in Singapore and office in Beijing will be expanded to accommodate more employees, with Singapore’s current staff of 30 to grow to over 70 within the next 12 months, while the Beijing office will soon be able to accommodate up to 30 staff.

In Edinburgh and Glasgow, additional floor space has already been secured to allow the company to grow rapidly over the coming months.

Andy Sleigh, general manager for Skyscanner, Asia Pacific, said, “Our recruitment plans are a clear sign of our continuing growth in APAC where we’ve cemented our position as the no.1 travel search site in the region. These additional resources will allow us to scale our operation successfully. and deliver the best service to our customers across Asia Pacific.”

Sjyscanner saw growth of 400% across Asia Pacific in 2012 and traffic to its site and mobile apps in the region accounts for 20% of global traffic, up from 7% 12 months ago.

Click here for current vacancies and information on working at Skyscanner.

Singapore’s Changi, Asia’s best airport in Agoda’s customer survey

Singapore’s Changi International Airport (pictured left) has been named the best airport in Asia in Agoda.com’s best airports customer survey, with an overall rating of 4.37 out of a scale of 5. In 2012 Changi handled 51 million passengers.

For the survey the hotel booking site chose 15 major Asian cities, and travellers to these airports were asked to give it an overall rating on a scale of 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent). The survey was based on over11,000 respondents.

Second spot went to Hong Kong International Airport with a rating of 4.13 points. Last year the airport handled 56 million passengers,

Rounding up the top three is Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, Korea, with a score of 4.01, which handled 39 million passengers in 2012.

India’s Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport grabbed fourth spot (4.0) while Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport in Thailand came in fifth (3.79). Japan’s Tokyo’s Narita International Airport was at sixth place (3.69), while the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Malaysia came in at seventh spot (3.56). At eighth place is China’s Beijing Capital Airport (3.48), while the ninth spot is filled by Taipei’s Taoyuan International Airport, Taiwan (3.38).

Making up the last of the top 10 Asian airports is Cambodia’s Phnom Penh International Airport (3.14) in 10th place, by far the smallest airport on the list with only two million passengers in 2012. Despite its tiny size – or perhaps because of it – Agoda.com customers thought it was one of the nicest airports in Asia.

A good July for APAC airlines

Airlines based in the Asia Pacific region carried a total of 19.5 million international passengers in July, a 6.6% increase compared to the same month last year, reflecting robust demand, particularly on regional routes.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines (AAPA), which released these preliminary traffic figures, said the statistics showed continued growth in international passenger traffic. However, international air cargo demand remained weak.

Measured in revenue passenger kilometres (RPKs), international passenger traffic grew by 6.1%. With available seat capacity expanding at a similar pace of 6.2%, the average international passenger load factor was maintained at a high level of 80.0%.

International air cargo demand for APAC airlines, expressed in freight tonne kilometre (FTK) terms, fell by 2.6% in July compared to the same month last year, extending the prevailing period of weak market demand over the past two years.

Andrew Herdman, AAPA director general, said during the first seven months of the year APAC airlines carried an aggregate total of 127 million international passengers, a 5.8% increase compared to the same period last year.

“Continued growth in regional Asian economies maintained positive consumer and business sentiment, and was reflected in passenger demand for both leisure and business related travel. On the other hand, air freight markets remained weak, with a further 2.4% fall in air freight demand during the first seven months of the year, as a result of weak demand in Europe and other key export markets.”

He added that Asian airlines remain optimistic about the potential for further growth in passenger traffic, and are committed to maintaining their competitive edge with ongoing investments in fleet upgrades and network development, as well as a range of innovative new product and customer service initiatives.