Flydubai, the Dubai-based low-cost airline, has announced flights to Lucknow starting June 2 to tap the 'huge' expatriate traffic.

Flights to Lucknow will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, departing Dubai at 2030 hrs local time and arriving in Lucknow at 0150 hrs local time the following day. The return flight would operate on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing at 0235 hrs local time and arriving in Dubai at 0520 hrs local time.

Asean Defense Ministers meeting in Hanoi have taken another step towards enhancing regional peace and security. In a joint declaration, they agreed on the establishment of the Asean Defense Ministers' Meeting (ADMM)-Plus.

Speaking at a news conference, Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Teo Chee Hean said the ADMM-Plus will be a key feature of the regional security architecture.

He said: "Over time, the ADMM-Plus could also provide a platform for practical co-operation between Asean and its partners on key security issues, especially on non-traditional and transnational challenges." In a statement, Singapore's Ministry of Defense (Mindef) said the fourth ADMM also agreed on the ADMM+8 format.

Ambassador of Thailand in Pakistan Marut Jitpatima won the Asia Pacific Golf Association Tournament held at Islamabad Golf Club here the other day. He emerged the gross winner of the tournament played by a good number of foreign diplomats and locals in four categories – A, B, C and Guest. The category A was won by Shahid Malik with score of 75 while Rashid Malik and Zarif Malik both scored 78. Stephen Smith was the top performer in the category B with 70 while Allan Forsberg (72) and Alexandro Alejandro (73) claimed second and third positions respectively.

Chris Duncan (64), Amir-U-Zamani (72) and Nawal Atme (76) captured top three positions in the C category. The Guest category, framed to accommodate players who were not members of Asia Pacific Golf Association (APGA), was won by Afsar Malik (67) while Ali Kiani (68) and Aman Tariq (69) finished as runners up. Veteran golfer Ijaz Sadozai won nearest to pin at hole 3 and Ali Kiani at hole 14.

AirAsia celebrated its inaugural flight to Mumbai from Kuala Lumpur on Friday, signifying its foray into Western India.

In a tourism and economic coup for both countries, AirAsia will be servicing the Kuala Lumpur – Mumbai route between the Low Cost Carrier Terminal and Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport with four direct flights weekly through its low cost, long haul affiliate, AirAsia X.

Dato’ Sri Tony Fernandes, Group CEO of AirAsia and founder of AirAsia X said: “We are thrilled to start this much-awaited service to Mumbai and provide the people of this magnificent city with unrivalled low-fare flights to Kuala Lumpur, the Gateway to ASEAN and beyond. AirAsia, the World’s Best Low-Cost airline, is determined to help in enhancing the tourist and commercial links between India and Malaysia. Mumbai is our sixth destination city in India, after Trivandrum, Kolkata, Chennai, Kochi and Tiruchirappali.

Japan made it two bonus-point wins from as many games in this year's HSBC Asian Five Nations - and 10 from 10 in the three-year history of the tournament - when they beat the Arabian Gulf 60-5 in Tokyo.

The victory puts John Kirwan's team a step nearer being Asia's automatic representative at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.

But the Brave Blossoms had to work hard for the win.

"I couldn't ask much more from the boys," said Gulf captain Michael Cox-Hill. "We never gave up and proved that by scoring in the 76th minute. We can take a lot of credit for the way we played."

U.S. and Japanese business travel may be easier after Delta Air Lines Inc., American Airlines and Hawaiian Holdings Inc. won routes to Tokyo’s Haneda airport, favored by executives flying to the capital.

The U.S. Transportation Department approved four flights for the carriers yesterday while UAL Corp.’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines Inc., which announced a plan to merge this week, were denied the Haneda flights they sought.

Japan-U.S. treaties since 1978 have restricted U.S. carriers to serving Narita Airport, the Japanese capital’s main international airport, about 44 miles (71 kilometers) east of the city by car. A draft “Open Skies” agreement reached in December permits four daily U.S.-Japan round trips at Haneda, 10 miles south of the city, starting in October.

Delta’s two daily Haneda flights will connect Los Angeles and Detroit, AMR Corp.’s American will fly to and from New York, and Hawaiian will link Honolulu, the department said in granting the first U.S. flights to the airport in 32 years.

The Mekong Tourism Forum 2010, the two-day event, kicked started today at Angkor Century Resort & Spa in Siem Reap, Cambodia. The focus of the forum is on the benefits to tourism that occur from new road corridors opening up in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS). The GMS countries include: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the southern Chinese provinces of Yunnan and Guangxi. The theme set for the Forum is ‘New Roads, New Opportunities’ to identify the challenges and opportunities faced by tourism in the region. Leading tour operators, hotel companies, airlines and development organizations are participating at the Forum along with tourism officials.

Apart from the Cambodian Ministry of Tourism and Mekong Tourism Coordinating Office (MTCO), financial support for the Forum is being provided by the USAID-funded ASEAN Competitiveness Enhancement (ACE) project. The two-day Forum will include panel discussions on Pioneering Mekong Tourism Products, The Path to Community-based Tourism, How Sustainable Tourism Can Drive Profit, and The Road Ahead.

Thailand's prime minister has said he is ready to dissolve parliament in September, paving the way for elections, in a bid to end a crippling political crisis.

Abhisit Vejjajiva announced the time-frame on Thursday after anti-government protesters, or the so-called red shirts, accepted his reconciliation plan which includes holding early elections on November 14.

Earlier, legislators from his ruling Democrat Party held talks in parliament to refine the reconciliation process and discuss the dissolution date.

Abhisit floated his five-point roadmap on Monday, including the offer for fresh elections in November – about a year before his term expires – on condition that all parties accepted it and dropped their demand for immediate polls.

Thai troops fired live rounds into charging anti-government protesters in a chaotic clash that killed a soldier and wounded 19 people on a congested highway in Bangkok's suburbs yesterday.

In defiance of a state of emergency, about 2,000 'red shirt' protesters left their main protest site in central Bangkok's shopping district on pickup trucks and motorbikes for a 'mobile rally' but were halted by a roadblock of troops and riot police.

About 100 protesters who had moved ahead of the main convoy charged at the security forces, who at first used batons and shields to push them back, witnesses said. The red shirts hurled stones, shot metal balls from sling-shots and launched fireworks at the cordon of 450 soldiers.

Troops fired back with rubber bullets followed by live rounds, at first in the air and then narrowly over protesters' heads, as onlookers dashed for cover in cars and buses in the traffic-choked area 40 km north of central Bangkok, witnesses said.

India and the 10-nation South East Asian trading block Asean are expected to widen their trade engagement by signing in October, a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) that will cover services and investment.

India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed an FTA in goods in August last year and are engaged in intense negotiations to expand this pact to include services and investments.

“We hope to conclude the negotiations on services and investment in the next three to four months and if we are able to conclude it by August, we might be able to sign the agreement in October,” Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry P.K. Dash said here at FICCI function.

The services sector is of key interest to India as it contributes over 55 per cent to its GDP. The services sector has also emerged as an important area for export earnings.