Category Archives: Aviation

Seawings Lifestyle, the seaplane operator on the Arabian Peninsula, has partnered with Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (TDA) and four luxury resorts in the emirate to welcome summer vacationers to the destination. The collaboration is an integral part of the TDA’s campaign to enhance the visibility of Ras Al Khaimah as a leading tourist destination. Seawings Lifestyle has created a unique collection of staycation packages that combine scenic flying with Ras Al Khaimah’s finest accommodation. These holiday packages start with a 45-minute seaplane flight from Dubai Creek to Ras Al Khaimah. Travellers can enjoy the views of the Dubai cityscape and Arabian coastline before touching down on the waters of Ras Al Khaimah. Guests can choose from day packages to one or two-night staycation escapes at DoubleTree by Hilton, The Cove Rotana Resort, Banyan Tree Al Wadi, and the all-inclusive Rixos Bab Al Bahr. Day trip spa packages are also available and guests have access to all of the resorts’ facilities. Travellers will return to Dubai by chauffeured land transfer. To launch the packages, Seawings Lifestyle is offering exclusive discounts that knock over 50% off the listed price. The lowest discounted package is the one-night stay at just AED 999 per person, inclusive of the scenic flight and land transfer. These will be predominantly marketed towards neighbouring emirate residents seeking a getaway from the city.

SriLankan Airlines, the national carrier and a member airline of oneworld, has launched its new Arabic website, providing its Middle Eastern travellers an enhanced and personalised browsing experience. The new site is equipped with advanced features to provide a comprehensive web experience, allowing the users the convenience of fulfilling travel preliminaries at their fingertips, offering them the opportunity to independently control their own bookings. In addition to that, travellers can also instantly claim the online offers that SriLankan launches and make their payments via credit card, earning more credit in the process. In celebration of the launch of its Arabic site in the native language, SriLankan is offering its passengers a discount of 30 per cent on all online bookings out of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE, to SriLankan’s directly operated destinations right in time for Ramadan celebrations. Bookings can be made till July 10 and the travel period will be from July 25 to November 30. This seasonal offer is the ideal chance for Middle Eastern travellers to go out on a vacation or for purchasing air tickets for expatriate workers.

Qatar Airways celebrated the addition of tourist favourite Marrakech to its global route map, with the airline’s inaugural flight landing at Marrakech Menara Airport on 1 July and opening up a world of more than 150 destinations to customers travelling from the Moroccan city. On board flight QR1395 was a Qatar Airways delegation lead by Dr. Hugh Dunleavy, the airline’s Chief Commercial Officer, who was greeted by the Marrakech Menara Airport General Manager,  Nawal Mounir; Morocco’s Minister of tourism, Lahcen Haddad; and the Qatari Counselor to Morocco, Mansour Abdullah Al Sulaiteen. To celebrate the first flight, Qatar Airways hosted an Iftar for VIPs, officials, authorities, trade and media, at La Mamounia hotel in Marrakech. The return flight from Marrakech travels directly non-stop to Doha. Qatar Airways began its Morocco operations in 2002. Additionaly through a codeshare partnership with Royal Air Maroc, Qatar Airways offers customers the opportunity to seamlessly connect to destinations throughout Morocco, Spain, and north- and west Africa, with the additional benefit of enhanced frequent flyer benefits. Import and export businesses in Morocco will also benefit from the new service which provides up to 33 tonnes of belly-hold cargo capacity a week.

Abu Dhabi Airports has announced the launch of flights by the Egyptian based carrier, Nile Air (NIA), into Al Ain International Airport. The new operation introduces four weekly flights between Al Ain International Airport and Cairo International Airport. This is Nile Air’s first flight to any destination in the United Arab Emirates, and commenting on this new service, Ahmed Aly, Chief Executive Officer, Nile Air said, ”Nile Air is pleased to announce our entry to the Emirati market, our 7th country, with a new route connecting Cairo and Al-Ain city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. The new service to Al-Ain will provide an easy and convenient travel option between both cities for business travelers and tourists visiting Egypt, and the estimated 100,000 Egyptian nationals residing in the city of Al-Ain and its surrounding region who wish to travel home.”Mohammed Al Katheeri, Acting Chief Operations Officer of Abu Dhabi Airports, said, “We are delighted that Nile Air has begun operations to Al Ain, as this will further strengthen tourism between the UAE and Egypt and build Al Ain’s prominence as a growing international tourist destination. The airline anticipates high demand for this route, particularly during the busy summer season, and we wish them every success.” The NIA 147/8 flights, operated on Airbus A320 aircraft, will take place on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Between July 1 and October 1 the flight will depart from Cairo at 1005 GMT, arriving in Al Ain at 1340 GMT, and the return flight will leave the UAE at 1440 GMT and arrive back in Egypt at 1830 GMT. In October the service will become bi-weekly, with flights on Fridays and Sundays. A free shuttle …

Dubai-based flydubai has announced the addition of two new flights a week between Dubai and Bucharest and will now fly daily to the Romanian capital. “We are delighted to announce our daily flights from to Bucharest,” said Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai. “At flydubai, we are committed to expanding connectivity to destinations that have historically been underserved from Dubai. Since the launch of our Bucharest route in 2012, we have witnessed increasing demand from GCC passengers visiting the city and Romanian expatriates using our hub in Dubai to connect and visit family and friends around the world.” flydubai’s passenger traffic between Dubai and Bucharest continue to grow year-on-year, and it remains a particularly popular route for Business Class passengers. The airline has seen great demand from passengers travelling to Dubai and further afield on the flydubai network, whether for business or leisure. “The launch of daily routes to Bucharest will provide greater convenience and connection options for flydubai passengers travelling to Dubai and beyond. Popular connecting routes from Bucharest include Colombo, Delhi, Kuwait, Male’, Mumbai and Zanzibar,” said Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) for flydubai. “Our Business Class offering, which provides passengers with spacious seats, a choice of meals, generous checked baggage allowance and fast track immigration and security, is particularly popular on this route. It demonstrates our commitment to continually innovate and offer our passengers a range of different travel options and the latest on-board entertainment.”  

Designed to further enhance the passenger experience at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH), Abu Dhabi Duty Free has launched its website, www.ADDF.ae, to enable travellers to browse and shop online from wherever they are, prior to their arrival at the airport. Products are available for guests departing, arriving, or transiting through the airport, and those who are using the exclusive VIP terminal. The online store, which initially offers around 1000 of the most popular products varying from beauty, fragrances, food and confectionery, to jewelry, sunglasses, watches, souvenirs, and toys, will allow passengers to select their desired items online and pick them up from designated collection points conveniently located inside Abu Dhabi Duty Free. Online orders can be made between two weeks and up to four hours before a flight. By using the website passengers will be able to shop efficiently and spend more time enjoying the other facilities on offer at the airport. Abu Dhabi Duty Free is offering a 5 per cent discount on all online orders for first time users. For passengers who do not yet have a confirmed date of travel they can shop and create a “Wish List”. The “Wish List” is accessible to registered users and will allow them to keep their items for later when their trip is booked. Duty free shopping at AUH rose 7 per cent in 2015 despite the global slowdown of the retail market.

Abu Dhabi Airports has announced a 5.6 per cent increase in passenger traffic at Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) for May 2016, compared to the same month last year. A total of 1,982,010 people travelled through AUH last month, exceeding May 2015’s figure of 1,877,440. A number of destinations witnessed noteworthy growth in passenger traffic, with the UK exceeding its May 2015 figures by 18.4 per cent last month, and Egypt recording a 24.3 per cent increase over the same period last year. The number of travellers with AUH as their final destination was 355,457 up by 4.6 per cent. The top-five routes were Bombay, Doha, London Heathrow, Manila and Jeddah respectively. Arrival and departure transfers both showed an increase of 7.5 per cent and 7.7 per cent respectively compared to the same month last year, while the total number of transfer passengers recorded was 1,279,599, up by 7.6 per cent, reflecting the airport’s connectivity and position as a global hub.

As the connected world of travel becomes a reality, 91 per cent of airlines plan to invest in cyber security programs over the next three years. This is according to the SITA Airline IT Trends 2016 Survey published.  SITA, the travel technology provider to the air transport industry, carried out its survey among the world’s top 200 airlines, and discovered that cyber security at airlines is progressing. Three years ago less than half of airlines (47 per cent) said they were making advanced preparations to manage cyber risks — today this has doubled to 91 per cent. The level of commitment to cyber security reflects the consensus that a lot is being done in this area but there is always more to do. The focus on cyber security also reflects the move to the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) in which a vast number of physical objects will become connected to the Internet. This enables tracking, data collection, analysis and control, which necessitates more security. An overwhelming majority of airlines (68 per cent) are investing in IoT programs in the next three years, up from 57 per cent this time last year. A key area of IoT investment is in connected aircraft which 46% of airlines believe will give a better passenger experience. Today 37 per cent of airlines operate connected aircraft and this will jump to two thirds by 2019. Currently ‘Internet via passenger devices’ is the service offered by most (33 per cent). Over the next three years big increases in services are expected with more than half of airlines planning to provide destination services and duty-free shopping apps, while 70 per cent plan to provide multi-media file streaming …

Turkish Airlines continues to expand its already substantial Far Eastern network with new flights launched to Hanoi, Vietnam. Roundtrip flights between Istanbul and Hanoi will be operated five times per week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays in both directions. Introductory round trip fares are available from Istanbul to Hanoi starting at €603 ($669.2, inclusive of taxes and fees.

Nile Air, a private schedule airline in Egypt, has extended its contract with Amadeus to expand the scope of the airline IT services that they use. Nile Air is now the first in the Middle East to use Amadeus’ complete Airline IT portfolio, which provides end-to-end IT solutions for carriers of all sizes, including small to mid-size airlines. Apart from Amadeus’ complete Altéa Suite and the Amadeus Digital Solutions, Nile Air has now gained access to four key new features — revenue management, revenue accounting, mobile web and loyalty management — that will boost operational efficiency and save the airline money. Altéa Segment Revenue Management tool will give Nile Air recommendations on the best price and packaging for flights and allow the airline to apply dynamic pricing, fare families and ancillary services to better package their fare offers. With Amadeus Revenue Accounting solution’s real-time transactional model, Nile Air can track all passenger sales revenues as they happen to increase productivity and data accuracy. The Amadeus Loyalty Management system helps Nile Air personalize offers so that they can retain loyal passengers and boost revenues. Finally, Amadeus Mobile Web solution ensures that Nile Air’s website is mobile friendly so the airline can achieve brand consistency, smooth customer service and accuracy on all digital platforms. The new multi-year agreement gives Nile Air access to a fully integrated IT system with instant communication, so the airline can make revenue decisions in real time. The system is also scalable, which allows Nile Air to quickly respond to the needs of a growing airline.