Category Archives: Aviation

Ethiopian Airlines announced the commencement of direct and non-stop flights to Singapore five days a week at a reception ceremony held recently at Addis Ababa Bole Airport. The event was graced by Tewolde GebreMariam, Group CEO, Ethiopian Airlines and members of the Transport Affairs Standing Committee from the House of People’s Representatives; aviation partner organizations; travel agencies; Ethiopian executive management and the likes. During the event, GebreMariam remarked that Singapore is one of the world’s biggest economic giants, a global financial centre, highly developed, innovative, business friendly and a preferred gateway to Asia and Australia. So this new flight service to Singapore will be of paramount importance in enhancing economic, cultural and social ties between Asia and Africa, Ethiopia and Singapore in particular.

Emirates’ inaugural Boeing 777-300ER flight from Dubai to Zagreb touched down in the capital city of Croatia, with more than 350 passengers on board, to a water cannon salute and an exhilarating performance by traditional Croatian folk dancers. Among the dignitaries travelling on flight EK129 were Thierry Antinori, Emirates’ Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer; Thierry Aucoc, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations (Europe and Russian Fed); Gari Cappelli, Minister of Tourism, Republic of Croatia; His Excellency Ali Al Ahmed, UAE Ambassador to Croatia and a contingent of partners and business leaders from Dubai, Hong Kong, India and China. This debut flight to Croatia took off from Dubai at 08.15 hours and landed in Zagreb at 12.20 hours. Thereafter, from Zagreb, the departure took place at 15.35 hours and arrival at Dubai happened at 23.05 hours. The flight carried commercial passengers from more than 16 countries in the Emirates’ network, including Taiwan, Australia, India, UAE, Korea, China, Japan, Singapore and South Africa. The new daily flight will open up access to more than 80 worldwide destinations in Emirates’ global network for Croatian travellers and vice versa. Travel from as far as Shanghai, Beijing, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, or Sydney and Melbourne, to Croatia, is all extremely convenient now, with just one stop at Emirates’ world-class Dubai hub.

The German airline Hahn Air announced a new Interline Electronic Ticketing Agreement (IET) with La Compagnie, the French boutique airline offering all-business-class flights from Paris to New York. La Compagnie joined Hahn Air’s unique network of more 300 air, rail and shuttle partners to enhance its global distribution. Its flights are now available on Hahn Air’s HR-169 ticket to travel agents, using Amadeus, Galileo, Sabre, Apollo and Worldspan, under La Compagnie’s IATA code B0 — even in markets where it is not a member of the local Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP). “By welcoming La Compagnie into our partner network, we are happy to complement our portfolio with an exceptional airline that truly caters to business travellers”, says Steve Knackstedt, Vice President of the Airline Business Group at Hahn Air. “Through our agreement, La Compagnie will not only generate incremental business but also gain access to our growing network of interline partners.”

Emirates’ customers can explore more of Dubai this summer by enjoying exclusive offers and discounts across the city with My Emirates Pass, which turns the Emirates boarding pass into an exclusive membership card. Those flying to or through Dubai between June 1 and August 31, 2017 can take advantage of a range of offers at some of Dubai’s best known hotspots by simply showing their Emirates boarding pass and a valid form of identification. My Emirates Pass gives customers special discounts at over 120 world class restaurants and hotel dining outlets in Dubai. Exclusive offers are also available on a range of leisure activities, including visits to championship golf courses, thrilling theme parks or luxury spas across the city. Furthermore, My Emirates Pass can be used to enjoy some of the city’s must-see new attractions, such as Dubai Parks and Resorts, which features three theme parks: Bollywood Parks™, MOTIONGATE™ and the region’s first LEGOLAND® Park and LEGOLAND® Water Park.

Qatar Airways and Monacair have entered a new partnership, commencing July 4, that would allow passengers arriving at Nice International Airport to seamlessly connect to Monte Carlo on a Monacair helicopter flight. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, said, “This strategic partnership with Monacair combines perfectly with the launch of our new direct service to Nice, allowing passengers to travel to and from Monaco in just six minutes from Nice International Airport. The agreement with Monacair reflects our commitment to provide our passengers the very best premium travel opportunities, and I am confident that this new partnership will delight our passengers.” “We are tremendously excited about this new collaboration between Monacair and Qatar Airways,” said Gilbert Schweitzer, Managing Director, Monacair. “As in all other services proposed by Monacair, we want to offer our passengers the very best. The H130 provides a unique travelling experience that we want to share with Qatar Airways’ clients.” Launching on July 4, Qatar Airways’ new direct, five times a week service to and from Nice will operate with a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, providing passengers from around the world access to the ever-popular tourist destination of the French Riviera.

Hamad International Airport (HIA) is all set to become a smart airport. Every step of the on-boarding process at HIA, from check-in to boarding, will be self-service-enabled to significantly improve efficiency and reduce wastage of time, facilitating fast and seamless experience for the travellers. It will soon be introducing its next-generation self-service check-in and bag drop services, which will enable passengers to check in themselves, print their boarding passes and baggage tags, tag their bags and simply drop them off at the custom-designed bag-drop system. COO of Hamad International Airport, Badr Al–Meer, stated, “We want to be different and ensure that our passengers can self-check-in, drop the baggage and go right up to the aircraft without any human interaction. This would be phase 1 in reaching the Smart Airport standard. Phase 2 of our expansion plans includes a new terminal, the same size as that of the current airport.”

Passengers flying through Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB) now have more options to get some rest with the launch of the sleep ‘n fly lounge, which offers a total of 27 pods and cabins. Scandinavian-designed for comfort and style, DXB’s new sleep lounge features 20 state-of-the-art “igloo” sleep pods, plus 7 premium double cabins with pullout children beds. Inspired by nature, sleep ’n fly provides ultimate relaxation for a one-hour power nap or an entire night, or any duration in between. Located close to Gate A1 in Concourse A, the sleep ’n fly lounge provides more choices for the passengers travelling through DXB, which also boasts of five-star hotels. Pods and cabins can be reserved in advance on its website and the lounge specially welcomes the members of Priority Pass and LoungeKey. Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President, Dubai Airports Commercial Group, said, “The opening of sleep ‘n fly expands Dubai International’s existing range of rest and relaxation options and is the latest in a line of personalised and engaging products we are rolling out to cater to the evolving needs of global travellers.”

Turkish Airlines has launched new flights from various cities in the Middle East and Germany to key tourist destinations in Turkey. The national carrier will launch direct flights between Turkish cities such as Bodrum, Antalya and Trabzon and the Middle East, beginning from this month. The airlines will be providing a total of 16 weekly flights between Jeddah, Kuwait, Riyadh, Al Qassim, Yanbu, Medina and Trabzon. Furthermore, they will also be providing 13 weekly flights between Jeddah, Baghdad, Erbil, Riyadh, Amman, Kuwait, Sulaymaniyah and Antalya during this summer. Munich, Hamburg, Berlin, Stuttgart are other cities benefitting from the new direct flights, connecting travellers from Germany to Izmir. Additionally, passengers from Kuwait will also be able to travel directly to Izmir. Commenting on these direct flights, Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Ekşi, said, “We are always looking to provide our passengers with the most convenient and time-efficient way of travel. Tourists worldwide have been continously increasing due to the fantastic attractions and features provided by all our Turkish cities. As we move forward, our goal will be to create these direct flights from all the markets, we operate globally so that travellers can now fly directly to their destination of choice.”  

Emirates confirmed that its new First Class product will be showcased at the Dubai Air Show in November. Making its debut onboard a Boeing 777-300ER, Emirates’ new First Class cabin will feature 6 private suites laid out in a 1-1-1 layout, unlike the current structure of 8 private suites in a 1-2-1 layout on its existing 777 vessels. Emirates will announce the destinations where the new Boeing 777-300ER would be deployed in due course. Sir Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline, said, “Our products and services across cabin classes are continually improved and enhanced. But what our customers will see on Emirates’ new 777s starting from November will be a much bigger revamp that takes our onboard experience to the next level. All cabins will sport a totally fresh new look. We are excited to showcase the results of years of planning and development invested into our new First Class offering, and our overall Emirates 777 experience.”

Dubai International (DXB) welcomed more than 7.6 million passengers in April 2017 according to the monthly traffic report issued by operator Dubai Airports. Passenger numbers reached 7,622,946 in April, up by 9.2 per cent, compared to 6,979,063 recorded during the same month in 2016. Following four months of robust growth, the year-to-date traffic reached 30,119,542 compared to 27,926,958 passengers during the corresponding period last year, an increase of 7.8 per cent. “The growth at DXB has been very satisfying in the first four months of the year, and with the Islamic festival of Eid Al Fitr coinciding with the start of the summer holidays next month, we are confident the numbers will boost our performance in the first half,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports.