Category Archives: Aviation

Oman Air launches 3 weekly flights to Trabzon

Oman Air will launch service between Muscat and Trabzon, Turkey, with 3 weekly flights (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday), which will commence on 2 August 2022.  The Tuesday flight from Muscat will depart at 09:50 and arrive in Trabzon at 13:00. The flight from Trabzon will depart at 14:00 and arrive in Muscat at 19:05. The Thursday and Saturday flight from Muscat will depart at 08:30 and arrive in Trabzon at 11:40. The flight from Trabzon will depart at 12:40 and arrive in Muscat at 17:45. Economy class starts at 155 OMR and Business Class starts at OMR 680 OMR. Guests travelling to Muscat and Trabzon should ensure they are aware of official requirements to enter or transit through the country. Guests can also book a customized Trabzon holiday package through Oman Air Holidays.

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SAUDIA completes operation relocation to terminal 4 at Heathrow airport London

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA), completed the transfer of its operations from Terminal 2 to Terminal 4 at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom in cooperation with its ground services arm, Saudi Ground Services (SGS) as well as Europe Handling. Led by the General Manager of International Stations, Mr. Muhammad Al-Zaydi, a SAUDIA and SGS team collaborated to support Cobalt, the UK local ground services company and to ensure the smooth running of the ground services. This collaboration signifies SAUDIA’s efforts to providing the best services to its guest as well as showcase the wide capabilities of SGS locally and globally. It also emphasizes the synergy of SAUDIA Group’s ecosystem and its ability to cover all aspects and requirements of work in the industry. SAUDIA and SGS both honored the working teams on Tuesday 26 July 2022 for their success in managing the transfer process at Heathrow Airport. The honoring ceremony was in the presence of the Saudi Ground Services CEO, and VP Ground Operations in SAUDIA, Mr. Mohammed Baakdah praised the working team’s efforts and emphasized the importance of the mutual and continuous cooperation between the companies under SAUDIA Group. While Mr. Raed Al-Idrissi commended the team for achieving a high degree of responsibility and efficiency and stated his pride towards the qualified young men and women in the team. It is notable that SAUDIA announced the transfer of its operational services at Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom Terminal 4 on July 7, 2022. SAUDIA operates 48 flights between the Kingdom and UK, with a capacity of more than 13.9 thousand seats. And 28 weekly flights between Riyadh and London in both directions, with a capacity of 8.1 thousand …

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Seera Group signs direct integration agreement with flyadeal

Seera Group and flyadeal have signed a partnership agreement, to directly integrate Seera’s booking engines with flyadeal’s reservation system. Seera is the first ever travel company in Saudi Arabia to sign a direct integration agreement with flyadeal. The new partnership creates a direct channel for Almosafer, Seera’s travel business, to sell flyadeal’s full range of product offerings including a choice of fare families, as well as ancillaries such as meals and baggage additions. The direct integration will help improve efficiency by streamlining the process to make changes to bookings while reducing the time needed for manual tasks for Seera’s agents. At the signing ceremony recently at flyadeal’s HQ in Jeddah, Majed Alnefaie, CEO at Seera Group, said: “flyadeal is an important partner for us and we are pleased to be the first in the Kingdom to sign a direct integration agreement with them. Our customers can now benefit from the full range of flyadeal’s offerings and a smoother ticket issuing process. I have no doubt that this agreement with flyadeal marks the beginning of a very fruitful, mutually beneficial partnership. Going forward we will work together to ensure the best experiences and best value for our customers.” Con Korfiatis, CEO of flyadeal, said: “This is the first of its kind partnership for our company, which will add multiple options to customers through the umbrella of a strategic partnership with Seera, a major player with extensive experience in the field of marketing travel and tourism services. Creating a direct channel to provide a full range of booking offers at all price classes, in addition to offering various products and other miscellaneous services such as seat selection, meal purchase, added baggage, and …

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Qatar Airways offers additional all-inclusive travel packages for football fans including the Final and Semi-Finals

Qatar Airways ramps up all-inclusive FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ travel packages for fans to secure their place in world football’s biggest event. The additional packages include match tickets, flights and accommodation throughout the course of the tournament, allowing passionate football fans to book their seats and follow their favourite team during the first FIFA World Cup™ in the Middle East. The airline originally launched these packages in September 2021 to cater to millions of anticipating fans, and now with less than 130 days to go until the mega event, a worldwide demand for match tickets has risen and these travel packages provide fans guaranteed tickets to experience matches in person. In a few easy steps, they can purchase match tickets, flights, and accommodation through a single dedicated platform by visiting: qatarairways.com/FIFA2022. If they are not yet members, fans need to ensure they join the Qatar Airways Privilege Club by visiting qatarairways.com/PrivilegeClub in advance, after which they will then be able to access the fan travel packages portal and select their options, which come with booking flexibility and seat reservations for their preferred games. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is proud to be the Official Airline of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™ and bring the world’s most prestigious sporting event to the Middle East for the first time. We anticipate unprecedented demand throughout the tournament, and as part of our agreement with FIFA, fans from around the globe can rely on us to enjoy this once in-a-lifetime journey from start to finish. The fan travel packages will guarantee passengers a remarkable bucket-list trip and seamless travel experience.” The tournament will be …

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Emirates expands its Tel Aviv schedule with second daily flight

A little over a month since it inaugurated its first flight, Emirates has announced plans to boost connectivity and increase travel options for customers flying between Dubai and Tel Aviv with a second daily flight, starting 30 October 2022.  The additional morning frequency is in response to high demand for travel to/from Israel, and builds on the success of Emirates’ existing operation, as the airline reaffirms its commitment to growing its presence in the country. The second daily flight will be served by the modern and efficient Emirates Boeing 777-300ER in a three class configuration. The new schedule will operate as follows: EK 933 departs Dubai at 0815hrs arriving in Tel Aviv at 0950hrs. EK 934 leaves Tel Aviv at 1150hrs, arriving in Dubai at 1650hrs*. The second flight provides Emirates customers from Israel with additional travel options to Dubai, as well as convenient onwards connections to popular destinations. The new flight also unlocks enhanced connectivity to a multitude of points within Emirates’ global network such as Auckland, Brisbane, Perth, Bali, Seoul, and Singapore, as well as points across India, among others, making it easier for Israeli travellers to discover new places with shorter transit times. The service will also provide customers traveling to Israel with more flexibility when planning their trip with the choice of a morning arrival at Ben Gurion airport, in addition to the existing EK931 service which arrives in the evening. Customers can also take advantage of Emirates’ partnership with flydubai when planning their travel, which includes a robust schedule of multiple daily codeshare flights. Travellers flying with Emirates can enjoy the best experience in the sky, with thoughtful product touches and exceptional service provided by …

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Oman Air increases flights to Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, and Jakarta

As demand grows during the summer holiday season, Oman Air has increased the weekly number of flights from its Muscat hub, offering 10 flights to Bangkok, 7 flights to Kuala Lumpur, 5 flights to Manila, and 4 flights to Jakarta, providing more options to discover an array of cities and experiences across Southeast Asia. The additional flights offer greater convenience and connectivity for Oman Air guests to discover more than 40 other exciting destinations in Southeast Asia and Australia. Oman Air is optimizing its network through increased cooperation with alliance partners to link passengers to more locations as quickly and as seamlessly as possible. This will result in increased travel connections and an expanded network of destinations. Oman Air currently has four partner airlines in Southeast Asia, allowing guests to fly to 44 destinations across Southeast Asia and Australia from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. In total, Oman Air has entered into strategic codeshare agreements with 18 different partner airlines. These agreements enable Oman Air to market 229 different sectors, which, when combined with the 45 sectors that the airline itself operates, brings the total number of sectors it serves to 274. Oman Air is renowned for its exceptional award-wining products and services, both in the air and on the ground, and for the signature Omani hospitality accessible to guests on every flight. The airline offers wide-body service, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A330, between Muscat and destinations in Southeast Asia. Guests departing Oman should ensure that they are aware of all pre-departure requirements and requirements during their flights, in addition the updated flight times and schedule which are provided at omanair.com

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Etihad airways extends Zanzibar flights to January 2023

Etihad Airways announced the extension of its flights between Abu Dhabi and Zanzibar to 14 January 2023. The service will continue to be operated at the current schedule of three times weekly until 26 November, when a fourth weekly flight will be introduced for the end of year holidays. The flights will be operated on modern Airbus A320 aircraft, providing travellers with a range of travel options to the popular Indian Ocean archipelago throughout the week. Martin Drew, Senior Vice President Global Sales & Cargo, said: “Zanzibar is an incredible destination and Etihad looks forward to welcoming more travellers on their way to experience the natural splendour of its islands. “Our seasonal Zanzibar flights have proven extremely popular with guests from the UAE and across Europe, especially Austria, Germany, Switzerland, France and Italy, and Etihad is on track the pass the 10,000-passenger milestone over the next few weeks.” Etihad’s seasonal Zanzibar service this year was launched on 17 June and initially scheduled to operate until 18 September before being extended throughout 2022.

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RAKTDA announce new direct flights from Germany this fall

With new flight services operating from Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Munich to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, the destination strengthens direct connectivity with a major source market. Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA) announces a new strategic airline partnership connecting the Emirate with major cities in Germany, including Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Munich. Starting from 1 November 2022, Corendon Airlines will operate seven direct weekly flights to Ras Al Khaimah International Airport, effectively meeting strong demand from Germany. Marking the latest in a series of strategic airline partnerships forged by the Tourism Authority, the new flights cement an important tourism market, delivering a significant weekly increase in visitors to an Emirate popular for its outstanding natural and cultural attributes, global hotel brands, as well as its unrivalled adventure tourism offering and year-round sunshine. The announcement strengthens the Tourism Authority’s ongoing strategy to enhance accessibility and accelerate connectivity by working closely with leading tour operators. Within a five-hour flying time, Germany is already a top five tourism source market for Ras Al Khaimah; the launch of new direct flights to the Emirate is expected to have a significant impact on tourism in the destination. “We’ve seen first-hand the impact of direct connectivity as one of the main drivers of tourism, especially in a post-pandemic period.  We also know that tourists who arrive directly to the destination, stay longer and really take the time to discover our nature emirate,” commented Raki Phillips, Chief Executive Officer, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority. “He added: “As Ras Al Khaimah’s tourism vision gains momentum, working with valued trade partners and securing new airline alliances builds on this progress, and delivering additional tourism from three major German …

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dnata announces US$ 100 million investment in green operations

dnata announced that it would invest US$ 100 million in green operations in the next two years to further enhance environmental efficiency across its global network. The company’s ongoing investment in infrastructure, equipment and process improvement will support it to achieve its strategic objectives and reduce its carbon footprint by 20% by 2024, and by 50% by 2030. dnata has embedded its environmental framework across its broad-spanning Travel businesses, aiming to empower customers to make better travel choices. Its corporate services include hybrid event solutions, sustainable travel policy guidance as well as carbon emission monitoring and reporting, aligned to global standards. dnata Travel Group in the UK has invested in green technologies and introduced new business practices to improve environmental efficiency. It switched to renewable energy to take all electricity from green sources at all of its offices, cut out single-use plastic (SUP) from its operations, reduced paper consumption by 4 million pages annually through its ‘paperless office’ initiative, and implemented a zero to landfill policy to ensure that all non-recyclable waste is sent to energy recovery facilities for processing. Furthermore, it replaced 80% of its fleet with electric or hybrid cars with a target to operate a fully green fleet by 2024. Steve Allen, CEO of dnata Group, said: “We’ve been making great progress on reducing our carbon footprint, minimising waste and reducing energy and water consumption across our operations. We will further increase our investments and efforts in strong cooperation with our partners to achieve our targets and preserve the environment for current and future generations.” In recent years dnata has significantly invested in advanced technologies to optimise resources and improve operational efficiency across its facilities. It installed …

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Oman Air increases flights between Muscat and 8 Indian destinations

As demand grows, Oman Air will operate 10 weekly flights instead of 7 weekly flights between Muscat and Kochi, Delhi, and Chennai in India between August 1, 2022, and October 29, 2022. “We are pleased to announce additional frequencies to Kochi, Delhi, and Chennai effective next month as part of our comprehensive plans to better serve our international markets and meet our guests’ travel expectations during the holiday season,” said Hamad bin Mohamed Al Harthy, Regional Vice President Sales – Indian Subcontinent & Asia-Pacific. The airline will operate a total of 122 flights per week between Muscat and its 8 Indian destinations with the additional 18 flights per week, offering 10 flights per week in each direction to Delhi, Kochi, and Chennai, 7 flights per week to Bangalore, Mumbai, Kozhikode, and Hyderabad, as well as 3 flights per week to Goa. Al Harthy continued, “The airline will offer wide-body service, including the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A330 in addition to the Boeing 737, between Muscat and destinations in India. Oman Air is renowned for its exceptional award-wining products and services, both in the air and on the ground, and for the signature Omani hospitality accessible to guests on every flight.” Oman ‘Stopover Packages’ offer Oman Air-ticketed passengers the flexibility to discover some of the most desirable tourist spots in and around Muscat. Each stopover is designed to offer visitors a distinct taste of some of Oman’s leading attractions. Enabling the country’s flourishing tourism potential is something Oman Air Holidays does exceptionally well, and the launch of its stopover packages adds to Oman’s growing inventory of custom stays and experiences. Oman Air welcomes all guests to the Sultanate of Oman …

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