Category Archives: Aviation

Kuwait Airways sponsored the eighth annual international conference titled ‘Practical Solutions for Dyslexia & ‏Dyscalculia, as an official airline of the event, organized by the Kuwaiti Association for Learning Differences – KALD during the period from 10-12 February 2023, in the presence of numerous attendees consisting of specialists and experts in the field. ​ The Director of Corporate Communication and Public Relations department at Kuwait Airways, Mr. Khalid Al-Bustan stated, “Kuwait Airways is honoured to participate as an official airline in the eighth international conference on Dyslexia & ‏Dyscalculia. This comes within the framework of its relentless endeavour to support and encourage such important and significant initiatives that aim to educate and enlighten the community about the problems faced by learners with dyslexia.” Al-Bustan added, “Kuwait Airways is keen to implement its social responsibility programs and policies, as the Blue Bird is an integral part of Kuwait’s society and is committed to its role towards initiatives directed towards social responsibility and to contribute to the advancement of these humanitarian programs.” Al-Bustan added that Kuwait Airways considers social responsibility as one of its most important responsibilities and is committed to these objectives that create a lasting impression on the society thereby contributing to improving the lives of others. Al-Bustan concluded his statement by extending his sincere appreciation to those in charge of the Kuwaiti Association for Learning Differences for their relentless efforts in achieving their objectives and was hopeful that these initiatives would continue for the benefit of all. In this regard, the Kuwaiti Association for Learning Differences honoured Kuwait Airways’ representative, Mr. Hamad Al-Hmaimeedi for the company’s role in sponsoring the conference.

Oman’s aviation industry has reached a landmark moment with the announcement of Oman Air pilot Maha Al Balushi as the first female Omani Captain. Al Balushi officially received her new rank during a ceremony recently held at the Oman Air’s headquarters in Muscat, the latest in a string of firsts she has achieved over her decade-long career with the airline. Al Balushi said, “My dream has always been to become a Captain. It hasn’t been easy but thanks to the support I have around me, from my family to my training team and the airline, I have accomplished what I set out to do. It is an honour to hold this role and I hope that I will inspire other Omani women to choose such a rewarding career in the skies.” Captain Moosa Al Shidhani, Senior Vice President Flight Operations at Oman Air, added, “We are thrilled to have Ms. Al Balushi as our first female Omani Captain, and we believe this is just the beginning of great things to come. This is not just a milestone for our airline but for Oman’s aviation industry, and we are honoured to play a leading role in its progress by continuing to nurture Omani talent in all areas of our operations.” Maha Al Balushi has been with Oman Air since 2010, after graduating from the cadet programme at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) in Australia, the only woman who was enrolled in the programme at the time. Ms. Al Balushi also made waves when she became Oman’s first female First Officer in 2013. Oman Air continues to pursue a proactive policy of recognising talented and qualified women and supporting them …

Kuwait Airways announced the opening of its Sales Office in Alexandria, Egypt.  In a statement to the press, the company said that the opening of the office comes within the framework of the Blue Bird’s preparation for the 2023 summer season, with its plans to expand to new destinations, provide the best services to its customers, as well as meet their requirements, while offering convenient and comfortable facilities to them. In addition, the company stated that the Sales Office will provide several services, including issuing tickets and reservations for commercial travel to customers. The office will also provide the service of changing tickets, such as upgrading the travel classes on board, whether to Business Class, or First Class or Royal Class, as well as changing and cancelling reservation dates and receiving all inquiries, complaints and suggestions from customers and working to assist them. Moreover, the office gives priority to its clients with special needs and the elderly with a specially designated area for assisting and providing services to them as quickly as possible. The company concluded its statement by affirming its relentless commitment to providing the best services to its customers and completing their travel procedures with ease from the airport and enjoying the company’s services on board. The inauguration of the office was held under the auspices of the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Arab Republic of Egypt, H.E. Ghanim Al-Ghanim, and in the presence of the Head of the Cultural Office in Alexandria, Dr. Khaled Al-Muhareb, the Managing Director of the Egyptian Kuwait Real Estate Development Company, Mr. Nawaf Al-Jurman, in addition to Kuwait Airways’ representative, the Director for Egypt and Lebanon, Mr. Abdulaziz Al-Dhafiri. …

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi announced the launch of its two new routes from Abu Dhabi to Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq. The new direct flights will connect Abu Dhabi International Airport to both Baghdad International Airport and Erbil International Airport with a frequency of two flights per week starting from June 22, 2023. Schedule to Baghdad, effective June 22, 2023 (all times local): Flight Departure Time Arrival Time Aircraft Frequency 3L 076 Abu Dhabi 10:35 Baghdad 12:00 Airbus A320 Monday, Thursday 3L 077 Baghdad 12:40 Abu Dhabi 16:00 Airbus A320 Monday, Thursday   Schedule to Erbil, effective September 15, 2023 (all times local): Flight Departure Time Arrival Time Aircraft Frequency 3L 088 Abu Dhabi 23:25 Erbil 01:20 Airbus A320 Tuesday, Friday 3L 089 Erbil 02:00 Abu Dhabi 05:40 Airbus A320 Wednesday, Saturday       Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia, said: “We are pleased to launch Air Arabia Abu Dhabi’s first flights to Baghdad and Erbil in Iraq to further expand our growing route network from UAE’s capital. This new route underpins our commitment towards both leisure and business travellers while providing them with more travel experiences and value-added offerings across its network. At Air Arabia, we are committed to continue the expansion of our connectivity in Abu Dhabi to positively contribute to the UAE’s travel and tourism sector”. Air Arabia Abu Dhabi started its operations in July 2020, since then, the carrier continues to expand its global network and currently serves a total of 31 destinations directly from Abu Dhabi International Airport. Air Arabia operates a total fleet of 68 Airbus A320 and A321 neo-LR aircraft, the most modern and best-selling single aisle aircraft in …

SAUDIA signed an agreement with GE Digital, to implement three solutions from its suite of aviation software. The deal was signed at a ceremony in Jeddah by Mr. Abdulgader Attiah, the Chief Data Officer in SAUDIA, and Mr. Rami Aynati, the Commercial General Manager – Europe, ME, and Africa for GE Digital’s Aviation Software team. Under the agreement, GE Digital will provide SAUDIA with three software solutions to optimize the Kingdom’s 77-year-old airline’s operations in line with its ambitious sustainability goals. GE Digital’s Fuel Insight is expected to help SAUDIA reduce its fuel costs and carbon emissions by better understanding its own data. The software is designed to visually merge actual flight data with intended flight plans, allowing analysts to drill down from macro trends to understand issues on a per-flight level. SAUDIA is focused on maintaining the highest level of safety by tracking and monitoring safety performance, optimizing practices and processes to minimize safety events, understanding fuel consumption trends over time, and recognizing potential savings associated with adopting sustainability best practices. GE Digital’s solution, Safety Insight, is designed to support SAUDIA in those initiatives. Finally, GE Digital’s FlightPulse® is designed to empower SAUDIA pilots with data-driven pre-flight and post flight self-briefings, enabling more informed decisions around fuel and safety. Mr. Abdulgader Attiah said, “SAUDIA’s significant investment in the latest, sophisticated technology from GE Digital is part of our strategy to operate in the most efficient way possible. From saving fuel and reducing carbon emissions to enabling our pilots to access their own flight performance data at any time, these new systems will ensure SAUDIA is making decisions based on precise, real-time data which integrates sustainability goals at every point.” …

Emirates will soon build an advanced training facility to accommodate 6 Full Flight Simulator Bays (FFS) for its future Airbus A350 and Boeing 777X aircraft. The brand new, 63,318 sq. ft. facility is slated to open in March 2024. His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive Emirates Airline and Group, said: “This US$ 135 million investment to build a new pilot training centre will ensure Emirates’ readiness to commence its pilot training ahead of the delivery of its new aircraft fleet starting from 2024. The building will be equipped with the latest, technologically advanced simulators to provide the best training for pilots, while using solar power to reduce energy consumption.” The new building will be adjacent to the existing Emirates Training Facilities in Dubai, which will provide a great integration and close proximity to all the other pilot training centres. Pilot trainees will also benefit from being able to set-up and configure the cockpit environment using bespoke devices as part of the pilot training module and upload the data to the Full Flight Simulator (FFS) prior to commencing their training session. This innovative, first-of-its-kind concept is designed to shorten the trainee’s preparatory time inside the simulator, help them maintain focus and take full advantage of the training duration. With the addition of the new building to Emirates’ existing training colleges in Dubai, the airline will have the potential to expand its pilot training capacity by 54% per year. Across the airline’s training buildings, Emirates’ pilots will have increased flexibility and facilities to hone their flying skills with 17 full flight simulator bays offering a capacity of more than 130,000 training hours a year. In line with …

SriLankan Airlines made an upbeat comeback to South Asia’s Travel & Tourism Exchange (SATTE), for the first time since 2019 to reconnect with the trade and jump-start Indian outbound travel to Sri Lanka. SriLankan ran a stall at the expo from 9 – 11 February 2023, and successfully galvanized the support of visiting travel agents, tour operators and other industry allies for the airline as well as national efforts to restore tourism in Sri Lanka. Indian travellers flocked to Sri Lanka before the borders closed in 2019, encouraged by the short travel time and unmistakable similarities of culture. SriLankan Airlines was often the preferred conduit of travel between the two countries owing to its broad Indian network and unparalleled flight frequencies and connections to the East and beyond. The airline is well-placed to welcome Indian customers onboard and to the shores of Sri Lanka once again, and this was the core message driven home to agents at SATTE 2023. In supporting its commercial goals, SriLankan seized the platform offered by the SATTE expo to give a boost to SriLankan Holidays’ package, ‘Dil full of Sri Lanka,’ that was introduced in India recently.  The three-day package provides an unbeatable value proposition combining the airline’s warm and convenient service with four-star properties of partner hotel chains. SriLankan remains strongly committed to its Indian customers and currently operates 80 weekly flights between Colombo and nine Indian cities. Travellers from Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kochi, Madurai, Mumbai, Tiruchirappalli and Thiruvananthapuram can expect a seamless travel experience when flying to Colombo and beyond on SriLankan Airlines. For more details and bookings visit www.srilankan.com    

Emirates announced that it will boost its operations to and from Cairo to 28 weekly flights, effective 29 October, 2023. The additional flights provide more options for customers to connect to Dubai and beyond with enhanced schedules and the opportunity to enjoy more of the Emirates A380’s signature experience. The operational boost will see Emirates operating four daily flights, thrice daily on the A380 and a daily service on the Boeing 777. Cairo has the highest deployment of Emirates A380 services in the MENA region, outside of Dubai. The additional services and upgrade of seat capacity  on the Dubai-Cairo route will help meet high demand to and from Cairo and support the country’s tourism revival with the addition of more than 2,200 weekly seats in each direction. EK921 will now operate daily, departing at 1200hrs from Dubai to arrive at Cairo International Airport at 1415hrs. The return service EK922 will depart from Cairo at 1615hrs, to arrive at 2145hrs in Dubai. Emirates’ third A380 service to Cairo, EK925 will depart Dubai at 20:40hrs landing at 22:55hrs. EK926 will then depart Cairo, the following day at 00:40 hrs, to arrive in Dubai at 06:10hrs. The Emirates A380 experience remains highly sought after by travellers for its spacious and comfortable cabins, and signature products that offer travellers the best experiences in the sky like the Onboard Lounge, First Class suites and Shower Spa. The airline currently deploys its flagship A380 to 41 destinations worldwide. The modern Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration on flights to Cairo offer Emirates’ award-winning service and industry-leading products, with private suites in First Class, lie flat seats in Business Class and spacious seats in Economy Class. …

From 18 March 2023, Air Astana will resume flights from Astana to Beijing with a frequency of two per week on Wednesdays and Saturdays and a further increase set for summer. The flights will be operated on Airbus A321LRs. In addition, from 2 March 2023, the airline will increase the frequency of flights from Almaty to Beijing to four times a week with plans to increase this to daily flights during the summer season. These will be operated on Airbus A321LR and Airbus A321neo. Adel Dauletbek, Vice President for Marketing and Sales at Air Astana: “As we begin to navigate the summer season, the airline is gradually increasing its capacity in China to meet the growing demand of the country with the largest economy and population. Our passengers have the opportunity to travel on comfortable Airbus A321LR and A321neo aircraft. We are confident that these flights will be in demand by passengers who are heading to China for business, tourism and other purposes.” The airline resumed flights to Beijing from 22 November 2022 after suspending operations with China in March 2020 due to the pandemic. From 2002 to 2020, more than 1,100,000 passengers were transported across this route.

The landmark 10th edition of the Arab Aviation Summit will be hosted in collaboration with Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority from March 14 – 16 at Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Centre under the theme ‘Impactful sustainability in modern-day travel and tourism’ in the presence of leading regional and global players in the aviation and travel industry from across the public and private sectors. The growing demand for decarbonising aviation and travel will be in focus at the region’s leading aviation industry event that brings together more than 600 aviation experts and hundreds of attendees across multiple sectors at Al Hamra International Exhibition & Conference Centre. Featuring a line-up of interactive panel discussions and inspiring keynote addresses in addition to various workshops and exhibitions which will take place during the three days summit enabling industry experts to share expertise and knowledge and explore the trends, insights and opportunities driving the continuous growth and development of the Arab aviation and tourism industry. Hosted in collaboration with Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority (RAKTDA), the summit will analyse the importance of impactful sustainability and disruptive technologies in a rapidly changing travel market. Stalwarts in the industry including Original Equipment Manufacturers, Destination Management Companies, tourism boards and start-ups, will include best practices and offer valuable perspectives on sustainable business models. Strategic sector discussions will also highlight curated and innovative products, services and initiatives that are currently changing the way people travel. The 10th Arab Aviation Summit will cement its status as the ‘voice of the industry’ with a series of workshops and partner networking events that open doors for discussions on opportunities and challenges in the sector. Endorsed by Arab governments, …