Category Archives: Aviation

Wizz Air announced that 90% of its crew members are now vaccinated, following its 1 December deadline requiring flight and cabin crew to be vaccinated – or get regularly tested at their own cost – unless they recently recovered from COVID-19. The requirement underpins the airline’s commitment to protecting the health and safety of its passengers and employees. Following Wizz Air’s announcement in September to introduce COVID-19 vaccines for all its flight and cabin crews, the airline can confirm that their vaccination rate is ahead of the average vaccination rate in most of its markets. The policy does not mandate vaccination, however crew members who are not vaccinated will have to cover the cost of their own testing from December 1 onwards. Unvaccinated crew members, who can provide medical proof of exemption, will be able take antigen/PCR tests on regular bases. The decision to require crew to have the COVID-19 vaccine reflects research which demonstrates the vaccine’s effectiveness as the best available form of protection against COVID-19. Wizz Air has also organised regular webinars and one-to-one consultations with virologists to educate its staff about the vaccines, and answer any questions the employees might have. Johan Eidhagen, Chief People Officer of Wizz Air Group said: “We are pleased to announce that 90% of our flight and cabin crew members are already vaccinated. At the start of the pandemic, we led the industry with our stringent health and safety measures, as we fully understand the responsibility to protect crew and passengers onboard by mitigating the risks of COVID-19, and we recognise the crucial role that the vaccine plays in this.”

Exactly 13 years after it first connected Abu Dhabi to Moscow, Etihad Airways launched its inaugural flight to the new state-of-the-art International Terminal C at Moscow Sheremetyevo Alexander S. Pushkin International Airport (SVO). Operated by a 787 Dreamliner, Flight EY63 departed Abu Dhabi International Airport at 9.35am and landed in Moscow at  2.25pm on 2 December, where it was greeted with a welcoming ceremony including and a delegation of government ministers, the UAE Ambassador to Russia and senior SVO executives. The return flight back to Abu Dhabi, EY64, departed Moscow to similar fanfare at 3.50pm. The delegation was led by H.E. Dr. Mohammed Al Jaber, UAE Ambassador to Russia, Tony Douglas, Group CEO, Etihad Aviation Group; Ali Al Shaiba, Executive Director of Tourism & Marketing at DCT; and Mikhail Vasilenko, General Director of SVO Airport. Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said: “After 13 years connecting our two capital cities, we’re delighted to introduce the 787 on this route and move to Russia’s newest and most sophisticated airport, providing better connectivity for guests between Abu Dhabi and Moscow in support of our objective to grow trade and tourism opportunities between our two countries.” “Supported by an increased daily flight schedule providing Russian holiday makers and business travellers with even more opportunity to visit the UAE, this is the start of a new phase in relations building on the strong economic ties between Moscow and Abu Dhabi.” To complement the move to SVO, Etihad continues to work with Aeroflot to enhance and develop its partnership, including the launch of codeshare services across the respective networks, and exploring other areas of cooperation to enhance guest benefits. UAE citizens are …

Kuwait Airways launched its first scheduled commercial flight to Bangkok in the Kingdom of Thailand, operating four flights per week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturday recently. The ceremony of resuming the first flights to Bangkok at Terminal 4, was attended by the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to the State of Kuwait, His Excellency Rooge Thammongkol and his accompanying delegation from the Embassy, who were received by the Director of Public Relations and Media department- Fayez Al-Enezi, Director of Ground Handling department- Abdullah Al-Huwailah and the Assistant Director of Ground Handling Department, Kuwait International Airport- Mazyad Al-Mutairi. The first flight to Bangkok witnessed the implementation and completion of comfortable and convenient travel procedures for passengers and meeting their requirements to the fullest, who in turn appreciated Kuwait Airways’ employees for their services from the entrance of Terminal 4, to the check-in area, until reaching the boarding gate, as well as providing them with the best services on board, in addition to KAC’s adherence to its schedule in the departure and arrival of its flights. In this regard, the Director of Public Relations and Media department, Fayez Al-Enezi stated, “Kuwait Airways is pleased to announce resuming of its direct and scheduled operations to the city of Bangkok, Thailand and we are honored by the presence of His Excellency Rooge Thammongkol, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Thailand to celebrate the launch of the first flights after its suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic.” His Excellency the Ambassador was also briefed on the operating procedures followed at Terminal 4, where he expressed happiness on the convenient and speedy completion of procedures extended to passengers on the flight to Bangkok as …

Oman Air has resumed with effect from 1st December 2021 direct service on its Muscat-Zurich-Muscat route. The route resumption coincides with Oman Air’s 10th anniversary flying to Zurich (ZRH) from its base in Muscat (MCT). Initially introduced on 2nd December 2011, the route was paused temporarily due to the unprecedented pandemic and subsequent downturn in global aviation and travel. Due to strong demand for the route, however, and with the reassurance of its 5-Star COVID-19 Airline Safety Rating from Skytrax, Oman Air is once again delighted to welcome its valued guests on board. In a scaled-down, socially distanced ceremony held at Zurich Airport, Lina Samman, Oman Air Country Manager for Switzerland, accompanied by several Zurich Airport officials, spoke to passengers, local press, and airline partners ahead of the departure of flight WY 154 from Zurich to Muscat. “This evening’s flight from Zurich to Muscat not only resumes scheduled passenger service, but also marks ten years of exceptional service, connecting travellers to the Sultanate of Oman’s natural beauty, its cultural richness, and the genuine kindness and openness of its people.”

Following nearly two years of negotiations, Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority formally initialed a Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement with the European Union and its Member States signalling the Sultanate of Oman’s ambitions for a more liberalized air traffic accord with the European Union. The initialed agreement strengthens both parties’ commitment to fair access to markets for Oman and all EU Member States and is an important first step in a planned 5-year implementation leading up to a fully formalized open skies accord. The initialling was witnessed by Oman’s Civil Aviation Authority President His Excellency Eng. Naif Bin Ali Al Abri, His Excellency Najeem Sulaiman Al Abri, Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman to the Kingdom of Belgium, and Head of the Omani Mission to the European Union, and Mr. Henrik Hololei, Director-General for Mobility and Transport of the European Commission. The Sultanate of Oman holds bilateral third and fourth air freedom rights with several EU Member States, including France, Germany and Italy. The Comprehensive Air Transport Agreement paves the way for the Sultanate of Oman to increase flight frequencies on existing European routes and add other European destinations for the national carrier Oman Air (WY) and Salam Air (OV). Reciprocally, the Agreement will allow EU airlines to fly to all Omani airports from their home country or from any other EU Member State. Currently, Air France and KLM are the only EU airlines that fly direct to Muscat International airport (MCT) — the Agreement effectively aims to ease market access to Oman for more EU airlines. Besides market access, the Agreement also contains provisions on a number of other important aspects of aviation including commercial opportunities, doing business, safety, security, air …

Emirates will resume its passenger operations between Dubai and Nigeria from 5 December 2021, offering customers enhanced connectivity to and through Dubai. The world’s largest international airline will operate to and from its Nigerian gateways with daily flights, providing travellers from Nigeria convenient access to Dubai, which remains a highly popular holiday and business destination. It’ll also enable travellers to safely connect via Dubai to the Emirates network of over 120 global destinations. Emirates will operate to Abuja with EK 785 and 786. EK 785 will depart Dubai at 1100hrs, arriving in Abuja at 1540hrs. The return flight, EK 786 will take off from Abuja at 1900, arriving in Dubai at 0435hrs the next day. Emirates flight EK 783 to Lagos will depart Dubai at 1030hrs, arriving in Lagos at 1540hrs. The return flight EK 784 will depart Lagos at 1810hrs, arriving in Dubai at 0415hrs the next day. All flights can be booked on emirates.com, with OTAs and via travel agents. Throughout the pandemic, Emirates has been helping its customers travel safely and confidently, implementing industry-leading health and safety measures at every point of the travel journey, helping communities reconnect faster and facilitating economic recovery. The airline has also been working hard to provide up to date, comprehensive travel information to its customers, as well as speeding up processes on the ground through digital verification for Covid-19 via the IATA Travel Pass, as well as touchless check-in and biometrics processing. Ensuring the safety of travellers, visitors, and the community, Covid-19 PCR tests are mandatory for all inbound passengers arriving to Dubai, including UAE citizens, residents and tourists, irrespective of the country they are coming from. Travellers coming from Nigeria …

dnata, a leading global air and travel services provider, has signed a concession agreement with The Government of Zanzibar, along with Emirates Leisure Retail and SEGAP, a joint venture between airport infrastructure and operations specialists Egis, and private equity fund manager AIIM. Under the partnership, dnata will oversee the operations of Zanzibar Abeid Amani Karume International Airport’s (ZNZ) newly-built international terminal (T3), with SEGAP supporting the Zanzibar Airports Authority (ZAA) in a management capacity. Emirates Leisure Retail will partner with MMI as master concessionaire for all food and beverage, duty free and commercial outlets at T3. dnata will provide its globally renowned, quality ground and passenger handling services to airline customers at ZNZ, ensuring safe and timely operations of flights and an excellent travel experience for passengers. dnata expects to handle over 4,000 flights annually at the airport.  dnata will also invest in a state-of-the-art cargo centre to establish cargo operations at the airport, supporting local trade and businesses. The facility will comply with the highest industry standards ensuring efficient and safe handling of a broad range of cargo, including perishables, pharmaceuticals, dangerous goods, live animals, aircraft engines and vehicles. In addition, dnata will launch meet & greet and lounge services through its airport hospitality brand, marhaba, to help passengers further enhance their experience and enjoy a smooth airport journey from check-in to boarding. dnata’s expansion into Zanzibar represents an investment of over US$ 7 million and will create up to 400 direct local jobs with the company. Including this latest investment which is dnata’s first operation in Tanzania, dnata now provides quality and safe ground handling, cargo, catering and travel services in 36 countries. Steve Allen, Executive Vice President …

Dubai Airports has issued a passenger advisory alerting travellers about Dubai International (DXB) getting exceptionally busy over the coming days and weeks. According to the operator, as many as 1.8 million passengers are expected to pass through DXB between November 25 and December 5 with average daily traffic reaching 164,000 passengers. December 4 is expected to be the busiest day during this period with passenger numbers likely to surpass the 190,000 mark. Essa Al Shamsi, Vice President of Terminal Operations at Dubai Airports said, “As always, Dubai Airports is working with airlines, control authorities, and all our other commercial and service partners to ensure a smooth and comfortable experience for our customers. Those travelling during this peak period can make their journey smooth and comfortable by following a few simple tips.” Considering that travel requirements have changed globally due to the pandemic, Dubai Airports strongly urges all customers to: – Be aware of the latest travel regulations for the destination you are travelling to. We urge passengers to get in touch with their respective airlines and ensure that they have all the necessary documents with the required validity before reaching the airport. – Plan some extra time to get to and through the airport as the roads to DXB could get busy during peak times. – Arrive at the airport no earlier than 3 hours before your departure if you are flying out of Terminal 1. Those departing from Terminal 3 can beat the queues by check-in up to 24 hours ahead of their departure. – Use online and self-service options wherever available to get off to a smooth start to your journey. – Say your goodbyes at home as …

The Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism and Gulf Air’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, the National Carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, H.E. Mr. Zayed R. Alzayani met with the Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) Mr. Willie Walsh at the Association’s headquarters in Geneva, where they discussed a number of aviation related issues, and elements of this vital economic sector to various revenue-generating fields such as tourism and investment. During the visit, H.E. expressed how he values IATA’s efforts in supporting and developing the  ever-changing aviation industry; noting the importance of the Association’s role in sustaining aviation, especially amidst the great impact of the recent pandemic. Mr. Walsh expressed his thanks and gratitude to H.E. and to the National Carrier as the airline operations continued during the pandemic to help solve some of the global problems during that time. Additionally, he highlighted that Gulf Air remained one of the few airlines that kept operating and never stopped flying during the pandemic, and wishing the National Carrier success and prosperity. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) was established in 1945, and is one of the most notable associations in the aviation industry, connecting many commercial airlines through its membership, and is also involved in setting aviation related policies and regulations in which Gulf Air has been a member since 1981.  

Emirates and airBaltic are starting codeshare cooperation that will open new, seamless travel opportunities. airBaltic customers will benefit from convenient access to Emirates’ worldwide network via its hub in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. At the same time, Emirates passengers will have more possibilities to travel to the Baltic sea region. Martin Gauss, President and CEO of airBaltic: “Emirates is a truly global connectivity provider, and we are excited to start a new partnership alongside direct flights between Riga and Dubai which we commenced in September. The new partnership will enable our passengers to  reach new exciting destinations in Asia, Australia and beyond.” Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We’re very pleased to announce a new partnership with airBaltic, the leading airline in the Baltics, which enables us to offer Emirates customers even more travel choices and connectivity in the Baltic region. It will also open up Emirates’ exciting network of global destinations to more travellers from the Baltics. We look forward to the start of a successful partnership.” airBaltic performs all of its flights with the most modern and environmentally friendly Airbus A220-300 jets, offering affordable and flexible Economy class tickets as well as a full Business class service. A complete schedule of airBaltic flights can be found on the company’s homepage at www.airbaltic.com. Health and safety: The safety and health of our passengers is airBaltic’s top priority. airBaltic has introduced strong health measures and the flight operations follow the recommendations issued by authorities. To read more about the airBaltic health measures, please visit airBaltic website: https://www.airbaltic.com/en/health-measures. airBaltic asks its passengers to strictly follow all of the rules and regulations issued by the relevant authorities. Passengers are strongly suggested …