Dubai Airports, along with HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, and representatives from aviation sector and the emirate of Dubai recently welcomed its billionth passenger at Dubai International Airport (DXB). Nine-year-old Arjun and his family arrived from Orlando, Florida. At a celebration held in DXB, Arjun, along with his mother Ramya, father Venkatesh and thirteen-year-old brother Varun, were personally greeted by HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Airports. The family was delighted with details of an unforgettable and surprising set of experiences that showcase Dubai’s longstanding reputation for excitement, luxury and modern Arabic hospitality, organised for the next few days of their trip. At the airport, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman, Dubai Airports, said, “This landmark billionth-passenger achievement is the result of team work and collaboration, and special thanks goes out to each and every member of the airport community who have played a role in this journey. Of course, we would not be in this position if it weren’t for the visionary leadership of HH Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum and HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler, Dubai both of whom foresaw the development of Dubai into a global centre for trade, tourism and commerce enabled by a fast-growing and world-leading aviation sector with top-flight airport infrastructure.” The billionth customer is arguably the most significant in a long litany of achievements since the airport first opened on September 30, 1960. Today, the hub is widely considered a benchmark for its quality infrastructure, passenger and cargo volumes and high-service levels despite unrelenting …

DXB Entertainments has signed partnership with Dubai Duty Free to promote Dubai Parks and Resorts to passengers arriving at all three Dubai International Airport terminals. Dubai Parks and Resorts will have a presence at Terminals 1, 2 and 3 for arrivals from December 2018 to January 2019, and will promote and sell tickets to the destination’s main theme parks, including MOTIONGATE™ Dubai, BOLLYWOOD PARKS™ Dubai, LEGOLAND® Water Park and LEGOLAND® Dubai. Around 88 million annual passengers, flying through the airport will be able to buy tickets upon arrival, to experience more than 100 rides and attractions across the four parks. Mohamed Almulla, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, DXB Entertainments, said, “We are delighted to partner with Dubai Duty Free to promote Dubai Parks and Resorts at Dubai International Airport, the main gateway to the country. This partnership is part of our ongoing efforts to promote the destination to international tourists across key locations in Dubai, by collaborating with some of Dubai’s iconic tourist facing brands. Colm McLoughlin, Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Dubai Duty Free said, “We are happy to work with DXB Entertainments for the convenience it offers to passengers in acquiring tickets to Dubai Parks and Resorts on arrival to Dubai. The tickets will be available at prominent desks at Dubai Duty Free at Arrivals and we know that they will be a popular purchase with our customers.”

VFS Global has opened new Slovakia Visa Application Centre in Kuwait city in the state of Kuwait. The new centre offers residents of the state of Kuwait travelling to the Central European country greater convenience in accessing professionally-managed visa application submission services. In a statement, VFS Global said the Slovakia Visa Application Centre in the state of Kuwait is the first to be opened in the Middle East region and the fifth Slovakia Visa Application Centre to launch globally. Some of the key features of the Slovakia Visa Application Centre in the state of Kuwait include longer operating hours, professionally-trained staff fluent in the local language, an automated queue-management system for seamless submission procedures and a premium lounge for a more personalised application submission experience. Inaugurating the new Visa Application Centre, Martin Kardoš, Chargé d’affaires ad interim of the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in the state of Kuwait, said, “We believe that in close cooperation with professionals from VFS Global, Kuwaiti and other residents will find services at the new Visa Application Centre more comfortable, helpful and convenient to submit their visa requests.” Under the contract signed with the Slovak Republic, VFS Global will provide outsourced visa processing services in the state of Kuwait, Belarus, Egypt, India, Kazakhstan, Palestine, P R China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Russia, through 38 Slovakia Visa Application Centres. Also commenting on the launch of the new Slovakia Visa Application Centre in the state of Kuwait, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group COO – Middle East, South Asia & China, VFS Global, said, “With the opening of the new centre, our steadfast endeavour is to provide residents with seamless visa application submission services in a …

Emirates and South African Airways (SAA) are expanding their strategic cooperation with enhancements to its codeshare agreement, opening up new destinations for customers of both the airlines. Pending governmental approval, SAA and Emirates have signed an enhanced commercial partnership which will see the relationship between the two carriers grow and strengthen their already successful codeshare agreement signed in 1997, across a wide spectrum of commercial and customer touch points. Vuyani Jarana, CEO, SAA,  “This agreement marks a forward step in the execution of our strategy and in transforming our business. It will enable us to explore and leverage synergies between ourselves in a much enhanced relationship of mutual benefit. Our route network and that of Emirates complement one another. The expansion of our partnership will further strengthen key focus areas of the implementation of our turnaround plan.” Tim Clark, President, Emirates Airline, said, “We remain committed to our decades-long relationship with SAA, and the forthcoming expansion of our codeshare agreement is an exciting development and a significant milestone in our history in South Africa.”

flydubai will operate up to five direct flights a week to Naples and Budapest in Europe from June 4 and June 27, 2019, respectively. Emirates will codeshare on both routes strengthing the partnership between the two airlines, which aims to provide more options for travelling to passengers. Both routes will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB). To offer passengers more comfort and an enhanced travel experience, flydubai will operate the new routes on the brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8. The new cabin offering features a flat-bed in Business Class, while the Economy Class offers new RECARO seats, which are designed to optimise space and comfort. flydubai also offers exceptional inflight entertainment with a full HD, 11.6-inch screen, featuring a wide selection of movies, TV shows, music and games in English, Arabic and Russian. Commenting on the launch, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said, “We are delighted to be launching flights to Budapest and Naples. These destinations provide our passengers with more choice on our network while reaffirming our commitment to the vision to create free flows of tourism and strengthen direct airlinks with the UAE.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and e-commerce, flydubai, said, “Budapest and Naples are important centres for commerce, trade and industry and are incredibly popular leisure destinations, especially during summer. Making these destinations more accessible to travellers looking for new places to explore will undoubtedly stimulate traffic flows and tourism.”

Festive season is the perfect time to share the joy and happiness of giving. The Novotel,  ibis World Trade Centre and ibis One Central team organised a special Christmas Tree-lighting event for children with determination recently to share their love. The festive carols resounded throughout were a delight to the children and their parents alike. The joy of the children resonated within the establishment when Santa Claus walked out bearing gifts for one and all. Rest-assured, this memory shall be cherished and be spoken about for years to come. The countdown to the Christmas Tree Lighting was the finale to the event and who better than Santa, to magically light up the Christmas tree along with the faces of ecstatic children and their loved ones. The festive season is special for everyone, the Novotel and ibis team ensured that each and every single individual left the event with a pleasant memory embedded deep in their hearts.

One of the most important projects that will position the Saudi Arabia Kingdom on the global tourism map, eventually creating 70,000 jobs, growing GDP by SAR 22 billion and attracting one million visitors per year is on track towards completing its first phase by 2022. A delegation from the Red Sea Development Company, led by chief executive John Pagano, was received by King Salman bin Abdulaziz at Araqa Palace in Riyadh recently. Underlining its economic and development goals and the project’s objective to become a global destination for luxury tourism, Pagano made a visual presentation at the palace on the master plan of the Red Sea Project. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Chairman of the company, was also present. As part of the project that is expected to create an estimated 70,000 jobs, 22 islands on the Red Sea will be developed. It will not just contribute SAR 22 billion to Saudi Arabia’s GDP, but play a major role in the Kingdom’s economic-diversification drive – a chief objective of Vision 2030 – by attracting approximately one million tourists per year. The first phase of the project, scheduled to be completed in 2022, will include an airport, marinas, residential properties, recreational facilities and up to 3,000 hotel rooms. King Salman lauded the delegates for planning a project that will propel Saudi Arabia to a prominent position on the global tourism map and create investment opportunities for the Saudi Arabian private sector – while simultaneously preserving the nation’s cultural and environmental heritage.

All set to be held in Beijing on August 28 and 29, 2019, IBTM China expects over 380 international and domestic exhibitors to meet more than 400 hosted buyers during business meetings at the event. Over 3,500 visitors are also expected to attend. The year 2019 will see the introduction of a new experience zone where visitors will be able to interact with select exhibitors in immersive themed environments on the show floor. Additionally, in response to customer demand for more opportunities to learn and be inspired by outside speakers, eight new speaker slots have been added to the programme which will cover four key themes, details of which will be announced early next year. Nicole Ci, Project Manager, IBTM China, commented, “We’re excited to announce the first details of IBTM China 2019. We have ambitious plans to grow the event this year, including extending the breadth of both international and domestic exhibitors taking stands and increasing hosted buyer numbers. The market in China continues to boom and there’s huge demand for on-site education sessions. As a result, we’ve almost doubled the number of speaker sessions this year to 18. We’ll be following four topical themes to ensure the sessions are targeted to the latest hot topics, from key industry trends to event marketing and innovation. We’re looking forward to announcing more information about the event early in 2019.”

Emirates will introduce a daily A380 service for a temporary period between Glasgow and Dubai from April 16, 2019. It will be the first time the popular double decker aircraft will operate on a scheduled basis to Scotland. The larger capacity A380 will replace Emirates’ current twice daily Boeing 777 service between Glasgow and Dubai from April 16 until May 31, 2019, during which time Dubai Airports plan to close Dubai International’s (DXB) southern runway for upgrade works, and the single runway operations require airlines to reduce and adjust their operating schedules. The deployment of the A380 is to minimise the reduction of Emirates’ capacity from Glasgow to Dubai and beyond, during this period. The A380 flight will depart Dubai at 1450hrs and arrive in Glasgow at 1945hrs, while the return flight will leave Glasgow at 2130hrs and land in Dubai at 0755hrs the next morning. From June 1 until September 30, the double daily service will be reinstated on the route, with the A380 operating on the first flight of the day, and a Boeing 777 on the second, increasing capacity on the route during this period to meet seasonal summer demand. Thereafter, the service will revert back to a twice daily Boeing 777 operation. Launched in October this year, Emirates also offers a daily service to Edinburgh, bringing to three the number of daily flights between Scotland and Dubai. The Emirates A380 will have a three-class cabin configuration, offering 14 private suites in First Class, 76 lie flat seats in Business Class, and 399 spacious seats in Economy Class.

Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi has inaugurated the first boutique five-star luxury resort in Sharjah — Al Bait Sharjah. The property becomes the first five-star luxury hospitality brand in the UAE built on and inspired by rich Emirati heritage and culture. The official opening, which was led by His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, was also under the presence of Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qasimi, Chairman, Sharjah Media Council; Sheikh Salem Bin Abdul Rahman Al Qasimi, Director — Office, His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah; Sheikh Mohammed bin Humaid Al Qasimi, Director, Sharjah Department of Statistics and Community Development (DSCD), and a number of senior officials from Sharjah’s state entities, along with local and international journalists and influential personalities. Al Bait, which translates to ‘The Home’ is part of an Emirati conservation project in Sharjah spearheaded by the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq). The hotel is the latest on GHM’s illustrious international list of hospitality properties, and features a collection of four heritage houses once owned by local families closely intertwined with Sharjah’s history. The five-star luxury resort is located in Heart of Sharjah – a major cultural heritage site in the UAE. Raising the bar and pioneering luxury hospitality in Sharjah, the resort is set to put the destination on the map. The boutique property, which is valued at AED 200 million, is home to 53 luxury rooms and suites, and a range of facilities and amenities, including an array of dining offerings inspired by Middle Eastern and Far Eastern cuisines, a luxury hammam, a helipad for the ultimate …