Category Archives: Aviation

Etihad Airways to implement electronic technical logs (eTech logs) for airline operations. The approval from the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) for implementation on Etihad’s freighter fleet accelerates the journey towards paperless airline operations which is a key initiative for Etihad Airways and the GCAA. The implementation on Etihad’s Boeing 777 freighter fleet follows three months of trials in partnership with the GCAA, where eTech logs replaced paper logbooks currently used by flight crew and engineers to document all flight and maintenance information. Although modern aircraft are technologically advanced, most airlines continue to use paper-based logbooks. By replacing paper documentation, eTech logs provide real-time data capture that can be shared with multiple stakeholders, from the air to the ground – increasing operational efficiency, reducing delays and costs. The eTech logs are another example of Etihad’s investment in innovation to continue enhancing safety outcomes, as they reduce complexity and workload, and improve how Etihad manages compliance requirements. Paul Kear, Senior Vice President Technical, Etihad Airways, said, “This initiative supports Etihad’s innovation and sustainability goals, which are core values for the airline, Abu Dhabi, and the UAE. The digitalisation of our technical logs will go a long way towards enhancing the operational efficiency and airworthiness of our fleet and this is a monumental step forward for aviation in the UAE.” H.E Saif Al Suwaidi, Director General of the GCAA said, “The GCAA have approved Etihad to implement electronic technical logs for their Boeing 777 freighters. This is a historic achievement not just for Etihad but for the aviation industry in the UAE. This initiative supports the GCAA’s vision for paperless operations and we thank Etihad Airways for their pioneering efforts.” Steve Russell, …

Etihad Aviation Training (EAT), part of Etihad Aviation Group, has launched new training programmes for pilots at its world-class training facility. For the first time, customers will also be able to earn Etihad Guest Miles against EAT products and services. The first Aviation Training Organisation (ATO) in the world to secure regulatory approval, cadets who complete MPL training on the Phenom 100 jet can now transition directly to the most efficient and advanced wide-body aircraft in the market, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. To achieve the highest proficiency standards, this programme allows EAT trainees to become fully qualified Boeing 787 Dreamliner pilots within 18 months, through an intensive and highly advanced curriculum that capitalises on leading industry learning techniques and technology. Paolo La Cava, Vice President Etihad Aviation Training, said, “Etihad, along with a number of other airlines around the world, traditionally place cadets into narrow-body aircraft once they’ve completed their training. Due to higher market demand, EAT would rather place some cadets onto the Boeing 787 Dreamliner. With this new approval, requirements will be met and will also give pilots the opportunity to fly to destinations that are not catered with narrow-body aircraft”. “Despite the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and its restrictions during the past year, EAT successfully trained over 18,000 students, while globally, the vast majority of training organisations paused their operations. Now, EAT also has the ability to offer type rate training to not only airline pilots, but also individual pilots who are not directly associated with any UAE air operator, similar to the European training environment. This way, Etihad’s training facilities are actively responding to the market’s needs and ensuring pilots remain licensed and employable while …

Air Arabia announced free global COVID-19 cover for all passengers travelling on Air Arabia flights from Sharjah and Abu Dhabi. This cover is automatically included with the booking, no additional documents are required from customers and validity is for 31 days from the day of departure on the itinerary. It also includes medical expenses and quarantine costs. Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia commented, “The new COVID-19 global assistance cover underlines our commitment to customers in helping them travel with confidence and additional ease of mind. At Air Arabia, we always ensure that every step of our customer journey remains safe, seamless and driven by added value to customers.” Impacted passengers who has been diagnosed with Covid-19 during their travel can contact the 24/7 Air Arabia COVID-19 Global Assistance Cover Team. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Air Arabia’s customer journey has been upgraded to include all safety measures that are in line with the highest international measures. Air Arabia’s entire fleet is fitted with HEPA cabin air filters, which help to provide a safer and healthier environment for passengers. Customers are always requested to comply with the conditions and requirements of the countries of departure and destination.

Etihad Airways is offering federal government employees up to 15% off flights with the launch of its UAE Government Employee Travel Programme. Travellers who enrol into the programme for free will be able to check in at Abu Dhabi International Airport using a dedicated counter and will receive 15kg additional baggage allowance. When travelling to the USA or Canada, travellers can bring an extra bag weighing up to 23kg in Economy and up to 32kg in Business and First class. Duncan Bureau, Senior Vice President Sales and Distribution, Etihad Airways said, “We are delighted to partner with the UAE Government to offer its employees exclusive travel discounts, benefits and rewards. Whether booking for business or leisure, we hope this new travel programme will encourage more residents to start flying again.”

Emirates has launched a suite of connectivity options for its trade partners around the world to easily and directly access the airline’s rich content and other services.Developed using IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) standards, the Emirates Gateway is available via the recently launched Emirates Partners Portal. Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer said, “The Emirates Gateway suite of connection options has been built on new technology and is designed to address the limitations of current legacy distribution systems. Our aim was to create a platform that empowers us to rapidly develop and deploy new products and services, thereby giving us and our trade partners the ability to offer even more value-added and differentiated services. It also prepares the way for Emirates to offer custom content and dynamic pricing that better responds to our changing marketplace.” Offering improved access to Emirates’ products and services with an intuitive and easy to ease interface, the Emirates Gateway offers the airline’s trade partners the ability to enhance travellers’ journeys with customised products and services. Trade partners can connect to the Emirates Gateway via three flexible access solutions: Emirates Booking Portal: a user-friendly web booking portal available in 12 languages, connected directly to Emirates’ reservation systems that simplifies the booking, ticketing and post-ticketing servicing of Emirates orders; Emirates Gateway Direct: which provides access to Emirates content through IATA NDC APIs, allowing trade partners to build applications that meet their needs with expert support from Emirates’ IT teams; Emirates Gateway Sync: a facilitated link into the Emirates reservation system provided by industry leading, IATA registered, Emirates certified technology partners.

Lufthansa Group has announced that it will be increasing its flight operations to the Middle East in the fourth quarter of 2020. Lufthansa German Airlines will increase its capacity from four flights per week from Dubai to Frankfurt, to five flights per week as of October 2020. In addition, SWISS is set to restart its services from Dubai to Zurich with three flights per week beginning on the 29th of October 2020, further boosting connectivity between the two destinations. The new SWISS Dubai–Zurich service will depart on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, while Zurich–Dubai flights will run on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Dubai–Zurich flights will depart at 01:55 hrs and arrive at 06:10 hrs, and Zurich–Dubai flights depart at 21:50 hrs and arrive at 07:00 hrs (+1). The flights have been introduced as part of Lufthansa Group’s winter schedule to cater to continuing growth in demand for intercontinental travel. Heinrich Lange, Senior Director Sales, Gulf, Afghanistan and Pakistan, Lufthansa Group, commented, “We are pleased to unveil details of our winter schedule between our hubs Frankfurt and Zurich and the Middle East. Recent steady increases in passenger numbers signal a growing confidence in the safety of air travel. In line with this encouraging rise in demand, we aim to bring our customers multiple options that offer greater choice and convenience while maintaining the highest standards of safety at all times. It’s wonderful to see travellers taking to the skies again and we look forward to connecting them to where they need to be in the months ahead.” As part of its commitment to safeguarding the health and safety of its customers and team members, Lufthansa is continuing to implement stringent hygiene and …

Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai has received another Stay Safe Certification audited by the StaySafe Hospitality. StaySafe provides a fresh approach to how hotels manage their risks. Developed and managed by hospitality professionals, the tools, audits and standards are all generated with a goal to continually improve the risk standards in the hospitality sector. Simon Moore, General Manager of Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai, said, “We are delighted to be recognised again by our trusted partner like StaySafe Hospitality. This achievement reflects the tremendous hard work and dedication that our team members have been putting in to meet always the high-quality standards of cleanliness, fire safety, food safety and security expectations of our guests. The comprehensive result enables us to benchmark and compare our procedures against the industry best practices as well as work on areas of improvement.” Moore further added, “Our guests safety and well-being is and always our utmost priority. Having a positive health and safety culture throughout the hotel helps to create a comfortable environment and we would like our guests to feel safe during their stay with us.” The Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai features 341 spacious rooms & suites, distinctive choice of restaurants and bars, meetings and event spaces such as magnificent Al Garhoud ballroom and outdoor garden area perfect for any type of large events and 7 meeting rooms with high-end meeting facilities for corporate meetings and conferences. The hotel also offers a range of leisure options including a superb large outdoor swimming pool, spa, saloon and fully-equipped fitness centre.

Emirates has introduced self- check-in and bag drop kiosks for a more seamless airport experience at Terminal 3, Dubai International Airport. The service is now available to customers travelling to all destinations except to the US, Canada, China, India and Hong Kong due to additional requirements from these destinations.The 16 new self-service bag drop machines and 8 self-service kiosks complement the desks manned by Emirates check-in agents to reduce waiting time for customers during peak periods and improve the customer experience in Dubai. More self-services facilities are planned to be added in the coming months.The kiosks allow customers to check-in, receive their boarding pass, choose seats on board, and drop off their bags. While Emirates staff will be on hand for any assistance required, the facilities are fully self- service, allowing customers to breeze through the airport and proceed directly to immigration. The facilities are cleaned and disinfected regularly and hand sanitisers are also available for customers to use. The new offering is part of Emirates’ continued investment in product and service to provide an unmatched travel experience on ground and on board. The solution was developed in house at Emirates in collaboration with Dubai Aviation Engineering Projects and Dubai Airports. The self check-in kiosks will be continually upgraded to offer new features in the future including going touchless, and allowing customers to make re-bookings on their own. Flexibility and assurance: Emirates’ booking policies offer customers flexibility and confidence to plan their travel. Customers who purchase an Emirates ticket for travel on or before 31 March 2021, can enjoy generous rebooking terms and options, if they have to change their travel plans. Customers have options to change their travel dates, extend …

As part of Singapore Airlines’ (SIA) efforts to deliver an enriched experience to customers, a wider range of fares and personalised content will be provided to its travel trade partners in the UAE from February 2021. This comes via an expansion of SIA’s KrisConnect Programme, which leverages new distribution technology to make available improved content and functionality through partner platforms. In launching KrisConnect in 2018, SIA was one of the first airlines in Asia-Pacific to take advantage of this new technology. From 07 February 2021, SIA-appointed agents in the UAE that participate in the KrisConnect Programme will benefit from improved speed-to-market, access to the widest range of fare products including personalised content, and the ability to offer customised products to their customers, such as bundled packages and negotiated fare deals. This, in turn, elevates the booking experience for customers through increased levels of personalisation and acknowledgement of their KrisFlyer status. To ensure maximised accessibility of the KrisConnect Programme in the UAE, travel agencies and other external partners can take advantage of multiple ways to access the new content and functionalities. SIA will make content available through traditional Global Distribution System partners such as Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport, as well as new technology partners, including but not limited to Aaron Group, Duffel, HitchHiker, PKFARE, TPConnects, Travel Boutique Online, Travelfusion, TravelNDC and Verteil Technologies. In addition, SIA’s travel agent portal, AGENT360, will be launched in the UAE to allow travel agents direct access to content via the KrisConnect Programme. Singapore Airlines General Manager Gulf and Middle East, Christian Stenkewitz said the KrisConnect Programme was part of Singapore Airlines’ commitment to becoming the world’s leading digital airline. “We are pleased to launch the …

Etihad Airways from October 1 until 31 December 31, 2020 will offer PCR tests included in all air tickets booked by customers in the UAE for flights departing from Abu Dhabi International Airport, with the exception of services to China. The airline is collaborating with Life Medical Diagnostic Center (Life Dx) to offer convenient testing between 48 to 96 hours prior to departure, at its network of collection facilities in the UAE. Travellers flying First or Business will also have the option of selecting tests at their home. The quick and easy process can be booked directly with Life Dx. Dr. Nadia Bastaki, Etihad Aviation Group Vice President Medical Services, said, “This is a significant development which allows Etihad to provide greater ease of travel for those departing from Abu Dhabi, by removing as much inconvenience from the PCR testing process as possible. This follows on perfectly from the recent introduction of complimentary COVID-19 insurance cover on all Etihad Airways tickets. “We are confident this partnership will provide Etihad, and most importantly our guests, with Life Dx’s superior testing technologies so they can travel from the capital with greater peace of mind. This is one further step in the efforts being made by Etihad to provide a professional, secure and protected travel experience at every stage of their journey with us.” Hosam Fouad, Founder and CEO of Life Medical Diagnostic Center said, “We are delighted to announce our strategic partnership with Etihad Airways to manage their passengers’ COVID-19 PCR testing requirements. “The solution’s main concept is to ramp-up the capacity of Life Dx’s central lab for up to 40,000 tests a day through fully automated state-of-the-art robotic systems and to …