Category Archives: Aviation

Dubai Airports is working closely with its aviation and commercial partners and is planning for a gradual remobilisation once travel restrictions relating to the COVID-19 pandemic are lifted. Under a business stabilisation framework, aviation partners, tenants and concessionaires have been provided with details of an assistance programme agreed by Dubai Airports. Dubai Airports has responded decisively to the COVID-19 crisis and is among the first airport operators to propose meaningful assistance to airline and commercial partners. The programme, which is applicable for the impacted period March 1, 2020 to May 31, 2020, includes waiving 100 per cent of minimum guarantees or equivalent fees for partners who have been required to cease trading due to the suspension of airport operations caused by the global pandemic. For partners that have maintained partial operations, other measures are in place to address the reduction in aviation activity, including rescheduling and other financial adjustments. “Flexibility is more important now than ever,” said Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President of Commercial at Dubai Airports. “Of paramount importance is that we protect and retain our aviation and business partnerships, which have been carefully built over a number of years, and ensure that our revenue and service drivers will be in a position to remobilise, in line with approvals from federal authorities. We have taken a number of unprecedented measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 to our own business, as well as those of our partners. By providing clarity and meaningful assistance to our business partners at this moment, we are confident that we will re-emerge to continue delivering the highest levels of assurance and service in a new commercial landscape, in which DXB and DWC will play …

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) called for governments to work with the industry on confidence-boosting measures in the face of an anticipated slow recovery in demand for air travel. “Passenger confidence will suffer a double whammy even after the pandemic is contained—hit by personal economic concerns in the face of a looming recession on top of lingering concerns about the safety of travel. Governments and industry must be quick and coordinated with confidence-boosting measures,” said Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO. An IATA-commissioned survey of recent travelers found that 6 per cent anticipate a return to travel within one to two months of containment of the COVID-19 pandemic but 40 per cent indicate that they could wait six months or more; and 69 per cent indicated that they could delay a return to travel until their personal financial situation stabilises. Early indications of this cautious return-to-travel behaviour are seen in the domestic markets of China and Australia, where new coronavirus infection rates have fallen to very low levels: China- Domestic demand began to recover when the rate of new COVID-19 infections in China fell into single digits and rapidly headed towards zero (measured by new infections as a percentage of the seven-day moving average of total COVID-19 cases). While there was an early upswing from mid-February into the first week of March, the number of domestic flights plateaued at just over 40 per cent of pre-COVID-19 levels. Actual demand is expected to be significantly weaker as load factors on these flights are reported to be low. China accounts for some 24 per cent of all domestic passengers. Australia- Domestic demand continued to deteriorate even after the rate …

Etihad plans to operate a reduced network of scheduled passenger services from May 1 to June 30, with the aim of gradually returning to a fuller schedule as and when the global situation improves; subject to UAE government imposed travel restrictions being lifted on passenger travel. Etihad is also continuing to operate a growing schedule of special passenger flights allowing foreign nationals in the UAE the opportunity to travel out of the country, and to carry essential belly-hold cargo such as perishables, pharmaceuticals, and medical supplies. To date, the airline has also repatriated almost 600 UAE nationals on return services. Tony Douglas, Group Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “We remain cautiously optimistic and will push ahead with our plans to resume normal flying, while striving to better serve and support our customers and our employees. While the intention is to assume a ‘business as usual’ approach to the restart of our operations, the aviation landscape has changed, and how it will look month by month is difficult to predict. This has necessitated a fundamental shift in focus for us. However, the cumulative gains achieved by our ongoing transformation, and the unwavering support of our shareholder, has left us in a relatively strong position to withstand any instability. We will pivot on this and act with agility to seize opportunities we may not have previously considered. “We are implementing a series of network-wide route and fleet efficiencies, while conducting an extensive brand study and trialing new service concepts in our guest experience proposition. We are also using this time to drive further internal improvements in the efficient use of automation and technology across all areas of the business, while …

Hahn Air is regrouping its departments supporting partner airlines, travel agencies and the global distribution systems (GDS) into the new commercial and operation divisions. The new divisions also include communications and marketing as well as IT support. The set-up allows the company to further increase business results for its more than 350 partner airlines and over 100,000 travel agency partners while taking advantage of synergies for internal and external support. Kirsten Rehmann, General Director of Hahn Air, commented on the new set-up, “The restructuring process already started in 2019 and will enable us to maximise results for all customer groups and further increase efficiency and optimise team work internally. This will especially be of advantage after the coronavirus crisis, when our partner airlines and travel agencies will have a strong need to kick-start their business.” The newly formed commercial division will be headed by Alexander Proschka who has been promoted to Executive Vice President Commercial. His division comprises of the following departments: airline business, communications and marketing, sales analytics and travel agency distribution. Proschka has been with Hahn Air since 2008 and was previously in charge of the sister companies Hahn Air Systems and Hahn Air Technologies with their products H1-Air and X1-Air. He holds a diploma in international business and industrial engineering from the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden. Another long-standing Hahn Air executive, Frederick Nowotny, has been promoted to Head of Operation to lead the new operation division. He joined Hahn Air in 2008 and previously headed up the sales engineering department. His division now includes the teams in charge of all airline and product implementation processes, GDS interfaces and inventory displays. In addition, he oversees the …

Air Arabia announces new passenger repatriation flights as well as cargo flights to multiple destinations from Sharjah International Airport. The airline will operate a mix of outbound only passenger flights as well as cargo flights during the month of April to Afghanistan, Iran, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Sudan, Egypt, India and Nepal. Air Arabia is committed to support the requests to operate repatriation and cargo flights and remain working closely with UAE authorities in this regard.

Cozmo Travel started taking bookings from April 14, for the special repatriation flights which have been announced by the UAE government. The following airlines will be starting operations in a fixed schedule: Etihad Airways starts operations from April 14-22 – Seoul, Jakarta, Singapore, Manila, Melbourne, Amsterdam, London Heathrow, Brussels, Zurich, Tokyo, Dublin; Emirates start operations from April 12-20 – London, Frankfurt, Paris, Tunis and Manila; and FlyDubai from April 14 – Azerbaian, Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, Iraq, Iran, Kyrgyztan, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Tajikistan, Ukraine,Uzbekistan. The destinations and the airlines and more information will be available subject to conditions announced by other foreign governments as well.

Etihad Airways has announced a series of special passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to Brussels, Dublin, London Heathrow, Tokyo Narita and Zurich, in addition to those previously published. The airline has been operating special flights which have allowed passengers stranded in the UAE due to COVID-19 restrictions, the opportunity to return home. The flights also support the ‘UAE Food Security Program’ by utilising belly-hold capacity of passenger aircraft for cargo. The airline continues to repatriate UAE citizens on return sectors, wherever possible, and carry fresh produce as belly-hold cargo back to Abu Dhabi. In addition to these newly announced destinations, Etihad continues to operate special passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to several destinations including Amsterdam, Jakarta, Manila, Melbourne, Seoul Incheon, and Singapore.

Emirates is planning to operate passenger services to Jakarta, Manila, Taipei, Chicago, Tunis, Algiers and Kabul in addition to the already commenced operation to London and Frankfurt. These services will facilitate residents and visitors wishing to return home. Passengers will be able to book directly on emirates.com or via their travel agent. Only citizens of the destination country and those who meet the entry requirements will be allowed to board. Passengers will be required to comply with each country’s requirement. With the increase of services and flights out of Dubai, Emirates have recommenced its operation at Dubai International airport Terminal 3. Customers will be required to follow all health and safety measures required by the UAE authorities and the country of destination. During this time, there will be no online check in and seat selection available and services such as chauffeur drive and lounge will not be available in any of the destinations. Emirates will also offer amended services on these flights. Magazines and other print reading material will not be available, and while food and beverages will continue to be offered on board, packaging and presentation will be modified to reduce contact during meal service and the risk of infection. Cabin baggage will not be accepted on these flights. Carry-on items allowed in the cabin will be limited to laptop, handbag, briefcase or baby items. All other items have to be checked in, and Emirates will add the cabin baggage allowance to customers’ check-in baggage allowance. Passengers are required to apply social distancing guidelines during their journey and wear their own masks when at the airport and on board the aircraft.  Travellers should arrive at Dubai International airport Terminal …

Further to the previously announced schedule of special passenger flights, Etihad Airways will add additional flights from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne and Amsterdam. The airline has been operating special flights which have allowed passengers stranded in the UAE due to COVID-19 restrictions, the opportunity to return home. The flights also support the ‘UAE Food Security Program’ by utilising belly-hold capacity of passenger aircraft for cargo. The airline continues to repatriate UAE citizens on return sectors, where possible, and carry fresh produce as belly-hold cargo, on the return segments back to Abu Dhabi. In addition to Melbourne and Amsterdam, Etihad continues to operate special passenger flights from Abu Dhabi to several destinations including Seoul Incheon, Singapore, Manila, and Jakarta.

Etihad Airways has updated its Etihad Credit offering by providing an additional bonus of up to 5,000 Etihad Guest Miles depending on the booked cabin class, to support passengers with impacted travel. Eligible Etihad guest members redeeming Etihad Credit will automatically receive the bonus miles within four weeks of their credit being issued. Guests not yet members of Etihad Guest can also claim bonus miles by applying online on their website. Etihad Credit allows customers to cancel their flight and use the value as credit to rebook their trip for travel until July 31, 2021 – any ticket, any fare type, any Etihad destination. Any fare difference from the original ticket price will be charged. Bonus Tier Miles will also be provided to eligible Etihad Guest members to keep them on track to reaching their next tier, even when it’s difficult to travel.