Category Archives: Aviation

The national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, Etihad has upgraded services on three key Asian routes this week, introducing larger aircraft to accommodate growing demand. Flights between the UAE capital, Abu Dhabi, and two major Chinese cities, Shanghai and Chengdu, have been upgraded with next-generation Boeing 787 Dreamliners, while the South Korean city of Seoul has been boosted from a Dreamliner to an Airbus A380 ‘super jumbo’. “Asia-Pacific is the fastest growing air transport region in the world, and China is the fastest-growing individual market. As we continue to modernise our aircraft fleet, and as we work with tourism partners to increase visitor numbers to Abu Dhabi, we are deploying newer, larger planes to key markets throughout our network,” said Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer of Etihad Airways. Chengdu, in south-central China, is a city of 7.4 million people. Etihad has upgraded its daily Abu Dhabi – Chengdu flights from 262-seat Airbus A330-200 aircraft to 299-seat Boeing 787s, a 14 per cent increase in seats. Shanghai, China’s largest city, with a population of more than 24 million, has been upgraded from Boeing 787-9 aircraft to larger Boeing 787-10 jets, seating 336 passengers, up 12 per cent. And Seoul, the capital of South Korea, with a population approaching 10 million, has been upgraded by Etihad from the Boeing 787-10 to the 494-seat Airbus A380, a massive 47 per cent increase. With the upgrades of the Shanghai and Chengdu routes, Etihad now operates Dreamliners to all four of its China gateways, having introduced these planes to Hong Kong and Beijing earlier this year.

Cebu Pacific, the Philippines’ largest carrier has partnered with Al Ansari Exchange, a UAE-based foreign exchange and worldwide money transfer company to provide easy and hassle-free payment solutions to passengers in the UAE. The agreement paves the way for customers flying with Cebu Pacific to process their payments for flight tickets at any of the 188 Al Ansari Exchange branches located across the UAE, thus, providing more convenience for their travel arrangements. Travellers who prefer to pay in cash can now do so through the over-the-counter facilities of any Al Ansari Exchange, for bookings they have made through Cebu Pacific’s website or mobile app, and phone bookings, within 24 hours. Candice Iyog, Vice President for Marketing and Distribution at Cebu Pacific, said, “We are pleased to partner with one of the largest exchange houses in the UAE, with a vast network of branches. With this partnership, we’re able to provide more options to our customers which will make it even more convenient for them to avail our trademark year-round low fares.” Passengers traveling to the Philippines on the Cebu Pacific direct Dubai-Manila flight can benefit from the airline’s domestic connectivity, the widest route network within the country. Rashed Ali Al Ansari, General Manager of Al Ansari Exchange, said, “Our collaboration with Cebu Pacific is indeed another opportunity to better serve our Filipino customers who can now conveniently pay for their Cebu Pacific’s air tickets in any of our branches and benefit from our flexible and extended working hours.”  

Dubai Airports and China Eastern celebrated the arrival of the carrier’s inaugural flight from Qingdao to Dubai at Dubai International (DXB) on Saturday evening. The thrice weekly service is an important addition to China Eastern’s existing flights connecting DXB to Shanghai and Kunming, and the first ever to connect DXB to Qingdao, a major port city of 9 million population located on China’s Yellow Sea coast. China Eastern will operate three flights per week between the two cities, offering customers greater connectivity and convenience. A top trading partner of the UAE, China is a major contributor to DXB’s traffic with more than 3.5 million travellers in 2018. China is also one of the fastest growing countries in terms of volume of visitors to Dubai with numbers growing 12 per cent to 857,000 in 2018. A total of five airlines, including China Eastern, connect Dubai to 10 destinations across China on 81 weekly flights.

As a consequence of the growing interest in Sochi as a travel destination, the Dubai-based airline flydubai has inaugurated its new flight from Dubai to Sochi on June 7, 2019. Earlier this year, authorities from the UAE and the Russian Federation announced a visa-free regime between the two countries for the respective passport holders over the first 90-day period upon arrival. This ensures the utmost convenience for Middle East travellers. The recently launched non-stop flight from Dubai to Sochi operates twice a week on Mondays and Fridays. The WOW Sochi office in Dubai provides tantalising packages that are tailor-made to suit every category of sightseers with options to explore Sochi depending on your personal needs and desires. Packages with WOW Sochi start from 2,499 AED including airfares, accommodation with breakfast, airport transfers and selected tours. Rashid Al Noori, the representative of Sochi city in the UAE remarked that, “Now that we have an air bridge link between Dubai and Sochi city many UAE nationals and residents will be encouraged to explore this beautiful city where travellers will enjoy cool climate during summer months and savour a beautiful landscape with many activities to fulfill their desire during their holidays. One great advantage which the visitors to Sochi will notice is that the pricing in comparison with any other city is extremely reasonable.”

Global carrier Turkish Airlines added its 56th destination in Africa, Nigeria’s Port Harcourt with four weekly flights between Istanbul and Port Harcourt. Already flying to Lagos, Kano and Abuja in Nigeria, Turkish Airlines added Port Harcourt to the list, increasing its flight network to 311 destinations. With this launch, the global carrier continues to be the leader as the airline that flies to more destinations than any other airline in Africa. During the press conference in International Port Harcourt Airport held for the inaugural flight, Kerem Sarp, Turkish Airlines Senior Vice President of Sales (2nd Region), said, “By starting our Port Harcourt flights, we added a new milestone to Turkish Airlines’ mission of growth in Africa. With Port Harcourt as our fourth destination in Nigeria, Turkish Airlines continues to be the bridge between cultures. We are happy to add Port Harcourt to our flight network, and enable our passengers  to experience a seamless flight journey with Turkish Airlines privilege.”

Etihad Airways is preparing to launch seasonal summer flights from Abu Dhabi to the historic Egyptian city of Alexandria, one of oldest continuously-inhabited locations in the world and home to the Great Library of Alexandria and one of the ancient world wonders, the Pharos Lighthouse. This famous coastal city is also a convenient gateway for many of the Egyptian expatriates living in the UAE and planning to return home during the summer holidays. Between July 2 and August 31, the Airbus A320 flights will depart Abu Dhabi at 2.15 pm every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, arriving in Alexandria at 4:00 pm. Return flights will depart Alexandria at 4:50 pm, arriving back in Abu Dhabi at 10:40 pm. With the addition of these seasonal services, Etihad will operate a total of 32 flights per week to Egypt – 28 flights to Cairo and four to Alexandria. Robin Kamark, Chief Commercial Officer, Etihad Aviation Group, said, “Alexandria is one of the most popular holiday destinations for UAE residents, and our new seasonal flights are timed to provide access for tourists during the peak summer period. These flights will also be a convenient option for many of the Egyptian nationals living in the UAE and planning to return home during the holiday season.”  

Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Dubai Airports and Chairman and Chief Executive of Emirates Airline and Group, Dubai will be hosting the first Accessible Tourism International Summit from November 5 to 6 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC). Supported by the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing as Destination Partner, the first edition of the summit will be held under the theme of “making all cities friendly for tourists with disabilities” and aims at highlighting the challenges faced by about one billion People with Disabilities during their travel as visitors or tourists to cities around the world. The summit will also discuss the necessity to strengthen the legislations, laws, infrastructure and services catering to the needs of tourists with disabilities and their aspirations to explore the world with ease. “The UAE has done a great deal on its course to achieve its vision of becoming a friendly country for People with Disabilities. This summit falls within this framework and aims to share insights, experiences and best practices and translate these into a concrete practice bound to enable over one billion people to reach their destination with ease,” said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Patron of the summit. Dubai is working hard to achieve its vision of becoming a friendly city for people with disabilities by 2020, with all concerned entities in the Emirate working to achieve this goal by implementing the relevant laws and regulations in place and adapting smart solutions to provide the best services for this segment, especially with Dubai targeting 25 million tourists in 2025. …

Air Arabia announced the launch of direct flights between Sharjah and Vienna, capital of Austria, starting September 15, 2019. The non-stop six-hour flight to Vienna, popularly known as the ‘City of Music’, will initially operate four times a week, on Sundays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and will increase to daily flights starting mid-December from Sunday to Saturday. Flights on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays will depart Sharjah International Airport at 17:35 hours local time arriving at Vienna International Airport at 21:50 hours local time. The return flights will depart Vienna International Airport at 22:40 hours arriving in Sharjah the next day at 06:20 hours local time. Flights operating on Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays will depart Sharjah International Airport at 07:25 hours local time arriving at Vienna International Airport at 11:40 hours local time. The return flights will depart Vienna International Airport at 12:30 hours arriving in Sharjah at 20:10 hours local time. On Wednesdays, flights are scheduled to depart from Sharjah International Airport early in the morning at 07:15 hours local time arriving at Vienna International Airport at 11:30 hours local time. The return flights will depart Vienna International Airport at 12:20 hours arriving in Sharjah at 20:00 hours local time. Adel Al Ali, Group Chief Executive Officer, Air Arabia, said, “We are pleased to announce the new route from Sharjah to Vienna, one of Europe’s leading cultural and economic centres. This daily service linking the two cities will further strengthen the trade and tourism ties between both nations, while providing our leisure and business travellers with a new choice for value-for-money air travel.”

Two of the leading airlines Turkish Airlines and LOT Polish Airlines announced the enhancement of their current codeshare agreement with additional destinations both from Turkish Airlines’ and LOT’s flight network. Through this enhanced partnership, Turkish Airlines and LOT will reciprocally add their flight codes on the following  flights in addition to Istanbul-Warsaw, from Warsaw to Krakow, Gdansk, Szczecin, Poznan, Wroclaw, Katowice and Rzeszow. From Istanbul to Ankara, Bahrain, Izmir, Beirut, Adana, Baghdad, Antalya, Dubai, Dalaman, Kuwait, Amman, Budapest, Cairo and Johannesburg. “With the introduction of joint flights on several destinations in Poland, Turkey, Middle East and Africa, passengers would enjoy more travel alternatives through the combined flights. Without a doubt, this agreement will help increase the commercial and tourism ties of our countries,” said Bilal Ekşi, Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman & CEO. Joint flights will offer fast and convenient connections for customers leaving Istanbul, the biggest Turkish city and also an important flight hub in the world, to Warsaw and beyond. “The enhanced partnership with Turkish Airlines will help us not only expand LOT route network and offer many new attractive destinations to our passengers but also improve connectivity and travel experience on existing codeshare routes beyond Istanbul, such as Ankara, Cairo or Amman,” said Rafal Milczarski, CEO & President of the Management Board of LOT Polish Airlines.  

As part of the month-long celebrations for flydubai’s 10th anniversary the flydubai team came together on June 18, 2019 at Reel Cinemas in Dubai Mall for a preview of the story of how flydubai changed the way people travel around the region.  At the event, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said, “Over the last 10 years, we have carried more than 70 million passengers, introduced new and under-explored destinations and brought people closer to share experiences and opportunities. We remain as determined as we have always been to bridge the distance between people and in doing so enrich their lives.” The airline shared the flydubai Story with its employees first recognising the contribution they have made to the success of the airline. Reflecting on the remarkable journey over the last 10 years, Ghaith, continued, “We began operations as a low-cost carrier to allow more people to travel to more places more often, however our real aim was to improve accessible air travel for over 2.5 billion people within the flydubai network. This has seen the airline evolve, introducing Business Class and refining our product offering without compromising our operational integrity. Today, we offer our customers value beyond the fare, ensuring opportunities are within reach of everyone, everywhere we fly.” Having shared the flydubai Story with colleagues, flydubai is today sharing it with those who have been brought together by choosing to flydubai over the last 10 years. Ghaith, outlining the formula for the airline’s achievements, said, “At flydubai we put our customers at the heart of everything we do. Our commitment remains to open new and underserved destinations to ensure our network complements and enhances Dubai as a hub …