Category Archives: Aviation

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.”

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.

Air India Express has launched its inaugural flight from Kannur International Airport in Kerala, India, to Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH). With this, it commences three weekly flights connecting the two airports. The three weekly non-stop flights from Kannur will arrive at AUH at 11:30am and depart at 12:30pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Speaking after the inauguration, Maarten De Groof, Chief Commercial Officer, Abu Dhabi Airports, said, “We are excited to be Air India Express’ first choice for their inaugural route. India has been one of our top generators of traffic, and we are always eager to expand the airport’s connectivity to this region in response to our passengers’ needs.” The carrier provides convenient connectivity to short/medium-haul international routes in the Gulf and South East Asia at affordable fares. PA Umadevi, Airport Manager, Air India Express, said, “We are excited to bring our inaugural flight to the UAE’s capital Abu Dhabi. This new destination will attract the traffic not only from the northern side of Kerala, but also from the neighbouring states of Karnataka as the airport is located at the northern part of the state and has easy access to Mysore and other states of Karnataka. Abu Dhabi Airports has provided us all support, as always, to ensure our customers’ satisfaction and meet the rising demand in the Abu Dhabi market.”

Air Arabia has recently launched its direct flight from Sharjah to Prague in Czech Republic. The launch flight departed from Sharjah International Airport (SHJ) and landed in Prague Václav Havel Airport. The 6 hour 50-minute flight operates five times a week, every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. On Tuesdays and Sundays, the departing flight leaves Sharjah at 07:35 hours and arrives in Prague at 11:20 hours local time; the return flight departs Prague at 12:00 and arrives in Sharjah the following morning at 21:00 hours. On Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, the departing flight leaves Sharjah at 15:35 hours and arrives in Prague at 19:20 hours local time; the return flight departs Prague at 21:05 and arrives in Sharjah the following morning at 06:05 hours. Air Arabia currently operates flights to more than 150 routes across the globe from four hubs located in the Middle East and North Africa.

Global Investment in Aviation Summit 2019 is all set to take place from January 27-29, 2018 at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City with brainstorming on challenges and investment in aviation being the core objectives. The required modernisation of aviation infrastructure expansion, development, and modernisation to cater to anticipated increase in passenger and freight air traffic demand will reach USD 1.8 trillion by 2030. GIAS 2019 is an initiative of the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which was established to create a leading, safe, secure and sustainable civil aviation system in the country. According to a report published by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA), global aviation will have to cater to over 14 trillion passenger traffic and 466 billion tonnes of freight traffic by 2034. This projection will show an increase of 14.5 per cent RPK and 4.2 per cent FTK, per annum respectively. The projected growth in global aviation industry will generate at least 99 million jobs and will contribute USD 5.9 trillion in GDP, a 122 per cent increase from 2014, according to the same IATA report. The UAE is investing substantially in upgrading the aviation infrastructure. HE Saif Mohammed Al Suwaidi, Director General, UAE General Civil Aviation Authority, said, “Aviation has been an important part of the UAE’s economic growth. One of the nation’s vigorous strength is its rapidly-expanding infrastructure, with spending of USD23.16 billion, including USD8 billion for expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport, USD7.6 billion for Phase IV development of Dubai International Airport, and USD 6.8 billion for expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport. Collectively, the UAE increases its fleet per month by approximately 4-5 per cent and the total number of aircraft will …

Royal Air Maroc will join oneworld to be the third Arab airline member, besides Royal Jordanian and Qatar Airways by mid 2020. Its regional subsidiary Royal Air Maroc Express will join as a oneworld affiliate member at the same time. Its election as a oneworld member was announced as the chief executives of the alliance’s 13 current member airlines gathered in New York for their year-end Governing Board meeting. From then, the recruits will offer the full range of oneworld customer services and benefits, with the one million plus members of Royal Air Maroc’s Safar Flyer loyalty programme able to earn and redeem rewards on all oneworld member airlines, and with its top tier members able to use the alliance’s more than 650 airport lounges worldwide. While Comair has been a oneworld affiliate member since the alliance launched in February 1999, Royal Air Maroc will be oneworld’s first full member from Africa – the only continent, apart from Antarctica – where the alliance has, until now, had no full member. It will also be the alliance’s first new full member airline signed since 2012.  Royal Air Maroc is today the largest unaligned carrier in Africa – with a transformational strategy well underway to develop it quickly into a truly global airline and the continent’s leader in terms of both size and quality.  It carried 7.3 million passengers last year on a fleet of 55 aircraft, with a network that currently connects its Casablanca base with 94 destinations in 49 countries across Africa, Europe, the Middle East and North and South America, including oneworld hubs Doha, London Heathrow, Madrid, Moscow Domodedovo, New York JFK and Sao Paulo.

Emirates has introduced an additional Airbus A380 service to Johannesburg (OR Tambo International Airport), replacing the previous Boeing 777 aircraft on the route. EK762 (JNB-DXB) and EK761 (DXB-JNB) are now served by the flagship A380 aircraft. The Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft serving the Dubai-Johannesburg route will offer a total of 519 seats in a three-class configuration, with 429 spacious seats in Economy Class, 76 fully flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First-Class Private Suites. Upcoming festive season travel between the two global transit hubs is expected to be especially strong, building on over 700,000 customers who flew with the airline before November. With Emirates, customers from Johannesburg can enjoy a seamless A380 experience to their most popular destinations via Dubai, including London, Moscow, New York and Bangkok. All four daily Emirates flights between Johannesburg and Dubai operate as codeshare flights with partner South African Airways. The deployment of the double-decker aircraft on routes to and from South Africa gives even more regional travellers the chance to experience the aircraft’s industry-leading comforts. These include private suites and Shower Spas in its First-Class cabin, while Business-Class customers can enjoy the popular on-board lounge and lie-flat beds.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) celebrated its 47th National Day. Commenting on t he occasion, Bryan Thompson, CEO, Abu Dhabi Airports, said, “Abu Dhabi Airports takes pride in celebrating the 47th UAE National Day and introducing the Emirati culture and tradition to passengers coming from across the world. Marking the festivities, Abu Dhabi Airports strives to convey the sense of patriotism and unity among the Emirati people. Our celebration of the UAE National Day is in line with our continuous efforts to provide a unique travel experience to our passengers, ensuring the highest quality services as part of our vision to become a world-leading airport group.”

The 2018 Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens is underway at The Sevens Stadium. Now in its 49th year, the event is set to be the largest event on record with over 930 rugby and netball matches across three days and enhanced entertainment for everyone. During the Dubai Sevens, Emirates will be bringing the Rugby World Cup and will be displaying it at its hospitality for guests and fans. After six months of training, drills and preparation, the EK Firebirds, an all-women’s rugby club comprising Emirates Cabin Crew from 14 different nationalities, is ready to compete at the 2018 edition of the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens invitational women’s tournament. The EK Firebirds squad met with the USA Women’s Eagles, the national sevens rugby team, for a mini-training camp ahead of the tournament, where they ran through practice scrums, along with kicking and tackling techniques and exercises. The EK Firebirds team members come from rugby loving nations including the UK, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, as well as other diverse nations like Romania, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Namibia, the Philippines and Nigeria – reflecting the multicultural Cabin Crew team at the airline and the global make-up of Dubai. The team members have found time to practice and train during their busy travel rosters, and organise themselves to ensure that as many of them train together as possible, using the Sevens stadium, Zaabeel Park and other venues in Dubai as their training grounds.