Category Archives: Aviation

Emirates has reduced flights to five of the 12 US cities it currently serves. From May 1 and May 23 respectively, their Fort Lauderdale and Orlando operations will move from daily services to five a week. From June 1 & 2, respectively, their Seattle and Boston operations will move from twice-daily services, to a daily service. From July 1, our operations to Los Angeles will move from twice-daily to a daily service. This is a commercial decision in response to weakened travel demand to US. A statement by the airline said: “The recent actions taken by the US government relating to the issuance of entry visas, heightened security vetting, and restrictions on electronic devices in aircraft cabins, have had a direct impact on consumer interest and demand for air travel into the US.  Until the start of 2017, Emirates’ operations in the US have seen healthy growth and performance, driven by customer demand for our high quality product and our international flight connections. “However, over the past 3 months, we have seen a significant deterioration in the booking profiles on all our US routes, across all travel segments. Emirates has therefore responded as any profit-oriented enterprise would, and we will redeploy capacity to serve demand on other routes on our global network. “We will closely monitor the situation with the view to reinstate and grow our US flight operations as soon as viable. Emirates is committed to our US operations and will continue to serve our 12 American gateways – New York JFK, Newark, Boston, Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, Dallas, Fort Lauderdale, and Orlando – with 101 flight departures per week, connecting these cities to …

Falcon Aviation, the UAE-based business aviation services, charter and aircraft management company,  has inaugurated a new VIP Heliport.  The Heliport will be run and managed by Falcon Aviation personnel and will be available to all operators, corporates and private individuals arriving with their business jets at the Dubai South VIP Terminal. Demand is expected especially from customers arriving from all over the GCC, India and the Far East. The new helipad, situated adjacent to the VIP Terminal, has space for three large executive helicopters.  It will be open for use on an ‘as required basis’ with just two hours’ notice. Falcon initially envisages demand for five movements a day and will have two helicopters available for charter, complementing its established fixed wing and helicopter business at Al Bateen Executive Airport, Abu Dhabi. The Heliport, the first in the region, will facilitate quick and convenient helicopter charters between Dubai and Abu Dhabi in just 30 minutes. Other significant time savings on popular destinations include: Dubai South to Ras Al Khaimah – 45 minutes; Dubai South – Diba, 45 minutes; Dubai South- Fujairah 40 minutes and to Qasr Al Sarab Resort – 1 hour, 15 minutes. “We are very pleased with our progress as we realise our strategic three part plan to bolster our footprint in Dubai and the UAE,” commented Falcon Aviation’s Chief Pilot Onshore – VVIP Operations & Accountable Manager of Atlantis Helipad Captain George Prentzas. “Our goal is to build important infrastructure in the region, not just for our own operations, but to support others as they expand too.” “We are very proud to be opening up this important facility that will take clients directly to their destination of …

Turkish Airlines has extended Business Class free onboard Internet services to economy passengers in exchange for their tablets or laptops while boarding their flights to the United States. For passengers that prefer not to stow their electronic devices in checked-in baggage during the flight, Turkish Airlines offers a special service that gives travellers to the United States and United Kingdom a safe and secure method of carrying their electronics in a special area in the cargo hold of the airplane. The devices may be used at the gate until boarding. By continuously aiming to increase passenger satisfaction, Turkish Airlines additionally offers high quality headphones to economy class passengers on long-haul flights. This new service will be effective immediately in all U.S. flights, and for all other long-haul flights of Turkish Airlines as from May 2017. The passengers will feel more comfortable with this high quality headset, specially designed for long flight hours. Turkish Airlines continuously improves its in-flight entertainment system – amongst other services – in order to make its passengers feel special throughout the entire flight. The comfortable headphones with much higher sound quality will allow the passengers to uninterruptedly enjoy the airline’s award-winning inflight entertainment system, titled “Planet”, which delivers thousands of hours of music and film experience.

Turkish Airlines has added Kharkiv, as its 297th destination in 120 countries with the recently launched inaugural flight. By launching flights to Kharkiv, the global carrier demonstrates its permanent effort once again to further improve its expansion strategy without any cease. As of March 30, Kharkiv flights will be operated 4 times weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. This figure will increase to 7 times per week as of May 30th 2017. Round trip fares are available from Istanbul to Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, starting from $109 (including taxes and fees). Additionally, for the first 6 months of operation to the new destination, there is a special offer for Miles&Smiles members, with a 25% reduction in the miles needed to redeem either award tickets or upgrades.

Star Alliance members Ethiopian Airlines and Singapore Airlines will expand their code-share agreement as of June 1, 2017, offering customers travelling between Africa and Asia seamless connectivity options. Ethiopian Airlines’ daily non-stop services to Singapore from Addis Ababa, due to be launched in June 2017, will be covered by the expanded code-share agreement. Under the expanded agreement, Ethiopian Airlines customers will be able to access multiple destinations in Australia, China, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Thailand and Vietnam across Singapore Airlines’ wide network. In turn, Singapore Airlines customers will enjoy access to Ethiopian Airlines’ vast intra-African network including countries like Botswana, Burkina Faso, Chad, Cote D’Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, The Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. Girma Shiferaw, Acting Vice President, Strategic Planning and Alliances, remarked: “I wish to thank Singapore Airlines for the successful completion of this vital agreement. The two airlines will synergize their respective networks in Asia and Africa to offer customers the best connectivity options with one ticket and one single check-in at the first boarding airport. It will also play a critical role in enhancing investment, trade and tourism ties between a rising Africa, and a highly developed, innovative, and business-friendly Singapore.” Tan Kai Ping, Senior Vice President Marketing Planning, Singapore Airlines, said, “We are delighted with our expanded codeshare operations with Ethiopian Airlines. This significant expansion of our important partnership is in line with our ongoing effort to continuously expand our network reach and to offer customers more travel options and convenience when travelling between Africa, Asia and Southwest Pacific.” The airlines first began code sharing on each other’s flights to and from Dubai in 2011.  The expanded codeshare flights are …

Emirates announced the launch of a daily A380 service to Nice, gateway to the French Riviera and Provence. The daily A380 service will start on July 1, 2017, just in time for the beginning of the summer holiday season. After Paris, Nice becomes Emirates’ second destination in France to welcome the iconic double decker, further stimulating demand for travel to the region. As of July 1, EK77 will be operated by an A380, leaving Dubai at 0845hrs and arriving in Nice at 1340hrs, while EK78 will depart Nice at 1540hrs and arrive in Dubai at 0010hrs the next day (local times). Passengers travelling to or from the following cities will enjoy optimal A380 to A380 connections in Dubai: Auckland, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Mauritius, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, Tokyo, and more. Nice is currently served with a daily flight operated by a Boeing 777-300ER. The deployment of an A380 represents a capacity increase of 44 per cent on the route. With 3633 weekly seats in each direction, Emirates will offer more seats to the Middle East and beyond than any other international airline, highlighting Nice’s importance as part of the airline‘s global network. Enabling an increase in passenger numbers will also result in additional tourism revenues for Nice and the wider region, which in turn will mean boosting the local economy and job creation.

Passenger traffic at Dubai International (DXB) continued to grow steadily in February rising 8.8 per cent to 6,948,157, according to the monthly traffic report issued by Dubai Airports. The operator said this brings the total year to date passenger traffic at DXB to 14,985,165, a robust growth of 9.3 per cent compared to 13,711,181 recorded during the first two months of 2016. Eastern Europe was the fastest expanding market in terms of percentage growth (39.1 per cent), followed by Asia (23.8 per cent) and South America (11.6 per cent). India remained the top destination country in February with a total of 937,962 passengers, followed by the UK (516,611 passengers), Saudi Arabia (499,797) and Pakistan (351,477). London topped the list of destination cities with 309,768 passengers, followed by Doha (246,767 passengers), Bangkok (203,432) and Mumbai (194,108).Flight movements at DXB totalled 32,483 during the month under review, a contraction of 2.7 per cent from 33,398 movements recorded in February 2016. Year to date flight movements totaled 69,075, a marginal drop of 0.2 per cent compared to 69,239 during the first two months last year.The average number of passengers per movement during February reached 223 compared to 201 during the corresponding month in 2016, an increase of 11.1 per cent.  DXB recorded 192,704 tonnes of freight in February 2017, down 1.9 per cent from 196,460* tonnes recorded in February 2016. Year to date freight volumes totalled 400,976, a growth of 0.8 per cent compared to 397,942 handled during the corresponding period in 2016. Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said, “This robust growth in passenger numbers in February follows the record 8 million passengers in January, and with the seasonal rush of passengers …

Etihad Airways has started operating Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner on the Abu Dhabi-Amman route, as part of its daily schedule between the two capitals. The new two-class Dreamliner features the airline’s next-generation Business and Economy Class cabins, featuring 299 seats — 28 in Business Class and 271 in Economy Class, representing a 65 per cent capacity increase on the route. Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer, said: “Since launching flights between Abu Dhabi and Amman thirteen years ago, we have experienced huge growth and have enjoyed strong demand from both business and leisure travellers. The decision to upgrade to the Boeing 787 reflects the importance of the Jordanian market to Etihad Airways, and the sustained development of economic relations between the two countries. The UAE enjoys historic ties with Jordan and there are broader and brighter prospects for economic relations between these two Arab states, particularly through business partnerships and tourism.” Recent local reports show that the trade exchange between the two countries witnessed remarkable growth to just over Dhs3 billion, while the volume of UAE investments in Jordan rose to more than $15 billion. The Business Studios in Business Class offer direct aisle access, a fully-flat bed of up to 80.5 inches in length, and an increase of 20 per cent in personal space. Upholstered in fine Poltrona Frau leather, the Business Studio is equipped with an in-seat massage and pneumatic cushion control system which enables guests to adjust the firmness and comfort of their seat.

Emirates will introduce a second daily service to the island of Bali in Indonesia, on July 2, 2017. The new service will be added to meet the growing demand for travel to and from Bali, offering travellers more convenience and connectivity options. Operated by Emirates’ popular Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a two-class configuration with 42 seats in Business Class and 386 seats in Economy Class. The outbound flight EK360 will depart from Dubai at 0125hrs and arrive in I Gusti Ngurah Rai International Airport at 1430hrs. This service will connect seamlessly with a number of destinations across Europe, including Amsterdam, Moscow, Paris and London. It will also enable passengers to connect domestically to the nearby cities of Surabaya, Makassar and Lombok. The return flight, EK361, will depart at 1630hrs and arrive in Dubai International Airport at 2130hrs. Both inbound and outbound services also accommodate connections to and from Dili in East Timor. A leading holiday and tourism destination, Bali welcomed nearly five million foreign tourist arrivals in 2016, a million more than in 2015. There were notable increases in tourism numbers from the United Kingdom (+32.1% year-on-year), France (+25.7% y.o.y.), Germany (+27.9% y.o.y.) and Russia (+29.2% y.o.y.) in 2016, according to Bali Government Tourism Office statistics. Passengers in all classes can enjoy gourmet cuisine, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment, ice, with more than 2,500 channels and Wi-Fi, which is available on select Boeing 777 aircraft and all Emirates A380 aircraft. Families with young children are also well catered for with special services and products to ensure a comfortable and enjoyable flight, from free toys to kids’ meals, entertainment and priority boarding. Passengers on all Emirates flights also have the added bonus …

Qatar Airways announced a unique solution to the recently imposed Electronics Ban by offering passengers a laptop loan service. The Doha-based airline has taken the step to purchase laptops available for loan on all of their US flights. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, said, “As an award-winning and global airline we truly appreciate the importance of being able to work on board our aircraft and that is why I have insisted on offering only the best possible solution for our customers. By providing this laptop loan service we can ensure that our passengers on flights to the US can continue to work whilst on-board. This unique ability to offer ‘business as usual’, above and beyond the competition, is yet another example of Qatar Airways justification for being the ‘World’s Best Business Class’.” The complimentary laptops will be available to Business Class passengers travelling on all US-bound flights from next week and can be collected after boarding. Customers will be able to download their work on to a USB before stepping on board to pick up where they left-off. Qatar Airways is offering a special service at the gate for all passengers, whereby any electronic items prohibited by the new ban will be collected and securely packaged. These will be tagged, loaded as check-in baggage and returned safely to the customer on arrival to the US. Once on board passengers have a choice of over 3,000 entertainment options on the award-winning in-flight entertainment system, dedicated kids activity packs in partnership with Hasbro, luxury amenity kits, a seasonal menu and snack bar, are able to browse the on board magazines and newspapers, enjoy the lie-flat beds in Business …