Category Archives: Aviation

Oman Air has implemented a code share agreement with Kenya Airways (KQ) covering services between Muscat and Nairobi. The new partnership will allow seamless connectivity to Kenya Airways customers in accessing Muscat directly from Nairobi. Oman Air launched its flights to Nairobi in March this year. On the Nairobi – Muscat route, KQ will place its code share flight numbers on the Oman Air flights operating on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Through this partnership, Kenya Airways extends its services to tourists as well as to those who are visiting friends and families, in Oman – through the cultural links that Oman shares with the coastal parts of East Africa – especially Kenya and Tanzania. Commenting on the new code share agreement, Paul Gregorowitsch, CEO, Oman Air, said, “Oman Air is very happy with the implementation of this code share agreement with Kenya Airways. Through this partnership, Oman Air extends its exemplary services to guests of Kenya Airways. Trade between Kenya and Oman has been growing steadily over the years and this latest agreement with Kenya Airways is a natural progression, following the launch of our new flight from Muscat to Nairobi in March this year.” Sebastian Mikosz, Managing Director and CEO, Kenya Airways Group, commented, “This new code share agreement represents an important element of our strategy to increase the choice, convenience and connectivity that Kenya Airways offers its customers. The code share partnerships and airline alliances continue to play an important role for Kenya Airways in improving the airlines competitive offering.”

Emirates will commence a fourth daily service from Dubai to Sydney, Australia, on its iconic A380 aircraft from March 25, 2018. The new daily service will complement Emirate’s existing three daily A380 services and improve connections globally. The move will provide passengers travelling from Europe and North Africa greater connectivity to Australia. It also builds on Emirates’ partnership with Qantas, meeting continued demand for services to Dubai and complementing Qantas’ re-routing of its current Sydney to London service via Singapore (instead of Dubai). Emirates’ new service will offer passengers an afternoon departure from Sydney and a convenient arrival in main European cities the following morning. It also introduces a new option for passengers to depart London and main European cities in the morning with an afternoon arrival in Sydney the next day with a short connection in Dubai. Between March 25 -30, 2018, the inbound service EK416 will depart Dubai at 20:40 hours, arriving in Sydney at 17:20 hours, the following day. Due to daylight savings from March 31, 2018, the arrival time changes to 16:30 hours, the following day. Between March 26-31, 2018, the outbound service EK417 will depart Sydney at 17:05 hours, arriving in Dubai at 00:25 hours the following day. Due to daylight savings from April 1, the outbound service EK417 will depart Sydney 16:15 hours, arriving the same time the following day. All services will be operated by an A380 aircraft. The A380 aircraft offers 489 seats in a three-class cabin configuration with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 399 spacious seats in Economy.

Having recently completed 25 years of operations in Dubai, Marhaba, the provider of premium airport passenger services, launched its first airport lounge in Australia. In addition to its new facility in Australia, Marhaba also opened a new lounge at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport in July this year. Marhaba offers a meet and assist service and operates lounges in Dubai (DXB and DWC) and Bahrain. The spacious Melbourne lounge features seating for 200 guests, a quiet zone for relaxation, shower facilities and buffet cuisine from around the globe. Speaking at the official opening of the lounge, Gary Chapman, President, dnata, said, “Australia is a very important market for us and we continue to look for opportunities to bring more of our services to customers here.” “We already operate Australia’s leading in-flight catering company, Alpha Flight Services, and are delighted to add the Marhaba brand of airport hospitality to serve Melbourne and those passing through Melbourne Airport.” Melbourne Airport is the second busiest in Australia and one of the most important travel gateways in the country with more than 33 million passengers in 2016. International passenger traffic is expected to reach 64 million by 2033.

Latvian airline, airBaltic in code share with Etihad Airways, will launch a direct service between Riga and Abu Dhabi on October 29, 2017. The four-times weekly service will depart from Abu Dhabi at 9:45 am, providing travellers from the UAE and surrounding Gulf countries with excellent and convenient access not only to the Baltic states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, but also to the northern European destinations of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and Russia.  To promote the flights and act as the airline’s General Sales Agent (GSA) within the UAE, airBaltic has selected AVIAREPS. Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer, airBaltic, says, “We are delighted to link Latvia and the UAE with our brand-new Bombardier aircraft. Riga is a notable business and leisure hub in Northern Europe, attracting millions of passengers every year. In addition to that, our clients appreciate the convenient transfer possibilities we offer to over 60 destinations in Scandinavia, Russia and the CIS.”

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has started a unique test for a new service on WhatsApp. KLM now offers customers around the world booking confirmation, check-in notification, boarding pass, flight status updates and asking feedback in 10 different languages on WhatsApp via the official WhatsApp Business application. KLM is one of the first companies and the very first airline worldwide with a verified WhatsApp business account. The rollout has already started in a limited number of countries, and the service will become more widely available in the coming days and weeks.

Passengers on-board Cebu Pacific will be served all Halal-certified in-flight meals in adherence to the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points (HACCP) system for international food safety. Moreover, these dishes come with nutritional and product information, as reference for an increasing number of health-conscious passengers on CEB. Cebu Pacific takes a step forward in enhancing passenger experience with the launch of its all-new in-flight meal selection, in partnership with Miascor Catering, a joint business venture between Miascor Holdings and  Gate Gourmet. Starting September 2017, all domestic and international flights of Cebu Pacific will be offering a fresh selection of pre-ordered meals, including 12 new dishes up for grabs. Ranging from rice meals, pasta and noodles, and premium sandwich packs, the new Cebu Pacific in-flight menu was created exclusively by Miascor Catering to the varied tastes and preferences of the CEB flier. “Guests can easily pre-order the new CEB Meals during booking, or up to 24 hours before their flights. These new inflight dishes are prepared only when pre-ordered, to provide guests with fresh and delectable meals at 35,000 feet,” said Candice Iyog, Vice President for Marketing and Distribution.

Etihad Airways has introduced the Boeing 787-9 aircraft on its daily service from Abu Dhabi to Amsterdam, delivering greater levels of comfort to its customers flying to and from Schiphol Airport. Etihad Airways previously operated the 787 Dreamliner on the Amsterdam service in the summer of 2016. The introduction of the ultra-modern, fuel-efficient aircraft heralds the start of a year-round service to the Netherlands. The 787 Dreamliner features Etihad Airways’ next generation Business and Economy Class cabins, configured with 299 seats – 28 Business Studios and 271 Economy Smart Seats. Peter Baumgartner, Chief Executive Officer, Etihad Airways, said: “The decision to upgrade our daily Amsterdam service to the 787 Dreamliner aircraft reflects the importance of the Netherlands market. We received great customer feedback when we first flew the ‎aircraft to the Dutch capital last summer, and I’m very pleased that more travellers will now be able to enjoy the superior levels of comfort and technology it offers, year-round.‎” The Business Studios offer an increase of 20 per cent in personal space and a fully-flat bed of up to 80.5 inches in length.  The airline’s Boeing 787 fleet is equipped with the latest in-flight entertainment system offering more than 750 hours of movies and television programmes, including live news and sports channels, as well as hundreds of music choices and a selection of games for both adults and children. Etihad Airways currently operates a fleet of 16 Boeing 787-9s from its home base, Abu Dhabi, to 14 destinations: Amman, Beijing, Beirut, Brisbane, Düsseldorf, Johannesburg, Perth, Riyadh, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, Washington, D.C. and Zurich.

Etihad Airways and Aerolíneas Argentinas have launched a new codeshare partnership. Under the agreement, Etihad Airways customers will enjoy convenient connections via Rome and Madrid to Buenos Aires (EZE) and onwards to nine other popular Argentinian destinations – Córdoba (COR), Mendoza (MDZ), Rosario (ROS), Iguazú (IGR), Salta (SLA), Mar del Plata (MDQ), Bariloche (BRC), Trelew (REL) and Ushuaia (USH). In turn, Aerolíneas Argentinas guests can have access to Etihad Airways’ network of over 100 destinations from its Abu Dhabi hub via the Italian and Spanish capitals. Mohammad Al Bulooki, Etihad Airways Executive Vice President Commercial, said: “This codeshare demonstrates the importance of Argentina as a vital travel market for Etihad Airways in Latin America given the growing tourism, cultural and business opportunities that exist between the UAE and Argentina. We wish to give travellers flying Aerolíneas Argentinas the opportunity to enjoy the acclaimed service and hospitality for which Etihad Airways is renowned throughout the world. This codeshare will make the experience that much easier.” Diego Garcia, Aerolíneas Argentinas Chief Commercial Officer, said: “This is a very good opportunity to consolidate and increase our offer to one of the most important hubs in the Middle East. It also allows us to improve our load factors, optimise the use of the fleet and strengthen the image of Aerolíneas Argentinas in the Asian market. We hope that this agreement will also be the gateway for many tourists to visit some of the most attractive landmarks in our country.”

Kuwait’s Jazeera Airways has announced an exclusive weekly offer to reward its online customers, named ‘Fantastic Fridays’, starting August 25, 2017. A first for Jazeera Airways and for all those travelling from Kuwait, the special offer is valid every Friday, providing opportunities to book discounted tickets to select popular destinations through Jazeera’s newly redesigned website. The offer would remain valid from 12:01 am until 11:59 pm. The new Jazeera website has been designed to the highest e-commerce standards, providing a more personalized experience with every click, easy navigation options, a simple four-step booking process, enhanced browsing, online check-in services and several add-ons.

Effective August, Cebu Pacific Air guests who make booking changes within 24 hours from the time of ticket purchase will no longer be charged a rebooking or cancellation fee. Previously, passengers who made changes to their bookings such as flight dates and sequences were required to pay for the PHP1500 rebooking fee for domestic flights, or PHP2300 and PHP2800 for short haul and long haul international flights, respectively. Now, penalty fees are waived for booking corrections on flight sequence of city pairs, e.g., from Manila-Cebu to Cebu-Manila; and for changes on Sum of Sectors (SOS) bookings or connecting flights treated as one, e.g., Virac-Manila-Cebu to Cebu-Manila-Virac. Rebooking fees will also be waived for direct flights changed to SOS booking and vice-versa. While the rebooking and cancellation fees are waived, however, passengers who make such flight changes will still need to shoulder the fare difference. The waiver on the rebooking and cancellations fees is applicable across all booking channels of Cebu Pacific—whether through a travel agent, ticket office and call center. Ancillary services, such as seat selection, baggage allowance and pre-ordered meals, are also fully transferrable to other guests and flights at no extra cost.