Category Archives: Aviation

Effective from November 1, 2017, Gulf Air and Turkish Airlines signed a codeshare agreement to expand travel opportunities for the passengers of both airlines with daily flights between Bahrain and Istanbul. The signing ceremony took place at Turkish Airlines’ Istanbul headquarters. Gulf Air’s Captain Waleed Abdul Hameed Al Alawi and Turkish Airlines’ Deputy Chairman and CEO, Bilal Ekşi signed the agreement together in the presence of senior officials from both airlines. This new agreement will be applied to the flights operated by both carriers to Manama and Istanbul, broadening the commercial partnership between the two companies and their respective countries while providing passengers with more travel options. Gulf Air and Turkish Airlines has one daily flight each between Bahrain and Istanbul.

The Abu Dhabi-Medina Etihad Airways will introduce three additional weekly services during the peak winter period. Effective from February 1, 2018, the current overnight departure from Abu Dhabi will be replaced by a mid-morning flight offering an attractive schedule for travellers flying between the UAE’s capital city and Medina in Saudi Arabia. The schedule will improve connectivity to a number of destinations served by Etihad Airways across the Indian subcontinent. The airline will also increase frequency to 10 flights a week for two months between December 1, 2017 and January 31, 2018 to cater to increasing demands. The additional capacity will be operated with a two-class Airbus A320 featuring 16 seats in Business Class and 120 in Economy. Mohammad Al Bulooki, Executive Vice President Commercial, Etihad Airways, said, “The re-timing of our Medina flights to a daytime operation and introduction of additional services strengthen our business proposition and commitment to the Saudi Arabian market.”

Emirates carried over 3.9 million passengers in its 15 years of service to Japan. In October 2002, Emirates became the first airline to link Japan and the Gulf region with non-stop flights when it introduced its four-times-per-week service to Osaka. The number of passengers carried in Emirates’ first year of operations–roughly 66,000 in 2002—has grown to nearly 530,000 passengers carried between Dubai and Tokyo (Narita and Haneda) and Osaka in 2016. Adapting to demand in terms of both quality and volume, the airline continues to enhance passenger experience in Japan. The opening of the Emirates Lounge at Narita (Tokyo) in 2015 and the introduction of the A380 to Narita in 2017, which increased capacity by more than 135 passengers per flight, are most notable.

Following the commencement of their partnership, Emirates and flydubai have announced that Emirates will expand its network to 29 flydubai destinations across three continents. Passengers can book from October 03 on Emirates.com, through the Emirates Contact Centres or the travel agents network with travel commencing from October 29, 2017. HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Group and Chairman of flydubai, said, “This is an exciting first step in unlocking the benefits of the partnership for passengers who will have the opportunity to enjoy the unique advantages each airline offers as well as greater choice and flexibility when connecting via Dubai. This is just the start and as we expand the partner network in the coming months we will open up more opportunities for our passengers to explore the world.” When booked together, as part of the codeshare, Emirates passengers will receive complimentary meals and the Emirates checked baggage allowance on flights operated by flydubai in both Business and Economy Classes. Connecting in Dubai’s aviation hub offers a smooth transfer experience and under the new partnership passengers will benefit from a reduced minimum connection time (MCT) between Emirates’ home in Terminal 3 and flydubai’s in Terminal 2 of 120 minutes. Today’s announcement is an initial phase of the extensive agreement that will, in future phases, see the creation of additional city pair connections as the codeshare agreement is expanded and both airlines’ networks are optimised.

The Chairman of Etihad Aviation Group, His Excellency Mohamed Mubarak Fadhel Al Mazrouei, confirmed the appointment of Tony Douglas as Group Chief Executive Officer, who will join the company in January 2018. Douglas joins Etihad from the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence, where he has served as CEO of the Defence Equipment and Support department, responsible for procuring and supporting all the equipment and services for the British Armed Forces. In the UK, he held senior positions with airport operator BAA, and as Chief Operating Officer and Group Chief Executive designate of Laing O’Rourke. His roles under airport operator BAA included Managing Director of the Heathrow Terminal 5 project, Group Supply Chain Director, Group Technical Director, and CEO of Heathrow Airport. Previously, Douglas held senior positions in the UAE, most notably as CEO of Abu Dhabi Airports Company and as CEO of Abu Dhabi Ports Company where he was responsible for the successful delivery of Khalifa Port. As Group CEO, Mr. Douglas will work with the Board and leadership team to expand and implement a range of strategic initiatives to position Etihad for sustained success in an increasingly competitive regional and global aviation market.   The divisional CEOs will report directly to Douglas, including Peter Baumgartner, CEO of Etihad Airways; Chris Youlten, Managing Director of Etihad Airport Services; Abdul Khaliq Saeed, CEO of Etihad Airways Engineering; Gavin Halliday, Managing Director of Hala Group; and Robin Kamark who joins as CEO, Airline Equity Partners in October 2017.

Royal Jordanian will reportedly temporarily suspend its flights to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, in northern Iraq, starting from 6 pm (Amman local time) on September 29, 2017. The airline’s decision came after a request from the Iraqi authorities to all airlines flying to Erbil and Sulaymaniyah to stop operating to these two cities until further notice. Royal Jordanian operates 10 weekly flights to Erbil and three weekly flights to Sulaymaniyah. It runs 15 weekly flights to Baghdad and six to Basra.

The Turkish Airlines Corporate Club Conference, hosted by Turkish Airlines in partnership with the Global Business Travel Association (GBTA), took place in Istanbul from September 25-26 at the Hilton Istanbul Bomonti Hotel. The event welcomed over 500 international guests to network and enjoy true Turkish hospitality while learning about the latest offerings and key benefits of the Turkish Airlines Corporate Club. The conference presented global trends in the business travel segment, as well as highlighted the latest developments in the aviation industry. This year the theme was ‘Traveler Centricity’. Hundreds of decision makers and key players from the global business travel community are in Istanbul for a line-up of distinguished speakers as well as to learn how Turkish Airlines Corporate Club can add more value to their business. Attendees were welcomed by Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, M. İlker Aycı and keynote speaker Ron Kaufman who kicked off the one-day event. Panel speakers included Arda Ermut, President of the Investment Support and Promotion Agency, Serra Akçaoğlu, CEO and Board Member of Citibank Turkey and Tankut Turnaoğlu, Vice President & General Manager of P&G Turkey & Caucasus. Commenting on the conference, Chairman of the Board and Executive Committee of Turkish Airlines, M. İlker Aycı said, “We are thrilled to welcome hundreds of high-ranking professionals and business travel leaders from all over the world to Istanbul for this unique event. Turkish Airlines Corporate Club Conference provides a great opportunity to learn the numerous advantages our renewed corporate travel program that offers to its members the latest trends in the business travel industry.”

The Crown Prince of Dubai, HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, took the maiden ‘Autonomous Air Taxi’ on a test drive near the Jumeirah Beach Park. The two-seater AAT, capable of transporting people without human intervention or a pilot, will soon be made available by Dubai’s transport services department. The drone air taxi has been supplied by Volocopter, a Germany-based specialist manufacturer of autonomous air vehicles. “After the remarkable success of the first driverless metro in the region, we are glad to witness today the test flight of the Autonomous Air Taxi,” said HH Sheikh Hamdan. “This is another testament to our commitment to driving positive change. We are constantly exploring opportunities to serve the community and advance the prosperity and happiness of society.” He further said that adopting advanced innovative technologies and applications that help to enhance services for the community is key to topping global competitiveness rankings. “Encouraging innovation and adopting the latest technologies contribute not only to the country’s development but also build bridges into the future,” he added. HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and Chairman of Emirates Group; HE Mohammad bin Abdullah Al Gergawi, UAE Minister of Cabinet Affairs and The Future; and HE Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy and Chairman of the General Civil Aviation Authority also attended the test flight.

flydubai is adding Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro, to their network from November 1, 2017. With two flights a week, the flights include a stopover in Sarajevo, a popular destination on the flydubai network. Montenegro is fast becoming a much loved destination for the UAE nationals and expats. Podgorica joins the airlines network in Central and Eastern Europe, which includes Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Prague, Skopje, Sarajevo and Sofia. flydubai will become the only UAE-based carrier to offer direct air links to Podgorica. Commenting on the launch, Ghaith Al Ghaith Chief Executive Officer of flydubai, said: “With the launch of our flights to Podgorica, we continue to offer passengers more ways to explore and discover Montenegro. The popularity of our summer flights to Tivat has shown a continuous demand for more access to this part of the world and we are delighted to be offering flights to Montenegro on a regular basis.” “With the launch of this new route, flydubai will become the first airline to offer regular services between Podgorica and Sarajevo,” said Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President Commercial (UAE, EU, ME, CIS) at flydubai. “We look forward to the new opportunities that this will provide along with the flows of trade and tourism that these flights can offer.”

Emirates will deploy three additional flights per week to the Swedish capital Stockholm from December 8, 2017. The new scheduled flights will be added to meet the growing demand for travel on the route, particularly during the winter season. The introduction of the three additional flights on every Friday, Saturday and Sunday is in response to the increased demand. The new Emirates flight EK155 will depart Dubai at 1500 hours, arriving in Stockholm Arlanda Airport at 1845 hours. The return flight EK156 will depart ARN at 2110 arriving at Dubai International Airport at 0630 the following day. The timing of the three additional flights provides easier connections between Stockholm and a number of popular East Asian and African destinations. Travellers can now seamlessly connect, with a short transit through Emirates’ Dubai hub, with popular destinations such as Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, Colombo in Sri Lanka, Manila in the Philippines and Cape Town and Durban in South Africa. Passengers can now also connect to Emirates’ direct flight to Auckland in New Zealand with travel times to Indian Ocean destinations including Mauritius, the Maldives (Male) and the Seychelles (Mahé) also benefitting from the improved flight connectivity. The timing of the new flights also makes Dubai itself an even more favourable option for a long weekend or short break, the early morning arrival time allowing travellers from Sweden the whole day to kick start a holiday or short break in the U.A.E.