Category Archives: Aviation

Sharjah International Airport has recorded its first million-passenger month, handling 1,041,870 inbound, outbound, transfer and transit passengers during the month of August, a 12 per cent increase on the 928,897 passengers handled during August 2015, according to the airport’s latest statistics. Sharjah airport surpassed 10 million passengers per annum for the first time during 2015, registering an annual passenger growth rate of 5.5 percent compared with 2014. Meanwhile, the airport has had a healthy average monthly passenger growth rate of 12 percent during 2016, compared with last year’s passenger numbers. Overall, 7,349,333 passengers were handled by Sharjah International Airport during the first eight months of 2016. In another first, 7,001 aircraft movements were recorded during August, 10.5 percent more aircraft movements than during the same month in 2015. (Source Shurooq)

Etihad Airways will deploy its Boeing 787 Dreamliner on one of its twice-daily scheduled flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, with effect from October 30, 2016. Flight EY317 will be operated with a B787, departing Abu Dhabi at 10:15 hrs, arriving into Riyadh at 11:15 hrs. The return flight EY318 departs Riyadh at 16:25 hrs, arriving into Abu Dhabi at 19:10 hrs. The flights will provide optimal timings for guests in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh, and convenient connections to and from destinations across key markets in Europe, Indian subcontinent, Asia and Australia. The 299-seat aircraft, configured in two classes, with 28 seats in Business and 271 in Economy. The upgrade from a single aisle Airbus A321 aircraft will cater to strong demand to and from the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, offering guests more seats on a wide-body aircraft. Together with the other daily Riyadh service operated by a Boeing 777, Etihad Airways will have more than 8,700 weekly seats on the route.

Qatar Airways and British Airways’ parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG), have announced a joint business agreement that will come into effect on October 30, 2016. The joint business will see the two airlines code-sharing on all non-stop flights between the UK and Doha, to offer customers a combined route network that will serve more than 70 destinations. Between the airlines’ hubs of London and Doha the new partnership will offer seven daily non-stop services in both directions. The will benefit customers by offering a wider choice of flights, an enhanced network, greater choice of fares and superior benefits for members of their frequent flyer programmes. This partnership will allow the carriers to provide passengers with better links and an even more seamless travel experience between the UK, Asia, Middle East and Africa.  

Tourism Ireland CEO Niall Gibbons has unveiled the Emirates Airline and Tourism Ireland Sales Mission at Jumeirah Creekside Hotel, Dubai. The Sales Mission is part of Tourism Ireland’s continued efforts to drive tourism from the UAE to the island of Ireland and provides unique networking opportunity for Irish suppliers and the UAE travel trade community. With six speakers, five presentations and a networking session followed by a series of one to one sessions with Irish suppliers, the mission was attended by 90 tour operators and included a key note speech from Gerald Lawless, Head of Tourism and Hospitality at Dubai Holding. Nine Irish suppliers attended the mission, including DMC’s, hotels, retail outlets and attractions. The Sales Mission showcased the island of Ireland’s filming locations of hit TV series Game of Thrones and blockbuster movie, Star Wars. During his visit to the UAE, Gibbons also met with Mohammed Al Rais, CEO of Al Rais Travels. Tourism Ireland and Al Rais Travel have recently joined together to bring one of the region’s top bloggers, Taim Al Falasi, to tour the island of Ireland. During the Sales Mission, Al Rais Travel launched a new seven day itinerary ‘Taim’s Ireland Experience’, allowing fans of the blogger to follow in her footsteps and experience the island of Ireland.  As part of the destination’s focus on innovation to attract new audiences, Tourism Ireland also invited agents and partners to view a series of Virtual Reality Films during the roadshow which brought stunning itineraries to life including The Wild Atlantic Way and Belfast City through personal VR viewers made available to attendees.

A new transit visa structure unveiled by Qatar will now allow passengers with a minimum transit time of five hours in Hamad International Airport, to stay in Qatar for up to 96 hours (four days), without the requirement to apply ahead of time for an entry visa. Qatar Airways, Qatar Tourism Authority and Qatar’s Ministry of Interior recently announced this revised tourism visa scheme in a move to promote Qatar as a world-class stopover destination. This is a significant increase from the previous transit visa scheme, which allowed travellers with a minimum layover of eight hours to spend a maximum of 48 hours (two days) in Qatar. This increase is designed to make stopovers easier and more attractive to Qatar Airways’ global passengers, and aims to deliver additional value to the local economy while strengthening Qatar’s position as an attractive tourist destination. The Qatar transit visa is free of charge and available on arrival at Hamad International Airport to passengers of all nationalities, upon confirmation of onward journey and completion of passport control procedures. All visas are approved and issued at the sole discretion of the Ministry of Interior. The development, announced on the eve of World Tourism Day, is the third in a series of enhancements that Qatar has made to facilitate entry into the country for visitors. Last week, officials announced a new process to quicken the entry of tourists arriving on board cruise ships, and earlier, representatives signed an agreement with VFS Global, which will see the development of a new, faster and more transparent tourist visa application mechanism.

Emirates has revamped its corporate loyalty programme, Emirates Business Rewards, to provide greater value and added features for customers. The new programme has been simplified and made more competitive to allow upgrades on last minute bookings. One of the biggest features is the ability to use Business Rewards Points to book any commercially available seat at any time giving members cash-like convenience. Emirates is the first and only airline in the region to offer such flexibility as part of its corporate loyalty programme – improving cost-effectiveness for business travel. Emirates Business Rewards has enhanced its user-experience with easy-to-use customer dashboards. These include tools to manage and book services for employees, and monitor the savings accumulated so far on the programme.

Qatar Airways will introduce additional capacity to its two South American gateways from December 1, 2016, when the airline upgrades its existing aircraft operating on the route, a Boeing 777-200LR, to a Boeing 777-300ER. The upgrade to the Extended Range aircraft will provide an additional 99 seats per day from the airline’s capital in Doha to Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. Qatar Airways’ existing aircraft operating on the route is the Boeing 777-200LR with 259 seats, which will increase to 358 seats. Commercial passenger traffic from the two cities to Qatar Airways’ network of more than 150 destinations via Doha provides travellers with some of the  shortest travel times from South America to popular destinations such as Bangkok, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Beirut, Singapore, Delhi and Maldives, and many other places can be conveniently reached via Qatar Airways’ Doha hub. All flights to South America feature three full meal services with three cuisine options in Economy Class, including vegetarian meals and complimentary beverages. In Business Class, Qatar Airways offers a bespoke dine-on-demand service where premium passengers can select a five course meal at their leisure. Qatar Airways’ Boeing 777 offers 42 seats in Business Class and 316 in Economy Class. The airline was recently voted World’s Best Business Class and features a state-of-the-art inflight entertainment system, Oryx One, with up to 3,000 options including the latest movies, TV series, music and games.

Emirates Skywards, the frequent flyer programme of Emirates Airline, marks its 16th year milestone with over 16 million members and the successful launch of new initiatives to enhance reward options for members. Since the programme’s inception in 2000, Emirates Skywards members have redeemed 220 billion Miles on reward flights, hotels stays and exclusive access to the biggest events worldwide. The diversity of the programme’s partners and rewards are reflected in the airline’s global customer base and network spanning six continents and over 150 destinations. With a focus on customer satisfaction, Emirates Skywards continuously forms exclusive partnerships and introduces new initiatives to offer greater value, choice and flexibility to its members. Most recently, Emirates Skywards has introduced Cash+Miles — allowing flight redemption using a combination of cash and Skywards Miles. Members in all four tiers — Blue, Silver, Gold and Platinum — can start redeeming flights with as little as 2,000 Miles. This popular new initiative instantly reduces the cost of the tickets and can be used on any Emirates flight across all classes, making any seat available to Emirates Skywards members. To date, Emirates Skywards has 14 airline partners including strategic partnerships with Easyjet and Qantas, offering members access to one of the world’s largest networks of global travel destinations. The programme also has 24 hotel partner brands covering nearly 20,000 properties worldwide. This includes a collaboration with the Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) programme which gives members double rewards through the ability to earn both Skywards Miles and Starpoints when they fly with Emirates or stay with Starwood. Emirates Skywards members also enjoy access to a global network of 39 Emirates lounges in major airports including six lounges at Dubai …

In recent times, Azerbaijan has become one of the most visited tourist destinations for the UAE nationals and expatriates as well.  Azerbaijan Airlines promoted special packages for Eid from Dubai to Azerbaijan.  In a move to further enhance their operations,  the airline has appointed Aviareps to represent the airline in 12 other markets apart from the UAE. The appointment, made with immediate effect, is the result of the airline strategy to broaden its brand and sales outreach among travellers and travel industry leaders both in markets with direct Azerbaijan Airlines flights, such as the online markets of China, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain and the United Kingdom, as well as in the strategically important offline markets of Denmark, Malaysia, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, where the airline does not operate direct flights. As part of the representation, AVIAREPS will act as the airlines’ sales agent, responsible for its sales and marketing activities within the specified markets. More details in our print version in October 2016.

According to sources the Bahrain airport expansion work is to start next month (October). The project will boost passenger capacity to 14 million with an estimated cost of $1.1 billion. The foundation work includes the transfer of Bahrain Aviation Fuelling Company facilities, the building of a main access security gate, the setting up of a new fire station, and the establishment of new staff car parks. It is one of the biggest projects ever held under the Gulf Development Fund. More details to be released soon.