Tag Archives: Australia

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.

The State Government of Victoria is celebrating 20 years of trade and tourism ties with the Middle East region. The Australian state set up its Victorian Government Business Office (VGBO) in 1997 to forge and strengthen trade and investment ties with the region, which two decades later has seen Victoria’s annual exports to the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region grow to AUD$ 2.49 billion (US$ 1.85 billion). Tourism and aviation links between Victoria and the region have also multiplied over the years, with Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways all flying daily to Melbourne. Emirates Airline has had a long-term relationship with Melbourne, having sponsored the famous Collingwood Football Club and the Emirates Melbourne Cup, the flagships among a portfolio of key partnerships in the state. Etihad Airways also has a strong connection with Melbourne, which is home to Australia’s Etihad Stadium, and has seen the UAE’s national carrier become the lead sponsor of Melbourne City Football Club.

Emirates will introduce a third daily service to Brisbane, Australia from December 1,2017, complementing Emirates’ existing two daily services. The direct service, to be operated on a B777-200LR aircraft with eight seats in First Class, 42 in Business Class and 216 in Economy Class, will increase capacity on the route by 3,724 seats a week, inbound and outbound between Brisbane and Emirates’ hub Dubai. This will give passengers in the United Kingdom, France and North America greater access to Australia with just one stop in Dubai as part of Emirates’ global route network. The inbound service EK430 will depart Dubai at 22:00 hrs, arriving in Brisbane at 18:15hrs the following day. While the outbound flight EK431 will depart Brisbane at 22:25 hrs, arriving in Dubai at 07:00hrs the following day. The service will operate alongside two existing daily services to Dubai. Flights EK434 and EK435 operate non-stop between Dubai and Brisbane and onwards to Auckland, New Zealand, while flights EK432 and EK433 operate between Dubai and Brisbane via Singapore. Additionally, with codeshare partner Qantas, Emirates offers services to Singapore twice daily from Brisbane. The news comes as Emirates announced it would be upgauging its third daily service to Melbourne from a B777-300ER to an A380 operation from 25 March 2018, allowing passengers to travel aboard Emirates’ A380 on all three daily flights between Melbourne and Dubai.

Etihad Airways will add three weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Sydney to operate a double-daily schedule from February 6, 2017. The morning departure from Abu Dhabi – EY450 – and the afternoon departure from Sydney – EY451 – will increase from four to seven flights per week. This enhancement to the airline’s Sydney schedule comes with the move by strategic partner Virgin Australia to shift its Australia to Abu Dhabi operation from Sydney to Perth from June 9, 2017. Expanding the code-share agreement, Etihad Airways will add its EY code to Virgin Australia’s new three weekly Perth-Abu Dhabi flights. The combined impact of the additional Sydney capacity and new code-share with Virgin Australia is an increase in the UAE flag carrier’s Australian footprint from a total of 42 to 45 weekly flights. To maintain schedule continuity, Etihad Airways will operate its three new weekly Sydney services at the same timings as Virgin Australia’s current Sydney-Abu Dhabi flights, on which Etihad Airways has placed its EY code since they began in February 2011. Among the new two-way connected markets for Perth are Athens, Beirut, Geneva, Istanbul, and a number of African destinations including Dar es Salaam, Entebbe, Khartoum and Nairobi. The additional Sydney flights will be operated by a three-class Boeing 777-300ER, the aircraft type operating the current EY450/451 pattern. The aircraft is configured with eight seats in First Class, 40 in Business Class and 280 in Economy Class.

The lucrative opportunities for investment between Sharjah and Australia were the main item on the agenda at a “Sharjah-Australia Roundtable” organised by Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), in association with the Australian Business Council in Dubai (ABCD), the Australian Trade Commission and Australia Unlimited, at the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI). The roundtable was Shurooq’s latest initiative in its extensive programme designed to highlight Sharjah’s rewarding investment climate, with Shurooq representatives visiting four continents in the past few months as part of its on-going promotional strategy for the emirate. The most recent activity in Shurooq’s global investment promotion agenda saw His Excellency Gerard Seeber, Australia Consul General in Dubai and Senior Trade Commissioner MENA region and His Excellency Marwan bin Jassim Al Sarkal, CEO, Shurooq, sitting down with Penny Couchman, Chairperson of ABCD and several Australian businesspersons, including spokespersons from Antipodean enterprises operating in the UAE. The day-long event involved the representatives discussing the emirate’s array of fertile sectors for investment, including tourism, environment, health and transport.