Tag Archives: Commercial Operations

Emirates renewed its support to Mauritius and the Seychelles by extending a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) which outlines joint activities to promote the two countries. His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group met a VIP delegation from Mauritius and Seychelles at Arabian Travel Market 2019.  An MoU was signed  by Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President—Commercial Operations for Africa, Emirates and Sherin Francis, Chief Executive Officer, Seychelles Tourism Board and Arvind Bundhun, Director, Mauritius Tourism Promotion Authority, in the presence of the Didier Dogley and Anil Kumar Gayan, Tourism Ministers of Seychelles and Mauritius respectively. “We have enjoyed long and fruitful partnerships with both Mauritius and Seychelles, and have taken an active role in boosting the tourism industry of the island nations. Our commitment to these destinations and the partnership forged with the respective government authorities, have seen great success. The renewal of our agreements underpins our confidence that the growth of tourism to both Mauritius and Seychelles can be further developed, and we remain confident that we will continue to see these numbers grow,” said Abbas. “The signing of this MoU with Emirates underpins the long-standing strong relationship, developed over a decade, between the Government of Seychelles and the leadership of this global airline. We value the services Emirates has provided and continues to provide to the Seychelles and its tourism industry. We look forward towards further deepening this relationship towards our mutual benefits”, said Didier Dogley, Minister of Tourism, Civil Aviation, Ports and Marine of the Seychelles. “I am happy that we are renewing this Memoradum of Understanding with Emirates as this is the basis on which we have built …

flydubai is set to start flights to Tashkent from March 11, 2019. The five-times weekly service between Dubai and Tashkent will become a daily operation from May 31, 2019. Business Class return fares from Dubai to Tashkent start at AED 7,500 (USD 1,785) and are inclusive of all taxes with 40 kg checked baggage, meals and in-flight entertainment. Economy Class return fares from Dubai to Tashkent start at AED 1,545 (USD 420) including 20 kg checked baggage and a meal. The carrier will operate the new route with one of its brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft from Terminal 3 of Dubai International (DXB). The new cabin features a flat-bed in Business Class and in addition to the extra space and privacy, passengers can sleep comfortably during their flight. Economy Class offers new RECARO seats designed to optimise space and comfort so that passengers can sit back, relax and enjoy their flight. Commenting on the launch of flights to Tashkent, Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai, said, “we are pleased to become the first UAE national carrier to offer direct flights to Tashkent, strengthening ties between the UAE and Uzbekistan via these new direct air links. This creates opportunities for further development of tourism and trade flows and is in line with our commitment to opening up previously underserved markets and offering more travel options to fly to Dubai and beyond.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President—Commercial Operations and E-commerce, flydubai, said, “We hope the new route will be a popular choice for passengers travelling from Dubai and the GCC looking for new hidden gems within a short flying distance from our hub in Dubai.”

Emirates and Trenitalia, Italy’s national railway company have announced a new codeshare agreement which will enable Emirates’ customers to discover new destinations across Italy. With just one easy-to-book ticket, travellers will be able to fly on Emirates and reach some of Italy’s picturesque cities and towns using high speed, modern and comfortable trains that leave from Emirates’ four Italian gateways – Bologna, Milan, Rome and Venice. Customers can now start booking their codeshare trips via Emirates’ website and travel onwards to these destinations. “This codeshare agreement with Trenitalia opens up new possibilities for our customers and complements our current services to Bologna, Milan, Rome and Venice. With Trenitalia, travelling to the Far East from Foggia or to Padova from Sydney has never been easier. Emirates already flies more than 1.6 million passengers to and from Italy every year. With this codeshare agreement, we’re connecting Italian regions to our global network, significantly boosting the Italian tourism industry,” said Hubert Frach, Divisional Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations, West, Emirates.

Emirates celebrated the inaugural flight of its new daily service from Dubai (DXB) to London Stansted (STN). The aircraft deployed on the route is Emirates’ new three-class Boeing 777-300ER, featuring its state-of-the-art, fully-enclosed private suites in First Class, and refreshed Business and Economy Class cabins. The aircraft also sports newly-designed seats and upgraded in-flight entertainment systems in all cabins.  To celebrate the airline’s arrival to the airport, Emirates and Stansted airport held a launch event for local dignitaries and stakeholders, hosted by Hubert Frach, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations – West and Richard Jewsbury, Divisional Vice President, UK, alongside Ken O’Toole, CEO, Stansted Airport. “We decided to add London Stansted to our network because we saw an opportunity to directly connect the local community with some of the world’s most popular leisure and business destinations. Previously, London’s north east and the wider 7.5 million people that live within Stansted’s catchment areas had to travel into the city to access airports with global reach. Now, this daily flight to Dubai connects passengers seamlessly to Emirates points across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia,” said Frach. The new gateway is the seventh UK airport that Emirates operates out of in the UK, with Edinburgh to follow in October.

For the first time in Rafic Al Hariri International Airport’s history, Emirates will operate a special one-off A380 service to Beirut on March 29. The airline’s flagship double-decker will become the first-ever scheduled A380 service to Beirut. Emirates A380 will depart Dubai at 07:25hrs and arrive in Beirut at 10:30hrs. The flight will depart Beirut at 14:15hrs and arrive in Dubai at 19:05hrs on the same day. Sheikh Majid Al Mualla, Divisional Senior Vice President—Commercial Operations, Centre at Emirates, said, “We are proud to fly our A380 for a one-off test service to Beirut. Bringing this popular aircraft to Lebanon represents a significant milestone in our operations to Beirut after 27 years of serving the country. This year also marks the Emirates A380’s 10th anniversary since joining our fleet, and the iconic aircraft has brought flying to the next level for over 90 million customers. We would like to thank the Lebanese government and in particular the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Lebanese Civil Aviation Authorities, who have made it possible for us to bring our flagship A380 to this city.”

Emirates announced that it will reinstate its second daily service to Lagos and resume operations to Nigeria’s capital city, Abuja, with four weekly flights from December 15. The added frequencies to Lagos will be operated with Emirates’ Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, offering eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business Class and 310 spacious seats in Economy Class. “As Nigeria is a key market for Emirates, we will add 11 weekly flights between Dubai and two major cities in Nigeria, Abuja and Lagos. This highlights our commitment to providing travellers in Nigeria with not only the very latest in aircraft innovations but also increased connectivity,” said Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Africa. The added Lagos flight EK781 will depart Dubai every day at 03:55hrs and arrive in Lagos at 09:05hrs. The return flight EK782 will depart Lagos at 12:40hrs and arrive in Dubai at 22:55hrs.

Emirates will be operating 45 additional flights to Jeddah and 12 additional flights to Medina from August 17 until September 11 to help serve 2 million pilgrims expected to travel to the Holy City of Mecca during Hajj this year. These services will run in parallel with Emirates’ regularly scheduled services to Jeddah. The airline will also be operating its A380 to Medina which will also support the increased demand during this period. The additional services are available to travellers holding a valid Hajj visa. This year, top inbound destinations Emirates is expecting Hajj pilgrims to come from are Yangon, Manchester, Mauritius, Jakarta, Karachi, Lagos and Nairobi. Adil Al Ghaith, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Gulf, Middle East and Iran, Emirates, said, “With a sizeable increase in demand for air travel during this period, Emirates is helping to make the journey more seamless for the scores of pilgrims making their way to the Holy City of Mecca. Whether it’s in the air or on the ground, Emirates aims to provide all its customers with the best experience in line with their faith, particularly at this significant time and important journey.” On the ground, Emirates has appointed a dedicated group of airport staff to seamlessly facilitate the passenger ground experience for Hajj. In addition, dedicated check-in counters have been set up for Hajj passengers in Dubai. In the air, several initiatives have been planned in keeping with the values and traditions that pilgrims uphold when travelling for Hajj. Extra provisions will be made to accommodate Hajj traveller needs such as performing ablutions, advising passengers about Al Miqat and Ihram (the phase when pilgrims enter a state of sanctity) and other arrangements …