Tag Archives: DXB

flydubai from Dubai International (DXB) landed at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion International Airport (TLV) to a water salute.  The inaugural flight was flown by Captain Patrick Gonzenbach and Emirati First Officer, Abdulla Al Shamsi. On board the aircraft was a delegation led by Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer, flydubai. They were met on arrival by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with a delegation that included the CEO of Ben Gurion International Airport Shmuel Zakay and representatives from the aviation industry. Ghaith Al Ghaith, Chief Executive Officer at flydubai, said: “Today’s inaugural flight sees the air transport agreement realised.  The creation of these direct air links will support the development of commercial ventures across a number of sectors helping to drive success and prosperity.  We look forward to welcoming the first passengers from Israel as they come to explore the UAE.” Jeyhun Efendi, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations and E-commerce, said, “Since we announced the launch of operations to Tel Aviv we have seen strong demand for services from both Israel and the UAE.  We received our first bookings from both tourists and business travellers shortly after the schedule was published. There is opportunity to further grow our double daily service.”  

Emirates has launched an integrated biometric path at Dubai International airport (DXB). The contactless airport experience is now open to Emirates passengers travelling from and through Dubai. The integrated biometric path will give passengers a seamless travel journey from specific check-in to boarding gates, improving customer flow through the airport with less document checks and less queuing. Utilising the latest biometric technology – a mix of facial and iris recognition, Emirates passengers can now check in for their flight, complete immigration formalities, enter the Emirates Lounge, and board their flights, simply by strolling through the airport. The various touchpoints in the Biometric path allow for a hygienic contactless travel journey, reducing human interaction and putting emphasis on health and safety. Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer said, “We have always focused on providing a great customer experience at any touchpoint and now it is more vital than before to make use of technology and implement products, and introduce processes that focuses not only on fast tracking customers, but more importantly on health and safety during their travel journey. The state-of-the-art, contactless biometric path is the latest in a series of initiatives we have introduced to make sure that travelling on Emirates is a seamless journey and gives customers added peace of mind.”

Dubai Airports welcomed the resumption of scheduled operations by foreign carriers at Dubai International (DXB). A total of 13 international airlines resumed scheduled flights this week as Dubai opened its skies and arms to tourists effective July 7. Airlines resuming operations at DXB include Air Blue, Air France, Cebu Pacific, EgyptAir, Ethiopian Airlines, Gulf Air, KLM, Lufthansa, Mahan Air, Middle East Airlines, Pakistan International Airlines, Philippine Airlines and Royal Jordanian with more expected to join later. In addition to foreign carriers, DXB-based Emirates airline and flydubai have boosted their schedules. “We have ensured everything is in place to welcome airlines from around the world back to Dubai as a growing number of bilateral agreements between countries conclude to facilitate the opening of borders and the gradual return of traffic,” said Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports. “Our ability to resume passenger operations has been enabled by the significant and early steps the UAE government took to tackle the threat of the spread of the virus, together with the robust health and safety measures in place at DXB, and the excellent advanced healthcare services available here in Dubai. We remain in close discussions with government officials and airlines to support the resumption of additional services as approvals are granted in the weeks and months ahead. The message is that we are ready to welcome visitors back to Dubai and we will do our utmost to take care of them whilst they are here” As services resume passengers are being advised to always confirm their terminal of departure and arrival with their airline prior to coming to the airport as some carriers may have temporarily changed terminals.

Paul Griffiths, CEO, Dubai Airports confirmed that while the airport operator is taking appropriate measures to control costs, optimise liquidity, facilitate cargo and repatriation flights and prepare for a timely and proportionate activation of facilities and services at Dubai International (DXB) to support the resumption of scheduled traffic, the timing and the speed of air traffic recovery will ultimately depend on the development of a vaccine or treatment for COVID-19. “The COVID-19 pandemic is of a very different nature than any previous crisis in that it has affected supply, demand and health security and by extension the entire global economy,” said Griffiths. “We’re dealing with a monster here for which we clearly have to find a solution. Until there is a proven level of confidence medically that people can travel without fear of spreading or contracting the virus, the situation we find ourselves in is likely to continue.” “Until a medical solution is found, the industry will rely on bilateral agreements that enable the resumption of services. We will gradually start to see some confidence build between trusted countries where the governments have acted significantly enough and early enough to get the spread of the virus under control,” said Griffiths. “In the short term, until we get a medical and technical solution, we will have robust measures in place. And while we will all have to practice social distancing in the near term, the idea of social distancing as a permanent part of society would be so socially and economically destructive it would simply not be sustainable. We’re looking at an 18 month to two-year time frame but that is highly dependent upon the development of an effective treatment or …

His Highness Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Dubai Airports, inaugurated the Airport Operations Control Centre (AOCC), the nerve centre of Dubai International (DXB) – the world’s busiest international airport with 86.4 million international passengers in 2019. The state-of-the-art facility enables a collaborative approach to managing airport operations by providing information and analyses based on data collated from more than 50 systems fed by 7 billion data points. The AOCC allows operator Dubai Airports, government agencies, airlines and other service partners to monitor every aspect of the operation in real time as well as predict developing situations to respond to them more efficiently. Harnessing big data has helped Dubai Airports deliver a smooth experience to some 240,000 passengers daily and achieve breakthrough service improvements including 40 per cent reduction in queue time since 2018 and a record 99.96 per cent baggage delivery success rate in 2019.

Dubai International (DXB) retained its position as the world’s number one hub for international passengers for the sixth consecutive year with annual traffic for 2019 reaching 86.4 million – 6 million more than the nearest rival London Heathrow. The year was also exceptional for DXB in terms of customer service with shorter wait time, record-breaking baggage performance and new retail and food and beverage offerings. DXB welcomed a total of 86,396,757 for the full year of 2019 (-3.1 per cent) as numbers were affected by a series of challenges throughout the year, including a 45-day closure of the airport’s southern runway to enable its refurbishment, global market conditions, as well as the worldwide grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft. During the fourth quarter of 2019, DXB welcomed 21.9 million customers (1.3 per cent), taking the average monthly passenger numbers at the hub to 7.2 million for the year. The airport also breached the 8-million customer mark twice during the year (July and August). Expressing satisfaction with DXB’s performance in 2019, Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, said, “While customer numbers in 2019 were lower than the preceding year, the impact of the 45-day closure of the runway, the bankruptcy of Jet Airways, as well as the grounding of the Boeing’s 737 Max accounted for an estimated 3.2 million passengers over the course of the year, and indicate underlying growth at DXB.”

Emirates announces plans to launch a new daily service from Dubai (DXB) to Penang International Airport (PEN), via Singapore (SIN), from April 9, 2020. Emirates’ flight to Penang will be a linked service with Singapore, allowing passengers to travel easily between the two cities while enjoying the airline’s award-winning service. Penang will become Emirates’ second destination in Malaysia after its capital, Kuala Lumpur, which the airline currently serves with three flights a day and is a route that has been operating since 1996. The flight will be operated by an Emirates Boeing 777-300ER aircraft in a three-class configuration, offering eight private suites in First Class, 42 lie flat seats in Business Class and 304 spacious seats in Economy Class. The new route enables travellers from the northern cities of Malaysia to enjoy convenient connections from Dubai to destinations in Europe, North America and the Middle East. Located on the North-western coast of Malaysia, the state comprises a mainland portion as well as an island, connected by Malaysia’s two longest roadbridges. Penang is the country’s second largest populated city and is known for its rich heritage and architecture, vibrant multicultural society, modern entertainment and retail options, cuisine as well as the natural beauty of its beaches and hills. “We have been serving Malaysia through our flights to Kuala Lumpur for more than 20 years, with three-times daily service, and the introduction of flights to Penang will help us meet growing demand from leisure and business travellers, both to and from Malaysia. We are also pleased that the fifth freedom flights between Penang and Singapore will connect two sister cities and increase connectivity for passengers in South East Asia,” said Adnan Kazim, …

Plaza Premium Lounge Dubai opens in DXB to serve individual, business and family travellers. The Plaza reception features the image of Dubai city skyline Plaza Premium Lounge Dubai – Family Suite for a maximum of six guests with butler service. Highlights of Plaza Premium Lounge Dubai includes 1,260-square-metre with a maximum capacity of 300 guests, the largest independent pay-per-use airport lounge at Terminal 3 in the busiest transit hub in the Middle East; Special features- Four Family Suites, dedicated Playroom, ‘first-class’ enclosed private napping space, cigar lounge, male and female prayer rooms; Local cuisine freshly prepared at live kitchen includes Arabic, Asian and International flavours in addition to specially created kid’s and infant’s menus “Dubai is a city known for its ancient and modern attractions as well as a world-class destination for leisure, business and events, attracting nearly 16 million tourists in 2018. With concourse A expecting annual capacity of 19 million and Expo 2020 coming in October, expanding our award-winning Plaza Premium Lounge into Dubai is our promise to make travel better for millions of travellers departing Dubai International. The airport is also a popular transit hub connecting Asia and Europe, our lounge at Terminal 3 will become popular for transit travellers to enjoy a relaxing moment,”  shares Song Hoi See, Founder and CEO of Plaza Premium Group. 

flydubai announced that flights to seven destinations will move from their current operating base of Terminal 2 and relocate to Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB). Other flydubai services will continue to operate from Terminal 2. From October 27, 2019, flights to Almaty, Basra, Dar es Salaam, Kilimanjaro, Nur-Sultan, Sofia, and Zanzibar will operate from Terminal 3. These destinations have been chosen to help improve connections between Emirates and flydubai with smooth and quick transit times. The additional 07 points will bring the number of destinations operated out of Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB) to 22. This move is part of the innovative partnership with Emirates that goes beyond code sharing to several initiatives spanning commercial, network planning, airport operations, the alignment of the frequent flyer programmes and an enhanced customer journey.  “As our partnership with Emirates continues to grow, the addition of these seven destinations to Terminal 3 builds on the success of last year’s move and provides more opportunities for us to optimise connectivity for our passengers,” said Alex Mackenzie, Senior Vice President, Airport Services at flydubai. The full list of flydubai flights operating from Terminal 3 includes Almaty, Basra, Belgrade, Bishkek, Bucharest, Catania, Dar es Salaam, Helsinki, Kilimanjaro, Krabi, Krakow, Mineralnye Vody, Naples, Nur-Sultan, Prague, Rostov-on-Don, Salalah, Sofia, Tashkent, Zagreb, Zanzibar and Yangon. All other flydubai flights will continue to operate from Terminal 2, Dubai International (DXB) and Dubai World Central (DWC).

  Emirates gears up for a busy travel period this weekend for the Eid holiday. The busiest time for departures in Terminal 3 will be on August 9, with close to 100,000 passengers travelling through Terminal 3 at DXB. Customers are reminded to arrive at the airport at least three hours before their flight departure to avoid any delays. Peak travel is expected to start on August 8 in the evening and continue until August 10 with over 372,000 Emirates passengers travelling from Dubai. Passengers can physically check in at the airport as early as 24 hours before flight departure, and are requested to check in no later than two hours prior to departure, regardless of class of travel. Customers who present themselves less than 60 minutes prior to their scheduled flight departure will not be accepted for travel. Customers can check in online on both their desktops and mobile devices from 48 hours to 90 minutes before flight departure. Passengers can also enjoy Emirates’ Home Check-in service which allows customers to check-in for their flights from anywhere in Dubai. In addition to online check-in services, Emirates also offers convenient car park check-in facilities. Customers can use these to check-in and drop off their luggage. Alternatively, customers heading to Emirates Terminal 3 can choose to drop their luggage at one of the 46 dedicated bag drop counters in Economy Class or separate counters in First Class and Business Class from six hours to 90 minutes prior to departure.