Tag Archives: London

Emirates will be expanding its schedule this week to offer 38 additional flights across six cities in the GCC and Middle East to meet significant demand for Eid Al Fitr holiday travel. This year, more than 110,000 travellers are expected to board Emirates flights during Eid Al Fitr across the region, with additional flights planned for Riyadh, Dammam, Jeddah, Medina, Kuwait and Beirut. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Emirates will be adding four extra flights between 19-29 April to and from Riyadh to cater to Saudi travelers looking to venture to Dubai and beyond.  In Jeddah, the airline will be operating three daily A380s, and will additionally layer on six flights operated by its Boeing 777 to serve the peak travel holiday period from the city between 20-25 April. Emirates will boost its flights to Dammam from 18 to 21 weekly, starting from 20 April until 31 May with additional flights scheduled on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays to connect travelers to their favorite holiday getaways.  Travelers from Medina will have the choice of an additional 16 flights in the month of April to accommodate those travelling inbound for Umrah, as well as travelers looking to start their holidays earlier. This year, Emirates customers in KSA will be venturing to Dubai for their Eid Al Fitr celebrations, in addition to the Maldives, London, Phuket, Mauritius, Manila and Paris. In Kuwait, Emirates will operate an additional eight flights for Eid with its Boeing 777 from 20-27 April.  Popular destinations for Kuwaiti travelers this year include Dubai, Maldives, Phuket, Bangkok, London, Mauritius and Milan. Emirates will offer an additional flight on 23 April on the airline’s existing Beirut schedule to accommodate for …

Qatar Airways flights to Birmingham, England will resume on 6 July 2023, operating daily throughout the summer season. The flight will be operated with the Boeing 787-8 with 254 seats: 22 Business Class and 232 Economy Class seats. This resumption will come at an opportune time for travellers attending the British Grand Prix taking place on 9 July 2023 at the legendary Silverstone circuit. Birmingham, one of the UK’s most significant industrial and commercial cities, is known for its number of well-preserved, unusual historical attractions. The city is also the national centre of the silversmith profession making the Jewellery Quarter, which produces 40 per cent of the UK’s Jewellery, a truly spectacular area to experience. Birmingham is also home to the Bullring, one of the largest shopping centres in Europe, making it one of the top three shopping destinations in the UK. The city is also home the largest event space in the UK, the National Exhibition Centre, attracting thousands of visitors throughout the year. The City of Birmingham is centrally located with 90 per cent of the UK being reachable within four hours, and is conveniently located only one hour away from the Silverstone circuit, where fans can take advantage of the new Qatar Airways route to join in the racing festivities. With its affiliation to F1, Birmingham is home to some of the world’s most recognised motorsport racing teams; making the resumption of Qatar Airways’ daily services to the ‘Motorsport Valley’ arrive in a timely manner. Qatar Airways Holidays is also offering one-of-a-kind travel packages which include flights, hotels, premium seats at the race, gourmet hospitality, Paddock Club™ Pit Lane Walk and an exclusive event with appearances by …

Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAUDIA) recently celebrated the 55th anniversary of its first flights between the Kingdom and Geneva, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Germany; and London, the United Kingdom. To mark the occasion, SAUDIA designated a special flight from each of the three destinations, where guests were invited to celebrate at the airport terminals and onboard the flights. Guests across different cabin classes onboard the three flights were presented with commemorative souvenirs and access to the national carrier’s BISTRO service, providing them with a unique dining experience. Meanwhile, guests traveling on the Business Class enjoyed its Inflight Chef Service, with dishes cooked to their liking and expectations. As of the beginning of 2022, SAUDIA moved 348,800 guests aboard more than 3,500 flights to and from Geneva, Frankfurt and London, collectively covering 16.2 million air miles in 22.3 flight hours. The three destinations are served with SAUDIA’s latest, most efficient aircraft with comfortable seating and 5,000 hours of entertainment content to suit the tastes of every guest. The 55-year milestone solidifies SAUDIA’s standing as one of the world’s best airlines with extensive destination coverage. Through the celebration, SAUDIA sought to reward its distinguished guests for their trust and confidence in its services as well as their brand loyalty. On the occasion, SAUDIA also reiterates its commitment to providing ever-better services and launching new routes to more destinations to bring the world to Saudi Arabia in its capacity as the ‘Wings of Vision 2030.’

Oman Air is adding flights connecting Muscat with 25 cities including Doha, Dubai and London. Flights are added starting early January 2021. Flights connecting Muscat and Doha will also increase from 2 to 4 per week. Flights connecting Muscat and Dubai will increase from 3 to 5 flights per week. Flights connecting Muscat and London will increase from 2 to 3 flights per week. Additionally, flights will be added to and from Muscat to Mumbai, Cairo, Kochi, Delhi, Hyderabad, Islamabad, Lahore and Chennai. Oman Air will continue to maintain its comprehensive safety program throughout all elements of the travel journey to ensure that guests fly confidently. Masks are required when guests are on board the aircraft and in Oman’s airports. Distancing is maintained while guests board and exit the aircraft, which are carefully cleaned after each flight and at the end of every day. Cabin crew all wear a full set of personal protective equipment, meal service has been modified to further ensure safety and a number of other steps have been taken to ensure that the airline’s guests and crew are safe at all times.

Emirates has introduced an additional Airbus A380 service to Johannesburg (OR Tambo International Airport), replacing the previous Boeing 777 aircraft on the route. EK762 (JNB-DXB) and EK761 (DXB-JNB) are now served by the flagship A380 aircraft. The Emirates Airbus A380 aircraft serving the Dubai-Johannesburg route will offer a total of 519 seats in a three-class configuration, with 429 spacious seats in Economy Class, 76 fully flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First-Class Private Suites. Upcoming festive season travel between the two global transit hubs is expected to be especially strong, building on over 700,000 customers who flew with the airline before November. With Emirates, customers from Johannesburg can enjoy a seamless A380 experience to their most popular destinations via Dubai, including London, Moscow, New York and Bangkok. All four daily Emirates flights between Johannesburg and Dubai operate as codeshare flights with partner South African Airways. The deployment of the double-decker aircraft on routes to and from South Africa gives even more regional travellers the chance to experience the aircraft’s industry-leading comforts. These include private suites and Shower Spas in its First-Class cabin, while Business-Class customers can enjoy the popular on-board lounge and lie-flat beds.

Ghaya Grand has announced its participation at WTM in London with a host of new activities to entice the UK market. Speaking about the event, Olwin De Souza, General Manager, Ghaya Grand, stated that a record-breaking number of travellers, totaling 15.79 million flew to Dubai last year, with the UK being the third-largest source of tourists. At Ghaya Grand Hotel, UK guests attract the largest number for our luxury serviced apartments, with numbers steadily increasing for short stay guests, checking into our hotel rooms. The UK market, along with other strong European markets, such as the German and Dutch market, contributed to an increase of 15 per cent growth over last year at Ghaya Grand Hotel. While there have been higher visitors from other top source markets such as China and the Middle East, the UK remains one of the most important feeder markets to the hotels in Dubai. De Souza reiterated that at this year’s WTM participation, they hope to meet with their existing and new travel partners to showcase their five-star model at Ghaya Grand Hotel and share their success story. We would like to reach out to partners on our journey of creating memorable experiences for guests; which they like to share with family, friends and other global travellers to Dubai. Our aim is to consolidate relations built with existing agents and interact with new agents and suppliers, to improve the number of visitors coming to Dubai and especially to Ghaya Grand Hotel.”

International hotel bookings are up by 35 per cent compared to domestic bookings for UAE National Day Weekend, according to recent data analysis by Hotelscombined. The most popular international destinations for the holiday weekend include Muscat, Mecca, London, Medina and Istanbul. Amer Alhalabi, Regional Manager MENA, HotelsCombined said, “The UAE local or expat population love to take advantage of long weekends or holiday breaks. Their target destinations are always planned on the basis of offers or air fare. Be it a domestic or regional holiday arrangement, planning and booking of these trips are usually done in advance to secure availability and good prices.” HotelsCombined also analysed the top international hotels for the UAE National Day Weekend, looking at bookings from November 30 to December 3. Al Areen Hotel Apartment in Oman is the most popular, while Golden Tulip Resort Dibba and Hormuz Grand Muscat ranked second and third.

Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq) has revealed that Mantis Collection, the owner of some of the world’s finest boutique hotels and eco escapes, will be managing all hospitality facilities under its ‘Sharjah Collection’ brand. The joint venture was officiated and announced at the World Travel Market (WTM) London held from November 6-8. The partnership reflected the commitment between the two institutions that are equally dedicated to the spirit of conservation and preservation of local culture and heritage. Mantis’ excellence in the field has been continuously recognised by leading international hospitality awards such as the ‘2017 LUX Best Global Luxury Hotel Group and Excellence Award for Eco-Tourism’; the World’s Leading Luxury Boutique Hotels Collection 2016 and ‘Africa’s Leading Boutique Hotel Brand 2017’  by the World Travel Awards; among several others. Mantis was selected by Shurooq because of its expertise and experience in delivering and managing boutique sustainable hospitality facilities worldwide. The authority believes that the quality of hospitality and stay options in Sharjah will take a quantum leap forward with the Sharjah Collection.

The World Travel Market (WTM) London, a much awaited travel event of the year, brought together the travel fraternity from all over the globe. Key exhibitors from the region this year include Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM), Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority, Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage, Ajman Tourism Development Department, Ras Al Khaimah Tourism Development Authority, Oman Ministry of Tourism and Jordan Tourism Board. This year’s event will give ample opportunities to a range of new travel experiences and disruptive travel services as well. It will introduce some of the key components that industry specialists need to adapt so as to work towards enhancing the experiences of the many new-age travellers and millennials. More than 80 conference seminars will take place throughout the three days covering all the key sectors pertinent to the Middle East, including aviation, hotels, wedding and honeymoon, gastronomy, sports tourism, responsible tourism, digital influencers, social media and travel technology. Among other highlights is the 300-seater WTM Inspire Theatre, a taste of ILTM joined by a new Wellness & Spa section on the exhibition floor, WTM Speed Networking, and the UNWTO and WTM Ministers’ Summit.

Etihad Airways is launching a third daily flight on the Abu Dhabi – Bengaluru route, effective 26 March 2017. The triple daily schedule will provide greater choice to local passengers travelling between the two cities, and improved connectivity to destinations across the GCC, North America and Europe via the airline’s Abu Dhabi hub. The capacity increase underscores the airline’s commitment to offer guests more travel options between Abu Dhabi and key destinations across its network. With a new daily late night departure from Abu Dhabi, and early morning service from Bengaluru operated with a two-class Airbus 321, the schedule provides additional online connectivity to and from a number of destinations, including Doha, Jeddah, London, Dublin, New York and Dallas. Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our expanded services between Abu Dhabi and Bengaluru are in line with Etihad Airways’ strategy to offer greater travel options when aircraft availability and market conditions permit. The extra flights to Bengaluru will cater to the strong demand between both cities, and bring closer our global network to and from Bengaluru over our Abu Dhabi hub.” Etihad Airways launched flights to Bengaluru, capital of the southern Indian state of Karnataka, in January 2011 with four services a week, rising to daily two months later. It has steadily grown capacity with additional frequencies and aircraft upgrades to its current double daily operation. More than 700,000 guests have been flown on the route over the past six years.