Tag Archives: November

It was announced that travellers to Dubai could pass through check-in, immigration and boarding using a single biometric access with their facial print at Terminal 3 of  the Dubai International Airport from November. The announcement was made by Major General Obaid Muhair bin Suroor, Deputy Director General, General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai at the “International conference on policymaking : The future of ports in Dubai. He further stated that the single biometric system will come into effect at Terminal 3 in November in partnership with Emirates Airline. This will be the first time in the region where paperless airport access system will be used in the region.

This month marks five years since Emirates and flydubai activated their extensive partnership and joined forces to offer customers unrivalled travel options to every corner of the globe. They’ve certainly delivered on their promise. The carriers’ joint route network has significantly expanded, enabling more than 11 million customers to connect on over 250,000 flights and benefit from seamless travel since the partnership launched in 2017. The innovative partnership goes beyond the standard codesharing model and today includes integrated network collaboration, schedule optimisation, seamless connectivity at Dubai International airport (DXB) between Terminals 2 and 3, baggage transfers on a single itinerary, as well as reciprocal loyalty benefits under the joint loyalty programme, Emirates Skywards. Here’s five key highlights of Emirates and flydubai’s partnership and the benefits it offers to customers: Joint network offers unrivalled choice:  Today, customers have access to 215 destinations across 98 countries, with over 250 codeshare flights to choose from on an average day. Emirates customers can book flights to over 80 unique flydubai destinations and flydubai customers can choose from over 99 Emirates destinations. Popular customer favourites, whether travelling for business or leisure include: Kathmandu, Kuwait, the Maldives, Tel Aviv, and Zanzibar.   Joint loyalty programme maximising customer rewards: More than 8.5 million members have been able to enjoy joint Emirates and flydubai frequent flyer programme benefits, earning 150 billion Skywards Miles in the last five years through the partnership. Seamless connectivity at DXB: Customers enjoy seamless check-in, efficient baggage transfers, passenger access to Emirates’ lounges at Terminal 3 and the flydubai lounge at Terminal 2, reduced connection times as both airlines expand their flight schedules, and convenient connections to 33 flydubai destinations operated from Emirates Terminal …

As the region busies itself with winter visitors, iconic sporting events, UAE National Day and the upcoming festive season, Emirates is highlighting a busy travel period for both inbound and outbound travel through Dubai for the next month, and recommending passengers arrive to the airport 3 hours in advance of their flight, as well as taking advantage of multiple services that enhance seamless travel. From the 19th of November onwards, Dubai will begin to see a surge in inbound traffic, including visitors for the myriad of winter events like those attending the 2022 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend, travellers headed to Doha for football matches, and those arriving for the Emirates Dubai 7s which is set to welcome 5,500 athletes from 32 countries. UAE National Day will also see a high level of outbound travel as UAE residents enjoy the long weekend, and from December 16 onwards, Emirates is expecting the seasonal super outbound peak for the festive period. In addition to arriving to the airport up to 3 hours before a flight, passengers are advised to take advantage of digital check-in, home and remote check-in options, smart gates and handy luggage drop services. Passengers are encouraged to download the Emirates app on their mobile phone to get all their flight details at their fingertips. Users can book and change flights, download a digital boarding pass for most destinations, check what meals will be served onboard, book their chauffeur drive service and even pre-select and plan movies to watch via the ice inflight entertainment. All passengers can check-in online 48 hours ahead of their flight using the online check-in option on www.emirates.com. In a few clicks, they can select …

Emirates has kick-started its plans to upgrade the entire interior cabins of 120 Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft – two of the largest commercial aircraft types in service. This ambitious project, representing a multi-billion dollar investment to ensure Emirates’ customers “fly better” for the coming years, officially commences in November and is managed entirely by Emirates’ Engineering team. The target is to completely retrofit four Emirates aircraft from start to finish every month, continuously for over 2 years. Once the 67 earmarked A380s are refreshed and back in service, 53 777s will undergo their facelift. This will see nearly 4,000 brand new Premium Economy seats installed, 728 First Class suites refurbished and over 5,000 Business Class seats upgraded to a new style and design when the project is complete in April 2025. In addition, carpets and stairs will be upgraded, and cabin interior panels refreshed with new tones and design motifs including the iconic ghaf trees which are native to the UAE. No other airline has handled a retrofit of this magnitude in-house, and there’s no blueprint for such an undertaking. Therefore Emirates Engineering teams have been planning and testing extensively, to establish and streamline processes, and identify and address any possible snags. Trials began on an A380 in July, where experienced engineers literally took each cabin apart piece-by-piece and logged every step. From removing seats and panelling to bolts and screws, every action was tested, timed and mapped out. Potential impediments to completing the installation of Emirates’ new Premium Economy Class or the retrofit of the remaining three cabins in just 16 days were flagged and documented for expert teams to review and address. As part of the …

Royal Jordanian (RJ) has decided to stop Royal Wings operations on November 30, 2018. The move was taken as a result of the high operating costs and the subsequent losses incurred by Royal Wings over the past years. The task of promoting and selling the charter flights that used to be carried out by Royal Wings will now fall on Royal Jordanian’s commercial department. Negotiations are going on at this stage between RJ and two parties interested in buying Royal Wings; the process may take some time. As for the employees working at Royal Wings, 12 of them, who had been seconded from Royal Jordanian to Royal Wings, will return to work for RJ. The other 95 Royal Wings employees were offered several flexible options for their future benefit. After interviewing a number of them, 18 have been accepted to work for RJ so far, as they met the job requirements, while the process of interviewing is still ongoing to give the opportunity to the remaining staff members to undergo RJ exams and interviews. Those who don’t pass the exams and interviews are offered the option of voluntary release from service. The voluntary release option is also available to all Royal Wings employees.

Dubai Airports has finalised an agreement with Hard Rock International and their regional franchise partners that will see the former launch its first Hard Rock Cafe, opening early November in DXB’s Concourse B. The new location will feature a licensed restaurant, grab and go food, live entertainment, rock memorabilia and a Rock Shop loaded with its world-famous merchandise. Hard Rock Cafe will be located in Terminal 3 B Gates, adding to DXB’s remarkable array of leisure and entertainment offerings, which include over 100 eating options for passengers, catering to all tastes and budgets. Hard Rock International is one of the world’s most globally recognised brands, famous for its collectible fashion and music-related merchandise, memorable dining experiences and live music performances which will complement Dubai Airports’ musicDXB programme. Eugene Barry, Executive Vice President Commercial, Dubai Airports, said, “We’re thrilled to add Hard Rock Cafe to our DXB playlist. It is the perfect fit at an airport that is already world-renowned for its F&B, retail and music. Hard Rock Cafe sets the standard when it comes to combining great food and music and is a vital component of our strategy to create an airport experience that is second to none.” Anibal Fernandez Lorden, Vice President, Franchise Operations and Development of Hard Rock International, said, “Hard Rock has been looking forward to opening its second location in Dubai after many successful years of operating in this iconic city.”  “We could not have asked for a better location to provide travellers with great memories of one of the world’s top dining and entertainment brands.”

Passenger traffic at the Dubai International Airport (DXB) reached 6,953,596 in November compared to 6,581,805 recorded in the corresponding month in 2016, an increase of 5.6 per cent, as per a latest report. Year to date, passenger numbers at DXB have risen 5.8 per cent to 80,387,442 compared to 75,947,899 recorded during the same period in 2016. This upward trend in passenger traffic has been continuing during the past year at Dubai Airports. Once again, the most significant contribution to passenger numbers came from the Indian Subcontinent and Western Europe. The two regions were up 7.5 per cent and 8 per cent respectively, and more than 1.5 million passengers travelled through DXB from each region in November. These figures were reflected in the top cities, where London (310,551) and Mumbai (217,279) were the highest. For the first time in four months, Saudi Arabia (534,906) climbed to the second spot in terms of passenger numbers by country, moving in front of the UK (507,796). India (999,625) remained the top destination country for Dubai International. November’s flight movement figures at DXB totalled 33,421 down 3.7 per cent on 2016, however the average number of passengers per flight during the month remained high at 215, up 7.3 per cent year on year.