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June 20 - BankMuscat and Oman Air signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Saturday to promote each other’s products and services to its customers. The MoU is just an extension of the bank’s commitment towards expanding its services. The agreement was signed by Sulaiman al Harthy, Group Deputy General Manager, Consumer Banking, on behalf of BankMuscat and AbdulRazaq Jumaa al Raisi, General Manager --…
Saturday, June 19 - Dubai’s first low cost carrier, flydubai, launched flights to the ancient capital of Turkey yesterday, its 18th destination. Flight FZ751 landed at Sabiha International Gocken International Airport in Istanbul at 2250 hours. Ghaith Al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai, said “Istanbul is one of the most popular destinations for UAE residents who are seeking a short break. With a wealth of…
June 17 - British Airways has given away business class tickets worth Dh6.5 million to 30 small- and medium-sized enterprises in the UAE in order to encourage entrepreneurship in a tight economy. According to an airline spokesperson, the move will help businesses to stimulate growth. Over 300 companies applied for a British Airways Business Opportunity Grant and those who won include restaurants,…
June 17 - Air India and its sister low-cost airline, Air India Express, is planning to add more flights to the Gulf region, increasing capacity by 15 percent. In fact, the airline also plans to use the newly leased aircraft on the Gulf routes, thus ‘letting go’ of the old Airbus 320s. "We will be leasing new aircraft. The proposal is for five," Arvind Jhadav, Chairman and Managing Director of National…
June 17 - Dubai-based low-cost carrier Flydubai has added the ninth Boeing 737-800NG to its fleet. The aircraft landed at the Dubai International Airport’s terminal 2 last night and will be used on the Dubai-Istanbul route. Flydubai’s CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith said: "The arrival of a ninth aircraft is testament to the planning and hard work of the team and shows Flydubai's dedication to providing the highest…
June 16 - Air traffic movements in UAE increased by 12.3 percent in April, hitting 54,000 as compared to 48,000 air movements in May 2009, said an official of the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA). Air traffic movements were the highest in May as compared to the preceding months in 2010. Total air traffic movements in the first five months of 2010 were 260,000 as compared to 233,000 last year, thus…
June 16 - Sharjah’s low-cost carrier Air Arabia announced on Tuesday that it would offer additional flights to Amman, Damascus and Alexandria in June and July this year. The increase in flights is the result of growing demand for low-cost travel across the Middle East. Additional flights to Amman will operate on June 21, June 26, June 29 and July 3. To Damascus, additional flights will begin on June 24, June…
June 15 - Emirates Airline’s flight EK776 that took off from Durban's King Shaka International Airport on Friday experienced a technical malfunction while in air and then returned back to Dhurban, an airline official stated. The pilot was forced to shut down the engine on the right side after noticing low oil pressure. "All of the passengers were accommodated in a hotel while a recovery aircraft was…
June 15 - Nasair celebrated the first anniversary of its flights between Kuwait and Riyadh, and Jeddah and Madinah, by organising a ceremony in Kuwait. The Saudi Ambassador to Kuwait Dr Abdulaziz Al Fayez and top airline industry figures and travel agency representatives were present on the occasion. The ceremony was hosted by Dr Maria Hanne, Chief Commercial Officer of Nasair. Dr Hanne said that Nasair is…
June 14 - Emirates Airline will launch its non-stop flights to Spain in just six weeks, it was learnt at a press conference in Madrid on Thursday. Richard Vaughan, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations Worldwide; Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations, Europe and Russian Federation, and Peter Sedgley, Senior Vice President of Cargo (Commercial…
June 11 - Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways celebrated the first anniversary of its services to Athens as flight EY91 from Abu Dhabi touched down at Athens International Airport. The Athens route achieved average seat factors of more than 70 percent and this figure is expected to hit 90 percent in the summer period. Starting off with three flights a week, Etihad increased the frequency to five per week in…
June 11 - Gulf Air’s restructuring plans are nearly complete and will dramatically transform the airline into a regional airline serving primarily major and secondary cities within a few hours flying time from Bahrain. Chief executive, Samir Majali explained tat all unprofitable routes will be cut and orders with Boeing and Airbus are currently being renegotiated to bring the airline on sound financial…
June 11 - Air India’s parent company, National Aviation Company of India Limited (NACIL) held a special board meeting in New Delhi on Thursday to address problems in the Gulf region.Decisions were made to replace aging aircrafts flying in the Middle East. Standby aircrafts and special technical support will also be deployed to handle delays and problems affecting the airline’s service. UAE based businessman…
June 10 - Etihad Airways has been ranked among the best three airlines in the world by Swiss business magazine BILANZ. The decision was based on the result of a frequent flyers’ survey in Switzerland. Etihad was also ranked number one in the ‘Onboard Service’ category and second in the ‘Business Class’ category. After winning Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) stated: “I am very…
June 10 - Gulf Air announced on Wednesday that it is focusing on improving its service and the staff’s interaction with customers. In this regard, the airline said that 22 of its staff members have been trained under the customer service training programme to become "Customer Service Champions". The course was 10 weeks long and took place in collaboration with UK’s Ontrack International Consultancy. Trained…
June 10 - Emirates Airline has appointed Al Handal Group as its general sales agent (GSA) in Baghdad, Iraq, it was learnt yesterday. Al Handal’s position as GSA is effective immediately. The move coincides with the airline’s upcoming route to Baghdad that will be launched from July 1. Emirates Senior Vice President for the Gulf, Middle East and Iran Ahmad Khoury said: "We are delighted with the appointment of…
June 9 - Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, on Monday issued a law that will effectively increase the emirate’s first budget airline’s capital by more than double. "The new law amended a preceding law, which had set up Flydubai with a capital of Dh220 million. The amendment more than doubled the capital to Dh500 million to be fully paid by the…
Saudi Arabian Airlines’ (SAA) Cochin-bound flight developed a technical problem half way into the journey and had to return to the King Fahd International Airport (KFIA) in Dammam on Monday morning. The flight carrying a large number of passengers took off from KFIA at 3:30am. An hour later, the pilot learnt of some technical malfunction and turned the plane back around. Meanwhile, a passenger said that it…
