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1,431 reports
Virgin Galactic, the space tourism branch of the airline, has sold 20 of its tickets to Gulf tourist desirous of taking a trip into space, said sources. With high-profile travellers such as Stephen Hawking and ex-racer Niki Lauda, Virgin is all set to sell all of its tickets in its first year of test operation, that is, 2011. The 20 tickets have already raked in $45 million. “The spaceport will be open next…
Etihad Airways will expand its services to business and leisure travelers with the launch of Hala Abu Dhabi, its new travel services company. Etihad said in a statement that Hala Abu Dhabi, which will be based in Abu Dubai, will offer travel products, services, and activities in all seven Emirates of the UAE. Etihad Airways chief commercial officer, Peter Baumgartner, said “Through Hala Abu Dhabi, we will offer…
Dubai’s first low-cost, budget airline, Flydubai has added Kuwait and Muscat as two new destinations, thus doubling its GCC network. This move will bring Flydubai’s network to 13 routes. Flights to Muscat will start on March 28 and to Kuwait on March 30. “A strong GCC network is at the heart of Flydubai's strategy in this region so Kuwait and Oman were natural choices to be our next two destinations. Both are…
March1: Emirates Airline will deploy the double-decker A380 aircraft on the Beijing-Dubai route from August 1, making this the aircraft’s fourth inaugural flight to yet another country. The A380 will replace the EK306 that flies daily from Dubai at 04:10 hrs and returns from Beijing Capital International Airport at 23:55 hrs. “The A380 flight offers significant economic benefits to China by providing seamless…
The rates are as follows: For Wi-Fi $29.95 for 26MB per flight with additional usage charged at $0.006 per KB; for webmail (only body copy) at $9.95 and $.006 for attachments; for web chat $4.95 for unlimited usage.
March 3: Emirates, the government-owned Dubai airline, has admitted that the Etihad logo that appeared on the latter airline’s in-flight entertainment system last month was a ‘technical error’. Etihad is Emirates rival and is owned by Abu Dhabi. The promo showed Etihad’s logo appearing on the in-flight entertainment system at regular intervals. “Emirates can confirm that a technical error occurred with security…
Middle East carriers continue to fare better than their global rivals, as per the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Reports show that the demand has gone up by 23 per cent in January as compared to a 6.4 per cent increase all over the world. Airlines have lost 2-3 years of growth. Demand is moving in the right direction. The 3 percent increase in freight volumes from December to January is…
Qatar Airways began its global expansion plan for 2010 when it began regularly scheduled flights to Bengaluru, India (formerly Bangalore) on Wednesday. Flight QR226 landed in the southern city of Bengaluru early Tuesday morning after a non-stop flight from Doha, Qatar. Bengaluru, the country’s IT capital, sometimes referred to as India’s Silicon Valley, is the first of several new route launches planned for…
Etihad Airways on Thursday will install a new “Tempus IC” system on its long and ultra-long haul aircraft to monitor passengers who show signs of sickness. Cabin crew can use the Tempus IC to quickly and efficiently collect information about a passenger’s health, including ‘vital signs’ like blood pressure and electrocardiogram, as well as take photo imagery. This information can then be transmitted to a…
China Eastern Airlines became the fourth Chinese airline to begin service when it made its first landing at the Dubai International Airport on Monday. The airline, which is the 131st to begin service to Dubai International Airport, flew from Kunming International Airport in Yunnan province of China. The carrier will initially fly three times a week on a Boeing 767-300, on the Yunnan-Dubai route, then raise…
Boeing Company’s latest market outlook report forecast that Middle Eastern airlines will buy 1,710 commercial jets worth $300 billion over the next 20 years. The health of the air travel industry in the Middle East is better than in other regions, and is driving good investment opportunities in aircraft financing. John Matthews with Boeing Capital Corporation said “The Middle East was the only part of the…
Board of Directors for Air Arabia, the first and biggest low cost carrier for the Middle East and North Africa, have proposed a cash dividend of 10 percent for 2009. Air Arabia recently released its financial results for the 12 months ending December 31st, 2009. A press statement said the results demonstrated continued profitability and excellent levels of efficiency during an extremely challenging period for…
Etihad Airways announced Thursday that it will increase its capacity on Manchester services by 60 percent beginning in June, 2010, adding another 2,100 seats per week on the route. Etihad currently operates seven return services a week between Abu Dhabi and Manchester, with onward connections to its network around the world. Etihad’s chief commercial officer, Peter Baumgartner, said “We are pleased to support…
The is looking to buy back its shares in the national carrier SriLankan Airlines from Emirates. Emirates bought its 43.6 percent equity stake in 1998 for $70 million dollars, and kept it when it ended its 10 year management contract with the Sri Lankan government in 2008. The value of Emirates share in the airline increased to $150 million by the end of the contract period. Emirates made all management…
Jazeera Airways announced that it has purchased Sahaab Aircraft Leasing Company (Sahaab) for 25.6 million Kuwaiti dinars (Dh 325.4 million). Sahaab is a private aircraft leasing company established in 2008 that currently owns a fleet of nine Airbus A320s that were bought and then leased back to Jazeera Airways. Sahaab will continue to operate as a fully owned subsidiary of the airline, leasing aircraft to…
Air Arabia announced that its net profits for financial year ending December 31st, 2010 fell only slightly to Dh 452 million, despite the difficult financial times for the global aviation industry. Air Arabia, which is the biggest low cost airline listed on the Dubai Financial Market for the Middle East and North Africa posted profits of Dh 454 million for the financial year ending December 31st, 2008. Air…
Royal Jordanian will offer two weekly flights from Amman to Madinah beginning on March 28th, in order to serve Haj and Umrah pilgrims. President and CEO of Royal Jordanian, Hussein Dabbas, said the route was chosen because many Pilgrims want to visit the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah before continuing on to Makkah for Umrah or Haj.
Nas Air will begin flights directly from the Kingdom to Mumbai four times a week by the end of March. Nas Air is a subsidiary of Riyadh based Saudi National Air Services (SNAS). Chief executive officer of SNAS, Sulieman Abdullah Al-Hamdan, said “We plan to operate four flights a week from Saudi Arabia to Mumbai at the end of March, possibly two from Riyadh and two from Jeddah.” The airline will later fly to…
