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Oman Air posted a 17 percent increase in passenger traffic last year, despite difficulties affecting the aviation industry around the world. Oman’s flagship carrier was able to increase its fleet by eight craft to a total of 21 with the introduction of the Airbus A330. Oman Air added five new destinations over the past year, bringing its total number of scheduled flight destinations to 32. It also added…
Emirates Airlines will begin double daily service to Jakarta, Indonesia in March this year. Dubai’s flagship carrier will add another three flights per week to its current flight service to Jakarta, which operates on a two-class Boeing 777. This will add another 2,600 seats to the Jakarta route each week. There has been increasing demand for Emirate’s Jakarta service so it added another flight to this…
Emirates Airline’s chief medical advisor said that in the event of a global viral pandemic, airlines would not be capable of tracking infected travelers, because of flaws in passenger records. Cliff Webster said a single, global passenger tracking system is needed for airlines to trace infected travelers in an outbreak. Mr. Webster told delegates at the Global Healthcare Conference at UAE University that…
Abu Dhabi is planning to introduce a third low cost airline to the UAE, following Dubai based flyDubai and Sharjah’s Air Arabia. Joint managing director of Big Pond Aviation said the Middle East is still ‘playing catch up’ with the rest of the world as far as low cost carriers go. David J. Bentley said “The rest of the world is moving on with the continuing evolution of the hybrid model that superficially keeps…
Dubai’s Emirates Airline announced it will start flights to Madrid, Spain on August 1st, 2010. The new flight service fills a longstanding gap in the transport network between the two locations because it provides the very first direct passenger service between Spain and Dubai. Madrid is Dubai’s fourth new destination this year, after Tokyo, Amsterdam, and Prague, and the carriers’ 25th destination in…
Hareb Al Muhairy has been appointed Vice President, Corporate Communications by Etihad Airways. Hareb will report to the carrier’s senior vice president for corporate affairs, and he will be based at Etihad’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi. Hareb is a UAE National who studied political science and management at the UAE University in Al Ain before joining Etihad’s corporate department in 2009. In his new position…
Indian carrier Jet Airways will expand its service in the Middle East with a daily flight to Doha, Qatar, starting on January 21st, 2010. The new service is in addition to daily flights between Mumbai and Karachi. Jet Airways said in a statement it is increasing its Middle East offering to meet growing customer demand for a direct service. In July, Jet Airways introduced flights from Mumbai to Jeddah in…
International Air Transport Association (IATA) statistics show that the Middle East again ranks at the top for global passenger demand this November with a16.5 percent increase compared to November 2008. The November increase in passenger demand continues a trend of double digit growth throughout the year. The region’s airlines also saw their highest year-to-date (January-November 2009) passenger demand…
Budget carrier flydubai released its summer schedule for 2010 yesterday. Ghaith al Ghaith, CEO of flydubai said “Releasing our 2010 summer schedule well in advance will allow our customers to plan ahead, giving them the opportunity to book early and take advantage of better rates.” Reservations can now be made for flights operating to any of the carrier’s eleven routes, through October 30th next year. The…
Etihad Airways will increase its Abu Dhabi-Beirut service from twice daily flights to 18 times a week, beginning on January 10th, 2009. Etihad Airways Chief Executive Officer James Hogan said the extra four flights per week will provide passengers more connections to some of Etihad’s key destinations including its newest destination, Colombo. Mr. Hogan said their Beirut service has been very successful with…
Low cost carrier Air Arabia will add seven more flights from Sharjah to Damman beginning on January 17th in order to meet growing demand. Air Arabia currently operates seven round trip flights per week between its hub in Sharjah and King Fahad International Airport in the Eastern province of Saudi Arabia. The carrier also flies to Jeddah, Riyadh, and Madinah. The new flights to Damman will take off from…
Six months following the launch of low cost carrier (LCC) flydubai, an undisclosed investment firm in Abu Dhabi is planning to introduce an LCC in 2010. The budget airline would be based in Abu Dhabi and is expected to begin operations in mid 2010. It will be the third budget carrier in the UAE, competing with Sharjah’s Air Arabia and Dubai’s flydubai, as well as other LCC’s operating in the Middle East. The…
Oman Air has added more benefits to its Sinbad Frequent Flier Programme through a partnership agreement with Rotana, the leading hotel management company in the Middle East and North Africa. Sinbad members will receive 500 miles for every qualifying stay at any Rotana property in the Middle East and North Africa. Omar Air Chief Executive, Peter Hill, said they focus on creating partnerships that go beyond…
Air France will begin its new flight service between Paris and the UAE beginning on May 3, 2010. Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) welcomed the new service in a statement which said the new operation will “take advantage of the strong links between the two capitals and open up opportunities for new connections from Abu Dhabi to numerous destinations in France.” Air France will fly five times from Charles De…
Emirates Airline announced its flight service to Jeddah will operate on an A380 superjumbo beginning next year. The flight service to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia will operate four times a week beginning on February 1st, 2010. It will be the airline’s eighth A380 service. Emirates Airline currently flies the A380, the world’s biggest plane, to Auckland, Sydney, Bangkok, Heathrow, Toronto, Seoul, and, beginning on…
Emirates Airlines, one of the biggest airlines in the UAE, is adding new flights to Prague, Tokyo, and Amsterdam. Yesterday the carrier announced it will launch a daily flight service to Prague on July 1st, its third route in 2010. Emirates Airline will begin flying to Tokyo on March 28 and Amsterdam on May 1st. The airline said it will continue to launch new destinations as it takes delivery of new…
Emirates Airline will launch daily flights to Prague in the Czech Republic, beginning on July 1st, 2010. Shiekh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline said “We have been keen to add Prague to our six continent network, and now the time is right to start our 24th European destination.” The daily flight to Prague will depart from Dubai at 10:30am and land in Dubai at…
Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA) will begin direct flights from Abha to Cairo within two weeks. The flight service will operate four times a week – on Sundays and Thursdays. SAA will increase the number of flights between June and October in order to meet demand. General Manager for passenger services and sales, Saeed Al-Furayeh, said the flights have transported about 7,242 passengers and “helped us to offer…
