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A new charter company based in Fujairah, Abulhoul Aviation, was launched on Sunday. The company will begin operations in January on a Cessna 206 Station Air. Its first flight will depart from Emirates Palace, Abu Dhabi, and arrive in Fujairah International Airport. General Manager of Fujairah National Airport, Khalid Al Mazroui, said “We will provide assistance and services to make such operations are…
Emirates announced it will begin direct flights to Tokyo, Japan, beginning March 28th, 2010. The new flight service comes seven years after Emirates launched operations to Osaka, Japan, where the carrier currently flies daily. Tokyo currently will be Emirates 102nd destination and follows recent launch of operations to Durban and Luanda. Emirates Airline will fly five times a week, non stop between Japan and…
A YouGov Siraj poll of over 1,200 leisure and business travelers showed that 31 percent of respondents who had chosen not to travel in the past are now making plans. People are now much more optimistic about making travel plans, with about 46 percent planning long haul business trips and 35 percent planning leisure trips over the next month. These numbers represent a big increase following the international…
The Middle East’s largest airline, Emirates Airline will start a fourth daily flight to Bangkok, Thailand next month. The flight, which is part of the airlines expansion in Asia-Pacific, will start on December 2. The flight will operate on four wide bodied jets, including the A380 superjumbo, capable of carrying 488 passengers. This fourth flight to Bangkok gives Emirates Airlines the biggest capacity…
Airlines are coping with the holiday rush as government offices and schools close for Eid Al-Adha holiday on Wednesday, and people depart for domestic and international destinations. A leading travel agent in Riyadh said flights to Dubai and Cairo are already fully booked, and airlines will be adding more flights in the next few days. Saudi Arabian Airlines currently has three flights to Dubai, but will add two…
Dubai’s budget carrier flydubai said it will offer holiday packages, insurance, and other ancillary benefits in order to expand its business and strengthen revenues. CEO Ghaith al Ghaith said “We certainly realize the potential of the ancillary revenues and hope to extend into that market by providing holiday packages, insurance, and other services.” Ghaith said the airline does not have any immediate…
Budget carrier flydubai will expand its route further next month when it launches a twice daily flight to Bahrain. The new route will start on December 13 with a one way ticket starting at AED250. CEO of flydubai, Ghaith al Ghaith said the timing couldn’t be better for starting the new route because Bahrain is emerging as a profitable business and travel destination. Al Ghaith said flydubai will add another…
Etihad Airways will increase its flights from Abu Dhabi to Frankfurt from ten times a week to thirteen times a week beginning on December 12th. The national airline of the UAE will increase to double daily flights beginning on March 28, 2010. Etihad launched its flight service to Frankfurt in June 2005 and it has been among the most popular of its European services. Etihad Airways chief executive James…
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has taken the top award at this year’s World Travel Awards (WTA), being voted World’s Leading Airline by more than 180,000 travel industry professionals from over 175 countries. The World Travel Awards recognise the very best airline, hospitality and tourism brands in the world, with industry experts vetting nominations for their customer relations,…
People remember the launch of the US$1.5 billion (Dh5.5bn) Atlantis Hotel in Dubai as the last big party before the recession hit. The lavish event, reported to cost $20 million, epitomized the perception of an indulgent brand in Dubai. A year afterwards, however, a hotel executive says the money was well spent, and the actual amount for the launch party was far less than $20 million. Wendy Potter, Vice…
Emirates Airlines continues to buck the global trend, posting a net profit of Dh752 million ($205 million) during the first six months of its current fiscal year. This is 165 percent higher than the Dh284 million, ($77 million) net profit it made during the same period last fiscal year, and comes at a time when the global aviation industry is set to lose Dh41 billion this year. The increased profits came…
Chief Executive of Cathay Pacific Airways, Tony Tyler was in Jeddah to announce the airline will expand further in the Middle East. Last week the carrier introduced flights between Jeddah and Hong Kong. The new service will connect business and leisure passengers to Cathay Pacific’s extensive international network through Hong Kong. Cathay Pacific began service to Riyadh in 2001 and shortly after started…
Developers will spend $1.4 million to restore a 650 year old mosque tucked away in Cairo’s old city – the Al Darb Al Ahmar district. The mosque is being restored in order bring new life to the impoverished district and attract more visitors to see the country’s treasure trove of Islamic sites. A few American donors contributed to the restoration efforts including the US Ambassador Fund and the American…
Emirates Airlines will add 17 new flights to its Asia Pacific route next month. Beginning in December, the carrier will introduce a fourth daily flight service to Bangkok, a third daily flight service to Sydney, two more flights to Manila, and another service to Jakarta. The Dubai airline said in a statement it will add a total of 17 new flights between December and January, increasing it seat capacity by 13…
Kuwaiti based Jazeera Airways announced it is expanding further into Syria, adding non-stop flights to Latakia from December 15th. This is the airlines fourth destination in Syria. Jazeera Airways will fly four times a week from Kuwait to the popular Mediterranean resort of Latakia. The new service to Latkia is part of the airline’s recent network expansion, including a twice daily service to Abu…
Sri Lankan Airlines announced it is adding a fourth weekly flight to its Columbo-Damman route beginning on Wednesday, which is the start of the new winter schedule. The new flight departs from Colombo at 1840 on Wednesday and lands in Dammam at 2130 on the same day. The return flight leaves Dammam at 2240 and arrives in Colombo at 610 on Thursday. Sri Lankan Airlines Sales Manager, Prather Bal Krishnan…
Chief Executive for Air Arabia, Adel Ali, said the swine flu virus is not having a major impact on air travel in the region and customer concerns have subsided. He said airline travelers have learned more about how to protect themselves from the virus and are more confident. Mr. Ali said “I think H1N1 has been contained. We have seen people who panicked…gain confidence.” In August Air Arabia said many…
The UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) banned a Sudanese operator of a Boeing 707 cargo plane from UAE plane, following its crash in Sharjah, which killed all six crew members. The plane was transporting air conditioning units, computers, auto parts, and exploded on impact. GCAA said that Sharjah Airport operations and infrastructure were investigated and do not appear to have contributed to the…
