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SAS Scandinavian Airline will use Dubai as a regional hub in order to expand in the Middle East and South Asia. The carrier is the combined multinational airline of Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. The newly appointed manager for the UAE said “Dubai is a good and increasing market and the region is becoming more and more important for us.” SAS is coordinating with Dnata travel booking service to meet demand…
The International Air Transport Association revised their global financial forecast downwards, but said the region’s carriers would lose $500 million, compared to the previous estimate of $1.5 billion. Although the crisis for aviation sector globally is increasing the outlook for Middle Eastern airlines is improving. IATA said “Airlines continue to gain long-haul market share with expanded capacity and hub…
Emirate Airlines, based in Dubai, announced their first codeshare agreement with Virgin Blue Group’s new international airline V Australia on the trans-Tasman route beginning 25 October. The agreement will provide connections to V Australia guests when travelling between New Zealand and the USA. Passengers using Emirates to travel on the Trans-Tasman sector can conveniently connect to and from V…
Emirates Palace Hotel ranked among the highest hotels in the world in the Business Hotels Survey 2009 by readers of Conde Nast Traveler magazine in the UK. The luxury hotel ranked 16 with a score of 81.46 and achieved the highest score of 87.5 for shopping facilities. The magazine asked readers to vote for the best of different travel and tourism sector categories including airlines, cruise lines, and…
The first budget airline in the region will benefit from the economic downturn as passengers seek less expensive flights The carrier just opened a third hub in Egypt, indicating a new phase of expansion from its Sharjah and Casablanca bases. Growth in its Sharjah hub is expected to slow and the carrier will try to springboard into the region using funds from its 2007 initial public offering, commercial…
Qatar Airways officials said they are expanding routes and increasing frequencies across all its destinations. Ali Al Rais, vice president of commercial for GCC said “We will be stepping up our frequencies to existing destinations” and that India is an important market. Two new India destinations will be added – Amristar on 11 October and Goa on 25 October. This will bring to ten the number of…
Safi Airways, the biggest privately owned airline in Afghanistan, will pursue expansion plans despite a turbulent political environment and unstable security situation in the country. Safi Airways is the only Afghanistan based airline certified the International Civil Aviation Organization, which means it meets required standards to land at international airports. New president and CEO for the airline said…
Jet Airways will resume flights from Jeddah and Riyadh on Monday following a five day long strike by its pilots. Jet Airways general manager said the airline’s pilots and management came to an agreement late Saturday. Management will rehire the two pilots who had been fired, their new union will be dissolved, and a special committee will be set up to investigate their grievances.
Birmingham Airports 70th anniversary celebrations featured an Emirates’ Airbus A380 as its star attraction, highlighting dramatically the great progress air travel has made over the decades. Seventy years ago, Birmingham Airport’s first passengers took off in an 8 seat de Havilland Dragon Rapide aircraft. Seventy years later the Emirates Airbus A380 landed at the airport and many residents across the city were…
A spokesman for Austrian Airlines said their merger with Lufthansa will have “no immediate effect” on Middle East routes. Pia Stradiot said “The network will not change much, but there will possibly be some cuts. It is too early to tell at the moment.” The announcement of the merger came only five days ago, and Austrian Airlines will now assess its route table in the region. These consist of Dubai, Amman,…
Air Arabia has partnered with an Egyptian company to launch a new budget carrier, allowing it to open a third hub, expanding outside of its home market. Air Arabia is the world’s biggest airline by market value Shares shot up nearly 4 per cent higher on news Air Arabia had set up a joint venture company with Egypt’s Travco group. Air Arabia is the world’s biggest airline by market value. The company said…
Air India’s low cost subsidiary Air India Express announced it is expanding services from Abu Dhabi with new flights to Amritsar in northern India. This will connect the UAE capital with nine India destinations on 36 weekly flights. The new service will operate three times a week and continue to Delhi after stopping in Amritsar. Abu Dhabi Airports Company Vice President of Operations said “India is one…
A Japanese embassy official said Qatar Airways may begin daily flights to Tokyo early in 2010, and a new runway is scheduled to become operational at Narita in March of next year. Deputy head of mission at the Japanese Embassy said Qatar Airways “currently operates daily flights to Osaka, but this new move will further develop aviation relations between Qatar and Japan.” Qatar Airways now flies to Kansai…
Flights from India to Dubai hit 300 because more than 300 pilots working for Jet Airways staged a sick in to protest the firing of two colleagues. All India radio reported at least 120 flights were affected including flights to Dubai, Singapore, Columbo, and Kuala Lumpur. Jet Airways called the staged sick in action by the pilots a “planned sabotage of operations.” The National Aviation Guild and Jet…
Flydubai will add more flights to Beirut during Eid Al Fitr, giving a boost to one of its busiest routes. Flydubai has scheduled extra flights on September 17, 18, 19, and 25 departing from Terminal 2 at 7:40 pm. The flights will arrive in Beirut at 10:15 pm local time. A return flight to Dubai will depart from Rafic Hariri International Airport in Beirut at 11 pm local time. The flight will land in Dubai at…
The EID break is expected to boost air traffic, which has been slow during Ramadan with more people choosing to stay at home. The slow traffic has moved airlines to offer lower fares and special promotions for the holidays. Ramadan is usually a slower month for travel, and September is also a slow month – this year they coincided. Travel manager of Sharaf Travel said “Compared to last year there has…
Air India has set up a panel to investigate a fire in an engine of one of it Boeing 747 aircraft. The fire began while the Saudi bound plane was on the ground getting ready for departure. Air India said the panel will investigate “the cause of the fire and fix accountability”. The plane was preparing to fly to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and carrying 213 passengers and 16 crew members when it caught fire…
Etihad Airways announced several key appointments in Japan as it prepares for launch of new services to Tokyo in 2010. Masatsugu Nishiyori (Nick) has been named the airlines vice president – general manager in Japan and Juan Torres will be the commercial manager. Beginning in March 2010, Etihad will begin five flights a week service from its home base in Abu Dhabi to Tokyo, Japan. They also may start flights…
