New connections. Fresh perspectives. The travel developments to know.
1,431 reports
The UAE, represented by the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) and Bulgaria signed an Air Services Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding. Under the agreement the designated airlines of each country are granted unrestricted access on routes between Bulgaria and the UAE. Capacity and types of aircraft whether owned or leased, and for any type of service (passenger or cargo) may operate on these…
Gulf Air will resume flights to Iraq 33 years after discontinuing flights to the country. Direct services will operate between Bahrain and four cities in Iraq. There will be seven weekly flights to Baghdad and twelve to the holy city of Najaf. The Baghdad flight service will resume in September and the Najaf flights will begin after further work is completed on its airport. Increasing demand for service…
Etihad Airways opened its first premium lounge outside of the UAE, at Frankfurt Airport, The new lounge is the first of many planned across the airlines global network as part of a strategy to strengthen its brand during the economic downturn.. Etihad Airways chief commercial officer said it “marks the beginning of a gradual rollout of Etihad lounges across the airline’s network which will all offer the same…
Jet Airways launched daily direct Jeddah to Mumbai service on Tuesday. The carrier also offers flights from Doha, Muscat, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, and Bahrain to major cities in India. The Jeddah to Mumbai route will operate on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft which offers world class service, state of the art personalized entertainment, and gourmet cuisine. Jet Airways Vice President for the Gulf and Middle East said…
Flydubai began flights to its fifth destination - Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city. The first flydubai flight to Aleppo, FZ223, departed Dubai International Airport at 0800 hours and landed at Aleppo International Airport at 10:30 local time. The flight took three hours. The return flight departed 45 minutes later. With the addition of Aleppo to its operational routes, flydubai now flies to the four…
Etihad Airways and Turkish Airlines have signed a codeshare agreement following Etihad Airway's launch of four weekly fights to Istanbul, Turkey on 1 June 2009. Under the agreement Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways will put its two letter ‘EY’ code on Turkish Airlines flights from Istanbul to Abu Dhabi. Etihad Airways chief executive said the Abu Dhabi-Istanbul flight has been very popular since the new service…
Kuwaiti based Jazeera Airways announced that it has stopped direct flights from Bahrain to Iran due to factors beyond its control. The airline said the Iranian government issued new regulations forcing it to cancel its direct services. Instead, the carrier will offer an indirect flight which first stops in Kuwait before landing in Masshaad, Iran. Jazeera Airways did not provide further details but said in…
British Airways will increase capacity on its service to Jeddah during its winter schedule by 50%. The move follows the UK carrier’s reentry into the Saudi Arabia market on 1 June 2009. The airline discontinued Saudi services in 2005 when high oil prices made the route commercially unprofitable. British Airways area commercial manager for the Middle East said during their first two months of operations…
Flydubai, Dubai’s new budget carrier, announced they are postponing launch of new Indian services, which were scheduled to begin in July. CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said they had planned to begin services in July to Lucknow, Coimbatore, and Chandigarh, but “due to operational issues, we have had to delay these flights.” He did not state a specific reason for the delay. Ghaith Al Ghaith apologized to passengers…
Indian carrier Kingfisher will launch two new Dubai routes to Mumbai and Delhi by the end of the year. Company chiefs said the new services are part of an expansion plan that will add six new destinations to the winter schedule, which starts at the end of October. Subject to civil aviation ministry approval, Kingfisher will begin service on the following routes: Delhi-(Bangkok), Delhi-London (Heathrow),…
Indian carrier Kingfisher will launch two new Dubai routes to Mumbai and Delhi by the end of the year. Company chiefs said the new services are part of an expansion plan that will add six new destinations to the winter schedule, which starts at the end of October. Subject to civil aviation ministry approval, Kingfisher will begin service on the following routes: Delhi-(Bangkok), Delhi-London (Heathrow),…
Emirates Airlines is going the extra mile to help small and medium sized business cope with the economic difficulties faced by the business around the world. The Dubai based carriers is offering 5,000 bonus miles for each newly activated account – a program ideally suited for SME’s. The loyalty programme is being offered to celebrate the successful first year of Business Rewards. The online rewards scheme…
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) is pulling out all stops in preparing to make Summer in Abu Dhabi 2009 one of the biggest events on the GCC calendar this summer. ADTA has made a multi-million-Dirham investment in the summer event for UAE residents and Gulf Cooperation Council visitors. Abu Dhabi’s goal is to become an international tourist destination and aims to draw between two and three million…
A Boeing 737-800 Air India Express flight bound for Kerala had a tire burst just before take off from the Sharjah International Airport. The incident occurred at 12:10 pm on Tuesday. The pilot aborted takeoff. No passengers were hurt but the runway was closed for two hours. One passenger said the tire blow out occurred two seconds before the plane was to lift off. Sharjah Civil Defence and other official…
Abu Dhabi based Royal Jet and ARABASCO signed an agreement forming an alliance between the two companies. Royal Jet CEO and President and ARABASCO President and CEO signed the agreement at a meeting at the Jeddah Hilton yesterday. The agreement is effective immediately and allows Saudi passengers to charter elite business aviation services between Riyadh and Jeddah. Under the agreement Royal Jet will…
Low cost carrier Air Arabia announced it has doubled the frequency of it non-stop flights to Istanbul Turkey – to four times per week. Flight service between Air Arabia’s main hub in Sharjah and Turkey’s capital of Istanbul are now offered on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Air Arabia Holidays value package currently offers four night packages to Istanbul starting at Dh2,200 per person. Flights…
The Saudi Shura Council has advised the government to reconsider a previous proposal to privatize the nation’s private air carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines (SAA). The Shura council unanimously agreed at least 40% of shares should be offered to the public in an IPO sale and the public should maintain 50% ownership. The council also advised SAA to expand it current fleet of small and medium aircraft.
CEO of flydubai said there has been good passenger demand in their first month of operations. Dubai’s first low cost carrier began operations in early June and Ghaith Al Ghaith maintains the airline is operationally sound. He said “The response from the customer has been very good and the operation itself has been, touch wood, very silky." Flydubai began its first flight services with Beirut on 1 June…
