New connections. Fresh perspectives. The travel developments to know.
1,431 reports
Abu Dhabi Airports Company announced the first passenger flight from Kabar, Afghanistan on Safa Airways will arrive on Thursday, 14 May. They made the announcement at the Arabian Travel Market, which began today in Dubai. Safa Airways began operations in the last half of 2006. Fare for the new route to Abu Dhabi start from $99 for a one way ticket. The new route will give Abu Dhabi a direct link with the…
President Shaikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan expressed satisfaction with Etihad Airway’s rapid and sustained growth. The President said UAE’s national carrier’s progress in the few years since its launch is an effective contribution to growth and the boom in UAE in general. He said their contribution will boost the tourism sector in the country. Shaikh Khalifa viewed the designs and plans of Etihad Airway’s…
The UAE based luxury airline for executives, Royal Jet, will participate in the 2009 Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai this week. They will be the only private aviation company at the exhibition. The airline is a long standing supporter of ATM and has participated every year since its inception six years ago. Royal Jet is supporting Abu Dhabi as a world class tourism destination at its corporate corner within…
Emirates Airline officials said next year they will delay delivery of several Boeing 777 aircraft in order to protect its cash reserves during the downturn. Executive vice Chairman for Emirates Airline and Group, Maurice Flanagan said they are slightly rearranging deliveries next year, but did not provide details. This move follows the airlines previous measures to cope with the economic slowdown, including…
Air India Express increased their India operations with the launch of two new routes from Abu Dhabi. The low cost airline also increased its number of flights to Cochin from five to six nights per week. Air India Express is a subsidiary of Air India and operates from its base at Chochin International Airport. From 30 April, Air India Express will use a Boeing 737-800 with economy class configuration to fly…
A senior doctor and head of medical services at Sharjah International Airport said they will install thermal scanners on Monday to screen passengers for suspected casers of swine flu. Dr. Essam Salameh said the airline receives passengers from Athens, Greece, and transit passengers on flights from Europe and Turkey pass through the airport. Under Ministry of health procedures already in place if a pilot…
Human error is the cause of a close call for an Emirates Airline passenger jet landing at Melbourne Airport in March. The passenger jet, carrying 257 passengers and 18 crew came close to crashing because a flight crew member entered the wrong numbers into an aircraft computer. Director of Aviation Safety Investigation for the Australian Transport Safety Bureau explained the information fed into the airline…
Bahrain Air announced it is expanding in the sub-continent and is preparing to begin flight services to Mumbai, its third destination in the area. Bahrain Air is a private national carrier that operates in MENA countries and the Indian sub-continent. Director of Commercial Operations and Planning for Bahrain Air said they are excited about the new service. He said Mumbai is one of the biggest markets in the…
Qatar Airways is considering adding Tokyo to its network of international destinations. Officials said a new runway at Narita International Airport is scheduled to be completed next year. Qatar currently flies daily to Osaka and recently signed an agreement with Japan to expand their air services.
Middle East airlines passenger growth increased a combined 4.7 per cent in March according to a report by the Geneva based International Air Transport Association (IATA). The IATA reported that globally, passenger demand fell 11.1 per cent in March compared to the same period last year. Airlines reduced their seating capacity by 4.4 per cent. Average worldwide load factors for March were 72.1 per cent, 5.4…
The national carrier of the Republic of Chad in Africa began operations at Dubai International Airport on 23 April. Toumai Chad will fly every Thursday from N’djamena to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and then to Dubai at Terminal 2. Another new airline, China’s Hainan Airlines, is scheduled to begin services at Dubai International Airport on 25 May. Also, Jet Airway began new routes to Chennai and added another daily…
The national airline of the UAE, Etihad Airways, has partnered with Tourism NSW in order strengthen ties with Australia. Etihad Airways chief executive signed an agreement with New South Wales Premier Nathan Rees that aims to use the growing number of air links between Europe and Australia to increase the number of visitors to travelling to Sydney. Etihad Airways follows Dubai’s Emirates Airlines in…
Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, Shaikh Mohammed Bih Rashid Al Maktoum, inspected Emirate Groups new headquarters which overlooks Dubai Airport and cost more than Dh400 million to build. The new building is the headquarters for Emirates, flydubai, and Dnata. Shaikh Mohammad inspected e-check in procedures, was briefed about travel procedures such as checking in, and visited the electronic…
Bahrain carrier Gulf Air said it will start two new flights to Egypt and Oman due to positive customer feedback. From 22 June, Gulf Air will fly to Alexandria, Egypt and from 1 July to Salalah, Oman. Both flight services will operate three times a week throughout the summer season and end in September. Gulf Air’s Sale Director said they chose to add new services to these two popular summer destinations due…
The minister of tourism for Lebanon expressed optimism about revival of the travel industry in the UAE while attending the UN World Tourism Organization Summit (UNWTO) yesterday. Elie Marouni acknowledged the negative impact on tourism in the UAE but said they believed this will only be a slowdown and the UAE has a huge potential to recover. Mr. Marouni said the inter-regional growth of tourism will offset the…
Saudi Arabian Airlines cut operating costs 30% by upgrading its four contact centers in Madinah, Jeddah, Damman, and Riyadh with IP telephony and contact center solutions. IT Vice President for Saudi Airlines, Dr. Omar Abdullah Al-Jeffri, said the new Unified Communications technology implemented includes IP telephony applications and Modular Messaging for 1,200 in 15 sites throughout the Kingdom. The…
An Emirates Airline flight from Dubai to Nairobi was delayed for 90 minutes while a burning smell was investigated. Passengers at the airport saw numerous fire engines near the plane at about 11 am. An Emirates Airline spokesman said after engineers inspected the plane, Emirates flight EK719 EAR-24 was cleared for take off at 12:15 am. The flight was initially scheduled to depart at 10:40 am.
Air Arabia began non-stop service to Athens, Greece from Sharjah, UAE, as part of its strategy to expand its operations in Europe. Air Arabia is a low cost carrier in the Middle East and Africa. They will fly to Athens on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, leaving Sharjah at 18:55 pm and arriving in Athens at 22.45 pm. The return flight will depart from Athens at 23:30 pm and arrive in Sharjah at 05:20 am.…
