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Visitor numbers to the Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort (AWPR) increased dramatically during the first five months of 2009. More than 350,000 people visited the park and AWPR projects this number will swell to 800,000 by the end of the year. Al Ain Wildlife Park and Resort is home to about 4,300 animals, and it is estimated nearly 30% of these are endangered. AWPR was established in 1968 by the late Shaikh…
Dubai Summer Surprises, which hosted 2.1 million visitors last year, will start on 11 June and run for 65 days, until 14 August 2009. The festival features mainly family entertainment with special promotions for children and young people. CEO of the Dubai Shopping Festival said the signs of an economic recovery are encouraging different stakeholders in DSF. She said the government is cooperating with various…
Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority issued a report showing that the hotel industry improved in quality during the first half of this year. The report was issued by SCTDA’s Licensing and Classifications Department. The report showed the service provided to guests improved significantly. Much of the improvement is attributed to Law No.16 of 2007 which specifies hotel classification in…
The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) will stage a summer youth programme in order to introduce young emirates to the tourism industry and career offers. The programme will take place between 12 July and 6 August and there will be training every day between 9am and 3 pm. More than seventy students between the ages of fifteen and twenty, including those with special needs, will be offered complimentary spots in…
Five Lebanese are among the 216 passenger missing after Air France disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean on Monday. The plane was flying from Rio de Janeiro and experienced extreme turbulence. The 216 passengers represented 32 different nationalities including 5 Lebanese, 61 French, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans, and 9 Italians. The flight disappeared during rocky weather and was presumed to have crashed. It is…
Air Arabia CEO Adel Ali announced they are planning to add up to 80 aircraft to their current fleet of 20 planes. Ali said they will also add two new hubs in the Middle East. He said the number of business travelers using Air Arabia will likely double in the next 12 months. Ali said they expect to have 100 planes operating in the region in the next five years. He said they are currently investigating five…
Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) said the first airport for business jets will be completely certified by federal aviation authorities this summer. The Al Bateen Air Base was upgraded by ADAC at a cost of Dh200 million (US$54 million). The military airfield is being converted for use exclusively by private air operators, and this is part of the emirates aviation investment in order to drive growth. Over the…
The first of ten Jinan “green” hotels is scheduled to open next month in Abu Dhabi. Jinan, a new UAE hospitality company based in Abu Dhabi, focuses on “eco-friendly” or green hospitality operations. A senior Jinan executive said they plan to build ten Green hotels by 2012. The new company began operations yesterday and plans to develop environmental hospitality products that meet international…
The 107 hotel properties operating in Sharjah have been classified according to Law No. 16 of 2007. A statement issued by the Sharjah Commerce and Tourism Development Authority (SCTDA) said the new law helps boost hotel performance because it “came about as a result of tourism growth in the emirate’s hotel and tourism sector.” An SCTDA report said that Sharjah’s hotel sector improved greatly in the first half…
The Naturalization and Residency Departments of the Gulf Cooperation Council held their 24th annual meeting. The meeting was held in order to facilitate the launch and coordination of new services that will assist travelers within GCC countries. The GCC directors of the naturalization and residency departments reviewed travelling trends within the GCC, especially expats. Because of the new electronic link…
Elections in Lebanon are pushing air traffic to new highs for this time of year. Some Lebanese return through Dubai while others fly directly from the UAE. Airlines are making necessary adjustments to accommodate extra passengers but so far fares remain unchanged. Etihad spokesman Tim Clark said they have substantial bookings for June and the last few weeks have been busy. Clark noted the sharp increase in…
Etihad Airways launched flight service to Istanbul, Turkey on Monday, 1 June 2009. Flight EY097 took off from Abu Dhabi Airport at 9:15 am and landed in Turkey’s capital at 12:50 pm the same day. The Formula 1tm liveried A320 aircraft was used for the inaugural flight to Istanbul, to to mark two Grand Prix events. The Formula 1tm ING Turkish Grand Prix took place this weekend and the inaugural Formula 1tm…
Abu Dhabi’s Ambulatory Healthcare Services (AHS) has launched a new Travel Medicine Service to advise and protect Abu Dhabi travelers leaving the country for work or leisure. AHS is a department of Abu Dhabi Health Services Company (SEHA). The launch of the new service was timed to coincide with school closings during the holiday season and summer vacation plans An SEHA-AHS announcement said the new…
Emirates Airlines has expanded its Asia operations with its first commercial flight of an Airbus A380 superjumbo to Bangkok on Monday. The Airbus A380 is the world’s largest passenger airliner. The Airbus will arrive at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport with 500 passengers from Dubai. Thirteen check in counters, an extra large departure area, four boarding gates, and the longest luggage conveyer belt will be…
RThe troubled airline Rak Airways has halted all operations and is no longer in service according to reports on Sunday. The airline has not offered flight services since December because of the economic downturn and has now reportedly stopped all services. The airlines chairman said there was no longer any reason to keep the airline in business and the decision to end operations was purely commercial. An…
Royal Jordanian Airlines will increase the frequency of flight services to Jeddah, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Bahrain in June. The services are being increased in order to meet increasing demand between between Aman and these cities. Royal Jordanian is also adding flight services to Lebanon, Beirut - increasing their daily flight service to Beirut’s capital to four, and weekly operations to 28. The new flights…
The new CEO of the troubled airline RAK Airways said they “are in no way closing”. Kristian Kirchheiner, who joined the airline on 18 May 2009, said they will resume operating charter flights after halting scheduled services late in 2008. He said while commercial operations are currently suspended they are investigating all opportunities for the airline going forward. He said “We are working on a plan for the…
FJazeera Airways will be the first Middle Eastern airline to fly to Antalya when it begins service to the Turkish city in June. The Kuwait based budget carrier will launch the new service on 4 June 2009, and non-stop flights are scheduled for Thursdays and Saturdays. The cost of the flight service starts at KD29 ($100) inclusive of all taxes and fees. Jazeera Airways chief commercial officer said Antalya’s…
