Category Archives: Agents

The Embassy of Ireland, Abu Dhabi, has announced the opening of a visa application centre in Dubai, UAE in partnership with VFS Global. Earlier this year in June, the Embassy had opened its first-ever visa application centre in Abu Dhabi. The Dubai centre has started accepting visa applications from non-UAE Nationals who are based in the UAE and who require a visa in order to enter Ireland. In addition, they will no longer need to visit the Embassy and instead they should submit their visa applications only at the VFS Global centres in the UAE. Opening the visa application centre in Dubai, Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor, TD Ireland, accompanied by HE Ambassador Aidan Cronin, Embassy of Ireland, Abu Dhabi said she very much welcomed the opening of the centre and that the new external visa application centre located in downtown Dubai and operated by VFS Global will provide an excellent streamlined service for the non-UAE nationals who are based in Dubai and who require a visa in order to enter Ireland. Ambassador Cronin also welcomed the opening of the centre and added that this is the second visa application centre in the UAE and the fourth outsourced processing centre for Ireland visas in the GCC. He also said that VFS Global provides a whole range of services for the customer. The centre in Dubai is located at Level 3, Falcon Phase 2, WAFI Mall, Umm Hurair 2. Visa applicants can direct their queries to the call centre number +971 4 2055912 or communicate with the centre via email at info.irelandUAE@vfshelpline.com. Details on visa application procedures can also be accessed at www.vfsglobal.com/Ireland/uae. Commenting on the new centre, Vinay Malhotra, Regional Group …

GTA dnata expands operations at Toronto Pearson International Airport with the start of a new, long-term partnership with Air Transat. Starting from November, GTA dnata provides ground and passenger services to the airline, more than doubling the number of flights handled by its operations. To support the growth, GTA dnata has hired more than 200 additional staff to its team, which now consists of 450 customer-oriented aviation professionals. Mario D’Urso, Chairman, GTA dnata, said, “We are proud to have been selected the ground handling partner of Air Transat at Toronto Pearson International Airport. This long-term contract is a vote of confidence in our quality services and we look forward to supporting the extensive operations of Canada’s largest leisure carrier. It is our aim to exceed our customers’ expectations, and we will continue to work hard to deliver excellent service for all our airline partners in Toronto with our expanded team.” dnata entered the Canadian market by establishing GTA dnata through the acquisition of 50 per cent stake in GTA Aviation’s cargo and ground-handling operations at Toronto Pearson International Airport in 2016. GTA dnata now serves 12 airlines in Toronto, assisting 4,800 passengers and moving two tons of cargo every day. Underlining its commitment to the Canadian aviation market, dnata will also establish flight-catering operations and open a new, state-of-the art facility in Vancouver in January 2019.

Arabian Adventures has signed a partnership agreement with HTMS International. Under the agreement, HTMS will promote and sell the UAE-based destination management company’s premium services in the Italian market. Arabian Adventures is the UAE’s leading destination management company. Its full service offering includes everything from personalised meet and assist services at the airport, transfers, hotel reservations, tours, event management and visa assistance. With their passion for excellence and safety, Arabian Adventures’ 450 customer-oriented team members provide best-in-class service to one million customers annually. Arabian Adventures offers its personalised services to consumers directly as well as through its extensive international partnership network. Samir Mehta, General Manager, Arabian Adventures, said, “We are delighted to increase our investment into our international operations with this strategic partnership. The announcement underlines our commitment to the Italian market, where we see excellent business opportunities and solid demand for our quality services. We look forward to welcoming more Italian travellers in the UAE with the legendary Arabian hospitality we are renowned for.” Marco Innocenti, CEO, HTMS Italy, said, “We are excited to partner with Arabian Adventures, a leading destination management company operating at one of our customers’ most preferred destinations, the UAE.” He further added, “Following the recent celebration of our 30th anniversary, this announcement marks another remarkable milestone at the end of a memorable year.”

Millenium Hotels has signed an agreement with Hotelbeds Group that grants all of the Hotelbeds Group brands (Hotelbeds, Bedsonline, Tourico Holidays and GTA) with direct real-time access to over 1.4 million of Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ annual room nights in more than 60 global business and leisure travel destinations. The pact will strengthen Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ distribution through Hotelbeds’ presence in more than 140 markets, spanning a wide range of channels including airlines, MiCE operators, point redemption schemes, retail travel agencies and tour operators representing over 60,000 travel distributors. Mark Redmond, Head – Global Chains, Hotelbeds Group, commented: “We are delighted to be connecting to Millennium Hotels and Resorts’ global hospitality offering. This will be a strong relationship in delivering special rates and availability across the MHR portfolio to our clients, while giving MHR access to higher-margin, niche segments of the travel market.” Also, Nayan Peshkar, Senior Vice President, Digital, Distribution and Revenue Strategy, Millennium Hotels and Resorts, said, “We are pleased to be working with Hotelbeds. This supports the Group’s wider distribution strategy of reducing reliance on static rate and room agreements in the leisure segment.”

Amadeus has expanded its airline business unit capabilities at its Dubai regional hub covering Middle East, Turkey and Africa region. Following the regionalisation of all business units to get closer to their customers, teams in the Dubai regional hub now include those of airlines, travel agencies, airport IT, payments, mobile and legal. Sabine Hansen Peck, SVP, People & Culture, Communication and Brand, Amadeus, opened the new office of the Dubai-based Amadeus Regional Hub. Further, commenting on the occasion, she said, “The Middle East, Turkey and Africa regions are relevant and growing markets for Amadeus. This expansion reflects our commitment to the region.”

Travelport has become the first GDS operator to manage the live booking of flights using the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) New Distribution Capability (NDC) technical standard. The first transaction was made by a British agency, Meon Valley Travel, on October 19 for a short-haul low-cost flight from London to Milan issued by a major European carrier. The new capability allows bookings to be made for any services on the airline without incurring a surcharge. Travelport’s new NDC capability is enabled using similar XML connections to those Travelport already deploys with APIs for over 20 low-cost carriers. The company published a roadmap for its initial range of NDC products in February, having been the first GDS operator in December 2017 to acquire Level 3 certification from IATA as an aggregator. It will also be followed by a series of product enhancements, including a version for online agents in 2019. Gordon Wilson, President and CEO, Travelport, said: “We are delighted to have taken a lead in bringing the NDC era to life. It has required an extraordinary amount of skill and expertise to make this happen and I want to thank my own colleagues at Travelport as well as our partners. We are still at the earliest stages of NDC deployment. Its evolution will continue to take time as we learn from the practical experience of its first use. Meanwhile, we continue to offer a comprehensive global travel commerce platform capable of handling mass volumes of searchable and bookable content at speed for the world’s travel providers and agents.”

Travelport has announced it has secured seven new agreements in Europe to deploy Trip Assist, its advanced mobile application for travel management companies and travel agencies. The announcement was made during the company’s exclusive Travelport Live Europe event in Rome, Italy, which was attended by over 200 business leaders from across the region. The new agreements are with four Hungary-based travel agencies, Weco-Travel, Air Partner,  utazom.com and OTP Travel, two UK-based agencies, Amber Road Travel and Lycafly, and Italy-based Regent International. Since the mobile solution was launched in May 2018, Travelport has now secured more than 20 Trip Assist customers across the world. By signing up for Trip Assist, the agencies will benefit from a fully branded mobile engagement solution that allows them to support, engage and connect with travellers at every stage of their journey. Incorporating smart itinerary management capabilities and the ability to create agency-defined messages and rich push notifications, the solution will empower the agencies to build stronger relationships with their customers.

Travelport has signed a long-term supplier agreement with Jet Airways that will be effective from April 2019 and enable online and offline travel agencies around the world to shop, book and manage itineraries for leisure and business travellers. Jet Airways will also deploy Travelport’s Rich content and Branding, from which over 270 airlines now benefit by displaying graphical content, their fares families and a full range of ancillary products. Damian Hickey, Head, Air-Travel Partners, Travelport, commented, “Travelport’s commitment to the Indian travel market and the provision of the widest range of content has been further evidenced today with the announcement of this new mutual commitment between Jet Airways and our company beginning April 2019. Furthermore, our position in the rest of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas means that we are able to deliver to them a wide mix of international travellers. This is in addition to the millions of outbound and domestic Indian travellers they serve.”

Noor Bank and Jumeirah Group have announced partnership to launch a suite of premium rewards available to Noor Bank customers. As part of the roll-out, select retail banking clients will receive complimentary Jumeirah Sirius memberships that allow them to enjoy a range of exclusive experiences and privileges across Jumeirah’s extensive portfolio of luxury hotels, residences, resorts and restaurants around the world. The collaboration reinforces the bank’s commitment to introducing unique and innovative propositions, and providing its customers access to a wealth of value-added lifestyle privileges with leading loyalty reward partners. John Iossifidis, Chief Executive Officer, Noor Bank, said, “In line with our efforts to implement value-added services to enhance customer experiences, we are delighted to partner with Jumeirah Group to present this offer to our customers. The collaboration brings tangible benefits to Noor Bank clients as well as Jumeirah outlets across the globe, and will go a long way in establishing Noor Bank as the bank of choice.” Jose Silva, Chief Operating Officer, Jumeirah Group, said, “Partnering with Noor Bank enables Jumeirah to reach a new audience, which is an important step in achieving our Jumeirah Sirius growth goals and is of strategic importance. It represents more than just driving guest behaviour through incentives. It is a way for Jumeirah to build relationships and connect more meaningfully with our loyal guests, and is an opportunity to thank Noor Bank customers for choosing Jumeirah.”

Travelport has won a competitive tender process undertaken by Air India for the sole provision of distribution of its domestic flight content. The contract will begin to come into effect from November 2018 and be fully implemented by the end of 2019. The agreement confirms Air India’s continued deployment of Travelport Rich Content and Branding, now used by over 270 airlines. This displays airlines’ graphical content, their fares families and a full range of ancillary products. Travelport has seen a rapid expansion in India in recent years following the acquisition of business from the largest online travel agencies like MakeMyTrip, Ibibo, Yatra, EaseMyTrip and ClearTrip as well as working with corporate travel agencies and new entrants to the travel sector such as Paytm. Pradeep Singh Kharola, Chairman and Managing Director, Air India, said, “Air India is pleased to award this important contract to Travelport. In written submissions and in discussion with their team, the company demonstrated a clear understanding of our needs and displayed impressive technological and financial capability. As we make the switch to Travelport, we hope to be able to deliver even better value for money and a superior distribution to our customers in India and abroad.” Gordon Wilson, President and CEO, Travelport, commented, “Travelport is delighted to have been selected by Air India to provide these services. It is another welcome endorsement of our technology and our services in India. We look forward to implementing the agreement and delivering a world-class service to the airline.”