Category Archives: Aviation

Emirates marked one of its busiest summers ever, carrying over 14 million passengers with average seat load factors exceeding 80% across its global network between June and August. Looking at the coming months, Emirates’ booking trends show unabated demand for international travel across its network. Destination Dubai remained popular amongst travellers, even during the summer months with two million customers traveling to the airline’s hub to enjoy its year-round attractions and events. Top inbound markets to Dubai on Emirates during this period included the UK, India, Germany, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, China, Egypt and Kuwait. Over 35% of visitors to Dubai travelling on Emirates were families, staying an average of over two weeks to experience the city’s incredible sites and attractions. This winter season, the airline anticipates another spike in demand for travel to Dubai as the city runs a packed calendar of global conferences, world-class sporting events and more. The city has already welcomed more than 8.5 million international visitors in the first six months of 2023, registering more than a million more visitors during the same time last year. Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer said: “Travel demand across our network has been strong and resilient despite rising cost-of-living pressures in many markets. It shows the value that people place on travel – whether for work, play, study, or visiting loved ones; and how essential international air connectivity is to communities.” He added: “As an early mover in restoring our flying schedules, Emirates worked closely with our industry partners to ensure our readiness to serve customer demand as well as attract visitors through building on the appeal of our home and hub, Dubai. We’re happy to see strong customer …

The Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) and the Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair have renewed their collaboration agreement until 2028. Under this agreement, the carrier will add 4 new routes, bringing the total to 25 routes connecting Jordan with 12 European cities. The signing ceremony was attended by HE Makram Queisi, the Minister of Tourism and Antiquities and Chairman of the Jordan Tourism Board; Eddie Wilson, CEO of Ryanair, and Dr. Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat, Managing Director of JTB. “This agreement reflects the importance of low-cost flights in attracting tourists to Jordan,” said Queisi during the signing ceremony, emphasizing that the Kingdom has experienced a positive shift in inbound tourism in recent years post-Covid. We are delighted to be adding routes with the international carrier Ryanair. This will significantly contribute to the increase in tourist numbers to the Kingdom over the next period,” he added. Arabiyat indicated that low-cost flights have given new impetus to Jordanian tourism, enabling it to achieve a significant leap that has helped raise the number of tourists. He expects the Kingdom to witness increasing numbers of overnight visitors, highlighting that this positive shift has been growing steadily and strongly since it began in 2018. Arabiyat further emphasized that the anticipated rise in tourist numbers will play a significant role in distributing the gains from tourism development across all governorates and will aid in promoting tourism experiences throughout the Kingdom, leading to positive impacts on local communities by generating novel job opportunities. He also added that Ryanair has a massive number of followers on its social media pages, which will help to increase awareness of Jordanian tourism through its strong marketing content. In turn, the CEO of Ryanair expressed …

Effective 30 October 2023, Qatar Airways will increase frequency to New York (JFK) from two to three daily flights. Offering new connections between New York and more than 80 destinations in the Middle-East, Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia, the new flights will conveniently arrive early morning and depart late evening from New York (JFK). Customers from across the U.S. will also benefit from the enhanced connectivity between JetBlue and Qatar Airways via New York. With 3 flights per day scheduled in the morning, afternoon and evening, seamless connections from Detroit, Raleigh-Durham, Orlando or Tampa, to Doha, Kathmandu, Bangkok or Johannesburg have never been easier. Members of both Loyalty Programs – Qatar Airways Privilege Club and JetBlue TrueBlue – can earn miles from each other’s expansive codeshare flights. Qatar Airways’ strategic partnership with American Airlines also continues to expand with American Airlines launching flights from its Philadelphia hub to Doha, starting 28 October 2023. American Airlines’ new Philadelphia – Doha services will provide customers with seamless travel options and benefits by connecting to more than 90 cities across North America, Caribbean and Central America, and to more than 80 cities across Africa, the Middle-East, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Alaska Airlines and Qatar Airways will also offer customers from the West Coast improved connectivity with significant codeshare expansion and distribution enablement. During the coming weeks, guests will be able to book to more destinations beyond Doha on Alaska Airlines’ website. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker said: “We continue to offer seamless connectivity to our passengers from the U.S. market and beyond with the support of our strategic partners. Our unwavering commitment to our longstanding …

Starting August 31st, 2023, SalamAir will operate three weekly flights from Muscat to Baghdad. The new route is available every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  In parallel, starting from the 1st of October, SalamAir will operate two flights per week to Peshawar every Monday and Thursday. Peshawar is their fourth destination in Pakistan, after Sialkot, Multan, and Karachi. “We’re excited to unveil Peshawar and Baghdad as our latest destinations, a testament to our six years of successful operations. We have now extended our network to cover 41 airports spanning three continents,” Captain Mohamed Ahmed, CEO of SalamAir. He emphasized, “These new routes signify our achievement in elevating connectivity between Oman and the global while reinforcing the momentum of the tourism movement from and to the Sultanate. Now, the SalamAir network consists of 41 destinations; SalamAir flies to domestic destinations, including Muscat, Salalah, Suhar, Duqm, and Masirah, and international destinations Dubai, Fujairah, Doha, Bahrain, Kuwait, Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah, Baghdad, Shiraz, Tehran, Mashhad, Istanbul, Rize, Trabzon, Alexandria, Beirut, Almaty, Baku, Kuala Lumpur, Prague, Sarajevo, Bangkok, Phuket, Colombo, Chattogram, Dhaka, Kathmandu, Karachi, Multan, Sialkot, Peshawar, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Trivandrum. SalamAir flies directly from Suhar to Salalah, Shiraz, Trabzon, and Salalah to Muscat, Suhar, Fujairah, Madinah, Bahrain, and Calicut.

Emirates announces that its codeshare partnership with Air Canada has extended to include flights to and from Montréal, following the launch of services to Québec’s largest city in July. Emirates customers will now be able to plan travel between 11 of the most popular domestic points beyond Montréal and destinations on Emirates’ expansive network, utilising the services of both airlines conveniently on a single ticket. The expanded network of Canadian points included in the codeshare partnership between Emirates and Air Canada now extends to 11 destinations via Montréal, with an additional 69 points accessible from the gateway, on an interline basis. Tickets are available via emirates.com and preferred travel agencies. The codeshare partnership between Emirates and Air Canada enables customers to enjoy flexibility and choice with smooth connections via Canada’s two largest cities to points such as Halifax, Edmonton, Ottawa and Calgary – perfect for leisure and business travellers or those visiting family or friends. From Toronto, Emirates’ customers can travel to 19 points whilst enjoying codeshare benefits, and an extra 100, made possible through an interline arrangement. Customers travelling from Canadian cities can easily connect to Emirates’ services in Montréal or Toronto to travel to exciting destinations across Asia, Africa and the Middle East, via the airline’s hub in Dubai. On its flights to and from Toronto, Emirates offers daily services to Dubai, onboard its popular flagship A380 aircraft. The world’s largest international airline also operates seven weekly flights between Montréal and Dubai, utilising its other widebody aircraft – the Boeing 777 – enabling passengers to plan their travel itineraries to global destinations, with seamless connectivity. Travellers with itineraries on Emirates’ flights can plan their entire trip on a …

Emirates and Philippine Airlines (PAL) have expanded their interline agreement, enabling Emirates’ passengers to access domestic points in Philippine Airlines’ network via Cebu and Clark, adding to the previously announced interline connections via Manila. Covering all three gateways in the Philippines served by Emirates – Manila, Cebu and Clark – this partnership expansion will provide seamless connectivity for passengers to reach even more destinations in the Philippines using a single ticket and convenient baggage policy. Emirates’ passengers can enjoy a convenient booking process to destinations in Philippine Airlines’ network including Bacolod, Butuan, Cagayan De Oro, Davao, Iloilo, Caticlan and Puerto Princesa via Cebu; as well as Cebu, Caticlan and Busuanga via Clark. Philippine Airlines’ passengers can also benefit from the enhanced interline agreement and book Emirates-operated flights to Amman, Birmingham, Cape Town, Dammam, Dublin, Lisbon, Manchester, Muscat, and Riyadh via Dubai. The Philippine national carrier operates daily flights between Manila and Dubai, enabling convenient and seamless connections to cities in Europe, Africa, and other parts of the Middle East. The arrangement allows for passengers to obtain their boarding passes and check through their baggage all the way to final destination. Travel itineraries can be booked on emirates.com, philippineairlines.com, the Emirates and PAL mobile apps, or via both online and offline travel agents. The expansion comes months after Emirates and Philippine Airlines first announced their interline agreement, reaffirming the commitment of both airlines to serve growing demand by providing travellers with more choice and flexibility, as well as enhanced customer experiences. Emirates has been flying to the Philippines since 1990 and currently operates 25 weekly flights to Manila, Cebu and Clark. The airline is also the only air carrier to offer …

One of rugby’s greatest rivalries, between South Africa and New Zealand, will be reignited at Twickenham Stadium later this month with the two nations playing for a brand-new trophy, the Qatar Airways Cup on Friday, 25 August at 7.30pm. With Qatar Airways as Title Sponsor of this fixture, rugby fans from South Africa, New Zealand, the UK and around the world have the perfect means to attend this compelling match-up. The seven-time winner of the “World’s Best Airline” as voted by Skytrax, will take centre stage as the match Naming Rights Partner, and also be the broadcast partner for the Sky Sports coverage in the UK. Qatar Airways facilitates the movement of rugby fans all over the world to watch their favourite teams compete. The airline flies to more than 160 destinations, including Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg in South Africa. It will also resume direct flights to Auckland, New Zealand on 1 September this year. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “Qatar Airways is honoured to be the Title Sponsor and Naming Rights Partner for this match at Twickenham Stadium, hosting one the greatest rivalries in competitive sports history. The South Africa and New Zealand teams are giants in the world of rugby and we are excited to be part of this journey, while uniting the fans before the start of world cup. Qatar Airways has a long history of supporting global sports, including rugby, Formula 1 and football. We believe in bringing people from all over the world closer together through travel and sport and are proud to continue the expansion of our sports partnership’s portfolio.” TEG Rugby Live Managing Director, Stephen …

Emirates announced it will operate an additional five-a-week service to London Heathrow starting from 31 October 2023 until 30 March 2024. This temporary service will meet market demand during the busy winter season and offer customers more travel choices. Emirates currently serves London Heathrow with six daily A380 flights. The additional flight will operate on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays and will be served by Emirates’ wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft, fitted in a three-class configuration split between First, Business and Economy classes. Emirates flight EK41 will depart Dubai at 13:20hrs and arrive at London Heathrow at 17:20hrs, local time. The return flight, EK42, will depart London Heathrow at 20:15hrs and arrive in Dubai at 07:15hrs local time, the following day.

Qatar Airways announced its title sponsorship of the highly anticipated Formula 1® Qatar Airways Grand Prix 2023 which will be held from 6-8 October at Lusail International Circuit. To rev up the excitement and reflect its commitment to motorsport enthusiasts worldwide, the airline unveiled its new Formula 1® livery painted on a specially branded Boeing 777 aircraft. Qatar Airways’ leisure arm, Qatar Airways Holidays, is offering enthusiasts a unique experience at F1® races throughout the season, as well as the FORMULA 1® QATAR AIRWAYS QATAR GRAND PRIX 2023 through its exclusive Ultimate F1® Fan Package. The travel packages are designed to provide a seamless motorsport experience, with the inclusion of return flights, hotel accommodation, a wide range of passes including F1® Paddock Club and Grandstand race tickets, and much more. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive and Chairman of Qatar Tourism, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, said: “The months of October and November will deliver a collection of world-class automotive activities dedicated to fans around the world. As the Official Global Airline Partner of Formula 1, we are honoured to host international visitors to Qatar; once again delivering our unparalleled hospitality and bringing the world closer together through sport.”

flynas announced signing an agreement with MedAire to provide aviation travel security information and 24/7 global assistance as a part of its comprehensive health and security solutions. The agreement between flynas and MedAire brings together two global leaders to enhance aviation safety and security, which reflects flynas commitment to providing its passengers safe and reliable air travel, as MedAire will provide flynas with real-time travel security reporting, covering destinations, regions, and airspace. “We are thrilled to be partnering with flynas to provide aviation travel security information and assistance,” said MedAire Senior Vice President Aviation Security and Maritime -, Hany Bakr. “As a global leader in travel safety, we understand the importance of providing real-time information and support to ensure the security and well-being of airline passengers and staff.”