Category Archives: Aviation

Emirates has announced that it will be upgrading one of its four daily flights between Dubai and Johannesburg to an Airbus A380-800 from 1st February 2017. Emirates currently uses Boeing 777 aircraft for each of the four daily flights between the two cities, making it the busiest route in the airline’s African network with over three million passengers carried in the last five years. Once launched, Johannesburg will join more than 40 destinations in Emirates’ extensive global network that is served by its flagship A380 aircraft. The A380 will offer a total of 516 seats in a three class cabin configuration, with 14 private suites in First Class, 76 mini-pods with lie-flat seats in Business Class and 426 spacious seats in Economy Class. It will be deployed on the first flight of the day, EK761, and will depart Dubai at 04h40 and arrive in Johannesburg at 10h55. The return flight, EK762, will depart Johannesburg at 13h25 and arrive in Dubai at 23h45.

Etihad Airways has announced plans to increase Airbus A380 service between New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and Abu Dhabi International Airport in response to heightened demand from guests traveling between the two destinations.  Beginning on June 1, 2017, the airline will upgrade its second flight between Abu Dhabi and New York JFK to its award-winning A380 aircraft which features The Residence, the only three-room suite available in commercial airline operation, and its award-winning First Apartment cabins. The new service will join the airline’s existing daily A380 service, replacing the current daily Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. Etihad Airways first began welcoming guests on board its first A380 flight between New York JFK and Abu Dhabi in November 2015.

In a bid to increase capacity between Dubai and Milan, Emirates will deploy a second daily A380 on the route from October 1, 2016. The shift from a Boeing 777-300ER to the double decker represents a capacity increase of 1,834 seats per week between the two cities; enabling more A380 to A380 connections to and from key destinations in Australia, China, South Korea and South East Asia with just one stop in Dubai. Emirates flights EK91/92 will be operated by an Airbus A380 aircraft in a 3-class configuration with 14 Private Suites in First Class, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 401 seats in Economy Class. Passengers in all classes will enjoy access to free Wi-Fi. Emirates’ flight EK91 departs from Dubai at 15:45hrs and arrives in Milan at 20:30hrs. The outbound flight EK92 departs from Milan at 22:20hrs and arrives in Dubai at 06:25hrs the following day. The airline currently operates three daily services between Dubai and Milan, as well as a daily flight from Milan to New York JFK.

Starting 1st August 2016, Qatar Airways will increase the number of flights from Doha to Muscat to enable more passenger traffic between the two destinations. Now with 35 flights a week from Hamad International Airport travellers can easily explore the popular Omani capital city. Passengers travelling from Muscat will now also have increased access to the rest of the world, with the ability to connect through Hamad International Airport and enjoy award-winning facilities, such as Qatar Airways’ Al Mourjan Business Class Lounge while connecting to more than 150 destinations. Qatar Airways’ new flight to Muscat will depart from Doha at 2.20 am, arriving in Muscat at 5am, with the return flight departing from Muscat at 6.45am and landing in Doha at 7:25am. The airline operates services to Muscat with its A320 aircraft, offering both its award-winning Business and Economy Class options to passengers. Qatar Airways was announced as the World’s Best Business Class in the 2016 World Airline Awards this week, as voted for by global travellers. The Skytrax awards recognised the airline for its commitment to offering passengers an unrivalled travelling experience announcing Qatar Airways as also offering the Best Business Class Airline Lounge and the Best Airline Staff Service in the Middle East.  

Jordan has been announced as the official host for the 6th edition of the Arab Aviation Summit which will take place at the Dead Sea in Jordan on 5th and 6th December 2016. The theme of the forthcoming summit will be ‘Linking Cultures, Driving Economies’ to draw attention to the interdependent roles the Aviation and Tourism sectors play in contributing to the greater economic development of the region. It is the most prominent aviation and tourism event within the region focusing on trends, insights and opportunities driving the continuous growth and development of the avia-tourism industry in the Arab world. Described as the ‘voice of the industry,’ the summit is an industry initiative launched in 2011 and is organised on an annual basis in collaboration with aviation and tourism leaders, government entities, media heavy-weights and other well-entrenched organisations, to lead the discussion on a variety of topics relevant to key stakeholders and aviation commentators.

Turkish Airlines media relations office has announced that FAA has removed the recent order of all airline carriers, regardless of the country of registry, prohibited from flying into the United States from Turkey either directly or via third country. Accordingly, all scheduled Turkish Airlines flights to the US will resume starting as of 19th July 2016 with Turkish Airlines Istanbul – NYC flight at 06:45 am. İlker Aycı, Chairman of the Board and the Executive Committee, Turkish Airlines, stated: “Earlier today I had stated that we saw no reason for the ban as all precautions were in line with the norms. Following our recent report and dense meetings, FAA removed the ban as expected.” Following the illegal failed coup attempt in Turkey, on July 16th 2016 at noon hours FAA had issued a ban of “All airline carriers, regardless of country of registry, are prohibited from flying into the United States from Turkey either directly or via third country.” Furthermore, they extended their gratitude to their passengers for their understanding for the inconvenience. Due to this situation, for individual and group reservations, provided that flights operated by Turkish Airlines (including AnadoluJet trademark), departing/arriving to Turkey (including domestic flights) and/or transit flights via Turkey, flights operated between 15 July 2016 – 17 July 2016 (inclusive), ticketed on/before 15 July 2016 and tickets are revalidated untıl 15 August 2016 (ınclusive) will disregard related fare rules as mentioned below. 1) All Rebooking/ReRouting: will be made without any charge provided that new destination is same IATA region & same cabin class 2) Refund requests: a) Unused tickets: refund will be made without any charge; or b) For partially used tickets, when planned trip is …

In order to improve its transparent communication with its stakeholders, Turkish Airlines has released a mobile Investor Relations App compatible with iPad, iPhone and Android devices. With this application, all Turkish Airlines stakeholders, including shareholders, analysts and investors will be able to access the latest news and developments regarding Turkish Airlines with three different digital platforms and in two languages. With this application, users will  have online and offline access to various information and documents about Turkish Airlines including public disclosures, operational and financial disclosures, investor presentations and annual reports both in Turkish and in English and they will be updated with instant notifications. The application is accessible via Apple Store and Google Play with the searching word “Turkish Airlines”.

Emirates has signed a 10-year agreement with Unison Industries in support of the GE90 and GP7200 engine fleets. The After Market Services Agreement extends through 2025 and covers external Unison new parts and component repairs for GE Aviation and Engine Alliance engine families in the Emirates fleet. “We are very pleased to have Emirates as a key customer on this strategic agreement,” Unison President Giovanni Spitale said. “This agreement solidifies Unison’s key relationship with the world’s largest operator of A380 and B777 aircraft. Unison is now primed to provide unparalleled support to Emirates operations.”

LATAM Airlines Group and Qatar Airways, both members of the oneworld alliance, have entered into a subscription agreement providing for Qatar Airways to acquire up to 10 per cent of LATAM’s total shares, which will be acquired in connection with a capital increase. As part of the agreement, LATAM Airlines Group will hold an Extraordinary Shareholders Meeting no later than 2 September, 2016 to propose a capital increase in the amount of $613 million through the issuance of new shares at a price of $10 per share. The announcement was made at the Farnborough International Air Show in England, by both airlines’ CEOs: His Excellency Akbar Al Baker, Group Chief Executive of Qatar Airways and Enrique Cueto, CEO of LATAM Airlines Group. The companies expect the transaction to be completed within the fourth quarter of 2016. Qatar Airways was advised by HSBC Bank plc, Weil, Gotshall & Manges LLP and Carey, whilst LATAM Airlines Group was advised by JP Morgan, Claro & Cía y Sullivan & Cromwell.

Virgin Atlantic and Airbus have announced the agreement on a firm order, valued at $4.4 billion, for 12 Airbus A350-1000 aircraft. The investment is part of a fleet modernisation program which will see 50 percent of Virgin Atlantic’s aircraft replaced in a six year period – creating one of the world’s youngest fleets. Of the 12 firm orders, eight will be purchased and four leased, as Virgin Atlantic continues its investment into increasing the mix of owned and leased aircraft in its fleet.