Tag Archives: UAE

Emirates celebrated the milestone delivery of its 100th Airbus A380 aircraft at a special ceremony with Airbus at the manufacturer’s delivery centre in Hamburg. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Emirates’ Chairman and Chief Executive officiated the ceremony. Ahmed said, “This is a tremendous moment for Emirates, for Airbus and our many partners involved in the A380 programme. There is no doubt that the A380 has had a big positive impact on aerospace manufacturing and the broader aviation industry, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs and stimulating innovation and new product development in many related areas such as ground handling, catering, airport facilities and cabin products, to name a few.” The unique livery will feature a customised decal of UAE’s founding father Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, marking the airline’s first initiative for the ‘Year of Zayed’, which commences in 2018, coinciding with the centennial of the birth of Zayed. A total of ten Emirates aircraft, five Airbus A380s and five Boeing 777-300ERs will carry the special livery. The aircraft will carry the distinctive decal of HH Sheikh Zayed beginning in November 2017 and throughout 2018.

As part of its efforts to make travel simple for its customers, Cleartrip, a leading online travel company in the Middle East, announced the integration of Apple Pay on its mobile application. With the launch of Apple’s digital wallet in the UAE, Cleartrip customers can now look forward to a quicker and safer way to check out on the Cleartrip mobile app. Apple Pay supports all devices running iOS 11 and works with iPhone SE, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and later and Apple Watch. “As the preferred travel partner of consumers in the UAE as well as the wider region, we are dedicated to building industry-leading travel solutions. Addressing our customers’ needs, like easy payment options, is at the heart of why we launched Apple Pay on the Cleartrip app,” said Stuart Crighton, Founder & CEO of Cleartrip. Customers using Apple Pay to purchase on the Cleartrip iOS app will benefit from an instant discount of AED 100 on flights. Apple rolled out Apple Pay in the UAE from October 24, 2017 in a move that is expected to revolutionise the country’s digital economy.

Etihad Airways is now providing its customers Apple Pay, transforming mobile payments with a fast, secure and convenient way to pay for flights and travel. Available on the Etihad Airways mobile app, Apple Pay allows customers, for the first time in the UAE, to pay securely with just a touch of a finger. Etihad Airways’ customers can now buy flights and other products such as ‘Extra Legroom Seats’, ‘Preferred Seats’ and excess baggage with their iPhone or iPad by simply touching a button. Each transaction is authorised with a one-time unique dynamic security code. Justin Warby, Vice President Digital Strategy and Innovation, Etihad Airways, said, “We are proud to partner with Apple Pay to bring the latest mobile payment and technology innovations to our guests in the UAE and around the world. We were able to quickly adjust the release cycle of our mobile app to ensure we coincided our launch with Apple in the UAE.” Apple Pay is easy to set up and users will continue to receive all of the rewards and benefits offered by credit and debit cards.

The first edition of the Travel Tech ME Congress concluded at Marriot Al Jaddaf in Dubai, UAE. The event gathered 100 technology experts, travel agents, airline operators and airport officials to provide a forum of exchange on the current technologies in tourism. Organised by Verve Management, the two-day congress started with Diego Lofeudo, Director of Business Unit, Corporate, Yas Marina Circuit, UAE who made the official welcome address. Conference Chairman, Albert Fernando, COO, Travelwings opened day two of Travel Tech ME Congress, where he said, “A great initiative for Verve Management, that has helped tourism stakeholders better understand and share future trends in travel technology. The industry looks forward to the congress next year, bringing in even more experts in travel technology.”Several presentations over two days shed light on the latest innovations happening across the world in terms of travel and tourism. Albert Dias, Co-founder & CTO, Musafir discussed the importance of sub-second search speed and its effect on a travelers’ decision-making process.Juan Iván Martín, Head of Innovation, FDS, from IATA discussed travel blockchain, the introduction of the IATA coin as payment methods and how hackathons such as the IATA-NDC Hackathon-2016 in Dubai have helped the airline industry as well as the hotel and travel industries by introducing innovative ideas, and applications that have been implemented and increased revenue in the travel and tourism industry in the region. From blockchain, IATA coins being implemented, disruption, the importance of sub-second search speed, web technologies challenging today’s relevance and the future existence of mobile apps. The two-day conference was concluded with a panel discussion of the lessons learned and the way forward, on the evolution in the hotel distribution system.

Uber, in partnership with Dubai Taxi Corporation launched UberONE. Around 50 brand new premium electric cars will be added to the Uber app, giving riders across Dubai the chance to request the fully-electric, smart and sustainable transport option at the touch of a button. Starting from October 10, riders will be able to choose from a dedicated fleet of electric vehicles exclusively via the ‘UberONE’ option on the Uber app. The joint initiative comes as part of Dubai Taxi Corporation and Uber’s commitment to helping Dubai become the smartest city in the world in support of the Green Economy for Sustainable Development Initiative. Chris Free, General Manager for Uber, UAE said, “At Uber we are constantly innovating our offering and looking for ways to provide new and progressive experiences at the push of a button. We are tremendously excited to be the exclusive ride-hailing partner for the clean vehicle technology to deliver our driver-partners and riders with more efficient, less-polluting mobility. We will continue to work hand in hand with Dubai Taxi Corporation to bring innovative infrastructural solutions to Dubai and grow the city’s smart mobility ecosystem.”

According to the latest Middle East and Africa Hotel Construction report by Top Hotels Projects, commissioned by The Hotel Show Dubai 2017, the UAE has been identified as the busiest country for hotel construction in the Middle East and Africa and 83 hotel projects are set to open next year. The region currently has more than 200 hotel projects in the pipeline, with Dubai (164 projects), Abu Dhabi (25 projects) and Ras Al Khaimah (12 projects) seen as the busiest areas for hotel construction in the UAE. Some of the most anticipated hotel openings include Dubai’s Rosemont Hotel and Residences, Curio Collection by Hilton (730 rooms) and Fairmont Abu Dhabi Marina Hotel & Residences (812 rooms).

This summer, to adjust the growing number of holiday makers on their flights, Etihad has increased the frequency of their flights as well as the capacity of their vessels flying between Abu Dhabi and their key markets, such as Amman, Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca and Rabat. There will be a fourth new daily flight to Damman, second new daily flight to Amman, four new flights a week to Beirut with the introduction of Boeing 787, a fifth flight to Cairo, one extra flight to Rabat and an aircraft upgrade to Airbus A340 for Casablanca.

Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai sent a team on a special sales mission to China for the 2017 Dubai China Roadshow organised by The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM). They visited Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu and Guangzhou to explore the various colours of China and locate opportunities to extend their hotel business. Dubai is witnessing unprecedented demand from Chinese visitors. China is among the Top 5 source markets for Dubai. Elaborating on the success of the mission, Binu Varghese, Director of Sale and Marketing, Millennium Airport Hotel Dubai, said, “China is a growing market for us and holds strong potential. This year’s roadshow was hugely successful and gave us the opportunity to meet over 300 buyers from four key cities. FIT market development was a key focus for us along with continuous promotion of group business. In addition to highlighting our various offerings to buyers through one-on-one table talk, we got fantastic networking opportunities with local travel industry opinion leaders.”

Etihad Airways and China Southern Airlines have announced a new codeshare partnership, taking the number of codeshare agreements signed by the Abu Dhabi based airline to 53. Under the new agreement, China Southern Airlines will put its ‘CZ’ code on Etihad Airways’ daily services between Beijing (PEK)/Shanghai (PVG)/Chengdu (CTU) and Abu Dhabi. The codeshare partnership will give China Southern guests the opportunity to book codeshare flights to and from Abu Dhabi, and connect on to Etihad’s network of over 100 destinations worldwide. Mohammad Al Bulooki, Etihad Airways’ Executive Vice President Commercial, said, “With this partnership, either airline can use its strengths to benefit the other and offer more choices, with enhanced connectivity, to all the guests, alongside world-class services and products offered by both the airlines.”

Cleartrip has officially launched a website in Arabic to support its GCC market expansion efforts and provide users in the region with localized browsing and booking capability. The new website includes content and promotions relevant for Arabic-speaking audiences and comes with a host of useful features, tools and functionalities designed to allow travellers to more easily make and manage reservations. There are also exciting offers and benefits displayed on the website which the users can make use of when booking online through Cleartrip. Cleartrip’s website experienced a 30% increase in traffic from mobile devices during the first week of Ramadan, and the launch of a dedicated website in Arabic is expected to further accelerate bookings. Innovations in payment security, along with the launch of new government initiatives in the UAE and the proliferation of e-commerce startups, have increased consumer trust in online payments. This, in turn, is expanding the market opportunity for Cleartrip.