Royal Jet gears up for busy summer
Royal Jet is gearing up for a busy summer with an expanded fleet capacity, a sales team that has just doubled in size and a large number of new clients.
It follows the aviation company’s first appearance at Ebace 2008 – the European Business Aviation Convention & Exhibition – in Geneva. Royal Jet’s president and CEO, Shane O’Hare said Royal Jet had recently added a Learjet 60 to its fleet, as well as a long-range Gulfstream IVSP which complements its two mid-range Gulfstream 300s. Further acquisitions are planned in the coming months and years.
Air Arabia adds flights and frequencies
Air Arabia announced that three additional flights per week will be added to Amman, Jordan, and Beirut, Lebanon, respectively from the carrier’s primary hub in Sharjah.
Air Arabia launched a service to Dhaka, Bangladesh on June 8. Flights will initially operate four times per week between Dkaha and Air Arabia’s hub in Sharjah.The airline also introduced daily services to Kozhikode. Air Arabia became the first Middle Eastern airline to offer flights to Kozhikode when it introduced service in February of this year, providing flights three times per week. Flights to Mumbai doubled in frequency as from June 8, and the airline now flies twice daily from its Sharjah hub.
Dubai launches ‘Express check-in’
Dubai Airports have launched a new express service for travellers with hand luggage only, which helps to cut down the average time taken from check-in to boarding gate. “Express Check-in” enables passengers travelling light to check in at six new counters on the upper floor of the departures area in Terminal One, and proceed straight to passport control. The service, which began mid-June is already proving to be popular with business travellers, said an airport official. These new counters are the latest addition to a series of measures Dubai Airports has recently introduced to help travellers make their way through the terminal as quickly and easily as possible, particularly during the current summer season.
Dubai to Munich flights increased
Lufthansa German Airlines has increased its frequency on the Dubai-Munich route. From July 15 onwards, the Airbus A319 with an all business class configuration, will operate daily to the airlines’ hub in Munich. The Lufthansa Business Jet service commenced on May 1 with six flights a week. With this new service, Lufthansa passengers can have access to a year round connection from Dubai to Munich complementing the flights from Dubai to Frankfurt, which are scheduled for all days of the week. Lufthansa Business Jet offers a maximum of 48 seats, quick and comfortable boarding and disembarking as well as reduced travel time at airports.
Kuwait Airways to privatise
Loss making Kuwait Airways is expected to be privatised within 10 months, the official news agency Kuna reported last month, citing the state carrier's chairman. Kuwait's parliament in January approved a government plan to sell 40 percent of the carrier to the public and 35 percent to a long-term investor within two years. A plan to evaluate the airline's assets would be presented to the communications minister before August, Hamd Al-Falah said, according to Kuna.