Focus on Emirates chairman
BERLIN: Focus,, one of Germany’s most important periodicals read by six million people a week, named Emirates airline’s chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum as one of the 20 leading figures in the German travel industry.
For the second year running, readers of the magazine judged him to have made a major contribution to travel in the country. Sheikh Ahmed is one of only two non-Germans to feature on the awards list.
EK increases flights to Sydney
DUBAI: Emirates airline will start offering double services four days a week between Dubai and Sydney from November, it was announced. Emirates’ current daily services to Australia also include Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth. All these flights have outperformed expectations, particularly the Sydney services, and the new flights will help to meet the current demand.
Kuwait approves private airline
KUWAIT CITY: The Kuwait Cabinet has approved the establishment of its first private airline following the opening up of the domestic aviation sector to private investors, a senior minister said. Al Jazeera Airways will operate as a Kuwaiti shareholding company. The cabinet decision has to be endorsed by the Emir and parliament. The Kuwaiti government decided in November to open up the domestic aviation sector to competition by allowing the private sector to establish low-fare passenger, freight and cargo airlines to compete with the state-owned loss-making Kuwait Airways Corp (KAC).
Airbus launches Ville De Bordeaux
NANJING: THE Airbus A380 programme has reached a new milestone with the launch and naming ceremony for a roll-on and roll-off vessel that will ferry components for the aircraft from their different construction sites. The ship was named Ville De Bordeaux at a ceremony in Nanjing in East China’s Jiangsu Province where she has been built by the Jinling Shipyard. The 5,200-dwt vessel is 154.15 metres long, 24 metres wide and 21.85 metres deep and features the largest ever watertight stern door on a ro-ro vessel (22 x 14 m).
Jet Airways flies to Colombo
MUMBAI: On March 23, Jet Airways announced its first flight between Chennai and Colombo, marking the airline’s first international operation. Having started 11 years back with two aircraft, Jet Airways now operates over 250 flights a day covering 41 cities using one of the youngest fleet of 41 new and next generation aircraft. The Gulf region remains a big market for the airline and it continues to offer competitive fares and various advantages for people residing in this region who need to travel within India.
PIA boosts Bahrain services
BAHRAIN: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has launched a second weekly flight to Bahrain last month. The airline operates its new service every Monday via Dubai. According to country manager Muizzuddin Ahmed, there was a big demand from the community for another flight because one service was not enough. The new PK227/PK228 service started on March 29 and arrives at Bahrain International Airport at 7.35pm. It departs again for Karachi at 8.45 pm and provides for onward connections to India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal.
lavish 25-floor Jabal Al Kaaba tower, overlooking the holy Mosque, as part of a package of services offered to VIP guests.
ExecuJet named official carrier for Makkah Apts
RIYADH: Leading business aviation services company ExecuJet Middle East has been named the official carrier for the holy city of Makkah.
Al-Suwaiket Group’s luxury apartment development near the holy city of Makkah. The Al-Suwaiket Group, which is ranked 17th in the top 100 Saudi companies, will offer use of ExecuJet’s Bombardier Learjet 45XR, Learjet 60, Global Express and Challenger for clients staying at its lavish 25-floor Jabal Al Kaaba tower, overlooking the holy Mosque, as part of a package of services offered to VIP guests.