SWISSAIR and Sabena have boosted their presence at the annual Arabian Travel Market this year.
The heightened presence comes as the airlines launched new flights from Jeddah and Abu Dhabi. The Swiss and Belgian airlines have been actively involved in the Arabian Travel Market since its inception in 1991. "Swissair and Sabena have seen a steady increase in traffic from the region over the past year and therefore we are proud to have recently launched two new additional flights bringing our total number of weekly flights from the Middle East to 30," said Richard Castle, marketing manager, Middle East and North Africa, Swissair and Sabena. This passenger increase has been especially apparent in the First Class and Business Class bookings due to an extensive refurbishment of the fleet in 2000. Last year's figures revealed, for example, an increase of 14 per cent in First Class passengers between Jeddah and Zurich while passengers on the same route in Business Class also increased by 12 per cent. "The Middle East is a very important market for us and we have chosen the ATM 2001 to demonstrate this," said Castle. "We believe that, as the premier travel exhibition in the region, the ATM is vital for creating and maintaining contacts and therefore our exhibit this year will be our biggest investment to date." Swissair and Sabena will be importing a special display stand from Europe. Similar exhibits have been used by Swissair and Sabena at several global travel exhibitions such as ITB in Berlin and BTE in London. It comes fully equipped with a private bar, display section and unique travel game invented for Swissair/Sabena exhibitions called "Know the Code". All ATM visitors will be eligible to play the game for a chance at a grand prize of a six-day holiday in Switzerland including Business Class tickets on Swissair. Switzerland's national airline, Swissair has accumulated nearly 50 years of history in the region with flights operating from Cairo as early as 1947. Today, Swissair and its partner airline, Sabena, operate flights from Cairo, Beirut, Riyadh, Jeddah, Muscat, Dubai and Abu Dhabi and have global partnerships with 23 airlines offering flights to over 450 destinations worldwide.