Flights to Dubai launched by FlyGeorgia

FlyGeorgia has started to operate flights to Dubai from Tbilisi with air services provider dnata appointed as its general sales agent.The airline will operate its Dubai-Tbilisi flight three times a week with a single-aisle Airbus 319 aircraft.Georgia shares its borders with Russia, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan and its capital Tbilisi, which straddles the steep banks of the Mtkvari River, has positioned itself for centuries as a crossroads between Europe and Asia.The young airline, which launched its first route from Tbilisi to Georgia’s coastal town of Batumi on the shore of the Black sea last year, now flies from its hub in the capital to seven international destinations, including Tehran, Amsterdam, Antalya, Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. With ambitious expansion plans to connect Georgia with the world, the airline plans that by March it will have taken delivery of two more aircraft and added four new European destinations to its network.

“FlyGeorgia’s decision to appoint dnata as general sales agent for the GCC and India was based on the company’s experience, contacts in the regions and their well-trained, knowledgeable staff who can help us tap into an untouched potential market, especially for our new Dubai service,” said John Kohlsaat, CEO. dnata is already general sales agent to more than 30 airlines in Dubai and the region.A Majid Al Mulla, divisional vice president for dnata’s travel business, said: We are confident we can execute the right strategy to help FlyGeorgia establish itself in the region.
Providing a wealth of choice for our customers has always been one of our key aims and this partnership with FlyGeorgia will allow us to widen still further the breadth of products we offer."

New flights to India announced by Budget airline

The low-cost carrier IndiGo said it will soon fly to the south Indian cities of Hyderabad, Kochi and Chennai. A large number of blue-collared workers have come from those cities to work in the emirate.We will start new flights from Dubai to Hyderabad on August 7," said Aditya Ghosh, president of IndiGo, which began operations between Dubai and the Indian cities of Mumbai and New Delhi in July of last year.We are concentrating on southern India, so we are going to start new flights to Kochi and Chennai from August 25," he said today during a press conference in Dubai.

The announcement came amid an ongoing pilot strike at the government-owned carrier Air India that has led to fight cancellations and has upset the holiday plans of hundreds of expatriates in the UAE. The strike began on May 7 after 400 pilots from the Indian Pilots' Guild protested the management's decision to allow pilots of the former Indian Airlines, which merged with Air India last year, to fly the company's new Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.Mr Ghosh said his airline had already flown over 100,000 passengers from Dubai and operated 555 flights since commencing operations last year.

MK Lokesh, the Indian ambassador to the UAE, said the cheaper travel would help many of the low- and middle-income, non-resident Indians in the Emirates.One of the strong demands of the community here is to have access to economical and efficient means of transport," he said at the press conference, adding that expatriates have previously demanded charter services to Kerala and flights out of Fujairah.The IndiGo president said that Indian tourists and businessmen to the UAE will be able to get visas along with their airline tickets on the carrier's website in the next few weeks.

Kenya Airways has increased flights to London

Kenya Airways (KQ) has increased flights to London Heathrow to cater for the traffic demand during the Olympics.Beginning next month, KQ will flights to London 10 times per week on the 322-seater Boeing 777-200.Europe will get an additional capacity boost, despite the suspension of Rome flights, with Paris flights increasing to six weekly during the July and August peak period as well as the daily Amsterdam capacity which will be upgraded to a Boeing 777-200.The changes are part of the airline's revamped summer schedule that has also introduced an extra flight to Dubai, to operate three times a week with late evening departures from Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. This will be an addition to the daily Dubai service.

KQ has also suspended its flights to Muscat and Rome effective immediately until further notice due to capacity optimisation across the network.In West and Central Africa, KQ has combined all Lagos daytime flights to Accra as KQ 534 operating Nairobi - Lagos - Accra - Nairobi, which will now be flying into Accra 12 times a week and nine times a week to Lagos.The introduction of wide-body capacity into and out of Lagos and Accra is set to have significant impact on Kenya Airways' passenger and cargo revenue streams as it will enable it to offer more capacity and minimum connecting time between Guangzhou, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Dubai, Mumbai and West Africa.

Kenya Airways has also increased frequencies to Ndjamena, now flying non-stop three times a week. Flights to Dakar will now connect through Ouagadougou (OUA) thus increases flights to OUA to three times a week.Bamako flights will operate via Cotonou three times a week, which is expected to ease out on the payload issues that the Bamako passengers have experienced in the past.To Mumbai, KQ has increased from daily operations to 10 flights a week and three flights weekly to Delhi.The Middle East region will benefit from the extra frequency added on the Jeddah flights to three times weekly effective July 2012.

The optimised schedule comes as the airline moves to increase frequencies on existing routes to meet changing and growing demand while opening new routes in Africa and the Middle East.On the domestic market, passengers to Kisumu City have more travel options with the introduction of an extra frequency over the weekends to four times daily.On specific weekdays the airline will maintain its three flights daily, while the Embraer E190 will be deployed on the route especially in the mornings and evenings.Kenya Airways Group Managing Director, Titus Naikuni said the decision to halt operations on certain routes was also based on insufficient demand to sustain the routes.Owing to the decreased passenger volumes on these routes, we have decided to re-align our capacity across the entire network to meet growing demand on other destinations including new ones,Naikuni said.The new destinations being launched between July and October 2012 include Kilimanjaro, Eldoret, Abuja and Beirut .

50 flights delayed due to fog

A sudden drop in visibility at the IGI Airport in two spells on Monday saw three flights diverted to Jaipur and about 50 delayed by 15 minutes to an hour. Met officials say that while shallow fog is expected to occur on Tuesday as well, with visibility likely to come down to 300m, no significant change in weather is expected before January 11.The western disturbance that caused rain over Delhi is moving away. Strong northwesterly winds, that are quite cold, are blowing over the plains of northwest India and will bring down the minimum temperature by a few degrees. However, not much change is expected in the maximum temperature. The day will remain clear and there is no possibility of rain as of now, said RK Jenamani, director in-charge, IGI Met.

At the airport, visibility fell for the first time due to dense fog at 3am. The runway visual range (RVR) dropped on the main runway to 100m, which was under maintenance at that time. A Jet Airways plane and a Kingfisher flight, both coming from Dubai, were diverted. The situation improved an hour later, but at 7am visibility dropped to CAT-III levels again.Monday's temperature dropped slightly from a day earlier, but was still on the higher side. The maximum temperature was down to 22 degrees Celsius while the minimum dipped to 10.6, two degrees above normal.The maximum temperature was 2-6 degrees above normal over several parts of Punjab, Haryana, UP, Orissa and Gangetic West Bengal on Monday. With the WD now moving away, rain and snow will occur over parts of J&K till Tuesday and then decrease. Some areas in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh will also see some snow. The minimum temperature will drop by 2-3 degrees over plains of northwest India,said a Met official.

flydubai add flights to Baghdad

flydubai, Dubai's pioneering low cost airline, added to its expanding network yesterday with the start of flights to Baghdad, Iraq, the company said on Monday.The first air flight from Dubai to Baghdad was carried out on Jan.17. In addition to Erbil and Sulaimaniyah, the four-times weekly flight to Baghdad increases flydubai's presence in Iraq to three cities. Flights to Najaf, flydubai's fourth Iraqi point, will start on Sunday, Jan.29.

I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to the Iraqi authorities. Thanks to their strong support, flydubai now serves three major cities in Iraq, with another, Najaf, to follow later this month. Our new route will provide travellers between Baghdad and Dubai a quality, affordable option that will help to boost business and trade, and reinforce existing ties between the two countries, flydubai's CEO, Ghaith Al Ghaith, said.According to Iraqi Government figures, UAE and Iraq trade is currently worth $6.5 billion and predicted to rise to $7 billion in 2012.One way fares from Baghdad to Dubai start at $315. The fares include one piece of hand luggage weighing up to 7kg and one small laptop bag.

Established in March 2008, flydubai is Dubai's first low-cost airline and the fastest growing start-up airline in the world. Since commencing operations in June 2009, the airline has established an operational route network of more than 40 destinations across GCC, Middle East, North Africa, Indian Sub-Continent, Asia and the fringes of Europe and has built up a fleet of 21 aircraft. Owned by the government of Dubai, the low-cost carrier supports the city's commercial and tourism sectors by serving all travellers and providing them with affordable air links to a range of destinations.

Alaska and Emirates airlines start flights in March

Tech workers from India who have a lot of frequent-flier miles on Alaska Airlines will have an easier option back to their home country starting March 1.Under a new frequent flier partnership with Seattle-based Alaska announced Jan. 19, people will be able to fly from Seattle to Dubai non-stop on Emirates Airline for about 100,000 frequent-flier miles. The Dubai-based carrier, which starts Seattle service March 1, operates 185 flights weekly between Dubai and 10 Indian cities, just one to two hours away.

They now have a much easier way to go to India with this route,said Sam Kaplan, president of the Trade Development Alliance of Greater Seattle, at a press event today (Jan. 19). About 40,000 people of Indian origin now live in the state, he said.Current routes to India involve flying across the Pacific to Asian cities then catching connecting flights to India, or flying the other way, connecting through Europe. The Emirates aircraft will instead fly over the Arctic, 14 hours and 30 minutes from Seattle to Dubai.

The Boeing 777s that Emirates will operate on the daily route will feature eight first-class suites, with a full bed and 27-inch screen, for a mere $15,000 round-trip, said Nigel Page, senior vice of operations for the Americas. The 777s will hold 354 people.Page estimated that about 60 percent of the passengers flights between Seattle and Dubai will continue on to other destinations, most of them to India, Africa, and other Middle Eastern points.

Air India start flight to Dubai

Air India will start flying to international destinations from Visakhapatnam with first flight to Dubai via Hyderabad scheduled to take off on March 27.Addressing a press conference here today, Rajya Sabha member T Subbarami Reddy said that the Union Minister of Civil Aviation Ajit Singh would inaugurate the first flight.

He said he has already discussed with the Union Government the proposal for modernisation of the airport here and for night landing facility.Against just one flight in 1999, the airport here now handles 40 services connecting Delhi, Kolkota, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Tirupathi, he said adding he would try to bring more airliners like Spicejet, Indigo and Air Arabia to operate flights to and from Visakhapatnam.

Flights to Dublin launched by Emirates

Emirates launched its new Dublin route, the third new route to be added to Emirates’ route network in the opening days of 2012 as the airline forges forward with its global expansion.After the launch of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil and Buenos Aires in Argentina on 3rd January 2012, the Irish capital took its position as Emirates’ 118th destination, opening up a new efficient channel via Dubai to key markets such as Australia, India, Thailand, China and the Philippines.

Emirates will serve Dublin daily with an A330-200, providing First Class, Business Class and Economy Class travel. EK 0161 leaves Dubai at 0700hrs daily and arrives at Dublin Airport’s Terminal 2 at 1130hrs. EK 0162 departs Dublin at 1255hrs and lands in Dubai at 0025hrs the next day.On board today’s inaugural flight from Dubai were Tim Clark, President, Emirates airline; Salem Obaidalla, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe & Russian Federation; Ram Menen, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President-Cargo; Ciaran Madden, Ireland’s Ambassador to the UAE; Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s Minister for Transport, Tourism & Sport; Colm McLoughlin, Vice Chairman, Dubai Duty Free and Niall Gibbons, CEO Tourism Ireland.

Emirates begin A-380 flights to Malaysia

Emirates Airlines has launched its Airbus A-380 flights to Malaysia.The first A-380 flight from Dubai arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport Sunday.We have been eagerly awaiting the start of our Airbus A-380 service to Malaysia, a country that we have been operating flights to since 1996,said Richard Jewsbury, Emirates' senior vice president, commercial operations.

The start of 2012 will be a busy time for Emirates, in addition to launching our A-380 aircraft on one of our three daily non-stop flights between Dubai and Kuala Lumpur.We are also expanding our network to include Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro from Jan 3 and Dublin from Jan 9, opening up more opportunities for Malaysian travellers and businesses, he added.

RwandAir announces flights to Dubai

The Rwandan national airline, RwandAir, has just announced that they will commence flights to Lagos Nigeria as of December 3 this year. Departure and arrival times of the flight have been tuned to allow easy connections to onward flights to Dubai via Mombasa, Nairobi, and Entebbe, from where passengers can now reach Lagos by alternative means.The flights, to be operated by RwandAir’s new B737-800 Sky Interior aircraft, will initially fly the route three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Departure time from Kigali is at 1100 hours local time and the flight arrives at 1410 local time in Nigeria, while the return flight leaves Lagos at 1455 local time and is due to land in Kigali at 2005 hours local time.

Meanwhile, it was also announced that Rwandair operated a special charter from Kigali to Asmara/Eritrea carrying the Rwandan national football team and staff for the FIFA 2014 World Cup qualifier against Eritrea.RwandAir is also due to make an announcement soon on their next stage of rolling out their strategic plan, when announcing details on the likely acquisition of larger Bombardier jets in a trade off for their current two CRJ200 aircraft.

Emirates airline restart flights to Baghdad

Dubai’s Emirates airline on Sunday resumed flights to Baghdad after a 20-year hiatus, when an Airbus A-330 landed at the Iraqi capital’s airport, a transport ministry statement said.I insisted on opening this line in order to strengthen the links between the two brotherly countries after a suspension of at least two decades, due to the policies of the former regime of Saddam Hussein, Transport Ministry Hadi Al Amari said in the statement. Iraqis travelling on Emirates from Baghdad are to receive a free visa to the UAE for a one month period. According to Emirates’ website, there will be four flights between Baghdad and Dubai per week. Emirates has flown to the south Iraq port city of Basra since February.

Bahrain Air add more flights to Dubai

Bahrain Air is planning to increase the number of Dubai-bound flights from 16 to 21 a week and expand its routes in the Middle East, said Captain Ebrahim Al Hamer, managing director of the carrier.The carrier will fly three times weekly to Dubai starting next year, up from the current twice a week, as it seeks to boost its market share here.Dubai is a big market, the size of business and the economy is growing and the economic situation in the UAE, especially Dubai, is similar to Bahrain in terms of the type of economy and the focus on financial services. The two markets complement each other. So therefore it makes sense to service tourism and business, Al Hamer said.

Following the political turmoil in Bahrain, the carrier's sales dropped 65 per cent from February to June, he told Gulf News.The sales in summer were much better, but there was still Ramadan and the political events in the Arab world. This exerted pressure on income. Now from September to December, with more security in Bahrain, trust and economic recovery, with the Haj and Eid, we hope the performance will be better.With this optimism about the region, Bahrain Air is adding three routes to the current 15 in the Middle East and sub-continent by mid-2012 but would not disclose the destinations yet.

The daily flights to Kuwait, which were suspended in February due to the political unrest in Bahrain and the region, are now back to one flight a week, Al Hamer said.Bahrain Air opened a regional sales office in Dubai yesterday.Through this office we hope to concentrate on the Dubai market and grow here by interacting directly with travel agencies and being close to them,he said.The growth rate in the Dubai market is still less than the growth rate of passengers going through Dubai International Airport. There is still potential to get a bigger market share.

Emirates airline to add flights to Dubai and Dallas

Dubai-based airline Emirates said Wednesday it will begin daily nonstop flights between Dubai and both Dallas and Seattle next year.The airline said it will begin service to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on Feb. 2, and to Seattle on March 1.Emirates already serves New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston. The company said the new flights represented a long-term commitment to the U.S. market.

Despite the weak economy, Emirates said it was expanding in anticipation of long-term growth in travel.The airline added that Seattle service would strengthen ties to jet supplier Boeing Co., which has its commercial aircraft division in the area. Emirates said it is the largest operator of Boeing 777 aircraft. It ordered an additional 30 planes last year.

IndiGo launch flights from south Indian cities of Thiruvananthapuram

MUSCAT India’s budget carrier IndiGo will launch flights from the south Indian cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Cochin and Chennai by December, said IndiGo President Aditya Ghosh. It will launch its Muscat-Mumbai flight, with four flights a week, from October 10, with a promotional return fare of 88 rials.Announcing this at a press conference at Chedi Hotel on Wednesday, Ghosh said the move was part of its initiative to expand operations to international skies. Muscat will be the fourth international destination on IndiGo’s growing network.

He said it was only natural that in due course of time Indigo should connect three key south Indian cities to Muscat as the percentage of expatriates from south India, especially from Kerala, Chennai and Andhra Pradesh, was the highest.I’m sure that by December, flights to the three additional cities will be operational.Muscat is a key market for us and the large Indian population in Oman will be able to experience Indigo’s product offerings. The airline is committed towards providing affordable fares to the growing market of regular travellers in Oman and also increase daily flights in future. We are working with the concerned authorities to get additional rights to cater to the growing India-Oman traffic.

Ghosh said: “We hope to create the same magic and success in the international market and look forward to a great experience with our customers. It is our constant endeavour to make the journey hassle-free for our customers and provide them high-quality travel experience at the best yet affordable prices.He said IndiGo recently launched its international services with daily and direct flights from Delhi to Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore. He said direct flights to Dubai, Bangkok and Singapore from Mumbai would commence from October 2.Corporate and leisure travellers will have the opportunity to experience the matchless, on-time performance IndiGo is synonymous with in Indian skies.

IndiGo is India’s second largest airline with a market share of 19.6 per cent in June 2011, as well as the country’s largest low-fare carrier. It is the fastest growing low-cost carrier in the world (source: CAPA) with a simple philosophy: Offer fares that are always low, flights that are on time, and a courteous, hassle-free travel experience.According to Ghosh, IndiGo’s On-Time Performance is one of the best in India. Its Technical Dispatch Reliability is 99.91 per cent making it the airline with the least number of cancellations in India. With its fleet of 44 new Airbus A320 aircraft, the airline offers 265 daily flights connecting 29 destinations.

Indian carrier to add Abu Dhabi and Sharjah to its network next year

India's biggest budget carrier IndiGo will rope in Abu Dhabi, Sharjah in its network by next year, following the launch of daily services to Dubai on September 1, and Muscat in October, officials said at a press briefing yesterday.The airline will first start flights to Dubai from Delhi in September and then operate Mumbai-Dubai flights from October onwards, Aditya Ghosh, President IndiGo, told Gulf News on the sidelines of the press briefing.

The airline is offering a return fare on Delhi-Dubai route for Dh816 or Rs9,999. The first 6E 12 flight from Dubai will fly out from the Dubai International Airport to New Delhi, with convenient and hassle-free flying options.Aditya Ghosh said,Dubai is a key market for us and launching operations in this market is in line with our growth strategy outlined for the Middle Eastern skies. IndiGo will keep its promise of providing low fares on international routes as well.