Jet Airways ground staff appeals to pilots to end strike

Extending support to Jet Airways management, ground staff of the airline on Thursday issued an emotional appeal to the protesting pilots asking them to return to work. "We want this strike to be withdrawn because it is affecting not only the airline but us also. The future of families depend on this as the company is losing revenue as well as passengers' trust," Surender Sharma, a representative of the ground staff said. Jagjeet Kaur, another ground staff, said, "We want this agitation to come to an end today itself. We have been working as a team and now after two days of the strike, the future of 13,000 non-pilot employees is at stake."

"600 pilots are withdrawing salary which amounts to 40% of the company's revenue. But they are forgetting the rest of us." The ground staff also asked the pilots to put forward their grievances in the right manner. Ashwini, a customer-care supervisor, said earlier they were operating 47 flights out of Delhi but today they had operated just one. "We have landed in such a situation due to 600 pilots. Nobody is thinking about the company," he said.

Indian Air Force MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashes in Punjab

A MiG-21 fighter aircraft of IAF on Thursday crashed in Muktsar district of Punjab, killing the pilot. The war plane was on a routine sortie and had taken off from Bhatinda airbase, Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said. The crash occurred at Bhaliana village on Muktsar-Bhatinda road killing the pilot, Flt Lt Manu Akhori on the spot, he said. Senior officials of IAF, police and from the Muktsar civil administration have rushed to the spot. A court of inquiry has been ordered into the mishap, an IAF spokesman said in New Delhi.

Air India's Tokyo-New Delhi flight makes emergency landing

An Air India flight from Tokyo with 122 people on board on Thursday landed at Delhi's IGI International airport under emergency conditions after its pilot detected a technical fault. The Tokyo-Delhi flight landed safely at the airport and all the 111 passengers and 11 crew members were safe, an airline official said. The flight AI-3307 was to arrive at 4:55 pm but the pilot asked the Air Traffic Control for a precautionary landing at around 5:07 pm as he got faulty readings of the hydraulics of the plane. The plane landed safely at around 5:21 pm and reached the parking bay, the official said.

JetLite aircraft lands with tail scrape at Kolkata

A JetLite flight, with 135 passengers on board, flew in from Mumbai with a damaged tail but landed safely at Kolkata airport. The Boeing 737 aircraft, which touched down at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport at 3.40pm, was grounded after a maintenance check revealed "minor cracks" in the tail. An airline spokesperson "confirmed" that the aircraft had suffered "what is defined as tail scrape". Sources said the cracks had developed while the plane was taking off from Mumbai. Jet Airways officials said the tail had not suffered any "major damage" while taking off. An independent aviation expert said an aircraft could suffer tail scrape when part of the tail grazes the ground during take-off or landing because of a lack of wheel balance. "The flight, after landing, taxied off the runway on its own, the damage was detected during a routine check by flight engineers," said a senior airport official.

Kingfisher Airlines to launch flights to Hong Kong & Singapore

Expanding its network of destinations in South-East Asia, Kingfisher Airlines will commence daily non-stop flights from Mumbai to Hong Kong and Mumbai to Singapore from September 15 and 16 respectively. "Given the strong linkages between India and South East Asia, we believe that there is untapped potential and these new routes promise to serve the unmet needs of discerning corporate and leisure fliers," Kingfisher Airlines Vice-President (Global Sales) Siva Ramachandran said in a statement. The airline will deploy Airbus A330 aircraft for both the services.

Air India helps passengers stranded due to Jet Airways strike

National carrier Air India came to the rescue of a large number of stranded Jet Airways passengers by accommodating them on their flights after the pilots of the private airline went on a flash strike. A total of 427 passengers of Jet Airways and Jet Konnect were accommodated by Air India and Air India Express on their domestic and international routes. Over 300 pilots of Jet Airways today went on mass sick leave in protest against sacking of two senior pilots for forming a union, National Aviator's Guild. An airlines spokesperson said that 105 other passengers will fly to Dubai at night. Air India officials at various domestic airports were directed to help the passengers so that they were are not left stranded and inconvenienced. In Delhi, a separate counter has been opened at terminal 1D, from where Jet Airways operates, so that passengers could take tickets and boarding passes of Air India flights, the official said.

Jet Airways cancels 198 flights as strike continues

Jet Airways on Thursday cancelled nearly 200 domestic and international flights as its pilots continued their agitation to protest sacking of two of their colleagues. "The situation continues, there are no talks so far. We have not got any invite from the management side showing their willingness to talk to us," Capt Sam Thomas, Joint General Secretary of National Aviators Guild, which is spearheading the agitation, said. He claimed that overall 500 pilots have reported sick. A spokesperson of the airlines said it has cancelled 163 domestic and 35 international flights as 400 of its over 1000 pilots did not report for duty.

To deal with the situation, the airlines has set up a crisis management centre which is continuously monitoring the situation. At the crisis centre, a team of 15 personnel from planning, revenue management and PR is working round-the-clock to reschedule various flights and monitor the situation, the airline said. The airline operates 75 international flights and 300 domestic flights on a normal day.

Dubai Metro starts operations

The Dubai Metro, billed as the world's longest fully-automated driverless metro system, was launched last night by United Arab Emirates vice-president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. The much-anticipated launch of the first metro system in the Gulf region took place at 9.09pm at the Mall of the Emirates here as fireworks lit up the Dubai skyline to mark the historic event. Joined by other dignitaries and guests, a beaming and visibly excited Sheikh Mohammed boarded a train at the Mall of the Emirates station for the inaugural ride aboard the state of the art transport system. Several television stations made a live broadcast of the launch of the 28 billion dirham Dubai Metro, providing aerial footage of the train as it glided silently on its journey across the city.

Only 10 of the 29 stations along the 52km Red Line are operational for now, with the rest expected to open in stages over the next few months. The Dubai Metro also incorporates the Green Line which is expected to be up and running next year. When completed, the Dubai Metro lines that run both underground and on an elevated track will extend 76km with 47 stations. In expressing his gratitude to everyone who was involved in the ambitious Metro project, Sheikh Mohammed said it was a source of pride for the people of the UAE. Up to 30,000 workers, engineers and railway specialists had been working feverishly to complete the job. "The smile that we saw on the face of Sheikh Mohammed gives us a lot of enthusiasm and energy to continue with the same momentum," Dubai Roads and Transport Authority chairman of the board and executive director Mattar Al Tayer said. City planners anticipate the Metro project to facilitate movement as well as enhance economic and tourism activities, among others.

Jet Airways starts crisis management cell to deal with strike

At airports on Wednesday, Tuesday's chaos was replaced by scenes of shock and surprise as passengers doing last-minute bookings were quoted high air fares. "Flights that generally cost Rs 4,000 on low cost airlines last week are now going for Rs 7,000. I paid Rs 8,800 for my Mumbai-Bangalore flight," said Piyush Shah, a businessman whose Jet Airways flight 9W 441 to Bangalore was cancelled. In the case of some full-service carriers, like Kingfisher Airlines, a few tickets went for as high as Rs 15,000. "On average, fares were about 40% higher. We also saw double the number of cancellations for bookings done on Jet flights for the coming days," said Vijay Kesavan, CEO of a travel portal.

For Jet Airways, the initial shock seems to have died down as the airline got its crisis management cell into action to inform passengers about cancellations and update real time data on its website. "The per day bookings have come down to 14,000 from 23,000. Out of the 14,000 bookings done, 50% of our passengers were accommodated on Jetlite and Jet Airways and the rest have been re-accommodated on other flights," said chief commercial officer Sudheer Raghavan.

Donbassaero Airlines to start Ukraine-Dubai flight

Ukraine based Donbassaero Airlines Company will launch its winter season flights to Dubai from the city of Donetsk will start in October 2009. The route will be served by an Airbus A320 which will fly weekly on a Tuesday starting from October 27, 2009 until March 23, 2010, the airline has said.

Emirates prepares to launch Durban route

Emirates Airlines is preparing to launch its new non-stop service from Dubai to Durban, South Africa next October. The airline will be the only carrier flying international routes on a daily basis out of Durban.

Air India Express to start Abu Dhabi-Amritsar-New Delhi flight

The low cost subsidiary of Air India, Air India Express, has announced that it will connect Abu Dhabi with the city of Amritsar in Northern India. The flights will continue on to Delhi after Amritsar, increasing the number of services between Abu Dhabi and Delhi offered by Air India Express and Air India to six per week, according to the airline. The route will be served three times per week with a B737-800 aircraft configured in an all economy cabin. Air India now connects Abu Dhabi with nine destinations in India with 36 weekly flights.

Oman Air signs deal with SITA for IT hybrid network

Oman Air has signed a five-year agreement with air transport IT specialist SITA to implement and maintain a hybrid network solution for the carrier. The $4.6m project is aimed at boosting productivity and delivering cost savings for the airline across its expanding route network, as it migrates from legacy connections for all its business operations.

FlyDubai adds more flights to Beirut during Eid Al Fitr

Low cost carrier FlyDubai has announced that it is adding extra flights to its Beirut route during Eid Al Fitr. The additional flights are scheduled on September 17, 18, 19 and 25 departing from Dubai International Airport Terminal 2 at 7.40pm and arriving in Beirut at 10.15pm (local time), while return flight will take off from Rafic Hariri International Airport, Beirut, at 11pm (local time), arriving in Dubai at 3.20am.

Etihad Airways to launch Tokyo flights in March 2010

Etihad Airways has announced the appointment of Masatsugu Nishiyori and Juan Torres to head up its offices in Japan. Based in Tokyo, Nishiyori will serve as the airline's vice president - general manager in Japan, while Mr Torres will take up the position of commercial manager. Etihad is scheduled to start a five flights a week service from its Abu Dhabi home base to the Japanese capital Tokyo, from March 2010.

FlyDubai offers discounted fares on all sectors

Low cost airline FlyDubai has cut 40% off its ticket prices for all destinations for those booking flights from today for 10 days. Tickets will be valid for travel only between October 1 and November 15. This is the second time the recently launched airline has held such a sale, the first being in June. CEO Ghaith Al Ghaith said on that occasion, it helped boost sales, with 2,000 tickets bought in the first seven hours of the offer.

Gulf Air to operate more flights to Iraq

Bahrain based Gulf Air has said it is expanding its network in Iraq this September. Flights will commence four times per week to Najaf from 26 September, and will become a daily service from 26 October. Services to Erbil will begin on 26 October with three flights per week, which will also become a daily service in due course. Flights to Najaf will operate on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays using an A320 aircraft.

The Address Dubai Mall opens for business

The Address Dubai Mall, a newly built five-star hotel linked directly to The Dubai Mall, has opened its doors to guests. The hotel marks the third property in the portfolio of The Address Hotels & Resorts, the hotel brand owned by Emaar Hospitality Group. The Address Dubai Mall has 244 rooms and suites, all offering views of Downtown Burj Dubai.

Marriott to manage Harbour Hotel & Residence, Dubai

Marriott International has announced that it will be taking over management of the Harbour Hotel & Residence in Dubai Marina on September 15 under an agreement with Emirates. The 52-storey property will be rebranded the Dubai Marriott Harbour Hotel & Suites following modifications to bring the number of rooms in the hotel to 232 later this year. The agreement is the second contract Marriott has reached with Emirates this year, following a deal to operate the 1,614-room JW Marriott Marquis Hotel Dubai that is currently under construction in Business Bay.

Accor Hospitality to operate 44 hotels in Middle East

Christophe Landais, Managing Director, Accor Hospitality Middle East has unveiled the company's plans to operate 44 hotels across nine countries in the region by 2011. The company said in a statemnt its plans for the UAE include the opening of Sofitel Jumeirah Beach, at the end of September, the launch of the Ibis Rigga within the first quarter of next year and the entry of its new brand, Pullman Hotels & Resorts, which is linked to the Mall of Emirates, by mid-2010.

Dubai to open new cruise terminal

The Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DTCM) has announced the new cruise terminal is expected to open next January. The official announcement of the opening of the new terminal will be made at the Seatrade exhibition in Hamburg on September 15. The terminal will have the capacity to handle up to four ships simultaneously, and will be the world's first to be operated by a government department of tourism, according to the DTCM.

Rezidor to open Park Inn at Dubai Airport Free Zone

The Rezidor Hotel Group has announced it will open a Park Inn hotel at the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZ). The property will feature 312 rooms and is set to open in 2012. The new Park Inn will be located 1.8km from Terminal 2 of Dubai International Airport, catering to the 1,300 companies present within the area, covering a wide array of firms including aviation, pharmaceutical, logistics and IT.

Rotana's Al Marwa Rayhaan hotel opens in Mecca

Rotana Hotel Management Corp. has announced the opening of its new hotel property in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the Al Marwa Rayhaan by Rotana. The new hotel is the first to open under the brand 'Rayhaan Hotels & Resorts' by Rotana. The new hotel is situated at the right side of Al Bayt Towers complex and has an overview of the Holy Mosque and the Ka'aba. Al Marwa Rayhaan by Rotana offers 400 rooms and suites.

Holiday Inn opens on Jordan's Dead Sea

InterContinental Hotels Group has announced the opening of its second Holiday Inn property in Jordan and its first on the Dead Sea. The Holiday Inn Resort Dead Sea has 78 rooms and 128 chalets, a choice of restaurants and lounges, sports facilities and a swimming pool.