Jet Airways to launch Mumbai-Dhaka flights

Effective December 23, 2009, Jet Airways, India’s premier international airline, will introduce new, direct services on the Mumbai-Dhaka-Mumbai sectors, aboard its state-of-the-art Boeing 737-800 aircraft. This will be Jet Airways’ third flight to Bangladesh from India, and will connect Dhaka with several destinations across North America, Europe and the ASEAN region, as well as eight destinations across the Gulf, over the airline’s Mumbai hub. The airline currently flies daily from Delhi and Kolkata to Dhaka. The new Mumbai-Dhaka flight will initially operate 6 days a week, with the exception of Tuesdays. Effective March 29, 2010, it will be a daily flight.

Flight 9W 276 will depart Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport at 0830 hrs, arriving in Dhaka’s Zia International Airport at 1300 hrs. Flight 9W 275 will then depart Dhaka at 1430 hrs, arriving in Mumbai at 1610 hrs. According to Mr. Nikos Kardassis, Acting CEO, Jet Airways, "Jet Airways offers travelers seamless connections to several destinations across India, as well as the Gulf, North America, Europe and ASEAN, over its hubs in Mumbai and Delhi. The launch of our new Mumbai-Dhaka service will thus connect Dhaka to the world, via Mumbai, while further enhancing air connectivity on the busy India-Bangladesh sector."

Jetlite launches new online booking engine

JetLite, the wholly owned subsidiary of Jet Airways India Ltd, launched its new state-of–the-art online booking engine. This move by JetLite is an attempt to offer a flexible web-sale solution with a clear road map to cater to the increasing ecommerce activities in ticket purchasing pattern in the Indian market. Guests can follow a simple booking process and make their selection based on 3 parameters - Lowest Fare, Fixed dates or Flexible dates. They will also receive a SMS and an email confirmation of the booking to the mobile number provided. In addition to the on-line booking engine, key features like ‘Manage my booking’ and ‘PNR Status’ are also added on the website which makes it convenient for the guest to use it as the focus is more on self-service tools and web bookings is a key part of this focus.

Speaking at the launch Mr. Sudheer Raghavan, Chief Commercial Officer, said "We wanted a flexible solution to keep up with the changing times in today’s dynamic and competitive market. This is yet another innovative step by Jet Airways to offer the best to our customers both in terms of experience and value added services. This will primarily help us reduce distribution costs and build customer loyalty by offering the value-adds which are not presently offered on other platforms," he added. The unique automated CyberSource Risk screening solution along with the 3D secure Payment gateway as per RBI guidelines ensures transactions are secure. Jetlite.com also offers web check-in facility where in guests can select their preferred seat and print their boarding pass from the comfort of their home or office.

Marriott International to open three Qatar properties

Marriott International has announced that all three new Marriott Properties in Qatar will be opened simultaneously by the middle of next year. Located in one complex in Doha, the properties are the five-star 257-room Renaissance Hotel, the four-star 204-room Courtyard by Marriott, and the Marriott Executive Apartments. Ibrahim Barghout, General Manager of the three Marriott properties said the hotels will have a soft opening "to see how things materialise" and plan for the grand opening activities right after.