Air Arabia flies to Goa

Sharjah, UAE based Air Arabia, has launched non-stop service to the Indian beach state of Goa from its main hub in Sharjah. The launch of this new destination reflects Air Arabia’s growing expansion into the Indian market. Roundtrip flights will operate three times per week between Dabolim International Airport in Goa and Air Arabia’s hub in Sharjah. Air Arabia is now the only UAE-based international carrier to offer direct flights to Goa from the UAE. Air Arabia is offering fares starting at Rs 3,653 from Goa to Sharjah, excluding taxes and other surcharges. The low cost airline will fly to Goa on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing Sharjah at 00:25 am and arriving at Goa at 5:05 am. Return flights will depart Goa at 5:50 am and arrive in Sharjah at 7:35 am. Air Arabia’s first destination in Goa is also the carrier’s 13th destination in India. In total, Air Arabia will serve 46 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia and the Southern Europe, including Athens, Greece, when service to that European city commences soon.

According to AK Nizar, Head of Commercial Department, Air Arabia, “We are delighted to now offer non-stop service between Sharjah, the cultural capital of the UAE, and Goa. Today, even more people in the large Indian expatriate population living in the UAE and GCC can take advantage of our extensive Middle Eastern and international network. We currently serve 13 destinations in India, and we are keen on continuously providing the best value-for-money service to this rapidly emerging nation. We are confident that Goa will serve as a great holiday destination for our passengers”. In addition to Goa, Air Arabia also serves Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Jaipur, Kochi, Kozhikode, Mumbai, Nagpur, Thiruvanathapuram and Hyderabad, in India. The Sharjah-based carrier offers the most destinations of any airline in the Middle East, South Asia and North Africa.

Jet Airways Konnect launches new sectors

Jet Airways Konnect, the new all-economy-class arm of Jet Airways, based in Mumbai, India, is starting five new services. Four of Jet Airways Konnect’s new services will be from Kolkata in eastern India to other cities in eastern India. The fifth service will be on the Kolkata-Bangalore route. Jet Airways Konnect said in a statement that it aims to increase air connectivity with north-eastern India with flights on the Kolkata-Jorhat, Kolkata-Agartala, Kolkata-Guwahati, and Guwahati-Agartala sectors. Jet Airways Konnect was launched as recently as May 8, 2009. At present, the all-economy-class airline operates a fleet of 6 ATR 72-500 aircraft and 2 Boeing 737-800 planes. Jet Airways Konnect, which offers fares lower than its full-service parent airline Jet Airways, currently connects four major metros in India – Mumbai, Delhi, Banglaore and Chennai to a number of destinations across the country, including Kochi, Pune, Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bhopal and Amritsar.

Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, CEO of Jet Airways, explained that “there is latent demand for a quality, all-economy-class service on several key domestic routes.” “With the successful introduction of Jet Airways Konnect’s new service based on strong demand,” Prock-Schauer added, “we are confident that our new flights will be in perfect sync with prevailing passenger needs and will be received very well.” Jet Airways Konnect flies to Bhopal, Udaipur, Ahmedabad, Bhavnagar, Jodhpur, Chennai, Kochi, Vadodara and Jaipur, from Mumbai. From Delhi, Jet Airways Konnect flies to Amritsar and Vadodara. Jet Airways Konnect flies to Madurai, Kochi, Coimbatore and Bengaluru from Chennai. The airline flies to Mangalore, Pune, Hyderabad and Kolkata from Bengaluru.

Virgin Atlantic, Jet Airways enter codeshare deal

Virgin Atlantic has entered into a codeshare agreement with India’s Jet Airways.As per the deal, passengers who book tickets on Virgin Atlantic can travel Jet Airways on their double daily service between London Heathrow and Mumbai. Mr. Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, chief executive officer, Jet Airways, said, “Jet Airways is delighted to enter into a codeshare with Virgin Atlantic. The code share agreement between Virgin Atlantic and Jet Airways represents a significant step forward in strengthening the relationship between our two airlines.” He added that with the Mumbai-London route holding good potential, Jet Airways was looking to boost its presence on this route by means of the codeshare partnership.

Edmond Rose, director of commercial and revenue planning, Virgin Atlantic, said, “With the new deal in place, Virgin Atlantic’s passengers will now benefit from more frequent flights under the Virgin Atlantic code for travel between London and Mumbai.” “The new codeshare will be particularly useful for passengers traveling between many points on Virgin Atlantic’s worldwide network and Mumbai who will be able to make convenient, same-terminal connections at London Heathrow’s Terminal 3,” he added. Virgin Atlantic operates a daily service between London Heathrow and Delhi departing London Heathrow at 10 pm and arriving in Delhi at 11 am and departing Delhi at 1:15 pm arriving in London Heathrow at 5:55 pm. Virgin Atlantic, offers long haul services from London’s Heathrow, Gatwick, and Manchester airports, to 30 destinations worldwide as far apart as Las Vegas and Shanghai. Jet Airways flies to 63 destinations and operates a fleet of 87 aircraft.

SilkAir starts Singapore-Hyderabad flight

SilkAir, the regional wing of Singapore Airlines, started flights to Hyderabad replacing Singapore Airlines’ thrice-a-week flights to Hyderabad. To start with, SilkAir will offer customers five flights a week to Hyderabad. The SilkAir Singapore-Hyderabad flight will take off from Singapore at 2100hrs and arrive in Hyderabad at 2305hrs. The return flight will leave Hyderabad at 0005+1 hrs and reach Singapore at 0725hrs +1. Later, SilkAir will offer daily Singapore-Hyderabad flights, during the Northern Winter Schedule from October 26, 2009. “With our sister airline SilkAir operating more flights to Hyderabad, this will help customers expand their travel options as they now have a wider choice of flights a week,” said Mr Huang Cheng Eng, Singapore Airlines’ Executive Vice President, Marketing.

He added that the frequency increase on the Singapore-Hyderabad route will help meet the demands of travelers from around the world to reach this city that is a modern hub of information technology and biotechnology. “The increased frequency will also provide customers with greater connectivity when they choose to travel beyond Singapore on Singapore Airlines or SilkAir connections,” said Mr Chin Yau Seng, SilkAir’s Chief Executive. “En route to the destination, customers can indulge in SilkAir’s brand of warm hospitality and top quality inflight service,” he added. Currently, SilkAir operates flights to three cities in India, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Coimbatore.

Indigo launches new sectors

Despite the slowdown in the demand for domestic flight services, low-budget airline company IndiGo has announced the launch of six new services. IndiGo Airlines is expected to expand its fleet size by adding five more aircrafts. This decision comes when other private carriers are trimming their services and reducing fleet size to cut costs. “We have had highest load factor (average passengers per available seat kilometer) in the market in the recent time,” IndiGo president Aditya Ghosh said. ” Apart from this other economic performance is such that we have to expand. There is till huge demand for low-fare travel,” he added. He said that IndiGo was getting a lot of traction from every kind of domestic customers, and the new flights would provide even more flexibility of choice for our customers,” he added.

The six new flights IndiGo flights will run on the Mumbai-Goa, Mumbai-Hyderabad, Mumbai-Kolkata, Hyderabad-Mumbai and Kolkata-Mumbai-Goa sectors. IndiGo Airlines, promoted by the travel group InterGlobe Enterprises and industry veteran Rakesh Gangwal, serves 17 destinations with a fleet size of 20 A-320 aircraft. IndiGo flies to Agartala, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Chennai, Cochin, Delhi, Goa, Guwahati, Hyderabad, Imphal, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Nagpur, Pune and Vadodara.IndiGo has hubs in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Bengaluru, and Mumbai. The airline, which has 20 A320-200 airbus, has placed orders for 46 Airbus A320-200, and 30 Airbus A321-200, which it will receive by 2016. IndiGo’s market share was 13.5% in the first quarter of the2009, closely followed bylow-budget airline SpiceJet with 12.1% market share.

Kingfisher Airlines to launch Dubai flights

Kingfisher Airlines, which is due to launch its services to Dubai starting June 25, plans to connect to the UAE from a number of cities in India during the course of the year, according to a senior airline executive. The India-based carrier, which was originally scheduled to launch the Bangalore-Dubai route on March 7, deferred it given the slowdown in air travel and declining airfares. A daily Bangalore-Dubai service later this month would be followed by a direct flight from Bangaluru to Abu Dhabi soon after, said Siva Ramachandran, Kingfisher Airlines' Vice-President for Global Sales.

He said the airline is currently evaluating options for connecting Dubai with at least three more Indian cities — Delhi, Thiruvananthapuram and Hyderabad, despite economic crisis. "All these services to Dubai will start this year itself. Meanwhile, we also may look to connect Thiruvananthapuram with Abu Dhabi following that," Ramachandran said.Kingfisher Airlines' move comes close on the heels of arch rival Jet Airways' plans of launching four new Indian routes from Dubai in the next two months.

Jet Airways, which launched operations to the UAE last year with daily direct flights to Abu Dhabi in April, followed by Dubai in August, recently said it is planning to launch flights to Indian cities of Hyderabad, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram and Mangalore. Regarding the expansion within the Middle East, Kingfisher Airlines is weighing options for launching flights to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this year, said Ramachandran. "It is possible that we will start flights to Riyadh in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait this year itself, as part of our expansion plan for the Middle East. We are currently evaluating options for the same," he said.

Khareef season starts in Salalah

Tourists in their thousands will descend on Oman’s picturesque southern governorate of Dhofar from Sunday, officially the first day of the annual ‘Khareef’ (monsoon) season that will last until September 21. The region’s unique weather and monsoon showers, and water springs and misty mountains are a hit with Gulf tourists looking for an escape from the searing summer heat in the rest of the Gulf. Dhofar, ‘the land of frankincense’, as it is known all over the world, attracted some 450,500 tourists from Oman and abroad last year, an increase of 24 per cent over 2007. A sizeable majority of vacationers visiting from outside the country every year are from the neighbouring GCC states, with the UAE topping the list. The highpoint of the season will be the Salalah Tourism Festival (STF) from July 15 to August 31. The Dhofar Municipality said all preparations had been completed to receive a record number of tourists expected this year.

The Dhofar region is rich in archaeological sites, including the ruins of the ancient city of Samhuran. Frankincense was the main export that found its way to Queen Hatshepsut of Egypt in 1500 BC. The climate of Dhofar is dramatically different from the rest of the Sultanate due to the effects of the monsoon rains which arrive during the summer months, creating humidity and moderate temperatures of lower than 30 degree Celsius. As a result, the area becomes lush green, with waterfalls and rivers feeding the surrounding pastures. The mountain ridge, which receives the most rain, stretches for 400km from east to west. The spectacular water falls at Darbat and Athom are especially popular among holidaymakers. Other major tourist attractions include the ancient cities of Al Balid and Khor Rori Samhuran, Tawi Attair (the ‘Well of Birds’), Lost City of Ubar, Wadi Darbat, Mughsayl beach, Nabi Ayoub’s Tomb, Azart, Jarzeez, Sahnout and Athoum springs, the historical site of Taqa, the town of Mirbat, Bin Ali’s Tomb and the craftsmen’s souq in Salalah.

Officials of Dhofar Municipality said all efforts have been made to ensure this year’s tourism season a “big success,” adding that the public and private sectors had come together to showcase Salalah as a “modern city provided with all the latest facilities that qualify it to become one of the major tourist hubs in the region.” All highways leading to the region have been renovated or repaired for the benefit of visitors coming by road from the other parts of Oman and the GCC countries, a spokesman for the municipality said. A major project to landscape Salalah had also been completed, he added. Work on a new dual carriageway which links the Al Maamourah area with the wilayat of Taqah is almost over and safety features on the mountainous road that connects Salalah to the wilayat of Thumrait have been enhanced.

The Tourism Ministry recently opened the first phase of a project to develop four tourist sites - Iteen Cave at Al Jabal area, Ain Jarziz (spring water), Hamrir and Ain Sahlanout. Three Tourist Information Centres – at the Salalah Airport, Harait and Salalah city – have been spruced up and will provide all assistance to visitors, ministry 
officials said. Meanwhile, STF, the tourism festival, will this time feature several more activities and events than in 2008 to transform it into a “complete festival for the family – covering all interests, from shopping to games and from adventures to shows,” according to Dhofar Municipality authorities.

These will include an international consumer exhibition, Heritage Village, children’s theatre, tele matches, dolphin shows, circus, a kite festival, fireworks, cartoon shows, concerts, folklore shows, an Omani products exhibition and a book fair. The consumer show will run throughout the festival— the Omani products exhibition from July 20 to July 29 and book fair from August 5 to 31. The beginning of the Khareef season today will also mark the launch of a joint survey of tourists by the ministries of national economy and tourism and the Royal Oman Police (ROP). The study which will last until the end of the season aims to collect precise data on visitors, their nationalities, countries of domicile and preferences, their spending pattern while in Oman and feedback on their stay here. “The objective,” a National Economy Ministry source said, “is to further improve services we provide them in the coming years.”

Gulf Air to start flights to Salalah

Gulf Air, Bahrain's national carrier, announced it will launch service to three new destinations - Aleppo, Alexandria and Salalah - from Bahrain for the summer season. Service to the Egyptian city of Alexandria started on June 22 with five flights per week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Flights to Salalah in Oman will commence on July 1 with three flights per week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Aleppo service will start on July 2 with two flights per week on Thursdays and Saturdays. Flights to all these destinations are from Bahrain and are available through mid-September 2009.Gulf Air's Chief Executive Officer Bjorn Naf when announcing the services said, "We are constantly looking for ways to enhance our customers' travel experience by adding new routes and increasing flight frequencies. We selected these three popular destinations as part of our summer schedule in response to positive customer feedback that expanded our network in tune with the demands of the season. With our competitive fares and convenient flights, I am sure travelers will enjoy a great summer vacation by visiting these fabulous cities."

Gulf Air's Deputy Chief Executive Officer Ismail Karimi added, "Gulf Air has carved a niche among the regional carriers for operating one of the largest networks within the region and offers excellent connectivity. Through these additional destinations, we are providing more choices to our customers seeking a quality vacation." Salalah provides a welcome relief with its cool climate, monsoon rains, misty mountains, flowing wadis and verdant gardens while the popular Salalah Khareef Festival offers a wholesome family vacation. Alexandria offers fascinating insights into its proud Greek and Roman past that blends well with beautiful mosques, some lovely gardens and an undulating, scenic Corniche, just perfect for a stroll or to relax by the azure waters. Aleppo is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in history. The city offers plenty for those interested in culture, heritage or family vacation that includes the imposing Citadel and the labyrinthine, aromatic souk known for selling spices of every kind.

Oman awards huge Airport contracts

Oman’s transport ministry announced it has awarded more than US$1.5 billion in airport infrastructure contracts to companies from Turkey, France, Germany and the US. More contracts are expected this year. Oman is expanding Muscat and Salalah international airports and developing four new regional airports in a multibillion-dollar project to stimulate trade and tourism. The country’s flag-carrier, Oman Air, is also growing and in 2007 announced a deal to buy five new Airbus wide-bodied A330s, scheduled for delivery within the next two years.Most of the deals announced this week involved construction work, but smaller contracts included a radar system, a new meteorological station and two camel racecourses. TAV Insaat of Turkey and an international consortium called Consolidated Contractors Company of Oman formed a partnership for the largest contract award, for works at Muscat International Airport worth 450 million rials.

Also at Muscat airport, Boskalis Westminster, based in The Netherlands, received an 18.2m rial deal for dredging works and soil reclamation. The German construction firm Strabag was awarded a contract through its local subsidiary to build Sohar Airport, in the Al Batinah region, in a deal worth 37.5m rials. The airport will cater for up to 50,000 passengers in the first phase and up to 500,000 passengers in later phases. It will be situated close to the country’s newest industrial zone, where a reported $12bn has been invested in a new port, free zone and pipeline network. Sohar and the other domestic airports will include runways measuring 4km long and 75 metres wide.

Abdul Rahim al Harami, the director general of air navigation at the ministry of transport, said the construction works for Muscat airport and the smaller centres should be finished by 2012, according to local media reports. The airports are all expected to begin operations at the start of 2013. The smaller airports are expected to draw tourists from Europe, the UAE and elsewhere into the country’s undeveloped hinterland. Last year, the sultanate received 650,000 tourists, including many on chartered tours from Europe, and it has outlined broad goals to greatly increase that number in coming years. Another of the smaller airports will be in Adam, south-west of Muscat, to be built by Strabag in a deal worth 3.6m rials. An international consortium called Desert Line Projects was chosen in a 23.4m rial deal to build Al Duqm Airport in the Al Wusta region.

Al Duqm Airport, which will be the country’s third international airport, carries an estimated cost of between $100m and $200m. Oman is to inject vast sums of money into the Duqm region, with new hotels, resorts and public beaches planned.The region will also one day be home to a large industrial and free-trade zone that will house a refinery, petrochemical complex, fisheries facilities and port complex.Other winners this week included US-based Raytheon for a contract worth 4.9m rials to design, supply and operate a radar system at Muscat airport. ADPI of France will act as the project manager for the construction of the regional airports, while the Danish firm COWI was previously hired to serve as project engineer, in collaboration with Larsen Architects. Local media also reported the Omani government signed a deal with a firm called the European Organisation for Satellite Investment to jointly develop the country’s meteorology services. Further announcements were expected to include contracts for the planned regional airport at the coastal city of Ras al Hadd, several hundred kilometres south of Muscat. Mr al Harami added that the Muscat deals included work to build a network of roads into and inside the airport.

Swiss launches Airbus A330 service to Muscat

Swiss International Air Lines, the national carrier of Switzerland, is in full gear with its ongoing investments in products and services and chose the Middle East to be the second market to receive the all-new A330-300 aircraft fitted with the latest innovations in seats and inflight entertainment this coming June. Marcel Biedermann, Managing Director, Head of Intercontinental Markets of Swiss International Air Lines said: "SWISS has a total investments of well over CHF1 billion (US$878 million) for the nine new Airbus A330-300's and we expect to raise the airline's earning capacity by replacing nine smaller aircraft of the present Airbus A330-200 fleet. The first of the new A330-300 took off from Zurich to New York last April and the second aircraft is due to arrive in Dubai come June. We expect complete delivery by 2011. Also, the new aircrafts will reduce SWISS's CO2 emissions by around 13 per cent."

"SWISS is on a quality drive to strengthen its position in the premium segment. Investments made since 2004 helped SWISS to build new lounges, improve inflight products and services in premium classes; eventually provide new three-class product on entire intercontinental fleet – the only airline in the world to offer a First Class cabin on all its long-haul aircraft," added Biedermann. "We are proud to be the recipient of the second A330-300 as it underlines the importance of the Middle East market for Swiss International Air Lines. Passengers are assured of unique Swiss hospitality and comfort with the new features of the A330-300 as it offers top-calibre product in First, Business and Economy class," said Martin Massüger, Director, Head of Sales Middle East, Africa, Pakistan and Iran for SWISS.

SWISS is the first airline to offer the revolutionary air comfort system to passengers enabling individual settings of whether to have a firmness of a futon or softness of a waterbed. The air cushion is placed in all body-contact areas such as back-rest, seat-cushion and leg-rest. The air cushion enables seat weight reduction, leading to lower fuel consumption for the A330-300. The air cushion technology is a joint innovation project by SWISS and Swiss industry market leader Lantal, in cooperation with select frequent flyer customers. SWISS's suite above the clouds is the new First Class seat which can be reclined into a two-metre-long totally lie-flat bed with the touch of a button. It is equipped with a down-filled duvet and incorporates the innovative pneumatic air cushion. First Class customers get to dine or work with fellow First Class traveler with the Ottoman, a large guest seat with its own backrest and armrests.

The new SWISS Business Seat offers optimum travel comfort with a state-of-the-art air cushion for adjustable comfort in all positions. Passengers will have more personal space and enjoy sleeping with the 2-meter (79") fully horizontal lie-flat seat which is also equipped with a massage function. Inflight entertainment has been improved to carry larger screens in 16:9 format and plugs for USB and iPod.Swiss Economy Class is not far behind as it also features a totally new and top-quality seats with easy-to-use inflight entertainment system. SWISS operates non-stop daily flights from Dubai to Zurich, daily flights from Muscat, Oman, five weekly flights from Cairo and four weekly flights from Riyadh and Jeddah. Overall, SWISS offers a comprehensive network of 90 destinations in 42 countries.

Oman's only green golf course starts operations

Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club is a cherished dream of His Highness Sayyid Kais bin Tarik Al Said. Once completed, the entire project will consist of the first 18-Hole championship golf course and lowest density luxury residential area in the Sultanate of Oman. The Golf Course has been delicately crafted around the naturally undulating Omani mountain terrain to produce the most challenging course of its kind across the Middle East.

Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club is set in a picturesque hillside location with spectacular panoramic sea and mountain views over Muscat International Airport and the Gulf of Oman. Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club is only a short drive from major shopping areas, first class restaurants, luxury hotels, private hospitals and international schools.

The first of its kind in Oman, ‘Majlis Al Said’ will be an innovative 'transparent' structure, built on a single floor on the highest promontory in the development. Available for select corporate events, ‘Majlis Al Said’ will also boast a pavilion from which invited guests will be able to view play on almost all holes during PGA or other international events.

Across the swimming pools from the Club will be a boutique luxury hotel. The main hotel is expected to have around 150 elegant rooms, with another 50 rooms offered in opulent golf chalets and a few serviced apartments, for longer staying guests, especially those on golf tours. A wide range of facilities in the hotel will be available to the members of the Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club at discounted rates. Further details of the hotel will be announced shortly and it is expected to open its doors to its first guests by the end of 2010.

Paramount Airways signs deal with Airbus

Madurai-based Paramount Airways will buy 10 Airbus A321 aircraft for $1.5 billion. The company has placed the order with French aircraft manufactures Airbus for operating flights to the Middle East, Africa and Far Eastern destinations, Paramount managing director M Thiagarajan said. “These overseas destinations will only have first class and business class, a model similar to our domestic operation,” he said. The delivery of first aircraft will be in the fourth quarter of 2010. The European Central Bank is funding Paramount’s fleet expansion plan. “Paramount has signed an agreement to buy 10 aircraft at a list price of $90 million each. The airline has option to buy 10 additional aircraft,” Airbus vice president (sales) Miranda Mills said.

The company’s plan to add 10 more aircraft in its existing fleet of 5 airplanes comes at a time when most of the domestic carriers are deferring their fleet expansion plans due to the current economic slowdown. Paramount currently operates with five 70-seater Embraer jets. Paramount plans to operate flights on international sectors soon. The existing guideline by the government allows an airline to fly overseas only after it completes five years of operation in the domestic market and has a fleet size of at least 20 aircraft.“We would complete five years of operation next year. By then we would also have a fleet size of more than 20 aircraft,” Mr Thiagarajan said.

Air India must cut staff, perks for bailout

The government wants Air India (AI) to scrap its performance-linked incentive (PLI) scheme and cut the number of staff per aircraft as pre-conditions for bailing out the national carrier reeling under a mounting debt burden, according to a senior official. AI should downsize or increase the number of planes in operation, said the official who didn’t want either himself or his department to be named given the sensitivity of the issue.“When we ask them to freeze the PLI, they say there is an agreement with employee unions which stops them from doing so. These agreements cannot be honoured if the company turns sick,” he said citing the example of Singapore Airlines staff, which took a voluntary salary cut during the recent SARS outbreak.

AI has also been advised to take a relook at its aircraft delivery schedule for Boeing and Airbus planes, given the market scenario. Further expansion of capacity at this stage will only lead to more losses, the government feels.PLI is a major component of the compensation package of 31,000 AI employees. AI pays around Rs 1,400 crore as PLI annually out of its total wage bill of Rs 3,000 crore. AI employs 230 people per aircraft as against 130 employees in the case of IndiGo.“We have been sending Air India’s bailout plan to the finance ministry, but so far, they have not been convinced,” the official said.The civil aviation secretary M Madhavan Nambiar is expected to take up the AI issue with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s principal secretary TKA Nair soon.