Category: Aviation

The Emirates A380 touched down in Beirut today for a historic one-off service to Rafic Al Hariri International Airport (BEY), contributing to an aviation milestone for Lebanon and its hub airport. The landing demonstrated the airport’s readiness to accommodate the A380, the world’s largest commercial passenger jet. The special A380 flight was operated by Captain Robert Nicholls from the UK and First Officer Hasib Bu Alwan, a Lebanese national. The 517 passengers travelling on EK 957, many of whom had made their bookings to be on this unique flight, were joined by a top-level delegation led by the airline. Upon landing ... Read more

Emirates is providing an immersive cinematic experience in its lounges in Dubai International Airport by providing Skylights theatre headsets to customers. The headsets are being trialled in the Business Class lounge in Concourse B for the month of April and in the First Class lounge in concourse B in May. Offering a fixed-screen with a wide-angle field of view for 3D and 2D content, each Skylight theatre headset weighs only 120g and offers a Full HD viewing experience. Its in-built sound and video allow customers to fully immerse themselves in what they are watching. A mix of content will be ... Read more

Emirates is celebrating the Easter holiday with a range of treats available to customers across all classes on board and in the airport lounges from 30th March to 2nd April. Emirates customers travelling from Dubai to Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Argentina, Brazil and the Philippines will be able to enjoy the Easter offering. Special menus have also been created for the lounges at Dubai International Airport and selected Emirates lounges worldwide. Across all classes, customers can look forward to special buns on board – handmade using Emirates’ signature recipe with spiced dough and orange peel, sultanas and currants. Various ... Read more

An IndiGo flight suffered a tyre burst on a flight from Tirupati while landing at Hyderabad Airport. The flight had 77 people on board when it was landing at the airport wednesday evening during which the tyre burst. All passengers were evacuated safely, as per the airlines’ statement. After the aircraft was stuck on the runway, the authorities at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport had to suspend the operation. Two flights were diverted to Bengaluru due to the runway closure following the incident. “IndiGo flight 6E 7117 operated by an ATR (aircraft) from Tirupati to Hyderabad suffered a tyre burst ... Read more

Emirates said it will add a second daily flight between Dubai and Prague, after steadily growing passenger numbers on the route during the eight years since launch of operations in July 2010. The new Emirates flight will commence from 1st July 2018 to meet the increasing demand for both inbound and outbound travel. The second daily flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER with a capacity of 360 seats, boosting inbound tourism through the additional 262,800 seats a year it will provide. The year-round flight will have a three class configuration offering eight Private Suites in First Class, 42 ... Read more

Air New Zealand announced it will begin new nonstop service between Auckland and Chicago, beginning Nov. 30, 2018. The new service announcement deepens the joint venture relationship between Air New Zealand and United Airlines. In addition to the new route announcement, United announced it will extend its seasonal service between San Francisco and Auckland to year-round beginning April 2019. “We expect the addition of Chicago to our network to be an attractive option for Americans keen to explore New Zealand and Kiwis wanting to visit Chicago or head on to other North American destinations. As well as being great for ... Read more

Qatar Airways’ first flight to Thessaloniki, Greece’s second-largest city, touched down at Thessaloniki International Airport ‘Makedonia’ yesterday. The airline’s Airbus A320 was welcomed with a traditional water cannon salute, followed by welcome ceremony for VIP delegates. The new four times-weekly service from Doha to Greece commenced just one month ahead of the launch of its third destination in Greece, the beautiful island of Mykonos. “Qatar Airways’ new service to Thessaloniki will help reinforce links between the State of Qatar and Greece, and deepen the friendship and co-operation between our two great countries. Our second gateway in Greece, Thessaloniki is a ... Read more

Aeroflot, Russia’s flag carrier, allegedly forced five Asian-American passengers to fly to Delhi instead of New York because of their skin colour. Aeroflot staff warned the US citizens, all of south Asian descent, that they would be “deported” to India if they refused to deplane, according to a racial discrimination complaint. The Americans were travelling from Delhi to the US on 7 January but were stranded during a stopover in Moscow when their connecting flight to JFK International Airport was cancelled due to heavy snow in New York, reported The Independent. The passengers were then told that there were no available seats on ... Read more

If you are in anyway planning to fly from Dubai to Philippines, better book the tickets either today or tomorrow as Cebu Pacific is giving unbelievable discounts. The Philippines’ leading carrier Cebu Pacific launched an exclusive seat sale on March 27 and 28 for Dubai to Manila flights, with ticket prices dropping to as low as Dh1. The travel period is from January 1, 2019 to March 30, 2019. “The weather in the Philippines tends to be cooler and less humid from January to March-perfect for tourists and expats to take in the sights and enjoy the country’s breath-taking island ... Read more

Thai Airways fitted new seatbelt airbags on business class seats on its Dreamliner 787-9 fleet recently. The news was music to the ears of those nervous flyers. But, however, it’s not that good a decision for  fat people and parents of young children. It seems that passengers with a waistline of more than 142.24 cm (or 56 inches) will not be able to fasten the new seatbelt airbags in a way that meets safety standards. Similarly, parents of young children will now be forced into cattle class if they need to travel with their kids on their laps. The seatbelts can’t be ... Read more

Etihad Airways has signed a new codeshare partnership with Swiss International Air Lines (Swiss). Under the agreement, Etihad Airways will have its EY flight code on Swiss services between Geneva and Zurich, while Swiss will market its LX code on the Abu Dhabi carrier’s said services between Zurich and Abu Dhabi. Etihad said the codeshare is effective immediately for travel from March 26. “This codeshare deepens Etihad Airways’ commitment to the Swiss travel market and Switzerland, a key destination for travellers from our UAE home, neighbouring Gulf countries, and across our Asia Pacific network,” said Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways CEO. ... Read more

Air France announced that it will extend its Cork to Paris Charles de Gaulle service for the winter 2018/2019 season, linking Ireland’s South to the French capital, while also offering onward connections to up to 180 destinations worldwide. The Cork to Paris service is a new route on the Air France network, due to commence operation from 26 May 2018. The service, which was announced in January was originally scheduled to run through to the end of the summer season, finishing on 27 October. However, due to positive forward bookings, the route has now been extended to a yearly service. ... Read more

Travel is expected to peak this weekend for Emirates, as the airline expects yet another busy period with visitors passing through Terminal 3 ahead of the spring break holiday. “The busiest time for departures will be on Friday 23rd March in the morning and continuing all day on Saturday 24th and Sunday 25th March,” the airlines said in a statement. With road works and infrastructure enhancements happening around the main airport highways and roads during this time, Emirates urges customers to build in extra time to their journeys to avoid potential delays. “Customers are reminded to arrive at the airport ... Read more

The Karipur airport runway will remain closed for seven hours in the morning from March 25 onwards. The runway will remain closed as part of the construction work of Runway End Safety Area (RESA) From March 25 to April 15, the runway will be closed between 12.00 pm and 07.00 pm. As per the new summer schedule, IndiGo will start services to Hyderabad from March 25. The daily flight which will take off from Karipur at 9.30 am will reach Hyderabad by 11.15 pm and will return from Hyderabad at 6.20 pm and reach Karipur by 8.05 pm. The afternoon ... Read more

Jet Airways is all set to commence its new service between Trichy- Mumbai – Delhi on March 25 on a daily basis, said airport director K Gunasekaran. A separate commercial space has been allotted to IndiGo, which has plans to commence a service between Trichy and Bangalore. The Jet Airway flight (9W358) would depart at 9 am in Delhi and reach Mumbai at 11.20 am. From there the flight would depart at 12.25 pm and would arrive at Trichy airport at 2.10. While returning, the flight (9W311) would depart from Trichy airport at 2.40 pm and reach Mumbai at 4.50 pm ... Read more