Qatar Airways is stepping up frequency on the Doha-Dubai route with three additional daily flights taking capacity up to 11 services a day in a move to offer passengers more choice. Effective Aug. 25, introduction of the new services provides improved connection opportunities over the airline’s Doha hub to a raft of destinations across the carrier’s growing international network. A mix of morning, afternoon and late night flights to Dubai ensures more travel options. And the additional flights also reinforce the importance the airline places on the route, the highest frequency of any route operated by the airline with 77 services each week. Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker said: “Additional capacity on our most popular route demonstrates the level of confidence and commitment we have to a key neighboring market. It is also indicative that as we develop our international network with the introduction of new routes, we want to provide the traveling public greater travel options between Doha and our feeder markets such as Dubai.” Qatar Airways currently operates flights to over 100 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America with a modern fleet of 98 aircraft. Recently named Airline of the Year 2011 in the prestigious annual Skytrax World Airline Awards, the airline embarked on an aggressive 12-month expansion program at the beginning of the year. Over the last six months, it has added 10 new routes to its global network.Citi has announced that it has won several accolades in the first round of Global Finance magazine’s awards for the 2011 Best Internet Banks in the Middle East and Africa. Citi’s branches in Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Pakistan won Best Corporate/Institutional Internet Bank Awards in their respective markets, while Citibank Bahrain and Citibank Egypt won best Consumer Internet Bank Awards. Winners were chosen among entries evaluated by a world-class panel of judges at Infosys. Global Finance editors were responsible for the final selection of winners in the first round. “Winning banks were selected based on the following criteria: Strength of strategy for attracting and servicing online customers, success in getting clients to use web offerings, growth of online customers, breadth of product offerings, evidence of tangible benefits gained from Internet initiatives, and website design and functionality,” according to Global Finance. Atiq ur Rehman, Citi’s CEO for the Middle East division, said: “We are delighted to receive these awards from Global Finance. This is a strong recognition of Citi’s capabilities and the service we provide to our clients in the Region.” Global Finance is an international finance magazine with a circulation in over 163 countries. The magazine covers a wide spectrum of subjects including corporate financing, capital markets, monetary policies, banking operations and risk management.

Lulu Hypermarket, Saudi Arabia’s major and fastest growing retail chain, Wednesday inaugurated a 10-day festival of dates at its superstores in Riyadh and Alkhobar. Asharqia Chamber Assistant Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Homiyn opened the festival at Lulu Hypermarket in Alkhobar while Abdul Hadi Al-Dohan of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority inaugurated the Riyadh date festival. As part of the festival, Lulu Hypermarkets are exhibiting more than 50 different varieties of dates from different parts of the world. Since Saudi Arabia is the second largest producer of dates in the world, local farms produce nearly 300 varieties of dates that have unique taste and texture. Most of the world famous dates come from Al-Qasim, Al-Kharj, Al-Hasa and Madinah. The dates have been arranged in style in the hypermarkets’ fruit and vegetable section. There is a wide range of fresh dates called Ruthab. Then there are different brand of dates on display such as razis, muthawa, safari, salaj, rotana, sagi, mabroom and sukari. “All our festivals are geared toward providing our customers with the best in everything under one roof,” said Lulu’s Eastern Province Regional Director Abdul Basheer. The festival is not just about dates but dates products as well. Lulu’s standard and internationally-accredited bakery and hot food section is exhibiting different kind of dates-related products such as baklavas, dates rolls, dates mammouls and dates muffins, said Basheer.

LG Electronics, a global leader in IT solutions, in cooperation with Engineering Resources Co. (ERTEC), LG’s distributor for IT solutions, have provided MOE’s laboratories and training centers with LG network monitors and the most modern projector systems. Abdullah A. Al-Thakafi, MOE’s director general in Jeddah, opened recently the Educational Training & Scholarship Programs Center (ET&SPC), in Jeddah in the presence of Saad Al-Qarni, head of (ET&SPC) in Jeddah, John Lee, MD, LG Saudi Arabia, and Ali Al-Saflan, executive director of Engineering Resources Co. (ERTEC). The new center comes in line with the Kingdom’s ambitious policy to turn education into a turning point for development and growth. LG made a presentation showcasing the latest IT solution provided to MOE by Khaled Abu Zaid, B2B director, LG, and Abu-Bakr Othman, operations manager of (ERTEC). Saad Al-Qarni, head of (ET&SPC) in Jeddah, said: “We appreciate this initiative by ERTEC and LG Electronics to support and equip the new educational training center. Qarni added: “This educational center is the first in the Kingdom to use the new LG networking monitors and soon we are planning to open 7 more educational centers in Jeddah serving almost 40,000 teachers and MOE staff. We hope to implement our initiative in Jeddah on a larger scale in other areas.” John Lee, MD, LG Saudi Arabia, said: “We at LG Electronics are pleased to participate in such a futuristic step in the education sector in the Kingdom.Samsung Electronics has signed a partnership agreement with the Jeddah College of Telecom and Electronics (CTE), aiming to adopt the social responsibility (SR) program in electronic training. Samsung will assist with the establishment of an integrated center for maintenance training that will be equipped with the latest technical equipment, support and sponsorship for training in techniques and methods of Samsung Electronics. Samsung and the CTE will also exchange experiences and knowledge, thus remaining within the framework of giving back to the community, and toward achieving the principle of strategic partnership in SR. Jae Chun Park, Samsung Electronics GM in the Kingdom, and Fahad bin Aboud Al-Amoudi, dean of the CTE, signed the deal. Al-Amoudi said: “The agreement represents the desire of both sides to transfer their technical knowledge in maintenance for developing skills and the professional capacity of the CTE staff.” Nael Hammad, Samsung’s head of corporate marketing in the Kingdom, said: “The partnership was the result of both parties’ desire to serve the community.” Ahmad Al-Dakhil, coordinator of the SR program at the Jeddah CTE, added: “We have created an integrated program to achieve maximum benefit from this partnership.” Ahmad Al Dakhil, coordinator of the SR program at the Jeddah CTE, said: “We have agreed with Samsung on a number of ambitious plans to serve the community through higher training in maintenance of electronics and telecommunications.” 

Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors (MYNM), exclusive BMW Group importer in the Kingdom, partnered with SAPTCO Limo (Saudi Arabian Public Transport Company) and provided BMW cars for the 36th annual meeting of the Islamic Development Bank Group (IDBG), held in Jeddah last week. A total of 55 BMW vehicles were provided for the event, including 40 of the new generation BMW 5 Series, 12 of the BMW 3 Series and three of the BMW X1. The vehicles were used to chauffeur VIP personnel at the meeting, including ministerial delegates from the 36 member countries of the IDB, government representatives and executives from the IDB. Anees Jamjoom, MD, BMW Group cars at MYNM, said: “SAPTCO Limo has a proven track record as a provider of premium chauffer services for high-end events, so they are an ideal partner for us on such a prestigious event.” The new generation BMW 5 Series, claimed to be the highest selling BMW Group model in the Middle East during H1 2011, was the vehicle of choice for the delegates, combining business functionality with luxury and innovation. The new BMW 5 Series sedan marks the epitome of aesthetic design and supreme driving pleasure in the upper midrange segment. “With its sporting and elegant design, excellent comfort and the highest standard in efficiency in its class, the sixth generation of this immensely successful executive sedan is a fitting vehicle for both local and international forums and events,” he added.Emirates has entered a new chapter by starting flights to Denmark and the land of famous storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. The launch of a non-stop daily service to Copenhagen takes Emirates’ own story into new territory as its first passenger service to Scandinavia. “Copenhagen brings a new and exciting dimension to the Emirates’ network,” said Richard Vaughan, Emirates’ divisional SVP, commercial operations worldwide. “Emirates’ passengers from Scandinavia no longer need to travel to Germany to join our flights. They can travel directly from the Danish capital all the way to the Far East and Australasia, via our ultra-modern hub in Dubai.” The Dubai-Copenhagen route is the airline’s 114th destination served by an A330-200 in a three-class configuration. Up to 17 tons of cargo can be carried in the belly-hold of each flight. “This new link opens up Scandinavia for Emirates on the cargo side too,” said Pradeep Kumar, Emirates’ SVP, cargo revenue optimization and systems. “We have been sending in freighters to Gothenburg in Sweden since 2003, but this additional channel, feeding into our vast and efficient network, will be welcomed by importers and exporters by offering more frequencies and cargo capacity.” Carsten Noerlund, VP, sales and marketing, Copenhagen Airports, said: “The route is great news for the many Danish and Scandinavian businesses that are operating in the growth markets of Southeast Asia, India, and Australia.” Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has celebrated both its fifth anniversary of non-stop services between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum and the introduction of its fifth weekly flight on the route. The airline commenced operations to the capital of Sudan in July 2006, and since then has carried more than 200,000 travelers and nearly 6.5 million tons of cargo on the route. James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ CEO, said: “Etihad is experiencing a period of rapid expansion with the launch of many exciting new destinations and the arrival of new aircraft. Our services to Khartoum have exceeded our expectations over the past five years, and we are pleased to be able to build on this success with an additional flight.” Etihad Crystal Cargo has been successfully operating freighter flights to Khartoum for more than six years. Currently cargo freighter operations between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum offer a payload of up to 46 tons on each flight, three times a week. Etihad currently operates a two cabin Airbus A320-200 aircraft between Abu Dhabi and Khartoum, configured to carry 136 passengers — 16 in Pearl business and 120 in Coral economy. Mohamed El-Noman, Etihad’s country manager for Sudan, said: “The additional weekly flight will open new horizons for our commercial activities in Sudan and will offer our customers more flexibility in their travel to Abu Dhabi and onto the airline’s worldwide network.”