JEDDAH — OAG, the global travel and transport information company, has calculated that the world’s scheduled airlines including Low Cost Carriers offered a record 3.3 billion seats on 28.2 million flights during 2006. That represents an average daily offer of over nine million seats on 77,371 individual daily flights. Total seat offer year-on-year was up 3.4 percent from the 3.2 billion seats offered in 2005 across 27.7 million flights. Scheduled flights increased 1.8 percent from 2005 to 2006 with 2,856 new direct or reinstated services being introduced during the year. Low Cost Carriers offered a total of 549,078,161 seats in 2006 on 3,815,204 flights, which represents 17 percent of the total number of scheduled seats on offer worldwide. Within the US the capacity share of the Low Cost Carriers was 27 percent, slightly more than Europe where the offer was 24%. In the Asia/Pacific region, Low Cost Carriers offered just nine percent of the total number of seats on offer by scheduled airlines in 2006, but the low cost sector has seen a sizable growth throughout the region when compared to 2005, with both seat offer and frequency up over 55 percent year on year.
Turkish Airlines Joins Star Alliance
ISTANBUL — The chief executive board of Star Alliance, the airline network for Earth, has voted to accept the membership application of Turkish Airlines. This now clears the way for Turkish Airlines to begin the integration process which will subsequently see the airline become the alliance’s 21st member carrier. With its fleet of 101 aircraft and network covering destinations in the US, Europe, Asia and Africa, Turkish Airlines will allow the Star Alliance network to offer more than 17,500 daily flights serving 927 airports in 162 countries. The airline’s home base, Istanbul, will in future become Star Alliance’s foremost hub at the crossroads of Europe and Asia and act as gateway to various new destinations in Turkey and new connections especially to the Middle East and Central Asia. “With Turkish Airlines joining Star Alliance, we can offer a wider choice of flight options while at the same time expanding our network reach to areas previously not served. Here specifically, Star Alliance will be in a unique position to offer flight connections through, what has historically been, the gateway to both Asia and Europe,” said Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht.
Emirates to Start Non-Stop Flights to Venice
DUBAI — Dubai-based Emirates Airline will launch non-stop services to the city of Venice, its third Italian destination after Milan and Rome, from July 1. The service, initially five-times-a-week on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays, will increase two months later to a daily service from Sept. 1. Emirates will operate an Airbus A330-200 on the route offering 27 business class seats, and 251 in economy; plus 13 ton bellyhold space for cargo. Emirates’ Dubai-Venice flight will create a new non-stop connection that is expected to foster a greater flow of tourism and business traffic between one of the Middle East’s fastest-developing leisure and business hubs and the thriving commercial region of Veneto in northern Italy. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, chairman and chief executive, Emirates Airline and Group, said: “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to expand our services to Italy and are pleased to offer a new direct link between Dubai and Venice. “Our new service will contribute to Italy’s many flourishing small and medium-sized businesses by providing increased access from Venice to other cities around the globe.”
Launch of Armani Hotels & Resorts on Schedule
DUBAI — Emaar Hotels & Resorts, the hospitality subsidiary of global real estate major Emaar Properties, has strengthened the core management team at its London headquarters to steer the on-schedule completion of Armani Hotels & Resorts and identify opportunities for greater international expansion. Emaar Hotels & Resorts is a collaboration between Emaar Properties and haute couture leader Giorgio Armani S.p.A. It works to conceptualize, develop, own and operate luxury hotels across the world under the brand name Armani Hotels & Resorts. Emaar Hotels & Resorts will complete four luxury Armani Hotels by 2011 in key international cities. Three Armani Hotels are currently being developed in Dubai, Milan, and Marrakesh, with the first opening scheduled for end-2008. Robert Riley, CEO, Emaar Hotels & Resorts, said that the challenge of building an exclusive global hospitality brand lies in identifying a niche positioning and establishing its identity and appeal to a discerning audience.
Mercator Makes History With Malaysia Airlines
DUBAI — Mercator, the IT Division of the Emirates Group, has concluded a multi-million dollar contract with Malaysia Airlines for airline revenue accounting solutions for both its passenger and cargo operations. The airline has outsourced its passenger revenue accounting data processing operations to Mercator, and will now send electronic data and scanned ticket images to Mercator’s facilities in Dubai for analysis. The contract further boosts Mercator’s customer base in the region, which already sees leading South East Asian carriers such as Singapore Airlines, Royal Brunei Airlines and Philippine Airlines using Mercator systems. More than 25 million coupons will be processed each year, generating a stream of invaluable management and strategic information. Benefits will include enhanced revenue through accurate billing and verification, reduced accounting costs, boosted productivity and the elimination of training costs.
Gulf Air Extends Interline Ticketing
BAHRAIN — Following the first successful implementation of interline electronic ticketing (IET) with American Airlines, Gulf Air has now extended the IET facility to include British Airways (BA) and Emirates Airline in its e-ticketing network. Passengers can now have the convenience of using a single e-ticket for journeys on Gulf Air, BA and Emirates to eligible destinations. BA flies to over 550 destinations while Emirates connects 83 destinations in 57 countries around the world. “Gulf Air is on the fast track in its e-ticketing mission,” says Gulf Air Vice President Information Technology Pauric Doyle. “This is another milestone in our continuous stride toward implementing electronic ticketing to make global travel easier, especially when it involves more than one airline,” he said. “Since we rolled out our first e-ticketing in November 2005, our progress has been well on the track. Gulf Air is one of the very few airlines to date to have completed e-ticketing in 70 percent of its network. And we are well ahead in our plans to meet the International Air Transport Association (IATA) deadline of Dec. 31, 2007,” Doyle added.
