Emirates signs memorandum of understanding with Arik Air

Emirates and Arik Air, West Africa’s leading airline, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop and expand their existing commercial relationship and explore further areas of co-operation.

Emirates and Arik Air currently have a one-way interline agreement, whereby Emirates passengers are connected throughout Nigeria and West Africa via Arik Air’s current domestic and regional network.

The deal was signed by Adnan Kazim, Emirates divisional senior vice president, planning, aeropolitical and industry affairs, and Chris Ndlulue, Arik Air’s managing director, at Emirates Group headquarters in Dubai.

“Both Emirates and Arik Air have expressed interest in exploring ways to expand on our existing commercial relationship and to look at different areas in which we can cooperate that will be mutually beneficial to both airlines, including seamless connectivity for our customers on our respective networks.

“We also intend to explore the potential of code share arrangements as passenger traffic flows mature between both parties’ networks,” said Kazim.

Emirates and Arik Air will also explore other areas of cooperation for the future, including frequent flier programmes, passenger and cargo handling.

“Arik Air is delighted to partner with Emirates. Both airlines share a similar vision of convenience and safety for our customers.

“While Arik Air is happy to open its network in Nigeria and West Africa to Emirates passengers, we are excited at the vast worldwide network of Emirates being made available to Arik Air’s passengers.

“The invaluable cooperation between the two airlines offers a lot of synergy to both airlines in achieving their objectives,” added Ndlulue.

Nigerian Arik Air is the largest airline in Western and Central Africa and has developed and successfully operates an extensive domestic route network in Nigeria, and regionally across Western Africa from its twin hubs in Lagos and Abuja, and to Johannesburg in South Africa and intercontinentally to New York and to London from its Lagos hub.

Emirates is one of the world’s leading international airlines and flies to more than 140 destinations in 81 countries across six continents.

It operates the world’s largest fleet of Boeing 777 aircraft and Airbus A380s.

British Airways' next-gen Club World business class seat

Is this the Club World business class seat we'll see across British Airways' new Airbus A350 fleet?

If so, then BA is set to ditch the current forward-backward layout of Club World for a new 'herringbone' design which gives each passenger direct aisle access plus an oversized seat that's closer to a one-person couch.

BA reckons the design is sufficiently unique to have applied for a UK patent (GB2510765A) which was filed on May 19, 2014 but surfaced only last week.

That patent application provides a sneak peek of what could be the airline's next-generation Club World seat, which has been created for BA by London firm PriestmanGoode (company director Nigel Goode is listed on the patent as the design's inventor).

It's not a sure thing, of course: this may be one of several concepts which BA is considering, and this particular design might never see light of day.

All the same, it's worthy of close examination. So what does BA have up its tailored sleeve?

Update: we now have photos of BA's new concept Club World sofa-seat – here's one to whet your whistle, click the link for more!

Photos: British Airways' Airbus A350 Club World business class prototype

In detail: British Airway's new Club World concept

The new design sees each passenger ensconced in a slightly curved cubicle, seated close to the window with their feet facing towards the aisle.

It's a familiar starting point: Virgin Atlantic's Upper Class and Business Premier on Air New Zealand follow similar lines, while Cathay Pacific business class has also popularised this angled 'herringbone' layout.

However, the relatively high wall and wide bench-like seat are more akin toSingapore Airlines' latest Boeing 777-300ER business class.

That's intended to allow the passenger to sit, sleep or spread out as they choose.

Here's the standard forward-facing mode for eating, working or just gazing out the window.

You can swing around to nestle into the corner of the seat – notice that this 'dining service' illustration also shows an alternative position for the meal tray. 

Finally, stretch out and grab some sleep. 

A swing-up portion of the seat, marked in the diagram below as 3, fills the gap between the seat and the ottoman to create the fully-flat bed.

While the individual window seats are angled towards the centre of the plane, the two seats in the middle face out towards the aisle.

(BA's patent application includes seating layouts for not only the Airbus A350 but also the Airbus A380 superjumbo, Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Boeing 777 and even the venerable Boeing 747, although we doubt the ageing jumbo will ever see this upgrade.)

Here's an entire whole Club World business class cabin showing the 1-2-1 herringbone layout.

Naturally, the airline proposes a slide-up privacy screen between the middle seats, but it allows that these paired seats are often booked by two people travelling together.

In a nod to this, BA suggests that the bulkhead facing the first row of middle seats could contain a super-sized video screen of around 40 inches (100 cm) "to provide a larger viewing screen or private cinema for the occupants of the double seat."

Seat pitch in the proposed cabin layouts varies between 42- 43 inches, while bed length is listed as 74.5 inches (1.88 metres) with a total width of 26.3 inches (66.8 cm).

The inflight entertainment screen is built into the wall of the seat enclosure and faces the passenger so you can continue to watch movies or TV shows during the taxi, take-off and landing stages of your flight.

However, the screen swivels out from the wall and also tilts up or down...

 ... so that passengers can find the 'optimum viewing angle' no matter what position they're in.

One of the main criticisms of BA's current Club World seat is the lack of stowage for inflight odds and ends – there's just one slide-out drawer down near the floor, which is largely out of reach of the passenger.

This new design aims to turn that around with plenty of cleverly-designed storage space.

First up, each set has a small side table which doubles as a cocktail tray. Under that is a hanger for noise-cancelling headphones plus a recess for a bottle of water.

Under the ottoman (marked as 4 in the diagram below) contains a large slide-out drawer (labelled as 8) which has been divided into several different-sized compartments.

These are handy for phones and tablets, books and reading glasses and even what appears to be a deeper recess suitable for an amenity kit or small purse.

If you'd like to persude the patent application for yourself, we've made it available for direct download: click here [1.6MB PDF]

In all, it's a fascinating look at where British Airways business class couldbe headed: shifting from a measured evolution of the current design towards what would be an outright revolution – and probably a very welcome one – for current Club World travellers.

It's also a significant step away from the current 'high density' Club World layout, which provides an eight-across array on the airline's Boeing 777-300ER and Airbus A380 flagships.

As BA notes in the patent application, "there is intense competition to provide ever-greater comfort and space for aircraft passengers." And for British Airways, this could be the seat which delivers it.

In preparation for AFCON Emirates boosts flights into Casablanca, Morocco

Emirates will step up services to Morocco with a second daily flight, boosting the service to 14 weekly flights beginning September 1st, 2014.

From October 26th, Emirates will upgrade this additional daily from an Airbus A340-500 to a Boeing 777-300ER, which means both daily services will be served by Boeing 777s.

The additional flight, coupled with an aircraft upgrade, will increase Emirates’ weekly passenger capacity to Morocco by 100 per cent, representing an extra 2,520 seats per week in each direction.

“By providing an extra daily frequency and upgrading the aircraft, we are responding to the strong demand for additional capacity.

“The strengthened service will foster new business and tourism ties to one of our key destinations within Africa and open up a wealth of choice for passengers travelling from Casablanca to Dubai.

“The increased frequency will give our customers greater flexibility in their travel plans allowing them to connect seamlessly to other flights on Emirates’ global network of over 140 destinations that spans six continents.” said Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates vice president commercial operations for Northern and Western Africa.

Emirates’ new capacity initiatives are expected to increase the momentum for Morocco’s import and export industry.

Emirates SkyCargo will have a daily belly-hold capacity of 46 tonnes in each direction, ensuring businesses benefit from the additional 322 tonnes of weekly capacity on the route.

Key exports from Morocco include electrical components, mineral, chemical and agricultural products and garments while some of the main imports are petroleum products, automobiles and wheat.

In the last 12 years, since the route launch in 2002, Emirates has carried over 1.6 million passengers between Dubai and Casablanca, helping Morocco to tap into key tourism markets and trade destinations such as Japan, China, Australia and Southeast Asia.  

Emirates currently employs 750 Moroccans across the group, including over 320 cabin crew based at its home in Dubai.

The new service flight EK753 will depart Dubai every day at 14:55 and arrive in Casablanca at 20:25.

The return flight EK754 will leave Casablanca at 22:00s, arriving in Casablanca at 08:55 the following morning.

Emirates flies into Chicago for first time

Emirates has as commenced a daily nonstop passenger service to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.

On-board the inaugural flight was a joint VIP delegation from the US and Dubai as well as international media.

The inaugural flight carried passengers from more than 20 different countries to Chicago, demonstrating just how Emirates connects people across the globe.

“The Chicago route extends our passenger network to America’s third-largest city and complements our existing dedicated freighter service that operates to O’Hare,” said Adel Al Redha, Emirates chief operations officer.

“The launch of this route, will allow us to offer Emirates’ unique product and award-winning service to passengers flying to and from the Midwest to our home in Dubai or onwards to more than 140 global destinations including the Far East, Africa and India.”

“Launching Chicago-Dubai nonstop passenger service is another important step in establishing Chicago as one of the top tourism destinations in the world and achieving our goal of hosting 55 million visitors by 2020,” said Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel.

“Increased connectivity with Dubai will expose more international guests to the world-class hospitality, shopping districts, cultural attractions and architectural achievements that make Chicago one of the greatest cities in the world.”

The new service will operate as flight EK235, departing from Dubai International airport at 09:45 and arriving at O’Hare at 15:25.

The return flight, EK236, will depart O’Hare at 20:35 and arrive in Dubai at 19:10 the next day.

The route will be served by the US-built Boeing 777-200LR aircraft powered by GE90 engines.

In addition to passenger service, the Chicago-Dubai flight will carry up to 17 tons of cargo per flight and increase trade links between the two cities.

Emirates began operating cargo service to Chicago in 2013.

Currently, Emirates SkyCargo flies a twice-weekly, dedicated freight service out of O’Hare that carried nearly 12,000 tons of cargo last year.

Emirates began passenger services to the US in 2004 with services to New York.

The airline has steadily added more US routes over the past decade.

Chicago is the ninth US gateway to join the Emirates network, following the launch of the Boston service in March.

Fastjet commences flights between Tanzania and Zimbabwe

Fastjet has announce that its inaugural flight between Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Harare in Zimbabwe took place earlier,  marking the launch of the low-cost airline’s third international route in Africa, and the only direct air link between the two African capital cities.

Forward bookings for the twice-weekly flights are well ahead of management expectations and with the first flights from Zimbabwe already operating to full capacity, fastjet has decided to add a third rotation which will go on sale today.

“fastjet has responded to requests from Zimbabweans and Tanzanians asking for a direct route connecting these two cities with affordable, reliable flights,” said Ed Winter, chief executive of fastjet.

“The flight from Harare was fully booked.

“With future bookings also looking strong we’ve decided to add a third rotation each Thursday which we expect to commence at the end of next month.”

EK785 New Emirates flight to Nigerian capital, Abuja

Emirates has now connected Abuja to its worldwide network, making the Nigerian capital the airline’s 26th destination in Africa and its 144th worldwide.

Emirates flight EK785 landed at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport earlier, marking the start of the airline’s daily service to its second destination in Nigeria.

Services to Lagos were launched just over ten years ago.

“This new daily flight provides a convenient point to point service for our customers between Abuja and Dubai, and it will meet and further stimulate a vibrant market demand between the two cities.

“It will also serve our customers in Nigeria and around the network with additional connectivity and daily frequency.

“Our leisure and business passengers from Nigeria can now better connect to the Middle East, Europe, the United States and Asia via our hub in Dubai.

“Customers in Abuja can experience our A380 flagship aircraft to 29 destinations around the world, including popular ones like Beijing, Hong Kong, Mumbai, New York, Jeddah and London,” said Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates vice president commercial operations, Northern and Western Africa.

“With a fast growing economy, Nigeria is a key market for Emirates.

“We started operations to Nigeria on 2nd January 2004, with four flights a week from Dubai to Lagos.

“Since then, our operations have steadily grown with increases in both frequency and capacity between Lagos and Dubai.

“Today, we fly twice daily to Lagos and now we have added Abuja, giving us a total of more than 12,200 seats a week, which will further stimulate business and leisure travel, as well as trade,” he added.

Emirates flight EK785 departs Dubai daily at 10:50hrs and arrives in Abuja at 15:10hrs.

The return flight, EK 786 departs Abuja at 19:35hrs and arrives in Dubai at 05:50hrs the next morning.

Ethiopian Airlines upgrades Dreamliner fleet

Ethiopian Airlines has added its ninth Boeing 787 Dreamliner to its expanding fleet.

The new aircraft which was received earlier and has been named ‘Great Wall of China’.

This latest additional aircraft will support the route to Hong Kong from Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian was the first airline in the world outside Japan to receive the ultramodern Dreamliner in August 2012 and was the first airline to bring the new jet to London’s largest hub airport Heathrow.

In addition, it currently operates the largest 787 fleet in Africa.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner serves as Ethiopian’s core fleet on its fast expanding mid and long range routes between Africa, China, India, Brazil, the USA and Europe.

In July, the eighth B787 was added to the fleet to support the increased frequency of flights between London Heathrow and Addis Ababa as the airline increased to a daily schedule on July 8th.

Group chief executive officer of Ethiopian Airlines Group, Tewolde Gebremariam commented: “For almost seven decades, Ethiopian has been playing a pioneering role in African aviation by providing its esteemed customers the most technologically advanced aircraft the industry has to offer.

“Going forward, we will continue to expand our 787 destinations with the aim of providing our esteemed customers with the ultimate in on-board comfort.”

Ethiopian’s Boeing 787 offers unique features, which enhance passenger comfort such as greatly reduced noise, higher cabin humidity, the largest windows in the sky, unique lighting adaptable to the outside environment, wider aisles, more headroom and more seating flexibility.

Ethiopian’s B787s offer a two-class configuration with 24 business class/Cloud Nine seats and 246 seats in economy.

Ethiopian is a Pan-African global carrier with the youngest fleet in the continent with an average age of less than seven years and currently serves 82 international destinations across five continents with over 200 daily departures.