World's oldest DC-9-10 to end revenue service this month

The world's oldest remaining DC-9-10 still in commercial service is set to be retired at the end of this month. Currently in service with Kenya's Fly SAX (B5, Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta), 5Y-XXA (msn 45725) will undertake its last commercial service on November 28 when it is ferried from Nairobi Jomo Kenyatta to the Finnish Aviation Museum near Helsinki Vantaa where it will become an exhibit.

The flight, routed via Aswan and Venice Marco Polo, is operated in conjunction with a spotters outfit, Classic Jet Tours.

Built in January 1966, the near 50 year-old twinjet has seen service with Air Canada, Trans Texas Airways, Texas International, Southern Airways, Finnair, British Midland Airways, All Star Airlines, Midwest Airlines, and finally East African/Fly540.

Emirates Jeddah Service Adjustment from mid-Dec 2015

Emirates starting 14DEC15 is adjusting operational aircraft on Dubai – Jeddah route, as the carrier’s 3 daily flights will be exclusively operated by Airbus A380, except selected dates in January 2016.

Currently this flight is operated by A380 twice a day, Boeing 777-300ER 5 times a week. Upon planned permanent aircraft change, overall frequency will increase from 19 to 21 weekly.

United Airlines rolls out enhanced club lounges

United Airlines will unveil new United Club lounges in both Atlanta and San Francisco, offering customers modern designs with stunning panoramic views of the airfields.

Also on offer is comfortable seating to work or relax, fresh and healthy food choices, complimentary beverages and plentiful power outlets throughout.

“Our customers deserve the very best travel experience, and our new clubs are not only beautiful spaces, they are also very functional and will provide the perfect settings for customers to relax, refresh and recharge before their flights,” said Jimmy Samartzis, United vice president of food services and United Clubs.

South African Airways further strengthens its West African network, introduces Abuja

Second entry point in Nigeria offers business travellers more options

South African Airways (SAA), the leading carrier in the Sub-Saharan Africa region, has introduced a second entry point to Nigeria in its quest to enable trade and unlock mobility, which will considerably add to business travel options in the West African region.

Adding a second gateway in Nigeria to SAA’s existing daily service to Lagos materially strengthens SAA’s position in West Africa where it plays a significant role in enabling the movement of goods and people between Southern Africa and West Africa thereby enhancing the growing trade and cultural exchanges between these two regions.

British Airways launches new routes to Greece

Greece is the word for British Airways this week as the airline has added two new destinations to its 2016 summer schedule: Chania and Kalamata.

Both sunshine routes will be available to book from today, and the first flights will take to the skies from April 30th, 2016.

Neil Cottrell, British Airways’ head of network planning, said: “We’re delighted to be offering our customers more choices to popular holiday hot-spots.

“With so many new routes from London, our customers will have greater choice with even more value-for-money holidays to choose from, whether it’s a family break or a short weekend trip away.

“We know these new holiday routes are going to prove incredibly popular after increasing our number of flights to Santorini earlier this year and we are pleased we can give our customers an even greater choice of places to get away from it all.”

The flights to both destinations will be served by a mixture of A319 and A320 aircraft from Heathrow.

British Airways will be increasing its frequency to Corfu for the summer 2016 season, bringing the total number of flights to the island to six per week.

Flights to Santorini will also increase from three to four flights per week.

ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX tickets in good demand

Entering its 6th year, the 2014 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX is back this 21, 22, 23 November.  With more choice than ever before, Middle East’s biggest event is set to be the standout sporting event of the year. With a range of new packages available, the Grand Prix weekend offers an unparalleled social and sporting experience.for

The FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX has fast established itself as one of the most spectacular races on the F1® calendar. Hosted at Yas Marina Circuit since its inauguration in 2009, the race is among the latest additions to the F1® calendar and has rapidly grown in popularity to become one of the most anticipated annual racing events. As the only twilight race on the calendar, fans can experience the magic of a day night race in a marina track setting.

Whether you are a hardcore F1® fan or are simply looking to be a part of the Middle East’s premier social and sporting weekend, there is a ticket for you

The Yas Marina Circuit has announced that tickets for the 2014 Formula One Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in the most popular categories are selling out fast and have asked the fans to take advantage of the great deals and offers on the tickets.

For Packages contact http://www.abudhabigrandprixpackages.com/

Solid first half performance – Air Seychelles results show increase in revenue, passengers and cargo

(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles national airline, Air Seychelles, has reported a 20 percent increase in its revenue for the first half of 2014 compared to the same period in 2013.
According to a press statement issued this afternoon the airline says it “posted total revenues of US$50 million up from US$42 million in 2013.”
Air Seychelles says passenger numbers increased by 25 percent as 184,101 passengers flew with the airline from January to June this year compared to 146,980 passengers for the first six months of 2013.

The airline’s Available Seat Kilometres, which is the measure of an airline passenger-carrying capacity, rose 46 percent during the first half, with an average seat occupancy rate of almost 60 percent across its current network of five destinations – Paris, Abu Dhabi, Mauritius, Johannesburg and Hong Kong.

The seat occupancy rate rose to an acceptable 73 percent after the seasonal slump during the first quarter.

Air Seychelles was established in 1977  and adopted its present name in September 1978. Between 1978 and 2012 it was wholly owned by the Seychelles government but in 2012 the UAE's Etihad Airways bought a 40% share in the airline, investing $45 million in Air Seychelles. 
According to the Air Seychelles statement its codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways has seen a significant expansion in the first half of the year with Amman, Dammam, Jeddah, Riyadh, Rome, Seoul and Zurich added to its new total of 28 destinations around the world.
The island carrier’s connections have been opened to even more new tourism source markets with the total number of weekly codeshare connections rising from 297 to an impressive 566.
Domestic success

Air Seychelles’ route between the main island of Mahé and the second most populated island of Praslin remained the busiest of all, with almost 72,000 passengers travelling between the two islands in the first half of the year.
The second highest traffic was seen between Mahé and Abu Dhabi with nearly 50,000 passengers carried, with a year-on-year increase of 90 percent.
Abu Dhabi is followed by Hong Kong with 24,142 passengers (73 percent increase); Johannesburg’s 22,218 passengers (29 percent increase) and Mauritius with 15,846 passengers (14.4 percent increase).
Good news for cargo

Air Seychelles delivered just over 3,500 tonnes of cargo in the first half of the year, a 35 percent increase in tonnage from the first half of 2013.
The airline’s domestic cargo services, which only commenced dedicated services in April this year, also saw 13.2 tonnes of goods transferred between Praslin and Mahé.
Air Seychelles Chief Executive Officer Manoj Papa has attributed the growth in the company’s revenue, passenger and cargo figures “to the continued success of our business model, our partnership with Etihad Airways and the hard work and dedication of our staff.”
“Overall it continues to be a tough operating environment for many airlines, but we are confident our strategy will continue to allow us to drive quality revenue, enhance the guest experience, while being a catalyst for boosting trade and tourism into Seychelles,” said Papa.

Ambitious expansion plans

The national airline has already announced an expansion of its regional network as of December this year as it starts flying to the Indian metropolis of Mumbai, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Antananarivo in Madagascar.

The Chairman of the Air Seychelles Board, Joel Morgan, who is also the archipelago’s Minister for Home Affairs and Transport, said the results “demonstrate the airline’s turnaround success story, which has seen us widen and deepen our partnership with Etihad Airways and other airlines, while significantly expanding our customer offering throughout 2014.”
In April this year, the Seychelles national airline Air Seychelles announced its second successive year of net profit, raking in a total of $3 million, almost three times more than the $1.1 million net profit recorded in 2012, a pattern Papa is determined to repeat for the third successive year.
“Air Seychelles is therefore focused, and we are on track for a third year of profitability,” adds Papa