Ahead of this year's World Routes forum, Routesonline is providing another look at our series of articles on the leading airlines and airports and most used aircraft types across regions of the world last year. Here we look closely at the airports of the Middle East and highlight the region's top performers.
Despite the current political instability in Syria, ChamWings, the country’s first privately-owned carrier, has emerged as an important provider of international air connectivity in and out of the country with links across the Arab peninsula and into North Africa.
The latest update of the airline’s inventory for the winter 2015 schedule shows that Qatar Airways will introduce an additional two weekly flights (Fridays and Sundays) on the route from December 1, 2015, while a further weekly rotation (on Tuesdays) will be added from December 15, 2015.
According to its latest schedule update, Saudia will place the 787-9 into passenger operation from February 1, 2016 with its first scheduled flight due to operate as ‘SV1020’ between Jeddah and Riyadh. The type will be used on various frequencies on this route as well as between Jeddah and King Fahd International Airport in Dammam, while links from both Jeddah (daily on the SV588/589 rotation until February 29, 2016) and Riyadh (various frequencies) to Dubai will commence the same day.
Emirates, which brought an Airbus A380 to Orlando International Airport on September 1, 2015 for its launch of daily nonstop service to Dubai, could generate more than 1,400 new jobs to the Florida city, the airport’s chairman said.
The oneworld alliance member will reinstate its flights to Nagpur from December 1, 2015 with a daily Airbus A320 rotation. The resumption of flights to Nagpur later this year will bring its total weekly passenger flights from 95 to 102 across 13 cities in India.
Emirates currently operate three daily flights to the German city, two of which are currently operated by a Boeing 777-300ER while the other is serviced by the Airbus A380 jumbo jet.
The Partnership for Open and Fair Skies issued a statement earlier this week with supporting document which it claims shows that the Abu Dhabi-based airline received a cash injection of $2.5 billion in 2014 from the government.
Both a vibrant metropolis and gateway to tropical destinations, Panama City is also the economic and financial centre of Panama with the major industries being international banking, commerce, and tourism. Located between North and South America, as well as the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Panama City has developed an unrivalled transportation and communication network.
What are the world's longest scheduled air routes by distance and block time? As Emirates Airline reveals plans to launch a Dubai - Panama City route in February 2016, Routesonline investigates.
The addition of the Boeing B747-400BCF heavy cargo aircraft, and its 112.5 tonne capacity, will enable the carier to satisfy growing demand for outsized freight transportation from customers investing in significant infrastructure projects in the Middle East and throughout the world.
While a growing number of Emirates Airline passengers are beginning or ending their journeys in Dubai, a significant proportion of Emirates traffic simply uses Dubai as a transit point between two other points.
The airline will replace a Boeing 777-300ER on the carrier’s EK011/012 between Dubai International and London Gatwick with a three-class A380 from January 1, 2016 meaning all three of its rotations to Gatwick and five daily flights to Heathrow will be flown with the SuperJumbo from the start of 2016.
The aviation industry is becoming increasingly reliant on technology, from electronic reservation systems, mobile boarding to aircraft improved ground –to-air communications. However, there is a growing concern surrounding hackers looking to exploit the industry. Mainframe networks are susceptible to attack which is obviously a huge threat to airports and airlines alike.
Flights to Amman, Beirut, Chittagong, Doha, Kathmandu, Kuwait and Muscat will become available from DWC from October 25, 2015, while flights to these destinations from Dubai International will also remain available.
The new service, which was launched yesterday (August 1) will operate weekly, served by an Airbus A330F and will satisfy increasing air freight demand from customers in the Middle East, South Asia and Europe into East Africa.
Iberia says the improved economic outlook has led the airline to seek new opportunities both in its traditional markets and in new territories. Destinations now under study include Tokyo, Doha, Johannesburg, Toronto, Guadalajara, Managua, San Juan de Puerto Rico, Brasilia, and Asunción with flights to the selected destinations being launched in 2016 and 2017.
Gulf carrier, Qatar Airways, has once again been forced to deny it is interested in acquiring a stake in independent Indian carrier SpiceJet, just two and a half years after previous rumours had serviced that it was in talks to develop a marketing partnership.
The West African market will be served alongside the airline’s existing route between Dubai and Dakar, in Senegal, which is operated using an Airbus A340-300 configured with offers 12 First Class, 42 Business Class and 213 Economy Class seats. Bamako will be linked directly from Dubai, but return flights will operate via Dakar.
Canada has concluded a number of new air transport agreements with Nigeria, Mali and Oman, which will allow Canadian airlines to better serve passengers travelling between Canada and these countries.
Austrian Airlines has been serving Dubai since 1996 but the arrival of Emirates Airline into the Vienna market has meant it has been under pressure for some time. Although the European carrier upped frequencies to a more than daily schedule in the late 2000s and early 2010s, it has recently cut back its activities to match capacity to seasonal point-to-point demand.
Despite being a high impact economic activity, a major job generator and key export sector, accounting for 6 percent of total world trade, tourism receives only 0.78 percent of the total Air for Trade disbursements and 0.097 percent of the total Official Development Assistance.
Emirates has been active in Iraq for over four years having first launched flights between Dubai and Basra in February 2011. It added launched services to Baghdad in November 2011 and then Erbil from August 2012. However, it closed the Baghdad and Erbil routes at the start of March this year due to security concerns as large parts of Iraq fell under the control of Da’esh. It had also temporarily suspended services to Erbil between August and November 2014 due to safety concerns with its flights.
Airline ancillary revenue has continued to grow for the eighth consecutive year, according to IdeaWorksCompany, who tracked 63 airlines and researched financial filings made by 130 airlines all over the world.
