ePathram - News: April 2009

30 April 2009

Big Boys Toys Comes to Town

The T Rex three-wheeled bike is installed as exhibitors make final preparations for the opening of the Big Boys Toys Super Show at ADNEC today (30 April). With three days of excitement and adventure on offer across seven hi-octane zones – Drive, Ride, Off Road, Marine, Aviation, Lifestyle and Wired, plus a live music lounge with bands and international dancers – tens of thousands of visitors are expected to attend. More details can be found in the website.

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28 April 2009

Amadeus Gulf appoints new Director of Sales for Abu Dhabi & Al Ain

Amadeus, a global leader in technology and distribution solutions for the travel and tourism industry has appointed Ghislaine Elmadi Merhabi as the Director of Sales to drive market share in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

In her new role Merhabi will be responsible for outlining, implementing and achieving growth and market expansion goals in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain. She will lead marketing and sales support including overseeing business, marketing, and communications strategies.

Prior to this, Merhabi was the Head of Marketing and Sales where she was involved in implementing product life cycles, go-to-market initiatives and tactical planning. Reporting to the Managing Director, Merhabi will continue to carry out her former role in addition to identifying new business opportunities in her current capacity as the Director of Sales for Abu Dhabi and Al Ain.

Merhabi started her career with Amadeus as Sales and Marketing Executive in 1999 and has held several key positions within the company. She has more than ten years of travel industry experience.

“Ghislaine brings key leadership and management skills to her new role. She has been closely involved in starting Amadeus Gulf’s operations and leading several regional customer wins and projects in Oman, Bahrain and UAE. The appointment falls in line with Amadeus’ long term growth plans for the region and with her industry and market experience we are confident of driving growth and adoption of Amadeus solutions in the region,” said Ghulam Al Baloushi, Managing Director, Amadeus Gulf.

Amadeus Gulf started operations in UAE in 2003 and is one of the leading global distribution provider (GDS) in the region with office in Bahrain, Oman, and UAE.

Merhabi has a degree in Tourism Management and Administration from Higher International Institute of Tourism in Morocco and a degree in Law from the University of Law, Casablanca, Morocco. She is fluent in English, Arabic and French.

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25 April 2009

Air Arabia takes off to Athens, Greece

Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, today launched non-stop service to the Greek city of Athens from the carrier’s main hub in Sharjah, UAE. The launch of this new destination is part of Air Arabia’s strategy to expand its operations to Europe.

The inaugural flight and delegation was marked by the attendance of H.H. Sheikh Sultan bin Ahmed Al Qassimi, Chairman of Sharjah Commerce and Development Authority, and the UAE Ambassador to Greece, Abdul Hadi Al-Khajah. The flight was accompanied by receptions in both Sharjah and Athens airports attended by special guests.

Roundtrip flights will operate three times per week between Athens Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport in the capital of Greece, and Air Arabia’s hub in Sharjah. Air Arabia is the first LCC in the Middle East commencing operations to Athens.

The LCC will fly to Athens on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, departing Sharjah at 18:55PM and arriving in Athens at 22:45PM. Return flights will depart Athens at 23:30PM and arrive in Sharjah at 05:20AM.

Air Arabia’s first destination in Greece is also the carrier’s first destination in a European Union country and the third destination on the European continent. In total, Air Arabia now serves 46 destinations across the Middle East, North Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Central Asia and Southern Europe.

AK Nizar, Head of Commercial Department, Air Arabia, said: “Greece is one of the fastest growing economies in the EU, and there is considerable passenger traffic between the country and the Middle East, particularly for tourism and business. We are delighted to now offer non-stop service between Sharjah, the cultural capital of the UAE, and Athens, one of the great cultural cities of Europe. We are confident that Athens will serve as a great holiday, personal travel and business destination for our passengers.”

Athens, the largest city in Greece, is one of the world's oldest cities with recorded history spanning some 3,400 years. A bustling and cosmopolitan metropolis, Athens is central to economic, financial, industrial, political and cultural life in Greece. It is rapidly becoming a leading business centre in the European Union.

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20 April 2009

ADAC welcomes the first Sun Air flight to Abu Dhabi International Airport

Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC) has welcomed its 43rd airline to Abu Dhabi International Airport. The new route, established by Sun Air, a privately-operated Sudanese airline, will provide the UAE capital with another air link to Sudan’s capital Khartoum. Abu Dhabi will be the airline’s second destination in the UAE.

Sun Air is a young full-service airline launched in June 2008 with a fleet of one Airbus A310-300 aircraft and three Boeing 737-400 aircraft. Current routes cover a number of destinations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

The airline will operate a Boeing 737 aircraft with capacity for 168 economy class passengers from its new base at Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Terminal 2.

Welcoming the airline to Abu Dhabi International Airport, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Vice President, Airline Marketing and Aeronautical Revenue at the Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), said:

“ADAC is pleased with the latest addition to its airline portfolio at Abu Dhabi International Airport. Sun Air will provide choices and more options to VFR (Visiting, Friends & Relatives) traffic as well as to the expat Sudanese community in the UAE.

“Abu Dhabi International Airport is currently undergoing a major AED 25 billion redevelopment. The recent facelift of Terminal 2 coupled with the upgrade of facilities at Terminal 1 and the opening of our third terminal show that we are ready for increased demand by airlines for airport facilities in Abu Dhabi.”

Capt. Saif M. Saad Omer, Chairman of Sun Air, said: “We are extremely pleased to add Abu Dhabi to our route as the Emirate represents a key market for us as we move to extend our international network. We anticipate steady and growing demand for our services and we are hopeful that demand will lead us to increase flight frequency in the future.”

From 16 April 2009, Sun Air operates three passenger flights a week, with further plans to increase capacity and operate one Airbus A310-300 to handle cargo flights between UAE and Sudan. In-bound passenger flights will arrive in Abu Dhabi at 20:00hrs and out-bound flights will depart at 21:00hrs. Average flight time between Khartoum and Abu Dhabi is three hours.

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13 April 2009

Air Arabia wins World Airline Award for best low-cost carrier in Middle East for third time

For the third consecutive year, Air Arabia, the first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) in the Middle East and North Africa, has won the 2009 World Airline Award for “Best Low-Cost Airline in the Middle East.” This honour comes in acknowledgment of Air Arabia’s exceptional level of overall passenger satisfaction.

These awards, based on global, independent passenger surveys of airline standards carried out by Skytrax Research, are the outcome of the measurement of more than 35 different aspects of customer satisfaction levels of an airline's product and service standards.

“Winning this prestigious award demonstrates Air Arabia’s consistent commitment to high-quality customer service and all-around excellence,” said AK Nizar, Head of Commercial at Air Arabia. “We are very grateful to our passengers, whose valuable feedback on our services enabled Air Arabia to win the ‘Best Low-Cost Airline in the Middle East’ at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2009. Such achievements give us a greater competitive edge as we seek to further redefine the low-cost air travel industry. “

Air Arabia has served more than 10 million passengers since the carrier was launched in October 2003. Passenger traffic reached 3.6 million passengers in 2008, a 33 per cent increase compared to 2.7 million passengers 2007.

The World Airline Award comes on the heels of international recognition of the carrier’s outstanding operational performance. Most recently, Air Arabia was named among the top 20 performers in 2008 at the Newsweek Awards of Excellence 2009.

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07 April 2009

Hamptons International Brings "Best Of British" Property To The UAE

Hamptons International, one of the UK’s leading property agencies, has launched an exclusive ‘Best of British’ campaign – an innovative new initiative designed to bring the very best of British property directly to buyers across the UAE.

The ‘Best of British’ initiative utilizes Hamptons International’s global reach, enabling its customers to market their properties directly to an international audience actively looking to buy in the UK. The slowdown of the UK market means that there are now fantastic opportunities for investors who are able to benefit not only from declining house prices, but also the weakness of the Pound against other currencies. ‘Best of British’ builds directly on this opportunity by bringing some of the UK’s best properties to ready buyers in the UAE.

Niki Gifford, Marketing & PR Director, Hamptons International said, “The UK is an incredibly attractive proposition at the moment for overseas investors who are keen to capitalize on the economic conditions and invest in the best for less. Hamptons’ ‘Best of British’ campaign is designed to connect UK customers with ready buyers across the UAE and provide an innovative way to market property during challenging times.”

The initiative launches in Dubai with an exclusive VIP gala event on the evening of April 14 in aid of The Prince’s Trust, with HRH Prince Michael as the guest of honour. The glamourous event will be held at The Address, Downtown Burj Dubai, and will help to raise much needed funds for disadvantaged young people, as well as officially launch the ‘Best of British’.

Following the launch, the participating properties will be showcased at an exclusive property event – taking place in Dubai Marina from April 16 to 18 and is expected to attract over 1,000 high net worth property investors. At the event, prospective buyers will be able to view an exclusive range of UK properties and obtain first-hand advice from Hamptons’ highly experienced UK investor team.

The showcase in Dubai will be followed by a second exhibition at the leading real estate event ‘Cityscape’ in Abu Dhabi, which runs from April 19 to 22. ‘Cityscape’ is a much-celebrated event for the global real estate industry and brings together international and regional investors, banks and individual buyers and real estate experts. With many large investment companies and prominent investors located in Abu Dhabi, the exhibition will enable Hamptons to market the select properties directly to this audience.

Gifford added: “The UK has traditionally been a strong market for investors in the UAE, given the choice of the country as a business, education, leisure and healthcare destination. The diverse portfolio of properties offers investors in the Gulf a choice of resale and new-build homes ideal for individuals and families in key locations.”

The campaign follows more than a year of declining house prices in the UK, with house price reductions of between 20 per cent and 25 per cent since the peak of the 2007 market and with predictions of further 5 per cent drop this year before the market bottoms out.

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01 April 2009

Etihad Flies UAE Football Team For World Cup Qualifiers

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has played its part in the UAE national football team’s bid to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa by carrying the team and officials to its matches in North Korea and Saudi Arabia.

The special A330-200 charter plane was used to pick up the players, officials and all the kit and equipment from their training camp in Beijing on Saturday 28 March and then flew to Pyongyang in North Korea, where the team unfortunately lost 2-0.

Following the match against North Korea, the special charter then took the team to Riyadh, via Abu Dhabi, where they will face Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, 1 April.

Khaled Al Mehairbi, Etihad Airways’ vice president government and international affairs and board member of the UAE Football Federation, said: “As the UAE’s national airline Etihad is delighted to have supported the national football team in its quest to qualify for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

“We wish the team the best of luck in their remaining matches and look forward to carry them again when they represent this proud footballing nation.”

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