Gulf Air, the national carrier of Kingdom of Bahrain is considering expanding its portfolio in the Indian market. The carrier currently operates twice daily flights from Mumbai and New Delhi, daily flights from Kochi, Trivandrum, Chennai and Bangalore, five times a week from Hyderabad and twice a week from Kolkata. In total, it operates more than 11,000 seats on the India – Gulf route every week. It is looking at connecting smaller cities of India with the Gulf region.
A source close to the developments said, Gulf Air is considering expanding its Indian operations in the next few years. The carrier is keen on entering Tier I cities like Amritsar, Jaipur, Ahmedabad etc. within a year or so. The carrier is currently in bilateral talks with the Indian aviation ministry to increase services and capacities on the India - Gulf route. Currently, the airline operates A320 and A330 aircraft on Indian routes, while there are no plans right now to replace smaller aircraft due to fall in load factors.
The source further added, The main attraction for Indian travellers to fly on Gulf Air would be its connectivity to Europe, Middle East and USA. Apart from flexible connecting times, the carrier has recently reduced fares to European destinations for its Indian clients. The carrier received about 80-85 per cent load factor last year till November 26 and about 60 per cent in last two months December 2008 - January 2009. Of the total passengers segment, about 70 per cent are trade travellers, 15 per cent are tourists to countries like Egypt and Turkey and remaining 15 per cent consists of business travellers, student segment and VFR - Visiting Friends and Relatives sector. At the moment, the airline offers one-price airfare to major European destinations in alliance with the partner airlines. It is soon going to offer one-price air fare to 45 USA destinations from India, offering connectivity from various points in Europe with partner airlines.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Qatar Airways-Million candles-campaign to bring light and hope to Gaza
LIGHT a candle at 6pm tomorrow and let’s rename Valentine’s Day as Friendship Day, a peace campaign has urged.
Manal Timraz, founder of the One Million Candles campaign, an initiative to reach 1mn lights to Gaza and West Bank as a symbol of peace, appealed to the people of Qatar to join in the campaign by lighting candles tomorrow to show their solidarity with the suffering children and people of Palestine.
People in some 80 cities around the world, including Britain, South Africa and Japan, will light candles at 6pm local time everywhere.
This is a non-political and non-partisan movement, just to show solidarity and compassion for the people in Gaza who lost their loved ones.
In addition, 1mn candles, arriving from around 80 cities around the world, will be lit tomorrow at Gaza and 13 cities in Palestine, said Timraz, who was in Doha yesterday with her delegation on her way to Gaza.
The candles, collected from donors who included British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Qatar Airways, will be distributed through the Public Information Committee to be lit, mainly at schools, and other places.
Qatar Airways is transporting the candles, of all sizes, shapes and smells, and weighing nearly 4,000kg, free of cost to the destination.
Timraz, now a UK resident, conceived her peace campaign a month ago while mourning the deaths of 15 of her family members, who were killed in a bomb attack in Gaza. Eleven of the dead were children – nieces and nephews, all aged between two and 12.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker learnt about Timraz’s story and the One Million Candles campaign, and immediately offered the airline’s assistance of transporting the entire delegation from UK to Palestine and the candles from across the world.
The death of loved ones, especially children, and in such a great number, would be a terrible loss to bear to anyone, al-Baker said yesterday. I personally felt compelled to help Manal, who has suffered an incredible tragedy as have so many others in Gaza caught up in the recent conflict.
He said - Qatar Airways and Qatar Airways Cargo are fully behind Manal and her campaign to bring light and hope to the darkness of people’s lives in Gaza and, with it, the knowledge that there are people in this world who advocate peace over violence and won’t forget the people who lost family members in the recent conflict.
Qatar airline is a big supporter of humanitarian initiatives. We are a global airline, serving over 80 destinations across four continents, and have offered our assistance following a number of disasters, including last year’s devastating earthquake in China, as well as delivering aid to the stricken Darfur region, in Sudan, and aid to tsunami victims in 2006, he added.
One Million Candles has sparked major interest, receiving support from a number of people from across the political and entertainment spectrum including Hollywood star Richard Gere.
During her stopover in Doha, Timraz stressed that her objective was only to make people aware that normal citizens were unwittingly caught up in this struggle and ultimately paid for it with their lives.
This campaign is not about assigning blame, nor is it politically motivated. One Million Candles is about reaching out to the humanity in each and every one of us, and for everyone across the world to understand that essentially we are all the same. There is no need to fight, no need for war and no need for innocent people to die.
If anything can be gained from this campaign, I hope that it can shed light on the terrible tragedies that have occurred, not just for me, but for all those in Gaza who are mourning the loss of loved ones, she said.
Timraz, her two children, and campaign advocates flew Qatar Airways from London to Doha yesterday on her way to Amman, before heading to Gaza.
Timraz thanked Qatar Airways for its generous hospitality and said Doha was her second home.
She lost 15 family members but there were families which had been totally wiped out. Her campaign, she said, was to say enough is enough, enough of slaughtering of innocent lives, enough of killings.
Children are innocent. They and adults are citizens of victimisation. The children deserve to dream, the peace campaigner said, with her voice often choking with emotion.
Asked if the Gazans needed humanitarian aid or candles more, she said, along with food and medicine, they needed hope too. They were indeed getting humanitarian aid from everywhere. These candles were symbols of hope.
Presenting a candle to Timraz on behalf of the 13,000 employees of Qatar Airways, al-Baker said he was overwhelmed by the heart-rending story of the peace campaigner.
Timraz returned the compliment by presenting to the CEO a miniature Holy Qur’an, made by differently abled children in Gaza. I couldn’t find anything much dearer than this, she said, as she handed over the souvenir.
On the successful completion of the campaign, Timraz wanted to start a 1mn pencils campaign and then 1mn books campaign for the children of Palestine. She hoped one day she would be able to plant a million olive saplings in West Bay.
Manal Timraz, founder of the One Million Candles campaign, an initiative to reach 1mn lights to Gaza and West Bank as a symbol of peace, appealed to the people of Qatar to join in the campaign by lighting candles tomorrow to show their solidarity with the suffering children and people of Palestine.
People in some 80 cities around the world, including Britain, South Africa and Japan, will light candles at 6pm local time everywhere.
This is a non-political and non-partisan movement, just to show solidarity and compassion for the people in Gaza who lost their loved ones.
In addition, 1mn candles, arriving from around 80 cities around the world, will be lit tomorrow at Gaza and 13 cities in Palestine, said Timraz, who was in Doha yesterday with her delegation on her way to Gaza.
The candles, collected from donors who included British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Qatar Airways, will be distributed through the Public Information Committee to be lit, mainly at schools, and other places.
Qatar Airways is transporting the candles, of all sizes, shapes and smells, and weighing nearly 4,000kg, free of cost to the destination.
Timraz, now a UK resident, conceived her peace campaign a month ago while mourning the deaths of 15 of her family members, who were killed in a bomb attack in Gaza. Eleven of the dead were children – nieces and nephews, all aged between two and 12.
Qatar Airways CEO Akbar al-Baker learnt about Timraz’s story and the One Million Candles campaign, and immediately offered the airline’s assistance of transporting the entire delegation from UK to Palestine and the candles from across the world.
The death of loved ones, especially children, and in such a great number, would be a terrible loss to bear to anyone, al-Baker said yesterday. I personally felt compelled to help Manal, who has suffered an incredible tragedy as have so many others in Gaza caught up in the recent conflict.
He said - Qatar Airways and Qatar Airways Cargo are fully behind Manal and her campaign to bring light and hope to the darkness of people’s lives in Gaza and, with it, the knowledge that there are people in this world who advocate peace over violence and won’t forget the people who lost family members in the recent conflict.
Qatar airline is a big supporter of humanitarian initiatives. We are a global airline, serving over 80 destinations across four continents, and have offered our assistance following a number of disasters, including last year’s devastating earthquake in China, as well as delivering aid to the stricken Darfur region, in Sudan, and aid to tsunami victims in 2006, he added.
One Million Candles has sparked major interest, receiving support from a number of people from across the political and entertainment spectrum including Hollywood star Richard Gere.
During her stopover in Doha, Timraz stressed that her objective was only to make people aware that normal citizens were unwittingly caught up in this struggle and ultimately paid for it with their lives.
This campaign is not about assigning blame, nor is it politically motivated. One Million Candles is about reaching out to the humanity in each and every one of us, and for everyone across the world to understand that essentially we are all the same. There is no need to fight, no need for war and no need for innocent people to die.
If anything can be gained from this campaign, I hope that it can shed light on the terrible tragedies that have occurred, not just for me, but for all those in Gaza who are mourning the loss of loved ones, she said.
Timraz, her two children, and campaign advocates flew Qatar Airways from London to Doha yesterday on her way to Amman, before heading to Gaza.
Timraz thanked Qatar Airways for its generous hospitality and said Doha was her second home.
She lost 15 family members but there were families which had been totally wiped out. Her campaign, she said, was to say enough is enough, enough of slaughtering of innocent lives, enough of killings.
Children are innocent. They and adults are citizens of victimisation. The children deserve to dream, the peace campaigner said, with her voice often choking with emotion.
Asked if the Gazans needed humanitarian aid or candles more, she said, along with food and medicine, they needed hope too. They were indeed getting humanitarian aid from everywhere. These candles were symbols of hope.
Presenting a candle to Timraz on behalf of the 13,000 employees of Qatar Airways, al-Baker said he was overwhelmed by the heart-rending story of the peace campaigner.
Timraz returned the compliment by presenting to the CEO a miniature Holy Qur’an, made by differently abled children in Gaza. I couldn’t find anything much dearer than this, she said, as she handed over the souvenir.
On the successful completion of the campaign, Timraz wanted to start a 1mn pencils campaign and then 1mn books campaign for the children of Palestine. She hoped one day she would be able to plant a million olive saplings in West Bay.
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Board Appointments at the Adventure Travel Trade Association
International destination, transportation and tour operator sectors today joined the Adventure Travel Trade Association Advisory Board with the new appointments of representatives from sub-Saharan Africa, Brazil, Qatar and Switzerland.
Continuing to build a diverse composition of active, strategic advisors, the ATTA has newly appointed Nicky Fitzgerald, Sales and Marketing Director of Conservation Corporation Africa, Gustavo Timo, Executive Coordinator of ABETA Brazilian Adventure Travel Trade Association, John Hogan, Regional Director of Qatar Airways, and Urs Eberhard, Executive Vice President of Markets and MICE, Switzerland Tourism.
Responsible for global marketing and branding of CC Africa, one of Africa's leading luxury safari ecotourism companies committed to its core ethic of Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife, Care of the People, Fitzgerald oversees more than 40 exclusive safari camps and lodges in wilderness locations across Africa, and more recently India. She previously served as Director of Operations for CC Africa, which has received numerous prestigious ecotourism awards, including recognition as global winner of the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award. For her work, Fitzgerald was recognized as Relais and Chateaux Woman of the Year in 2005.
Timo, co-founder of ABETA, has been active in adventure and nature travel for 12 years. He is involved with a major government initiative in Brazil to organize the adventure travel sector using higher levels of standards, certification and sustainable development initiatives. He previously served as an elected member of the ABETA Board of Directors, as its Technical Director, and as the Executive Director of Brasil Aventuras Expedies where he oversaw the development of new destinations, marketing, established strategic partnerships, developed distributions channels in Brazil, and training of adventures travel guides.
Hogan, a seasoned airline and travel industry veteran of 25 years serving domestic and international airlines and major tour operators has held key executive positions at US Airways, Emirates, and Malaysia Airlines. He was Qatar Airways first Western Hemisphere employee establishing the company legally and commercially in the United States and Canada. Prior to the airline industry, Hogan's tour operator experience included stints with Kingdom Vacations, Club Med, and GlobeTrek Adventures, plus serving as a consultant for The Earth is Yours Walking Tours.
Continuing to build a diverse composition of active, strategic advisors, the ATTA has newly appointed Nicky Fitzgerald, Sales and Marketing Director of Conservation Corporation Africa, Gustavo Timo, Executive Coordinator of ABETA Brazilian Adventure Travel Trade Association, John Hogan, Regional Director of Qatar Airways, and Urs Eberhard, Executive Vice President of Markets and MICE, Switzerland Tourism.
Responsible for global marketing and branding of CC Africa, one of Africa's leading luxury safari ecotourism companies committed to its core ethic of Care of the Land, Care of the Wildlife, Care of the People, Fitzgerald oversees more than 40 exclusive safari camps and lodges in wilderness locations across Africa, and more recently India. She previously served as Director of Operations for CC Africa, which has received numerous prestigious ecotourism awards, including recognition as global winner of the British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award. For her work, Fitzgerald was recognized as Relais and Chateaux Woman of the Year in 2005.
Timo, co-founder of ABETA, has been active in adventure and nature travel for 12 years. He is involved with a major government initiative in Brazil to organize the adventure travel sector using higher levels of standards, certification and sustainable development initiatives. He previously served as an elected member of the ABETA Board of Directors, as its Technical Director, and as the Executive Director of Brasil Aventuras Expedies where he oversaw the development of new destinations, marketing, established strategic partnerships, developed distributions channels in Brazil, and training of adventures travel guides.
Hogan, a seasoned airline and travel industry veteran of 25 years serving domestic and international airlines and major tour operators has held key executive positions at US Airways, Emirates, and Malaysia Airlines. He was Qatar Airways first Western Hemisphere employee establishing the company legally and commercially in the United States and Canada. Prior to the airline industry, Hogan's tour operator experience included stints with Kingdom Vacations, Club Med, and GlobeTrek Adventures, plus serving as a consultant for The Earth is Yours Walking Tours.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Qatar Airways on schedule to launch daily Doha - New York JFK non-stop flights on October 26
Qatar Airways remains on schedule to launch daily non-stop flights between Doha and New York on October 26 despite the continuing Boeing strike affecting aircraft deliveries.
The Doha-based airline has been given assurances by Boeing that its fourth Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft to be used on the route, will be delivered in time and not affect the New York operational schedule.
Once delivered, the aircraft will be paired with a second Boeing 777, which arrived in Doha at the end of August, to begin the daily non-stop service linking the Qatari capital with New York's JFK International Airport.
'Qatar Airways' existing New York operation has proved very successful since its launch in Summer 2007 and we look forward to offering our customers an enhanced service to and from one of the world's most important cities by switching the flights from Newark to JFK,'
said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker.
'Our new daily non-stop flight from Doha to New York's JFK International Airport further strengthens our commitment to serving the North American continent. We already serve Washington non-stop from Doha so the additional capacity into New York will give us double daily flights between Qatar and the United States.'
Meanwhile, Al Baker announced plans to defer the launch of the carrier's third US route connecting Doha and Houston - the energy capitals of the Middle East and United States - to March 30 next year due to aircraft delivery schedules affected by the current strike by Boeing employees.
The first of Qatar Airways' Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft to be used on the route was due to be delivered in November ahead of the scheduled December 8 Houston launch. But due to uncertainty over future aircraft deliveries arising from the Boeing machinist's strike, Qatar Airways has decided to postpone the launch to March 30, 2009.
Al Baker said that the strike had severely affected the airline's Houston plans.
'There is no possibility of being able to operate the Houston route as planned due to the unfortunate events at Boeing so we decided to shift the launch date to a more reasonable time in March next year. This way, we can be assured of having available the required long-range aircraft to serve Houston,' he added.
'We are committed to serving Houston and have worked tirelessly over the past few months, injecting tremendous effort and energy in preparing for a December launch.
'Qatar Airways is taking all steps necessary to contact passengers who have booked tickets to and from Houston and assist them with making alternative travel arrangements,' explained Al Baker.
'We remain determined to provide the travelling public with the highest quality of service and product available in the skies, and we look forward to offering our 5-star service on a growing number of routes, including Houston, in the near future.'
Since November 2007, the airline has received three of the 32 Boeing 777 variants on order from Boeing. Two B777-300 Extended Range aircraft are currently deployed on the airline's Doha - Washington DC route non-stop, while a third is operating intra-Gulf services awaiting the arrival of the fourth aircraft when it will be shifted to the Doha - New York JFK route.
The Boeing 777-300ER being deployed on the New York route and Boeing 777-200LR for use on the Houston service, both feature 180 degrees lie-flat Business Class seats and the state-of-the-art Panasonic eX2 in-flight entertainment system with over 700 audio video on demand entertainment options for every passenger.
Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 63 Airbus and Boeing aircraft from its Doha hub to 83 key business and leisure cities across Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Far East and North America.
The Doha-based airline has been given assurances by Boeing that its fourth Boeing 777-300 Extended Range aircraft to be used on the route, will be delivered in time and not affect the New York operational schedule.
Once delivered, the aircraft will be paired with a second Boeing 777, which arrived in Doha at the end of August, to begin the daily non-stop service linking the Qatari capital with New York's JFK International Airport.
'Qatar Airways' existing New York operation has proved very successful since its launch in Summer 2007 and we look forward to offering our customers an enhanced service to and from one of the world's most important cities by switching the flights from Newark to JFK,'
said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker.
'Our new daily non-stop flight from Doha to New York's JFK International Airport further strengthens our commitment to serving the North American continent. We already serve Washington non-stop from Doha so the additional capacity into New York will give us double daily flights between Qatar and the United States.'
Meanwhile, Al Baker announced plans to defer the launch of the carrier's third US route connecting Doha and Houston - the energy capitals of the Middle East and United States - to March 30 next year due to aircraft delivery schedules affected by the current strike by Boeing employees.
The first of Qatar Airways' Boeing 777-200 Long Range aircraft to be used on the route was due to be delivered in November ahead of the scheduled December 8 Houston launch. But due to uncertainty over future aircraft deliveries arising from the Boeing machinist's strike, Qatar Airways has decided to postpone the launch to March 30, 2009.
Al Baker said that the strike had severely affected the airline's Houston plans.
'There is no possibility of being able to operate the Houston route as planned due to the unfortunate events at Boeing so we decided to shift the launch date to a more reasonable time in March next year. This way, we can be assured of having available the required long-range aircraft to serve Houston,' he added.
'We are committed to serving Houston and have worked tirelessly over the past few months, injecting tremendous effort and energy in preparing for a December launch.
'Qatar Airways is taking all steps necessary to contact passengers who have booked tickets to and from Houston and assist them with making alternative travel arrangements,' explained Al Baker.
'We remain determined to provide the travelling public with the highest quality of service and product available in the skies, and we look forward to offering our 5-star service on a growing number of routes, including Houston, in the near future.'
Since November 2007, the airline has received three of the 32 Boeing 777 variants on order from Boeing. Two B777-300 Extended Range aircraft are currently deployed on the airline's Doha - Washington DC route non-stop, while a third is operating intra-Gulf services awaiting the arrival of the fourth aircraft when it will be shifted to the Doha - New York JFK route.
The Boeing 777-300ER being deployed on the New York route and Boeing 777-200LR for use on the Houston service, both feature 180 degrees lie-flat Business Class seats and the state-of-the-art Panasonic eX2 in-flight entertainment system with over 700 audio video on demand entertainment options for every passenger.
Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 63 Airbus and Boeing aircraft from its Doha hub to 83 key business and leisure cities across Europe, Middle East, Africa, South Asia, Far East and North America.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)