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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Etihad Airways to Increase Jeddah Flights for Hajj Pilgrims

Etihad Airways will increase its services from Abu Dhabi to Saudi Arabia in November, providing additional flights to Jeddah for Muslims making the annual Hajj pilgrimage.

In addition to its regular daily Jeddah service, Etihad will offer 11 extra flights to the city between 2 and 20 November 2010, offering a capacity increase of 1600 seats during the period.

The additional services will be operated by Airbus A320 and A330 aircraft.

?The Hajj pilgrimage is a very important experience for Muslims around the world and Etihad is proud to help our customers make this significant journey. The demand for the Hajj flights has always been very strong and we are expecting the services this year to be equally popular,? said Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways? Chief Commercial Officer. ?In addition to carrying pilgrims from the UAE, we anticipate many Muslims will fly from around the world to Jeddah, via our home-base in Abu Dhabi.?

More than two million pilgrims make the journey every year to Saudi Arabia, which is the custodian of the two Holy Mosques in Makkah and Madinah.

Makkah is located 73 kilometres inland from Jeddah, with Muslims regarding the al-Masjid al-Haram (The Sacred Mosque) as the Holiest place on earth.

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, launched daily services to Jeddah in May 2006. The airline also offers a non-stop, eight-flights-per-week service to the Saudi capital Riyadh, and 13 flights-per-week to Dammam.

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Interview with the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority

At the ITB Asia held in Singapore last week, ASIA Travel Tips.com sat with Ms. Gillian Taylor the Business Events Manager of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority.

In this HD video interview, Ms. Taylor tells us how Abu Dhabi differs from Dubai, what new attractions are opening soon, how many hotel rooms are now open and how many will open, a little about the exciting Ferrari World development as well as which countries within Asia Pacific Abu Dhabi is targeting.

We also touch briefly on whether a major Hollywood blockbuster movie was actually filmed in Abu Dhabi, or not. The answer may surprise you.

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Regal Kangbo Hotel Opens in Dezhou, Shandong

The Regal Kangbo Hotel has opened in the city of Dezhou, China. The hotel is easily accessible from the Jinan Yaoqiang International Airport, only 70 minutes drive away and 10 minutes from the railway station of Dezhou.

The hotel is one of the highest buildings in the city at 100 metres high and comprises a 22-storey diamond-type tower and 3-storey podium.

The hotel includes a total of 215 guestrooms, Regal Club Floors and 25 suites. The guest rooms are equipped with the latest technology including broadband internet access, 42-inch LCD television with extensive choice of national and international satellite TV channels. In addition, a selection of rooms is furnished with kitchenette facilities to cater for long-stay guests.

Three restaurants and bars offer Chinese, Western and International cuisine.

Regal Kangbo Hotel has 7 function rooms and a 650 square metres grand ballroom, with a maximum capacity of 800 persons.

Other facilities include a Business Centre, Health Club, beauty salon, yoga room, chess room and spa room.

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Jet Airways Signs On as Official Airline for Hong Kong Cricket Sixes

India?s Jet Airways has signed on as the official carrier for the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes tournament which commences 6 November 2010 at the prestigious Kowloon Cricket Club.

The airline will fly the English, South African, Indian and Sri Lankan teams to the event, featuring such cricketing stars as Anil Kumble, Imran Nazir and Chris Nash, via its hubs in Mumbai and Delhi respectively.

Jet Airways currently flies twice daily, non-stop to Hong Kong from Mumbai and Delhi respectively aboard state-of-the-art Airbus 330-200 aircraft.

Mr. Nikos Kardassis, CEO, Jet Airways, said, ?We are delighted to be the official carrier for the prestigious Hong Kong Cricket Sixes tournament, featuring some of the best teams in international cricket today, in a fast-paced, exciting format. The tournament has grown rapidly since its inception in 1992, and has now emerged as a thrilling sports extravaganza viewed by by millions of cricket fans from around the world, besides helping promote and nurture cricket in Hong Kong.?

Jet Airways has also introduced exclusive holiday packages for guests travelling to the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes tournament, from INR 34,625/-(ex-Delhi)* and INR 36,710/- (ex-Mumbai). Rates are per person on a twin-sharing basis 3-star accommodation. Subject to availability and as applicable at the time of booking. Terms and conditions apply.

The Sixes

The annual Hong Kong Cricket Sixes is a quality international gala cricket tournament, attracting the biggest names and teams in world cricket, aiming to put Hong Kong cricket on the map internationally and strengthen the sport locally with funding and promotion.

In 2008 the Sixes arranged the biggest TV deal in the event?s history when HKCA signed a 3 year TV deal with Taj TV (Tensports) to produce and distribute coverage of the tournament, which resulted in the Sixes being broadcast to 80 million households worldwide including live into the Indian Subcontinent. The HK Government has recognized the Sixes as a signature Hong Kong event by the award of the prestigious ?M Mark?, also held by events such as the Hong Kong Marathon and the Rugby Sevens.

Played in an lively atmosphere at Kowloon Cricket Club, the Cricket Sixes consistently delivers highly competitive, non-stop action, as hosts Hong Kong compete against teams from top Test playing nations in this two day, twenty-two match event ? the perfect format for a fast-living, multicultural city and the only annual cricket tournament at which multiple Test countries compete.

The Sixes is sanctioned by the International Cricket Council and organized by the Hong Kong Cricket Association with all surplus funds from the event being put back into cricket in the territory through the HKCA?s Junior Development Program, community projects and other initiatives to strengthen the sport in Hong Kong.

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Near 100% Rise in Passenger Self-Service Check-In at Johannesburg

The SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self- Service survey of the world?s leading airports reveals an almost 100% rise in self-service check-in among travellers passing through OR Tambo Airport, Johannesburg. A 75% growth in demand for off-airport bag drop-off was also recorded.

The survey shows that self-service check-in grew to 17% of survey respondents in Johannesburg compared to 9% in 2009. While this usage rate lags behind the global rate of 67% there is significant willingness to use kiosk check-in (71%), web check-in (54%), and mobile check-in (54%).

Across all airports surveyed, almost half of the respondents who checked in at a desk rather than through self-service did so because of the need to check-in a bag. Overall, the survey found that 75% of respondents would be interested in off-airport bag drop-off. While only 34% of the total surveyed would pay for such a service, 67% of those passing through Johannesburg would be willing to do so. The survey sample in Johannesburg included 54% business travellers.

The 5th annual SITA/Air Transport World Passenger Self-Service Survey is an in-depth look at the attitudes and habits of a representative sample of the 287.6 million passengers who use seven leading international airports. Along with OR Tambo Airport, it includes Beijing International Airport; Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta; Frankfurt; Mumbai International; Moscow Domodedovo; and Sao Paulo Guarulhos, Brazil.

The popularity of online booking continues to grow at Johannesburg. Almost 70% of interviewed passengers book their flights online when they can, and on the day of travel over 40% of passengers at OR Tambo had used this facility. Passengers are also willing to use more self-service, for example, interest in using automatic boarding gates has increased significantly from 45% last year to 61% in this year?s survey.

Rob Watkins, SITA Regional Vice President for Africa, said, ?SITA is pleased to see that self-service check-in at Johannesburg has almost doubled in the last year as there was heavy investment in SITA check-in technology across South African airports in advance of this year?s very successful World Cup tournament. South African travellers are tech savvy and we expect there will be increasingly rapid uptake of self-service technology as there is a great awareness of the benefits.?

The survey data is extracted from interviews with 2,490 passengers travelling on 106 airlines, conducted at the departure gates earlier this year. Main nationalities interviewed were American, 17%; Indian, 12%; Chinese, 12%; Brazilian, 11%; German, 8%; South African, 8%; UK, 1%; others, 23%.

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Travelport Promotes Niklas Andr�en

Travelport has promoted Niklas Andr?en to the role of Group Vice President, Hospitality and Partner Marketing.

With global responsibility for Travelport?s hotel distribution and advertising businesses, Andr?en will lead a team charged with working closely with suppliers and customers to deliver industry leading hospitality content and advertising solutions.

The investment in this team forms part of an ongoing strategy to heighten Travelport?s focus on the growing hospitality sector and to work even more closely with key stakeholders to ensure that hotel content is distributed as widely as possible to travel retailers across the globe.

Andr?en, who was previously Managing Director for Travelport?s Eastern Europe and Nordics region, will assume the global role with immediate effect and report directly into Chief Commercial Officer, Kurt Ekert.

Andr?en joined Travelport in 2003, bringing with him a wealth of travel industry and management consultancy experience including a strong track record in innovation and growth. Most recently, he formulated and led Travelport?s expansion plans in Russia and Eastern Europe where the company has lately been enjoying a string of successes including a ground-breaking new partnership with Russia?s largest domestic GDS, Sirena Travel.

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Travelport Restructures its Commercial Organisation

Travelport is restructuring its Airline IT Solutions (AITS) and realigning the operating structure of its Commercial GDS function. Travelport?s Commercial teams in both its GDS and AITS divisions will be integrated under Kurt Ekert, Chief Commercial Officer.

AITS provides hosting and/or IT software services to leading global airlines such as Delta, United Airlines, Emirates and Air New Zealand, as well as to other providers of airline IT such as TravelSky of China and SITA, and was previously led by Sue Powers. Powers has decided to retire, having spent over 30 years working in the industry for a number of organisations including United Airlines, Covia (Apollo), Worldspan and Travelport.

Former Hewlett Packard executive, Derek Sharp, will lead Travelport?s AITS commercial team in the new structure. Sharp recently joined the company from HP where he held a number of senior strategy, account management and commercial roles. He also has extensive experience in the travel and transportation sector from his work at EDS prior to its acquisition by HP.

All IT application development will be integrated under the leadership of Chief Information Officer, Mark Ryan, supporting Travelport?s commitment to ongoing modernisation of its technology environment and delivery of next generation travel transaction processing systems and an industry-leading airline IT suite.

Earlier in the year, Travelport announced a significant multi-million dollar (US) investment in next generation software, and an upgrade to the IBM z/Transaction Processing Facility (zTPF), enabling it to more than double the information it processes in 160 countries and providing one of the most stable and secure technology environments in the travel industry.

Within the Travelport Commercial team specialised in GDS sales and services, the following changes have also been confirmed:

- Bryan Conway will head up the company?s global commercial operations function;
- Rabih Saab is appointed President and Managing Director for the Middle East and Africa;
- Jason Clarke is appointed President and Managing Director for Europe;
-Jon Hall is appointed to the position of President, Corporate Sales.

Bryan Conway, currently President and Managing Director, Middle East and Africa, and one of Travelport?s most experienced leaders, will become Senior Vice President, Global Commercial Operations. In this role, he will assume primary ownership for the deployment of Travelport?s new products - Travelport Universal Desktop, Travelport e-Pricing and Travelport Universal API - as well as taking global responsibility for customer service and support. He will also own Travelport?s global strategy for airlines and other customers for whom Travelport provides vital global distribution services.

As a result of this appointment, Rabih Saab, who has recently led the successful set up of Travelport?s new direct operations in the Middle East, has been appointed President and Managing Director for the MEA region.

Jason Clarke, currently heading up global operations, has been appointed President and Managing Director for Europe, replacing Olaf Gueldner who has decided to leave Travelport. Clarke has broad experience in customer service and support gained through his most recent position as well as other high profile roles within the business, including running the company?s operations in the UK and Ireland, Spain, Benelux and France.

Jon Hall, who joined Travelport in March 2008, has been appointed President, Corporate Sales. He will lead the Travelport team which engages directly with corporate travel buyers for on-line corporate booking tools such as Traversa, and other software and services developed for the corporate travel sector and provided through Travelport?s third party technology partnerships.

Sharp, Conway, Saab, Clarke and Hall will all report into Chief Commercial Officer, Kurt Ekert, alongside Travis Christ who runs Travelport?s Americas region, Simon Nowroz who runs the Asia Pacific region, Sandra McLeod who leads Global Travel Management Accounts and Niklas Andr?en, who was recently appointed to the post of Group Vice President Hospitality and Partner Marketing.

?These changes enable an even tighter alignment of Travelport around the commercial objectives of our customers. They will also better enable Travelport to commence the large scale introduction of its new products, in which we have made considerable investment this year, such as the Travelport Universal Desktop, Travelport Universal API and Travelport e-Pricing. Our airline IT customers are also now able to take advantage of a more holistic offering as we leverage our recent IT investments,? said Gordon Wilson, Deputy Group CEO of Travelport. ?On both a personal and professional level, I would like to thank Sue and Olaf for their notable contribution and commitment to our business. Sue specifically for her role in growing our AITS business, and, prior to that, operating as CIO for Travelport and Olaf for his contribution to our market leading position in many European countries. I wish Sue the very best for a long and healthy retirement and Olaf every success in his future career.?

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