MOSCOW: Russia has extended the suspension of air service with the UK until 23:59 Moscow time on February 16 to protect public health, Russia’s anti-coronavirus crisis centre was quoted as saying in a media report. Russia suspended air service with the UK on December 22, 2020 after a new coronavirus strain was detected in that country, reported Russian news agency Tass. The coronavirus situation in the UK is extremely difficult because of a mutated strain, which is said to be 70% more contagious and 30% more lethal, it added. According to the latest statistics, around 103 million people have been…
Author: holidayweekly
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) issued a series of new directives on Monday, February 1, for its cabin crew in a bid to control incidents of staff slipping away in other countries. The new directive includes the confiscation of passports of crew on arrival abroad in a bid to control recent incidents of staff “slipping away” in other countries. PIA General Manager Flight Services Aamir Bashir issued the new guidelines and said “the steps have been taken in view of the incidents of cabin staff slipping away in other countries.” A PIA spokesperson acknowledged that there had been two recent…
DOHA: Qatar Airways has announced it is enhancing the travel experience with Thales AVANT IFE on its Boeing B787-8 Dreamliner. Qatar Airways has been eager to replicate the innovative AVANT experience on their Boeing B787-8 aircraft without disrupting the utilisation of the fleet and minimising down time during the retrofit installation. To achieve this ambition, Thales has developed an upgrade program to adapt the existing legacy system to incorporate new AVANT screens and servers into the existing seats and aircraft infrastructure. This turnkey approach includes delivery of full seat modification, hardware and all required certifications, as well as the ability…
PARIS: France has announced it is closing its borders to people arriving from outside the European Union starting January 31 to try to stop the spread of new variants of the coronavirus, said a report. French Prime Minister Jean Castex announced the measure Friday night after an emergency government health security meeting at the presidential palace, warning of a “great risk” from the new variants, FRANCE 24 reported. All those arriving from other EU countries will be required to produce a negative virus test, he said. France will also close all large shopping centers starting Sunday and limit travel to…
ISLAMABAD: Digital marketing holds promise for tourism promotion and that’s what exactly the present government is doing by rolling out an inclusive project “Brand Pakistan” in coming days to transform the country’s image by projecting its breath-taking tourist resorts at international level through online means. “The competent authority has given approval for Brand Pakistan and now our focus is on its launch as bids from event management firms have been invited to formally roll out the mega tourism project at the earliest,” a senior officer of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) told. He said the Brand Pakistan initiative, which also…
MADRID: Global tourism suffered its worst year on record in 2020, with international arrivals dropping by 74% according to the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Destinations worldwide welcomed 1 billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than in the previous year, due to an unprecedented fall in demand and widespread travel restrictions. According to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, the collapse in international travel represents an estimated loss of USD 1.3 trillion in export revenues – more than 11 times the loss recorded during the 2009 global economic crisis. The crisis has put between 100 and 120…
MANAMA: Operations at Bahrain International Airport’s (BIA) new passenger terminal has begun, in line with the directive of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and Prime Minister, said a report. The Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications and Bahrain Airport Company (BAC) announced that all the airport’s facilities are ready, and preparations to welcome passengers are complete. The transfer to the new facility marks the dawn of a new era for the Kingdom of Bahrain’s aviation sector. The $1.1 billion new terminal is four times the size of the old one and designed to deliver…
LONDON: Rolls-Royce has said it expects to burn through more cash than anticipated in 2021 as planes powered by its engines fly less amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The company, which was in the midst of cost cutting exercise before the outbreak of the pandemic, expects £2 billion of cash to leave the business in 2021. This is more than double the amount forecast by the aerospace giant last year. Rolls-Royce is paid by the number of hours its engines are in use, so Covid-19 restrictions hit revenues. The company, whose engines power many Boeing and Airbus aircraft, said it expected…
KARACHI: In a bid to address the concerns of the global aviation industry on the issue of alleged fake licenses of Pakistani pilots, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has decided to outsource the process of holding licensing exams to the United Kingdom’s CAA. Currently, all licensing exams, including commercial/airline transport pilot license (CPL/ATPL), of the CAA are suspended after Aviation Minister Ghulam Sarwar Khan had given what many thoughts were an irresponsible statement that licenses of 262 Pakistani pilots were fake. Following his statement, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) had suspended Pakistan’s Third Country Operation Authorisation and recently…
LONDON: The UK government banned travel to the UK from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Burundi and Rwanda. Officials said the move was to prevent the spread of the new variant originally identified in South Africa into the UK. From 13:00 on Friday, passengers who have been in or transited through the United Arab Emirates, Burundi and Rwanda in the last ten days will no longer be granted access to the UK. This does not include British and Irish nationals, or third-country nationals with residence rights in the UK, who will be able to enter the UK but are required…