RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has scheduled 23 special flights to repatriate stranded Pakistanis from the UK, China, Algeria, Dubai and Indonesia from April 18 to April 20. The special flights will operate from Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad and Peshawar, although international flight operation has not been restarted fully. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said it was a limited flight operation. The aviation division’s spokesperson said that due to limited facility of quarantine for passengers landing at Islamabad airport, a limited number of flights were being scheduled for other major cities as the quarantine facilities in those cities…
Author: holidayweekly
DUBAI: Seeking to quell concerns among travellers, Emirates has updated its Covid-19 travel waiver policies. The airline hopes to now present one simplified approach for rebooking and refunds on tickets issued in all its global markets. Adnan Kazim, Emirates chief commercial officer, said: “The travel and airline industry have complicated rulebooks for how fares, re-bookings or refunds are applied, which also differ depending on market regulation. “We understand that explaining and unravelling all of that is confusing and frustrating for customers. “The Covid-19 pandemic is unprecedented for everyone, and we’d like to thank our customers and trade partners for their…
SEATTLE: Boeing said it will resume all commercial airplanes production in a phased approach at its Puget Sound-region facilities in the US state of Washington next week, after suspending operations last month in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. At all of its sites, the company has taken extra precautions and instituted comprehensive procedures to keep people safe and fight the spread of Covid-19, a Boeing statement said. “The health and safety of our employees, their families and communities is our shared priority,” said Stan Deal, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes and senior executive in the Pacific Northwest. “This…
WASHINGTON: Boeing customers canceled a staggering number of 737 Max orders last month. Boeing on Tuesday posted 150 cancellations of its beleaguered 737 Max jets in March, the most in decades, the company said. Brazilian airline Gol canceled 34 of the narrow-body planes and leasing firm Avolon scrapped orders for 75 of them, a move it announced earlier this month. Net cancellations in the month totaled 119 thanks to 31 orders for wide-body passenger planes and military aircraft. That brought net orders Boeing removed from its order list in first three months of the year to 307 planes, a sharp…
More than 250 organizations from 25 countries have published an open letter directed to governments, urging them to refrain from “unfair” bailouts of the aviation industry on environmental grounds. Instead, governments are implored to use this moment to embed social and environmental conditions, with enhanced protection for workers and a planned transition towards what the group calls “climate-just mobility”. “For decades, the aviation industry has avoided contributing meaningfully to global climate goals and resisted the merest suggestion of taxes on fuel or tickets. “Now, airlines, airports and manufacturers are demanding huge and unconditional taxpayer-backed bailouts. “We cannot let the aviation…
KARACHI: Pakistan has extended the suspension of its flight operation till April 30, the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Saturday. “As per the decision of the Government of Pakistan, the suspension of international and domestic flight operations as effected earlier has been extended up to Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 2359 hours PST,” CAA said. The new directives come as the number of confirmed cases in the country rose to over 7,500 with 143 deaths. As per the decision of the Government of Pakistan, the suspension of International and Domestic flight operations as effected earlier has been extended up…
Coronavirus continues to eat away at performance levels at the world’s largest hotel company. Marriott International estimates revenue per available room or RevPAR, the hotel industry’s key performance metric, will be down 23 percent globally for the first quarter, the company has announced. While data is still being finalized, Marriott anticipates a 60 percent RevPAR decline globally in March. “Marriott cannot presently estimate the financial impact of this unprecedented situation, which is highly dependent on the severity and duration of the pandemic, but expects that it will continue to be material to the company’s results,” a Marriott spokesperson wrote in…
KEMPTON PARK: It appears that the end is finally here for South African Airways, with discussions taking place for how to lay off all 4,700 staff at the airline. South African Airways plans to lay off its entire workforce after failing to persuade the government to provide more financial help, a move that threatens to ground the 86-year-old national carrier good. The state-owned airline has offered severance deals to all staff from the end of this month after administrators concluded that a successful turnaround is now unlikely, according to a proposal to eight labor groups seen by Bloomberg News. The…
PARIS: Airbus has announced the successful completion of the world’s first fully automatic boom system air-to-air refueling (A3R) operation. At an undisclosed date earlier this year, an Airbus tanker test aircraft equipped with the Airbus A3R refueling system completed 45 flight test hours and 120 dry fueling contacts with a Portuguese Air Force F-16 fighter jet. The Airbus A3R system is being developed for installation in the Airbus Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT) aircraft, which is based on the civilian Airbus A330. The recent tests covered all aspects of the aerial refueling process leading up to the certification phase of the…
PESHAWAR: Last week the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa constituted the very first board of directors of newly formed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Culture & Tourism Authority (KPCTA). The authority has replaced Tourism Corporation of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) through an amendment in law passed by the provincial assembly of KP. Earlier in February 2019, the cabinet of KP approved the proposed KP Tourism Act, 2019, which subsequently presented in the provincial assembly for the consent. The bill proposed to dissolve the Tourism Corporation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (TCKP) and directorate of culture, and formed the KP Culture & Tourism Authority in their place. As…