KARACHI: Revenues of Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) increased 30% in first six months of 2019, the Aviation Division said in its report. “From January to June of the current calendar year, the national flag carrier achieved a breakthrough,” the Aviation Division remarked. During the first year of the current government, the Aviation Division devised a business model to drag PIA out of the depths of accumulated losses worth Rs450 billion, according to the report. The improvement in revenues came from the introduction of new profitable routes including Sialkot-Sharjah, Islamabad-Doha, Lahore-Muscat, Sialkot-Paris, Sialkot-Barcelona, Multan-Sharjah, Peshawar-Sharjah and Peshawar-Al-Ain, said the report. The…
Author: holidayweekly
ABU DHABI: Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, was named the most punctual Middle Eastern carrier during the first seven months of 2019. New figures released by aviation data company OAG show that Etihad was the only Middle Eastern carrier whose punctuality averaged more than 80 per cent for flights across this period. The data also showed that of the airlines monitored by OAG, Etihad was ranked 24th globally for on-time performance in July, the peak summer month for air travel in the Middle East. John Wright, Etihad Airways’ Vice President Global Airports and Network Operations, said: “Etihad…
DUBAI: Dubai’s Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing (Dubai Tourism) has announced a partnership with House of ARY, one of the leading South Asian broadcast networks, to further strengthen travel demand to the emirate from Pakistan with the recent launch of the ‘Chalo Dubai’ (Let’s Go to Dubai) campaign. Reaffirming the Department’s ongoing commitment to extend the growth potential of one of its top ten source markets, the campaign aims to provide Pakistani visitors with specially curated, Dubai-centric holiday packages that showcase the city’s world-class destination propositions. The bespoke, four-days-three-nights packages will be available as part of the ‘Wow Dubai…
BRASILIA: Huge tracts of the Amazon, which serves as the lungs of the planet by taking in carbon dioxide and producing oxygen, are ablaze. Smoke from the widespread fires has turned day into night in Sao Paulo, and intensified a controversy over the Brazilian government’s land use policies. The Brazilian Amazon has experienced 74,155 fires since January, according to data from Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research. That’s an 85 percent increase from last year and significantly higher than the 67,790 blazes since by this point in the year during 2016, when there were severe drought conditions in the region…
KUALA LUMPUR: As part of celebrations to mark the 21st anniversary of Kuala Lumpur International Airport’s Terminal 1, IT provider SITA showcased its Smart Path solution. Smart Path uses facial biometric ID management technology to automate the travel journey from check-in to boarding. Once registered, travelers have their faces scanned, meaning that they do not have to produce documents at every stage of their journey. The technology is designed to easily integrate into existing airport and airline infrastructure, including standard common-use systems, check-in kiosks, self-service gates for secure access, and boarding. SITA and Malaysia Airports have signed a Memorandum of…
SAN FRANCISCO: Boeing has delayed the entry into service of an ultra-long range version of its forthcoming 777X widebody, the US planemaker has said. The fresh delay comes as the grounding of Boeing’s money-spinning 737 MAX single-aisle entered a sixth month in August, and as the world’s largest planemaker faces engine-related delays on the 777X widebody that have pushed the first flight of the 777-9 into 2020, said a Reuters report. “We reviewed our development program schedule and the needs of our current 777X customers and decided to adjust the schedule,” Boeing spokesman Paul Bergman said by e-mail, adding that…
LAHORE: Khawaja Shiraz Nasir, famous paraglider hailing from Lahore crashed in Dolomos area in Chitral when turbulent weather made his glider collapse mid-air. He was flying from Moghlasht to Charira in his glider, a frequent flier with a lot of flying hours to his credit, when it fell from high altitude due to stormy winds. Nasir’s backbone was fractured due to the impact and was rushed to DHQ hospital but he unfortunately succumbed to his injuries on the way. Shiraz Nasir was one of the first persons in Pakistan to introduce the idea of taking groups of people on mountainous…
ISLAMABAD: Aiming to promote tourism in the country, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) is moving forward briskly on materializing creation of an endowment fund worth Rs1 billion. After the federal government leaped forward to fulfil its commitment for exploring more tourist destinations in the country, PTDC followed the suit with drafting rules for the fund and their early notification. An endowment fund titled Pakistan Tourism Development Endowment Fund (PTDEF) has been created with seed money of Rs1 billion to promote tourism across the country, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Managing Director Syed Intikhab Alam told this agency. The government has…
KARACHI: The Employers Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and Badar Expo Solutions have signed a partnership agreement for organising the premier Pakistan Hospitality Show 2019 at the Karachi Expo Centre in December, a statement said on Tuesday. A briefing was organised to announce the event. EFP President Majyd Aziz highlighted the significance of the Pakistan Hospitality Show for the travel and tourism industry of Pakistan, and how a successful first exhibition will gain traction on local, as well as international levels, to ensure future successes. He said Prime Minister Imran Khan has accorded top priority to the development of the tourism…
LONDON: The girlfriend of new British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been denied permission to enter the United States because of her trip to East Africa’s Somaliland in 2018. Carrie Symonds, who moved into 10 Downing Street when Johnson became prime minister in July, was hoping to visit the US in the next few days as part of her adviser role for Oceana, a US-based environmental non-profit organization. However, US authorities have blocked her entry, according to the Daily Mail. The paper reports that during her 2018 trip to Somaliland, a region with severe political unrest and a country that…