PESHAWAR: Provincial Senior Minister Muhammad Atif Khan has said that there are great potential for tourism in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan and foreign investors can get handsome benefit from these opportunities in the sector. The senior minister, who also has the portfolio of Sports, Tourism, Archaeology, Culture, Museums and Youth Affairs, said that concerted efforts were being made to introduce Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as a tourism brand to the world to attract more tourists and visitors to the province. He said that there was a dire need to work on different strategies to further explore and exploit these potential for the…
Author: holidayweekly
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has started preparations for flight operations to be conducted for Hajj pilgrims, ARY News reported. The national flag-carrier has decided to temporarily add six narrow-body aircraft to its fleet from June become commencement of flight operations. PIA administration released tenders for acquiring Airbus A-320 and 737 aircraft on wet lease for six months to facilitate uninterrupted operations for facilitating nationals It is pertinent to mention here that the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) had approved issuance of supplementary budget of more than one billion rupees for Hajj operations on February 19. Saudi Arabia had already issued…
MANAMA: Gulf Air, the national carrier of Bahrain, today welcomed its second Airbus A320neo, which landed in Bahrain International Airport today. This is the second aircraft of the 12 A320neo aircraft ordered during the 2016 Bahrain International Airshow. This delivery also makes Gulf Air the first national carrier to fly the A320neo in the Middle East and Africa region. Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer, Krešimir Kučko commented: “We are delighted to welcome the second A320neo to our fleet, and proud to be the first national carrier in the region to operate the A320neo. We have a strong network in the…
ISTANBUL: Turkish Airlines has revised its codeshare agreement with Oman Air, the Turkish flag carrier announced in a press release. Under the revised agreement, Turkish Airlines will codeshare on Oman Air operating flights to Salalah, while Oman Air will codeshare on Turkish Airlines operating flights to Rome, Copenhagen and Algiers. The codeshare agreement allows guests to benefit from the outstanding products and services offered by both carriers on these routes. Turkish Airlines’ deputy chairman and CEO, Bilal Ekşi, said: “We believe that this codeshare enhancement with Oman Air will further explore cooperation opportunities for both airlines together with growing relations…
MUSCAT: Oman budget carrier SalamAir has launched non-stop flights from Muscat to Alexandria, Egypt. SalamAir OV527, operated by an Airbus A320neo, departed Muscat International Airport following a special celebration ceremony commemorating the debut of this route. The ceremony was attended by Mohammed Ahmed Fahmi Ghoneim, ambassador of Egypt to Oman, alongside Captain Mohamed Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of SalamAir, and other dignitaries. The inaugural flight was also welcomed in Alexandria by Egyptian officials and dignitaries. Celebrating the first direct flight between both cities, SalamAir also held a special event in Alexandria with the participation of tourism and travel partners, as…
LONDON: The World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) announced that the 44th President of the United States, President Barack Obama, will be a guest of honor and keynote speaker at its Global Summit in Seville, Spain, to be held between 2-4 April 2019. President Obama served as President from 2009 to 2017. Today, his presidency is defined by the astute leadership he showed amid global economic uncertainty, heightened security concerns and immense environmental risk. His legacy includes making unprecedented strides towards the adoption of clean energy and overseeing the longest stretch of job creation in American history. President Obama is…
COLOMBO: SriLankan Engineering, the aircraft maintenance-repair-overhaul (MRO) arm of Sri Lanka’s national carrier, achieved another milestone when it successfully carried out its first C-check on an Airbus A320neo aircraft of the SriLankan Airlines fleet at its main hub at Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport. Vipula Gunatilleka, Chief Executive Officer of SriLankan Airlines, said: “The highly dedicated and talented engineering team worked tirelessly to achieve this milestone and once again has strengthened our position as an MRO in the South Asian region. We look forward to providing MRO and engineering services to our customer airlines as well in the near future.” D.A.G.…
PUTRAJAYA: The tourism sector contributed US$20.7 billion to Malaysia’s economy last year, up by 2.4 per cent compared to the previous year, said Malaysia’s Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi on Wednesday, Feb 27. The top 10 sources of tourism to the country last year were Singapore,10.6 million visitors, Indonesia 3.28 million, China 2.9 million, Thailand 1.9 million, Brunei 1.38 million, South Korea 616,783, India 600,311, the Philippines 396,062, Japan 394,540 and Taiwan 383,922. Although international tourist arrivals fell slightly from 25.9 million in 2017 to 25.8 million in 2018, the per capita expenditure of tourists rose 2.9 per…
MOSCOW: Russia’s State Duma (Parliament) introduced a bill that would allow foreigners to stay for two weeks in Russia without an entry visa. The authors of the bill believe that the initiative will allow foreign guests to get acquainted with Russia in more detail. They said that this measure is vital for Russia against the backdrop of its ‘oppression with anti-Russian sanctions’. In a rather bizarre twist, the authors of the bill want to allow only foreigners from “friendly states” to remain in Russia visa-free for two weeks. Which countries will be regarded as “friendly” will be decided by the…
LONDON: The global tourism sector grew at 3.9 per cent last year, to contribute a record $8.8 trillion and 319 million jobs to the world economy, according to figures from the World Travel & Tourism Organisation. For the eighth consecutive year, this was above the growth rate of world GDP. The research conducted over the last 25 years by WTTC, which represents the global private sector of tourism, shows that tourism generated 10.4 per cent of all global economic activity last year. At the same time, the sector is responsible for one in five of all new jobs created in…