WASHINGTON: After the second beating of his ‘Travel Ban’ plan in the federal court, US President Donald Trump confirmed his determination by hinting that he will bring his proposed travel ban all the way to the Supreme Court. In a series of defeats for Trump’s travel ban, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Hawaiian court’s nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the ban on Monday, 13 June. Trump’s revised ban involves a 90-day suspension on nationals from six Muslim-majority countries and a 120-day suspension of the refugee program. The three-judge panel unanimously ruled that the President violated US immigration law…
Author: holidayweekly
DOHA: Qatar Airways has made Doha a global hub in just a few years, but barring it from Gulf states’ airspace threatens its position as a major transcontinental carrier, experts say. Along with its Gulf peers, Dubai’s Emirates Airlines and Abu Dhabi’s Etihad, Qatar’s national carrier has captured a sizable portion of transit travel, capitalising on the Gulf’s central geographic location. But political differences between Qatar and neighbouring Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, as well as Egypt, exploded last week into a full-blown regional crisis, including severing air links. The measures meant cancelling dozens of daily flights…
RIYADH: According to a report, the Saudi government has awarded contracts to major regional and international firms for development of five key airports in the kingdom. A contract to operate the new King Abdul Aziz International Airport in Jeddah, operation of which had already been awarded to Singapore-based Changi Airports International (CAI) for a 20-year period. Transport Minister Sulaiman Al Hamdan said the contract to develop and operate the new Taif International Airport was signed with Asyad Holding Group in collaboration with Consolidated Contractors Company and Munich Airport. The contracts to operate Qassim’s Prince Naif bin Abdul Aziz Airport, Hail…
RAWALPINDI: Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Managing Director Ch. Abdul Ghafoor Khan has challenged the Cabinet Division’s notification dated April 5, 2011, according to which, the Ministry of Tourism was devolved to provinces. He said that this initiative has been taken due to the reason that PTDC is a public limited corporation incorporated under the Companies Ordinance 1984 and tourism sector remains a federal subject all over the world. In this regard, the PTDC has filed a writ petition in Islamabad High Court where Justice Amir Farooq admitted the petition. Similarly, after hearing the arguments of PTDC’s lawyers Justice (retd)…
MANAMA: Bahrain national carrier Gulf Air recently hosted key members of kingdom’s travel trade industry at the Movenpick Hotel Bahrain to announce the launch of flights to Tbilisi on June 22 and promote Georgia as a destination for every kind of traveller. The event was was hosted in partnership with the Georgian National Tourism Administration (GNTA) and Voyager, Gulf Air’s general sales agent (GSA) in Georgia. Guests were welcomed by Esam Al Hammadi, Gulf Air country manager Bahrain, who spoke of the importance of synergy between Gulf Air the Georgian National Tourism Administration and Voyager as all three entities work…
LAHORE: Pakistan ranked 64 among the 80 countries, surveyed by an online travel agency, kiwi.com in 2017, with an average flight cost of $23.70 per 100km of travel, factoring in both short-haul and long-haul journeys; Malaysia with $4.18 per 100km is the cheapest. The survey released on Thursday, 8 May, said in 2016 Pakistan was ranked 20, which means that the travel cost has increased steeply in a year. India ranked third in travel cost, which averages $4.96 per 100km of travel. The travel cost per 100km in Turkey is $6.28 and it is placed at position 4, the survey…
We are disappointed at the national Budget presented by the federal Finance Minister. The Economic Survey preceding his presentation carried what can be called a passing mention of Tourism and the long Budget speech contained not even that. A democratic government faced with its own version that more than 40% citizens are living below the poverty line, should have taken as imperative to adopt Visitor Economy, If only for employment generation. The finance minister and his team have obviously laboured from a tunnel vision, striking only at the visible – the captive – sources of tax revenue. According…
WASHINGTON DC: President Donald Trump plans to modernize US air traffic control systems, while transferring operations from a federal oversight body to a self-financing nonprofit organization. The proposal is part of the administration’s ambitious infrastructure agenda. Current air traffic control (ATC) still runs on radar and ground-based radio technology, Trump told reporters at the White House on Monday. The system was first designed at a time when the number of air passengers was 100,000 a year, while that number is now approaching 1 billion. “Our air traffic control is stuck, painfully, in the past,” Trump said, decrying the “ancient, broken,…
KARACHI: The Sindh Government has refused to accept the executive order of the Prime Minister against the devolution of the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC), saying it could not override the Constitution; it emerged on Wednesday, 7 June. Sindh Government has also demanded full control of the all assets and properties of the now defunct tourism ministry and archaeology division. “The constitutional body of the Implementation Commission decided the matter of the PTDC and as such, it cannot be overridden by the executive order of the honourable prime minister of Pakistan,” said a communiqué of the Sindh government sent to…
RAWALPINDI: Ch. Abdul Ghafoor, Managing Director PTDC has directed the management of the PTDC Motels to setup tent villages to accommodate the tourists. This initiative has been taken to cater the needs of increasing tourists flow and insufficient accommodation facilities available at tourist destinations. This concept has been adopted with a view to provide maximum facilities to visiting tourists as well as promoting domestic tourists to invite Pakistanis to visit their own country and witness its natural beauty. Ch. Ghafoor further said that immediately after Eid-ul-Fitr, the tent village facility will be available at PTDC Motels on affordable rates where…