KIGALI: RwandAir has become the first African airline to be awarded the top Diamond status rating for COVID-19 prevention measures, the highest attainable level. The award comes from APEX Health Safety, powered by SimpliFlying, for the airline’s sustained work to ensure the highest standards of cleanliness and sanitisation for its customers and crew. The Diamond rating positions RwandAir as the safest airline in Africa and comes after RwandAir was recently announced as the first African airline to vaccinate all staff. APEX Health Safety, powered by SimpliFlying, sets the industry benchmark for customer-centric COVID-19 certification. It provides a scientifically-based validation system…
Author: holidayweekly
DOHA: Qatar Airways CEO Akbar Al Baker made a splash this week, saying he thought buying the Airbus A380s was the airline’s biggest mistake. It is a rare admission from an airline CEO who rarely backs down. Qatar Airways has a fleet of 10 Airbus A380s. All are presently inactive. Al Baker’s view on the plane doesn’t bode well for their future. “It was good when it had launched in 2002,” Akbar Al Baker told in an exclusive webinar interview this week. But with rising fuel prices and growing awareness about the environmental impact of flying, the mega jumbo is…
ISLAMABAD: To boost domestic and international tourism in the country, particularly tourism to northern regions of Pakistan, a new private airline ‘North Air’ will soon take to the skies of Pakistan. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) recently issued Tourism Promotion and Regional Integration (TPRI) license to the airline. It will initially operate flights to and from Islamabad, Skardu, Chitral, Gilgit, and Gwadar covering major tourist attractions. ‘North Air’ founder and co-owner Raja Nazeem ul Ameen is a businessman who hails from the Hunza valley of Gilgit-Baltistan. While talking to media Ameen said: “After acquiring the license, we are now in…
GILGIT: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has started direct flights from Karachi to Skardu to promote tourism in Gilgit-Baltistan. The first PIA Airbus-320 landed at the Skardu Airport on Monday, May 24. The airline will operate two weekly flights from Karachi to Skardu. Earlier on April 7, the national carrier had launched direct flight operation from Lahore to Skardu twice a week. In a press release, GB Governor Raja Jalal Hussain Maqpoon said the direct flights from Karachi to Skardu had been launched with a view to promoting tourism in the region and facilitating the local people. He said the federal…
SAN FRANCISCO: Boeing has halted deliveries of its 787 jets again after U.S. federal regulators wanted more information about its production flaws, according to a statement released by the company on Friday. Boeing is working with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide more information about the company’s analysis and documentation of work on new 787s, it said, adding that the delay affects “near-term” deliveries, but will not affect the 787s that have already been delivered to customers. “Boeing still needs to show that its proposed inspection method would meet FAA’s federal safety regulations,” the regulator said. According to a…
LONDON: “I’m putting the message out loud and clear in support of our city” said Sadiq Khan Mayor of London. “Our capital is renowned for our varied and thriving hospitality industry, but our venues have suffered greatly from the impact of Covid-19. We need to protect our world-beating bars, pubs, and restaurants so they can continue to play their key role in driving our economy. So it’s crucial that we get out and support them while following public health guidelines.” he added. Sadiq further said, “This is why I’m proud to have launched Let’s Do London, the biggest domestic tourism…
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia hosted global travel industry leaders across public and private sectors at the Tourism Recovery Summit in Riyadh to discuss common solutions and tangible actions as the sector enters a new era. The summit gathered more than 60 speakers at the Ritz Carlton in Riyadh and attracted a global virtual audience of thousands. The speaker line-up included 16 tourism ministers from around the globe as well as private sector leaders from the aviation, hospitality, and cruise sectors as well as industry bodies including, Edmund Bartlett CD, MP, Minister of Tourism of Jamaica, Harry Theoharis, Minister of Tourism of…
BANGKOK: A very attractive and catchy campaign, One-night, one-dollar, has been proposed by the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT) to attract international tourists back to Phuket, ahead of the popular resort island’s planned July reopening. Under the plan, participating operators will offer to foreign tourists room rates at US$1 per night for rooms that typically sell for between 1,000 baht (US$32) and 3,000 baht per night with costs to be subsidized by the government, explained TCT President Chamnan Srisawat. A one-night, one dollar reopening campaign for Phuket hotels has been floated by the Tourism Council of Thailand; a man preparing…
GENEVA: The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has opened its first regional office for the Middle East in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. At a ceremony in the Saudi capital, UNWTO Secretary-General Zurab Pololikashvili was joined by Princess Haifa Al-Saud, Deputy Minister of Tourism for Strategy and Investment, and the Kingdom’s Minister for Tourism, Ahmed Al Khateeb to officially open the office. They were also joined by Tourism Ministers from across both Middle East and from every other global region, as well as by leaders from the private sector. The first UNWTO Regional Office will be a centre of conversation, debate and decision-making…
ISTANBUL: First in-person B2B Luxury MICE workshop event and Conference held in Istanbul Turkey where Muhammad Tariq Siraj, Chairman Travel Agents Association of Pakistan (TAAP) was invited from Pakistan to discuss the way forward for the travel trade in the post-covid-19 situation. Mr. Murtaza Kalender, GM TravelShop Turkey the host of the event. A tourism passionate and a leading tour operator of turkey, Mr. Kalender organized a very successful in-person event where tourism organizations and travel trade seniors of more than 60 counties including Pakistan participated. While addressing the gathering, Chairman TAAP Muhammad Tariq Siraj said that in these unprecedented…