Showing posts with label Boosting Services. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boosting Services. Show all posts

Wednesday, 14 May 2014

Emirates to operate double daily services to the Seychelles


Emirates, a global connector of people and places, has announced it will step up its operations to the Seychelles by increasing services to double daily later this year.

The introduction of two more flights per week on the route into the Seychelles will increase the existing 12 scheduled flights to fourteen bringing operations to double daily from the 28th of October this year.

“Emirates’ decision to commit two additional scheduled flights a week is a clear indication of customer demand, both for our award-winning product and the wealth of attractions that this popular destination has to offer,” said Orhan Abbas, Emirates' Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Latin America, Central and Southern Africa. “Emirates’ expanded schedule provides better connectivity and a wider choice for our customers connecting through Dubai. These additional seats every week are central to helping us meet the growing demand and support the Seychelles tourism industry,” he continued.

“On behalf of the Ministry of Tourism and Culture and the Seychelles Tourism Board, I congratulate Emirates on the announcement that Seychelles will be served with two additional flights per week, offering customers excellent choice with its three-class configuration. This is indeed good news for our tourism industry which remains the pillar of our country's economy. Emirates has been a strong partner for us and the increase of flights to double daily shows the commitment of the airline to the Seychelles. It also indicates Emirates’ belief that the Seychelles tourism industry is today, more than ever before, on a firm footing”, said Alain St. Ange, Minister of Tourism and Culture for the Seychelles.

Emirates operates an Airbus A340-500 on the route, offering customers a choice of cabins with 12 luxurious private suites in First Class, 42 deeply reclining Business Class seats and plenty of room to relax in Economy Class, where there are 204 seats available.

Passengers can enjoy the award-winning ice entertainment system, with hundreds of channels of on-demand entertainment to choose from, including movies from around the world, TV channels, audio channels, video games and news headlines.

Emirates customers also have the opportunity to enjoy meals prepared by gourmet chefs and exceptional service from the international cabin crew recruited from over 130 nationalities, speaking over 55 languages.  They receive a generous baggage allowance, with 30kg for those travelling in Economy Class, 40kg for Business Class and 50kg for First Class.

The Seychelles comprises 115 pristine, tropical islands, 1,600 km from the East coast of Africa. This archipelago contains the only mid-ocean granitic islands on the planet and offers sanctuaries for numerous endemic species of flora and fauna that are amongst the rarest on earth. The islands are also home to two UNESCO World Heritage sites: The Vallee de Mai, upon whose ancient palms grows the wondrous Coco-de-mer and fabled Aldabra, the largest raised atoll in the world. Throughout the islands there are unparalleled opportunities for sailing on bare-boat or skippered yacht, deep-sea and fly-fishing as well as a broad diversity of dive experiences for the novice and experienced diver alike.


Thursday, 10 April 2014

Ryanair joins low-cost rivals with expansion in Germany

Low cost carrier Ryanair plans to expand at Cologne airport in Germany, joining rivals in boosting services in Europe's largest economy and providing more competition for Lufthansa on its home territory. Ryanair will base one aircraft and open up five new routes from Cologne, in Germany's most populated federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, in October, the budget carrier said on Thursday.
The airline therefore joins rivals such as Easyjet and Spain's Vueling, all of which are hoping to take advantage of Germany's strong economy and its citizens' love of foreign holidays. Low cost carriers have been slow to break into Germany, in the same way as they have taken over in other markets like Britain, France and Spain. But analysts say low-cost carriers have spotted an opening, especially as Air Berlin, Germany's second largest airline, struggles with its finances.
"Germany is the growth engine of Europe. As an European airline, it would be wrong to leave out Germany," Vueling German manager Ulla Siebken told journalists in Frankfurt last month.
Except for routes that feed into its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, full-service carrier Lufthansa has now handed over its European short-haul operations to Germanwings, its low-cost unit. Ryanair said it is investing over $90 million (53.7 million pounds) in Cologne. The new routes are to Dublin, London Stansted, Madrid, Riga & Rome Ciampino, reflecting Ryanair's move into larger airports, rather than smaller regional airports.
Vueling plans to increase revenue by 25 percent in Germany this year as it offers 33 percent more capacity, in terms of the seat kilometres it offers. Easyjet is also expanding, putting in extra planes to Berlin and launching routes to Hamburg.

"Germany for us is good," Easyjet CEO Carolyn McCall told Reuters last month. "We're doing well in Berlin... and we just launched in Hamburg. That will be good for us. All the signals are very good."