Zol

Emirates Airlines has agreed to provide us with news feed from their Public Relations team and this in turn will be posted here for your benefit.

Zol

Dubai, UAE, 26 March 2018 – Emirates is celebrating 10 years of enabling mobile phone use on board its aircraft. As a global leader of inflight innovations, Emirates made history in March 2008 by becoming the first airline in the world to allow customers to make and receive calls, as well as send SMS messages from their own mobile phones.

The inaugural phone call was made on March 20, 2008 on Emirates flight EK751 from Dubai to Casablanca. Since then over 2.8 million calls have been made, 60% of which were made from the aircraft, while over a million calls were answered by passengers travelling on Emirates. The longest call recorded was on a flight from Orlando to Dubai on February 5, 2018 lasting 3 hours and 50 minutes. Over the last 10 years, 87 million SMS messages have also been sent or received.

Emirates has been at the forefront of innovation with connectivity and inflight entertainment on board. Besides allowing mobile phone use inflight in 2008, Emirates was also first airline to install TV screens in every seat on every aircraft in its fleet in 1992. Today, the airline provides one of the most comprehensive and state-of-the-art entertainment and communications services in the skies. ice, the award-winning inflight entertainment system, now offers over 3,500 channels of entertainment, including over 700 movies from around the world. This unmatched variety of content will continue to grow, offering even more choice.

Emirates has continuously been investing in providing connectivity and Live TV for its customers. Over 70% of all Emirates’ aircraft offer Live TV, including all its Boeing 777-200LR and 777-300ER fleet. Wi-Fi connectivity is available on over 98% of the fleet, including all A380s, 777-300ERs and 777-200LRs. Customers in all cabin classes receive 20MB of free Wi-Fi data, and each month nearly one million passengers connect while inflight.

As part of its recent expansion of the Wi-Fi offering on board, Emirates Skywards members enjoy special benefits depending on their membership tier and class of travel, including free Wi-Fi when travelling in First Class or Business Class.

Emirates has been recognised as the Best Airline in the World in the inaugural TripAdvisor Travelers’ Choice® Awards for Airlines in 2017. It recently clinched three Regional Passenger Choice Awards for Best Entertainment in the Middle East, Best Inflight Wi-Fi in the Middle East, and the Best Overall Experience in the Middle East at the 2018 APEX Passenger Choice Awards ceremony held during APEX Asia in Shanghai, China last week.

-ends-

Zol

Over 1.7 million passengers carried on the route since launch in July 2010

PRAGUE, 27 March 2018 – Emirates today announced it will add a second daily flight between Dubai and Prague, after steadily growing passenger numbers on the route during the eight years since launch of operations in July 2010.

The new Emirates flight will commence from 1st July 2018 to meet the increasing demand for both inbound and outbound travel. The second daily flight will be operated by a Boeing 777-300ER with a capacity of 360 seats, boosting inbound tourism through the additional 262,800 seats a year it will provide.

The year-round flight will have a three class configuration offering eight Private Suites in First Class, 42 lie-flat seats in Business and 310 spacious seats in Economy.

Emirates‘ flight EK137 will leave Dubai at 15:30 and arrive in Prague at 19:55. The return flight EK138 will leave Prague at 21:35 and arrive in Dubai at 05:30 the following day, giving travellers the full day in Dubai to kick start their holiday, short break or business trip and take advantage of the wealth of activity and dining options the cosmopolitan city has to offer.

The second daily flight will improve Prague’s connectivity to and from a range of tempting destinations in the Emirates network including Far East favourites Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam; Phuket in Thailand; Yangon in Myanmar, Guangzhou in China and Phnom Penh in Cambodia. African destinations of Durban, Dar-Es-Salaam, Harare, Lusaka, Entebbe and Nairobi as well as Auckland and Christchurch in New Zealand and Brisbane in Australia will be more easily reached with improved connectivity with a convenient transit in Dubai’s world-class hub.

Thanks to the codeshare agreement Emirates has established with airline partner flydubai, customers can now connect with one stop in Dubai to range of additional tempting destinations in the flydubai network including Zanzibar, Kathmandu, Salalah and Kilimanjaro which are currently proving popular with Czech travellers.

The new flight, offering additional cargo capacity in the belly hold of the wide-body Boeing, will also enhance trade links by providing Czech companies further opportunities to export machinery, pharmaceuticals, perishables, glass and automotive parts to markets in the Middle and Far East, South-East Asia and Australia.

The Emirates experience begins with a complimentary chauffeur driven car to and from the airport for Business and First Class passengers, as well as access to Emirates’ exclusive airport lounges worldwide including Premium airport lounge access on departure at Prague airport.

As with all Emirates flights, passengers will benefit from a generous baggage allowance of up to 35kg in Economy, 40kg in Business and 50kg in First Class.

On board, passengers can discover ice Digital Widescreen, offering up to 3,500 channels of on-demand audio and visual entertainment including the latest movies, TV shows, music, audio books and games. Customers can enjoy the hospitality provided by Emirates’ multi-national cabin crew, as well as gourmet regionally-inspired cuisine with complimentary beverages.

The new flight complements the existing schedule operated by an Emirates A380 which currently departs Dubai at 08:35 as EK139 landing in Prague at 13:00 and returns as EK140 departing Prague at 15:55 landing in Dubai at 23:50 daily.

Zol

Dubai, UAE, 28 March 2018- Emirates is celebrating the Easter holiday with a range of treats available to customers across all classes on board and in the airport lounges from 30th March to 2nd April.

Emirates customers travelling from Dubai to destinations in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Argentina, Brazil and the Philippines will be able to enjoy the Easter offering. Special menus have also been created for the lounges at Dubai International Airport and selected Emirates lounges worldwide.

Across all classes, customers can look forward to special buns on board - handmade using Emirates’ signature recipe with spiced dough and orange peel, sultanas and currents. Various Easter-themed desserts will also be served to all customers including white chocolate eggs in Economy Class. First Class customers can also look forward to a special Easter edition of the Lakrids “Egg” Dulce de Leche Liquorice Balls in their personal goodie baskets. The seasonal menus are in addition to the regionally inspired cuisine served on all Emirates flights.

On Easter Sunday itself, festivities kick off in the Emirates lounges at Dubai International Airport and in most of the Emirates lounges around the world. Customers in all seven lounges in Dubai will be able to enjoy traditional buns, chocolate hazelnut Easter cake, Easter delight with mango mousse and almond florentine, carrot cake and Easter eggs in a basket. Emirates lounges in other airports will also be serving special menus for the day including lamb gigot in the Emirates Zurich lounge and roasted leg of lamb with mint vinegar in the Emirates lounge in Boston.

Those travelling during Easter can enjoy up to 3,500 channels of on demand entertainment on ice, including over 700 movies from around the world. This unmatched variety of content will continue to grow, offering even more choice. New family friendly movies include Paddington 2, Wonder and Justice League and in April, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, The Greatest Showman and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

The Easter celebrations on board and on the ground are part of Emirates’ commitment to enhance the customer experience with unique and seasonal offerings.

DanielW

I heard that they have forced FZ to cancel their DXB-PRG flight too(?).

Saltire74

Saltire74

Zol

Dubai, UAE – 29 March 2018: The Emirates A380 touched down in Beirut today for a historic one-off service to Rafic Al Hariri International Airport (BEY), contributing to an aviation milestone for Lebanon and its hub airport. The landing demonstrated the airport’s readiness to accommodate the A380, the world’s largest commercial passenger jet.

The special A380 flight was operated by Captain Robert Nicholls from the UK and First Officer Hasib Bu Alwan, a Lebanese national.

The 517 passengers travelling on EK 957, many of whom had made their bookings to be on this unique flight, were joined by a top-level delegation led by the airline, including; Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing and Brand; H.E. Hamad Saeed Sultan Al Shamsi, UAE Ambassador to Lebanon; H.E. Elias Bou Saab, Advisor to the Lebanese President for International Cooperation; Dr. Nejib Ben Khedher, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, Skywards; Ali Jaber, Managing Editor – MBC Media; Marwan Rahbani, Owner - Rahbani Productions; Raymond G Khouzami, Chief Executive Officer - Al Thuriah Building Contractors Ltd; Joseph Nassib Ghessoub, Chief Executive Officer – CMS and Jihad Hitt, Chief Executive Officer - GETAC Group.

Upon landing at 1030hrs at Rafic Al Hariri International Airport the aircraft was met with a ceremonial water cannon salute, and the Emirates delegation was welcomed by H.E. Avedis Guidanian, Minister of Tourism attending on behalf of H.E. President of the Republic of Lebanon; Deputy Ali Bazzi – Representing H.E. President of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri; H.E. Youssef Fenianos, Lebanese Minister of Transport; H.E. Raed Koury, Minister of Economy & Trade; H.E. Walid Al Boukhari – Chargee D’affaire of the Saudi Arabia Embassy to Lebanon, government officials and Rafic Hariri International Airport executives. After a welcoming ceremony, government officials, VIPs, media and members of the travel industry were given a guided tour of the A380 by Emirates cabin crew, several of whom were from Lebanon.

Boutros Boutros, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Marketing & Brand said: “The Emirates A380 is fundamental to our overall strategy, and bringing this popular aircraft to Beirut represents a significant milestone in our operations to Lebanon, a country we have been serving for over 27 years and we remain wholly committed to stimulating further growth within the market. We thank the Lebanese government, the Ministry of Transport and the government authorities who have worked hard to make today’s one-off service a tremendous success.”

This year marks the Emirates A380’s 10th anniversary, and the iconic aircraft has transformed flying for over 96 million passengers on over 106,000 flights. The Emirates A380 flying to Beirut operated in a three-class configuration, with 429 generously pitched seats in Economy Class on the lower deck, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites on the upper deck. Emirates’ A380 is renowned for its First Class Private Suites, Shower Spas and Onboard Lounge for First Class and Business Class passengers, offering a wide range of drinks and canapés, as well as space to socialise or simply relax.

Passengers travelling on the main deck in Economy Class enjoyed stretching out in seats with a pitch of up to 33 inches. Passengers in all classes enjoyed the 13 time award-winning ice in-flight entertainment system with a choice of up to 3,500 channels on-demand.

As the largest operator of the double-decker aircraft, Emirates’ fleet of 101 A380s now fly to 48 global destinations.

The Emirates A380 service today operated as EK 957 and EK 958, departing Dubai at 0725hrs and arriving in Beirut at 1035hrs. The flight departed Beirut at 1415hrs, arriving in Dubai at 1905hrs.

Monarch man

Reads very much like one of those soviet era propaganda newspapers, all that is missing is all hail the King or sheik etc etc.

Saltire74

Saltire74

ElJudioErrante

There were 2 no shows on the flight !

Zol

Dubai, UAE, 10 April 2018 – Emirates has set a new record with over 1 million Wi-Fi connections made on board its flights in March alone. During the month, 1,037,016 Emirates customers connected to the internet during their flight.

The connections were mainly made over mobile devices with over 94% of users connecting with a smartphone –twice as many connections were made on an iOS mobile phone as compared to an Android mobile, and about 2% with a tablet. The remaining connections were made with laptops and other devices.

Wi-Fi connectivity is available on over 98% of the Emirates fleet, including all A380s, 777-300ERs and 777-200LRs. Customers in all cabin classes receive 20MB of free Wi-Fi data. Emirates Skywards members enjoy special benefits depending on their membership tier and class of travel, including free Wi-Fi when travelling in First Class or Business Class. Over 94% of passengers connecting to Wi-Fi on board Emirates in March took advantage of the complimentary offer and logged on free of charge.

The highest data usage from a single passenger was made by an Emirates Skywards member who stayed connected throughout their flight from Dubai to Johannesburg, consuming 4.9 GB of complimentary data.

Emirates continually invests in improving bandwidth on board by upgrading the connectivity solution on the fleet. Staying connected has become a mainstay and an expectation on Emirates flights and the demand for Wi-Fi on board has been steadily increasing each month. The route with the most Wi-Fi connections in March was EK215 from Dubai to Los Angeles with over 6,000 customers connecting in flight.

Emirates has been at the forefront of innovation with connectivity and inflight entertainment on board. It was the first airline to allow mobile phone use inflight in 2008, and the first to install TV screens in every seat on every aircraft in its fleet in 1992. Today, the airline provides one of the most comprehensive and state-of-the-art entertainment and connectivity services in the skies. ice, Emirates’ award-winning inflight entertainment system, now offers over 3,500 channels of entertainment, including over 700 movies from around the world. This unmatched variety of content will continue to grow, offering Emirates customers even more choice.

Zol

11 April 2018, Australia: Global air services provider dnata has today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Qantas’ catering businesses.

The agreement is subject to approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

Qantas’ catering businesses include wholly-owned subsidiaries Q Catering Limited and Snap Fresh Pty Limited. Q Catering has centres in four Australian ports – Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, with its largest airline customer being Qantas.

Snap Fresh is a state-of-the-art meal production plant in Queensland, specialising in Australian-made frozen meals for airlines and customers in the healthcare and food retail industries.

Commenting on the agreement, dnata's Divisional Senior Vice President of catering, Robin Padgett said:

"This agreement reflects our confidence in Australia as a market and the ongoing growth potential into the future.”

“By combining dnata’s network strength and international talent with Qantas’ domestic catering expertise, this will allow us to further grow our presence and deliver catering excellence to more customers across Australia than ever before. This includes investing in more infrastructure, starting with a new catering facility in Sydney.”

“We look forward to the opportunity to welcome the employees from Qantas’ inflight catering businesses to the dnata team.”

Under the agreement, dnata will supply catering for Qantas flights for an initial period of ten years, and Qantas will continue to work with key suppliers in menu design and development.

Qantas Domestic CEO, Andrew David, added: “The catering businesses will benefit significantly from dnata’s global footprint, catering expertise, and ability to drive investment and growth for what is a core focus of its operation.”

“Customers will continue to enjoy Qantas’ premium service, including unique Rockpool-designed menus for First and Business passengers, showcasing the best of Australian produce for millions of travellers each year."

“Together with dnata, we’ll continue to deliver the inflight food and beverage experience we know our customers value, just as we work with catering companies in offshore ports for our international flights.”

Dubai-headquartered dnata already operates 11 catering facilities in Australia, currently trading under the dnata catering brand (recently rebranded from Alpha Flight Services). dnata employs more than 4000 people in Australia across its catering, cargo and ground handling businesses.

Over the past 12 months dnata has invested significantly in growing its global catering network. Its most recent milestones include the opening of a catering facility in Dublin, Ireland, the opening of its $50m Melbourne catering facility and an agreement to acquire New York-based caterer 121 inflight catering. It is also currently constructing a facility in Vancouver, Canada.



dnata

• dnata, a part of the Emirates Group, provides catering, cargo and ground handling services from 129 airports. Including its travel services businesses, dnata operates in 84 countries.
• Collectively, dnata employs more than 4,000 people in Australia and more than 39,000 globally, across its cargo, catering, ground handling and travel businesses.
• dnata's catering division operates 11 catering facilities in Australia, trading under the dnata catering brand.
• Globally dnata’s catering operation spans 65 locations across 13 countries, providing flight catering and inflight retail services to more than 190 airlines. It also operates more than 40 restaurant, café and lounge premises, and collectively employs more than 9000 people.
• dnata's Australia catering business is headquartered in Broadbeach, Queensland, with a local CEO and senior management team.
• dnata's global revenues in FY 2016/17 were 12.2bn AED (approx. $4.2bn AUD).

Q Catering and Snap Fresh

• Q Catering operates four airport catering facilities in Australia, located in Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney
• Snap Fresh operates an off-airport food development, production and preparation facility, which caters to a wide range of industries
• Q Catering has been servicing flights departing from Australia for more than 70 years
• Q Catering now produce over 34 million meals for customer airlines each year

About dnata

dnata is one of the world’s largest air services providers. Established in 1959, the company ensures the aviation industry operates smoothly and efficiently in 129 airports. Offering ground handling, cargo, travel, and flight catering services in 84 countries across six continents, dnata is a trusted partner for over 400 airline customers around the world. Each day, the company handles over 1,700 flights, carries over 7,700 tonnes of cargo, assists over 235,000 passengers, books over 19,000 hotel stays, and uplifts over 320,000 meals

Saltire74