Today, the parent company of national carrier, Malaysia Airlines, Malaysia Aviation Group, remembered the coming of its first Boeing 737-8 aircraft with a presentation ceremony organized at Hangar 5, MAB Engineering Complex.

Loke Siew Fook, the Minister of Malaysia Transport, the Chief Operating Officer, Malaysian Aviation Commission, YM Raja Azmi bin Raja Nazuddin, the Group Chairman of MAG, Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, and Datuk Captain Izham Ismail, the Group Managing Director of MAG graced the event.

The introduction of the aircraft type highlights the commencement of the slow development plan of the narrowbody fleet of MAG. Through its operating lease, MAG has an orderbook of 25 737-8 aircraft with Air Lease Corporation, which will be sent gradually through to 2026.

Later today, the aircraft will kick-start its first commercial flight to Kota Kinabalu through Malaysia Airlines flight MH2640 leaving Kuala Lumpur at 3:40pm. The aircraft will service places all over Malaysia, before growing to other networks across Asia and ASEAN as more of the aircraft type enters into service.

The Group Chairman of MAG, Tan Sri Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, said that with the introduction of their new Boeing 737-8, it will further facilitate them to improve customer experience, recover their working efficiency and meet their future network growth requirements.

British Airways Executive Club Members, for the first time ever, can make Tiering Points outside of flying, by investing on the British Airways American Express® Premium Plus Card, cheers to an original offer that’ has limited time.

This offer is running until 21st May 2024. In the impending months, this offer gives applicable Cardmembers the chance to make an extra 200 Tier Points by simply spending on their Card.

Tier Points help travelers to make airline status, which is linked with travel perks like access to the lounge, advanced security, extra luggage payments and priority boarding.

Tier Points till today could only be earned by flying with British Airways, along with its subsidiaries and its oneworld® airline partners. This proposal emphasizes that Tier Points can be earned outside of flying for the first time. From today, American Express Premium Plus Cardmembers of British Airways will be qualified to earn up to 200 Tier Points as follows:

If the Cardmember spends £15,000, he/she can earn 100 Tier Points

An additional 50 additional Tier Points will be given, if they spend an extra £5,000

A final 50 Tier Points will be given, if they spend an additional £5,000

For the offer, cardmembers must enroll in their online account.

Emirates has been honoured with two prestigious awards at the ULTRAs 2023 Awards, being named the “Best Airline in the World” and the “Best Airline in the Middle East.”

These accolades recognise Emirates for its outstanding products, unparalleled services, and excellent value for money, as voted by thousands of global travellers.

The awards were accepted by Thomas Ney, Divisional Senior Vice President of Service Delivery at Emirates, during a ceremony at the Nikki Beach Club in Dubai, attended by prominent guests and industry leaders.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Chief Operating Officer, expressed delight at being recognized once again as one of the world’s premier providers of luxury travel experiences. He says, “We remain committed to continuously introducing innovative solutions and products to enhance our customers’ journey. Thank you to our loyal customers for always choosing to fly better with us – and we look forward to raising the bar even higher!”   

Nick Perry, Chairman of Ultratravel, added: “The quality and quantity of choice available to affluent flyers is at its highest – so the achievement of Emirates to be voted the World’s Best Airline in 2023 is truly impressive. Emirates can be justly proud to retain top position for another year.”

Best-in-class travel experiences 
Emirates remains committed to enhancing its products and services for an exceptional travel experience both in the air and on the ground. Recent initiatives include the introduction of a city check-in facility at Dubai International Financial Centre, the expansion of its global network with a new route to Montreal, the launch of a meal pre-ordering service, and the provision of free onboard Wi-Fi for all Emirates Skywards members. These accolades underscore the airline’s dedication to the belief that the journey itself is as crucial as the destination, a theme embodied in its brand advertising campaign featuring Hollywood actor Penelope Cruz.

Award-winning streak
Emirates has garnered recognition for its outstanding customer service, achieving the 2024 APEX World Class Airline award for demonstrating excellence in safety, well-being, sustainability, and guest experience. The airline also secured the 2024 IFSA award for ‘Best Onboard Amenity,’ acknowledging its sustainable Economy Class amenity kit. Operating the world’s largest fleet of wide-body Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 aircraft, Emirates provides spacious cabins and unique features such as the A380 Shower Spa and Onboard Lounge. The airline’s recent record-breaking half-year performance for 2023-24 reflects its success in transporting over 26 million passengers across an extensive global network. Emirates continues to offer customers a premium experience with a diverse crew, gourmet cuisine, and an award-winning inflight entertainment system—ice—providing up to 6,500 channels of movies, TV shows, podcasts, and more.

Airport Authority Hong Kong (AAHK) has released statistics for air traffic for Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) for October of this year.

In the course of October, HKIA controlled 3.8 million travellers, signifying a four-fold year-on-year upsurge, with flight activities roughly doubling to 26,265 equated to October last year.

All passenger divisions witnessed noteworthy development equated to the equivalent month in 2022. Traffic to and from Southeast Asia, Japan and Mainland China witnessed the main surges.

Robust development impetus of freight amount sustained in October, increasing 12.1% year-on-year to 393,000 tonnes. Exports and transhipments logged 24.7% and 2.1% year-on-year upsurges,
correspondingly. Transportation to and from important trading areas in Europe, North America and the Middle East exhibited the greatest important upsurges in the course of the month.

During the initial 10 months of the year, passenger capacity amplified 9.5 times to 31.4 million and flight activities approximately doubled to 218,370 equated to the equivalent time last year. Freight capacity amplified a little by 0.1% to 3.5 million tonnes year-on-year.

On a 12-month continuing basis, traveler capacity was 34 million, which is 9.4 times greater compared to the earlier times. Flight activities improved by 78.7% year–on-year to 247,805. Freight amount reduced by 5.6% to 4.2 million tonnes.

Emirates presented its well-known first-rate Chauffeur Drive Service (CDS) in Jakarta, Indonesia, serving the requirements of the customers of the airline’s First and Business Class.

This select facility pledges a continuous, top-tier door-to-door understanding to and from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport (CGK), confirming relief, confidentiality and springiness.

Emirates’ customers of First and Business Class at the moment can get advantage of the free of charge Chauffeur-drive pick-up facility for equally exits and entrances within an 80-kilometer range of the airport.

For extra distance, additional charges would apply. Emirates’ first-class travelers can delight in a relaxed and comfortable trip with the Mercedes E class, and vans like the Mercedes V class are conditional on convenience and passenger amount.

Arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, CDS Staff will have greeters posted at Gate 1 to enable movement of travelers to Zone 2 for pick-up. Likewise, for exits, travelers will be released at Gate 2, letting them to expediently continue to the Emirates check-in stands at C Island.

For enabling a flawless experience, travelers can plan their Chauffeur-drive pick-up no less than 12 hours prior to their flying via emirates.com or the Emirates call center.

APG, has been appointed as the official Passenger General Sales Agent (GSA) for SriLankan Airlines in Ireland. In this strategic partnership, APG will leverage its extensive experience in sales development, robust marketing strategies, and efficient reservation and ticketing services to support the operations of SriLankan Airlines in the Irish market.

SriLankan Airlines, a valued member of the oneworld Alliance, currently links its main hub, Bandaranaike International Airport in Colombo, with multiple destinations spanning South Asia, Southeast Asia, the Far East, Europe, the Middle East, and Australia

Dimuthu Tennakoon, Head of Worldwide Sales & Distribution at SriLankan Airlines, expressed his satisfaction in announcing the partnership with APG, which will serve as the representative of SriLankan Airlines in Ireland starting from November 2023. He adds, “This partnership will open up our spectrum of services to the Irish market, making it easier to reserve flight tickets and other passenger services from Ireland to Colombo via London, Doha or Abu Dhabi. Passengers will also be able to travel beyond Colombo to our extensive network in India; the Far East, Maldives and Australia.”

Mr Richard Burgess, President APG Network says, “We are honoured to be appointed as the Passenger General Sales Agent for SriLankan Airlines in Ireland. This collaboration reflects our commitment to providing top-class sales and marketing support, as well as seamless reservation services. We look forward to contributing to the airline’s success in the Irish market.”

On flights from Dubai – USA – Dubai route, Emirates will be providing special menus. It will be offered between the 23-30 of November to observe the Thanksgiving occasion. Also, in the lounges of Boston, New York, Dubai, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, Emirates will serve traditional festive fare from 18-25 November.

The First-Class customers of Emirates are invited to relish these elevated traditional dishes like sweet potato soup with chives and juicy lobsters, followed by Thanksgiving turkey leg roulade which will have cranberry jus lié, pumpkin purée, steamed green beans, brussels sprouts, glazed baby carrots, veal bacon strips and baked pecans.

The First-Class customers, for desserts can enjoy the seasonal tastes of warm apple fritters, cinnamon sugar, mascarpone cream and lime tart emphasized with toffee apple or raspberry coulis, and pecan cake drenched in vanilla curd, marshmallows, cherry compote, and pistachios.

In Premium-Economy and Business Class, sweet potato soup with a sprint of cooked pumpkin oil heightens the hunger of the passengers, before the main course is served with sliced sous vide turkey, pumpkin purée, classic cornbread, cranberry jus lié, and many more.

In First, Business and Premium Economy Class, for breakfast, passengers will wake up to the aroma of cinnamon pancakes this Thanksgiving!

WestJet has unveiled a new year-round, daily service linking Regina and Minneapolis as part of its summer schedule for 2024. This announcement underscores the airline’s continued dedication to enhancing connectivity in the province and expanding Regina’s air access to sought-after destinations. The route represents Regina’s first year-round transborder service since 2016 and the second direct connection from the province to the Midwest United States, following the launch of WestJet’s year-round service between Saskatoon and Minneapolis in June of the current year.

Jared Mikoch-Gerke, WestJet Director of Alliances & Airport Affairs expressed excitement about responding to the community’s needs and reinforcing their commitment to Regina and the surrounding area. The addition of year-round transborder connectivity to Minneapolis, starting this summer, reflects their dedication to enhancing regional air access. He says, “Our newest investment in Regina will further support the economic growth of the region and unlock business and leisure travel opportunities, as we accelerate providing affordable travel to our guests.”

“We congratulate the Regina Airport Authority and WestJet on this new route, which will give more of this province’s residents direct access to one of the major travel hubs in the United States,” Minister of Trade and Export Development Jeremy Harrison said. “This new route will increase our competitiveness, support our business community and help to bring the world to Saskatchewan.”

Details of WestJet’s summer service between Regina and Minneapolis

Delta codeshare partnership provides new network of U.S. connectivity

Passengers traveling beyond Minneapolis will enjoy an extensive network and advantages through WestJet’s partnership with Delta Air Lines. This encompasses codeshare flights to more than 70 connecting destinations, accessible with just one stop from Regina. Additionally, travelers can earn and redeem WestJet Rewards on both airlines and enjoy top-tier frequent flyer benefits throughout the entire journey.

WestJet passengers can seamlessly access Delta’s comprehensive network with a single purchased ticket, benefit from check-in for all flights at the first departure, have their baggage tagged to the final destination, and enjoy lounge access for select guests.

IndiGo, India’s most favored airline, has grabbed a momentous breakthrough by exceeding the milestone of more than 2000 scheduled flights every day. In India, this makes IndiGo the first airline to achieve this and emphasizes a major leap in operational capacity.

As per the recent OAG Data for October’23, globally, IndiGo is among the top 10 airlines, both in terms of frequency and by seat capacity, additionally validating this accomplishment and displaying the constant growth trajectory of the airlines both in domestic as well as international stages.

At present, IndiGo has over 2000+ scheduled daily flights which comprise cargo operations, along with CAPF & Army charters. In just 17 years of time, IndiGo has attained this figure as it started back in 2006, creating new benchmarks in terms of reliability, operational competencies, and customer orientation.

The Chief Executive Officer of IndiGo, Pieter Elbers, said that they revel this extraordinary achievement of exceeding 2000 scheduled daily flights, they reflect on the journey of the airlines in terms of redesigning the Indian aviation scene.

This breakthrough is more than a numerical accomplishment; it’s a tactical leap placing them for improved connectivity and a redefined passenger experience. Their promise to provide wings to the country is tangible in their mission to connect people and aspirations all over India.

India’s one of the most preferred carriers, IndiGo, has recently declared about the growth of codeshare connections to Stockholm, Helsinki, and Oslo through Istanbul, in collaboration with Turkish Airlines. On November 23rd, 2023, the connections to Helsinki and Stockholm will get functional as Oslo will be operative from November 17th, 2023.

These additions strengthen connectivity to northern Europe, providing customers the entry way to a total of 42 places beyond Istanbul. While speaking on this event, the Head of Global Sales, IndiGo, Mr. Vinay Malhotra, said that they’re thrilled to reveal the news about this extended codeshare connections to Stockholm and Helsinki along with Oslo via Istanbul, as well as solidifying their relationship with Turkish Airlines even more.

Starting from November 23rd, customers now will have access to 42 different places outside Istanbul, dispersed all over North Africa, Europe & the US. Their partnership emphasizes exact travel requirements – Helsinki caters to the rising demand from students in India and professionals from Finland, while Stockholm and Oslo build up entry ways for cultural exchange and strengthening financial relations with Sweden and Norway.

As they increase their network globally, IndiGo remains fully devoted to providing reasonably prices, on-time, and seamless travel experiences all over their extensive network.