ADVERTORIAL

Emirates boosts Saudi services

Emirates will add a total of 129 additional services to and from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia across August, September and October, adding to the carrier’s already robust service schedule.

Jeddah and Riyadh will benefit from the extra services put in place to serve the thousands of people travelling to the Kingdom throughout Ramadan and Eid.

“We expect travel to the Kingdom to increase significantly across the coming three months. The additional services will help ease the flow of traffic and offer more options to those wishing to travel for both religious and leisure purposes,” said Commercial Operations Gulf, Middle East and Iran Senior Vice President Ahmed Khoory.

A total of 75 additional flights will operate to and from Jeddah throughout August and September, with Riyadh receiving 54 extra services until the end of October this year.

Emirates received permission from the Saudi authorities to operate a portion of these flights for Umrah passengers and the remainder of the flights for regular traffic.

“With one of the largest fleets in the world and a global network of 104 destinations Emirates has the capacity and the resources to connect travellers, through Dubai, to the Kingdom easily and efficiently. There is a high demand for travel to the Kingdom from across our network and these enhanced services will ensure travel remains fluid and stress free for our passengers.” Khoory said.

The new flights will be serviced by a mix of A330 and Boeing 777 aircraft, operating in either a two or three class configuration.

Emirates currently operates to four gateways in Saudi Arabia including; Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam and until September 24 Medinah al Munawarah.

Samsung launches new mobile phones

Samsung Electronics, a leading mobile phone provider, expanded its mobile phones portfolio with the launch of two, ‘future beyond’, next generation Smartphones - Samsung Wave and Samsung Galaxy S. Samsung Wave is the first mobile handset to be released on Samsung’s proprietary, ‘open’ mobile platform bada. Together, the Samsung Wave and the Android-powered Galaxy S Smartphones promise to deliver a more intuitive, immersive and integrative experience for consumers.

Samsung Country Manager Shankar Narayan said “Consumers today relate to their mobiles as communication hubs - as personal gateways to communicate with friends, family and the world at large.

The Smartphone era is here and we at Samsung are committed to making Smartphones available for everyone. And Samsung bada, our new mobile platform is the key driver for our global smartphone strategy.

The word bada in Korean means ocean. bada, our open operating system, embodies the meaning and features of the spacious ocean: it can accommodate the various applications created by developers and it provides an interesting space that offers endless enjoyment to its users.”

“We have been focusing more on open OS mobiles recently since many key characteristics of smartphones are becoming more and more important, especially mobile internet, messaging features, strong third party applications and flexibility for customization.

In the open OS area, our strategy is to be there with whatever customers want. That is the reason we are offering mobiles based on the Android, Windows and now bada platform in the Sri Lankan market”, Narayan said.

Samsung Wave

Samsung Wave is the first Smartphone with Samsung’s own proprietary operating system - bada. Samsung’s bada platform allows mobile users to simply and easily download an abundance of applications from Samsung Apps, an integrated application store accessible from the device and online.

Featuring a wealth of games, social networking, health and lifestyle applications, Samsung Apps gives users instant access to a huge choice of mobile experiences.

Galaxy S

The Android-powered Samsung Galaxy S has the power to enrich people’s lives through its best-in-class services and technologies. It will introduce people to the concept of the “Smart Life” - a smartphone experience that is simple, organized and integrated; one that enriches the lives of users.

It features a dazzlingly bright 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, a 1 GHz application processor and Samsung’s latest intuitive TouchWiz 3.0 user-interface (UI), giving users instant access to their mobile lives.

Smart Life is further enabled through intuitive, integrative features, including the Swype text input service, the rich augmented reality browser, Layar, Social Hub Integrated Phonebook, Downloadable EBook, Think Free Office, Wireless Tethering and the powerful Android 2.1 operating System.

Samsung Mobiles are available at 600 Dealer points across all provinces of the Island. The Company through its National Distribution Partner (JKOA) recently appointed nine re-distributors to manage its expanding sales network in the country. Samsung has appointed ‘The Phone Company’ as the National Service Franchisee for Sri Lanka.

The company has set up six new Service centres in Colombo, Galle, Kandy and Trincomalee and will be very shortly setting up service centres in Ratnapura, Anuradhapura and Pollonnaruwa which will extend service to the entire North East part of the country.

ComBank in Eheliyagoda

The Commercial Bank of Ceylon has opened a branch in Eheliyagoda, in a spacious building with ample parking facilities at No, 71, Main Street, Eheliyagoda.

The bank’s 182nd branch in Sri Lanka is linked to all other Commercial Bank branches and Supermarket Banking Counters islandwide permitting online real-time banking. It is also equipped with two ATMs linked to 370 ATMs of Commercial Bank and over one million ATMs belonging to the Cirrus (Mastercard network) and Visa networks worldwide.

ODEL rewards Battaramulla shoppers

ODEL recently presented shopping vouchers to five customers who attended the opening of its Battaramulla store.

The recipients of these vouchers were Waruni Hettiarachchi, Lushanthi Hareendra Hewawasam, Indeevari Senanayake, Thushara Sampath Gamage and Upuli Zavahir.

The vouchers were presented to them by the Battaramulla store Manager Preethika Gunawardena.

The ODEL chain now comprises stores at Alexandra Place, Kohuwala,, Mount Lavinia, Moratuwa, Panadura, Maharagama, Nugegoda (Warehouse), Dickman’s Road, Ja-ela, Majestic City, Crescat (Backstage), Battaramulla and the Bandaranaike International Airport.

FGPF exports breeding chicks to Nepal

Fortune G-P Farms (FGPF), an associate company of Bairaha Farms PLC, exported two consignments of breeding chicks to Nepal recently.

The company exported two consignments of parent broiler breeder chicks to Nepal last year as well.

This year’s exports generated US$ 22,000 (Rs 2.5 m) and another order for US$ 17,100 is to be exported to Nepal in early September.

The company’s focus on providing quality products coupled with its ability to meet stringent deadlines, have confirmed FGPF’s reputation among poultry breeding companies in Nepal.

The company is the largest and most modern of the two grandparent farms and hatcheries operating in Sri Lanka.

Local customers among others, include the Bairaha Group, Midland Breeders, Nelna Farms and NLDB.