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AVIATION

Malaysia Airlines to increase frequency to Colombo

Malaysia Airlines will continue to be aggressive and focused in the Sri Lankan market and aim to capitalize on all opportunities available for business growth in the New Year, Malaysian Airlines General Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives Manmohan Singh told Daily News Business.


Manmohan Singh

He said this will be the stepping stone for it to be recognized as the preferred premium carrier from and to Colombo. He said due to the successful business strategies, the demand steadily grew last year and the company decided in March 2011, to make its operations from Colombo and Maldives, to daily operations and it was very successful.

The airline will increase their flight frequency from Sri Lanka further this year.

Malaysia Airlines which was a four times a week flight has increased to five times a week.

He said that it is an advantage that Malaysia Airlines is the only foreign carrier to have an office outside the capital. The branch office in Kandy has good business and are looking to expand to other territories especially in the North and South with support from its agent, Hemas Travels.

The peaceful environment has seen a lot of Sri Lankan migrants coming to visit friends and relatives, (VFR) as Malaysia Airlines is strong in the Australian market, this suits Malaysia Airlines just fine as most of this VFR traffic is from Australia and New Zealand.


‘Travel together to USA’ with Cathay Pacific Airways

Cathay Pacific Airways now offers a chance to explore the exciting destinations - Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York with a fabulous new promotion ‘Travel together to USA’.

Double the fun and savour the delights of Los Angeles, revel in the sights and sounds of New York and the fabulous tourist attractions of San Francisco. This offer gives travellers who purchase two Economy Class air tickets to these destinations an opportunity to purchase one air ticket at a special rate.

Tickets can be purchased until February 29, 2012, and passengers can travel from January 1 until March 31, 2012 (travel needs to commence on or before 31st March, 2012).

“Travellers must purchase two Economy Class tickets to avail themselves of this very special offer,” said Sales and Marketing Manager for Cathay Pacific Airways, Colombo Ruhan Abbas.

“In keeping with our values of delivering service straight from the heart, we believe that now is the ideal time for our valued customers to enjoy a special offer such as this with a choice of three exciting holiday destinations to choose from,” he said.

Cathay Pacific Airways is represented by Finlays Colombo PLC as General Sales Agent. More details regarding Cathay Pacific offers and air fares could be obtained from the Cathay Pacific Colombo office.


In northern summer schedule:

SIA making capacity adjustments

Singapore Airlines will be making frequency adjustments to points across its network during the Northern Summer operating season (March 25, 2012, October 27, 2012) to match capacity to prevailing demand for travel.

An additional daily service will be introduced to Seoul, increasing frequency to four flights per day from three, including one flight that continues to San Francisco.

In West Asia, frequency to the Maldives’ capital Male will increase to two flights per day from the current 10 flights per week. The four additional flights will be daytime flights, enabling SIA to offer customers a choice of seven daytime flights and seven nighttime flights per week.

Mumbai services will be increased to 19 per week from 17.

In Southwest Pacific, frequency will increase to points in Australia. Adelaide services will increase to 10 times per week from seven, while Brisbane and Perth will each be served 21 times per week, rather than 19 and 18, respectively, as in the last Northern Summer schedule.

Frequency reductions will meanwhile be implemented in select markets during the Northern Summer schedule.

Singapore, Moscow, Houston services will be reduced to five times weekly from daily. Singapore - Munich - Manchester services will be reduced to six times weekly from daily.

Singapore - Taipei services will be reduced to 14 per week from 18.

Some Middle Eastern services will also be restructured during the Northern Summer season. Flights to Riyadh, which are currently served via Abu Dhabi, will instead operate via Dubai. This will result in Abu Dhabi being served three times per week, down from seven times, with flights carrying on to Jeddah. Dubai will continue to be served with 10 flights per week, four of which will carry on to Riyadh and three to Cairo.


Emirates to increase Paris flights

Emirates, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, will add an additional five weekly flights to Paris in direct response to strong passenger demand on the route.

Effective March 25, the current double-daily Charles de Gaulle service will be supplemented by an additional four frequencies, increasing to five extra weekly flights in the winter 2012 schedule.

The four extra flights from March will operate on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The new EK 071 will depart Dubai at 0355 hrs and arrive in the French capital at 0905 hrs. The return flight, EK072, leaves Paris at 1110 hrs to land in Dubai at 1940 hrs. Effective 30 October 2012, EK071 and EK 072 will also operate on a Tuesday.

The additional five frequencies, taking the total number of Emirates’ weekly flights to Paris to 19, will be operated with a 777-300ER. The aircraft offers eight First Class Private Suites, 42 lie-flat beds in Business Class and a spacious cabin in Economy Class with 310 seats. Throughout all cabin classes, passengers can enjoy the latest version of the airline’s multi award-winning ice entertainment system, which brings over 1,200 channels of movies, TV shows and music, including French language content. Paris is one of the Emirates’ routes served by the popular and partly French-built A380. The airline’s A380 orders will generate over 16,000 direct and indirect jobs in France.

“Demand to and from France, particularly from business travellers, is such that a third frequency has always been an objective for Emirates,” said Salem Obaidalla, Senior Vice President, Commercial Operations, Europe and Russian Federation, Emirates.

“With these additional services, we will help to satisfy that demand, while providing more opportunities for travel between Paris, Dubai and beyond to our network of more than 100 destinations across the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australasia,” added Obaidalla.

France became part of the Emirates’ route network in 1992 and now two gateways are served; Paris and Nice. As passenger and belly-hold cargo services have increased, so has the contribution to the multi-billion dollar trade relationship between France and the UAE.

French investment in the UAE has traditionally focused on oil and gas, however the free trade zones have attracted companies such as L’Oreal, Chanel and Schneider. Food, automotive parts, furniture and interior design products also contribute to the trade relationship.


Air Transport markets waken in Nov.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced global traffic results for November showing a softening in passenger markets while air cargo markets remained weak compared to levels attained earlier in the year.

Passenger traffic was 4.3% above November 2010 levels but this is skewed as November 2010 was a particularly weak month. The softening in passenger markets becomes apparent when comparing to the previous month (October 2011). This shows a 0.5% decline on a seasonally-adjusted basis.

Freight markets were 3.1% below November 2010 levels despite a 1.1% increase on October 2011 performance.

Weak global economic performance is being reflected in air transport markets. Freight markets have contracted some 4% compared to January. Although passenger markets have had some growth relative to the beginning of the year about 2% the trend has been both soft and volatile. Continuing economic uncertainty will likely mean market shortcomings deepening as we enter 2012, said Tony Tyler, IATAs Director General and CEO.

Globally, passenger load factors have fallen sharply to 76.3% from 78.5% in October. This shows that the weakness in passenger demand is outpacing airlines ability to adjust capacity accordingly. Regional differences are sharp.

While North American carriers saw a 0.8% decline in travel, carriers in the Middle East experienced a 10.1% increase, followed by 9.0% for Latin American airlines.

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