Dubai Hotel Travel

India and Dubai real estate giant Sobha Group has acquired a plot on Dubai’s main artery Sheikh Zayed Road for the development of its first hotel in Dubai.

The group, which announced plans to launch Sobha Hotels at the popular Arabian Travel Market last May, plans to develop over 10 five-star properties in the next three years, with two hotels earmarked for Dubai, six for India, and one each in Oman and Zanzibar. (more…)

Bangkok – based Thai hospitality chain Dusit International is preparing to soft open its first branded residence outside of Thailand. The Dusit Residence Dubai Marina, a 35-storey landmark tower containing a total of 146 premier serviced residences, overlooks the lifestyle enclave of Dubai Marina. The property is scheduled to soft open October/November of this year, and will celebrate its grand opening in the first quarter of 2009. (more…)

Etihad Airways has launched twice-weekly flights between its home base of Abu Dhabi and Minsk, Belarus.

The new air link is anticipated to boost significantly trade and investment ties between the UAE and Belarus with the volume of trade between the two countries standing at more than Dhs110-150 million per year.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ chief executive, said, “To make history as the first airline from the Gulf region to fly to Belarus is a great honour for Etihad Airways. We are extremely excited to help to strengthen further the trade ties between the two countries through the launch of our new Minsk service.”

Minsk is the largest city in Belarus, with a population of 1.8 million people and is the country’s major industrial centre with more than 250 factories and manufacturing plants. With a central location in the heart of Europe, a rich cultural heritage and stunning scenery, Belarus is also seeking to exploit its strong tourism potential.

It is the third new destination to be launched by Etihad this month. On Friday 1 August the airline added to its flying programme to India when it launched daily flights from Abu Dhabi to both Chennai (Madras) and Kozhikode (Calicut).

Minsk brings the total number of global destinations now served by Etihad to 48, a number which will rise to 50 by the end of 2008 with the launch of new services to Moscow in Russia and Almaty in Kazhakstan.

Etihad operates one of its new Airbus A319 aircraft on the twice-weekly Minsk service, configured to carry 104 passengers with 20 in business class and 84 in economy class. The service operates every Tuesday and Thursday. A third weekly flight will be added every Saturday from October 2008.

Flight EY061 departs Abu Dhabi on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 9.45am, arriving in Minsk at 2.25pm the same day. The return flight, EY062, departs Minsk on the same days at 3.15pm, arriving in Abu Dhabi at 9.40pm.

Leading hotel operators pursuing the management contract for the 500-room five-star property being built at City of Arabia in Dubai are being told that nothing but the best in service will do.

Many leading hotel names are competing for the chance to put their brand on the luxury rooftop hotel at Mall of Arabia, one the world’s largest shopping malls and a key element of the spectacular US$5 billion City of Arabia development.

But City of Arabia owners, Ilyas & Mustafa Galadari Group, have said they are in no immediate rush to sign a management agreement and will call on a wealth of family experience in the hotel business to make sure the operator chosen can match their ambition.

The Galadari family, which has been doing business in Dubai for more than 50 years, opened the city’s first five-star hotel, the InterContinental, beside the Creek in 1975 and also created another landmark hotel in Dubai, the Hyatt Regency. (more…)

The real estate arm of Dubai World Central (DWC), the 140-square kilometre, multi-phase urban land development centred around the world’s largest airport, DWC-Al Maktoum International Airport, will take its expertise of developing huge urban land projects to emerging markets, in response to international interest generated over the past year.

DWC Real Estate, the entity tasked by Dubai World Central – the brand name of Dubai Aviation City Corporation (DACC) – with designing, building, developing, selling and leasing properties within DWC, will capitalise on its knowledge base and ability to handle mega projects such as Dubai World Central, and establish itself as a global real estate master developer. (more…)

The inaugural Business Travel Show Dubai, held on 29th – 30th October 2007 was a resounding success. The dates for this year’s show have already been confirmed as 20th – 21st October 2008 and the show will once again be held at the Madinat Jumeirah. (Register for FREE)

Get the best business travel deals and find out how to make your budget go further at the Business Travel Show Dubai – the event for everyone who buys and books their organisation’s travel!

The Business Travel Show Dubai is a new exhibition, brought to you by the organisers of the successful Business Travel Shows in Europe. The inaugural Business Travel Show Dubai was staged at the Madinat Jumeirah under the patronage of HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum, Chairman & Chief Executive, Emirates Airline & Group; President, Dubai Department of Civil Aviation.

Whatever your business travel needs or budget, The Business Travel Show Dubai is your opportunity to make contact with the world’s leading business travel providers and attend educational seminars. (more…)

OnAir has appointed Luc Cousin as Chief Programmes Officer (CPO), and established a regional presence in Dubai, UAE and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The new appointment and expansion are in response to the growing global demand for the company’s inflight passenger communications services, which include text, email and voice.

As CPO, Luc Cousin will be responsible for programme planning and customer delivery, and for coordinating and supervising OnAir’s activities for installation, entry into service and equipment support. Cousin will be a member of OnAir’s Executive Committee and will play a critical role in the deployment of OnAir services on various aircraft types. He previously worked in Airbus Customer Services, where he led several projects in change management and strategy; before that, he was Vice President Operations, EADS Test & Services.

OnAir has also established a regional presence in both Dubai and Kuala Lumpur to meet the unprecedented demand for its services in the Middle East and Asia Pacific. Franck Michaud has been appointed as Head of Business Development Middle East, based in Dubai. Hans Jurgen Stoffer and Laurent Philippe, both based in Kuala Lumpur, have joined OnAir as Head of Aircraft Programmes for Asia Pacific and as Head of Business Development for Asia Pacific respectively. The new regional presence complements OnAir’s current offices in Geneva and Seattle. (more…)

Emirates Airline has taken delivery of its first Airbus A380. The aircraft is also the first customer A380 powered by Engine Alliance engines.

Emirates’ first A380 commercial service is scheduled for 1 August and will operate between Dubai and New York, USA. Currently Emirates has 50 Airbus aircraft in its fleet. (more…)

Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi International Airport reopens as maintenance work to fix a crack found on the runway was completed in four hours on Tuesday.

The airport was only closed for four hours on Tuesday morning, instead of 12 hours as announced earlier.

According to Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), the owner-operator of ADIA, the airport is now fully operational.

The maintenace work got over at 7am on Tuesday and the flight services resumed around 9am.

“ADAC worked closely with all airlines involved, including Etihad Airways, to minimise any delays to scheduled services and return to full operations,” said the ADAC statement.

The runway maintenance work has led to the rescheduling of many flights.

Abu Dhabi International Airport is to be closed to all air traffic between 02:15am until 14:15 (12 hours) on Tuesday 22 July 2008, due to essential maintenance work needed on its runway.

Massimiliano Dosi, Chief Operating Officer, Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC), the owner-operator of the airport, said, “Having identified an abrasion in the runway, ADAC has taken the decision that a re-asphalting of a small section of the airport’s only airstrip is essential and is to be conducted early next week.”

Due to the time of year and the extremely high summer temperatures being experienced in Abu Dhabi, day and night, this generally routine procedure means it would need longer than usual for the new asphalt to set and be ready for operational use, hence the 12 hour scheduled closure.

Abu Dhabi Airports Company said it has been working closely with the home airline, Etihad Airways, along with all its other airline operators through Abu Dhabi International Airport in order to minimize any inconveniences that may be caused.

All passengers scheduled to fly to Abu Dhabi on Tuesday 22 July, are strongly advised to check directly with their airline or travel agent in order to understand if and how this will affect their flight schedules.

“ADAC regrets any inconvenience caused to passengers but hopes that it is understood that safety is always the first priority for all its partners and passengers and ADAC has taken all means and measures to limit any inconveniences caused during the maintenance period,” Dosi added.