12 July, 2011

In other news….

 

GULF AIR has signed a joint marketing agreement to aggressively drive inbound tourism from the Middle East to Copenhagen.

The agreement between the airline and the route development programme for the city, Copenhagen Connected, is expected to boost sales to Gulf Air's newest destination.

The agreement was signed at a press conference marking the airline's inaugural flight to Copenhagen.

Gulf Air CCO Karim Makhlouf said: "We believe that with the opening of our new Copenhagen connection and aggressive marketing campaign in collaboration with Connected Copenhagen, Denmark will soon become a popular destination for tourists from the region."

SHENZHEN AIRLINES, the fifth largest carrier in China, has been accepted as a future Star Alliance member.

Bringing Shenzhen Airlines into the alliance is part of a long-term strategy to expand the Star Alliance network into the future growth markets, providing the international traveller with optimal flight options.

Star Alliance CEO Jaan Albrecht said: "With the approval of our Chief Executive Board (CEB) we today formally start the integration process of Shenzhen Airlines, which upon completion will allow Star Alliance to once again enlarge its offer across mainland China and neighbouring countries."

LUFTHANSA has opened a new lounge at Frankfurt Airport complete with spa facilities and seating for over 300 guests.

The First Senator Lounge in the departures area of the airport's Terminal 1 is the carrier's largest lounge and covers an area of more than 1,800sqm.

A spokesman said: "Frequent flyers who have achieved Senator status now have an opportunity to relax in style at Lufthansa's largest airport lounge.

"Top customers can for the first time enjoy a modern wellness area with luxury facilities that include ten showers and two spa rooms."

Lufthansa Senator Card holders can unwind and enjoy massages, facials, full-body treatments or other beauty treatments.

SWISS has introduced new apps for Android and Nokia smartphones allowing customers to obtain information, book tickets, check in and receive mobile boarding passes.

Similar apps for BlackBerry, iPhone and Windows Phone 7 have already proved successful and SWISS now offers apps for most smart mobile phones.

With the iPhone and the Android, the boarding pass can be received directly as soon as the customer has checked in and can be called up again by simply shaking the phone.

The apps also provide the very latest details of a SWISS flight's departure or arrival time.

AIR FRANCE has launched a new route from Paris to Lima, the capital city of Peru.

The carrier is operating five weekly flights between the two cities, complementing the seven weekly flights to Lima operated by KLM out of Amsterdam.

A spokesman said: "We have witnessed Peru's impressive development, economic growth and its reputation among the international community.

"This new Paris-Lima route will also increase the opportunities for transporting goods between our continents."

Air France and KLM offer weekly cargo hold capacity of up to 165 tonnes on the route.

EMIRATES 'ice' system has scooped the World's Best Airline Inflight Entertainment award for the seventh consecutive year.

The airline's latest system, ice Digital Widescreen, offers a choice of over 1,200 channels of entertainment, including over 280 movies from around the world, hundreds of TV choices and thousands of music tracks from contemporary to classical.

Patrick Brannelly, Emirates vice president corporate communications, said: "This year's Skytrax World's Best Airline Inflight Entertainment award once again underlines our relentless commitment to providing the best inflight entertainment in the air - offering more content, in more languages and ultimately more choice, than ever before."

DELTA AIR LINES has launched a new non-stop service between Detroit and Beijing, its third destination in China.

The flight will operate five days each week on 269-seat Boeing 777 aircraft featuring full flat-bed seats in BusinessElite, as well as Delta's new Economy Comfort class, which offers additional legroom and early boarding.

Vinay Dube, Delta's senior vice president - Asia Pacific, said: "As a major gateway to the region, our Detroit hub is a key part of our Asian network, and our new flight to Beijing will mean even more opportunities for economic development and job growth in the city."

AIRBERLIN is expanding its junior management scheme to offer engineering and business science, as well as aeronautics, graduates an 18-month trainee programme.

In the course of the programme, trainees will get to know all aspects of airberlin technik, the aircraft maintenance section of the airberlin group, and become actively involved in the production, engineering and planning, business development and controlling departments.

Trainees will be based in Berlin and Dusseldorf and the programme will include taking responsibility for managing projects associated with aircraft maintenance and servicing.

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