By BA Staff Air China Limited will introduce a new thrice a week service between Beijing and Chiang Mai from November 7, 2013. Located in Thailand’s northern mountainous region, Chiang Mai is Thailand’s second largest city and also northern Thailand’s political, economic and cultural centre. This city, celebrated for its Buddhist traditions, is also called “Rose of the Northern Thailand”. …

By BA Staff Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, confirmed its equity stake in Virgin Australia Holdings had reached 19.9%. This follows a series of on-market purchases of Virgin Australia shares over recent weeks. The Abu Dhabi-based airline now holds more than 515 million shares in the airline. At 19.9%, Etihad Airways has reached the threshold …

By BA Staff Boeing delivered to UTair, one of Russia’s leading national carriers, its first directly purchased Next-Generation 737-800. The airline currently has 40 Next-Generation 737s on order to be delivered in the next several years. Andrey Martirosov, CEO of UTair said: “Next-Generation Boeing 737 airplanes meet today’s development needs of the airline by their optimized operating performance and value-for-money …

By BA Staff Boeing has delivered to El Al Israel Airlines the carrier’s first Next-Generation 737-900ER (Extended Range) airplane. The delivery is the first of six 737-900ERs the Israeli flag-carrier has on order and is the latest addition to El Al’s all-Boeing fleet.   Elyezer Shkedy, president and chief executive officer, El Al, said: “The purchase of the Boeing 737-900ER …

By BA Staff SilkAir (MI), the regional airline of Singapore Airlines, will become the latest airline partner to join Virgin Australia’s Velocity frequent flyer program. From October 10, 2013 onwards, Velocity members will be able to earn points and status credits or redeem their Points on the SilkAir network across South East Asia, India and China. This includes the ability …

By BA Staff AirAsia has introduced ‘Hi-Flyer’, a new flexi-fare service which offers guests greater convenience, flexibility and added benefits while travelling with both AirAsia and AirAsia X. Complimentary 20kg check-in baggage allocation Complimentary ‘Pick-A-Seat’ for both Standard & Hot Seats (Hot Seats are subject to availability) Priority Boarding Up to 2x flight change – for flights up to 2 …

By BA Staff Emirates is offering 100 Emirates Skywards members the opportunity to win tickets to the 2013 edition of the Formula 1 Airtel Indian Grand Prix event on October 27 in Delhi. Emirates is a Global Partner of Formula 1. From now until 16th October, Emirates will be giving away 100 tickets to the race. The competition is open …

By BA Staff Jet Airways’ JetPrivilege frequent flyer program announced a partnership with ColorPlus, a clothing brand for men. JetPrivilege members will get rewarded with 10 JPMiles for every Rs. 100 spent on purchases made at ColorPlus exclusive stores across India. JetPrivilege members will now get to experience premium ‘Smart casuals’ and the many product enhancements, introduced by ColorPlus’ innovations, …

By BA Staff Amadeus, a technology provider for the global travel industry, announced that John Dabkowski is to join the company’s Airline IT business unit, effective October 14 as Vice President Airline Commercial and will assume responsibility for commercial activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and the Americas. Dabkowski joins Amadeus from Navitaire, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Accenture. …

By BA Staff Malaysia Airlines’ subsidiary MASwings Sdn. Bhd. today took delivery of its second out of six orders for the Twin Otter DHC6-400 from Viking Air Ltd of Canada. The ceremonious handover was graced by the Right Honorable Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada in recognition of strong international cooperation between Malaysia and Canada. Courtesy of Malaysia Airlines The …

By BA Staff AirAsia was once again distinguished as the best in its class, when the airline was awarded with the ‘Best Low-Cost Airline’ award at the 2013 Business Traveller Asia-Pacific’s Awards ceremony, held at the Conrad Hotel in Hong Kong recently. AirAsia, ‘Best Low-Cost Airline’ Award 2013 This is the second successive win for AirAsia, a nod to the …

By BA Staff Cathay Pacific Airways announced that the concerted effort the airline has made towards operating as a sustainable organization has led to it being included on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) for the first time. The DJSI are recognized as the leading global sustainability benchmark, tracking the stock performance of the world’s leading companies in terms of …

By BA Staff Shannon Engine Support (SES) today announced that it is expanding its extensive spare engine portfolio with the addition of a mix of 29 LEAP-1A/-1B engines, scheduled to begin delivery in 2016. The order is valued at more than $375 million U.S. at list price. SES is the largest lessor of CFM56 and LEAP spare engines in the …

By BA Staff Jet Airways has introduced an option for guests to book and pay for their favourite JetEscapes Holidays, on the website www.jetairways.com. Jet Airways has crafted theme based holidays for its guests. Guests can select their preferred holidays from an array of popular themes like beach, pilgrimage, historical, wildlife, family and corporate holidays.  These holidays include return air …

By BA Staff The entrance of the lounge is modelled like a Boeing 777 Coinciding with the match between Real Madrid and Atlético Madrid, Emirates yesterday inaugurated its exclusive branded VIP Lounge at Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Unveiled less than four months after signing the prestigious five-year shirt sponsorship with Real Madrid, the new lounge was officially opened today …

By BA Staff Air France, with an aim to engage and stimulate their online fan base, had partnered with world famous Indian fashion designer Manish Arora and launched a contest on August 5, 2013 for aspiring designers to showcase their creative talents. It was a month-long contest, which provided an opportunity to fashion enthusiasts to create a ready to wear …

By BA Staff VIP cabin interior. Image courtesy Eurocopter. Eurocopter has signed two customers for the VIP version of its EC175, with these bookings coming only six months after the twin-engine, medium-class helicopter was introduced to the upper-end market with a specially designed elegant and luxurious interior. The two firm orders were announced by Eurocopter today at the U.K. Helitech …

By BA Staff Photo courtesy and copyright Qatar Airways Ahead of its joining the oneworld alliance, Qatar Airways unveiled details of its exciting new enhancements made to the airline’s frequent flyer programme – Privilege Club. Speaking about the loyalty programme, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said that customer loyalty is very important to the airline’s growth strategy: …

By BA Staff Air India and State Bank of India (SBI) have launched two co-branded credit cards. An Air India SBI Signature Visa card, and an Air India SBI Platinum Visa card. Highlights of the Air India SBI Signature Card 4 points for every Rs 100 spent 20 reward points for every Rs. 100 spent on Air India website and …

By BA Staff easyJet, the UK’s largest airline, has announced it will open a base in Hamburg, Germany as well as increasing its fleet in Berlin in the spring of 2014. Building on its success to date in both Hamburg and Berlin, easyJet’s new base will open with three A319 aircraft with the airline increasing its fleet in Berlin by …