Airlines & airports New terminal opens at Sharm El-Sheikh PRESIDENT Hosni Mubarak recently inaugurated a new terminal at Sharm El-Sheikh Airport in South Sinai designed along the most sophisticated technology in the framework of an ambitious plan to upgrade the Egyptian air transportation industry. In a big unveiling ceremony, Minister of Civil Aviation Ahmed Shafiq explained to the president the facilities offered in the new terminal. The new terminal is built on 45,000 metres and consists of two main floors. It has the most up to date equipment for explosives detection used in Egyptian airports for the first time. The new terminal, which will accommodate 7.5 million passengers annually as opposed to the current 3.5 million passengers, costs LE465 million. Express travel EXPRESS Airlines, EgyptAir's new company for domestic and regional routes, started operating this month by a trip to Sharm El-Sheikh. Express has already received its first flight, Embraer170, in a transaction that included six flights of the same model. The second and third flights will be received this month. The new flight currently has daily trips to Sharm El-Sheikh, and by July the company's network will include five routes -- Sharm El-Sheikh, Hurghada, Luxor, Marsa Matrouh and Borg Al-Arab. Starting October there will be trips between Cairo and Marsa Alam on the Red Sea. The new company has two classes: Premium and Economy. Airbus in action EMIRATES recently introduced the technologically- advanced Airbus A330-200 on its Alexandria-Dubai- Alexandria route, bidding farewell to the Airbus 310 previously used on the sector. The A330-200 aircraft, in a two-class configuration offering 27 Business and 251 Economy Class seats, is known for having one of the quietest cabins in the sky. The advanced cabin design of the aircraft creates extra space between seats and larger storage lockers for hand baggage, while ergonomically designed seats enhance comfort levels. Passengers can simply sit back and relax with the airline's state-of-the-art onboard entertainment system on high definition 16.5cm (6.5 inches) screens. A personal video system and personal satellite telephone is fitted on each passenger seat, regardless of class. Ras El-Kheima to Egypt RAS El-KHEIMA airline, of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will soon operate flights between Ras El-Kheima and Cairo. According to the UAE ambassador to Cairo, the airlines in the UAE in general are keen to increase flights to Egypt to cope with the tourist growth Egypt is witnessing and the nine million tourists it attracted in 2006. The ambassador added that the Ras El-Kheima airlines aims at transporting travellers from southeast Asian countries as well as Australia which will increase tourist and investment opportunities between Egypt and these countries. Change for good A GROUP of British Airways staff members visited Egypt recently to review projects for children supported by money collected from the Change for Good programme. The amount of 200,000 sterling pounds has been donated by British Airways to fund shelters and a centre that work to protect street children in the greater Cairo area. More than 5,000 children have benefited from the funding. Since 2003, UNICEF has been supporting a number of initiatives for the protection of street children. The current Change for Good fund has reached 5,000 such children through eight reception centres in partnership with five NGOs. The Change for Good programme was launched back in April 1994, collecting spare currency donated by customers travelling on board British Airways flights. Over the past 13 years, the programme has raised 23 million sterling pounds, helping to support UNICEF's work with some of the world's most vulnerable children in more than 50 countries. Hotels & resorts Summer packages IT'S summer time and most hotels and resorts on the Mediterranean, the Red Sea, Luxor and Aswan offer special packages for holidaymakers. Thomas Cook offers three nights at Porto Marina Al-Alamein Resort for LE582 per person in a double room lagoon view. The offer is valid until the end of June. If you want a closer destination, you can consider the three- night package of Creative Green at Ras Sedr on the Gulf of Suez for LE375 per person in a double room. Package is valid until 19 July. Sharm El-Sheikh fans will have the opportunity to book either three nights at Sol Y Mar Belvedere Resort for LE849 per person in a double room until the end of June or three nights at Mövenpick Golf for LE525 per person in a double room that is valid until 2 October. InterContinental Hurghada offers three nights for LE690 per person in a double room until the end of July while Pyramisa Beach Resort at Sahl Hasheesh offers three nights for LE1,110 per person in a superior double room until the end of September. Jaz Makadi Star Resort at Makadi Bay on the Red Sea also offers three nights for LE723 per person in a double room. Rates are valid until mid-July. If you don't mind the heat, hotels in Luxor and Aswan offer lucrative rates. You can get three nights at Iberotel Luxor for LE357 per person in a double room until the end of September. Also Sofitel Old Cataract Aswan offers three nights for LE546 per person in a double room. Packages are offered only to Egyptians and foreign residents. For more information contact Thomas Cook at +202 2696 5000. Hilton and Gezira agree HILTON Hotels in Egypt has announced the signing of the first connectivity agreement in the Middle East with Gezira Travel, one of Egypt's leading travel agencies. "Our company strategy is to drive online reservations, and this agreement ensures our distribution policy is properly applied, and that our customers are always able to access our best available rates and full range of choice and products when booking Hilton Hotels," said Azza Serri, regional director of business development for Hilton Hotels, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. The connectivity agreement will give Gezira Travel live access to availability at all 19 Hilton properties in Egypt as well as Hilton properties around the world. They will no longer be limited to rooms allocated to travel agencies, and will be able to offer the full range of products. "Our longstanding partnership continues to strengthen with this agreement. It's a great step forward for both companies," said Nader El-Biblawi, president of Gezira Travel. "Both Hilton and Gezira will benefit from this arrangement, but the greatest reward will be to our mutual customers," El-Biblawi added. JW Marriott awards JW MARRIOTT Hotel Cairo has won three MENA awards of excellence at the Middle East and North Africa awards distribution ceremony that was held in Dubai on 3 May. The JW Marriott Cairo won the Platinum award in acknowledgement of outstanding achievement of Best Golf Club (Mirage City), beating strong competition from Dubai and the Middle East, the Gold award for Best Conference and Convention Centre, and Silver award for Best Five-Star Business Hotel. "I would also like to especially thank our customers who voted for us at these awards," Magdi Naguib, general manager of the JW Marriott Hotel, said. "The JW Marriott Hotel Cairo puts great emphasis on high levels of personal service, offering approachable and comfortable luxury, authentic, gracious,warm personalised service, distinctive environments, 13 fabulous food and beverage experiences, and an unrivalled business setting, where the interweaved business and leisure facilities are the cornerstones of its success," Naguib said. Business centre improved THE HILTON Pyramids Golf Resort recently opened its doors to an improved business centre featuring six new meeting and banquet rooms. Each of the new facilities has been designed to cater for groups of various sizes, equipped with luxury furnishings and all the tools needed for a successful meeting. The Meeting Complex offers guests complete business facilities including a professional business centre, supported by an experienced and dedicated sales team and an attentive support team. Features of the facilities include support through in-room call buttons, easy room sourcing, floor plans and personal requests online, wireless broadband, as well as a fully flexible choice of food and beverages. The Hilton Pyramids Golf Resort is located on the outskirts of the 6th of October City, adjacent to the Pyramids of Giza. American tourists in Alex IN AN ATTEMPT to promote tourism in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, the Tourism Promotion Board of Alexandria organised an American familiarisation trip composed of top travel agents and tour operators in the US. The delegation arrived in Alexandria to explore future possibilities of attracting American tourists to the Egyptian market in general and Alexandria in particular. The delegation stayed in Sheraton Montazah Hotel where they expressed their admiration for the high quality service of the hotel, the elegant décor of the rooms and suites, the proper implementation of hygienic and environmental standards and above all the prime location of the hotel, which overlooks the sea and the Montazah gardens. Environmental awareness ON THE OCCASION of Marriott International's environment awareness campaign, the Cairo Marriott Hotel held a clean- up campaign at the SOS orphans village. More than 60 associates from the hotel volunteered to help improve the children's surrounding environment in the four-hour campaign in which SOS children also participated in cleaning up their village with the volunteers. Best hotel of the year THE GRAND Rotana Resort and Spa Sharm El-Sheikh has been selected "Best Middle East and North Africa Resort of the Year" at the DEPA Hotel Awards, beating out 26 participants. The awards, adjudged by a live interactive voting system, were presented during a glittering ceremony at Dubai's Grand Hyatt attended by more than 750 people from the international hotel and tourism sector. In its sixth year, the DEPA Middle East Hotel Awards are designed to recognise and reward outstanding service, performance and creativity by the region's hoteliers and hospitality professionals. "It is a great honour that our efforts since opening in late 2005 have been recognised by this prestigious award," Karim El-Ghazzawi, general manager of the Grand Rotana Resort and Spa, said. "All along the way, the management team has put together targets in its mission statement, by which the resort is driven: creativity, service and commitment." Best Starwood managers IBRAHIM Fahmi, general manager of Cairo Sheraton Hotel, has won two awards in the StarVoice, Best In Class Survey: best hotel general manager and best managing director of Starwood Hotels and Resorts. Thirteen Sheraton Cairo department heads were awarded best managers. StarVoice, Best In Class Survey is a new associate survey that gives each and every associate the opportunity to provide feedback in their local language to the management, as well as their opinion of their immediate managers. News Sol Y Mar honours agents HONOURING the top producing travel agents in Egypt, Sol Y Mar Resorts hosted a dinner at Imperial Boat where prizes were distributed to the top producing travel agents. In the course of the evening, the new Sol Y Mar brand image was introduced. The top five travel agents awarded were Natural Blu Tour , Abanoub, Bright Sky, South Sinai, and Welcome Tours. Sol Y Mar Resorts recently unveiled a revitalised visual identity for its brand of holiday resorts. The new look is designed to better capture and communicate the essence of the brand's original vision, while reflecting the continued growth and dynamism of its resort destinations. The bright colours and contemporary styling of the new visuals convey friendliness and fun, two qualities epitomised by Sol Y Mar Resorts. The Sol Y Mar network now exceeds 4,000 guest rooms throughout its 15 resorts across Egypt and aims to increase to 22 resorts by the end of 2008. Marco Polo is back LE MERIDIEN Heliopolis recently re- opened the Marco Polo restaurant after renovations which introduced a new memorable culinary experience including an à la carte Mediterranean cuisine for lunch and dinner, business or leisure in a soothing atmosphere. Celebrating the occasion, Mamdouh Farag, the hotel's acting general manager, held a dinner where dignitaries and Marco Polo's regular guests were invited. Top Le Meridien visit LE MERIDIEN Pyramids Hotel recently welcomed Roland Vos, president of Europe, Africa and Middle East of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, on his recent trip to Egypt heading a delegation of top divisional Starwood executives which visited all Starwood properties and committee members in Egypt due to the importance of the country as a global tourism destination. Barry Curran, general manager of Le Meridien Pyramids Hotel and area manager of Starwood resorts in Egypt, hosted a reception in honour of Vos where he met all head departments and viewed the sketches and master plan of the huge renovation project under way to upgrade all public areas of the hotel. New Mövenpick appointment MAGED Rimon has been appointed by Alfred Portenschlager, general manager of the Mövenpick Resort Al-Qusseir, director of sales and marketing for the 250-room resort. Rimon has over 20 years of experience working in the hospitality industry. He held the same position in many international hotel chains including the Millennium Hotels and Resorts and Sonesta Hotels and Resorts.
