Airlines, routes and services Africa's 2009 airline THE NATIONAL CARRIER EgyptAir has been awarded Africa's 2009 best airline award by the International Tourism Investment Conference which took place in Mozambique last month. The conference was addressed by Mozambique's president and gathered more than two hundreds African travel operators, airline agents and hotel representatives. Egypt's Ambassador to Mozambique Abdel Qader Al-Tantawi accepted the award and handed it to EgyptAir's CEO and Chairman Captrain Tawfic Assi on his return. Adding flights to Moscow EFFECTIVE from July, EgyptAir will expand its operation to the Russian capital Moscow, increasing flight frequency between the two countries. The carrier is adding two more flights to its current operation of five flights weekly, bringing the total to seven flights weekly. "The added flights will operate from Sharm El-Sheikh airport and from Hurghada airport, both to serve the demand from Russian tourists going to Egypt's Red Sea resorts," explained Samir Al-Sayad, EgypAir's Russia area manager. Emirates cancels NY service EMIRATES have been forced to ground two Airbus A380s from its Dubai-New York service because of poor passenger numbers. The airline said the two double-decker Airbus A380s will be replaced with Boeing 777s amid the global economic downturn. "Effective 1 June, two of Emirates' Airbus A380 aircraft, currently operating on one of the two daily Dubai-New York JFK services, will be redeployed to the three-times weekly Dubai-Toronto service and to one of the two daily Dubai-Bangkok services," the airline said in a statement. Doha-Alexandria back EGYPTAIR is to resume its operation between the Mediterranean city of Alexandria and the Qatari capital Doha after two years. Effective 18 June, the route will operate two flights weekly with a very early timetable flying from Doha at dawn to arrive in Alexandria in the early morning. "The route will operate from Al-Nozha airport, Alexandria's old airport, using A320 aircraft subject to increasing demand," stated Osama Taha, Doha's regional manager of EgyptAir. Etihad signs share deal with Qantas The UAE's national airline Etihad Airways has signed a codeshare agreement with Australia's Qantas. The deal with Qantas will extend Etihad's reach to more Australian destinations, including Adelaide and Cairns as well as New Zealand. Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane are the three gateway airports currently served by Etihad. Etihad has 13 other codeshare agreements with airlines from all over the world. Lufthansa expands Riyadh and Lviv BUCKING the downward trend, Lufthansa announced that it is increasing the capacity on its routes from Saudi Arabia to Germany almost doubling it as of 29 March. The additional frequencies will allow Lufthansa to fly daily from Riyadh and Jeddah to its hub in Frankfurt as of the beginning of the summer schedule. The German carrier also launched a daily Lviv-Munich flight as of 30 March. Flights from Lviv to Munich will be carried out using a Bombardier CRJ-200 and a Bombardier CRJ-700. Lufthansa currently services six daily flights from Ukraine to Germany: two Kyiv-Munich flights, two Kyiv-Frankfurt flights, Kyiv-Dèsseldorf and Donetsk-Munich flights. Fly on credit UAE's National Etihad Bank has launched a new service to EgyptAir passengers in UAEwhere they can travel to any destination on the carrier's expanded network using a joint credit card issued by the bank. According to EgyptAir marketing manager, Salah Hashim, the new service allows passengers to book a ticket and pay over six months with no extra payments and a free emergency medical insurance. "It also allows our clients in the Emirates to win free tickets within the awarding programme and to join our frequent flyer programme," Hashem explained. Mobile access to airlines TRAVELLERS, who access Emirates.com from a mobile browser on their phone or PDA, will be automatically redirected to the mobile version of the airline's website. The facility is compatible with over 3000 devices and allows customers to interact with the Emirates from almost anywhere in the world. First class spa AN oasis of calm and relaxation awaits Lufthansa First Class passengers and members of the HON Circle at the new First Class Lounge in Concourse B at Frankfurt Airport following the opening of an exclusive First Class Spa on the premises. The spa's extensive bathing area is equipped with six superior-quality shower rooms (two of them with Jacuzzis), and -- for the first time at a Lufthansa Lounge -- two massage rooms. "Frequent flyers and business travellers are constantly on the go, and so time becomes a precious asset," says Lufthansa Hub Manager Karl-Rudolph Rupprecht. Tourism and travel Egypt awarded MITT THE INTERNATIONAL Travel and Tourism fair in Moscow crowned the Egyptian pavilion with the Best Design award during its activities which took place from 15-21 March. According to Hisham Zazou, Tourism Ministry's top official, Russian tourist traffic comes at the top of the total tourism movement to the country. Zazou explained that the Egyptian Tourism Ministry will add more promotional programmes to Egypt's desert and nature destinations. "We believe EgyptAir will meet the challenge and that they will introduce more attractive offers to encourage promotional travel programmes," Zazou added. Money on air LH collects profits THE LUFTHANSA Group increased its offer and sales during the past business year. The Group was almost able to reproduce its previous year's outstanding results by posting an operating profit of around 1.35 billion euros. The Group profit was posted at 599 million euros. Last year's figure was 1.66 billion euros, which included 585 million euros of profit from special items. Revenues increase ETIHAD AIRWAYS achieved more than $2.5 billion in revenues in 2008 and is targeting to make $3 billion in 2009, an increase of 20 per cent. The carrier said it aimed to increase its passenger numbers in 2009 by 15 per cent to a total of seven million.
