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Travel News
Travel News
British Airways new Dubai lounges featuring the Concorde
Bar for First Class passengers
British Airways has published a short video tour of its new lounge facilities within Dubai International's
Concourse D. The new lounge opened two weeks ago and features the carrier's Concorde Bar concept for
first class passengers.
British Airways was the first airline to fly into the new Concourse D, which sees Dubai International's
capacity rise to 90 million passengers.
Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/x8jnX3oWads
Travel News
Latest update from City Lodge on its African development
City Lodge has begun work on the City Lodge Hotel Two Rivers in Nairobi (Kenya) and the hotel is expected
to open in the second quarter of 2017. In Tanzania, construction of the City Lodge Hotel Dar es Salaam has
been delayed due to outstanding regulatory approvals impacted by Tanzania’s recent general election. It is
however expected that work will commence within the next few months with completion expected towards
the middle of 2017.
Meanwhile, development of the Town Lodge Windhoek, in Namibia, is on track. Construction of the hotel is
expected to start in May and the hotel is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2017. In Mozambique,
final approvals are being sought towards the development of the City Lodge Hotel Maputo. This hotel is
expected to open in the third quarter of 2017.
Tourvest rebrands Incentives, Emirates set to unveil new
Meetings & Events
business class seat
department
Emirates is to unveil its new business class seat at
international travel trade show ITB Berlin this week.
The new fully flat product will launch on the
carrier’s 170th B777 aircraft which is due to be
delivered in November, and is described as
“evolution as well as revolution”.
Tourvest has rebranded its incentives, meetings and
events department by incorporating Event Dynamics
and Seekers Travel M.I.C.E. under the Tourvest
Destination Management Business and Sports
Events umbrella (along with American Express
Meetings & Events, Liberty Southern Africa, Team
Sports and SART).
Tourvest I.M.E. forms part of Tourvest Destination
Management and the rebranding is expected to
bring the assets of TDM to the foreground. The new
brand identity is a means of simplifying and
entrenching a clear brand personality, and
streamlining processes to more efficiently service
clients.
The carrier said the new seat “was inspired by the
interior of a modern sports car, captured in the
diamond stitch pattern of a light grey full leather
cover, ergonomically designed headrest, and its
sleek overall look and feel”. Enhanced features
include improved lighting options, an expanded
personal meal table, and redesigned privacy
panels, literature pockets, foot rests and show
stowage areas.
Other features of the fully flat seat include a 72inch pitch, 23-inch TV screen, the carrier’s latest
touchscreen IFE controller, USB and HDMI ports,
and a “conveniently located mini-bar”. The seat
colour of dark and light grey with burled walnut
veneers will be retained, as will the cabin’s 2-3-2
layout, and total number of business class seats on
board (42).
Travel News
Travel News
The US and Cuba officially signed an agreement to restore
commercial air services between the two countries last
month.
American Airlines applies for
US-Cuba services
United plans Cuban services
from four US cities
American Airlines has filed its applications for the
reinstatement of routes from the US to Cuba, with
proposals to serve Havana from Miami, Charlotte,
Dallas Fort Worth, Los Angeles and Chicago. The
US carrier joins rival United in filing applications for
Cuban, following the agreement to restore
commercial air services between the two countries
last month.
United has confirmed its plans to reinstate flights
between the US and Cuba, with applications filed
to offer non-stop routes from New York Newark,
Houston, Washington and Chicago to Havana.
AA plans to operate ten daily services between
Miami and Havana, as well as daily flights to the
Cuban capital from Charlotte and Dallas Fort Worth,
and weekly services from Los Angeles and Chicago.
In addition the carrier is proposing to launch flights
from Miami to five other Cuban destinations –
namely Santa Clara (twice daily), Holguin (twice
daily), Varadero (twice daily), Camaguey (daily) and
Cienfuegos (daily).
If successful the plans would see United offer eight
flights per week from Newark to Havana, as well as
weekly Saturday services from Houston,
Washington Dulles and Chicago.
To support its application United has launched a
dedicated website unitedtocuba.com.
Travel News
New Platform for traveller
health and safety
O.R. Tambo International
Airport’s Terminal A gets
refurbished
O. R. Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg
is undergoing refurbishments in its retail duty-free
mall at the international terminal departures in
Terminal A.
Medical and travel security risk services company,
International SOS, has launched a fully upgraded
eLearning platform for its travel health and safety
courses. The international SOS training Hub hosts a
series of eLearning modules to help travellers and
expats mitigate their exposure to the risk during their
travels. The courses, according to the International
SOS group are to help provide the most value and
impact to the traveller’s well-being.
Travellers can learn how to mitigate their exposure
to risk through courses on travel risk awareness,
road safety, women security awareness, malaria
awareness and pandemic preparedness. Training
modules are available in multiple languages to
support a global organisation’s diverse staff.
This is the last phase of the work that begun in
2015. The international check-in processes of
passengers will remain at the airport’s Terminal A
international departures and the security and
emigration handling processes will be relocated to
the central terminal building situated opposite the
escalators leading to or coming from the Gautrain
station.
The project includes the upgrading of ablution
facilities, replacement of directional signage,
improvement of lighting, replacement of ceiling
tiles, and the upgrading of bulk services such
as the air-conditioning units.
Work will begin on 13 February and is expected to
be completed by the start of the Easter peak
season. During this time, passengers will need to
set aside sufficient time to check in.
Travel News
South African Airways
and JetBlue introduce
new code share
SAA and JetBlue Airways have
introduced code share operations
on SAA’s flights between
Washington, DC-Dulles Airport
and Accra, Ghana in Africa.
Customers purchasing a
codeshare itinerary will benefit
from having a single ticket
combining JetBlue and SAAoperated flights, including onestop check-in and baggage
transfer. JetBlue’s TrueBlue
members will earn TrueBlue
points on SAA’s entire global
network where SAA is the
operating carrier.
SAA offers nonstop service
between Washington, DC Dulles
Airport and Accra, Ghana fourdays per week aboard modern
state-of-the-art wide-body Airbus
A330 & A340 aircraft.
SAA changes departure
closure times
SAA has changed the closing
time for domestic flights out of
Johannesburg, which will come
into effect on 1 April. Previously,
SAA closed all domestic flights
for check-in 30 minutes before
boarding, but this has now been
changed to 40 minutes before
departure for all SAA’s domestic
flights on departures only from
Johannesburg to Durban, Cape
Town, Port Elizabeth and East
London.
SAA revises UAE
Operations
SAA has officially taken a
decision to cease operating
between Johannesburg and Abu
Dhabi from 1 March. Since 29
October 2015, SAA has
implemented ad hoc cancellations
on the route in order to meet the
different demand patterns.
The airline will also discontinue
the codeshare agreement
with Etihad Airways, due to route
network rationalisation.
Kenya Airways raises
US$75m from Heathrow
slot sale
Kenya Airways has sold its prized
early morning slot at London
Heathrow.
The sale raised a record sum of
US$75 million, a much needed
boost to the airline.
Kenya Airways will lease, rather
than own its Heathrow slot from
KLM. This means that Kenya
Airways will (once the new slot
times take affect) be paying KLM
a fee every time its B787 lands
and takes off from Heathrow.
Kenya Airways new slot times
come into effect later this month
and the revised schedules from
March 27 mean the airline will
operate a daylight flight to London
returning overnight to Nairobi.
Two new hotels in
Kampala for Protea
Hotels
Protea Hotels is developing two
new hotel properties in Uganda.
The Protea Hotel Naguru Skyz
and the Protea Hotel Pinnacle,
both situated in Kampala’s
affluent suburb of Naguru. Work
on the Protea Hotel Naguru Skyz
is already under way and the
hotel is scheduled to open in
July. An early 2018 opening is
targeted for the Protea Hotel
Pinnacle.
Nigerian visas
processing now longer
The length of time to process a
Nigerian visa in South Africa has
been extended to a minimum of
10 working days (up from 5
days).
Angola visa update
All South African visas for Angola
must be loaded online at an
additional cost of $40 per
application, with effect 1 March.
Canada tightens visa
requirements
From the 15th march, the
Canadian Government will
tighten its visa rules making it
compulsory for formerly visaexempt foreign nationals –
including US, UK and European
passport holders – to obtain
authorisation in advance before
entering the country.
Travel News
On offer are weekly flights to St Helena, every Saturday, on a Boeing 737-800 aircraft in British Airways
livery. The flights will offer both business class and economy seating on the five-hour flight.
One flight a week will depart from Johannesburg every Saturday morning at 08:20 (local South African time)
and will arrive at St Helena Airport at approximately 11:30 (local time in St Helena).
The return flight will depart from St Helena at 12:30 (local time in St Helena) and will arrive at OR Tambo
International Airport at approximately 18:30 (local South African time).
The aircraft will be capable of carrying up to 120 passengers and a limited amount of cargo. Increased
frequency “will be considered if there is sufficient demand,” Comair says. Prices for tickets to the remote
island is yet to be announced. No visa is required to visit the island.
Qatar signs codeshare with Comair
Qatar Airways has entered into a codeshare agreement with Comair that will add three new African
destinations to the airline’s route map, and provide additional flight options to travellers in Cape Town and
Durban. From 23 February, Qatar will place its code on flights with BA from Johannesburg to Cape Town,
Durban, Harare, Victoria Falls, and Port Elizabeth, as well as flights from Cape Town to Durban and Port
Elizabeth. This partnership complements the recent expansion of Qatar operations into South Africa.
Travel News
Etihad Airways registers
record passenger figures
in India
Etihad Airways along with partner Jet Airways
has carried a record 3.3 million people between
Abu Dhabi and India in 2015, registering a 63
per cent growth in passenger traffic.
Together, the airlines carried a record 3.3
million passengers between Etihad Airways'
Abu Dhabi hub and India in 2015, representing
a sharp rise on the 2 million flown during the
previous 12 months, the airline said.
Etihad Airways Zika Update
Due to the impact of the Zika virus in Latin America
and the Caribbean, Etihad Airways is offering
rebooking and refund options for medically certified
pregnant women and their travel companions.
The options are available to those guests whose
tickets were issued on and before 31 January 2016,
and for guests booked to travel between Abu Dhabi
and Sao Paulo with Etihad Airways as part of their
journey.
The safety and well-being of Etihad Airways’
passengers and staff remains of paramount
importance and the airline continues to closely
monitor the situation.