Qatar Airways to Operate Direct Flights From Kigali to Dubai!

Qatar Airways is expected to start direct flights to Dubai if the company's future plans succeed in the country, Akbar Al Baker, the airliner's CEO, said yesterday in an interview.
The revelation follows the inaugural flights to Kigali by the airline on Wednesday afternoon.
"The country has a huge tourism potential and other economic activities that are attracting foreigners. Therefore, as our cooperation and business develops, we expect to have a direct flight to Dubai that will link Kigali to other middle east and Asian countries," Baker told The New Times after meeting Prime Minister Dr Pierre Damien Habumuremyi.
The giant airliner with its Airbus A320 is expected to operate on the Kigali-Doha route via Entebbe in neighbouring Uganda.
Baker mentioned that most airlines were flying to Europe and America. He however, said it was prudent to have more flights that connect to Asia and the middle east which he said would expand the economic development of the country.
Currently, Rwanda Air, the national carrier operates six flights a week to Dubai.
Most East Africans import their finished goods from United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Baker further noted that the good leadership, transparency, security and political commitment towards economic development, motivated them to start transportation business in Kigali.

Air Namibia Announces New Regional Routes!

People traveling to Gaborone in Botswana or Harare in Zimbabwe from Windhoek will soon be able to fly there directly.
Air Namibia yesterday announced three new regional routes that will come into operation on May 15. The third route is to Ondjiva in Angola.
Acting managing director Theo Namases said the new routes are part of the national airline's new business strategy for 2011 to 2016 which aims to make Air Namibia profitable in five years' time.
"One major aim of the new business plan is to improve Air Namibia's operations, to decrease our dependency on Government and prove to the Namibian nation that Air Namibia has reason for existing," Namases said.
According to Namases the flight times are structured in such a way that business people can make a return trip on the same day. One major benefit of the new routes, especially those to Harare and Gaborone, is that passengers travelling from Windhoek no longer have to travel via Johannesburg as is currently the case.
Namases said Air Namibia has taken a zero-tolerance approach to flight delays and cancellations.
Works and Transport Minister Erkki Nghimtina said that after the delivery of new aircraft which Air Namibia announced late last year and the introduction of the new routes, the national airline is expected to deliver a high standard of service to each of its passengers. Nghimtina called the introduction of the new routes timely and said it will help to translate into reality the "tremendous interest" which has been shown in the SADC region by the outside world.
Nghimtina said "Air Namibia must operate as a commercially viable airline" even though it is in a very competitive and volatile environment.
He wants the company to manage its finances prudently to ensure that the investment made into the national airline "does not go to waste".
Nghimtina said the introduction of more flights to Namibia and its neighbours will ensure the strengthening of political and economic ties between these countries.
Botswana high commissioner to Namibia Duke Lefhoko said Air Namibia is "implementing the talk of regional integration" and commended the national airline for this.

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority.

Zimbabwe is expected to host the World Tourism Fair in October this year.

Ngoni Chanakira (Harare), The President of the Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ), Tichaona Hwingwiri, says his association is pleased with the upward trend within travel and tourism in the past two years.

He says, however, Zimbabwe still has "much more ground to cover for it to enjoy the number of international tourist arrivals of the boom period of the 1990s".

"A great many factors still act as obstacles to a full and unimpeded progress towards tourism growth and development, among which is the domestic air service situation," he said in an exclusive interview.

"Domestic tourism has been slow particularly in areas such as the Eastern Highlands, Kariba, Great Zimbabwe and the Bulawayo area but continues to grow in destinations such as Harare and Victoria Falls.

"It is hoped that all obstacles to tourism growth can be identified and removed and HAZ remains keen to work with other partners such as the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), the Zimbabwe Council for Tourism (ZCT) and others in this regard."

Zimbabwe's tourism industry used to very active before the controversial Land Resettlement Programme (LRP) began in 2000.

The programme resulted in some tourists being given warnings about travelling to the country by their nationals.

The Minister of the Tourism and Hospitality Industry, Engineer Walter Mzembi, recently said he too is pleased with the industry's progress especially the fact that Zimbabwe is expected to host the World Tourism Fair in October this year. The country will share this prestigious event with neighbors, Zambia and Botswana.
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Bookings for flights to Britain for Summer Olympics 2012 have increased!

Bookings for flights to Britain around the time of the summer Olympics have jumped, helping to dispel fears many tourists would stay away during the Games, a study showed on Thursday.
Analysis by Spanish travel bookings group Amadeus (AMA.MC) found a 143 percent spike in arrivals on July 26 -- a Thursday and the day before the Games open -- compared with the same date in 2011, a Tuesday.
Broadened to include the four days before the Olympics, scheduled arrivals showed an increase of 31 percent. The figures were compiled from global travel agencies' air reservations in and out of London.
U.S. citizens have taken the lead in early bookings with an 82 percent year-on-year surge in reservations.
Currently, the U.S. represents 17 percent of scheduled arrivals with German travelers in second place.
During the three-week Olympics period, Amadeus data showed scheduled arrivals in Brussels were up 49 percent; Amsterdam 28 percent higher; and Paris 5 percent, suggesting travelers may be increasingly adopting high-speed rail links in conjunction with air travel to reach London.
Holger Taubmann, a senior vice president at Amadeus, said the data "could help airlines make decisions on the benefits of increasing the capacity and frequency on a given route to meet travellers' demands, or consider targeting customers with air-rail combined trip offers".
Heathrow is planning for 137,800 passengers on Aug 13. -- a 45 percent increase in departures -- making it the busiest day in the airport's history. The Games will close on August 12
In November, the European Tour Operators Association ETOA.L had said it was seeing an average 90 percent downturn in bookings during the Olympic period, estimating about 3.5 billion pounds could be lost to the British economy.
The ETOA figures added to travel-industry fears at the time that displacement -- a reduction in traditional, non-Games tourists, and an exodus of Londoners eager to escape the crowds -- would offset Olympics arrivals.
The latest figures from Amadeus also suggested Londoners do not appear to be fleeing. Its analysis of scheduled departures from all London airports found residents were 11 percent more likely to stay in the city during the Olympics period than they did in 2011.
Threats of strike action across London's public transport system by the leader of Unite, Britain's biggest union, and a dispute between the RMT union and London Underground over bonus payments, may affect travel decisions over the next few months.
The government has launched an international advertising campaign to boost tourism and plans a series of business summits during the Games it hopes will generate additional 1 billion pounds revenue for British companies.
The Amadeus data does not take into account direct bookings to airline websites -- which accounts for 50 percent of travel bookings -- but factors in all agency reservations up to February 22.

Emirates Airline celebrates inaugural flights to Seattle, USA

Emirates Airlines launched its first direct flights to Seattle, USA and air bridge between the Middle East and America’s Northwest today, as its inaugural Boeing 777 service from Dubai departed for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
“Emirates has looked forward to the day when we would connect Seattle to our home hub in Dubai, on flights operated by state-of-the-art, Seattle-built aircraft,” said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman and chief executive of Emirates Group, who travelled on the inaugural flight, along with Her Excellency Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi (UAE Minister of Foreign Trade), Tim Clark (Emirates Airline president), and His Excellency Major General Mohamed Abdulrahim Al Ali (UAE Ministry of Defence deputy minister), amongst others.
“This new service is the latest step in Emirates’ strategic programme of expansion across the United States, and we are confident that it will support the burgeoning trade relationship between the United Arab Emirates and the Seattle metropolitan region," continued His Highness. “Emirates highly values its partnerships with American business and industry, and we look forward to strengthening these links as we invest in growing our presence across the country.”
The U.A.E. was the 19th largest export destination worldwide for American goods in 2011, with total exports valued at a record high of almost US$16 billion. Topping the list was transport equipment, which included almost $3.5 billion in aircraft deliveries, $163 million in aircraft parts and $26 million in aircraft engines. Other leading exports included computer and electronic products, non-electrical machinery, chemicals and fabricated metal products.
“Emirates’ non-stop flights will support Seattle’s thriving export trade through a 15-tonne freight capacity that will serve one of the largest cargo hubs in the world at Dubai International Airport,” said Ram Menen, divisional senior vice president of Emirates SkyCargo. “Emirates will carry goods including software, technology and telecommunications equipment to markets across the Middle and Far East”.