QR's A380 First Class

Qatar Airways has reversed course and will include first-class cabins on its coming fleet of Airbus A380 superjumbos to try to woo wealthy leisure and business travellers.

Airline officials are tight-lipped about what offerings will be in store for the airline's version of the double-decker aircraft, but passengers choosing to fly first class will be chauffeured to the plane in BMW 7 Series cars.

Qatar Airways will compete directly with the A380s operated by Emirates Airline, with their enclosed suites and showers, and Singapore Airlines, where first-class travellers are treated to a full-sized bed, desk, seats and personal storage.

The plans come as the Doha-based airline carries out a wide-ranging programme elsewhere in its fleet to rely only on business and economy cabins as the global economy recovers from the recent downturn.

The A380 "will be the only model in our fleet which will have a first-class cabin", Akbar al Baker, the chief executive of Qatar Airways, said last week.

Mr al Baker added the premium cabin would have eight seats in first class from a total of 517.

A typical layout on the A380 accommodates 525 passengers, with 10 first, 76 business, and 439 economy-class seats, Airbus said.

But the European aircraft maker has long marketed the superjumbo as having enormous potential for customising to an airline's specifications. The superjumbo's size led to Airbus at one stage touting the scope for features such as relaxation areas, bars, duty-free shops and beauty salons.

Configurations for the world's largest commercial airliner vary widely, from Korean Air's 407-passenger fit-out to the all-economy set-up for 840 passengers planned by Air Austral, a carrier based in the French island of Reunion in the Indian Ocean.


In terms of luxury appeal, Air France installed an electronic art gallery exclusively for first class and business class on its A380s, while Virgin Atlantic has said it plans to put casinos, double beds and gymnasiums on its superjumbos.

Qatar has ordered five of the jets, which cost about US$300 million (Dh1.1 billion) each before standard industry discounts, and plans to order several more, possibly this year, Mr al Baker has said.

It has one of the fastest-growing fleets in the world with 93 jets, up from 80 one year ago.

First-class cabins are not being installed on its new Boeing 777s and are being removed from its fleet of Airbus A330s. In 2009, the airline ripped out the first-class lounges on its Airbus A340-600 jets to make more room for economy seats, with plans to eventually retire the planes.

The appeal of flying the A380 has led passengers to pay a premium for the flights, with Emirates charging nearly Dh40,000 for first-class travel between Dubai and New York.

The first commercial flight of the A380, by Singapore Airlines in October 2007, included a charity auction for seats. Passengers reportedly spent between $560 and $100,000 for the short flight between Singapore and Sydney.

Source: thenational.ae

Emirates to fly A380 to Munich from next year

I've been very very busy lately so I can't blog much about my personal life but I can still update you about the industry. =)

Dr Michael Kerkloh, CEO of Munich International Airport, said that Emirates airline plans to launch Airbus A380 flights from Dubai to Munich next year.

He said that the airports in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the most modern and the best in the Gulf and the world, attributing that to the vision of leadership.

He said in an exclusive interview with Wam that Abu Dhabi International Airport has achieved a giant leap in the growth of travel and air cargo from Abu Dhabi to the world after the construction of the third terminal building for passengers and that the co-operation projects with Abu Dhabi Airports Company (Adac) have yielded positive results, notably, the co-operation in expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport.

Kerkloh noted that "we are willing to put our expertise to develop the airports of the emirate of Abu Dhabi in the next stage", adding that the emirates of Abu Dhabi and Dubai have placed themselves in prominent places on the world map thanks to the development of their airports as per the latest international standards and regulations.

Kerkloh expressed his wish for further co-operation with the airports' authorities in the UAE in the next stage.

"We will put our technical expertise and human resources to provide the country's needs in this area," he added.

He explained that Munich International Airport Company operates from Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman where a number of advisors work through the company's regional office in Abu Dhabi.

Kerkloh pointed out that there is strong demand from national carriers and the Gulf on the Munich International Airport, which he described as the region’s gateway to Germany and the European continent.

He said translation services are provided free to visitors through the Arab-Bavaria Friendship Society in Bavaria and the allocation of restaurants offering Arab halal food, in addition to the presence of a mosque at the Munich International Airport.

Kerkloh stressed Etihad Airways has become a major player in the tourism and travel in Europe and surpassed the majority of major companies due to its success in the transport of passengers from European cities to the Middle East, through the airports of Munich and Abu Dhabi.

He said the international airport of Munich took part in the construction operations of the new building in Abu Dhabi International Airport Terminal 2 for Etihad Airways.

Kerkloh said that the Munich airport carried out the latest programme on running the airports in the world in the new building of Abu Dhabi International Airport.

SRC:http://www.emirates247.com/business/economy-finance/emirates-to-fly-a380-to-munich-from-next-year-2010-10-23-1.307855

Early Christmas Present from Tim Clark!

Emirates Airlines, the Dubai-based airline, wants to buy a total of 120 Airbus A380s. These suckers have an average price tag of $325 mln a pop. Assuming they pay list price, that would total a cool EUR 28 bln….

Emirates also says it is working with Boeing on replacing its fleet of 777s.

These things take years to build, so any immediate impact on the euro would be modest, but it would be a macro plus for the euro zone if it comes to fruition.

src:http://www.forexlive.com/138688/all/emirates-wants-to-buy-120-super-jumbos

Good News for EK FA wannabe's

Emirates Order for 90 A380s ‘Not Enough,’ Clark Says
September 09, 2010, 10:13 AM EDT
By Steve Rothwell


(Updates with analyst’s comment in seventh paragraph.)

Sept. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Emirates, the world’s biggest airline by international traffic, said the 90 Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos it’s buying won’t be sufficient to meet the carrier’s projected demand.

The aircraft “are well spoken for and frankly, the way things are going for us at the moment, the 90 certainly won’t be enough,” President Tim Clark said today in a phone interview. “Demand for our services seems to be continuing to grow apace. We’re moving forward very robustly.”

The carrier, already the biggest customer for Airbus’s 517- seat plane, has expanded its traffic sixfold in the last decade by connecting international passengers through its Dubai hub. Emirates is also the biggest operator of Boeing Co.’s 777 long- range airliner.

Emirates has 12 Airbus A380s in its fleet, with another three to go into service by November. Deliveries will restart in September 2011, with the carrier receiving the remaining planes through November 2017.

The pace of development at Dubai airport, which last year handled 41 million passengers to rank as the 17th-busiest hub in world, was one of the main obstacles to growth, Clark said. The executive estimated that the airport, growing at about 15 percent a year, will handle as many as 100 million passengers by the end of the decade.

“There is no point trying to bring airplanes at a time when you have no place to put your passengers,” Clark said.

Second Airport

Dubai is developing a second airport, Dubai World Central- Al Maktoum International, which opened to cargo carriers in June and will start serving scheduled passenger flights in March. The government aims to make Al Maktoum the world’s busiest airport, with eventual capacity for 160 million travelers, and Emirates will shift its base there.

Al Maktoum will need 10 to 15 years before enough carriers have moved there to make it Dubai’s main airport, Clark said.

Emirates’ ability to maintain expansion may also depend in part on competitors in the Persian Gulf region that are pursuing a similar strategy, said Andrew Lobbenberg, a London-based aviation analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc.

Qatar Airways Ltd., half-owned by the state, has orders and options for more than 170 Boeing and Airbus planes to build up its base in Doha, about 235 miles (380 kilometers) west of Dubai. Etihad Airways, government-owned by Dubai’s neighboring emirate of Abu Dhabi, also has expansion plans.

“A lot depends on what happens with the other Gulf carriers,” Lobbenberg said in a telephone interview. “If Dubai survives as the sole hub in the Gulf, then you could justify a more aggressive outlook.”

The expansion of the three airlines has helped boost traffic in the Middle East by 19 percent in the year to August, making it the fastest-growing region in the world this year, according to data compiled by the International Air Transport Association.

--Editors: Tom Lavell, Jerrold Colten.

source:http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-09-09/emirates-order-for-90-a380s-not-enough-clark-says.html

EK to commence service to AMS starting May 1, 2010

The airline continues to blossom as it announces its 23rd route to Europe via The Netherlands. The route will be operated by a 777-200LR and ER in a daily, non-stop basis. This is the fourth new destination to be announced this year by the carrier. Durban and Luanda were launched in October and Tokyo was recently announced to commence on March 28, 2010.

Starting May 1 of next year, EK145 will depart DXB at 0825hrs and will arrive in AMS at 1330hrs. Return flight EK146 will depart AMS at 1530hrs and will arrive in DXB at 2359hrs.

The new European service comes on the back of exclusive lounge openings in DUS, HAM and MAN and extra frequencies to FCO, buidling up to a double daily in February.

EK will receive an additional 2 A380s this December and will be deployed to ICN from the 14th of December and to CDG two weeks later.