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Etihad Airways is set to start flying to Guangzhou next month, becoming the first international airline to operate long-haul passenger services to the top three Chinese gateways since the start of the pandemic.Subject to regulatory approvals, the twice-weekly passenger service to Guangzhou will start on 10 October, initially using a two-class Boeing 777.The new route means Etihad will be offering guests convenient access to three Chinese gateways as Guangzhou is added to existing services to Shanghai which resumed in July 2020 and Beijing, which resumed in June 2022.

Saudi Airlines has begun providing bookings and sales of frequent flights linking the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with sister State of Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup through a page on its website that guests are looking forward to. The scheduled flights aim to encourage tourism in the Kingdom, as sports audiences will be able to travel to Doha through the Kingdom’s airports in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam, as well as attract a number of fans in Qatar to visit the Kingdom during this period. in addition to facilitating match attendance for the public and residents of Saudi Arabia.In the Kingdom with these daily back-and-forth flights.

Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing and most sustainable airline, is launching 20 exciting new routes from Bucharest, Budapest, Catania, Larnaca, Milan, Naples, Rome, Sofia, Tirana, Venice and Vienna to Riyadh, Jeddah, and Dammam in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The airline introduces a new era of extended travel opportunities at ultra-low fares between Europe and the Kingdom to strengthen Saudi Arabia’s global connectivity. Tickets for all routes are already on sale on wizzair.com. The new routes will majorly enhance Wizz Air’s presence in the Kingdom that will boost the growing Saudi Arabian tourism sector and contribute to the Vision 2030 programme to triple the country’s passenger traffic by 2030. Just alone this expansion will bring over one million additional travellers to Saudi Arabia next year.

Dubai carrier Emirates will restore its non-stop A380 services to and from Auckland and Kuala Lumpur, starting from December 1, it announced on August 25.The airline currently operates to both cities with a linked Boeing 777-300ER service, which stops at the Malaysian capital before continuing on to Auckland.The start of A380 flights will see both cities delinked and served with direct services to and from Dubai.The new service between Dubai and Auckland will also reclaim its title as the longest route on the Emirates network, clocking in 14,200km, in addition to being one of the world’s longest non-stop scheduled commercial flights.

Emirates has announced its flagship A380 service to operate three daily flights from its Dubai hub to Bangalore from October 30, as it scales up its operations amid recovering air travel. It is the first time the double-decker fleet is operating in Bangalore’s Kempegowda International Airport. Emirates also operates A380 flights to Mumbai.

Air Arabia, the Middle East and North Africa’s first and largest low-cost carrier (LCC) operator, has announced the launch of its direct flights from Sharjah to the city of Milan in Italy.The new direct flights will connect Sharjah International Airport with Milan Bergamo Airport with four weekly flights starting from December 7, 2022. Air Arabia operates the Airbus A320 and A321 neo-LR aircraft. The cabin configuration across Air Arabia’s fleet provides added comfort with one of the most generous seat-pitch of any economy cabin. The aircraft is also equipped with “SkyTime”, a free in-flight streaming service that will allows passengers to stream a wide selection of entertainment directly to their devices. Before flights, eligible travellers can also benefit from the City Check-in service where they can drop off their bags and collect their boarding passes at the Air Arabia Sales Shops spread across the UAE.

From 1 December, Emirates will reintroduce its flagship A380 to Perth as part of the airline’s ramp up of services to Australia. The upgauge will increase Emirates’ seating capacity between its hub Dubai and Perth, with close to 500 seats available on each flight. EK420 from Dubai will depart at 02:45, arriving in Perth at 17:20 the same day while EK421 flight will depart from Perth at 22:20, arriving in Dubai at 05:25 the following day. The daily A380 service will replace the existing daily Boeing 777- 300ER operation between Dubai and Perth. The upgauge comes as Emirates proudly celebrates 20 years of serving the skies and communities of Perth, offering unparalleled connectivity to Dubai and across its global network.

Emirates has announced expanding its frequency to Mauritius with an additional daily evening fight. The new flight service will operate from October 1 till January 31, 2023.The additional flight service comes close on the heels of Emirates re-introducing double-daily flights to Mauritius. The third-daily flight will boost Emirates seat capacity to and from Mauritius by approximately 35 percent.

Emirates restarts flights from London Stansted (STN) as it continues to rebuild its UK and global network in response to sustained demand for international travel. This is the first commercial flight Emirates has flown from Stansted since pausing operations from the airport in March 2020 due to the pandemic. The world’s largest international airline has advanced plans to increase capacity from five-weekly services to a daily flight, starting from today. With the return of services to Stansted, Emirates has ramped up its operations to London with nine daily flights, including six daily flights to Heathrow and a double daily flight to Gatwick. The added services will meet market demand and offer customers more travel choices and enhanced connectivity this summer. Stansted will be served by Emirates’ wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Emirates restarts flights from London Stansted (STN) as it continues to rebuild its UK and global network in response to sustained demand for international travel. This is the first commercial flight Emirates has flown from Stansted since pausing operations from the airport in March 2020 due to the pandemic. The world’s largest international airline has advanced plans to increase capacity from five-weekly services to a daily flight, starting from today. With the return of services to Stansted, Emirates has ramped up its operations to London with nine daily flights, including six daily flights to Heathrow and a double daily flight to Gatwick. The added services will meet market demand and offer customers more travel choices and enhanced connectivity this summer. Stansted will be served by Emirates wide-body Boeing 777-300ER aircraft

Oman Air, the Sultanate of Oman’s national carrier, has increased the weekly number of flights from its Muscat hub, offering 10 flights to Bangkok, 7 flights to Kuala Lumpur, 5 flights to Manila, and 4 flights to Jakarta, providing more options to discover an array of cities and experiences across Southeast Asia. The additional flights offer greater convenience and connectivity for Oman Air guests to discover more than 40 other exciting destinations in Southeast Asia and Australia.Oman Air is optimizing its network through increased cooperation with alliance partners to link passengers to more locations as quickly and as seamlessly as possible. This will result in increased travel connections and an expanded network of destinations. Oman Air currently has four partner airlines in Southeast Asia, allowing guests to fly to 44 destinations across Southeast Asia and Australia from Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. In total, Oman Air has entered into strategic codeshare agreements with 18 different partner airlines. These agreements enable Oman Air to market 229 different sectors, which, when combined with the 45 sectors that the airline itself operates, brings the total number of sectors it serves to 274.

flynas, the Saudi air carrier and the leading low-cost airline in the Middle East has announced the launch of its first direct flights between Riyadh and Podgorica, the capital of Montenegro Black Mountain starting on July 28, 2022.flynas will connect Riyadh and Podgorica via weekly direct return flights, scheduled every Thursday, from King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh to Podgorica International Airport, allowing Saudis to enter it without a visa until September 30, 2022.

Oman Air, the national carrier of the Sultanate of Oman, will launch service between Muscat and Trabzon, Turkey, with 3 weekly flights (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday), which will commence on 2 August 2022. The Tuesday flight from Muscat will depart at 09:50 and arrive in Trabzon at 13:00. The flight from Trabzon will depart at 14:00 and arrive in Muscat at 19:05. The Thursday and Saturday flight from Muscat will depart at 08:30 and arrive in Trabzon at 11:40. The flight from Trabzon will depart at 12:40 and arrive in Muscat at 17:45.

Qatar Airways ramps up all-inclusive FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 travel packages for fans to secure their place in world football’s biggest event. The additional packages include match tickets, flights and accommodation throughout the course of the tournament, allowing passionate football fans to book their seats and follow their favourite team during the first FIFA World Cup in the Middle East.The airline originally launched these packages in September 2021 to cater to millions of anticipating fans, and now with less than 130 days to go until the mega event, a worldwide demand for match tickets has risen and these travel packages provide fans guaranteed tickets to experience matches in person.

Etihad Airways has announced the extension of its flights between Abu Dhabi and Zanzibar to 14 January 2023.The service will continue to be operated at the current schedule of three times weekly until 26 November, when a fourth weekly flight will be introduced for the end of year holidays.The flights will be operated on modern Airbus A320 aircraft, providing travellers with a range of travel options to the popular Indian Ocean archipelago throughout the week.

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, the ultra-low-fare national airline of the UAE, has announced it will launch two new routes from Abu Dhabi to the idyllic island paradise of the Maldives, and the airline’s fifth key destination in the Gulf, Kuwait. The new routes will offer travellers the opportunity to explore marvellous destinations in line with the airline’s ambition to provide tourists and residents in the UAE and the region with hassle-free, affordable travel options.

flydubai, the Dubai-based airline, announced today the launch of flights to Samarkand in Uzbekistan from 20 September with a twice-weekly service. With the addition of flights to Samarkand, flydubai grows its operations in the market to two points including the capital, Tashkent. Flights to Samarkand International Airport (SKD) will operate from Terminal 3 at Dubai International (DXB) on Tuesdays and Fridays. With the launch of operations to Samarkand, flydubai grows its network to 102 destinations served by a fleet of 65 Boeing 737 aircraft, giving passengers from the UAE and the region more reliable and convenient options for travel.

Dubai carrier Emirates is preparing for a busy summer schedule with 24,000 passenger flights lined up in July and August. The carrier said it was coordinating with ground handling partners at 129 airports around the world to ensure they are up-to-date with operational requirements and are prepared to support smooth passenger movement.Emirates has also worked closely with other stakeholders at Dubai Airport to support its flight schedule and services, provisioning additional resources to ensure efficient operations at the hub, including for transiting passengers

The United Kingdom will remove the visa requirement for Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) state nationals visiting the country from 2023.A number of countries were added to the United Kingdom’s list of countries eligible for its new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) system including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Qatar. The ETA scheme is a key part of the UK government’s move to have a fully digital border by the end of 2025. Before ETAs are introduced in 2023, travellers from GCC countries will continue to use electronic visa waivers which can be completed online before entering the UK.

Wizz Air, Europe’s fastest growing and most sustainable airline, is launching exciting new routes from Dammam, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to Rome, Vienna and Abu Dhabi. The Abu Dhabi route will be operated by Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, Wizz Air’s joint venture airline with ADQ. Launching in September 2022, the new destinations are the first step towards a growing presence in KSA which will provide for the first time truly affordable, hassle-free, point-to-point travel for tourists and residents in the Kingdom, Europe and the UAE, strengthening global connectivity.