Dubai International Airport continues to grow with news that passenger traffic was up 9% in November 2016 – Helped along by new routes and an increase in services to existing destinations. Meanwhile, the President of Emirates Airline has admitted that 2016 was “not a good year” and predicts that 2017 “could be even flatter.”
The list of the safest airlines has also just been released with Qantas taking the top award for the fourth year in a row. And yet another award went to Qatar Airways which was named the world’s best for customer service. Finally, today marks the first of two days of strike action by Mixed Fleet crew at British Airways.
Passenger Traffic Up 9% at Dubai International Airport in November 2016
5th January 2017 – Courtesy CAPA
Year on year passenger traffic at Dubai International Airport increased by 9% to 6.6 million passengers in November 2016. The increase was attributed to new services launched by SpiceJet, Jet Airways and Air India. Capacity was also increased to existing destinations including Pakistan, the UK and Saudi Arabia. The CEO of Dubai Airports, Paul Griffiths, said: “(the airport is) all set to achieve impressive annual growth yet again.”
Tim Clark, President of Emirates, admits 2016 was “Not a Good Year”
5th January 2017 – Courtesy Bloomberg
In an interview with Bloomberg the President of Emirates, Sir Tim Clark remarked that 2016 “was not a good year” and predicted of 2017: “I think ’17 could be even flatter, slightly worse.” The comments were made in a lengthy opinion piece by the business magazine which suggested that difficult times may be ahead for what has become the world’s largest long-haul airline.
Emirates Has Spent $500 Million on It’s Wine & Champagne Programme
05th January 2017 – Courtesy Skift
Inside a group of warehouses in the countryside of Burgandy, France are 3.75 million bottles of fine wine belonging to Emirates. The wine programme that started 12 years ago as a way for Emirates to differentiate itself from competitors has now spent $500 million with around 70 different types of wine available across the network at any given time. Joost Heymeijer, a senior vice president who runs the inflight catering service at Emirates, said of the wines available: “We serve Château Palmer in business class. Most airlines, you’d be lucky if they served that to you in first class.”
Qatar Airways Awarded Worlds Best Airline for Customer Service
06th January 2017 – Original Article
Qatar Airways was awarded the world’s best airline for customer services for passenger assistance company AirHelp Worldwide. The airline scored particularly well for cabin crew service, onboard services and on-time performance. However, AirHelp noted that Qatar Airways didn’t perform so well in responding to customers quickly when things did go wrong and placed them in 29th place for claim responsiveness.
For the Fourth Year Running, Qantas Tops List of Worlds Safest Airlines
5th January 2017 – Courtesy Airline Ratings
With a rich history, that has never seen a passenger fatality resulting from an accident, Qantas secures the coveted title of world’s safest airline by airlineratings.com, which claims to be the world’s only safety and product rating website. The website said of Qantas: “The Australian airline has been a leader in; the development of the Future Air Navigation System; the Flight Data Recorder to monitor plane and later crew performance; automatic landings using Global Navigation Satellite System as well as precision approaches around mountains in cloud using RNP. Qantas was the lead airline with real-time monitoring of its engines across its fleet using satellite communications, which has enabled the airline to detect problems before they become a major safety issue.”
British Airways Crew to Strike for 48 Hours
3rd January 2017 – Courtesy British Broadcasting Corporation
A 48-hour strike by Mixed Fleet crew working for British Airways began today. The airline said of the strike: “We are extremely disappointed that Unite has once again chosen to target our customers,” and continued “We are now focused on protecting our customers from this unnecessary and completely unjustified action.” It is understood that British Airways intends to cancel approximately 12 intra-European return flights on each day of the strike. However, the airline is likely to move affected passengers onto other flights to ensure everyone gets to their final destination within a few hours. More details behind the strike can be found here.
Photo Credit: Dubai Airports
