Big Fat Airline Wrap
It’s Tuesday and it feels like the week’s already flying by, so take a break, grab a cuppa and have a read of this airline wrap. See what we did there?
Virgin Australia implements Sabre Branded Fares
Sabre Corporation is pleased to announce that Virgin Australia has recently implemented Sabre Branded Fares, joining a growing list of airlines globally.
The solution allows travel agents and online travel agents (OTAs) using the Sabre GDS to access enhanced branded fare functionality that simplifies the retailing of Virgin Australia’s full-service benefits.
With the implementation, agents can now easily view, compare and sell Virgin Australia branded fare families across the network, offering their customers greater choices and personalisation at better value.
Global audience takes Qatari musician to new heights thanks to Qatar Airways
Specially-composed music by legendary local Qatari musician and songwriter Dana Al Fardan now welcomes passengers on board every Qatar Airways flight around the world.
Her beautiful and uplifting musical work, entitled Sky, was created to relax and inspire passengers as they board the airline’s fleet of aircraft and set the mood and atmosphere for the rest of their journey.
The new composition follows the renowned Qatari musician and vocalist’s earlier work, Art of Flight, which accompanied Qatar Airways’ latest television commercial featuring the innovative Qsuite. Qsuite is a unique and patented seat design that brings a First Class experience to the airline’s Business Class cabin, setting a new standard with the world’s first-ever double bed available in Business Class.
Dana Al Fardan’s work blends rich strings, choral vocals and solos with traditional Middle Eastern rhythms. Her music, Sky, is now played on every aircraft as customers board and disembark, to make their flight a more personalised and meaningful experience.
Qatar Airways Teams Up With FIFA for World Cup India 2017
The FIFA U-17 World Cup India 2017 football tournament has got underway with Qatar Airways as the Official Airline Partner. The FIFA U-17 World Cup is the first-ever FIFA tournament to take place in India.
The tournament will see teams competing against each other in Mumbai, Delhi, Goa, Kochi, Kolkata and Guwahati. The finals will take place before enthusiastic crowds at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan stadium in Kolkata.
We can expect to see Qatar Airways extensive marketing at the next two FIFA World Cups, as well as visibility at competitions such as the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the FIFA Futsal World Cup and the FIFA Interactive World Cup, the world’s largest online gaming tournament.
Qantas to fly Boeing 787 from Brisbane to Los Angeles, New York
Qantas will fly its Boeing 787-9 between Brisbane and Los Angeles by the end of 2018, with the jet continuing on to New York, and follow this with a new US route from Brisbane.
The Dreamliner would then continue to New York, picking up passengers from the Sydney-LA and Melbourne-LA services, which would dramatically improve the economics of that stateside leg compared to the jumbo jet.
The Brisbane-LA service is the third international route for the airline’s new Boeing 787-9 fleet, following Melbourne-Los Angeles (which starts December 15, 2017) and Perth-London (March 24, 2018)
It’s also the first route earmarked for the four red-tailed Dreamliners which will be based in Brisbane following their delivery between July and November 2018.
SFO Launches Gallery to View Short Films on the Fly
Qatar Airways has doubled its frequencies to a number of destinations in Eastern Europe and the Nordics, following a significant increase in passenger demand to the popular destinations of Prague, Warsaw and Helsinki.
Commencing mid-December, the award-winning airline will introduce an extra daily flight on each of the routes to meet the growing inbound and outbound travel demand by adding an Airbus A320 service, offering an additional 132 daily seats in both directions.
The frequency increases, the latest in a number of such upgrades across the Qatar Airways route network, come just eight weeks after the airline launched its direct service to Prague, Czech Republic, on its first anniversary of scheduled service to Helsinki, Finland, and more than a year since the daily service to Warsaw, Poland was upgraded to a wide-body Airbus A330 service.
Etihad Airways to launch flights to Azerbaijan
AirAsia introduces classic Szechuan dish on board
Qatar Airways extends early bird sale to Europe
Qatar Airways has extended their Early Bird Sale fares to 1 November 2017, with fares starting from $1,030 return to destinations across Europe including London, Paris, Rome and Barcelona.
Qantas announced as Australian men’s cricket team shirt partner for Ashes
The deal marks the first time a commercial partner will have branding rights across the shirts of all three formats of men’s international cricket in Australia, a highly visible and valuable proposition. The creation of a shirt partner category forms a major part of the changes made to Cricket Australia’s commercial partnership model, first announced during the 2016-17 season.
This deepens Qantas’ seven-year association with cricket in Australia which already includes naming rights for all overseas men’s tours and their position as Australian Cricket’s airline of choice, moving National and State male and female players around the country and world.
Fiji Airways Lands Groundbreaking Rugby Sponsorship with Fiji Rugby
Qatar Airways Cargo’s Inaugural Freighter Touches Down in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Qatar Airways Cargo’s Boeing 777 freighter arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport last Thursday to a grand water salute welcome in the presence of dignitaries, officials from Qatar Airways Cargo, Pittsburgh International Airport and media. The cargo carrier launches Pittsburgh as its thirteenth freighter destination in the Americas.
Prior to the arrival of the inaugural flight, Qatar Airways Cargo and Pittsburgh International Airport celebrated the launch of this new route, inviting the local business community, freight forwarders and shippers to a networking reception.
The twice-weekly QR8143 freighter flight takes off from Doha on Wednesdays and Saturdays, with stops at Luxembourg and Atlanta, Georgia before arriving in Pittsburgh. On the return from Pittsburgh on Thursdays and Sundays, the freighter stops at the cargo carrier’s European hub, Luxembourg, before arriving into Doha, Qatar.
Complementing the airline’s daily wide-body A350 passenger flights to Philadelphia, the largest city in Pennsylvania, the introduction of freighter service to Pittsburgh will inject an additional 200 tonnes of weekly capacity, offering businesses in the city and the state a direct air freight uplift to the cargo carrier’s global network of over 150 destinations.
British Airways reveals its ‘Top 18 for 2018’ travel predictions
Qatar Airways Upgrades to A330 Service To Seychelles To Meet Increased Passenger Demand
In order to meet rising passenger demand, Qatar Airways has announced plans to upgrade service on its Seychelles route to an A330 aircraft, starting 29 October 2017, as the award-winning airline prepares to celebrate its one-year anniversary of flying to the Seychelles later this year.
The 260-seater A330 aircraft will increase the airline’s current daily capacity by 130 per cent on this route, connecting Seychelles-based passengers to more than 150 destinations globally.
Qatar Airways launched service to the Seychelles in December 2016, and has since contributed to the development of tourism and the growth of local business in the Seychelles.
The Airbus A330 aircraft, which features 24 seats in Business Class and 236 seats in Economy Class, enables passengers to enjoy the airline’s superior entertainment system, Oryx One, offering countless entertainment options. Business Class passengers can also relax in flatbed seats, offering an unsurpassed standard of comfort on board.
Tempo pair direct flights with Signature Sri Lanka package.
Come the end of October, Sri Lankan Airlines will be operating daily nonstop flights from Melbourne to Colombo, and to make it even easier for agents, Tempo Holidays have paired flights with their signature package Sri Lankan Highlights.
Commencing in Colombo, travellers onboard this independent signature package will enjoy all the comforts and authentic experiences promised in the range. These include a comprehensive Sri Lankan cookery demonstration, complete with a visit to a tea plantation, front row seats at an incredible cultural show in Kandy and an afternoon of refinement with High Tea at the famous Grand Hotel.
With nine nights in superior accommodation, nine breakfasts and six dinners, and entrance fees to many of Sri Lanka’s iconic attractions, this signature package provides a hassle free and memorable holiday for travellers.
Prices for this package, with direct economy flights to Sri Lanka included, start from A$3140.
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