This week’s airline wrap is short and sweet, just like us. Only kidding – our colleagues say we’re tall and rude.

Final Days: Insight Vacations’ $899 Air Offer

Insight Vacations is in its final days of the $899 air offer to Europe and Britain, ending on 31st October.

Available on over 70 2019 itineraries, guests can travel in style from the start of their journey on Cathay Pacific or Qatar Airways to experience Insight’s new six-day Easy Pace Malta itinerary or the enhanced 22-day journey, Britain and Ireland Discovery for immersive, authentic and local experiences.

Emirates deploys its iconic A380 to St. Petersburg

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, marked aviation history as the A380 landed in Russia’s northern capital, St. Petersburg. Welcomed at 20:50 local time on 25 October at Pulkovo International Airport (LED), this was the first time the iconic double decker aircraft has landed in St. Petersburg.

A welcome ceremony was held at the airport in attendance of Vadim Besperstov, Emirates Manager for Russian Federation and CIS, Julien Franiatte, Airbus Head of Country Russia, and Vladimir Yakushev, Chief Executive Officer of Northern Capital Gateway, trade officials and esteemed media members.

Due to increased passenger demand, Emirates deployed its A380 and temporarily replaced the Boeing 777 aircraft that is currently operating the route. From October 25 to October 28 – the airline carried close to 2,350 passengers to and from St. Petersburg.

Singapore Airlines launches KrisConnect programme to enhance customer experience on partner platforms

Singapore Airlines (SIA) today announced the launch of its KrisConnect Programme, an initiative to make information and functionalities on SIA’s digital platforms more readily available to partners, enhancing the overall customer experience.

The KrisConnect Programme makes use of Application Program Interfaces (API) technology such as those from IATA’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) programme as well as other proprietary APIs, and makes them available to external parties. The APIs offer partners a range of functionalities including making and management of flight bookings, checking on flight status information, providing KrisFlyer-related information and more.

The programme is currently in its execution phase with partners across the travel ecosystem committing to tap on SIA’s API content. These partners include global distribution systems such as Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport as well as a number of travel agents and travel aggregators.

Air New Zealand’s second helping of Impossible Burger 

Air New Zealand has launched a bite sized version of the Impossible Burger – serving Impossible Burger sliders on its San Francisco to Auckland services from today.

The airline first collaborated with Silicon Valley food tech start-up Impossible Foods in July, becoming the first airline in the world to serve the award-winning, plant-based Impossible Burger as part of its Business Premier menu on flights from Los Angeles to Auckland.

The burger’s key ingredient is the iron-containing molecule heme which Impossible Foods has exclusively sourced from the roots of soy plants. It’s the same heme found in animal meat and the result is a plant-based burger patty that cooks, smells and tastes like beef but contains no animal products whatsoever.

Emirates and Ho Chi Minh City Cooperate to grow tourism and trade sectors

Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, has pledged its renewed commitment to supporting tourism into Vietnam and bilateral trade, with a special focus on Ho Chi Minh City, by signing global marketing agreements to promote tourism to the city from the United Arab Emirates and encouraging trade and investment.

At the conference, Emirates signed three Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate tourism and trade in Vietnam’s largest and most visited city. The airline will mutually collaborate with the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Promotion Center (HTPC), Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism as well as Investment and Trade promotion Centre of Ho Chi Minh City (ITPC) to promote Ho Chi Minh City as a tourist destination and trade hub.

The agreements were signed by Badr Abbas, Emirates’ Senior Vice President – Commercial Operations for Far East; Haitham Al Battawy, Emirates’ Country Manager for Vietnam; and Nabil Sultan, Divisional Senior Vice President for Emirates SkyCargo in the presence of H.E. Nguyen Thanh Phong, Chairman of People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, H.E. Mr. Trinh Vinh Quang, Vietnam’s Ambassador to the UAE, Mr. Le Phuong, Commercial Counsellor – Head of Vietnam Trade Office in Dubai, Mr. Omar Khan, Director of International Offices, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Mr. Aldulrahman Mohamed Al Hosani, Director of Exporter Services Department, Dubai Export.