We wish we woke up on a plane this morning, but sadly it was just in our plane shaped bed with no Qantas pyjamas on. Sigh.

Qatar Airways to add two additional daily frequencies to Muscat in April and June

Qatar Airways is pleased to announce that it will add two additional daily frequencies to Muscat, Oman’s largest city and capital, commencing 10 April and 15 June. The additional frequencies will take the award-winning airline’s daily services to Muscat to seven, and will meet the increased demand of tourists visiting Oman, as well as that of transit travellers flying via Doha to the Far East.

A highly in-demand destination for both tourists and business travellers alike, Muscat is known as a cultural treasure trove, with many lively souqs offering a traditional Arabian shopping experience. Muscat is also home to several magnificent must-visit landmarks, including Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, Al Jalai Fort, Qasr Al Alam Royal Palace and the Royal Opera House Muscat.

The two additional frequencies will take the airline’s number of weekly flights to Oman to 70 weekly, including 14 flights to Salalah and seven flights to Sohar. The additional frequencies will also provide passengers increased connectivity to in-demand destinations suchas Bangkok, London, Manila, Bali, Istanbul, Colombo, Phuket, Kolkata, Jakarta, and Chennai, to name just a few.

Emirates makes history with one-off A380 touchdown in Beirut

The Emirates A380 touched down in Beirut on Thursday for a historic one-off service to Rafic Al Hariri International Airport (BEY), contributing to an aviation milestone for Lebanon and its hub airport. The landing demonstrated the airport’s readiness to accommodate the A380, the world’s largest commercial passenger jet.

The special A380 flight was operated by Captain Robert Nicholls from the UK and First Officer Hasib Bu Alwan, a Lebanese national.

This year marks the Emirates A380’s 10th anniversary, and the iconic aircraft has transformed flying for over 96 million passengers on over 106,000 flights. The Emirates A380 flying to Beirut operated in a three-class configuration, with 429 generously pitched seats in Economy Class on the lower deck, 76 flat-bed seats in Business Class and 14 First Class Private Suites on the upper deck.

Emirates’ A380 is renowned for its First Class Private Suites, Shower Spas and Onboard Lounge for First Class and Business Class passengers, offering a wide range of drinks and canapés, as well as space to socialise or simply relax.

Etihad Airways trials virtual reality technology for future airport lounge experience

Etihad Airways has started trialing SkyLights Aero Virtual Reality (VR) entertainment technology at its flagship First Class Lounge and Spa and Business Class Premium Lounge, at Abu Dhabi International Airport’s Terminal 3. The aim of the month-long trial is to gather customer feedback to determine the airline’s future lounge entertainment offering at Abu Dhabi’s state-of-the-art Midfield Terminal.

SkyLights is a leading provider of entertainment solutions, working closely with leading airline industry partners to leverage the latest cinematic VR technology to transform their inflight and ground experience. The company has offices in San Francisco, Paris and Toulouse.

The SkyLights ALLOSKY VR headsets deliver an immersive, HD resolution, cinematic experience in 2D and 3D, featuring intuitive technology for ease of use and noise cancelling headphones. Each set has a battery life of over six hours which allows for uninterrupted enjoyment from a catalogue of recent blockbuster movies, selected 360° short films, TV series, documentaries and children’s programming.

Throughout the trial, Etihad staff will assist interested guests at dedicated areas within both lounges. Each session will end with a short manual questionnaire.

Qatar Airways announces Autism Awareness Month initiatives

Qatar Airways last week announced a series of initiatives and special events to take place throughout the month of April as part of Autism Awareness Month. Qatar Airways continues its successful collaboration with Hamad Medical Cooperation (HMC) for the second consecutive year by hosting a program of activities throughout the month designed to raise awareness of the autism spectrum disorder.

This year’s program of events will include a series of seminars and training conducted by HMC’s doctors, specialists and therapists, with the aim to ensure that Qatar Airways cabin crew and ground staff are prepared to support autistic passengers with a better understanding of the disorder.

HMC doctors and therapists will guide and advise cabin crew members on how to effectively support and assist autistic passengers while travelling on Qatar Airways flights. An information kiosk has also been set up at the Qatar Airways operations center where medical representatives from HMC will distribute informative brochures about the disorder.

World Autism Awareness Day is every year on 2 April worldwide, with the goal of bringing attention to autism. To mark the day, the national carrier will host an exciting and lively Kids Fun Day at Kidzmondo Doha, where pilots and cabin crew will have the opportunity to interact with children with autism and their parents.

Emirates brings the flavours of Chile to the Dubai World Cup

Emirates, the Title Sponsor of the US$10 million Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest day in racing, entertained guests off the track at the airline’s hospitality suite located in the Meydan Grandstand.

Celebrating the airline’s upcoming launch to Santiago de Chile, the suite brought to life all of the country’s best-known elements including its historic beauty, local charm and delectable foods.

Inspiring guests to get a glimpse of Chile’s food culture, Emirates’ hospitality offered a taste of the country’s distinct regions through a selection of live food stations showcasing some popular Chilean culinary delights.

Emirates will start a five times a week service from Dubai to Santiago de Chile, via Sao Paulo from 5 July 2018.

Sri Lankan Airlines scores a hat-trick at Golden City Gate Awards 2018

Sri Lankan Airlines, the National Carrier of Sri Lanka and a member of the one world alliance, reaffirmed the global appeal and innovativeness of its marketing communications endeavors yet again, by winning three awards at Golden City Gate Awards 2018 at ITB Berlin, the world’s largest tourism trade fair.

The 18th edition of the awards saw a jury 40 members judging 157 submissions sent by over 30 countries.

Sri Lankan Airlines was awarded the ‘First Star’ in the campaign category for its Melbourne launch campaign “Two Cities, One Spirit.” It also bagged the ‘Second Star’ in the same category for its brand campaign in China themed “The Spirit of China, the Story of Sri Lanka.” The third, another ‘Second Star’, was bestowed upon SriLankan for its video “The Largest Carrier to India” in the TV Cinema Spot category.

The ‘First Star’ winning submission, the “Two Cities, One Spirit” campaign was created for the launch of new Melbourne to Colombo flights and celebrates the kinship between Melbourne and Sri Lanka. This was aimed to appeal to the Sri Lankan Diaspora in Melbourne and the Australians who are attracted to exploring new destinations and adventure on the island.

BAA and Luxaviation at ABACE 2018 

The Asian Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (ABACE) is taking place in Shanghai on April 17 to 19. Business Aviation Asia Ltd. (BAA) and Luxaviation Group, which announced a new strategic business alliance at ABACE last year, will once again join hands to exhibit at this year’s event.

Co-hosted by the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA), the Shanghai Airport Authority (SAA) and the Asian Business Aviation Association (AsBAA), ABACE is Asia’s premier business aviation event. Since its launch in 2012, ABACE has been held annually at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport, showcasing the latest business aviation products and services to thousands of the region’s top business leaders, entrepreneurs, wealth creators and other purchase decision-makers.

At ABACE 2017, BAA and Luxaviation announced a strategic partnership. BAA is one of the largest and most influential business aviation operators in Asia Pacific, while Luxaviation is one of the world’s largest business aviation operators. The collaboration will see customers benefitting from the enhanced privileges of a premium global infrastructure and service culture of a truly global business aviation organization, providing charter, FBO, maintenance, aircraft management and aircraft transactions with operations in Europe, Asia, Australasia, Africa, the Middle East, the Caribbean and Latin America.

Qatar Airways to bring the Airbus A350-900 to Cardiff to mark the inauguration of the new Welsh route

Qatar Airways is pleased to announce that the inaugural flight for its soon-to-launch Doha to Cardiff route will be flown using the ultra-modern Airbus A350-900 on the day of inauguration, in recognition of the aircraft’s links to Wales. From 1 May 2018, Qatar Airways will be the first airline to offer daily flights between Doha and Cardiff, providing the Welsh capital with links to the rest of the world via Qatar Airways’ extensive global route network.

The A350-900, of which Qatar Airways was the Global Launch Customer and whose wings are built by Airbus in Wales, will mark the commencement of this exciting new route, which will go on to be served by another latest-generation aircraft, the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

Following the inaugural flight, the new service between Doha and Cardiff will be served by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with 22 seats in Business Class, offering passengers direct aisle access with its 1-2-1 configuration, and 232 seats in Economy Class.

On board the Qatar Airways Boeing 787 Dreamliner, lower altitude-equivalent pressure, improved air-quality and optimal humidity coupled with large, electronically dimmable windows create dramatic vistas and provide passengers with extra natural light. Full-spectrum LED lighting will help them adjust to changing time zones, allowing passengers to arrive at their destination feeling refreshed

Emirates trials innovative headsets in its Dubai airport lounges for an immersive cinematic experience

Emirates is providing an immersive cinematic experience in its lounges in Dubai International Airport by providing Skylights theatre headsets to customers. The headsets are being trialled in the Business Class lounge in Concourse B for the month of April and in the First Class lounge in concourse B in May.

The introduction of these innovative new headsets is part of Emirates’ continued commitment to improve the customer experience both on the ground and in flight. Offering a fixed-screen with a wide-angle field of view for 3D and 2D content, each Skylight theatre headset weighs only 120g and offers a Full HD viewing experience.

Its in-built sound and video allow customers to fully immerse themselves in what they are watching. A mix of content will be available including 3D & 2D movies, box sets, documentaries and 360-degree videos. Movies include Alien: Covenant; Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice; and Boss Baby, as well as episodes of documentaries such as Cosmos and Planet Earth. The service is complimentary and Emirates plans to roll out the experience across all its lounges in Dubai if the trial is well received.

Qatar Airways potential acquisition of up to 25 per cent of Russia’s Vnukovo International Airport

Qatar Airways is pleased to announce that it has entered into an MoU with Moscow’s Vnukovo International Airport, Russia’s third-largest airport, to potentially acquire up to 25 per cent of the airport’s total shares. The signing ceremony took place on Wednesday 4 April at the Oryx Rotana Hotel in Doha.

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, His Excellency Mr. Akbar Al Baker, signed the MoU along with Chairman of the Board of Vnukovo International Airport JSC, Mr. Vitaly Vantsev. The signing took place in the presence of Deputy General Commerce for Vnukovo International Airport, Mr. Anton Kuznetsov.

This potential investment supports the award-winning airline’s investment strategy, which already includes 20 per cent investment in International Airlines Group, 10 per cent investment in LATAM Airlines Group, 9.94 per cent investment in Cathay Pacific and49 per cent investment in Air Italy.

Qatar Airways recently announced that it has become the General Partner of Cosmoscow, the International Contemporary Art Fair, an event that unites the contemporary Russian art market and helps its contributors establish contacts with the international art community. This collaboration is one of many between the State of Qatar and Russia, who are this year celebrating the Year of Culture.