HolidayWeekly

The Voice of Tourism in Pakistan

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volume 73-2021

PIA Promotes | Around 100 Flight Attendants

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KARACHI: The Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has notified promotions of more than 100 flight attendants from Group 6 to 7, as reported on Wednesday, May 19.

A notification was issued by the PIA management regarding the promotion of over 100 flight attendants which came into effect from May 7, 2021.

According to the spokesperson, the flight attendants have been awarded promotions based on their performance. The promoted flight attendants will receive 10 per cent of basic pay as a promotional increase.

PIA Resumes | Flight Operation To Zhob

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QUETTA: The national flag carrier, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on Tuesday, May 18, resumed its domestic flights to Zhob, making Zhob airport functional after a gap of three years.

The first ATR flight PK-528 carrying 36 passengers, which operated from Karachi International Airport, landed at Zhob airport on Tuesday, May 18.

Balochistan Minister for Livestock Mitha Khan Kakar, PIA General Manager Balochistan Bilal Afzal, Station Manager Zhob airport Abdul Shakoor, Assistant Commissioner Zhob Rohana Kakar, and other officials received the passengers.

The PIA officials said that initially, two flights would operate on the Karachi-Zhob and Zhob-Karachi routes on a weekly basis, every Tuesday and Friday. They said PIA had resumed the flight operations to facilitate the people of Zhob, who were running their businesses or working in the Gulf States. One-way fare of Karachi-Zhob has been fixed at Rs6, 500.

Earlier, the PIA ran its flights between Quetta-Zhob-Dera Ismail Khan and Peshawar. However, later the flights were suspended for unknown reasons. The flight that left for Karachi from Zhob airport carried 41 passengers.

On the occasion, Mr. Kakar said the PIA decision would benefit people of Zhob who were doing their businesses or working in the Gulf States.

He expressed the hope that PIA and other airlines would also start their flights for Quetta-Zhob-Peshawar sector.

UAE Allows | 100% Foreign Ownership From June 1, 2021

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ABU DHABI: The UAE Ministry of Economy announced that the amended Commercial Companies Law will come into effect on June 1, 2021, allowing foreign investors and entrepreneurs to establish and fully own onshore companies.

The UAE government has recently adopted an amendment to the Commercial Companies Law allowing 100 percent foreign ownership of companies, reported Emirates news agency Wam.

Abdulla bin Touq Al Marri, Minister of Economy, said: “The amended Commercial Companies Law aims at boosting the country’s competitive edge and is a part of UAE government efforts to facilitate doing business.”

Bin Touq added that the amendments introduced by the new Commercial Companies Law will boost the UAE’s appeal as an attractive destination for foreign investors, entrepreneurs and talents. It will further strengthen the country’s position as an international economic centre and encourage the flow of investments to the country’s vital economic sectors.

Greece Formally Opens | Tourism Season 2021

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ATHENS: Greece formally opened to visitors on Saturday, May 15, kicking off a summer season it hopes will resurrect its vital tourism industry battered by the coronavirus pandemic.

After months of lockdown restrictions, Greece also opened its museums this week, including the Acropolis museum, home to renowned sculptures from Greek antiquity.

As of Saturday, foreign tourists will be allowed in Greece if they have been vaccinated or can show negative COVID-19 test results. Travel between regions, including to the islands, will also be allowed for those with negative tests or vaccinations.

“Greece is offering what people need,” Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis tweeted. “Calm and care-free moments on the road towards normality.”

I’m finally here,” said Rebecca, a tourist in Athens from Florida, who declined to give her last name. “I’ve been waiting two years – two years with the COVID.”

Greece has been rolling out vaccines to its islands and hopes to vaccinate most of them by the end of June. The government says vaccines and rapid testing, as well as warmer weather allowing outdoor activities, mean visitors can travel safely.

As the pandemic brought international travel to a halt in 2020, Greece suffered its worst year for tourism on record, with 7 million visitors compared with a record 33 million in 2019. Tourist revenues tumbled to 4 billion euros ($4.9 billion) from 18 billion euros.

This year, it is aiming for 40% of 2019 levels.

On the island of Mykonos, one flight was given a water salute upon landing. Four islands in the south Aegean, including Mykonos, received 32 international flights on Saturday from countries including Sweden, Germany and Qatar.

Corfu, in the Ionian Sea, welcomed visitors from Germany and France.

“We are so happy. I’m happy to be here,” said Pierre-Olivier Garcia, soon after arriving on the island.

Greeks also welcomed the lifting of lockdown measures, with scores of people leaving for the islands or holiday homes on the mainland on Saturday.

Greece fared better than much of Europe during the first wave of the pandemic, but rising infections later in 2020 forced it to impose several lockdowns to protect its struggling health system.

Flights to 55 Countries | China Gearing Up For Int’l Travel

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DUBAI: Addressing delegates at Arabian Travel Market 2021 at the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dr Adam Wu, CEO, CBN Travel & MICE, which has offices in Beijing and London, said that China was ready for international travel – it has already opened its borders to 36 European and 13 Asian countries.

 Dr Wu was speaking via video link during a conference panel session on the opening day of the show, Sunday May 16 and confirmed that according to China’s civil aviation administration, a total of 105 airlines including 19 Chinese carriers, are now flying to 55 different countries, culminating in 294 round trip flights per week.

 About marketing to Chinese consumers, Dr Wu recommended: “Chinese speaking staff, a Chinese language website and post regularly on Chinese social media platforms such as DouYin (TikTok), (which as of Q1 2020 had over 800 million active users),” he commented.

China is due to reach its pre-Covid levels in 2023, when outbound traffic is forecast to reach 88 million following 108 per cent growth in 2022 and a further 44 per cent in 2023. The number of Chinese visitors travelling to Dubai, rose year-on-year by 15.5 per cent to 989,000 tourists in 2019 and should be one of the Middle East region’s first destinations to benefit from an overall increase in China’s appetite for overseas leisure travel.

 Another panelist, Zayed R. Alzayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism for the Kingdom of Bahrain and Chairman of Bahrain Tourism and Exhibitions Authority, revealed that it was a part of Bahrain’s international strategy to encourage more inbound tourists from China.

 “Our initial strategy was to concentrate on local and regional travel first and then focus on international travel. At the end of 2019 we were ready and committed to start a campaign to bring Chinese visitors to Bahrain. We were planning a direct flight with Gulf Air, but then the pandemic hit and all of our plans were put on hold. China remains a priority,” he said.                         

 Earlier in the day on May 16, HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, CEO and Founder of the Emirates Group and chairman of Dubai World, officially inaugurated the show, marking the start of the 28th edition of the Middle East’s largest travel and tourism exhibition.

 This year, for the first time in ATM history, a new hybrid format will mean a virtual ATM running a week later, from May 24-26, to complement and reach a wider audience than ever before. ATM Virtual, which made its debut last year, proved to be a resounding success attracting 12,000 online attendees from 140 countries.

Saudia Resumes | International Flights Through 43 Stations

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JEDDAH: Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has resumed its international flights through 43 international stations in 30 destinations, reported Saudi Press Agency (SPA).

The move comes after the Ministry of Interior’s decision to lift the suspension of citizens’ travel outside the Kingdom came into effect.

Saudi Airlines confirmed that it will operate 153 scheduled flights every week from Riyadh, and 178 flights from Jeddah.

Furthermore, the resumption of the first international flights departing from the Kingdom will be from Riyadh to Hyderabad, and from Jeddah to Dhaka. As for its first international flights coming to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it will be the Cairo flight to Riyadh and the Jakarta flight to Jeddah.

Saudi Airlines also confirmed its readiness to operate its flights to 71 stations out of 95 stations, of which 28 are domestic and 43 international destinations, and that flights to and from Jeddah will be operated from Terminal 1 at King Abdulaziz Airport.

Air New Zealand B787 | Children’s Flight Drew A Kiwi In The Sky

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CHRISTCHURCH: Air New Zealand’s charity has taken a special group of children on a mystery flight adventure. Koru Care, a charity established to give children with illnesses or disabilities the opportunity to see the world, took 50 children on a unique flight path around the centre of New Zealand today.

The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight, Registration ZK-NZE and flown by Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan, traced a Kiwi after it departed from Christchurch this morning towards the West Coast of New Zealand, looping around Taranaki then taking a few turns before landing back in Christchurch.

Air New Zealand CEO Greg Foran, who travelled on today’s flight NZ4376 (NZHERO), said that it is uplifting to offer a special charter flight for kids who aren’t usually able to travel offshore, due to medical conditions or family situations.

Reopening of Terminal 3 | London Heathrow Pushes Back May 24

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LONDON: London’s Heathrow Airport has delayed the planned reopening of Terminal 3 due to “ongoing uncertainty” over rolling travel restrictions imposed by the UK government.

T3, which was shuttered in April 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic made its first sweep around the world, was previously slated to welcome back selected airlines and passengers from May 17, with Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines among the first to return.

That timeline has now been pushed back to at least the end of May, with early June also considered a realistic restart.

“We are continuing to prepare for the restart of international travel and putting plans in place to scale-up our operations and in particular restarting operations in Terminal 3,” a Heathrow spokesperson told.

“Without confirmation from the Government and continuous uncertainty around country categorization, we now consider that the earliest Terminal 3 could reopen is 24 May.”

“We will continue to keep this date under review and look forward to the forthcoming Government announcement.”

Following the closure of T3 and T4 across April-May 2020, all airlines flying into and out of Heathrow have been doing so from Terminals 2 and 5, although a steady uptick in air travel has resulted in pressure to bring some airlines back to their nominal homes.

“Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic are looking forward to welcoming back customers to London Heathrow’s Terminal 3,” a spokesperson for Virgin Atlantic told.

“The airlines continue to work alongside Heathrow Airport to enable a smooth return once the Terminal reopens.”

Emirates, another of T3’s former marquee airlines, was said to be drawing up plans for its own return but declined to comment further.

Cathay Pacific, which is reportedly set to resume passenger flights from Britain this week for the first time since December 2020, still lists LHR T2 on its schedule.

Asked about a possible shift back to T3, where it has arguably the terminal’s best first class and business class lounges, a Cathay Pacific spokesperson said, “we will inform our customers at the appropriate time.”

Turkey Announces | Tariff For ECO Freight Train

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LAHORE: To the extent of route (Derince-Kapikoy) originating and passing through its territory, Turkey has announced tariff /charges for Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad freight train.

However, schedule for resumption of the train which is called ECO (Economic Cooperation Organisation) is yet to be agreed and finalised by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey due to various issues.

According to a report submitted by the quarters concerned in the Turkish government (railways, foreign and logistic affairs) at a recent meeting held by the ECO secretariat virtually, the container tariff for export, import and transit had been set as 0.18 Euro per km and 0.23 Euro per km for each 20 and 40 feet loaded container, respectively. Similarly, 0.09 Euro per km and 0.12 per km tariff have been set for 20 and 40 feet for each empty container, respectively.

For conventional wagon tariff (export, import and transit), 0.010 euro per ton and km will be charged according to actual weight of the goods, not less than

7,000kg per axle of the wagon. The additional charges, which include 10 Euro per wagon (customs formality charges), 5.60 euro per ton (ferry charges for Lake Van) and 20 Euro per wagon for passing Bosphorus (Marmaray) will be charged.

“Since the wagons to run along the ITI corridor will be exempted from RIV rental fee, the aforementioned prices are valid until further notice,” reads the report.

As per current scenario explained in another report, having analysis of sea freight versus ITI train, shared in the meeting, the train operations strained due to the fact that High Value Customers comprising large export industries have shown their hesitancy to route shipments through ITI Train due to the L/C (Letter of Credit) conditions/restrictions by the consignee banks in the wake of US sanctions.

However, the low value customers who are mainly commercial importers or medium size local companies and are commodity-based cargo don’t account for such restrictions and have shown their willingness to avail ITI route provided there is significant freight margin. Secondly, ITI operations are obliged to move only consignments from Turkey to Pakistan and vice versa, and there is no Iran cargo available as E- Form issuance is withheld for Iran exports (due to sanctions).

The report suggests a way forward stating that to avail the lower unit transportation cost and high-capacity utilization, concurrent two-way traffic is necessary. But, current ITI Freight Pricing Model with identical rates for both sides’ haulage cannot guarantee a two-way traffic.

According to Pakistan Railways record, the first train from Islamabad to Istanbul was inaugurated on Aug 14, 2009. Similarly, the first train from Istanbul to Islamabad dry port reached on Aug 13, 2010.

Award-Winning Service | Turkish Airlines Brings Back Flying Chefs

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ISTANBUL: In April 2021 Turkish Airlines resumed hot inflight meal service, after having very limited service for over a year. Now the airline is bringing back its popular inflight chefs.

As of May 2021, Turkish Airlines’ inflight chefs are once again taking to the skies on flights of eight hours or longer. Turkish Airlines’ flying chefs work in business class on long haul flights and oversee the meal service. They do everything from welcoming passengers, to taking meal orders, to handling the preparation and presentation of meals.

As Turkish Airlines’ Chairman of the Board, M. Ilker Ayci, explains the decision to bring back chefs:

“Throughout the past year, we’ve had to make many adjustments to our product and service offerings to protect the health and safety of our passengers and employees. Our award-winning dining service and Flying Chefs program is a distinguishing aspect of the airline and we are happy to reintroduce this our worldwide guests to make the flight experience as comfortable and enjoyable as possible.”

Turkish Airlines has indeed resumed most of its pre-coronavirus service, the airline still hasn’t been using display trolleys for meals, and hasn’t been serving pre-departure beverages. While there might be an element of style over substance to the whole inflight chef concept, it’s something I definitely do appreciate, as Turkish Airlines has the best business class catering in the world.