Qatar Duty Free Announces US$1 Million Winner

Doha, QATAR – Qatar Duty Free, a subsidiary of Qatar Airways, has announced the winners of its biggest ever raffle prize draw turning one lucky passenger into an instant millionaire and two others into luxury car owners.

Lucky winner, Varkey Thomas, from India, won a whopping US$1million in the second millionaire draw held at Doha International Airport.

“I am so happy, this really is a gift from God,” said Varkey after learning of the win.

Mr Thomas, 55, who is married with four daughters, works as a General Manager for an offshore company in Qatar. He said the news had brought “great joy” to his family. The Thomas family have been in Doha for 23 years and bought the winning ticket before boarding flight QR 264 to Cochin to visit family in their hometown.

The Dollar Millionaire raffle was launched in May 2006 with chances of passengers winning extremely high as each draw is made after 5,000 tickets are sold. Departing and transiting passengers at Doha International Airport are able to purchase raffle tickets, each priced at QAR950.

The prize-winning draw was held with two other draws for luxury cars – the first time Qatar Duty Free has held three raffles on the same day.

A BMW 650i convertible will be taken home by Mohammed Issa Al Omari, a Jordanian national living in Qatar. A Mercedes-Benz CLS 350 was won by Canadian Iyad Mohamad Saad, also living in Qatar.

Qatar Duty Free Deputy General Manager Krishna Kumari oversaw the draw, inviting passengers to pick the winning ticket.

“Qatar Duty Free has enjoyed tremendous success since launching the Qatar Riyal Millionaire Draw four years ago. With the newly-launched dollar millionaire draw last year, we have taken a huge step forward by increasing the prize money on offer by more than 300 per cent,” she said.

“Following the success of the first dollar millionaire draw, I look forward to welcoming many more instant millionaires over the next few months and years to come.”

Added Kumari: “The beauty of this draw is that it is not restricted to just one prize. Every time 5,000 tickets are sold, we will have a raffle draw at Doha International Airport, so this shows that the chances of becoming an instant millionaire are extremely high.

“This draw brings joy and excitement to the lives of a few lucky winners. We look forward to drawing more money-spinning winning tickets very soon.”

Qatar Duty Free, a subsidiary of Qatar Airways, has been enjoying significant growth year on year, helped by a ramping up of its presence in the departures and arrivals area at Doha International Airport, the airline’s operational hub.

The airline operates a modern fleet of 60 Airbus and Boeing aircraft to 81 destinations worldwide from Doha. The fleet size will almost double to 110 jets by 2015.

Boeing, South Korea’s Jeju Air Complete Order for 737-800s

SEATTLE, Dec. 31, 2007 — The Boeing Company [NYSE: BA] today announced that South Korea-based Jeju Air has ordered five Boeing Next-Generation 737-800s to meet future growth plans. The new airplanes are valued at US$370 million at list prices.

The 737s will be the first Boeing airplanes to enter the Jeju Air fleet. The airline currently operates five regional jets of smaller capacity.

Jeju Air, in a statement, expressed its confidence that “the 737-800 aircraft exactly matches our long term growth requirements for our routes within Korea domestically and to Japan, China and other Asia Pacific regions.

“We also believe that Boeing’s modern and enhanced aircraft and initial support will bring great benefits for Jeju Air,” said the airline.

“The opportunity to establish a new customer relationship is always an exciting one,” said Stan Deal, vice president, Asia Pacific Sales, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. “Jeju Air has a bright future, and the superior economics, reliability and maintainability of the Next-Generation 737-800 are important attributes in helping Jeju Air successfully meet its growth plans.”

Known for its reliability, fuel efficiency and economical performance, the 737-800 has been selected by leading carriers throughout the world. The single-aisle jet, which can seat between 162 to 189 passengers, can fly 260 nautical miles farther and consume 6 percent less fuel per seat while carrying 12 more passengers than the competing model.

Boeing has recorded orders for more than 4,400 Next-Generation 737s, and has unfilled orders for more than 1,900 airplanes worth more than $140 billion at current list prices.

GMR Hyderabad International Airport awards Tata Teleservices fixed line services contract

Centref or Asia Pacific Aviation: GMR Hyderabad International Airport Limited (GHIAL), the developer of Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Shamshabad, has awarded the fixed line services management contract to Tata Teleservices Ltd (TTSL). The contract is valid for a period of five years.

TTSL has emerged as the preferred bidder from among several reputed players in a highly transparent and competitive bidding process. The company has been selected based on its technical and financial criteria, including its experience, expertise, capability and know-how in the telecommunication business.

As per the agreement, TTSL shall provide Fixed Line (Voice & Data) services at the new international airport in accordance with good industry practices and specifications of GHIAL.

Apart from setting up and maintaining its back office and telecom exchange, TTSL will provide the following facilities at the new airport:

• Primary Rate Interface lines with Direct Inward Dialing facility
• Primary Rate Interface lines
• Integrated Services Digital Network lines (for Video Conference) - BRI
• Integrated Services Digital Network lines with internet port (for internet backup)
• Leased Lines
• Public Switch Telephone Network lines
• Virtual Private Network (VPN) connectivity (For GHIAL video conference with GMR offices)
• Internet Bandwidth (Fibre linked upto PTB)
• HOT lines
• Hunting facilities (for Landline)
• Dual redundant paths to the EPABX from separate exchanges
• Premier support i.e. uptime of minimum 99.99999%
• 10,000 telephone numbers in series to be allotted to the Airport.

Emirates chief says airline plans growth

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Emirates Airline has ordered a jaw-dropping 245 new widebody planes, but the company's president shuns suggestions that he wants to create the world's biggest airline.

"I'm not bothered personally if that makes us the biggest or not," Emirates President Tim Clark said in an interview with the Associated Press.

Aviation analysts say that in fact the airline's unprecedented rate of growth would make it the world's largest within the next decade. At last month's Dubai Air Show, Emirates ordered 120 Airbus A350XWB jets, 11 additional A380 super-jumbos -- increasing its total order to 58 -- and a dozen Boeing 777-300ERs -- which more than double its current fleet of 112 planes.

The orders, amounting to $34.9 billion at list price, bring the value of the airline's total order book to an unheard of $60 billion.

Clark, who helped establish the company in 1985 and has served as its president ever since, says his main aim is for the airline to keep its focus and remain an industry trendsetter in terms of quality of service.

"The business model saw us focusing on the geocentricity of Dubai, focusing on the fact that within that 8-hour flying zone we had 4 billion people, " he said.

Emirates currently serves 99 cities in 62 countries with new ones being added on an average of one every two months. A second U.S. route, between Dubai and Houston, was inaugurated in December. Other North American destinations are New York and Toronto, and Clark said routes to two more cities in the United States, which he declined to name, were in the plan for next year.

At a time when many airlines around the world are feeling the pinch of high fuel prices and a declining dollar, Emirates expects to top $1 billion in profits in the fiscal year ending March 31 on revenues of $8.1 billion. That would represent an 18.5 percent increase over last year's figure of $844 million.

This is partly due to the currency peg between the UAE's dirham and the U.S. dollar. Emirates reports in dirhams but a large proportion of its earnings is in euros and pounds sterling, and the dollar's slide "actually makes us look good," Clark noted.

Emirates also has benefited from the general economic boom in the United Arab Emirates, whose thriving economy has been fueled by high oil prices and a rapidly growing tourism industry.

Statistics show that nearly half of its passengers nowadays are people making connections in Dubai.

Over the past 15 years, Dubai International Airport has developed into one of the largest hubs in world aviation. A new airport, said to be the world's largest, is now under construction near Jebel Ali, a massive complex comprising a port, airport, residential areas, hotels and a free trade zone about 12 miles from the city center.

Emirates Airline is currently wholly government owned, but its chairman Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, last month indicated that 30 percent of the company may be sold in public markets. He did not elaborate further.

Emirates' operating costs are significantly lower than those of its European or U.S. rivals, according to Michael Dyment, an aviation analyst at Nexa Capital Partners, a Washington D.C. corporate finance group.

He credited Dubai's zero tax rate, the airline's ability to tap credit markets to buy new airplanes because of Dubai's good credit standing, and the fact that legacy costs like pension burdens are low.

It doesn't hurt to operate in a country where the laws prohibit trade unions.

"One of the key advantages they have over others is that the airline itself is not subject to the same labor rules," Dyment said. "They are able to keep organized labor away, so they don't have a unionized environment that has been detrimental to other carriers."

John Strickland, director of JLS Consulting, a London-based aviation consultancy firm, noted that the airline is almost unique in civil aviation because it has kept the same top management team since inception. They have developed a product that has allowed Emirates to capitalize on high-end fares in business and first class on long-range routes.

"Dubai has a very good geographic location in terms of offering services to European consumers going on to Asia, and this has been which is a strong selling point for the airline," he said. "But Emirates has also been very good at developing traffic flows that bypass Europe, like from China to Africa. This irritates European carriers who also perceive Emirates, rightly or wrongly, as subsidized by the government."

Clark angrily denied persistent criticisms that the 20-year old Emirates carrier was receiving preferential treatment from the Dubai government in terms of lower fuel costs and other benefits.

"Categorically, unequivocally and emphatically, we have never been subsidized," he said.

Clark, a veteran of the now-defunct British Caledonian airline, joined Emirates the day it was founded two decades ago after spending a decade working for Bahrain's Gulf Air, once the pre-eminent carrier in the region.

He welcomed the rise of other airlines in the Gulf region, such as Etihad, Qatar Airways or Oman Air.

Those airlines, along with a host of budget carriers, have been set up since the 1990s to take advantage of the unprecedented boom in travel via the Gulf. The Middle East's three main budget airlines -- Air Arabia, Jazeera Airways and Atlas Blue -- have already grabbed five percent of the region's air travel market, and analysts say that portion is set to increase in coming years as booming Gulf economies attract more fliers.

"On the basis that the global market is an ever-growing thing, and as long as they go about doing things the same way we do," Clark said, "there's no reason why they shouldn't be as successful as we are without getting at each other's throats."

Date posted: 02-Jan-08

AIRPORT NEWS

China embracing mobile boarding passes

Right: China Southern Airlines customers can now receive boarding passes on their China Mobile phone

Increasing numbers of Chinese airlines are implementing new mobile and internet booking services with two-dimensional (2D) barcode technology in the light of the new International Air Transport Association (IATA) global standard for 2D barcodes (see: Mobile check-in).

In April 2007, China Southern Airlines together with China Mobile’s Guangzhou Branch launched a new Mobile E-Boarding Pass, which is currently available at China Southern Airline’s worldwide hub at Baiyun International Airport in Guangzhou. This new programme marks the first time that a mainland Chinese carrier and mobile communication operator have offered a Mobile E-Boarding Pass service.

Passengers log on to the airline’s Chinese website to complete their e-ticket payment, select their seat and choose to have the boarding pass electronically transmitted to their China Mobile phone. The passenger then presents their mobile phone at the airport check-in counter, where the stored 2D-code message on the mobile phone is fed into a scanner. The companies claim that the passenger’s boarding pass will be printed within five seconds.

Spring Airlines, a low-cost carrier in China, also launched a mobile and internet booking service at the end of November 2007. Already, 70% of Spring Airlines’ business-class tickets are booked via internet payment and the airline predicts that mobile internet services will further change the traditional way to book air tickets.

New US lithium battery baggage ruling

US officials have introduced a ban on the carriage of loose lithium batteries in checked luggage. They will only be allowed in checked luggage if they are installed in electronic devices and in carry-on baggage if stored in plastic bags. Each passenger is limited to two extended-life spare rechargeable lithium batteries in carry-on baggage. The FAA has found that the current aircraft cargo fire suppression system would not be able to cope with a fire if non-rechargeable lithium batteries were ignited during a flight.

“Doing something as simple as keeping a spare battery in its original retail packaging or a plastic zip-lock bag will prevent unintentional short-circuiting and fires,” says Krista Edwards, Deputy Administrator of the US Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Safety tips regarding packing, including battery, aerosol and other risks can be found at http://safetravel.dot.gov

MIAL first Indian airport to implement CUSS

Mumbai International Airport (MIAL) is set to become the first Indian airport to implement Common Use Self Service (CUSS) in 2008. MIAL is scheduled to install CUSS kiosks onsite, while plans are also underway install 20 offsite CUSS kiosks, predominantly at hotels.

The CUSS kiosks, on and offsite, will allow passengers to perform an automatic check-in, cutting down on check-in time by more than half for passengers with check-in luggage and offering an even quicker option for those without any check-in luggage.

According to sources, MIAL is anticipating that the CUSS implementation will greatly ease passenger congestion. While the Common Use Terminal Equipment (CUTE) systems exists at all international airports in India, CUSS is notable by its absence, considering that it is already widely operated at major American, European and Asian terminals. CUTE allows an airport to efficiently organise gate and check-in counter allocations, as well as system management.

Singapore Air, China Eastern Say Acquisition Deal Is Fair

China Eastern and Singapore Airlines on Wednesday rejected rival Air China's parent's view that the Singapore flag carrier's USD$920 million acquisition of a China Eastern stake was unfair to investors.

China National Aviation Corporation, parent to the world's biggest airline by stock market value and a big China Eastern shareholder, had on Tuesday urged a return to the negotiating table to work out a higher price.

Shares in China Eastern climbed 4.4 percent on Wednesday on investor hopes of a better offer, ending the morning up 2 percent.

Responding to CNAC, Singapore Air on Wednesday called its offer to buy 24 percent of China Eastern -- alongside Singapore's government investment arm Temasek -- more than fairly priced in a deal that needed no tweaking.

A senior China Eastern executive said that the deal was focused on the longer term but warned that its share price would plummet should Air China's parent succeed in getting shareholders to vote down the deal.

Stockholders, including CNAC with more than 12 percent of China Eastern's Hong Kong shares, are due to vote on the deal on January 8.

"The price is fair and mutually agreed between all the parties. It is the maximum justified on the business fundamentals," Singapore Airlines spokesman Stephen Forshaw said.

"Singapore Airlines is a long-term partner, not a short-term financial trader, and this transaction will be the start of an important strategic relationship, which will strengthen China Eastern's competitive position."

Analysts say Air China, which completed a two-way investment with Singapore Airlines rival Cathay Pacific last year, feared formidable competition from a global player that has long coveted greater access to the booming Chinese travel arena.

CNAC's strongly worded comments came days after news emerged that Air China Chairman Li Jiaxiang had been appointed head of the country's civil aviation regulator, which analysts say would bolster Air China's objections to the deal.

Indeed, CNAC and Cathay had themselves pondered buying into China Eastern months ago, but then announced in September it would abandon that effort for at least three months.

"Air China's own international business is bleeding losses. They can't help us," argued China Eastern accounting department general manager Wu Longxue, who had joined his company's global investor roadshow over past months, to plug the deal.

"It's different with Singapore Air: We're getting their management expertise, operating experience and brand." (Reuters)

Australia, US to start open-skies pact talks

CANBERRA - AUSTRALIA and the United States will start talks on an open-skies aviation deal within the next six weeks to open up the lucrative trans-Pacific route between the two countries, Australia's government said on Wednesday.

Transport Minister Anthony Albanese gave approval for formal talks to start in Washington next month, in a move which could see more US carriers fly to Australia via ports in Asia, such as Tokyo.

A spokesman for Albanese said the meetings would be held between Feb 12-14.

A deal could clear the way for Australian airline Virgin Blue Holdings to begin flights to the United States on its carrier V Australia by the end of this year, edging open one of the world's most lucrative and protected long-haul routes.

Under the current aviation treaty between Australia and the United States, airlines based in either country can only launch four weekly flights on the route in the first year.

V Australia, which is 62 per cent owned by Toll Holdings, has asked for 10 weekly flights, having already placed an order for six long-range Boeing 777-300ERs with options to buy another six of the jets.

Australia's former conservative government rejected repeated requests from Singapore Airlines for permission to fly from Australia to the United States, protecting flag carrier Qantas Airways from more competition on the route.

The new centre-left Labour government, elected in November, has not yet said if it supports the entry of Singapore Airlines on the route. Singapore wants access to new markets to help offset competition from low-cost carriers in Asia.

United Airlines is currently the only competitor to Qantas in non-stop flights to the US. It runs 14 flights a week to Australia. Qantas operates 48 flights a week and reportedly generates as much as 20 per cent of its profits from the route.

A 2006 report for Singapore Airlines said Qantas charged 38 per cent more for flights from Sydney to Los Angeles than on the more competitive 'kangaroo route' from Sydney to London.

Singapore Airlines estimates that opening the Pacific route to more competition could increase the number of travellers between the United States and Australia by up to 8 per cent. -- REUTERS

DOT announces final decision for 2009 China flights

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary E. Peters announced a final decision to select US Airways to inaugurate its first U.S.-China service in 2009 as well as to award additional U.S.-China passenger flights to American Airlines, Continental Airlines and Northwest Airlines also for 2009.

The Department’s decision confirms its tentative decision issued in a Sept. 25 show-cause order. The awards are the result of an agreement signed in July by Secretary Peters and her Chinese counterpart to open up new opportunities between the two countries that will double the number of daily flights allowed between the United States and China over the next five years.

“We are taking every opportunity to make it easier to do business and more convenient to stay connected with one of our largest trading partners,” said Secretary Peters. “These new direct routes will provide more options for both business and leisure passengers traveling between the United States and China.”

U.S. Airways will fly between Philadelphia and Beijing, while American, Continental and Northwest each will use the awards to add a new daily flight to their existing U.S.-China service. American will begin Chicago-Beijing service, Continental will operate a new flight between Newark /New York and Shanghai, and Northwest will fly between Detroit and Shanghai. All 2009 services must begin on or about March 25, 2009.

The new agreement with China also will result in two new daily flights to begin next year. In September Secretary Peters announced final decisions awarding Delta Air Lines a new daily flight between Atlanta and Shanghai and United a new daily San Francisco-Guangzhou service. Both carriers plan to begin the new flights in spring 2008.

Singapore healthcare leaders forge strong new links with the Middle East

Opportunities for partnership between healthcare providers in the Middle East and pioneering public and private medical organizations in Singapore are stronger than ever, with new links being formed across the region, according to experts set to visit the region.

Singapore, with its expertly trained physicians and high-tech medical equipment, boasts the best healthcare system in Asia and one of the finest in the world. It has a reputation for excellence in a broad range of specialties – including those related to cardiology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, oncology, and neurology.

One result of this has been strong year-on-year growth in the number of patients visiting Singapore for treatment. Last year, some 410,000 people from around the world traveled to the island-state for medical treatment. The country hopes to attract about one million international patients by 2012.

The increasing reputation of Singapore’s doctors has led interestingly to a flow in the opposite direction. Singapore’s specialists, surgeons and physicians are now highly sought-after speakers at medical conferences in the Middle East, and recent years have been marked by a steep rise in the number of professional delegations.

“There is a high degree of interest in Singapore’s advanced medical research from colleagues in the Middle East, and we very much enjoy meeting and exchanging new information with them,” said Dr Jason Yap, Director (Healthcare Services), Singapore Tourism Board.

Internationally-renowned Dr. Susan Lim of the Susan Lim Surgery at Gleneagles Medical Centre, Singapore, has visited a number of countries in the Middle East, delivering high-level lectures on the use of stem cells in regenerative medicine and tissue repair. In 2003, she founded Stem Cell Technologies to research into adult stem cells for cell therapy. The Company has since entered into collaboration with the National University of Singapore to research a cure for diabetes using adult stem cells.

Developments in Singapore in the field of stem cell treatment are followed with interest by the Middle East medical community, especially since such transplants have been successful in the treatment of thalassemia – the inherited blood disorder which is particularly prevalent in the region. Doctors in Singapore have performed haematopoietic stem cell transplants from unrelated sources for thalassaemia major which allows transplants to be done successfully even in the mismatched setting. It offers patients with no matched sibling donor a chance of a cure.

Singapore’s innovations in the field of cancer treatment and research are also a major source of interest. Institutions like Johns Hopkins and The West Clinic from USA have set up medical centres in Singapore and contribute to Singapore’s status as an advanced healthcare hub, which attracts patients from around the world looking for cutting-edge surgery and treatment options.

Beyond knowledge exchange and international patient services, Singapore is also working, and welcomes opportunities to work, with Middle East countries on other healthcare concerns like healthcare policy, healthcare operations and management, and healthcare training.

Similar cultural and social factors have helped to encourage the development of stronger relationships between the Middle East and Singapore. Aside from Singapore’s proximity to the region, the advanced state of the treatment on offer and the reasonable costs, the status of Singapore as a multi-faith, multi-cultural society, where 15 percent of the population is Muslim, provides a useful basis for developing stronger links.

“Muslim patients in particular have benefited from this sense of familiarity. Being a multi-cultural society, we offer patients from the Middle East a wide variety of specialist options, including halal menus, same gender-doctors, direction signs for prayers and prayer mats,” said Dr. Yap.

Along with the medical facilities themselves, Singapore’s healthcare providers now offer dedicated services for international patients, taking care of every aspect of the journey including travel, visa administration, appointments, local transport and even interpreters.

Perhaps most influential is the spirit of cooperation and interest in forging stronger links. Singapore will be sponsoring four conferences at Arab Health 2008, the region’s largest healthcare event, bringing in one of the most significant panels of speakers ever hosted in the Middle East.

“We are hugely excited by the potential for development of new professional bonds with our peers in the Middle East,” said Dr Yap. “2008 will be a very important year.”

BAA airport workers have voted to strike again

The strikes, if they proceed, will affect BAA airports, including London’s Heathrow, and are expected to take place on the following days:

7 January from 0600 hours to 8 January 0600 hours
14 January from 0600 hours to 15 January 0600 hours
17 January from 0600 hours to 19 January 0600 hours

All times are local.

Customers traveling on the above dates are likely to face disruptions to, or rescheduling of, their flights. Flights on subsequent days may also be affected by congestion.

If these strikes take place as planned, Singapore Airlines flights to and from Heathrow are likely to be affected. Despite the inconvenience and operational constraints resulting from the industrial action, Singapore Airlines assures customers who may be affected that the Airline will do all it can to mitigate and minimize disruptions.

Singapore Airlines is awaiting more information from BAA on its contingency plans, and will advise customers of the impact on their flights as soon as the situation becomes clear. Customers are strongly advised to monitor news reports about the impact of the strikes, and keep themselves updated with the latest developments affecting Singapore Airlines via the website.