Qatar Airways Installs Additional Instant Frequent Flyer Enrolment Kiosks At Doha International Airport

Doha, QATAR – Qatar Airways has invested in additional frequent flyer enrolment kiosks at Doha International Airport as part of its commitment to provide more self-service capabilities to Privilege Club loyalty members.

Privilege Club Enrolment Kiosk at Qatar Airways Premium Terminal in Doha

Each of the four airport lounges now has a kiosk, which allows passengers to enrol into the airline’s frequent flyer programme and receive their personalised and magnetically encoded membership card within seconds of enrolling.

New kiosks are now available at the recently refurbished Gold and Silver Frequent Flyer Lounges in the main terminal, in addition to the First and Business Class sections of Qatar Airways’ state-of-the-art Premium Terminal.

In 2006, Qatar Airways made headlines when it introduced the world’s first instant loyalty card dispensing kiosk at Doha International Airport, which earned privilege Club the FFP Gold Innovation Award in Vancouver last year.

The machines are modern and designed to save passengers the hassle of going through the traditional sign-up process, which involves membership cards being sent by mail. So passengers from around the world checking-in or transiting at Doha International Airport and using any of the four airport lounges, will be able to enrol on the spot and receive their burgundy card instantly.

Using simple touch screen technology, the kiosk enables Qatar Airways’ First and Business Class passengers as well as its frequent travellers using the lounges, and who are not already members, to enrol into Privilege Club and receive a 500 Qmiles welcome bonus.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said the additional kiosks were yet another service-led initiative from the airline to bring more convenience and advantages to its highly valued passengers.

“Qatar Airways is proud to be an innovator, and we are more than satisfied with the positive response of our passengers towards these enrolment kiosks,” he said.

“The Privilege Club enrolment kiosks enable passengers who are not already members to enrol easily, quickly and receive their loyalty card instantly. This is a unique feature, which we believe more and more passengers will take advantage of.”

Qatar Airways strongly believes in product innovations to meet the needs of passengers – and is now looking to invest in additional kiosks at other locations. The kiosks are provided by UK-based company Trident Loyalty Systems.

Since its launch in 2000, Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club has developed into one of the largest airline loyalty schemes in the Middle East and one of the most generous reward programmes. Last year, Privilege Club scooped an unprecedented eight accolades at the prestigious Freddie Awards in America.

Qatar Airways currently operates a modern fleet of 60 Airbus and Boeing aircraft to 81 destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Far East and North America from Doha, the airline’s hub and capital of the State of Qatar.

Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club website gives members great benefits, including the ability to manage their accounts with ease. Through the Privilege Club website, www.qmiles.com members are able to log on to and check their account balance online, as well as book reward tickets for travel on Qatar Airways and partner airlines.

EMIRATES’ A380s TO WING THEIR WAY EAST AND WEST

DUBAI, U.A.E., 2nd March 2008 – Emirates’ giant Airbus A380s will spread their wings to some of the furthest points on the airline’s network – New York, London Heathrow, Sydney and Auckland – reinforcing the airline’s extensive reach and span.

Emirates is scheduled to operate its new A380s non-stop from Dubai to New York on 1st October, London Heathrow on 1st December, and Sydney-Auckland on 1st February 2009. The aircraft on these routes will offer 489 seats – 14 in First Class, 76 in Business and 399 in Economy.

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Emirates’ giant Airbus A380s will spread their wings to some of the furthest points on the airline’s network – New York, London Heathrow, Sydney and Auckland – and by the end of the decade become a familiar sight to millions of travellers worldwide.

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Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline said: “Our A380s will take to the skies in late summer, signalling an end to our long wait and ushering in a new era for Emirates. We have played an integral role during the design and development stage to tow the aircraft from the drawing board to the production line, and we look forward to bringing them into commercial service.”

"While we are still debating our first commercial A380 route, it has always been our intention to fly the aircraft on capacity-constrained trunk routes. The cities that we have now scheduled for A380 services, starting this autumn, bring our plans to fruition."

He added: “Our customers can rightly anticipate an exhilarating experience on the state-of-the-art aircraft, which will be especially appointed and equipped to Emirates’ exacting standards. We will unveil our exciting inflight features and facilities shortly.”

Emirates, the first, and by a large margin, the leading customer for the A380s with 58 on order, will take delivery of five of the double-decker aircraft this year. Other configurations in the A380 fleet will feature a medium-range three-class 517-seater; and a medium-range two-class aircraft with 604 seats.

The arrival of the first Emirates A380 will prove to be a major milestone for the airline as it takes the first step in the gradual build-up towards becoming the world’s largest operator of the super-jumbo. By the end of the decade, Emirates' distinctive livery colours on the A380 will have become a familiar sight to millions of travellers worldwide.

With a route network that currently spans over 90 destinations in 62 countries, Emirates will launch services to Cape Town on 30th March. The airline has also announced services to Kozhikode (Calicut) from 1st July.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines considers fleet order

Biman Bangladesh Airlines confirmed it is considering bids from Boeing and Airbus for a total of 12 aircraft. A decision is expected by 15-Mar-08.

According to Reuters, Biman's Managing Director M. A. Moman stated, “we will evaluate both the offers soon and will make a decision, as we badly need aircraft to maintain flight schedules”.

A shortage of funds and aircraft forced Biman to suspend services to New York, Paris, Tokyo, Frankfurt, Brussels, Yangon and Mumbai in 2006.

The carrier reported a USD100 million net loss in the 12 months ended 30-Jun-07, due to rising fuel prices and weak passenger demand. The government has since launched an emergency rescue plan, which included transforming the carrier as a public company in Jul-07 and retrenching a large number of staff.

Biman currently operates to 19 international destinations with a fleet of 12 aircraft.

SpiceJet to launch international operations by 2010

SpiceJet confirmed it was keen to launch international operations within the next three years, and is reportedly considering destinations with large migrant populations, such as the Gulf, Southeast Asia and Central Asia region.

Executive Chairman, Mr Siddhanta Sharma, confirms, “if the government relaxes the present rules, then we would fly even earlier, otherwise we plan to fly overseas by June 2010”.

India’s current policy stipulates Indian carriers must have five years’ operating experience in the domestic market before gaining rights to launch international routes.

SpiceJet plans to deploy a fleet of ten aircraft on initial international operations, and from 2013 will consider expanding this fleet, depending on the future environment.

Meanwhile, SpiceJet announced plans to launch operations from Visakhapatnam on 30-Mar-08. The carrier plans to launch daily services to Mumbai and New Delhi, and twice daily services to Hyderabad, using new B737 equipment

Visakhapatnam becomes the carrier’s 19th domestic destination in India.

Jazeera Airways to fly to Istanbul

Jazeera Airways announced plans to operate a three times weekly, non-stop service from Kuwait to Istanbul, commencing from 29-Mar-08.

Jazeera Airways currently operates a fleet of six A320s and will increase its fleet size to 40 by 2014. The carrier now operates 26 non-stop services to destinations throughout the Middle East, North Africa, Europe, Iran and the Maldives from hubs in Kuwait and Dubai.