#Travel

Air India announces special ‘Independence Day’ travel offer for Gulf and Middle East

The promotional tickets are on sale between August 8-21, with travel valid until October 15

Airbnb readies $2bn buyback on surge in travel demand

Airbnb readies $2bn buyback on surge in travel demand

The San Francisco-based home-rental company said that nights and experiences booked in the second quarter rose 25 per cent to 103.7m

Etihad Airways records $296m first-half profit

Etihad Airways reports core operating profit of $296m in H1 2022, as travel demand recovers

Eithad Airways carried 4.02 million passengers in H1 2022, over 3 million more than last year, with an average seat load factor of 75 per cent

Sleep 'n Fly T3-B new lounge at DXB

Airport Dimensions opens flagship sleep ’n fly concept at DXB

Sleep options include a range of cabins and sleep ’n fly’s signature FlexiSuite Pods and a dedicated ‘Power Nap’ area

Emirates statement on operations at London Heathrow

UK-UAE travel: Emirates to start third flight to London Gatwick to meet demand

The third daily flight will help serve high demand from customers travelling to and from London this summer

Dr. Simon Worrell Global Medical Director Collinson

Insights: The journey from pandemic to endemic and what it signals

Collinson’s global medical director says countries will increasingly move away from community testing and instead require only symptomatic individuals to be tested, particularly with virus variants become less potent

Emirates rejects LHR request to cut capacity

UAE-UK Travel: Emirates refuses London Heathrow request to reduce flights

Emirates plans to operate services as scheduled to and from London Heathrow until further notice

Airbnb readies $2bn buyback on surge in travel demand

Dubai ranks as 10th best Airbnb destination globally in 2022

According to the latest data from Inkifi, Dubai has 15,948 Airbnb active rentals

Abu Dhabi International expects 2.8 million travellers in July and August

The airport is expecting around 414,000 travellers during the Eid Al Adha travel season between July 7 and 15

UK

UAE citizens will not require visas to visit UK from 2023

The directive has been extended to other GCC countries as well

Dubai's successful tourism

Tourism recovery sees Dubai welcome 6.17 million visitors from January to May

The latest tourism data was revealed by Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism at its first ‘City Briefing’ for 2022

Twitter survey on travel 2022 _luggage Getty Images

Travel trends: More than 50% people in UAE and Saudi Arabia are seeking new experiences

Results from a new Twitter Insights Survey showed that around 33 per cent of the respondents in Saudi Arabia didn’t know how they felt about travel in 2022 against 31 per cent who were confident to hop on a plane and travel

Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia lifts Covid-19 precautionary measures

The kingdom registered 905 new Covid-19 infections on June 12

Musafir Mastercard

Mastercard, Musafir partner to enable seamless travel bookings

The partnership will see new payment products introduced to offer travel benefits to both consumers and corporates

courtesy NEOM twitter Saudia

Saudia, NEOM to start regular international flights from NEOM Bay Airport

Saudia will operate direct flights to select regional and international destinations, with weekly flights to Dubai set to start by the end of June

Revealed: UAE tourism sector’s performance in Q1 2022

According to tourism figures for Q1 2022, the country’s hotel establishments attracted nearly 6 million visitors who spent 25 million hotel nights

in-destination

ATM 2022: In-destination experiences to shape the future of global travel and tourism

Topics discussed at the one-day forum included the role of sustainability in driving the in-destination business forward

Ras Al Khaimah Airventure

Ras Al Khaimah offers new hot air ballooning experience

The RAK Airventure attraction is open daily at Manar Mall and is part of the emirate’s sustainable tourism initiatives

Flydubai suspends flights to Sri Lanka till end of August

Budget carrier flydubai restarts flights to Saudi Arabia’s Ha’il and Tabuk

The resumption of these flights will take flydubai’s network in Saudi Arabia to ten destinations, including Dammam, Gassim, Jeddah, Taif and Riyadh

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi Mumbai

Low-cost carrier Air Arabia Abu Dhabi announces new service to Mumbai

The carrier flies to Calicut, Chennai, Jaipur, Kochi and Trivandrum, with Mumbai soon becoming its sixth destination in India

Doha world cup qatar

Hayya Card mandatory for all visitors to Qatar during the 2022 FIFA World Cup

At the moment, the card is only being issued to those who have a ticket for the tournament

Dubai Airport

Covid-19: Travel ban to be lifted for unvaccinated Emiratis in UAE

Also, unvaccinated individuals under the age of 16 no longer need to undergo a Covid-19 PCR test on arrival in the UAE

UAE’s flydubai restarts service to Taif, Saudi Arabia

With the Taif service restarting, flydubai’s network in Saudi has grown to seven destinations, including AlUla, Dammam, Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh and Yanbu

Air Arabia Abu Dhabi launches new route to Chennai

The new service to Chennai represents the sixth city that Air Arabia Abu Dhabi will operate to in India after Calicut, Cochin, Trivandrum, Delhi and Jaipur

Wizz Air Abu Dhabi launches services to new European destinations

Wizz Air has launched flights from Abu Dhabi to Budapest, Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Vienna, Katowice, Catania and Bari

UAE’s flydubai to launch services to Pisa in June

Flydubai, which is the first carrier in the UAE to operate direct flights to the Italian city, is also resuming services to Catania in June

Emaar to manage new Armani hotel in Saudi Arabia’s Diriyah development

Armani Hotel Diriyah will include 70 rooms and two restaurants, with its suites featuring their own spa and swimming pool

gcc tourism

The possible growth avenues for the GCC’s tourism market

There is much potential for GCC countries to offer digitally-enhanced experience tourism alongside innovative offerings

Dubai UAE

UAE: No pre-departure PCR tests for inbound vaccinated travellers, masks not mandatory outdoors

The easing of the Covid-19 precautionary measures is effective starting Saturday, February 26, 2022

Getty Images

Dubai’s travel platform Wego to acquire Cleartrip’s Middle East business

Travel bookings worth $2bn were generated by the combined businesses in 2019 pre-Covid and the company expects to return to this rate by the end of 2022