Aviation News

Emirates has launched a baggage delivery service at Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport so customers will no longer have to wait.

Positioned just beyond the immigration counters, the service allows customers to have their baggage delivered anywhere in the UAE for a nominal fee.

“Providing our customers with a seamless and efficient travel experience is at the forefront of whatever we do at Emirates, and the launch of the new baggage delivery service is just another initiative towards ensuring the comfort and convenience of our customers when they travel through Terminal 3,” said Mohammad H. Mattar, divisional senior vice-president for airport services at Emirates.

Dedicated agents will collect the baggage and clear customs. Customers will be charged Dh200 for up to four pieces of luggage, for delivery anywhere in Dubai, Ajman and Sharjah, and Dh250 for delivery in Abu Dhabi, Al Ain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah. Dh10 will be charged for each extra bag.

All bags must conform to standard weight and dimensions regulations. Under Dubai customs regulations any bag found to contain banned items will require a physical check in the presence of the customer. The delivery fee will not be refunded if customers have not declared such items.

Globally, airport ground handling agents process 2.7 million pieces of luggage per day.

Baggage fees

According to International Air Transport Association statistics, more than a billion pieces of checked baggage are handled worldwide every year.

According to a US Transportation Department survey based on select US airlines, baggage fees increased 33 per cent in the first three months of 2010. The department’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics reports that in the third quarter of 2009 the ten largest US carriers collected $740 million (Dh2.72 billion) in baggage fees — more than double the amount collected in the corresponding period a year earlier.

source: www.gulfnews.com

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Emirates Airline

By now, economy-class airline passengers have become accustomed to getting a soft drink, tiny bag of pretzels (maybe) and nearly intimate contact with those sitting beside and in front of them.

But life has never been better in the front of the airplane, thanks to an amenities arms race that foreign airlines started, leaving U.S. carriers to play catch up.

Emirates Airlines offers first-class passengers showers and walled-off suites with minibars on its Airbus A380s. Singapore Airlines has double-bed suites. Lufthansa offers first-class passengers in Frankfurt a separate terminal, with dedicated immigration officers, and a ride to their airplanes in a Mercedes-Benz S-Class or Porsche Cayenne.

It used to be that first class offered cushier seats, a little more room, better food and free booze, but not much more. And U.S. airlines stripped away even many first-class luxuries in the difficult decade after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Now, they’re spending almost $2 billion to upgrade amenities for their highest-paying customers. On the most profitable international routes, high fliers are being treated with preflight champagne, seats that turn into beds and flight attendants who greet them by name, hang up jackets and serve meals on china.

The lavish treatment is meant to keep people like Tim Carlson happy. Carlson, the chief financial officer of a semiconductor materials company, has taken 189 flights in the past two years, traveling 353,176 miles on United and its partners.

After the pilots, Carlson might just be the most important person on the plane. United will do anything to make sure another airline doesn’t steal his business. Agents call him about delays and reroute him so he doesn’t miss meetings.

“I go to the top of the list for the next flight,” Carlson says.

On a recent trip from Newark, N.J., to Brussels, he was met at the curb with a boarding pass and escorted to the front of the security line. Four minutes after being dropped off, he was past the checkpoint.

As The New York Times put it recently: “The gap between first class and coach has never been so wide.”

Why?

First-class and business-class passengers make up only 8 percent of international travelers but account for 27 percent of revenue, according to the International Air Transport Association. Peter Morris, chief economist at aviation consulting firm Ascend, told the Times that first and business class account for less than 20 percent of long-haul seats but 40 to 50 percent of airline revenue. While a round-trip coach ticket between Chicago and Beijing might run $1,000, business class costs $4,000 and first class $12,000.

“There is a war going on for the profitable passenger,” said Henry H. Harteveldt, co-founder of the travel firm Atmosphere Research Group.

Gary Leff, co-founder of frequent flier site MilePoint, said airlines “are now realizing that they need to offer a competitive product to attract the highest-dollar passengers.”

U.S. airlines didn’t have the cash to compete in the new luxe market in recent years. Now, they have a more money to put into airplanes and more incentive, as foreign carriers expand into secondary U.S. markets.

The Times noted, for instance, that Emirates plans to begin service from Dubai to Seattle and Dallas early next year.

Thus, Delta, United and US Airways are installing seats that recline into flat beds in premium international cabins. American Airlines is giving elite passengers pajamas and slippers while flight attendants lay down a quilted seat cover, duvet and pillow. Airlines are also adding gourmet meals and overhauling their first-class lounges. Delta’s new Seattle lounge boasts floor-to-ceiling windows with views of Mount Rainier, while American’s new San Francisco club features a fireplace.

Back in steerage, it’s a different game. Most economy passengers shop by price and schedule.

“They want their luggage. They want to arrive on time. They want the airplane to be clean,” said Andrew Nocella, US Airways senior vice president of marketing. “Most importantly, they want a low fare.”

For passengers who want just a little more, airlines have started offering “premium economy.” These offer a few precious extra inches of room for around half the price of business class, although airline offerings and pricings vary widely.

source: http://www.chron.com

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Flights across the world were delayed this morning (6.40am AEDT) by a technical glitch.

Qantas staff had to hand-write boarding passes after their check-in systems malfunctioned nationwide. Other airlines, including British Airways, were also affected by the outage.

In Melbourne, just two staff had to handwrite boarding passes for hundreds of passengers, according to Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“We did have an issue with the printing of our boarding passes this morning,” a Qantas spokesperson told NBR. “It was a network-wide issue.” She said it was resolved around noon.

“Our supplier, Amadeus, all their airline clients weren’t able to print their boarding passes, so it wasn’t just Qantas. Brititsh Airways was also impacted by this system issue.”

Amadeus is a global company providing processing systems for the travel and tourism industry. The Qantas spokesperson said while other airlines using Amadeus’ technology were affected, she was not certain exactly which ones.

She said hand-writing boarding passes was part of the airline’s “standard recovery back-up plans” when these type of issues “pop[ped] up”.

Last January, an hour-long Amadeus outage affected thousands of Qantas passengers across Australia. While the outage itself was resolved at 9.30am, it delayed flights into the mid-afternoon.

Amadeus Technology New Zealand communications marketing manager Satu Raunola confirmed the worldwide outage but would not comment further at present, or confirm exactly what airlines were affected.

“We’re just looking into what actually happened. I cannot tell you anything until we find out what actually happened.”

source: http://www.nbr.co.nz

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Pilots at Lebanon’s national carrier, Middle East Airlines (MEA), on Monday overwhelmingly voted in favour of a 48-hour strike in protest at the dismissal of a colleague undergoing cancer treatment.

Captain Fadi Khalil, head of the pilots’ union, told AFP that the work stoppage from 2000 GMT on Monday to 2000 GMT Wednesday covered all flights.

“We have a colleague, a captain who has served MEA for 38 years, and as soon as he went on sick leave, they terminated his contract,” Khalil said.

He said the pilots were demanding that their sick colleague be given 75 days of full pay and 75 days of half pay, in accordance with Lebanese law.

Khalil said the company was offering compensation, but outside the framework of the law.

MEA chairman Mohamed El-Hout, however, dismissed the strike call as “illegal and arbitrary,” and said the company’s board planned to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday to discuss the issue.

“You cannot announce a strike at 5:00 pm for the same evening,” he said, adding that the company in the past had given similar compensation to other sick pilots.

“They are portraying the company as inhumane and this is not justified,” El-Hout said.

He did not believe all pilots would follow the strike call and said that flights to Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt and London were still on schedule for Monday evening.

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