Keki Mistry joins the Advisory Board of Cox & Kings

Keki Mistry has joined the Advisory Board of  Cox & Kings Ltd, the leading holidays and education travel group with operations in 26 countries across continents.

Mistry brings with him over three decades of work experience from various fields, especially the banking & financial services sector. He has been instrumental in the successful transformation of HDFC into India’s leading financial services conglomerate by facilitating the formation of companies including HDFC Bank Ltd, HDFC Asset Management Company Ltd, HDFC Standard Life Insurance Company and HDFC ERGO General Insurance.

Mistry, in his role on the Advisory Board of Cox & Kings, will offer strategic advice to the company’s Board.

Commenting on the development, Mr. Peter Kerkar, Director, Cox & Kings Ltd said, “We are delighted to bring Mr. Mistry on the advisory board. His expertise in financial markets would help us to scale our business to new heights. Under his guidance, we are hopeful to tap new opportunities and are confident to achieve our strategic goals, which will also help in enhancing shareholders value.”

The Board of Cox & Kings Ltd comprises Mr. ABM Good (Non Executive Chairman), Mr. Peter Kerkar (Non Executive Director), Ms. Urrshila Kerkar (Executive Director), Mr. Pesi Patel (Independent Director), Mr. S.C. Bhargava (Independent Director) and Mr. M Narayanan (Independent Director).

Mistry is a chartered accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).  He started his career in 1975 with AF Ferguson & Co, a renowned chartered accountancy firm, followed by short stint with Hindustan UniLever Ltd and Indian Hotels Company Ltd. In 1981, he joined HDFC Ltd and was inducted on its board in 1993. Presently he is the Vice Chairman and CEO of HDFC.

Behold Beautiful Bangalore with the ‘Go On India’ Campaign from Goibibo.com

Unbelievable offers like never before for 500 days

 Goibibo.com, one of India’s most accepted and leading travel portals has launched a campaign, ‘Go On India’ under which they have hand-picked 500 scenic and charming cities. Every day, they share vital insights about the flora, fauna, tradition and culture of one region. Furthering the campaign, they are also offering 25% special discounts on hotels to the city. The city of the month is Bangalore better known as the ‘Garden City’ of India.  

Sanjay Bhasin, MD, Goibibo.com says, “Bangalore in today’s date has mostly become a business destination and people travelling to the city are mostly either businessmen or students. With this campaign, we are hopeful that we will be able to revive the city once again as a place of tourist interest.”

The capital city of the Indian state of Karnataka, Bangalore is the Information technology hub of the country which is why it is also called the ‘Silicon Valley of India’. Bangalore is one of the most important tourist centres of the state with lot of parks, historical monuments, government buildings, museums and the beauty of nature. It is popular for its pleasant weather throughout the year. Bangalore is also a major centre of Indian classical music and dance. Though both classical and contemporary music are played in Bangalore, the dominant music genre in urban Bangalore is rock music. Bangalore has its own sub-genre of music, "Bangalore Rock", which is an amalgamation of classic rock, hard rock and heavy metal, with a bit of jazz and blues in it. Thindi Beedhi or Food Street is a street in VV Puram, one of Bangalore’s oldest corridors. It is a lane that dishes out some of Bangalore’s best traditional cuisine. So go on and take time out to explore this city enriched with culture, music and the best of cuisine.

Goibibo.com initiated the Go on India campaign to inspire travel enthusiasts to explore the splendour and diversity of India. Each day, a new code shall be released for one place and the users can avail the special discounted rates using this code. The code for Bangalore is HOTBANG applicable for hotels.

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways proclaim the new summer schedule

Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic Airways announce new summer schedule
Partner airlines align their summer schedules for the convenience of passengers
Some Delta flights will relocate to join Virgin Atlantic in Heathrow Terminal 3
Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) and Virgin Atlantic Airways Ltd. today outlined details of a new joint venture flight schedule beginning summer 2014, aligning their services and offering more flight choices for travelers on both sides of the Atlantic.
The two airlines are putting the customer at the forefront of their partnership with the new schedule that starts March 30, 2014, combining their slots at London Heathrow to offer maximum customer convenience, particularly for business travelers.
Beginning, April 2, 2014, Delta will move its arrival and departure terminal for several important business markets to join Virgin Atlantic in Heathrow Terminal 3. This includes its London to New York-JFK, London to Boston, and newLondon to Seattle services and means the two airlines will co-locate on all itsNew York and Boston flights to London Heathrow. The move will allow for convenient connections and a seamless customer experience for customers flying with Virgin and Delta, including access to Virgin Atlantic's award winning Clubhouse for all business class passengers.
"We are working on a series of improvements to enhance the travel experience for our customers," said Craig Kreeger, Virgin Atlantic's CEO. "We already co-locate together at New York's JFK airport and moving some of Delta's key business flights to join Virgin Atlantic at Heathrow's Terminal 3 will enhance convenience, and reduce connection times. This demonstrates how our new partnership is going to be making a real difference for customers."
Delta, in cooperation with Virgin Atlantic, will also operate a second daily service between London Heathrow and Detroit Metropolitan Airport effectiveJune 1, 2014. The service will be particularly appealing to corporate customers needing an early morning arrival into London while offering more schedule choice for customers between London and the U.S. Midwest.
This additional flight will complement Delta's previously announced new West Coast route between Seattle and London Heathrow, which will launch on March 29, 2014.
Virgin Atlantic is also making significant schedule changes. It is moving its VS1Heathrow to Newark service from a late afternoon departure to a morning departure. This flight will be particularly attractive to business travelers: it will allow 'same-day meetings' to be held in the New Jersey area, while an earlier departure on the return flight means passengers can be in central London for the start of the working day.
This service is part of nine daily flights between London Heathrow and the New York area by the joint venture partners. The new schedule will include departures every 30 minutes during the early evening peak and then hourly until 10.30 p.m. from New York-JFK to London Heathrow and a spread of seven daily flights from London Heathrow to New York-JFK, including two late afternoon and early evening departures.  It also includes two conveniently timed departures to and from Newark.
Virgin Atlantic has also retimed its Heathrow to Boston service to depart two hours later in the afternoon. This offers more flexibility for the two airlines' customers with Delta's Heathrow to Boston service departing in the morning. Virgin Atlantic's evening departure from Boston will also move two hours later, giving greater schedule choice to travelers.
"A key reason for our joint venture was to offer customers more choice and convenient schedules, especially for our business travelers," said Ed Bastian, Delta's president. "With our Seattle service, Delta will add its sixth nonstop destination between London and the United States. Combined the Delta-Virgin partnership now offers our customers 33 daily nonstop flights across the Atlantic."
In September, Delta and Virgin Atlantic welcomed the decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) to approve the carriers' joint venture by granting antitrust immunity on routes between North America and the UK. This ruling confirmed the clear consumer benefits of the partnership, enabling the airlines to deepen their cooperation, offering more flight choices for travelers on both sides of the Atlantic and improving the travel options for business customers in the New York to London market.
The airlines' customers benefit from a high-quality and complementary travel experience with passenger service being a priority for both airlines. For the business traveler Delta and Virgin Atlantic's business class uniquely includes forward-facing fully flat-bed seats, all with direct aisle access on every flight.

Singapore Airlines open unique passes for Indian flyers

 Singapore Airlines declared the opening of a pass for Indian customers to allow them benefit special fares for flights to US, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and China.

It is Called as  the 'Asia AirPass' absolutely begin for Indian customers, it would allow travellers from here flying long- haul beyond Singapore to Hong Kong, China, Japan, US, Australia and New Zealand to "benefit of special add-on fares between Singapore and destinations within North Asia and South-East Asia for a utmost of 4 sectors," an airline statement said.

These passes would be on auction till March 31 next year and bookings can be made from SIA offices in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Coimbatore, Delhi, Kochi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Thiruvananthapuram and Visakhapatnam and travel agents.

The pass would be applicable for both Singapore Airlines and its low-cost subsidiary SilkAir.

Apart from particular fares, transit passengers could gather a complimentary 40 Changi Dollar Voucher for use at participating shops, restaurants and lounges at Singapore's Changi Airport, a spokesperson said.

Commenting on the start of the Airpass, G M Toh, SIA's General Manager India said it would give or offer  "the easiness of multi-city itineraries at inexpensive prices and more productive use of customers' business or leisure travel time".

With hundred and seven  weekly flights from eleven  Indian cities to Singapore and seamless connections to almost Hindred (100) cities worldwide, SIA and SilkAir were "preferred carriers for travellers who decide or need to call multiple destinations in Asia", Toh said.

SpiceJet stated witneses loss

4^th biggest airline by domestic market share stated Rs 559 crore loss for Q2 on high fuel prices and a weak rupee SpiceJet India’s 4^th biggest airline by domestic market share accounted  a record quarterly net loss, hit by high fuel prices and a weaker local currency.

SpiceJet, managed by billionaire Kalanithi Maran’s Sun Group net loss was Rs 559 crore for the 2^nd quarter to September 30, compared with a net loss of Rs 164 crore a year previous.

The quarterly loss was upper than its earlier worst quarterly failure of 3.27 billion rupees stated for the September quarter of 2008, according to Thomson Reuters. SpiceJet and rivals such as Jet Airways operate in a country where provincial taxes make jet fuel among the world’s most expensive.

Announcement of Stephen Burke as Vice President

eRevMax adds enterprise integration expert Stephen Burke to its leadership team

Joins as Vice President - Connectivity & Enterprise Integration to lead the next-generation enterprise connectivity solution development

 Online travel distribution and channel management specialist, eRevMax, has declared the appointment of Stephen Burke as Vice President, Connectivity and Enterprise Integration. Based in Prague, Stephen will focus on strengthening and streamlining eRevMax’s established leadership position in hotel enterprise connectivity. He will be responsible for maintaining the company’s integration efforts to distribution channels, hotel companies, third party hotel management systems as well as distribution merchandizing systems. Stephen will report to Udai Singh Solanki, Chief Technology Officer.

The appointment is a continuation of eRevMax’s mission to deliver exceptional technology services to the hotel community through the appointment of leading industry specialist. Stephen joins as the company makes targeted moves to align products in support of its customer centric business strategy. eRevMax has recently revamped its enterprise connectivity solution, Connect, and offers robust two-way connectivity with distribution partners and system providers, enabling hotel companies an integrated solution to catapult their distribution plans and strategies from a single interface.

“eRevMax has been always focused on bringing out the most advanced technology solutions to our customers, including being one of the pioneers in two-way connectivity platforms. In 2013 alone, our XML interfaces with leading system providers and online sales channels have grown by over 250%. Stephen’s unique expertise of managing enterprise connectivity integration strategy through the growth curve with organizations ranging from mid-tier to the large enterprise will be invaluable to eRevMax as we continue to expand our business into key markets,” said Greg Berman, Chief Operating Officer, eRevMax.

An active member of HTNG since 2005, Stephen was part of team that created the Property Distribution v1.0 specification. He was a founding member of both the HTNG Reference Architecture and HTNG Folio Detail workgroups. He has also been an active workgroup member in OpenTravel and HEDNA.

Stephen brings more than 15 years of experience in product management, product development, business development, consulting, and service delivery to large and mid-market hospitality clients as his core area of expertise. Most recently, he served as the CTO of TAXEO SAS, a Paris-based company specializing in cross-border VAT recovery on business travel expenses. In earlier roles, Stephen was the head of product development for Knowcross Solutions in New Delhi, India and Director of Systems Integration for Hotel Booking Solutions, Inc., Atlanta, USA. He also worked in technology management roles for Diamond Data Systems, Sprint E|Solutions and is a graduate of Tulane University in New Orleans, USA.

Air India has considerably lessen the number of top level positions in a offer to rationalise staff power.

The move was overdue after the merger between the erstwhile Air India and Indian Airlines.

The airline has cut losing the number of location of executive director from 43 to 19, general managers from 107 to 54 and deputy general managers from 143 to 112.

"This rationalisation was extended due and the number of posts were necessary to be cut after the airline was combined. Post the joining, we had to keep the executives from both the airlines and that had been rationalised now," said a senior Air India official.
These measures, along with more than a few others, will assist the national carrier in bringing along its work power to 9,500 by 2015-16 fiscal from over 13,000 at present.

The countrywide carrier has been able to trim its workforce mainly by transferring a large number to its engineering and ground handling supplementary.

"With the move, our employee to aircraft ratio will come down to 81. We also do not need to employ operational staff right away, as there is a capacity to add to their utilisation," the official said.

The official added that a group of the airline's employees are also nearing retirement. "Around 31 per cent of the employees are in the 53 to 58 year age bracket and they will stop working in the next five years," he added. Unlike other government companies, retirement age in Air India is 58.

On the back of such plan, the airline has stated 18 per cent add to in employee efficiency during 2012-13, compared to 2011-12 fiscal.

Meanwhile, the national carrier has begin the method of rationalising the number of familiar unions. The airline has 15 recognised unions (8 from erstwhile Air India and 7 from erstwhile Indian Airlines) and the target is to get it down to as low as 2.

"We have created a 4 member committee start by a former law secretary Krishna Mohan Sahni, who will present their account in 4 months time," the official said.

He added that the move is aimed at ensuring efficient decision making during negotiations between the management and union representatives.

The rationalisation development is being considered on the lines of Indian Railways that had lessen the number of unions from 34 to two in 2007. As many as 1.4 million railway employees certain the number of unions, as well as their leadership, through secret ballot.

LEAN AIRLINE

* Air India has cut down the number of executive director stated from 43 to 19, general managers from 107 to 54, and deputy general managers from 143 to 112

* These measures at staff rationalisation along with other measures would carry down the workforce to 9,500 by 2015-16 from 13,000 currently

* A bulk of the employees have been transport to technical and ground handling arms

* With this transfer, the employee to aircraft ratio stands at 81

GoAir proclaim Rupees 888 discount

Wadia Group promoted low cost carrier GoAir today stated a Rs 888 discount on all tickets as part of its eighth anniversary. It is GoAir's endeavour to offer the best fares.

Jet Airways to pay $10,000 to clear up US case

THE US transportation regulator compulsory civil penalties of $10,000 on Jet Airways after the Indian carrier decided to clear up a case linked to its failure to provide correct details on a tarmac delay.

Jet Airways arrive at a approval settlement with the US department of transportation, according to an order subject by the regulator late last month.

The Indian carrier paid the fine as per the order, a Jet spokesperson said in a statement in New Delhi.

The incident occurred in 2011 when a dozen airlines were required to turn away due to bad weather to Bradley airport, which was not a usual diversion airport for Jet Airways.

The statement said Jet was “unable to disembark its (217) guests at Bradley Airport when the aircraft was on ground due to unforeseen situation and the aircraft returned to New York after refuelling and gaining essential permission”.

The department of transportation order issued on October 22 said, “In order to keep away from litigation, Jet Airways has decided to settle this matter with Enforcement Office and go into this consent order directing Jet Airways to cease and stop from future similar violations.” Jet was directed to pay a “compromise civil penalty“, with the US regulator saying it believed “this assessment is suitable and serves public interest”.

The issue related to Jet’s failure to give correct  details on the tarmac delay on October 29, 2011. Due to bad weather on that day, Jet Airways flight 9W 228, going from Brussels Airport to Newark Liberty International Airport, was diverted to Bradley. Since Bradley was not a regular diversion airport for Jet, the carrier did not have a coordinated contingency plan with the airport.

Later an examination found that after being diverted to Bradley, 217 passengers were delayed on the tarmac for five hours and 14 minutes but Jet Airways reported a tarmac delay of four hours and 40 minutes.

Delta to Present at Raymond James 2013 Global Airlines Transportation Conference

 Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) will present at the Raymond James 2013 Global Airlines Transportation Conference at approximately 11:05 a.m. ET on Thursday, November 7, 2013.


A live webcast of this event can be accessed via the internet at: http://www.delta.com/content/www/en_US/about-delta/investor-relations/analyst-coverage-and-webcasts.html

The online replay will be available at the same site shortly after the webcast is complete until December 10, 2013.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. Delta was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2013 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list, topping the list for the second time in three years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 314 destinations in 58 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. Delta is investing more than $3 billion in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta and Facebook.com/delta.

Delta Reports Financial and Operating Performance for October 2013

Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today reported financial and operating performance for October 2013.


Consolidated passenger unit revenue (PRASM) for the month of October increased 2.0% year over year, driven by strong trans-Atlantic performance and business demand in Delta's Atlanta and New York hubs. The year over year change in unit revenues was affected by $25 million of revenue loss from the government shutdown, Superstorm Sandy's impact in the prior year, and yen devaluation. Each of these factors pressured unit revenue by approximately one percentage point apiece.

Delta completed 99.9 percent of its flights in October and ran an on-time arrival rate of 91.4 percent.

The company's financial and operating performance is detailed below.  



Preliminary Financial and Operating Results



October consolidated PRASM change year over year

2.0%

Projected December quarter fuel price per gallon, adjusted

$3.03 - $3.08

October mainline completion factor

99.9%

October on-time performance (preliminary DOT A14)

91.4%



Note: Fuel price includes taxes, transportation, settled hedges, hedge premiums and refinery impact, but excludes mark to market adjustments on open hedges.



Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. Delta was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2013 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list, topping the list for the second time in three years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 314 destinations in 58 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. Delta is investing more than $3 billion in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta and Facebook.com/delta

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the cost of aircraft fuel; the availability of aircraft fuel; the impact of posting collateral in connection with our fuel hedge contracts; the impact of significant funding obligations with respect to defined benefit pension plans; the impact that our indebtedness may have on our financial and operating activities and our ability to incur additional debt; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub airports; our dependence on technology in our operations; disruptions or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure; the ability of our credit card processors to take significant holdbacks in certain circumstances; the possible effects of accidents involving our aircraft; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; the effects of an extended disruption in services provided by third party regional carriers; failure or inability of insurance to cover a significant liability at the Trainer refinery; the impact of environmental regulation on the Trainer refinery, including costs related to renewable fuel standard regulations; our ability to retain management and key employees; our ability to use net operating losses to offset future taxable income; competitive conditions in the airline industry; the effects of extensive government regulation on our business; the effects of terrorist attacks; the effects of the rapid spread of contagious illnesses; and the costs associated with insurance.

Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2012 and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2013.  Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of November 4, 2013, and which we have no current intention to update.






Monthly Traffic Results (a)


Year to Date Traffic Results (a)




































Oct 2013


Oct 2012


Change



Oct 2013


Oct 2012


Change


















RPMs (000):
















Domestic

9,670,334


9,692,506


(0.2%)



96,589,954


96,880,845


(0.3%)




Delta Mainline

7,755,832


7,747,861


0.1%



78,144,675


77,122,629


1.3%




Regional

1,914,502


1,944,645


(1.6%)



18,445,279


19,758,216


(6.6%)



International

6,588,484


6,338,344


3.9%



68,455,010


66,849,046


2.4%




Latin America

1,123,734


949,601


18.3%



12,664,541


11,500,287


10.1%




Delta Mainline

1,111,230


937,030


18.6%



12,500,164


11,362,574


10.0%




       Regional

12,504


12,571


(0.5%)



164,378


137,713


19.4%




Atlantic

3,464,155


3,385,503


2.3%



34,895,213


34,606,859


0.8%




Pacific

2,000,594


2,003,240


(0.1%)



20,895,255


20,741,900


0.7%



Total System

16,258,817


16,030,850


1.4%



165,044,964


163,729,891


0.8%


















ASMs (000):
















Domestic

11,772,469


11,443,382


2.9%



115,910,340


114,816,347


1.0%




Delta Mainline

9,302,742


9,029,498


3.0%



92,069,534


89,956,373


2.3%




Regional

2,469,727


2,413,884


2.3%



23,840,807


24,859,974


(4.1%)



International

7,847,088


7,502,539


4.6%



80,501,617


80,202,927


0.4%




Latin America

1,369,880


1,158,051


18.3%



15,103,829


14,128,390


6.9%




Delta Mainline

1,353,636


1,139,875


18.8%



14,891,134


13,923,970


6.9%




       Regional

16,244


18,176


(10.6%)



212,695


204,420


4.0%




Atlantic

4,035,231


3,936,109


2.5%



40,670,744


41,081,281


(1.0%)




Pacific

2,441,977


2,408,379


1.4%



24,727,043


24,993,256


(1.1%)



Total System

19,619,557


18,945,921


3.6%



196,411,957


195,019,274


0.7%


















Load Factor:
















Domestic

82.1%


84.7%


(2.6)

pts


83.3%


84.4%


(1.1)

pts



Delta Mainline

83.4%


85.8%


(2.4)

pts


84.9%


85.7%


(0.8)

pts



Regional

77.5%


80.6%


(3.1)

pts


77.4%


79.5%


(2.1)

pts


International

84.0%


84.5%


(0.5)

pts


85.0%


83.3%


1.7

pts



Latin America

82.0%


82.0%


0.0

pts


83.8%


81.4%


2.4

pts



Delta Mainline

82.1%


82.2%


(0.1)

pts


83.9%


81.6%


2.3

pts



       Regional

77.0%


69.2%


7.8

pts


77.3%


67.4%


9.9

pts



Atlantic

85.8%


86.0%


(0.2)

pts


85.8%


84.2%


1.6

pts



Pacific

81.9%


83.2%


(1.3)

pts


84.5%


83.0%


1.5

pts


Total System

82.9%


84.6%


(1.7)

pts


84.0%


84.0%


0.0

pts


Mainline Completion Factor

99.9%


98.0%


1.9

pts
Passengers Boarded

14,076,001


14,055,335


0.1%



138,768,505


139,122,511


(0.3%)

Cargo Ton Miles (000):

216,692


202,652


6.9%



1,960,396


1,998,084


(1.9%)


a  Results include flights operated under contract carrier arrangements

Emirates SkyCargo present bellyhold from Dubai to Conakry, Dakar

Dubai-based Emirates has added a 24th destination to its Africa route network, after commencing services to Conakry in the Republic of Guinea, which marks the sixth new destination launched this year.
Emirates SkyCargo will also offer 13 tonnes of cargo capacity per flight. Guinea's main exports are perishables such as fresh fish, fruits, vegetables, rock and oil samples, and imports of general cargo, pharmaceuticals, textiles, mobile phones and electronics, mining equipment and machinery.

The service that function four times a week is connected to the airline's existing Dakar, Senegal operation. It leave from Dubai and arrives at Conakry International Airport the same day.

The flight then departs Conakry arriving in Dakar later that same day. From Dakar it returns to Dubai the following day.

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol air cargo up 2.6percent

Amsterdam Airport Schiphol handle 383,780 tonnes of air freight in the 3rd quarter, an add to of 2.6 per cent year on year, according to the Shipping Gazette.

The quarter marked a come back to the expansion seen in the first quarter, with cargo volume growth record /registered in 5 out of 9 months this year.

Following a strong September with cargo volume rising 3.9 per cent compared to the same month last year to 130,631 tonnes, total volume in the first nine months of the year rose 1.6 per cent year on year to 1,120,389 tonnes.

Asia nonstop to be the number one region for cargo, followed by North America which retained second place, a statement from airport authorities said.
"The general trend is positive," said Schiphol cargo vice president Enno Osinga. "This is a strong performance for a major European gateway which reflects the determined efforts of the airlines, our own team and the logistics community to carry on optimising service standards and powerful enlargement."

Boeing to enhance 737 production rate in 2017

Boeing Launch / reveal / introduce/announce/open/start production on the 737 program that will boost to 47 airplanes per month in 2017, the uppermost rate ever for the best-selling airliner in history. Once implemented, the 737 program will put up more than 560 airplanes per year, and will have enlarged output by nearly 50 percent since 2010.

"We're taking this step to make certain our airplanes get into the hands of our customers when they need them," said Beverly Wyse, vice president and general manager, 737 Program, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "Our employees and our suppliers have fruitfully increased the production rate to matchless levels over the last 3 years. This add to will lay a solid foundation as we bridge into production on the 737 MAX."

Boeing at present make 38 airplanes per month from its Renton, Wash., factory and will raise the rate to 42 per month in the first half of 2014. First delivery of the 737 MAX is on track for third quarter of 2017.
"With the continuing strong demand we are seeing in the market for the 737, we expect to keep employees busy in Renton making this amazing airplane for years to come," said Wyse.

The rate increase make known today is not expected to have a important impact on 2013 financial results.
Boeing's highly well-organized and reliable 737 family is the established market leader. To date, 266 customers worldwide have placed more than 11,200 orders for the single-aisle airplane – including more than 6,500 orders for the Next-Generation 737 and more than 1,600 orders for the 737 MAX. Boeing currently has more than 3,400 unfilled orders across the 737 family.

Emirates rejoice Conakry launch

Emirates rejoiced its latest African connection with a high profile reception dinner held last night in Conakry, the Republic of Guinea. The airline begin flights from Dubai to the largest city in Guinea on 27 October.

Several Ministers and senior officials from the Government of Guinea be present at the event hosted by Hubert Frach, Emirates’ Divisional Senior Vice President Commercial Operations West, and Adil Al Ghaith, Emirates’ Vice President Commercial Operations Northern and Western Africa. 

Emirates roll out its trademark hospitality to over 100 guests from the local business community, key government officials and members of the local Guinean media.  Held at the Hotel Palm Camayenne, guests were treated to international gourmet cuisine as well as traditional music and entertainment performed by the renowned local band “Seiland Kutchy” during the course of the evening.

“We are honoured by the warm welcome that we have received from the community in Conakry, and the excellent turnout at this evening’s reception is indicative of how positively Emirates is perceived in the local market. The arrival of our first service to Conakry is an exciting development and provides new opportunities for travellers, business owners, tourism and trade,” said Hubert Frach. 
“Air services are important catalysts for economic growth and we look forward to playing our part for Guinea’s development. Through Dubai, our flights connect seamlessly with other destinations in fast growing regions such as the Middle East, the Asian Subcontinent, the Far East and Australasia, thereby extending Conakry’s accessibility and reach to capitalise on trade and tourism opportunities from these regions,” added Mr Frach. 

Launched on the 27 October, Emirates flight EK795 departs Dubai each Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday at 07:20hrs and arrives at Conakry International Airport at 14:00 hours the same day. The flight will then depart Conakry at 15:25hrs to arrive in Dakar at 17:05hrs, before departing Dakar at 18:35hrs to arrive in Dubai at 07:40 the next day.  An Airbus 340-300 aircraft will operate the Dubai-Conakry-Dakar route in a three class configuration with 13 tonnes of belly hold cargo capacity in each direction. 
Following the launch of Conakry, Emirates will start services to Sialkot in Pakistan on 5 November and Kabul in Afghanistan on 4 December 2013. 
The airline operates 206 aircraft to 136 destinations, including the world’s largest Boeing 777 and Airbus A380 fleet.

Upscale Hilton Hotel Coming To Meadowlands, NJ, October 31

Hilton Meadowlands to Complete Major Upgrade to Property

Northern New Jersey's newest Hilton Hotels & Resorts property, the 427-guest room Hilton Meadowlands, is now open at Two Meadowlands Plaza in East Rutherford. The property, which recently completed the first phase of a multi-million dollar renovation, will convert from the Sheraton flag.

Offering stunning views of the New York skyline, Hilton Meadowlands is situated across the street from the Meadowlands Complex, New Jersey's sports and entertainment hub; minutes from MetLife Stadium, host to the 2014 Super Bowl; four miles from New York City and 15 minutes from Newark Liberty International Airport.

"We are thrilled to welcome Hilton Meadowlands to our portfolio, expanding our presence in New Jersey to nine Hilton Hotels & Resorts properties," said Rob Palleschi, global head, Hilton Hotels & Resorts. "This hotel offers an ideal location just outside Manhattan and nearby attractions along with the updated amenities and services our guests want and have come to expect from our brand."

"Feedback from our guests about the Hilton brand and its highly popular Hilton HHonorsTM guest loyalty program made the decision to become a Hilton an easy one," said Joseph Bojanowski, president of PM Hospitality Strategies (PMHS), operators of the property. "The hotel is in outstanding physical condition, having completed a stunning make-over, upgrading nearly one-half of the guest rooms, the lobby and hallways. The remaining rooms and meeting space are scheduled to begin renovation later next year."

Major Meeting and Social Event Setting for Northern New Jersey

With 30,000 square feet of meeting and event space, Hilton Meadowlands will be one of Northern New Jersey's most sought after gathering places. The hotel can accommodate up to 1,000 guests attending meetings or social events in its 11,500 square foot Diamond Court Ballroom, Northern New Jersey's largest ballroom and up to 500 people in the 5,200 square foot Derby Ballroom. Smaller groups can access up to 15 meeting rooms supported by an executive meeting specialist, convention services staff and audio visual production services and equipment. The meeting facilities also features a 4,100 square foot International Association of Conference Centers (IACC) certified conference center.

"The layout of our meeting space makes for a comfortable, intimate setting with incredible views," Bojanowski said. "The hotel will be one of the region's largest social event hosts, ranging from weddings to class reunions to bar and bat mitzvahs and other family events."

The hotel features the 130-seat Chairman's Grill, offering American cuisine; The Lounge, featuring light fare; and a Starbucks Café. The amenity-rich property also offers an indoor swimming pool, sauna and whirlpool, fitness room and business center.

Environmentally Focused

Hilton Meadowlands takes the environment seriously. The hotel's recently completed solar carport has a capacity to produce 1.1 megawatts of clean energy annually, providing approximately 20 percent of the property's energy.

Other programs include composting of organic waste, meeting space recycling, food donations, elimination of Styrofoam and energy-efficient digital signing. The hotel participates in Clean the World, a non-profit, global health program that hygienically recycles and donates more than 3.2 million bars of soaps and 1.7 million bottles of shampoos, conditioners and lotions to children around the world.

About PMHS

PMHS is an award-winning, independent hotel management company, operating full-service and select-service hotels in the Hilton, Marriott, Starwood and Choice families of brands. The company's expertise covers all aspect of hotel operations, including development, technical consulting, marketing, accounting, pre-opening services and on-going management. PMHS currently manages approximately 25 hotels and development projects, comprised of more than 4,000 rooms, throughout the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., PMHS has participated in the development and acquisition/renovation of dozens of hotels with a market capitalization in excess of $1 billion. PMHS is an approved management company for all leading hotel brands. Additional information about the company may be found at www.pmhs.com.

India’s integrated bus ticket portal www.busindia.com launch

Largest portal in the world connecting transport services across states in India

To make long distance travel by buses convenient and seamless, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways along with a private player Radiant Info has Launch / reveal / introduce an integrated portal www.busindia.com for travelers across India. This facility brings together bus transport operators across the country under a single window, thus facilitating users to plan their bus travel across Indian cities with ease.

Being the only portal for interstate connectivity, BusIndia.com also enables users to do trip booking and hotel booking, providing a full itinerary experience for the first time in Indian bus booking.

Within Karnataka itself, Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North-West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and North-East Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) and with total over 18,000 buses fleet are part of this national integrated bus ticket portal.

“In India road transport corporations (RTC) are fragmented. They are owned by various state governments and the central government provides funds, technology and infrastructure. In Busindia.com we first launched individual state sites. Then we felt the need to found an integrated service for seamless booking across various states,” told Venu Myneni, Co-Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Radiant Info.

In the first phase the portal has an inventory of 360,000 seats with a network of 1,47,000 buses available through the state transport corporations of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Odisha, Meghalaya and Gujarat. The second phase, which is expected to be launched next week, would see the inclusion of Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Goa.

Talking about the newly launched solution, Ananda Rao, Director, Central Institute for Road Transport (CIRT) said, “We are pleased to have partnered with Radiant Info on developing BusIndia.com. This is truly a first-of-its-kind gateway for bus booking and makes it the largest portal in the world in its category. We plan to integrate this with the IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation) portal and taxi booking in future to provide an integrated travel experience in India.”

The facility is developed and maintained by Bangalore-based Radiant Info in partnership with Central Institute for Road Transport (CIRT). The project entailed investment of around Rs.200 crore and will be run on a build-operate-own basis.

All the vehicles and services on BusIndia.com are function as per pre-defined schedule route and timings with definite trips. This facilitate and assists the passengers in better planning and management of their itineraries. BusIndia.com bus services have reliability and comfort of being run by professionally run transport corporations.

Celebrate this Diwali with Wonderla Resort

Enjoy yourself this season of lights and happiness and gear up for a Diwali Vacation at Wonderla, as Wonderla convey you much more than high thrill rides and water slides. The spectacular fireworks show will light up a whole new aspect of fun quotient at the park during this Diwali.

With exciting Fun games based on the festival theme and the DJ – Dance floor, Wonderla is all set to entertain the crowd and have them sway to their tunes on the dance floor.

Wonderla Resort Festival present

Wonderla Resort is presenting its guests a 1 night stay at their resort during Diwali festival for just Rs. 5700/- (taxes extra) The package also includes breakfast and entry to amusement park.          

 Venue: Wonderla Holidays ltd. 28th km, Mysore Road. Bangalore – 562109

Date: From 1st November to 4th November, 2013

Time: 11am to 7pm

Further information Call: 080 22010333

Come and unwind totally at Wonderla!

Indian students to advantage from Australia’s new visa regime

The new Australian government is set to Open / Start / Launch / reveal a series of steps to make its student visa regime simpler to draw more foreign students, counting those from India, and perk up the billion dollar higher eduction industry.

The Immigration Minister Scott Morrison and Education minister Christopher Pyne jointly Open / Start / Launch / reveal that the new coalition Government were keen to restore the industry by ruin the injure done by the former Labour government, according to an official media statement.

The 2ministers Open / Start / Launch / reveal that steps would make simpler student visas through a streamlined assessment-level framework (ALF) and by extending streamlined visa processing arrangements to low risk nonuniversity degree providers.

“The changes will assist all providers, but particularly the vocational education and training sector, making access to Australia’s education system more attractive for overseas students,” Morrison said.

“Assessment levels under the ALF would be cut down from 5 levels to 3, while financial evidence for AL3 students would decrease from 18 months to 12 months, provided funds were from a close relative of the student applicant.

This would mean students from a number of key markets would be able to relate for a student visa with up to 40,000 Australian dollars less in the bank.

Streamlining of the visa application process that Morrison announced last week would advantage up to 22 low-risk non-university providers for students enrolled in Bachelor, Masters or Doctoral degree courses or an qualified exchange programme.

Pyne said the actions would attract more overseas students to Australia, benefit our education system, create Australian jobs and inspire our economy.

“The non-university sector is an significant contributor to our overall education exports,” Pyne said.

“These changes would let the vocational training sector to add more to all comers to our plan to restore Australia’s tertiary education system to its former peak of almost $19 billion in export income for the nation.

Air-passenger traffic up 5.5 percent in September: IATA

Businesses are use more on travel and this has assist global air-passenger traffic increase by 5.5 percent in September from the equivalent figure last year, the International Air Transport Association said

"We are seeing a more helpful surroundings for air travel demand, based on growing business assurance," IATA chief Tony Tyler said.

Rising export orders and development in key emerging markets such as China had also add to the enhancement, he said in a statement.

Despite the ongoing strong demand, September nonetheless marked a slight slowdown from August, when global airline traffic raise by 6.8 percent, enabling the industry to match an all-time record of 83.4 percent of seats filled.

Last month, in comparison, the load factor stood at a reputable, but far from record-breaking, 80.3 percent, basically unchanged from September 2012.

Tyler remained positive. "The well-built growth of fresh months, coupled with the continuing development in air travel demand in September, suggests that there could be a further speeding up in air travel expansion before the end of the year," he said.

Traffic on international routes was up 5.7 percent in September, with Middle East carriers performance the strongest year on year traffic growth of 10.4 percent.

Asia-Pacific carriers meanwhile Reported  / accounted / stated / posted  8.5 percent growth, IATA said, adding that enhancement in the Chinese and Japanese economy in the 3^RD  quarter come into view to have helped no difficulty the downward pressure on growth seen in fresh months.

Modest economic improvements also helped boost airline travel in Europe by 3.4 percent, while North American airlines saw demand climb 2.3 percent, after registering 5.1 percent expansion in August.