South African Airways (SAA) is talking to British Airways (BA) about the possibility of taking over its franchise agreement in South Africa, John Lamola, SAA’s interim chair and CEO, confirmed on Friday.

BA cancelled the franchise agreement it had with Comair after the SA company went into provisional liquidation in mid-June.

Recently, Comair’s provisional liquidator, said his understanding was that BA was looking for a new partner in the SA market.

BA does not comment on franchise agreements as it involves commercially sensitive information, the company previously told Fin24. 

Local aviation experts have speculated that BA would ideally prefer a full-service airline as a franchise partner in SA. Full service usually offers a global loyalty programme, a high flight frequency, and a comprehensive route network.

Comair, which at some point accounted for about 40% of SA’s domestic aviation market, operated its own low-cost airline, kulula.com, and domestic and regional British Airways flights as part of the franchise agreement.

Comair was negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic and related lockdowns and went into business rescue in May 2020. It was also hamstrung by an attempt to cancel a contract to buy Boeing 737 MAX planes, and rising fuel prices after Russia invaded Ukraine.

British Airways plc (BA) is a separate company from Comair, and British Airways’ services have been unaffected and continue to operate as usual between South Africa and its hub in London. 

Lamola told Fin24 that the regulatory process to obtain approval for the Takatso Consortium to buy 51% of the shares in SAA is still underway and the consortium is not yet involved in the running of the airline.

Source: Engineering News

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The United Arab Emirates will grant visas to those holding tickets to the World Cup in neighboring Qatar, the country announced Tuesday.

The UAE said in a statement those registered for Qatar’s Hayya fan card will be able to apply for multiple-entry visas 19 days before the tournament starts. Those granted visas will be able to stay for up to 90 days in the UAE, home to flashy Dubai and oil-rich Abu Dhabi.

Many fans are planning to base themselves in the UAE and neighboring countries for the monthlong tournament, as organizers expect a tight accommodation squeeze in tiny Qatar that has never hosted an event on this scale.

Hotels in the tourism hub of Dubai say some fans are booking rooms and planning to commute to matches by air. Dozens of flights will leave from the UAE to the host city of Doha each day. Saudi Arabia has also announced that those registered for the fan card can apply for multiple-entry visas to the kingdom.

The Hayya card is mandatory for ticket holders going to the World Cup in November and December.

The UAE’s website for visas is www.icp.gov.ae.

Source: AP

According to the latest figures from Dubai’s Department of Economy and Tourism (DET), an impressive 7.12 million international visitors arrived in the emirate between January and June 2022.

A figure that translated means a growth of over 183% compared to the 2.52 million tourists who visited Dubai in the same period in 2021. This positive trend puts the city on track to achieve the tourism targets set for 2022 and further strengthens its position as a favourite destination for international tourism.

Resilient and dynamic economy

“The vision of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, to make Dubai the city of the future and the best place in the world to live, work and invest, has led to a renaissance in the tourism sector. The growth in tourists reflects the resilience and dynamism of the emirate’s economy. His Highness’ vision has helped Dubai create a strong and stable economic base and a dynamic business ecosystem, enabling it to become a leading global hub in several sectors” said Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.

“The rapid increase in international tourist arrivals puts Dubai on track to achieve its ambitious goal of becoming the most visited destination in the world. In the coming years, Dubai will continue to develop further as a destination that offers unparalleled value to international travellers,” added the Crow Prince.

Numbers are close to pre-COVID figures

The number of tourists recorded in the first half of 2022 is close to that of the first six months of 2019, which saw 8.36 million tourists arrive in Dubai. The emirate’s ability to quickly return to near pre-pandemic tourism levels is even more remarkable when considering the impact of unprecedented challenges and other macroeconomic factors impacting the global economy and the tourism sector.

Looking at regional market shares, Western Europe accounted for a significant share of tourist arrivals, with 22% of total international visitors in the first six months of 2022. The MENA and GCC regions contributed 34% to international arrivals, highlighting Dubai’s strong attractiveness to tourists from surrounding markets and confirming it as a preferred and trusted destination.

These regions are closely followed by South Asia, with a 16% share, and Russia, CIS and Eastern Europe, which together account for 11% of total visitors in H1 2022. The wide geographic spread of arrivals reflects Dubai’s diversified strategy to bring in traffic from a broad spectrum of countries and visitor segments, mitigating the risks associated with over-reliance on a single region and underlining the success of the destination’s marketing campaigns that deliver tailored messages through specialised audience platforms.

Source: KAWA News

Ethiopian Airlines, the leading African flag carrier, on Wednesday reported a surge in profit for the last financial year, in sharp contrast to the ailing fortunes of other airlines in the region.

The state-owned airline saw a 79 percent jump in revenue to $5 billion for 12 months to July while profit skyrocketed 90 percent to $937 million, according to the country’s sovereign wealth fund Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH).

The results were “despite the headwinds of worsening global economic outlook, rising fuel cost, global pandemic”, EIH chief executive Mamo Mihretu said on Twitter. He gave no further details, although state media said the airline had transported 6.9 million international travellers last year alone.

Other carriers in East Africa have been buffeted by the Covid-19 pandemic and its devastating impact on air travel and are now grappling with the fallout from the war in Ukraine which has sent global fuel prices soaring.

Kenya Airways, for example, last week reported a 9.8-billion-shilling ($82 million) loss in the six months to June, although it was an improvement on the 11.48-billion-shilling ($95 million) deficit in the first half of last year.

The airline, which has been stuck in the red for years and is relying on state bailouts, reported a 76 percent increase in revenue to 48.1 billion shillings (about $400 million) over the same period as passenger numbers almost doubled to 1.6 million.

Source: Breaking Travel News

Jamaica and Kenya have agreed to collaborate in tourism in a bid to strengthen the hospitality sectors in both countries. Minister of Tourism, Hon Edmund Bartlett has revealed that the partnership between both countries will entail collaboration between the Montego Bay Convention Centre and the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Kenya.

The agreement came out of talks yesterday (August 31) between Minister Bartlett and Chief Executive Officer of the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nana Gecaga. The centre is owned by the government of Kenya. Ms Gecaga who is niece to Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta, is also a well-known businesswoman and works primarily in international marketing and tourism.

With both countries having a keen interest in MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) tourism, the high-level talks were conveniently held at the Montego Bay Convention Centre, a public body of the Ministry of Tourism. Mr Bartlett said one of the key points in the talks was intended to be “a movement when we begin to codify, if not solidify the connection between the Montego Bay Convention Centre and the Kenyatta International Convention Centre.”

Underscoring the importance of making the connection, he said: “We are the location in the Caribbean for big meetings, exhibitions and incentive activities, as Kenya is in Eastern Africa, so we think that synergy exists and that collaboration will inure to the benefit of all.”

Ms Gecaga sees the twinning of the two convention centres as a tangible step in achieving that objective.

“I think definitely there’s a lot of synergies that can take place,” she said and pointed to the need for Jamaica to be part of an association that would pave the way for it hosting major award ceremonies and other events. She said this would allow for a partnership in which Kenya bids for a major convention with a key factor being the ability to offer Montego Bay as a rotating host.

Among other proposals, she identified were, having an exchange programme and being proactive in creating events.

Having been to Jamaica previously, she lauded the country’s hospitality as “outstanding” and admitted that: “When leaving to head back to the States, I remember crying! It’s the only place that I’ve cried when I left.”

Source: Breaking Travel News

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Dubai International Airport saw a surge in passengers over the first half of 2022 as pandemic restrictions eased and the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar will further boost traffic to the city-state’s second airfield, its chief executive said Wednesday.

Paul Griffiths, who oversees the world’s busiest airport for international travel, told The Associated Press that the airport handled 160% more traffic over the past six months compared to the same period last year, part of an air travel rebound around the world.

The nearly 28 million people who traveled through the airport over the past six months represent some 70% of the airport’s pre-pandemic levels, even as Dubai’s key source market of China remains closed due to severe pandemic restrictions. Griffiths said he expects the airport’s traffic to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of next year.

“It’s a very, very welcome surge of traffic,” Griffiths said.

The first World Cup in the Middle East, he added, will send foreign soccer fans flocking to Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central, or DWC. From there, they’ll travel daily to Qatar, a tiny neighbor that faces a hotel squeeze.

“We’ve actually seen a huge amounts of demand at DWC for slot filings for airlines wanting to operate a shuttle service,” he said. “I think the city has a lot to offer and a lot to gain from the World Cup.”

Among the airlines buying extra slots to shuttle soccer fans to the tournament from DWC are Qatar Airways, low-cost carrier FlyDubai and budget airline Wizz Air Abu Dhabi, he said.

Ambitions plans to turn the airfield in Dubai’s southern desert into a mega-aviation hub, first unveiled by Dubai before the 2008 global financial crisis, have sputtered in recent years. Long-haul carrier Emirates, based in Dubai, parked many of its double-decker Airbus A380s there during the pandemic as commercial flights halted.

A key East-West transit point, Dubai’s air traffic is closely watched as a barometer of the city-state’s non-oil economy. Emirates remains the linchpin of the wider empire known as “Dubai Inc.,” an interlocking series of government-owned businesses.

During the first half of 2022, Dubai International Airport dealt with nearly 56% more flights than the same period in 2021, when contagious coronavirus variants clobbered the industry.

Now, in a sign of the health of the industry, Emirates said Wednesday that it would pour billions of dollars into retrofitting much of its Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 fleet. At the height of the pandemic, the airline received a $4 billion government bailout.

The widespread lifting of virus restrictions has triggered a rapid increase in air travel demand, filling Dubai’s hub and causing mayhem at airports around the world.

While Dubai has not seen the chaotic crowds overwhelming European hubs in recent weeks, Griffiths said the global disruptions have affected its main airport.

“It’s obviously affected growth because some of the caps on capacity that they’ve applied to airports like Heathrow have had an impact on our numbers,” he said.

Last month Emirates lashed out at Heathrow, refusing its request to cap departing passengers and cut flights to the London hub. Emirates later agreed to temporarily limit sales on its flights.

Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine sent Russia’s richest businessmen scrambling to save their assets from what became a widening dragnet, Dubai has welcomed an influx of Russians to its beach-front villas and luxury hotels. The city remains one of the few remaining flight corridors out of Moscow.

Griffiths declined to comment on Russians carrying cash out of the country to Dubai, which has become the talk of the town in recent months.

But he said the flow of Russian visitors would not stop anytime soon, adding: “It’s still a major source of traffic for us.”

Source: ABC News

Museums are a significant tourist attraction and the world’s top 100 museums attracted a total of 71m visitors during 2021 – despite the COVID-19 pandemic and continued lockdown restrictions, according to art newspaper.

In June, the Smithsonian in the US undertook to return 29 Benin bronzes held in its National Museum of African Art collection, in July Germany signed an agreement with Nigeria to cover over 1000 objects in its museums and In August the UK’s Horniman Museum announced it would return 72 artifacts.

Nigeria’s Legacy Restoration Trust has played an important role in this process by providing a politically neutral entity into which bronze can be transferred – both the Nigerian government and Benin’s royal family have unsuccessfully claimed them in the past. It could offer a blueprint for Nigeria and other African countries eager to reclaim both their history and the promises they made with tourism dollars.

The Musée du Louvre in Paris once again tops the list of most-visited museums, attracting 2.8m visitors in 2021 (still below pre-pandemic levels that saw 9.6m visitors in 2019) went). While the full range of economic benefits to the travel and tourism industries is difficult to pin down, Statista projects the French travel and tourism market will reach $16.55bn in 2022. Nigeria’s travel and tourism industry, which saw significant losses from the Covid-19 pandemic but managed to keep domestic tourism afloat, could use such a boost.

Source: Breaking Travel News

National carrier Kenya Airways PLC (KQ) has released its Half Year financial results for the six months ending June 2022 at a virtual investor briefing held this morning. The Group’s total revenue stood at Kshs.48,104 million, recording a 76% increase compared to the same period last year. This increase is mainly attributed to a significant growth in passenger revenue which grew by 109%, and cargo revenue which increased by 18%.

During the first half of 2022, operations were positively impacted by pent-up demand and the removal of travel restrictions, resulting in a strong and sustained recovery in trading performance compared to a similar period in the prior year.

KQ uplifted a total of 1.61 million passengers during the period, an 85% improvement compared to the prior year’s 0.87 million passengers. This, however, remains 33% lower than the pre-pandemic period of 2019. Cargo tonnage increased by 39% compared to the same period in 2021, demonstrating continuous outstanding growth in air freight services.

Kenya Airways Board Chairman Michael Joseph said, “The opening of borders worldwide has led to quick rebounds in some key markets. Lingering travel restrictions in some markets have limited the recovery. It is also important to note that these results were further affected by the high price of aviation fuel which is over 65% more than last year. If we adjusted for the fuel price spike, the
operating profit for the period would have been Kshs1.5B.”

The International Air Transport Association is confident global airline passenger numbers will reach 83% of pre-pandemic figures in 2022, and the aviation industry’s recovery to profitability will be within sight despite ongoing uncertainties. Strong demand, lifting travel restrictions in most markets, low unemployment in most countries, and expanded personal savings are fuelling a resurgence in
demand that will see industry revenues reach USD782 billion, an increase of 54.5% year-on-year and representing 93.3% of 2019 levels.

Kenya Airways Group Managing Director and CEO Allan Kilavuka said, “The industry is experiencing recovery. Our focus is to ensure that we strengthen our operational resilience through innovation and diversification to deliver great and reliable services to our customers. We have transformed the airline during the pandemic, enabling us to emerge with renewed strength, underpinned by a product, network and service that customers value.”

Source: TravelDailyNews

Dubai’s Emirates will suspend flights to Nigeria from next month over an inability to repatriate funds from Africa’s most populous nation, the airline said on Thursday.

The decision highlights the difficulties faced by international carriers that fly to Nigeria, which is one of the biggest markets in Africa for several of them.

The country has restricted access to foreign currency for imports and for investors seeking to repatriate their profits due to a shortage of dollars. Nigeria gets about 90% of its foreign exchange from oil but is struggling to produce due to pipeline theft and years of under-investment.

The International Air Transport Association said in June Nigeria was withholding $450 million in revenue that international carriers operating in the country had earned. read more

Emirates said it had made no progress in efforts to initiate dialogue with the relevant authorities for their urgent intervention.

“Therefore, Emirates has taken the difficult decision to suspend all flights to and from Nigeria, effective 1 September 2022, to limit further losses and impact on our operational costs that continue to accumulate in the market,” it said in a statement.

A Federal Ministry of Aviation spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Emirates had earlier sent a letter to the government saying it could cut flights to Lagos this month because it could not get $85 million stuck in the country as of July, a figure that had been rising by $10 million per month. read more

Emirates said it would re-evaluate its decision if the situation over the blocked funds changed in the coming days.

Affected customers would be helped to make alternative travel arrangements where possible, it added.

Source: Reuters

London Heathrow claims the cap on passenger numbers has helped the airport to weather the travel disruptions, according to the airport’s July 2022 traffic report. 

“The cap on departing passenger numbers has delivered improvements to passenger experience, with fewer last minute flight cancellations, better aircraft punctuality and baggage delivery,” the airport outlined in the report.  

After weeks of travel disruption, with passengers waiting in long queues at airports, Heathrow introduced the cap on passenger numbers on July 12, 2022, with a rule to handle no more than 100,000 departing passengers a day until September 11, 2022.   

Consequently, Heathrow received criticism from several airlines across the world because carriers were forced to reduce the number of flights to the UK’s largest airport during the busy summer period. 

However, Heathrow Airport has hit back at airlines for failing to attract ground staff to work at airports due to low wages, explaining that ground handling staff “do not work for the airport itself and are independent businesses contracted to airlines”.  

“For months ground handling companies have been trying to recruit and train skilled workers, but if their airline customers aren’t willing to pay market rates, then they aren’t able to fill the posts,” Heathrow’s Chief of Staff and Carbon, Nigel Milton said in a statement date July 21, 2022.  

In July 2022, the airport accommodated more than 6 million people. Looking ahead, Heathrow forecasts a total of 16 million passengers will travel through the airport between July and August 2022. 

Read Also: The UK Launches A 22 Point Plan To Tackle Air Travel Disruption

Source: Aerotime Hub