Zahran Falcon

GCAA signs statistics agreement
The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has signed a five-year memorandum of understanding with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) aimed at setting up statistical databases at a national level in the civil aviation sector. The five-year deal is expected to help the GCAA establish an accurate national database in the civil aviation sector which will in turn help decision-making in line with the strategic plan of the authority.
United Arab Emirates: Today

Etihad CEO expects recovery over coming year
James Hogan, CEO of Etihad Airways has said he expects the return of business travel over the coming year. "The signs of recovery are there, with most of our markets - particularly Asia and the Middle East - showing clear signs of improvement across all cabins," Hogan said in a CEO Exchange at the 2010 NBTA Conference and Exposition.
United Arab Emirates: 3 hours, 55 minutes ago

Tenders issued for Medina airport
Saudi Arabia's General Authority of Civil Aviation (Gaca) has invited prequalified firms to submit bids to develop the $1.5bn first phase of Medina airport by December 15, Meed has reported. The authority plans to upgrade and expand the airport to increase its passenger handling capacity to 14 million people a year from the current 3.5 million passengers a year. Further expansion plans involve the construction of a new passenger terminal, the renovation of the existing runway and the possible construction of a second runway. This work will be split across two phases. The project could cost a total of SR9bn ($2.4bn) to develop.
Saudi Arabia: Monday, August 16 - 2010

Queen Alia International Airport traffic increases
Passenger traffic through Jordan's Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA) for the first half of this year grew 17% to 2,445,500 passengers compared to the same period of 2009. During the month of July, passengers travelling through QAIA reached nearly 600,000, beating the previous one-month record of 533,000 passengers set in August 2009.
Jordan: Monday, August 16 - 2010

Jazeera Airways posts Q2 loss
Kuwait's low-cost carrier Jazeera Airways has reported a loss of KD4.7m ($16.41m) in the second quarter, compared to KD1.26m in the year-earlier period, Reuters has reported. The carrier made a loss of KD9.22m in the first half of the year, compared to a loss of KD2.23m in the same period of 2009.
Kuwait: Sunday, August 15 - 2010

Emirates launches extra US flights
Emirates Airline has announced the launch of second daily flights to two US destinations. The carrier will start daily flights to Los Angeles on October 31 and to Houston on November 1 twice a day on Boeing 777 aircraft.
United Arab Emirates: Saturday, August 14 - 2010

UAE air traffic up 11.9%
The UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has said that air traffic in July had been the highest in 2010 with an average of 1,763 movements per day. Last month, aircraft movements rose to 55,000 from 52,000 in June. Dubai ranked first with 24,961 movements. Over-flights were second at 11,924. Abu Dhabi ranked third with 8,045 and Sharjah International Airport ranked fourth with 5,600.
United Arab Emirates: Thursday, August 12 - 2010

Emirates, Etihad up Saudi services
Emirates Airline has said it will add a total of 129 additional services to and from Saudi Arabia across August, September and October. A total of 75 additional flights will operate to and from Jeddah throughout August and September, with Riyadh receiving 54 extra services up until the end of October this year. The Dubai-based carrier operates to four gateways in the kingdom including Jeddah, Riyadh, Dammam. Etihad Airways has announced it will provide additional flights between Abu Dhabi and Jeddah during the Holy month of Ramadan. The extra services to Jeddah will operate until September 12, and build upon the 28 return flights the airline currently operates every week to Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam.
Saudi Arabia: Thursday, August 12 - 2010

Royal Jordanian reports passenger increase
Royal Jordanian reported an increase of 14.6% in the number of passengers the airline had carried in July to 330,000 passengers, marking a 7% growth above target. The Gulf and the Levant region accounted for the largest share of passenger traffic during the month, followed by Europe, North America and the Far East. Seat factor rose five points over the same month last year, and also increased by 2.3 points over the target to reach 79.3%.
Jordan: Wednesday, August 11 - 2010

GCAS signs MEBAA MoU
The Middle East Business Aviation Association (MEBAA) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Gulf Centre for Aviation Studies (GCAS). Through the MoU, GCAS will expand its clients' network, to offer internationally accredited programmes certified by world leaders in aviation training such as JAATO and ACI. Furthermore the centre will have access to all MEBAA's events, trade shows, conferences, exhibitions and seminars.
Middle East: Wednesday, August 11 - 2010

Kuwait Airways privatisation set for March 2011
The legal transfer of Kuwait Airways to a new private shareholding company is scheduled to be completed by March 1, 2011, Meed has reported. The board of directors of the new company, which will have a capital of KD220m ($769m), will be elected by the country's General Assembly. Once the transfer is completed, the public will be invited to subscribe, according to a source closely involved in the transfer. The government plans to appoint the Citigroup, Ernst and Young, and US-based aviation services firm Seabury to handle the privatisation of the carrier. Category: Banking
Kuwait: Tuesday, August 10 - 2010

Qatar increases Egypt flights frequency
Qatar Airways is to expand its operations to Egypt with additional flights to Alexandria and Luxor, commencing over a four week period from August. The additional services will see Qatar Airways operate 21 flights a week to Egypt, with the airline already operating daily to the Egyptian capital, Cairo. Daily services to Alexandria began August 2, while daily flights to Luxor are set to begin September 1. The two routes are operated using Airbus A320 aircraft, which have a total of 144 seats, including 12 seats in first class and 132 in economy class.
Qatar: Tuesday, August 10 - 2010

GMG Airlines to begin Saudi flights
GMG Airlines, a Bangladeshi private carrier, has announced the launch of flights from Dhaka to Jeddah and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The carrier will operate six flights from Dhaka to Jeddah and four from Dhaka to Riyadh. A 767-300 ER Long Range aircraft with a seating capacity of 264 will be deployed for the two routes.
Saudi Arabia: Tuesday, August 10 - 2010