Wataniya Airways Full service luxury airline
Kuwait, 19th November 2008: Full service luxury airline Wataniya Airways guests will soon enjoy attractive and practical entertainment options in addition to a new level of style and comfort when the airline begins flying its new Airbus A320 aircraft from January 2009.
The airline announced it will be the first in the region to install cutting edge technology on board its new luxury aeroplanes that will provide travellers with unparalleled choice for in-flight entertainment and special facilities that will appeal to both leisure and business guests.
“It’s quite revolutionary,” says George Cooper, CEO of Wataniya Airways “Our aim is to provide our guests with a pre-eminent luxury travel experience. The arrival of the new A320 aircraft provides the perfect opportunity to pioneer a new era in cabin design and services. People spend a lot of time travelling so it’s important they have entertainment options that are similar or superior to that which they have at home. We are proud to be one of the first airlines in the region to provide such comfort, style and service.”
First Class travellers will enjoy access to video on demand where they can watch, rewind and pause a full array of programmes and TV shows from around the world, at their leisure. The very latest news, weather forecasts and key destination information will also be available to them, all at the touch of a button. Their own personal entertainment selection can then be viewed on an in-seat 10.6 inch high resolution monitor, which is far larger than screens found on a typical A320 aircraft, creating an outstanding personal home theatre experience.
The new aircraft’s technology will allow guests sitting in First Class to enjoy additional features by allowing them to plug their iPods (or similar MP3 devices) directly into sockets located in their seat. And for the first time ever in the region, busy travellers can send and receive SMSs and emails on their mobile phones and Blackberries using OnAir innovative technology. The ability to use and recharge personal communications devices, including laptops, on Wataniya Airways planes will be an added value to business and leisure travellers.
“We are extremely proud to be one of the first airlines in the region to feature the technology that allows passengers to stay connected via text messages and emails whilst in the air. This is a significant milestone which will ensure our valued guests can continue with their busy lives, all from the comfort of our aircraft.” said Mr Cooper.
Wataniya Airways new fleet will also be fitted with ergonomically crafted Recaro leather seating in their First and Premium Economy classes. German-based Recaro provides the ultimate in comfort, and is generally reserved for high-end luxury sports cars lines like Porsche, Ferrari and Lamborghini. The airline has previously announced that leg room on its planes will far exceed that found on other carriers and the luxurious design of the seating will augment the overall level of in-flight comfort.
“We wanted to put our passengers in the front seat of luxury and comfort and now we are doing that quite literally with Recaro and our in-flight entertainment system,” Mr Cooper added.
Airline Insurance Prices May Rise About 20% This Year
Airline insurers may increase average prices by about 20 percent this year as 2009 “looks set to be the most expensive year” in recent history, according to Aon Corp., which cited industry losses in June.
Overall losses so far this year climbed to $1.66 billion, compared with $798 million in the same period last year, Aon said in a report today. Insurers need to increase rates on average by about 24 percent this year to meet suggested capacity needs, Aon said.
“With claims levels for 2009 already above the long-term average for the year, the case for higher prices in the airline insurance market appears to be pretty much unarguable,” Chicago-based Aon, the biggest insurance broker, said.
Airline insurance premiums rose after the September 2001 terrorist attacks in New York and have declined in more recent years as claims fell and the industry’s capacity grew.
In 2006 and 2007, insurance prices declined more than 10 percent each year after the “safe years” of 2002 through 2006, when claims were below the long-term average and the capacity was at a high level, Aon said.
July was the second straight month in which the average price for aircraft and liability premiums rose 20 percent, the insurer said.
Air France, Yemenia
Aon’s report cited losses in June, which included crashes by Air France and Yemenia Airways Inc. The Air France flight went into the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, killing all 228 people aboard. The Yemenia plane crashed in the Indian Ocean on June 30, killing 152 of 153 people aboard.
The Yemenia and Air France losses will contribute to what may be the second-most expensive month for the airline-insurance industry after September 2001, Aon wrote in a report dated July 6.
Paris-based Axa SA is the lead insurer of the Air France flight. Also providing coverage was Germany’s Allianz SE, American International Group Inc., PartnerRe Ltd.,Ace Ltd. and Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers Ltd., the firm backed by carriers including Munich Re, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Tokio Marine Holdings Inc. ,
Ace is the lead insurer for the Yemenia plane, according to Insurance Insider.
The Air France flight may be the most expensive in insurance losses since November 2001, when a flight from AMR Corp.’s American Airlines crashed in Queens, New York, killing 265 people and costing about $600 million, according to Stephen Riley, executive director of Global Aerospace.
Aon also reported on an Aug. 4 crash in Thailand, in which a Bangkok Airways plane skidded into a former airport control tower. The pilot may be the only person who died of the 72 people on the aircraft, which is valued at $15 million, Aon said.
US Airways, Delta Lead Traffic Decline on Storm Cancellations
US Airways Group Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. led the six largest U.S. carriers to a 1.7 percent drop in February traffic as storms caused thousands of flight cancellations.
US Airways had the widest traffic decline at 4.7 percent, and said the storms reduced its revenue by about $30 million last month. UAL Corp.’s United Airlines said yesterday its traffic slid 0.5 percent in that time, and that the storms lowered revenue by $40 million.
US Airways, Delta Air Lines, Continental Airlines Inc. and other big carriers scrubbed a total of at least 20,000 flights in February because of storms, according to figures provided by the airlines. Those cancellations will cost the group at least $100 million in lost revenue, estimates Helane Becker, an analyst at Jesup & Lamont in New York.
“That won’t derail the recovery at all,” Becker said. “The underlying business was still fairly strong for February.” Traffic for the group rose in January for the first time since May 2008 in a sign travel demand is starting to grow.
Continental said its revenue for each passenger flown a mile increased 7.5 percent to 8.5 percent last month, exceeding the 4 percent to 5 percent projection of Michael Linenberg, an analyst at Deutsche Bank in New York. Scrubbing flights and booking passengers on other planes resulted in a 1 percentage point gain in unit revenue for the month, Continental said.
Airlines canceled about 6,000 flights on Feb. 10, representing 12 percent of all scheduled trips in the U.S. that day, as the Washington area received more than 10 inches of snow that forced both Dulles and Reagan National airports to close. Thousands more were canceled in the days before and after.
The group scrubbed at least 5,000 flights in early February during separate storms in Chicago and Washington, and other bad weather in the Southeast at the end of the month forced airlines to cancel at least 1,500 flights.
The following table shows the largest U.S. airlines, ranked by traffic, and their February gain or decline in miles flown by paying passengers on main jet operations compared with a year earlier. The figures are from the carriers’ reports.
Source : businessweek.com
Airlines Company Services : Private Jets and Air Charter To Develop Services
Dallas SEO Company has been retained by Air Compair to handle its internet marketing. The leading air charter services firm, Air Compair, with its unique membership based discount model, is determined to become the leading online destination for private jets and air corporate travel.
Air Compair, the country’s leading membership-based private jets and air charter services, has hired SEO 1 Services to position the company as a leader in online air charter travel. Air Compair allows its members to find charter flights in 41 states across the country, making an easy-to-navigate, user-friendly website an indispensable part of Air Compair’s internet marketing strategy. By creating a first-class customer/company interface, SEO 1 Services is prepared to help Air Compair experience continued success in the private jets booking industry.
Unlike traditional air charter brokers, Air Compair is a membership-based service. This allows members to avoid high broker fees, which is of particular interest to corporate travelers who find membership-based air charter necessary in their pursuit to avoid rising commercial airline costs and increased wait times in airports. Since much of Air Compair’s business comes from travellers searching the internet for an air charter service, Air Compair felt it prudent to partner with a leading internet marketing firm.
We offer a unique opportunity for corporate travelers and others who desire charter travel, so we really needed a way to put our name out there for potential customers. SEO 1 Services has the expertise we were looking for in our quest to increase business and enhance customer relations, says Mike Scaminaci, Air Compair’s CEO
SEO 1 Services specializes in organic search engine optimization (SEO) strategies, which is exactly what Air Compair needed to increase visibility among those searching for a low-cost, reliable way to charter aircraft.
While many online businesses choose to use Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, SEM is a long-term strategy that focuses on a creating global visibility to potential customers. Air Compair executives are confident that this strategy will increase revenues and attract newcomers to the concept of membership-based air charter services.
British Airways Cabin Crew Launches Second Wave Strike
British Airways cabin crew launched a four-day strike on Saturday, the second wave of action in a week as part of a bitter, long-running dispute over pay and conditions.
BA has pledged that more than three-quarters of its passengers — or over 180,000 out of 240,000 — will still be able to travel as planned during the walkout, which follows a similar three-day action last week.
A further 18 percent of customers have been rebooked with other airlines, or have switched their travel dates to avoid the strike period, it said.
BA chief executive Willie Walsh, who insists the company could fold in a decade unless the changes he wants take place, said the “vast majority” of staff were “pulling together to serve our customers and keep our flag flying”.
“At the same time, I feel really sorry for those customers whose plans have been ruined by the Unite union’s completely unjustified action,” he added.
Amid growing hostility between BA and Unite, the trade union which represents BA’s 12,000 cabin crew, the union claimed the cost to the airline would be 100 million pounds (111 million euros, 149 million US dollars).
By contrast, BA said Monday that a three-day walkout from last Saturday would cost seven million pounds a day and that an assessment of the cost of the full seven-day action could only be made after it was finished.
Talks between the two sides broke down eight days ago, on the eve of the first strikes.
In a letter to The Guardian newspaper Friday, 116 industrial relations experts from universities across Britain accused Walsh of trying to break Unite.
They said he had withdrawn an offer which could have prevented the strikes and noted he had used other airlines — including budget carrier Ryanair — to help carry passengers and undermine the effectiveness of the action.
BA has also axed highly-prized travel discounts for striking workers.
“It is clear to us that the actions of the chief executive of British Airways… are explicable only by the desire to break the union which represents the cabin crew,” the academics’ letter read.
BA denies this, and in an interview with the Daily Telegraph Saturday, Walsh said the reforms he wanted were vital to the company’s survival.
“We are trying to transform the way we operate because the industry is changing and the economic conditions have changed so radically that we’ve got to change,” Walsh said.
“We’re doing this to make sure BA still exists in 10 years. If we don’t do this, BA won’t exist in 10 years.”
The airline is hoping to fly a full schedule from London’s City and Gatwick airports during the strikes and at Heathrow will operate 70 percent of long-haul and 55 percent of short-haul flights.
A BA spokesman said around 0900 GMT on Saturday that cabin crew were reporting as normal at Gatwick and there were enough staff at Heathrow to operate their published schedule.
However, Heathrow passenger John Cawley from Liverpool said he would never fly with BA again.
Cawley, 54, was due to fly to the United States with his family from Heathrow but their internal flight was cancelled and they had to spend hundreds of pounds on a hire car to drive to the airport instead.
“We’ll never use BA again, we wouldn’t want to go through all this again,” he said.
BA, which is attempting to merge with Spanish rival Iberia, said last month it expected to notch up a record loss in the current financial year due to weak demand for air travel.
In December, it won a legal battle to prevent a 12-day walkout by cabin crew over Christmas and New Year after a judge ruled that a ballot of staff by Unite was invalid.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has condemned the strike but, just weeks before a general election, faces accusations of a weak response from the Conservatives because Unite is a major donor to Labour.
