Turkish Airlines to launch Flights to Lviv, Ukraine
Posted July 14, 2009 , add a commentTurkish Airlines is to launch flights between
Istanbul in Turkey and Lviv in Ukraine from 27 July 2009.
The new flights to Lviv will operate 3 times a
week on Monday, Thursday and Sunday in both directions.
Flights are scheduled to depart Istanbul at
12:35 and arrive in Lviv at 14:40. The return flight will leave
Lviv at 15:40 to arrive in Istanbul at 17:35.
To celebrate the launch, Turkish Airlines is
offering promotional fares for a month with round trip tickets
available from 99 Euros (without taxes).
Lviv is the airline’s 118th international
destination and the sixth flight point in Ukraine after
Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kiev, Odessa and Simferopol.
Emirates Raises Sin$207,560 at Singapore Derby
Posted , add a commentDubai-based Emirates Airline successfully raised
a record sum of Sin$207,560 for charity this past weekend at the
14th Emirates Singapore Derby – one of Singapore’s most
prestigious horseracing events.
In spite of the challenging economic climate,
Emirates – the long-term title sponsor of the Singapore Derby –
had earlier pledged to raise at least Sin$150,000 for eight
voluntary welfare organisations under the umbrella of the
Community Chest of Singapore.
Richard Jewsbury, Emirates’ Senior Vice
President, Commercial Operations, Far East and Australasia, said,
“Since the 8th Emirates Singapore Derby, we have used the event as
a platform to raise funds for the less fortunate in our society.
To date, Emirates has raised more than Sin$800,000 for the
underprivileged and we want to extend our warmest thanks to our
supportive guests and donors who have made this possible.”
Dr KC Tan, owner of the winning Derby horse
Jolie’s Shinju, donated Sin$100,000 upon his victory. Close to 550
guests at the 14th Emirates Singapore Derby were also encouraged
to play their part for charity by purchasing “Pick and Win”
contest coupons, where each coupon entitled guests to predict the
winning horse in selected races.
In addition, Emirates had earlier sold donation
tables in the hospitality rooms to corporate and private sponsors,
and also received outright donations from corporations and
individuals.
Renowned Singaporean artist Francis Kwok also
created a special painting, titled The Ascension, which was
auctioned for Sin$10,000.
In true Derby tradition, guests came dressed to
impress in their best racing outfits, for a chance to win the
coveted title of “Best Dressed for the Races”.
After several rounds of discussion,
a judging panel comprising publishing director Bridget Hope,
designer Chen Kah Lee and image consultant Audrey Quek voted Ms
Jaylian See the winner of the “Best Dressed to the Races” contest.
Ms See won for herself a pair of Business Class
tickets to Melbourne, courtesy of Emirates, and a special Emirates
Melbourne Cup package, courtesy of the Victoria Racing Club and
Crown Towers Hotel, which includes three nights of accommodation
and a chance to participate in the Cup’s renowned “Fashions on the
Fields” contest.
One lucky guest also won a pair of Business
Class tickets to Dubai, courtesy of Emirates, with a two-night
stay at a top hotel, sponsored by Emirates Holidays, after
correctly predicting the winning horses of the 14th Emirates
Singapore Derby.
BCD Travel Selects Amadeus Agency Manager for EMEA
Posted , add a commentBCD Travel has selected Amadeus to deliver a
single mid-office platform for the Europe, Middle East and Africa
region.
BCD Travel, a travel management company, will
use the Amadeus Agency Manager platform to standardise processes
and technology, reduce costs and improve visibility of business
performance – actions aimed at simplifying and streamling its
clients’ travel programs.
Agency Manager is a global, multi-GDS
mid-office solution that allows TMCs to standardise services,
accounting and reporting functions across a diverse range of
markets.
“Amadeus Agency Manager offers the benefits of a
standard mid-office system across EMEA markets while retaining the
flexibility to handle the specific requirements of the many
countries we do business in,” said Heinz Jennewein, BCD Travel’s
senior vice president of Operations and ICT, EMEA. “Our clients
are increasingly looking for efficiencies and also adopting
multinational approaches to travel management. To support these
client goals, we’re making the investments required to drive
global consistency and business performance. We are positioning
ourselves to serve clients in today’s environment as well as in
the year to come as our industry continues to become more
complex.”
Under the agreement, Agency Manager will be
rolled out in Germany, Czech Republic, Portugal, Denmark, Sweden,
Norway and Finland, in addition to the seven EMEA markets where
BCD Travel already uses the solution.
“We have already seen a significant
improvement in agent productivity and customer service
levels in those markets that have already deployed
Agency Manager,” added Mr Jennewein.
Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre Earns Silver Green Globe Certification
Posted , add a commentThe Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre has
become one of the first venues in the world to earn the
prestigious Green Globe Silver Certification, an achievement that
recognises its environmental leadership in the business events
sector.
The international certification follows a rigorous
audit of the centre’s environmental programs, assessing its overall sustainability policy as well as its compliance
measures and performance.
Centre Chief Executive Ton van
Amerongen said he was extremely proud of the centre’s new silver
certification, which comes only two years after it became
the first venue in Australia and one of the first in the world to
achieve the initial Green Globe benchmark status.
“Over the last six
years we have increased our recycling volumes by 184% a
year and last year we recycled almost 50% of our
exhibition waste stream. In addition, we led the market in such
initiatives as our Green Event Ideas planning brochure, launched
for clients in late 2007,” he said. “To have our efforts
acknowledged with Silver Certification - the highest
level of the Green Globe program - is a fantastic
result.”
Recently the centre signed up for the 18-month New
South Wales Government Sustainability Advantage Program in order
to identify new measures that will help the venue and its clients
work toward a better environment.
BAA Reports UK Airport Traffic for June 2009
Posted , add a commentBAA’s UK airports handled a total of 12.7
million passengers in June 2009, a reduction of 5.9% on the same
month last year.
Despite traffic volumes remaining in decline the
June figures still represent the best underlying group result
since September 2008.
In June 2009, traffic volumes were at
their highest for nine months, setting aside the distortion in
April and March’s figures due to the fact that Easter fell in
April this year and in March in 2008.
Although all key markets were lower in
June than a year earlier, all except the European
Charter market improved on their performance for the
last six months.
Domestic traffic was 8.1% down
in June and European Scheduled by 2.8%. North Atlantic
traffic was 9.4% lower, but other long haul traffic was almost
level with last year at -0.2%.
Of the individual airports, Heathrow
recorded a decline of 3.1%, stronger than the other
airports because of its hub status and the resultant
growth in transfer passengers.
Gatwick was 7.6% down on last year,
Stansted was 11.5% down and Southampton was 7.9% down.
For the third consecutive month,
Edinburgh Airport (+1.4%) recorded growth, while Glasgow
and Aberdeen recorded decreases of 10.9% and 9.8%
respectively.
In total the number of air transport
movements at BAA’s UK airports was 6.3% lower in June.
The decline in cargo activity continued but for the
second month in succession there was a marked shrinkage
in the rate of decrease. This had been 21.8% in April
but was 13.7% in June.