May 2011

Emirates marks first A380 flight to Shanghai

Emirates’ has recently launched their Airbus A380 service to Shanghai Pudong International Airport.  Flight EK302 from Dubai marks the airline's third destination in China for Emirates’ A380, following services to Beijing and Hong Kong.  In 2005, Emirates traffic to China was 159,000 passengers and there were 11 Chinese registered businesses in Dubai.  Today there are over 2,500 Chinese businesses registered in Dubai and UAE trade with China is projected grow from $30bn in 2010 to $100bn by 2015.

Starwood’s Sheraton brand is to invest over US$100 million in upgrading 120 of its club lounges worldwide, including properties in Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Toronto and Buenos Aires.  The upgrade programme - which co-incides with club lounge opening hours being extended to seven days per week at all Sheraton hotels worldwide – is the final part of a US$6 billion “revitalisation effort” across the brand.  Starwood says that its lounges are rated by SPG members as one of the top two benefits of staying at a Sheraton property.

Boeing has taken the next step towards the delivery of its long-awaited 787 Dreamliner aircraft, with the start of pilot training. Ten pilots from launch airline All Nippon Airways have begun simulator training in Seattle and Tokyo.  The first delivery of the Boeing 787 to ANA is due to take place in the third quarter of this year, some four years behind the original schedule. Production of Boeing’s next generation aircraft has been beset with difficulties, with a fire caused by an electrical fault last year the latest to cause a delay on the delivery date.

Jumeirah Group has launched a restaurant reservations booking tool on Facebook.  Diners can now search for Jumeirah restaurants in Dubai, London and New York by location or cuisine, view all details of the restaurant and reserve a table, all from their own Facebook page.  Both the restaurant and the room reservations tabs are now live on all Jumeirah Facebook pages, from the individual hotels to the group’s main page, and all are fully compatible with mobile phones.

Finnair will add an additional five flights per week to its existing daily service between Helsinki and Hong Kong, on the same day that it commences flights to Singapore.  The additional Hong Kong services will operate between May 30 and October 9, meaning Finnair will offer a total of 12 flights per week over the summer period.