Emirates in 50% Companion Fare Offer to Kenyan Travellers

NAIROBI, KENYA, - 16 September 2014 - Emirates, a global connector of people and places, is offering its Business Class customers flying out of Nairobi, big savings when travelling with a companion to over 30 destinations around the world. The companion fare offer is valid for two passengers travelling together for the entire journey, confirmed on the same booking.

The special fares will apply when booked between September 15^th and October 15^th 2014 for travel between 15^th September 2014 and 31st March 2015, and is available to Business Class passengers travelling from Nairobi to any of the more than 140 Emirates destinations across the globe.

“At Emirates, we are always seeking opportunities to enhance the experiences of our customers and the companion offer is one such initiative. It enables two people, whether friends, colleagues, family members or couples, to enjoy together Emirates award winning hospitality and onboard comfort, making the journey even more special,” said Anita Kongson, Emirates Country Manager for Kenya.

“This special companion fare provides a great opportunity for Emirates’ business and leisure customers to experience the world renowned luxury of Emirates Business Class,” she added.

Passengers on Emirates’ flights from Nairobi can enjoy the award-winning ice inflight entertainment system, which features an unrivalled choice of up to 1,800 channels of the latest blockbuster movies, TV programmes and music from around the world, gourmet cuisine, generous baggage allowance of 40 kg, and the hospitality and service from our multi-national cabin crew .

In addition, Business Class customers also have access to Emirates’ chauffeur drive service at certain airports when booked in advance, a dedicated priority check-in desk, generous and access to our airport lounges. Their Skywards account will also be credited with the full amount of miles with this offer.

The fare quoted will be on a return basis, with a maximum stay of four months. Blackout dates from 11-30 October 2014 apply for travel to Hong Kong and Guangzhou.  Blackout dates also apply for travels between 13-25 December 2014 and 1-15 January 2015. Customers must book this offer through the link www.emirates.com/ke/companionoffer. When booking through a travel agent or local Emirates travel office, the offer must be mentioned at the time of booking.

 

Emirates operates double daily flights between Nairobi and Dubai and onward to more than 140 destinations in 81 countries across six continents, and it’s the world’s largest operator of Boeing 777 and A380 aircraft.

EK 719 departs Dubai International Airport every day at 1045hrs and arrives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 1445hrs. The return flight, EK720, leaves JKIA at 1640hrs and lands in Dubai at 1040hrs.  Second flight EK 721 departs Dubai International Airport every day at 1505hrs and arrives at JKIA at 1905hrs. The return flight, EK722, leaves JKIA at 2250hrs and lands in Dubai at 0450hrs.

Emirates Appoints New Country Manager for Kenya

Nairobi, Kenya – 14 March 2014 – Emirates, a global connector of people and places, has appointed Anita Kongson as the new Country Manager for Kenya. Prior to her new posting, Ms. Kongson was Emirates’ Sales Manager for Switzerland.

With more than 20 years of experience in the aviation industry, Ms. Kongson began her airline career with another carrier in Zurich in 1986, and six years later joined Emirates as a reservations and ticketing agent.

Her career progression in Emirates saw her occupy a series of positions including reservation and ticketing supervisor; reservations and ticketing officer; reservations and sales support manager; and later sales manager Switzerland, a position she held between 1999 and January 2014.   

“I feel very privileged to be given the responsibility by the management to represent Emirates in Kenya. A country endowed not only with some of the most beautiful wildlife game reserves in the world and splendid natural scenery, but also a thriving economy with enormous potential for a leading global airline such as Emirates. Together with my team, I’m excited by the opportunity to further grow our business in this vibrant East African gateway,” she said.     

Congratulating Ms Kongson on her new appointment, Orhan Abbas, Emirates Senior Vice President for Latin America, Central and Southern Africa, said, “We want to thank Anita for her hard work in Switzerland and wish her all the best in her new position as Emirates’ Country Manager for Kenya. I am convinced that with her long-term experience, intercultural competence and her personal commitment, she will continue to build on the success and growth of the company.”

Ms Kongson holds Master’s degree in Global Marketing from the University of Liverpool.

Emirates operates double daily flights between Nairobi and Dubai and onward to more than 140 destinations in 80 countries across six continents.

EK 719 departs Dubai International Airport every day at 1045hrs and arrives at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) at 1445hrs. The return flight, EK720, leaves JKIA at 1640hrs and lands in Dubai at 1040hrs.  Second flight EK 721 departs Dubai International Airport every day at 1505hrs and arrives at JKIA at 1905hrs. The return flight, EK722, leaves JKIA at 2250hrs and lands in Dubai at 0450hrs

Emirates’ travel distribution arm, EmQuest opens office in Kenya

Nairobi: 28 April 2013: EmQuest, travel distribution of Emirates Airline and distributer of Sabre products in the UAE, Africa and the Indian Ocean, further expands its operations across Africa by opening a new office in Nairobi, Kenya, in partnership with Safari Holdings; providing Sabre solutions, sales and services to Kenyan travel agents across the country.

The Sabre Travel Network Kenya office will enable travel agents in Kenya to use Sabre to access a wide range of content, innovative travel solutions and help them manage their customers and grow their business further.

“Our presence in Nairobi demonstrates our significant investment in the African continent which is constantly evolving and is expected to be one of the fastest growing regions in the world in terms of travel and tourism,” said Naz Nizari, Senior Vice-President of EmQuest. “EmQuest is determined to support African growth and be part of the continent’s economic expansion by providing agents across East Africa with an excellent GDS (Global Distribution System) and innovative travel-related services that add value to their business.”
Customers of Sabre will be supported by a local support team, located in the region and benefit from the out-of-hours support provided by EmQuest’s network.

Sabre team led by Nazma Jamal, Managing Director for Sabre East Africa  (4th left) when they met travel agents in Nairobi.

“With the combined support of our partners, dedicated teams and strength of our local infrastructure, we are confident that Sabre operations will grow and prosper across East Africa.  This new expansion reflects our excitement and commitment to expand and explore new dimensions with the agents in this fast-growing region,” said Nazma Jamal, Managing Director for Sabre East Africa, who will be responsible for both the distribution of Sabre and the management of teams in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. 

Agents were able to experience the Sabre products and speak to representatives of EmQuest and Sabre Kenya on Friday, 26 April, at a special industry event called Karibuni Sabre at the Best Western Premier Nairobi.

Sabre enters the market with its award-winning Sabre Red total travel solution, designed for corporate and leisure travel agencies to manage every part of their business. At the heart of this is the Sabre Red Workspace, a highly configurable platform for travel agencies to shop, book and manage travel, while delivering excellent customer service.

Sabre’s new graphical view in the Sabre Red Workspace provides agents the option to shop, book and manage travel in a graphical setting. Using this, agents will be able to book air, car and hotel using format-free, point-and-click functionality, making training on the Sabre system, whether for a novice or seasoned agent, simple and easy. More experienced agents can speed through bookings using both the new graphical view and traditional ’classic view’ format. The company will also launch a range of mobile, social media, business intelligence, travel security, and efficiency tools for agencies.

Committed to the highest standards of excellence, EmQuest, a division of the Emirates Group, is the sole distributer of Sabre products in the United Arab Emirates, increasing its Sabre market share from 14 to 40% in in a three year span. In addition to extending the products to agencies, EmQuest is investing in regional distribution solutions to provide content such as tour holidays, travel insurance, mid-back office solutions and online booking solutions to provide agencies with a single, powerful platform to help serve their clients. EmQuest and Sabre have continuously reinforced their commitment to continuously invest and grow in the Middle East and African markets.
 

Emirates launches as-it-happens television viewing ‘ice TV’

19 February, 2013 – Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, has launched ‘ice TV Live’ as part of its on-going efforts to provide the latest in on-board entertainment. Emirates will now offer up to four channels of as-it-happens television viewing. 

ice TV Live offers passengers four TV channels to select from: BBC World News in English, BBC Arabic, Euronews and, for sports fans, Sport24 - a channel dedicated to major sports events around the world.

A major sponsor of renowned global sporting events, Emirates recognizes the power of sport and its ability to connect people from around the world. A dedicated channel which provides coverage of major sporting events is a key part of the TV channel line-up. February’s Sport24 highlights include English Premier League and Bundesliga football matches. Coverage of more events will be announced soon, but 2013 will feature coverage of the Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open Tennis, ATP Tour Masters 1000 Series, ATP World Tour Finals, US Open Golf, and the British and Irish Lions Tour. In line with this week’s announcement of a five year agreement appointing Emirates as a Global Partner of Formula 1® starting with the imminent 2013 season, ice TV Live will also include coverage of Formula 1; ensuring sports fans on Emirates miss none of the action.

“Installing the type of satellite communication that allows live TV on an aircraft is no easy feat,” explained Adel Al Redha, Emirates Executive Vice-President of Engineering and Operations. “Emirates continues to enhance the features of its inflight entertainment system with its partner Panasonic.” 

The ice TV Live channels will also complement the full range of Emirates entertainment and communications options. Emirates was the first airline to introduce usage of GSM telephone on its aircraft and expanded this to the use of Wi-Fi and now live TV channels. With this latest addition, Emirates now offers Wi-Fi on 32 aircraft including all A380s, plus mobile phone use on 98 Boeing 777, Airbus A330-200, A340-300/500 and A380 aircraft.

Emirates is committed to providing the most connectivity, maximum comfort and most engaging in-flight entertainment in the skies. The ice TV Live news channels enhance Emirates existing live BBC text news headlines introduced in 2003 - which made Emirates the first airline in the world to offer such live news updates.

The new ice TV Live follows an incredible year of Emirates ‘firsts’ for inflight entertainment and communications. In 2012 alone, Emirates introduced touch TV screens similar to that found on tablets, bigger personal TV screens (27-inch in First Class, 20-inch in Business Class and 12.1 inch in Economy Class – with high definition (HD) resolution), and the introduction of mobile phone use for the first time on A380 aircraft.

2013 will build upon Emirates’ reputation for equipment and content innovation. In addition to ice TV Live, mobile phone use and Wi-Fi to Boeing 777s, the entire ice-equipped fleet will see improvements in the first few months of the year that include more music and more types of music than ever before, more Arabic TV and films on-board, the introduction of African movies, and a dedicated CBeebies channel for younger flyers.

Kenyan musicians join the Emirates Global Harmony Campaign

The chakacha fame, Them Mushroom, among the top bands selected by Emirates Airline to promote its new brand platform, Hello Tomorrow

Nairobi: July 25th, 2012: John Katana, the band leader of Them Mushroom of the Jambo Bwana fame, is pressing to the new tune in harmony with the rest of his band members as they move to the beat of Emirates Harmony tune in a YouTube video placed online a few weeks ago- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ReZESnkDs4.

Mr. Katana and his band are among the first participants in the world selected by Emirates to participate in the promotion of its musical composition, harmony. Kenya was among the three countries from Africa selected by Emirates to participate in the harmony Musicals besides Egypt and Morocco. From across the world bands/musicians from Korea, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Germany, India, Spain, among others, participated.

“Emirates is a passionate supporter of music and now, we're taking our passion one step further by inviting music fans to help us create a unique musical journey that will showcase the many and varied destinations we serve. It doesn't matter whether you are a professional musician, a keen amateur or just fancy the opportunity to show what you can do with a couple of saucepans and a wooden spoon, we want you to get involved,” said Emirates Vice President for East Africa Khalid Bel Jaflah.

He continued: “Kenya is one of our key markets in African and it is important that the country makes part of our harmony campaign. We would also like to appreciate the cultural disposition and diversity of this country.”

The airline, which launched its new global brand platform Hello Tomorrow on 2nd April 2012, is aiming to strike a chord with music fans around its network by asking them to help create the ultimate musical mash up.

The Harmony Campaign invites participants to interact with recordings by professional musicians playing traditional instruments from around the world, such as the Celtic harp, Taiko drum, Shekere, Oudht, brass, Indian Flute, bagpipe and other world known musical instrument.

“Emirates connects over 120 destinations around the world, each with its own distinct cultural traditions that are constantly being reshaped and re-interpreted as new ideas and influences come into play. As the bridge between these destinations, Emirates is perfectly placed to bring ideas together; and the goal of our Harmony campaign is to achieve this through music,” said Mr. Jaflah.

Visitors to the Harmony Campaign can browse the various instrumental arrangements and mash them up to create different versions of the score. The overall arrangement of the composition has been designed to ensure that all possible instrumental combinations sound perfect together.

Harmony fans can also add their own talents to the mix by recording themselves performing the score on a webcam or microphone and uploading the video or audio files to the Harmony Gallery. Submissions which impress the Emirates judges will be uploaded on to the airline's dedicated YouTube channel.

Once video or audio files have been uploaded to the Harmony microsite, the sender will receive an email containing a link to the video in the Harmony Gallery. From the Gallery, links to the videos can be easily shared via Facebook, Twitter and email.

Them Mushrooms is a musical band from, playing mostly Chakacha, some Benga and also some reggae. They are most famous for the Swahili song Jambo Bwana. In 2009 bandleader John Katana was among four pioneering Kenyan artists given Head of State Commendation awards by President Mwai Kibaki.

Emirates Seattle, Dallas service to boost Kenya’s tourism

6^th March 2012 – Emirates, one of the world’s fastest growing airlines, has launch flights to between Nairobi and Seattle and Nairobi and Dallas/Fort Worth through its Dubai hub, opening up trade and tourism opportunities between Kenya and the United States. 

EK 221 touched down at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport at 8:45 am local time and received the traditional water cannon salute

With the two services linking Nairobi with United States dynamic and fast-growing cities Emirates’ Seattle and Dallas services are expected to generate a host of economic benefits; from boosting imports and exports to creating new markets for business and tourism.

“These new services are the latest step in Emirates’ strategic programme of expansion across the United States, and we are confident that it will support the burgeoning trade relationships between Kenya, the United Arab Emirates and the United States of America,” said Emirates Regional Manager for East Africa Essa Ahmad Sulaiman.  

He continued: United stated is among the top source markets for Kenya’s tourism sector contributing significantly to the number of visitors to Kenya and we believe that the two new services to Seattle and Dallas will greatly support Kenya’s tourism sector. We also believe that the new services will provide Kenyan and American business and leisure travellers with easy, convenient and flexible connectivity between the two countries.”

Beyond expectations

According to the Kenya Tourism Board the top five source markets for Kenya in 2011 were U.K. with 203,290, U.S. with 119,615, Italy with 96,360, Germany with 68,737 and India with 58,986. The increase in arrivals from the United States exceeded the Board’s 5% standard expected increase per year and solidifies the United States' position as the second-largest inbound tourist market to Kenya after the United Kingdom.

Estimated tourism receipts in 2011 closed at Ksh97.9 billion, an increase of 32.9 percent compared to the Ksh73.7 billion from 2010. Leisure travel represented 71.3 percent of all arrivals. The majority of U.S. travelers (67 percent) reported leisure as their main purpose for travel to Kenya in 2011, while an additional 15 percent traveled to visit friends and relatives.

EK 229 leaves Dubai daily at 0950hrs and arrives at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport at 1310hrs. EK 230 departs Seattle at 1710hrs, arriving in Dubai at 1940hrs the following day.  On Dallas/Fort Worth, Emirates operates a daily service with a Boeing 777 aircraft. EK221 leaves Dubai daily at 0245hrs, arriving at Dallas/Fort Worth at 0905hrs. The return sector, EK 222, leaves Dallas/Fort Worth at 1150hrs, arriving at Dubai International Airport at 1220hrs the following day.

Downtown Seattle

 Emirates’ Dallas/Fort Worth and Seattle service offers a 15-ton freight capacity each and is likely to offer additional import and export capacity between Kenya and the United States.

Kenya is currently the 102^nd largest goods trading partner with the United States valued at $674 million in total. U.S. goods exports to Kenya in 2010 reached USD363 million with the main export commodities including aircraft, machinery, milling, malt, starch, electrical machinery, and special other (low value shipments and repaired products). Kenya’s export to the US mainly constituted knit apparel, woven apparel, spices, coffee, tea, fruit, and edible nuts. 

With a fleet of 169 aircraft, Emirates now flies to 122 destinations, having recently launched Lusaka and Harare. Services to Ho Chi Minh City starts on 4th June and Barcelona joins the Emirates’ network on 3rd July.

Emirates unveils global sales to tackle competition

Customers will now save up to 25 percent on round-trip airfares to destinations across the Emirates network as the airline works to beat global competition

DUBAI – January 4, 2011 – Emirates, one of the world’s fastest-growing international airlines, is celebrating the New Year by offering exceptional discounts on airfares to more than 100 cities, when bookings are made before January 9 2012 for travels between January 22 and June 30 2012.

Emirates customers will now be able to save up to 25 percent off all published First Class, Business Class and Economy Class fares departing between, when travelling round-trip to any destination on Emirates’ extensive global network.

A return Economy Class Business and First Class tickets from Nairobi to Dubai now costs USD428, USD1131, USD2418, respectively. A roundtrip economy ticket from Nairobi now start from USD625 to Istanbul, USD423 to Bahrain, USD591 to Male, USD884 to Houston, USD1006 to Sao Paulo, USD650 to Manila, USD476 to Cochin, USD666 to Bangkok, USD884 to Guangzhou and 770 London.

Speaking in Nairobi when he unveiled the new fares Emirates Regional Manager for East Africa Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said:

“For the first time in Emirates’ history, we are welcoming in the New Year by offering unprecedented savings to our customers. With up to 25 per cent off Economy Class, Business Class and First Class airfares to every destination on our international network, there has never been a better time to experience the award-winning product and on-board service which has made Emirates Airline of the Year in 2011.”

He continued: “Whether your New Year’s resolution is to spend more time with family and friends, visit a dream destination or follow your favourite sports team at a far-flung tournament, our global sale is designed to ensure that Emirates customers enjoy the perfect start to 2012.”

Renowned for its excellence in service and innovation, both on board and on the ground, Emirates holds an array of prestigious awards, including Air Transport World’s 2011 “Airline of the Year” award and the Skytrax World Airline Award for “World's Best Airline Inflight Entertainment,” for the seventh year in a row.

“Our clients can now book online at www.emirates.com and discover gourmet multi-course meals, complimentary wines, dedicated children’s menus and activities, and ice, Emirates’ award winning entertainment system offering more than 1,200 channels of on-demand entertainment at every seat,” added Mr Ahmad.

For more information on Emirates, including how to book and a complete list of terms and conditions, contact your travel agent or visit: www.emirates.com.

Emirates to boost Kenya- France tie

Airline to add five more flights to Paris by end of 2012

Nairobi– 13^th December 2011 – Emirates, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, will add an additional five weekly flights to Paris by the end of 2012. The increase in flights is in direct response to strong passenger demand on the route.

Effective 25th March, the current double-daily Charles de Gaulle service will be supplemented by an additional four frequencies, increasing to five extra weekly flights in the winter 2012 schedule.

Making the announcement in Nairobi, Emirates Regional Manager for East Africa Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said:  “Demand to and from France, particularly from business travellers, is such that a third frequency has always been an objective for Emirates. With these additional services, we will help to satisfy that demand, while providing more opportunities for travel between Nairobi and Paris through our Dubai hub.” 

The announcement comes as good news as Kenya seeks to strengthen trade and social ties with France. Kenya is France’s first economic partner in East Africa and trade between the two countries are expected to grow.

According to the Kenya’s Ministry of Trade, trade between Kenya and France reached nearly €240 million during the first three quarters of 2011. According to the Quai d'Orsay, France imported Kenyan products, mainly food, tea, coffee and tropical fruits, to the tune of nearly €70 million and exported to Kenya pharmaceutical formulation products, cables and equipment worth €170 million. 

“The additional flights will also boost our cargo capacity to France and to other countries within the European Union, which is the main export markets for cut flowers from Kenya. France is one of the main European markets in addition to Germany, Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Italy, and Switzerland,” said Mr Ahmad.

On social front, Kenya has also signed an agreement of co-operation with France where the two countries are expected to promote co-production of films that focus on common interest and favour involvement of individuals and companies whose activities are linked to the film industry. The deal also allows for cross participation of national works in festivals and cinema events organised in both countries and ensure that the parties contribute to the collection of film materials that enhance national film collections of the two countries.

France became part of the Emirates’ route network in 1992 and now two gateways are served; Paris and Nice. The additional five frequencies, taking the total number of Emirates’ weekly flights to Paris to 19, will be operated with a 777-300ER. The aircraft offers eight First Class Private Suites, 42 lie-flat beds in Business Class and a spacious cabin in Economy Class with 310 seats.

The four extra flights from March will operate on a Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. The new EK 071 will depart Dubai at 0355hrs and arrive in the French capital at 0905hrs. The return flight, EK072, leaves Paris at 1110hrs to land in Dubai at 1940hrs. Effective 30 October 2012, EK071 and EK 072 will also operate on a Tuesday.

Throughout all cabin classes, passengers can enjoy the latest version of the airline’s multi award-winning ice entertainment system, which brings over 1,200 channels of movies, TV shows and music, including French language content. 

Head of Emirates Group IT Wins CIO of the Decade Award

Patrick Naef scoops CIO of the Decade in the category of International Orientation.

DUBAI, UAE – 24 OCTOBER 2011 – Divisional Senior Vice President IT for The Emirates Group and Head of Mercator, Patrick Naef, has been named Chief Information Officer of the Decade by CIO, Europe’s leading IT magazine for Chief Information Officers and top business executives. Presented at a ceremony held recently in Cologne, Germany, Patrick won in the category of ‘International Orientation’ and was identified as being among the world’s best CIOs by a jury of 70 experts from leading academics and industry practitioners.

As Head of IT for The Emirates Group (comprising Emirates Airline, dnata and more than 50 Group subsidiaries operating across the international aviation, travel, tourism and leisure industries), Patrick Naef is responsible for the team providing business technology solutions and systems which support the daily global operations and future growth plans of  the Emirates Group - an international conglomerate employing more than 57,000 people and generating annual revenues in excess of US$15.6 billion.

Standing alongside other industry greats including  Audi’s CIO Klaus Straub and Guss Deckers CIO for Airbus, the award honours Patrick’s visionary style, solid leadership abilities, and gives recognition to his 2,000-strong Dubai-based IT team. Patrick has exhibited world-class IT leadership at the Emirates Group by simplifying IT platforms, streamlining applications, reducing costs, and delivering world-class services. Headquartered in Dubai, the Group and its subsidiaries are active in many locations worldwide and Emirates flies to more than 100 destinations in over 60 countries.

“This award is testimony to the great achievements of our people, not only in IT but in other departments across the Group. Together our IT team aspires to achieve operational excellence, high performance, and technology value delivery in relentless pursuit of enhanced business results,” commented Mr.Naef. “I feel honoured to be recognised amongst a stellar group of finalists and previous winners who have made a significant impact in their role of Chief Information Officer, in managing their company’s enterprise-wide information systems. These are the born leaders who illustrate the growing significance of the CIO role and the impact it has within their organizations and to the international industry as a whole.”

Emirates announces discounted fares across its network

Nairobi: September 09, 2011: Emirates, the world’s fastest growing international airline, has announced special fares to several destinations including Europe, the Americas, Indian Sub Continent, Middle East and Australasia.

Effectively, the airline has reduced its fares by up to 49 per cent as it seeks to strengthen its position in the Kenyan market. 

Unveiling the new fares, Emirates Regional Manager for East Africa Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said the offer was part of the airline’s endeavour to bring the best in travel options to its passengers travelling to any of Emirates’ 114 destinations.  

“We are happy to announce the new set of fares that will enable Kenyans travelling on Emirates flights a considerable percentage off fares.  At Emirates we are committed to making travel as attractive and affordable as possible for our passengers and we have included some of our most popular destinations in this promotion,” he said. 

Emirates' special fares destinations include: Mumbai from $600, Istanbul from $615 and Geneva, Zurich and Paris from $710.  Other destinations included Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Auckland and Christ Church city from $2290; Guangzhou, Hong Kong AND Shanghai from $999; Tokyo, Osaka and Seoul from $2090; Los Angeles, Houston, Toronto and Sao Paulo from $1590; New York City from $1200; Bangkok from $890; and London from $790.   

All prices quoted are for return fares and can be purchased from Emirates sales offices or through authorized travel agents until 30 September 2011 for travels through December 31.

At the same time, Emirates has announced an increase to its free baggage allowances provided to passengers - up to 30 percent extra for economy class fliers. The change is effective for all tickets issued on or after May 4. 

The new allowance has been implemented across the airline's network of 114 destinations globally with Economy Class passengers now being able to check in 30kg of luggage before being charged, an increase of 10kg. Similar increases have seen the limits raised to 40kg for Business and 50kg for First.

“By discounting our fares and increasing our baggage allowances, Emirates is demonstrating its investment in the total passenger experience and is ensuring that it is the airline of choice for all,” said Ahmad.

 
More information on the promotions, terms and conditions can be found by visiting the local Emirates sales office, or online at www.emirates.com/kenya. 

Emirates to launches A380 to Rome

 Nairobi- 27th July 2011 – Emirates, one of the fastest growing airlines in the world, has announced the historic capital city of Rome as the next destinations slated for its flagship A380 aircraft. The daily A380 services will start 1st December 2011.

The announcement of Emirates’ first permanent scheduled A380 service to Italy comes on the back of its momentous June 6th landing at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport to mark the celebrations for its 50th anniversary, while commemorating 150 years of Italian unification.

Making the announcement in Nairobi, Emirates’ Regional Manager for East Africa Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said the launch of Emirates A380 service to Italy will improve economic ties between Kenya and Italy

“In addition to underscores our commitment to Italy, the permanent service of the Emirates’ A380 to Rome, will improve trade and between Nairobi and Rome. The new A380 service improves the capacity in terms of passengers and cargo loads and enhances connectivity between the two cities,” said Mr Ahmad.


Currently, there exists a trade gap deficit between Kenya and Italy, hugely in favour of the later. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, Kenya’s imports from Italy amounted to Kesh13.88 in 2009 against Ksh2.4 billion worth of exports to Italy during the same period.


“Rome is currently served twice daily by Emirates. Coupled with a double daily service to Milan and a daily flight to Venice, our weekly flights to Italy now stand at 35. This is brings convenience to both businessmen wishing to trade with Italy or leisure travelers and pilgrims visiting Italy,” Mr Ahmad said.

The A380 service will operate daily as EK 97, departing Dubai at 0910hrs (local time) and arriving at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport at 1235hrs (local). The return flight, EK 98, departs Rome at 1435hrs (local) and arrives in Dubai at 2305hrs (local). The arrival time of the A380 in Dubai will allow passengers from Italy to connect to its extensive network of destinations in the Far East.

With 15 A380s currently in its fleet, Emirates is the largest operator of the environmentally friendly double-decker aircraft, operating services from Dubai to London Heathrow (double-daily), Manchester, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Toronto, Seoul, Bangkok, Beijing, Shanghai, Jeddah, New York, Hong Kong, Sydney and Auckland.

From 1st October 2011, the A380 will begin serving Johannesburg, followed by Kuala Lumpur as of 1st December and then from 1st January 2012, the A380 will be deployed on the Munich route.

So far in 2011, Emirates has launched passenger flights to Basra and Geneva. Services to Copenhagen will commence on 1st August and St Petersburg will be launched on 1st November, followed by Baghdad on 13th November, and Rio and Buenos Aires in January 2012.

Emirates' in-flight entertainment named as world's best

Emirates ice system wins Skytrax Award for the seventh year


July, 12 2011 – For the seventh year in a row, Emirates Airline’s ‘ice’ inflight entertainment system has been awarded the ‘World's Best Airline Inflight Entertainment’ award at the 2011 Skytrax World Airline Awards. The awards are based on voting by over 18.8 million airline passengers from 100 different nationalities.

Inflight Entertainment (IFE) has become a key competitive benchmark for airlines worldwide. Emirates has maintained its industry-leading position by continuously investing in and expanding its entertainment offering; resulting in an incredible range of movies, television and music from around the world.

Emirates latest IFE system, ice Digital Widescreen (‘ice’ stands for information, communications and entertainment), offers a staggering choice of over 1200 channels of entertainment, including over 280 movies from around the world, hundreds of TV choices and thousands of music tracks from contemporary to classical.

As well as investing in the latest entertainment content and newest systems, Emirates has recently finished upgrading the hardware on its existing A330-200 and A340-300 fleets to a new digital IFE system; bringing ice to every seat in Emirates First Class and Emirates Business Class - a considerable investment in equipment at time when many airlines are easing back on significant product improvements. Furthermore, Emirates now has over 90 aircraft equipped with AeroMobile, which allows mobile phone use inflight, and will soon roll out A380 aircraft equipped with WiFi internet connection.

“As a global airline serving 113 destinations on five continents, our passengers are as diverse and unique as our routes. Emirates strives to make our service the most comfortable and entertaining in the world. This year’s Skytrax ‘World's Best Airline Inflight Entertainment’ award once again underlines our relentless commitment to providing the best inflight entertainment in the air – offering more content, in more languages and ultimately more choice, than ever before,” said Patrick Brannelly, Emirates’ Vice President Corporate Communications Product.

“We are proud to have our efforts recognized once again and we can assure our passengers that we won’t be resting on our laurels at all; we’ll be working harder than ever to make sure that our passengers continue to have the best entertainment experience in the air.”

"Emirates seems to have a very firm grip on this title, having been named the winner of world's Best Airline Inflight Entertainment Award for many successive years," said Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax. "With the increased level of competition amongst airlines to deliver the best standards of inflight entertainment, it is an even greater achievement for Emirates that they can stay at the No 1 spot again in 2011."


A great example of what passengers can experience from inflight entertainment on Emirates is the incredible August line-up; featuring 50 newly-acquired movies from Hollywood, Bollywood and beyond. Emirates will be the first airline showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which complements an extensive film library available on ice.

Families travelling with children will be spoilt for choice in August as ice will offer over 25 kids movies; including up to 18 Disney Classics and 10 new release movies for younger viewers. Children can also enjoy up to 30 hours of TV programmes ranging from pre-school favourites, the Wiggles, to BBC Cbeebies sensation Rastamouse and Cartoon Network hits.

Emirates' award-winning ice system provides more than 1200 channels on-demand, with a wide selection of entertainment for children and adults.

Emirates Launches Mobile Boarding Pass Service

Nairobi - 07 June, 2011 - Making travel even more efficient, Emirates now offers customers the option of receiving a mobile boarding pass on their internet-enabled mobile device – providing customers with a stress-free, paperless travel experience. 

 The service is available to all passengers who utilize Emirates’ online check-in facility out of Dubai up to 24 hours in advance. Passengers can log on to www.emirates.com, and can choose to receive a web-link to their mobile boarding pass by email or SMS, that displays a barcoded boarding pass on their internet-enabled phone.

“The launch of Emirates’ mobile boarding pass not only supports paperless travel and the reduction of paper waste, but also meets the demands of a new era of travellers, who seek a more sophisticated and efficient means of managing their business and leisure travel,” said Mohammed H Mattar - Divisional Senior Vice President Airport Services, Emirates.

 He continued: “The mobile boarding pass puts flexibility and control completely in the hands of our customers, while making a small step towards reducing our environmental impact.”  

The mobile boarding pass can be scanned and read directly at all check-in counters, airport security check points, Dubai immigration, Emirates First Class and Business Class lounges, and boarding gates. The service allows customers to keep all their travel information in one place, while also safe guarding the environment through paperless travel.  

In the first year of implementation, it is estimated that the use of mobile boarding passes alone will save a minimum of 550 kilograms of paper. Across the Emirates Group, over 3.6 million kilograms of paper and cardboard have been recycled in the financial year 2010 - 11.  

Following the launch in Dubai, over 30 other mobile boarding pass compliant airports, have been identified for implementation across the Emirates network.  

The launch of the mobile boarding pass services follows the launch of Emirates mobile booking services in mid 2010. Designed to work with over 3000 mobile devices, Mobile Emirates.com has been optimized to ensure that customers on the move can easily and efficiently access the emirates.com website, through their mobile phones.  

“Consumers are far more mobile than ever before. There is a constant need for products and services to cater to the fast paced lifestyle that today’s individuals lead, people want it here and now, without exception,” Essa Sulaiman Ahmad, Emirates Regional Manager for East Africa said of Emirates mobile booking and boarding services.  

The new sophisticated functionality ensures that the Emirates website is downloaded in the appropriate format for each specific mobile device, allowing customers to perform a multitude of tasks including; booking and managing a flight, mobile check-in, searching flight schedules and status and even checking the in-flight amenities available on a specific flight. Once they log on to www.emirates.com they will be automatically redirected to the mobile optimized version of the website.