THE Emirates Group has recorded an 86% rise in revenue this financial year versus 2020/21, reaching AED 66.2 billion (A$26 billion), according to figures in the airline group’s Annual Report.

Emirates Airline reported revenue up by 91%, with the overall group’s financial result for the 12 months to 31 Mar coming in at a AED 278m (A$109m) loss.

The airline tripled the number of passengers it transported this year to 19.6 million passengers, up from 6.6 million last year, while its cargo division also performed strongly, accounting for 37% of EK’s total revenue.

EK was operating over 1,100 weekly passenger flights to 127 airports around the world by the end of the last month, with its full Boeing 777 fleet and over half of its A380s in active service.

The airline took delivery of five new A380 aircraft over the year, and added a new destination, Miami, United States, to its route network in Jul.

Other highlights this past year for the airline include reactivation of strategic partnerships with Qantas and flydubai, and new agreements with a number of tourism organisations.

Looking at the year ahead, EK plans to undertake a major retrofit programme starting Nov, to equip 120 of its existing 777 and A380 aircraft with its latest cabin class plus updated interiors.

Emirates Airline & Group Chairman and Chief Executive HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said the 2021-22 FY was “largely about recovery”, and expects the Group to return to profitability next year.

Maktoum believes EK is “well positioned to play [its] role in contributing to economic growth, facilitating global engagement, and making a positive impact on people and communities”.

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Source: traveldaily

THE world’s largest and first-ever airline alliance, Star Alliance, formally celebrated its 25th anniversary last Sat, 14 May.

To commemorate the birthday, Star Alliance has unveiled a number of innovations, including a new credit card, which will enable passengers to redeem points across all 26 member carriers when it launches shortly.

Star Alliance has also unveiled a new model which will see it work with non-airline partners, an expansion of its Digital Connection Service across Europe, the rollout of its biometrics platform, the ability to reserve seats and track baggage locations on codeshare flights & multi-carrier journeys, and more.

“We reflect on the successes of Star Alliance in uniting the leading global airlines, with an eye firmly focused on a future where the customer continues to be at the heart of our work and our global network,” said Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Goh.

“I am very excited for the innovations led by Star Alliance and our member carriers as we aim to be the most digitally advanced airline alliance offering seamless travel experiences with a unique loyalty proposition”.

Star Alliance is also marking its 25th anniversary with a new tagline: “Together. Better. Connected”.

“We have defined the way the Earth connects for years, and now more than ever, is the time to enable technology to provide seamless journeys and delight the loyal customers of our member carriers,” Goh added.

A video showcasing the milestone is at traveldaily.com.au/videos.

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Source: traveldaily

FIJI Airways Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Andre Viljoen told Travel Daily if it wasn’t for the airline’s new Aviation Academy, there is no way it would have been able to restart its international network late last year (TD 01 Dec 2021).

Speaking at last week’s Fijian Tourism Expo, Viljoen credited the fully integrated training centre Fiji Airways developed during the pandemic as the key reason the airline is now able to operate international flights such as its four services to Australia as well as its popular Los Angeles-Nadi frequencies.

Without the Academy, Fiji would unlikely have been able to relaunch the new Nadi-Adelaide route, which was announced at FTE to much fanfare (TD 13 May).

“We would have now been running around the world trying to get our pilots,” Viljoen explained, adding “we made sure we used the time you would never usually have during COVID to do all the upgrades, and today we see the benefit.”

Offering required regulatory biannual training for airline pilots, as well as a range of model-specific aircraft training, the Academy has delivered an incredible amount of cost-efficiency to FJ, Viljoen explained.

“When we looked at justifying the business case setting up a centre, it was a no-brainer.

“We started doing the math and said wait a minute, this will pay for itself in four years – no brainer – and it made a big difference.”

A local centre for Fiji Airways also makes it easier for Fijian women to pursue a career with the airline, with the training centre being one of the reasons FJ’s Airbus A330 Captain Seini Cornish was able to pilot the world’s first all-female, long-haul flight to Singapore (TD 09 Mar).

“Historically it was difficult to bring a first officer woman to a captain level, because when you do that type of upgrade, you’re going to do 16 sessions, and some of them are married and have kids, so to send them away for six-eight weeks at a time just isn’t practical,” Viljoen said.

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Source: traveldaily

AUSTRALIAN travel tech firm Aeronology has gone live with a link to the Amadeus GDS platform, with the move described as a “significant development for Amadeus users”.

Aeronology CEO Russell Carstensen said Amadeus was now embedded into the firm’s ‘middleware’ offering, giving Amadeus users “a simple, web-based user interface that is intuitive, fast, dynamic and easy to use”.

“The wait has been well worth it; building a multi-content and air distribution booking engine that anyone can use is extremely difficult,” he said.

“We believe Aeronology has created a world class product, especially when the engine can be installed within days of Amadeus webservices access.”

Carstensen said the system was so easy to use that some of Aeronology’s TMC customers were planning to give access to the tool for their corporate/government and education customers to use, with no impact on the fees charged, while lowering the cost of sale for the travel management company.

“Aeronology’s application fills that void between a corporate booking tool and a native GDS…it allows the user to do up to 90% of the requirements without calling their TMC,” he said.

The development is particularly relevant given the massive skills shortage currently being experienced across the industry.

“The travel industry is losing skillsets and a travel advisor is now needing to be multi-GDS trained, whereas Aeronology provides a world class online multi-air distribution booking engine for everyone to use.”

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Source: traveldaily