Spicejet flights to KSA expected to benefit pilgrims

SpiceJet has launched eight new non-stop international flights from Mumbai and Delhi, India to KSA. The airline is the first Indian low-cost carrier (LCC) to connect Mumbai with Riyadh, KSA and Dhaka and Delhi with Dhaka, Bangladesh and Jeddah, KSA.

Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia, earmarks SpiceJet’s 10th international destination and the fourth station in the Middle Eastern market. The flights to Dhaka and Jeddah are effective from the last week of July while the flight to Riyadh will begin on August 15, 2019.

SpiceJet will service Mumbai-Riyadh-Mumbai, Mumbai-Dhaka-Mumbai, Delhi-Dhaka-Delhi and Delhi-Jeddah-Delhi with daily non-stop flights. The airline will deploy 168-seater Boeing 737-800 aircraft on all the routes.

Ajay Singh, Chairman and MD, SpiceJet said, "We are delighted to add Riyadh as our tenth international destination and add more flights to Jeddah and Dhaka thus providing our passengers with multiple flight options. SpiceJet is the only Indian budget airline to operate to Saudi Arabia and our new flights to Riyadh and Jeddah should greatly benefit the thousands of pilgrims travelling from India."

Besides Riyadh, SpiceJet also operates flights to Jeddah, Dubai. UAE and Muscat, Oman in the gulf region.

The first Indian LCC to connect Jeddah with Hyderabad and Kozhikode, the airline also began a Mumbai-Jeddah route from July 5, 2019. SpiceJet also connects Dhaka and Kolkata with twice-daily flights.

Details:

SpiceJet is celebrating the launch by announcing all-inclusive promotional fares starting at INR14,227 on Mumbai-Riyadh, INR12,263 on Riyadh-Mumbai, INR10,677 on Mumbai-Dhaka, INR10,732 on Dhaka-Mumbai, INR9,276 on Delhi-Dhaka, INR10,432 on Dhaka-Delhi, INR16,290 on Delhi-Jeddah and INR15,263 on the Jeddah-Delhi routes.

Bookings are now open online, through SpiceJet’s mobile app and via online travel portals and travel agents.

Flight schedule:

Flight#	From	To	Departs	Arrives	Starts	Frequency

SG 63	Mumbai	Dhaka	8:55 am	12:20 pm	25-Jul-19	Daily
SG 64	Dhaka	Mumbai	1:20 pm	4:15 pm	25-Jul-19	Daily
SG 19	Mumbai	Riyadh	9:10 pm	11:10 pm	15-Aug-19	Daily
SG 20	Riyadh	Mumbai	12:10 am	7:10 am	16-Aug-19	Daily
SG 39	Delhi	Dhaka	7:40 am	10:30 am	31-Jul-19	Daily
SG 40	Dhaka	Delhi	11:30 am	1:30 pm	31-Jul-19	Daily
SG 65	Delhi	Jeddah	1:45 pm	5:00 pm	31-Jul-19	Daily
SG 66	Jeddah	Delhi	5:50 pm	1:40 am	31-Jul-19	Daily

*All timings as per local standard times

Competitors offer fare discounts to stranded Rayani Air passengers

Malindo Air is offering special discounted fares to stranded Rayani Air passengers. Rayani Air, a shari'ah-compliant airline which began operations in December last year, has had its Air Operator Certificate (AOC) provisionally suspended for three months as of 11 April by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) of Malaysia.

Passengers holding Rayani Air tickets will be able to rebook their cancelled flights at Malindo Air’s ticketing counter nationwide, the airline said.

“These fares are available for purchase from today until April 30, 2016, for immediate travel and until October 31, 2016, said Malindo Air’s spokesperson. “Malindo Air has also helped Rayani Air on numerous occasions when they have encountered delays and cancellations.

“We hope this will ease the problems of passengers who are in urgent need to travel without any disruptions.” 

Malindo Air recently celebrated its third anniversary, and moved its operations at Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) to the Main terminal building from the klia2 terminal in mid-March.

Malaysia Airlines earlier announced that passengers holding Rayani Air tickets will be able to rebook their cancelled flights via Malaysia Airlines at discounted fares.

Malaysia Airlines Chief Commercial Officer Paul Simmons said, “As the national carrier and as caring Malaysians, it is our duty to extend any assistance to ease the burden of impacted Rayani Air passengers. In this case, we are offering affected passengers a special fare to connect them to their intended destination. We hope this offer will help alleviate the passengers’ travel woes.”

DCA said that it would conduct a full administration and safety audit of Rayani Air's operations to assess its compliance with its Air Operator Certificate (AOC). According to a joint statement from Dato' Sri Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, Director General of the DCA and the Malaysian Aviation Commission on 11 April, Rayani Air had already received warning letters for non-compliance and poor service levels prior to the suspension.

The Malaysian Aviation Commission will further evaluate Rayani Air's commercial standing and capabilities to continue as an air service licence holder. An airline which intends to cease operations must give the DCA at least six months' notice, the DCA added.

Rayani Air said on its Facebook page on 13 April that refunds and handling queries are now its main priority, and pasted Malindo Air's offer on Facebook on 15 April.

Interested?

To take advantage of Malindo Air's special fare, affected passengers will need to present their email or proof of travel booking on Rayani Air. For further enquiries, visit the website or contact Malindo Air's hotline at +603 7841 5388 from 9am to 9pm daily.

For Malaysia Airlines' special fare, affected passengers should present their email or proof of travel booking on Rayani Air. Passengers may call 1 300 88 3000 within Malaysia or visit any Malaysia Airlines ticket counters nationwide. The fares are available until 30 April 2016, for immediate travel until 31 July 2016.

Rayani Air can be contacted at refund at rayaniair.com or info at rayaniair.com.

Read the Suroor Asia blog post on Rayani Air's launch

Turkish Airlines adds more flights to Saudi Arabia

Turkish Airlines has launched new flights from the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW), Ankara Esenboga and Trabzon airports to key Saudi Arabian cities including Riyadh, Jeddah and Medina.

All three routes - between Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW)-Jeddah (JED), between Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen (SAW)-Riyadh (RUH) and Ankara Esenboga (ESB)-Medina (MED) - will each operate on a schedule of seven flights weekly.

The SAW-MED route is now operated four times a week and the TZX-RUH route is thrice weekly.

Turkish Airlines flies to seven destinations in Saudi Arabia. From Istanbul Ataturk Airport (IST), Turkish Airlines currently operates 21 weekly frequencies to Jeddah, and 14-weekly frequencies to both Medina and Riyadh. There are also 10-weekly frequencies (14 as of June 2016) from IST and seven weekly frequencies from SAW to Dammam. The airline flies seven times weekly from IST to Yanbu, five times weekly from IST to Al Qassim and three times weekly frequencies from IST to Taif.

Interested?

Book tickets online, contact the call centre at +90 212 444 0849 or visit any Turkish Airlines sales office

Schedules:

SAW - MED - SAW 

Source: Turkish Airlines. LMT=local mean time

PIA lowers umrah fares

Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has reduced fares on domestic and major international flights, including umrah fares. Fares on the Karachi-Islamabad-Karachi and Karachi-Lahore-Karachi routes would now start from Rs7,500 while return tickets for umrah start from Rs54,500 for passengers from Lahore/Islamabad, and from Rs44,500 for passengers from Karachi, the airline said.

PIA had been dealing with what it said was an illegal strike, and praised the teamwork of PIA employees in managing passengers in the face of resulting flight reductions. On 7 February the airline sent two Boeing 777 planes in collaboration with Saudi Airlines to Jeddah to bring back around 800 "umra zaireen", umrah pilgrims. This followed flights on 5 February to ferry about 700 Umra zaireen from Jeddah to Karachi and Islamabad via two Saudi Airlines flights.

PIA also made arrangements with Air Blue on 4 February to accept PIA's confirmed ticket passengers for flights to Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, Dubai, Muscat, Jeddah and Riyadh. Arrangements had also been made with Shaheen Air to accept PIA's confirmed ticket passengers for domestic flights.

On 12 February PIA reported that its flight schedule has fully returned to normal within two days of ending the strike, expressing gratitude to customers for their confidence in the national carrier. PIA has also pledged to give full refunds for any international and domestic tickets that were not utilised during strike days.

Interested?

According to a Suroor Asia blog post, PIA had announced fare discounts for umrah in January 2016 

Pakistan International Airlines cuts fares to Jeddah and Madinah

In an effort to facilitate umrah pilgrims, Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has reduced its fares for Jeddah and Madinah by 10% as of January 24 2016.

Fares from Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Multan have now been cut to PKR49,100 for Jeddah and to PKR44,100 for Madinah while from Karachi and Quetta fares have been reduced to PKR39,100 for Jeddah and PKR34,100 for Madinah for economy class, exclusive of taxes.

Shari'ah compliant airline takes off on maiden flight

Source: Rayani Air Facebook page.

Rayani Air, a Malaysia based shari'ah-compliant airline, has completed its first flight as of 20 December. The airline received its Air Service Licence (ASL), which entitles it to operate commercial air services, and Air Operator's Certificate, the technical qualification to operate air services, on 18 December, and opened sales to the public on the 13th.

Although positioned as a low cost carrier on its website, with promotional pricing to match, Rayani Air operates more like a hybrid. The airline offers student fares, child fares, as well as business class fares, and services similar to traditional carriers. Economy Class guests are entitled for 20kg of baggage allowance, refreshments, date changes, and legroom of 32" between every seat. Additional meals are available for a price. Business Class passengers get 40kg of baggage allowance and meals included.

Rayani Air will begin with domestic sectors and plans to expand to other cities in the region. Flights are currently available between Kota Bahru and Kuala Lumpur (KL), as well as between Langkawi and KL. Routes to Kuching and Kota Kinabalu from KL are planned.

Interested?

The airline's Facebook page is in the habit of announcing special fares late at night

Etihad adds third daily flight between Abu Dhabi and Jeddah

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is increasing capacity to KSA with a third daily flight between Abu Dhabi and Jeddah with effect from 10 December 2015.

The Abu Dhabi-based carrier’s flights to the commercial capital of Saudi Arabia, launched in May 2006, are among the most popular of its regional services. Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways’ Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, said: “This new service expands our operation to the kingdom and further strengthens the already strong historic relations and cultural ties between the two Arab states.

“Business, religious and leisure guests flying between Abu Dhabi and Jeddah may now choose from greater schedule options. Abu Dhabi’s geographical location makes it ideal as a gateway for air travellers going to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, connecting easily and quickly across Etihad Airways’ route network.”

Etihad Airways’ third daily service between Abu Dhabi and Jeddah will be served with an Airbus A320 aircraft, configured with 16 seats in Business Class and 120 in Economy. The existing double daily flights are operated on two-class Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

Etihad Airways currently operates nine daily flights across KSA – including Dammam, Riyadh, Jeddah and Madinah. Recently, Etihad Airways expanded its presence in Saudi Arabia through a new five-times-per-week codeshare between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi operated by codeshare partner flynas.

Flight	Org	Des	Dep	Arr	Aircraft	DOW	Status
EY313	Abu Dhabi	Jeddah	2.00	4.00	B777-300ER	Daily	Existing
EY 314	Jeddah	Abu Dhabi	5.30	9.00	B777-300ER	Daily	Existing
EY311	Abu Dhabi	Jeddah	13.50	15.55	B777-300ER	Daily	Existing
EY312	Jeddah	Abu Dhabi	17.25	21.00	B777-300ER	Daily	Existing
EY333	Abu Dhabi	Jeddah	7.55	10.10	A320	Daily	New
EY334	Jeddah	Abu Dhabi	11.05	14.40	A320	Daily	New

Note: All departures and arrivals are listed in local time.

Interested?

Read the Suroor Asia blog post about the Etihad partnership with flynas for flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh

Etihad offers more Riyadh-Abu Dhabi flights through flynas codeshare

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, is expanding its Saudi Arabian network through a new five-times-per-week service between Riyadh and Abu Dhabi operated by its codeshare partner flynas. This comes as part of an expanded codeshare agreement between the two airlines, which was initially signed in October 2012. The current codeshare scope allows flynas to place its ‘XY’ code on 226 Etihad Airways’ flights between Abu Dhabi and 20 destinations around the world.

Commencing on 16 December 2015, the new flynas service will complement Etihad Airways’ existing 13 weekly flights between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh to provide guests with 18 weekly flights and greater choice and flexibility whether travelling from Saudi Arabia, the UAE or beyond.

The flights will be operated by a two-class Airbus A320 aircraft, offering an additional 1,640 seats per week,and ensuring maximum connectivity through Etihad Airways’ Abu Dhabi hub.

Kevin Knight, Etihad Airways’ Chief Strategy and Planning Officer, said: “Riyadh is an important strategic destination for us due to the established cultural and commercial ties between the UAE and Saudi Arabia. The new flynas Riyadh service will strengthen our Saudi Arabian network further, but more importantly, it will give business and leisure travellers greater choice and better flight connections in their travel to Abu Dhabi and on to Etihad Airways’ worldwide network.”

Bander Al Mohanna, NAS Holding CEO, said: “We are delighted to partner with Etihad Airways to add Abu Dhabi to flynas’ destinations within the GCC. Flynas continues to expand across the region and by adding Abu Dhabi to our GCC route network, we are significantly increasing both capacity and choice for travellers, including pilgrims as well as business commuters and leisure seekers. Moreover, we expect the mix of people travelling on the Abu Dhabi route to include flynas’ guests in transit to other destinations, which will substantially increase the volume of codeshare traffic.”

Etihad Airways has 49 codeshare agreements in place with airlines across the world, including flynas, which gives it a combined passenger and cargo network of 600 destinations, and over 25,200 flights per week, more than any other Middle Eastern airline. Codeshare partnerships, along with minority equity investments and organic growth, form the three pillars of Etihad Airways expansion plans.

Etihad Airways launched services between Abu Dhabi and Riyadh in December 2004. The airline offers 46 flights per week between the UAE’s capital and the Saudi Arabian cities of Jeddah, Damman, Riyadh and Medina. Services are often increased to 55 flights per week on temporary operating permits.

The Etihad Airways and flynas Riyadh – Abu Dhabi schedule effective 16 December 2015:

Flight No. From Dep To Arr Freq Aircraft EY315 Abu Dhabi 02:00 Riyadh 2:50 Daily A330-300 EY316 Riyadh 04:00 Abu Dhabi 7:10 Daily A330-300 EY317 Abu Dhabi 11:55 Riyadh 12:55 Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun A340-600 EY318 Riyadh 16:00 Abu Dhabi 18:45 Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sat, Sun A340-600 XY609 Abu Dhabi 14:45 Riyadh 15:45 Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun A320 XY608 Riyadh 09:45 Abu Dhabi 12:45 Tue, Wed, Thu, Sat, Sun

Note: All departures and arrivals are listed in local time.

Etihad Airways will leverage Adobe solutions to understand passengers better

Etihad Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has a new strategic partnership with Adobe that will enhance the airline’s capabilities to create tailored offerings for its guests through a deeper understanding of their travel preferences and how they would like to engage with the airline.

With Adobe Marketing Cloud and Creative Cloud, the airline group and its partners are empowered to create a secure, cost effective digital guest experience. Additionally, the technology will enhance the airlines’ digital marketing capabilities to provide tailored and personalised services across the globe.

Etihad Airways and its partners will use Adobe’s capabilities across Guest Experience, Global Loyalty, Cargo, Direct Sales, Marketing, Social Media and other areas of their businesses. Adobe’s solutions will enable superior digital experiences such as full self-service capabilities using digital devices. It provides greater convenience for guests as they interact with Etihad Airways and its businesses on their chosen device.

Robert Webb, Chief Information and Technology Officer at Etihad Airways, said: “This technology will entirely revolutionise the digital experience for our guests as well as the business as a whole. This investment in Adobe will allow us to enable a truly superior and seamless guest experience.

“As we continue to partner with world-class technology leaders, we’re working to ensure a remarkable experience for our guests, right from initial contact, through their journey and beyond.”

Royal Jordanian, Qatar Airways enter codeshare agreement

Royal Jordanian (RJ) has further enhanced its ties with oneworld partner Qatar Airways by launching a new codeshare agreement that is set to further expand travel opportunities for the customers of both airlines.

Through the new agreement, which began August 6, 2015, RJ passengers travelling between Amman and Doha on both Royal Jordanian and Qatar Airways will benefit from the same airline code and a streamlined level of services from the oneworld partners.

Members of the airlines’ frequent flyer programmes will also be able to collect points on each other’s flights, with this initial route paving the way for additional codeshare expansions in the near future between the airlines across destinations in the US and Asia.

RJ President/CEO Captain Haitham Misto said: “Royal Jordanian and Qatar Airways enjoy a strong relationship, and they are both keen on providing superb on-board and on-ground services. This agreement will further enhance the cooperation between our two companies, thus offering our passengers more travel options and frequencies to cities around the world.”

Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Officer Akbar Al Baker said: “Becoming a member of oneworld has enabled Qatar Airways to strengthen its competitive offering, while expanding travel options to passengers around the world within this leading global alliance network. The launch of this new code share agreement with our fellow oneworld member airline Royal Jordanian demonstrates this and will allow passengers to benefit from seamless journeys around the globe.”

RJ starts new flights between Najaf in Iraq and Amman, Jordan

Royal Jordanian (RJ) will operate its first flight to Najaf on July 13, launching a new regular service between Jordan and Iraq.

With this addition to the RJ network, there are now six Iraqi destinations on the RJ network, including Mosul, which has been suspended since June 2014. The number of flights between Jordan and Iraq is now 31 weekly, including 12 weekly flights to Baghdad, nine to Erbil and four weekly flights to each of Basra and Sulaymaniyah, in addition to the two halted flights to Mosul.

RJ will operate two weekly flights to Najaf, on Mondays and Thursdays. On Mondays the flight takes off from its base at Queen Alia International Airport, Amman, at 11 am and reaches Najaf at 12:35 noon. The return flight departs from there at 1:20pm and lands in Amman at 3:05pm.

On Thursdays RJ operates its flights from Amman at 2:10 am and reaches Najaf at 3:45 am, then takes off from Najaf at 5:25 am and arrives in Amman at 7:15 am.

Adding Najaf to the RJ routes comes in sync with the airline strategy to enter new markets in the Arab region. RJ will also operate a new service to Tabuk in Saudi Arabia in addition to existing destinations Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam and Medina.

The service between Najaf and Amman will serve Iraqi passengers transiting though Queen Alia International Airport on their way to destinations beyond Amman, particularly if they are pilgrims on Hajj and umrah.

Gulf Air chooses 21 pilgrims for Umrah Packages initiative

Source: Gulf Air.

Twenty-one pilgrims chosen to participate in Bahrain’s national carrier’s Umrah Packages initiative recently visited Gulf Air headquarters and met with senior airline officials and representatives of three Umrah contractors: Al Mowasim, Al Sharaf and Sohaib Al Roumi. 

Under the initiative, Gulf Air partners with local Umrah contractors to give pilgrims who wish to perform umrah but with insufficient funds to do so, free, comprehensive umrah packages which include flights, accommodation and dedicated guides. The offer is valid until the end of 2015.

During Ramadhan the airline will carry out its annual drive to distribute iftar meal boxes to drivers across the Kingdom.

Qatar Airways introduces Ramadhan promotions

Source: Qatar Airways website.

Qatar Airways is running Ramadhan promotions across the Middle East. The deadlines range from 25 July for Jodan, all the way to 8 July for Qatar.

In Jordan, passengers' deadline for booking is 25 June to enjoy up to 30% on Economy class and Premium class fares.* Passengers who book* their tickets departing Qatar from now until 8 July 2015 for travel from till 8 July 2015 enjoy up to 25% off on Economy Class and Premium Class fares. Privilege Club members will enjoy redemption discounts of up to 50% on the next flight booked between 15 September and 15 November 2015.*

Most of the booking deadlines are 30 June. For Bahrain, passengers who book tickets from now until 30 June 2015 for travel from 18 June 2015 until 31st October 2015 enjoy special fares on Economy Class and Premium Class fares*. The booking deadline for passengers departing from Iraq is also 30 June but travel is limited till 5 July 2015. Discounts are up to 25% off* on Economy Class. Passengers from departing from Lebanon also have the 30 June deadline, and may enjoy up to 20% off* on Premium class fares for travel until 14 July 2015. If in Oman, book the tickets from now until 30 June 2015 for travel from till 15 December 2015 for special Economy Class and Premium Class fares*.

The Ramadhan offer to Kuwait involves more private travel - an all-First Class experience with just 40 lie-flat all-First Class seats for travel between Kuwait and Jeddah. Privilege Club members earn 100% Bonus Qmiles for travelling from now to 20 July 2015*. The offer is applicable from 22 June 2015. A similar experience is available over Ramadhan between Doha and Jeddah for passengers departing KSA*. Travel has to be booked for between now and 16 July 2015.

The airline has also has announced its Ramadhan timings:

Saturday to Thursday: 8am to 2pm and then 4pm to 10pm
Closed on Fridays

This contrasts with opening hours for the rest of the year, which are:

Saturday to Thursday: 7:30am to 9pm
Closed on Fridays

Interested?

View the terms & conditions for travel from Bahrain
View the terms & conditions for travel from Iraq
View the terms & conditions for travel from Jordan
View the terms & conditions for travel from KSA
View the terms & conditions for travel from Kuwait
View the terms & conditions for travel from Lebanon
View the terms & conditions for travel from Oman
View the terms & conditions for travel from Qatar
*Terms and conditions apply. There were no Ramadhan offers displayed on the UAE and Iran web pages for Qatar Airways nor on the pages for Indonesia, Malaysia, Bangladesh or Pakistan. 

Oman Air offers Ramadhan promotions

Source: Oman Air website.

Oman Air has a Ramadhan offer with 40% off economy and business fares for international destinations if tickets are booked online by 24 June. The discount is applicable on the base fare, and excludes taxes and surcharges.

The discount is applicable departing from Muscat, Salalah, Khasab, Sohar, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Doha, Amman, and Beirut among other cities, and destinations must exclude London, Jeddah, Madinah, Riyadh, Damam, Cairo, Manila, and India (except Goa). Trips have to begin between 17 June and 10 July with travel to be completed by 14 July 2015. 

The airline is also offering umrah packages from RO449 per person with the travel to take place during the Ramadhan period, specifically from 17 June to 5 July. Terms and conditions apply.

Interested?

Take advantage of the Ramadhan offer

Call +968 2453 1000 about umrah packages

Questions should be directed to the 24x7 Oman Air call centre at +968 2453 1111 in Oman or locally.