Tag: Thailand (Page 1 of 3)

Emirates increasing flights to Brazil and Argentina starting in December

January 23, 2024 / WIL BALDWIN

Dubai, UAE, January 23, 2024 – Emirates has announced a fifth frequency on its Dubai – Rio de Janeiro route, starting on December 7, 2024. The additional weekly flight on Saturdays will provide increased capacity on its service to the Brazilian city and will support the growing demand for travel on the route. Additionally, the linked service allows travellers to conveniently travel onwards to the Argentinian capital city of Buenos Aires.

Emirates’ increase in capacity on its Dubai – Rio de Janeiro – Buenos Aires route will help the airline to meet market demand and offer customers greater flexibility, choice, and connectivity. With the fifth scheduled service, customers will now have more choice when selecting flights to suit their travel plans.

The additional weekly frequency between Dubai, Brazil and Argentina will operate as EK247 and EK248 in a 2-class configuration. Tickets can be booked immediately on emirates.com, the Emirates App, and travel agencies.

EK247 and EK248 is scheduled to operate with timings as follows (all times are local):

The airline’s boosted services to Brazil and Argentina are expected to facilitate additional connectivity for passengers travelling between these countries and other popular destinations in Emirates’ network including the UAE, Japan, Thailand, Maldives, Egypt, mainland China and Hong Kong, Turkey, South Korea, India, Australia and Indonesia. With Brazil and Argentina being home to the two largest Lebanese communities in Latin America, Emirates regularly serves customers travelling to and from Beirut. Furthermore, nationals of Brazil and Argentina can also enjoy the convenience of visa-free travel to Dubai, making it a popular destination for holidays and short stopovers.

THEOS-2 satellite for Thailand successfully launched

October 9, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

The Airbus Group SE (Paris: AIR) THEOS-2 Earth observation satellite has been successfully launched on a Vega rocket from Kourou, Europe’s spaceport in French Guiana. The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency of Thailand (GISTDA) selected Airbus as partner for its next-generation national geo-information system in 2018.

THEOS-2 follows the Airbus-built THEOS-1 satellite launched in 2008, which still continues to deliver imagery well beyond its 10-year operational lifetime. In the frame of THEOS-2 programme, GISTDA’s geo-information system benefits from satellite imagery collected by the Airbus constellation of optical and radar Earth observation satellites such as Pléiades and TerraSAR-X.

The contract also includes a second Earth observation satellite – THEOS-2 SmallSAT – from Airbus’ subsidiary SSTL, combined with a comprehensive capacity building programme involving Thai engineers in the development of applications, ground segment and the SmallSAT spacecraft itself. THEOS-2 SmallSAT is based on SSTL’s CARBONITE series of Earth observation spacecraft and has been delivered to Thailand.

THEOS-2 satellite in anechoic chamber – Copyright Airbus

airAsia Super app offers exclusive ‘Buy 1 Get Free 1’ hotel promotion!

August 8, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

KUALA LUMPUR, August 8, 2023 – ‘Buy 1 Free 1’ hotel deals from airasia (5238.KL) Superapp is back! This time, three unique and amazing hotels from Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia are featured to encourage exploration of the wonders of our diverse culture across Southeast Asia!

For a limited-time only from 9 – 13 August 2023, airasia Superapp users can experience an island-escapade in Langkawi, enjoy the hustle and bustle of city life and amazing cuisine in Bangkok and immerse in Balinese cultural experience with participating hotels from these three destinations, from RM200/night. The ‘Buy 1 Free 1’ hotel deals are only applicable for the selected hotels with a minimum of 2 nights stay.

Aside from the ‘Buy 1 Free 1’ hotel deals, users can also enjoy an extra RM20 discount with promo code [B1F1] by clicking on the ‘Hotels’ icon in the airasia Superapp.

Click the link below to view the offer and details!

https://newsroom.airasia.com/news/2023/8/8/airasia-superapp-offers-exclusive-buy-1-free-1-hotel-promotion

Air Japan to Commence Service with Narita to Bangkok Route Starting February 2024

August 2, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Tokyo, Japan, August 2, 2023 – AirJapan, the new airline brand for medium-haul international routes under ANA HOLDINGS INC., will enter service with the launch of the Tokyo Narita-Bangkok route on February 9, 2024. The flights will depart from Narita Airport’s Terminal 1, offering convenient connections to flights operated by ANA Group airlines. Similarly, Suvarnabhumi Airport provides easy access to both connecting flights and the urban area of Bangkok.

“It is our hope that by launching AirJapan, we can showcase the very best of Japan from inside the cabin to enhance their travel journey,” said Hideki Mineguchi, President of AirJapan. “We are excited and eagerly anticipate welcoming passengers onboard to experience the exceptional journey that AirJapan offers.”

AirJapan will cater to the diverse needs of leisure and business travelers by offering a wide range of services and fare options, and aim to support the Japanese government’s target of attracting 60 million foreign visitors to Japan by 2030. Delivered under the concept of “Fly Thoughtful”, we invite you to experience a new style of travel that allows passengers to freely select and customize their services, with ANA Group’s quality of full service carrier (FSC) and convenience of low cost carrier (LCC).

First two H225M helicopters delivered to Hungary

July 24, 2023 / WIL BALDWIN

Szolnok, Hungary, July 24, 2023 – The Hungarian Defence Forces have received the first two of 16 H225M multi-purpose helicopters on schedule. The helicopter was officially handed over at Szolnok Airbase by Bruno Even, CEO of Airbus (OTC: EADSY) Helicopters. Additionally, Airbus is also providing an extensive training and support package to ensure the highest level of operational availability.

The H225Ms selected by Hungary are equipped with state-of-the-art communication capabilities and will be used for transport, combat search and rescue, and special operations missions. Its advanced avionics and four axis autopilot, exceptional range and payload capacities, combined with a large cabin designed to carry up to 24 troops and powerful air- to-ground and air-to-surface armament as well as electronic warfare systems allow the H225M to carry out the most demanding missions. The helicopter has an all-weather capability supported by its night vision goggle compatibility.

A part of the Hungarian H225M fleet will be fitted with the HForce weapon management system, adding air support capabilities thus creating further communality with the Hungarian H145M fleet also equipped with HForce. Flight trials have recently been conducted in Hungary as part of the integration of a gun pod and rocket launchers on the Hungarian H225M.

A member of the multi-role Super Puma family of helicopters, this military variant is currently operational in France, Brazil, Mexico, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Kuwait, and Singapore.

QANTAS and Jetstar Airlines Adjust Third Quarter Flight Capacity Settings

January 16, 2022 / WIL BALDWIN

Qantas and Jetstar are adjusting flying levels to better match travel demand in light of the sudden growth in COVID-19 cases. The Qantas Group now expects domestic capacity for the third quarter of FY22 to be at around 70 per cent of pre-COVID levels, down from the 102 per cent that had been planned. The schedule changes are focused on reducing frequency of services and size of aircraft to minimise inconvenience for passengers as much as possible.

The Group’s total international capacity for the same period will fall from 30 per cent to around 20 per cent of pre-COVID levels. This reduction is driven by increased travel restrictions in countries like Japan, Thailand and Indonesia and is mostly impacting Jetstar’s leisure routes. Other markets – such as London, Los Angeles, Vancouver, Johannesburg and India – continue to perform well.

Customers will be contacted directly from late January if their booking is impacted by cancellations and offered alternative flights that in most cases are likely to be a difference of a few hours if travelling domestically.

Qantas and Jetstar continue to have 100 per cent of their available Australian-based crew stood up, which has helped to minimise the resourcing impacts of some needing to self-isolate during the summer peak. This 100 per cent crewing level will be maintained despite the capacity reductions announced today, giving both airlines a significant buffer to manage ongoing isolation requirements and resulting in a more reliable schedule for passengers.

An assessment on the financial impact of these changes will be given at the Group’s half year results in late February, by which time a clearer picture will have emerged on swing factors such as actual demand levels; potential loosening or tightening of travel restrictions in countries overseas; and consumer response to the reopening of Western Australia next month. No material adjustments have been made to capacity expectations for Q4 FY22.

To give customers more confidence when they book international and domestic flights, Qantas has extended Fly Flex, which enables customers to change their travel dates as often as they need, fee-free (a fare difference may apply).

AirAsia Celebrates Travel Resumption to Phuket with Inaugural Flight

November 6, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

AirAsia celebrates its maiden flight from Kuala Lumpur to Phuket today under the Phuket Sandbox programme, signaling the resumption of international air travel to Thailand. The inaugural service utilising an Airbus A320 aircraft departed Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (klia2) at 1115 hrs today. Excited guests boarded flight AK0824, the first of two scheduled weekly flights from Kuala Lumpur.

Riad Asmat, AirAsia Malaysia CEO said, “Today marks the beginning of our renewed hope on the strong return of demand for air travel. We patiently waited and have extensively prepared to ensure all of our guests are accommodated safely, seamlessly and with peace of mind. As border restrictions are lifted, AirAsia guests are always assured of the stringent health and safety protocols enforced on all of our flights with our highly trained and fully vaccinated crew continuing to deliver the world’s best service during the pandemic.”

“We would also like to thank and congratulate the Thai government for initiating the Phuket Sandbox programme, and we look forward to mounting more flights to various destinations in Thailand soon.”

Fully vaccinated travellers from Malaysia who wish to travel under the Phuket Sandbox Program must meet the requirements set by the Thai Government and successfully receive the Certificate of Entry by applying on Thailand’s Certificate of Entry Registration System prior to purchasing their flights.

Guests can book their flights to Phuket from just RM50 one way and travel between 5 November 2021 and 30 March 2022 through the ‘Flights’ icon on the airasia Super App now. Apart from that, they can secure great value flights+hotel deals through the ‘SNAP’ icon on the Super App starting from just RM239 for travel within the same period. Those who prefer to book their hotels separately may check the ‘Hotels’ icon in the app and book hotels in Phuket provided by SHA Plus and can get an extra 10% off with the promo code AAHOTEL10.

AirAsia has spent the period of downtime in travel over the past 18 months to further improve and revamp its flight procedures and processes. In the highest interest of safety and wellbeing of all its guests and employees, only fully-vaccinated employees will operate flights and be on-duty at airport terminals. Furthermore, AirAsia assures the highest safety standards are in place as part of its robust Covid-19 mitigation plan including by accepting only fully-vaccinated guests onboard, making it mandatory to check-in via the airasia Super App, and rolled out FACES facial recognition boarding system that will make the entire journey fully digital and contactless.

Despite mostly not flying for a good part of the past 18 months, all AirAsia’s aircraft are properly maintained according to procedures set by the manufacturer. AirAsia has set up an in-house maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) unit called Asia Digital Engineering that provides services not only to AirAsia but also other airlines. Likewise, all its pilots and cabin crew are regularly trained for mandatory refresher courses and ongoing retraining so that they are always on top of their job.

For more information on AirAsia’s safety measures and travel SOPs, please read the latest travel advisory here.
Stay up to date witheverything e-commerce from the airasia super app by following @airasiasuperapp on Instagram and Facebook for the latest updates on airasia super app’s e-commerce offerings!

Austrian Airlines to Add Montreal and New York JFK Flights Starting in May

March 1, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Austrian Airlines is expanding its long-haul services in the upcoming summer flight schedule. From May, Austria’s home carrier will once again be flying three times a week to Montreal and New York JFK. As Newark was already in service up to now, the total number of flights to New York will increase to eight connections per week as of May.

“With five destinations in North America and three in Asia, including Tokyo and Bangkok, our long-haul services are back on a slight climb this summer. Unfortunately, we are still a long way from reaching cruising altitude. We hope that a rapid increase in the vaccination rate and a corresponding relaxation of travel restrictions will give us a further boost in the future”, says Austrian Airlines CCO Michael Trestl.

Austrian Airlines was already able to announce an increase in its summer flight schedule last week. From the end of March, various destinations will be resumed, including Barcelona, Dubrovnik and Florence. Hanover will be served by Austrian Airlines again for the first time since 2009. In addition, numerous vacation destinations are back on offer, for example in Greece, Italy and Spain. In the intercontinental route network, Amman, Bangkok, Chicago and Tokyo are back in the flight schedule.

On the Austrian Airlines website, passengers will find information on travel in times of corona, mandatory wearing of masks, country-specific travel regulations or flexible rebooking arrangements. The information is updated on an ongoing basis.

Thai AirAsia X Offering Unlimited Flight Change Or Two-Year Valid Credit Account Options

January 23, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Bangkok, 22 March 2021 – Due to the prolonged travel restrictions and international border closures caused by the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Thai AirAsia X (airline code XJ), a Thailand based low cost long haul carrier, is offering updated alternate options with more flexibility for guests with flights booked prior to 1st December 2020, and scheduled for travel from Thailand to Japan and South Korea between 1st March 2020 – 31st March 2021.

To help minimise the inconvenience, options available for guests are detailed below:

Unlimited flight changes: Change to any new travel date up to 31 December 2021 on the same route for an unlimited number of times without any additional cost, subject to seat availability. Do note that the flight change request must be submitted by 25 March 2021, and new flights are not applicable on National Long Holidays / the airline’s Embargo Period; OR
Credit account: Retain the value of the flight booking in the guest’s AirAsia BIG Member account for future travel with AirAsia to be redeemed within 730 calendar days (2 years) from the issuance date. The travel date of the new booking can fall on any date within the published flight schedule on airasia.com.

Guests can use the airline’s AI chatbot AVA, on support.airasia.com or airasia.com to make their selection.

The above guest information is only applicable for guests with flights on Thai AirAsia X who booked their flights directly online prior to 1 December 2020 via airasia.com. For group bookings or those made through travel agents, guests are advised to refer to their respective booking agents for further assistance.

AirAsia assures that the safety and well-being of our guests and Allstars is our top priority. AirAsia is complying with advice and regulations from local governments, civil aviation authorities, global and local health agencies.

AirAsia is closely monitoring the global health situation and reserves the right to announce further policies according to the latest developments.

Follow AirAsia on Twitter (@airasiaTH) and Facebook (facebook.com/AirAsia) for the latest updates, or contact our customer support team at Twitter (@AVA_AirAsia) Guests are also encouraged to check their flight status at airasia.com/flightstatus for live updates.

Once again, Thai AirAsia X would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused and the airline is hopeful that the situation will recover soon, allowing international flights to Japan, South Korea and other destinations to resume in the near future.

Siemens Mobility SignsMoU to Install Egypt’s First High-Speed Rail System

January 17, 2021 / WIL BALDWIN

Agreement comprises a rail system with a network of around 1000km – first being a 460km project valued around 3bn$
Turnkey Engineering, Procurement and Construction project including 15 years of services
Siemens Mobility to provide high-speed and regional trains, locomotives, rail infrastructure, system integration and other services

The National Authority for Tunnels, a governmental authority under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Transport of Egypt, and Siemens Mobility have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) – together with the local companies Orascom Construction S.A.E. and The Arab Contractors (Osman Ahmed Osman & Co.) – to design, install and commission Egypt’s first ever high-speed rail transportation system. Additionally, Siemens Mobility will be providing maintenance services. The agreement comprises a rail system with a network of 1000km, with the first being a 460km high-speed line. The order value of this initial high-speed line is around 3bn$.

The MoU was signed by Essam Waly, Chairman of Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels, and Michael Peter, CEO Siemens Mobility, in a meeting on January 14, 2021 in Cairo. This was witnessed by His excellency, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, His excellency, Minister of Transport Egypt Kamel Al Wazir, as well as Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser and Siemens Deputy CEO Roland Busch.

The first 460 km long high-speed line will connect the vastly developing cities of El-Alamein on the Mediterranean Sea to Ain Sokhna on the Red Sea, while also passing through the New Administrative Capital. The line will also be operable for freight transport purposes which will further foster economic growth in the region.

Siemens Mobility is the global leader in high-speed rail operations and is one of the leading companies in the Egyptian mobility market since the 1960s. The company has also extensive experience in delivering high-speed rail projects in the Middle East and Africa region.

As a leading global rail turnkey project provider with a proven track record of delivering projects on time, Siemens Mobility integrates its portfolio elements and delivers complete rail systems reliably and from one single source. So far, the company has successfully completed around 50 turnkey projects all over the world – delivering many ahead of schedule. Latest projects include the Extension of the Blue Line metro in Bangkok finished last year and the Copenhagen Light Rail project.

For further information about Siemens Mobility, please see: www.siemens.com/mobility

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