Middle East

Etihad Airways has teamed up with DUBZ to transform passengers' place of residence into a subsidiary of the airport. Passengers will be able to complete their check-in formalities in advance. This includes not only baggage, but also seat selection and the issuing of boarding passes from home. A test...

The seven countries affected by the new restrictions imposed by France are Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates, Nepal, Pakistan, Qatar, Sri Lanka and Turkey. They join five other countries already considered to be at high risk of contagion since April 24 (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, South Africa and...

While we wait for collective immunity to the Covid-19 virus, vaccination campaigns are being stepped up worldwide. However, there are major variations from one continent to another. These are the findings of an investigation by the New York Times. In partnership with the University of Oxford, the American daily has created a Covid barometer, which analyses the state of...

Qatar Airways is continuing to rebuild its network this season. The carrier has just announced that it will be offering more than 1,200 flights this summer, an increase of 20% compared with the winter season. Qatar Airways will in fact be serving 140 destinations during the summer peak, offering flights from 43 cities in Europe and the Mediterranean basin....

Qatar has just announced that foreign visitors and all expatriates will now have to have health insurance in order to receive treatment within the country. The announcement was made after a ministerial council meeting. The council legislated on the overhaul of the country's healthcare system, particularly in the face of the pandemic. The new...

Gulf Air is to resume flights between Bahrain and Singapore after a 14-year hiatus. Flights will begin in April. This return will be rather modest, with the carrier starting with a single frequency per week using a 282-seat Boeing 787-9. Two flight classes will be offered on board. Singapore joins Bangkok and Manila...

Luxury and beautiful resorts, of course, but also design and lifestyle: a look at the new hotels due to open this year in the Middle and Near East. Dubai will see a new wave of hotel openings in the run-up to the World Expo, which has been postponed from 2020 to 2021 because of the pandemic. It will...

The Radisson Hotel Group plans to at least double its long-stay offering in Europe, Africa and the Middle East by 2025. Currently, the number of serviced flats offered by the group in the EMEA region - 5,400 units in 45 establishments in operation or under development - represents almost...

It was just over a year ago during the ITB Berlin world tourism trade fair. The Chairman of Qatar Airways, Akbar Al Baker, was expressing his anger to the world's press at the obstructions put up by certain members of the oneworld alliance - in particular the CEOs of American Airlines and Qantas - to their...

The latest data from ForwardKeys, a firm which analyses the development of global air traffic by working on the capacity of flights in service, flight searches and more than 17 million booking transactions per day, reveals that in 2019, the growth in the number of international air journeys rose by 4.5...

With its endless beaches, verdant mountains and deep deserts, but above all its great culture, Oman is attracting more and more French tourists. After a +21 % growth in the number of tourists from France in 2018, the sultanate recorded a further increase of +19 % over the first nine months of 2019. While the country is making...

Text Serge Barret / Photos Alain Parinet Photos are everywhere. Always in black and white, they are everywhere, on the walls of institutions, museums and old forts, but also in the beautiful books in the rooms of luxury hotels and in the free magazines for tourists. They are the...

Already a "trusted partner" of American Express GBT for several years, Kanoo Travel is to play a new role in TMC's strategy in this strategic market. The directors of the business travel agency have just announced plans for a joint venture, due to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year or early in the first quarter...

The new business class fare launched by Dubai-based Emirates is likely to shake up many commercial strategies in the airline world. The fare, dubbed 'Special', is a game-changer in the world of business class, since it is a restrictive fare - and therefore, a priori, cheaper - which also comes with...

Text Serge Barret. Photos Alain Parinet. Of course, in the region, there's Dubai, with its towers approaching one kilometre in height, its extravagant shopping malls and its countless recreational sites. Then there's Abu Dhabi and its sublime Louvre, which recently graced the pages of the world's most beautiful magazines. It's...

It had been announced ever since Le Figaro revealed on 25 April that AccorHotels intended to acquire Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts. Now it's official: AccorHotels is to buy the Swiss hotel operator. The French group has reached agreement with its owner, Saudi investor Kingdom Holding, on a price of 560 million Swiss francs, or 482 million euros. Completion of this transaction...

The Rezidor group has announced the forthcoming opening of six new hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. First on the list, the Radisson Blu Beirut Verdun opened its doors in December and joins the Radisson Blu Martinez, already present in the Lebanese capital. Located in the Verdun district, the hotel has just opened...

For several days, the rumour circulated among air transport specialists that Etihad Airways and Emirates were considering merging their operations. In early March, the German business daily Handelsblatt reported that the ruling families of Dubai and Abu Dhabi had met and discussed a possible merger between the carriers. This rumour was immediately denied with...

The resumption of economic exchanges between Iran and Western countries is leading to an increase in the number of air routes to Teheran. While Air France relaunched a service to the Iranian capital last April, Air Astana has just opened an Almaty-Teheran route, and British Airways is due to arrive at the airport in September...