Middle East & North Africa

Dubai Airports will partner with Huawei to design and build the world's first Tier III certified Modular Data Centre Complex (MDCC) at Dubai International (DXB).

Qatar Airways was the official host of the 25th annual International Association of Airline Internal Auditors (IAAIA) conference which took place in Doha last week.

Jazeera Airways has launched its WhatsApp phone number for all Jazeera passengers and interested customers.

Emirates has completed a major makeover of its Business Class lounge at Concourse B of Dubai International Airport. The US$11 million refurbishment project took two years to complete and is part of the airline's continuous investment to improve and upgrade its products for a seamless and enjoyable travel experience.

Shifra has equipped Gulf Air with e-mail security solutions from Proofpoint.

Kuwait Airways has unveiled a new livery as the airline begins to take steps to upgrade its image and service to compete with other Gulf carriers.

Seven million passengers per month is fast becoming the norm at Dubai International (DXB) after September's numbers eclipsed that total for the sixth time in nine months, according to the monthly traffic report issued today by operator Dubai Airports.

Low-cost carrier Air Arabia will begin flying to the Azerbajaini capital Baku four times a week from Sharjah International as of March 23 next year.

Oman Air has been awarded the Signum Virtutis, the seal of excellence, from the Seven Stars Luxury Hospitality and Lifestyle Awards 2016.

Emirates has signed an agreement with Thales to equip its Boeing 777X fleet with Thales AVANT inflight entertainment system.

Panasonic Avionics (Panasonic) has launched ZeroTouchTM service- its innovative service that simultaneously gives airlines real-time visibility into performance, improves the efficiency of its maintenance operations and also enables data transfer of passenger-facing content to an aircraft to improve the passenger experience.

Dnata has announced two new appointments to its senior management team.

Middle East airline passengers would happily spend an extra US $33 per journey to personalize their travel experience with onboard food & beverage, fast track security, priority check-in and extra checked luggage topping their shopping list, according to a new global survey

Air Arabia was named “Low Cost Airline of the Year” at the Aviation Business Awards 2016.

Flydubai has launched its rewards programme “OPEN”. The programme is designed to make earning and spending reward points simple and straightforward, with no minimum balances or blackout dates.

Al Yah Satellite Communications Company (Yahsat) has appointed Farhad Khan as its chief commercial officer (CCO).

Inmarsat has signed an MoU to appoint Honeywell as distribution partner for new aviation safety communications service.

The UAE's General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) has unveiled its 2017-2021 strategy plan to guide the industry's development within the Emirates, writes Barbara Saunders

Airline network analyser, Anna.aero, has revealed that Qatar Airways and Emirates are leaving Etihad Airways behind in the great network growth race with US, Australia and UK the biggest country markets for the Gulf carriers by available seat kilometres (ASKs)

Saudi Arabia's Nesma Airlines has become the first Middle Eastern customer for wireless IFE provider AirFi. A contract was announced at the APEX event in Singapore today.

Emirates Aviation University has introduced a new Executive MBA Programme in Aviation Management in collaboration with Coventry University in the UK.

Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) is to implement IATA's New Distribution Capability (NDC) in a modular approach and has appointed leading technology solutions provider TPConnects to manage the NDC standard platform.

Luxembourg based Cargolux is in talks with Iran Air over possible cooperation in the future according to ch-aviation.

Dubai Air Navigation Services (Dans) has celebrated the graduation of a new batch of graduates from its Development Programme for the third year.

Etihad Airways' virtual reality film, starring Academy Award-winner Nicole Kidman, has won Best Original Video at the 2016 APEX Awards which were presented in Singapore this week.