UPFRONT

NEOM UNVEILS PLANS FOR FIRST ISLAND DEVELOPMENT

THE FIRST LUXURY ISLAND and yacht club destination within the Saudi giga project of Neom is set to open to the public in 2024. Called Sindalah, it will be spread over 840,000 sqm and will feature an 86-berth marina, 38 culinary o erings and a 5,920m par 70 golf course too. “Three luxury hotels will be located on Sindalah, with 413 ultra-premium hotel rooms including 88 villas and a further 333 serviced apartments. Facilities on Sindalah will include a luxury beach club and a glamorous yacht club, as well as a spa and wellness centre,” Chris Newman, executive director of Hotel Development at Neom told Business Traveller Middle East.

EMIRATES AND AIR CANADA – Canada’s largest airline – now o er frequent flyer members joint loyalty programme benefits. Emirates Skywards members can earn and redeem Miles on all flights operated by Air Canada – accessing a network of more than 220 destinations worldwide. Air Canada’s Aeroplan members meanwhile will also be able to earn and redeem Points on all flights operated by Emirates – with access to more than 130 destinations via the airline’s hub of Dubai. As for lounge access, Emirates Skywards Platinum and Gold members travelling in economy class with Air Canada or Emirates have complimentary access to Air Canada’s Maple Leaf Lounges and Air Canada Café in Toronto Pearson, along with one guest.

SINDALAH ISLAND IN NEOM

3,500

Expected number of tourism and hospitality jobs created by the development

2,400

Anticipated number of visitors per day

Hilton opens new Conrad property in Morocco

HILTON HAS OPENED Conrad Rabat Arzana, the rst property under its Conrad Hotels and Resorts brand in Morocco. e 120-key hotel is located north of Harhoura, and is a 35-minute drive from Rabat Salé airport. e oor plans range from deluxe guest rooms to the 632 sqm Royal Suite. Culinary options include 99 Sushi Bar and Restaurant and La Brise, among others. e Conrad Spa spans two oors and features six rooms, including a spa suite. e property joins Hilton’s ve operating hotels in Morocco – Hilton Tanger City Center Hotel and Residences, Hilton Tanger Al Houara Resort and Spa, Hilton Garden Inn Tanger City Center, Hilton Garden Inn Casablanca Sud and Hilton Taghazout Bay Beach Resort and Spa – as well as six hotels under development across the North African country.

Emirates initiates loyalty partnership programme with Air Canada

VISTARA COMMENCES SERVICES BETWEEN MUSCAT AND MUMBAI

VISTARA, A JOINT VENTURE

between Tata group and Singapore Airlines, has begun nonstop daily ights between Mumbai and Muscat. Vistara said that it is now the only carrier to o er premium economy class on the route, in addition to business and economy seats. e capital of Oman is the carrier’s fourth destination in the Middle East. Also, Muscat is the third Middle East destination that Vistara has added to its network within the previous six months. In 2022, it launched services to Jeddah and Abu Dhabi in August and October, respectively. It already operates daily ights between Dubai and Mumbai.

Kerzner’s fitnessfocused Siro hotel brand to launch in Dubai

Diriyah announces 16 additional hotels in hospitality portfolio

DIRIYAH GATE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (DGDA) has named 16 additional global hotel brands which will join its hospitality portfolio in the US$50.6 billion development located in Riyadh. These 16 hotel brands will open across two of DGDA’s masterplan areas – Diriyah and Wadi Safar.

The new hotels in Diriyah include Thai brand Anantara, Corinthia Hotels, Marriott International’s Edition Hotels, Taj Hotels, The Langham, Waldorf Astoria, 1 Hotels, Pendry Hotels and Resorts, Treehouse Hotel, Hyatt Place, Moxy Hotels and Radisson Hotel Group’s Radisson RED. The new properties announced for Wadi Safar meanwhile include Faena Hotel, Montage Hotels and Resorts, The Chedi by GHM Hotels and Well Health Retreat.

The 16 new properties take the list of confirmed hotel openings to 32, with its first hotel slated to open this year.

KERZNER INTERNATIONAL will open its first hotel in Dubai under its fitness and wellbeing-focused Siro brand. Siro One Za’abeel is scheduled to open its doors in late 2023 within one of the two high-rise towers of mixed-use development One Za’abeel in Dubai. The hotel will include a fitness club across two floors with a 1,000 sqm gym. There will also be a Recovery Lab with cutting-edge technologies, cryo, infrared and oxygen therapies, physiotherapy, acupuncture and stretching, as well as dedicated mindfulness coaches and nutrition experts. International sports teams AC Milan and Olympic athletes Ramla Ali and Adam Peaty will collaborate with in-house teams to define the guest experience.

Etihad to reintroduce A380s into fleet

NEW RIYADH AIRPORT TO ACCOMMODATE 120 MILLION TRAVELLERS BY 2030

UAE NATIONAL CARRIER Etihad Airways will reintroduce four A380s into its active eet starting this summer. Etihad plans to operate the A380s to London Heathrow, freeing up capacity for increased frequencies on existing routes and allowing it to launch new destinations. e airline said that as part of its preparation to bring the A380s back into service, it is in the process of recruiting and training dedicated A380 teams which include pilots, cabin crew and technical ground sta . e A380s’ return will also be supported by the addition of ve of its smaller A320 siblings.

A MASTER PLAN FOR THE NEW King Salman International Airport to be built in the Saudi capital city of Riyadh has been unveiled. It is expected to become one of the world’s largest airports covering an area of approximately 57 sq km, allowing for six parallel runways. The airport aims to accommodate up to 120 million travellers by 2030 and 185 million passengers by 2050. It will also have the capacity to process 3.5 million tonnes of cargo by 2050. It will reportedly achieve LEED Platinum certification by incorporating green initiatives into its design and will be powered by renewable energy. The airport is projected to contribute SAR27 billion annually to the country’s non-oil GDP and create 103,000 direct and indirect jobs.

FLYDUBAI TO BEGIN DAILY FLIGHTS TO ST PETERSBURG THIS MONTH

DUBAI-BASED CARRIER, flydubai, will launch daily flights to St Petersburg’s Pulkovo International airport starting January 20, 2023. The flights to St Petersburg from Terminal 2 at Dubai International are currently scheduled to be operated by the airline’s fleet of Boeing 737 MAX aircraft. The carrier first started its operations in the Russian market in 2010 with direct flights to Samara and Yekaterinburg. With the launch of the new service, flydubai will serve nine destinations in Russia. At six hours and 50 minutes, the Dubai-St Petersburg route will be among its longest flights, after Krabi and Pattaya in Thailand.

HOW MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE WILL AIR TRAVEL BECOME IN 2023?

3.7%

Forecasted increase in fares between Europe and North America

6%

Anticipated rise in business class fares on intra-European flights

7.6%

Expected increase in business class fares between Europe and Asia

3.4%

Projected increase in domestic North American business class fares

*According to the Air Monitor report for 2023 published by American Express Global Business Travel

EMIRATES ADDS THIRD DAILY A380 SERVICE TO LONDON GATWICK

EMIRATES HAS RAMPED UP operations between Dubai and Gatwick airport with the addition of a third daily A380 flight. It said that the decision to increase the number of flights to the UK was “to meet sustained demand ahead of the holiday rush.” The additional frequency will o er enhanced capacity with more than 1,000 seats between Gatwick and Dubai, every day. Emirates currently serves the UK with 119 weekly flights across seven UK hubs including: six times daily to London Heathrow; thrice daily to London Gatwick; a daily service to London Stansted; thrice daily to Manchester; a double daily service to Birmingham; daily flights to Newcastle; and a daily service to Glasgow.

NH COLLECTION DUBAI THE PALM is slated to open in February this year. While there are over 70 NH Collection properties worldwide, this will be the first in the Middle East. Located in a new building on Palm Jumeirah in Dubai, it is situated opposite Nakheel Mall and o ers direct access to the upmarket Palm West Beach. The beachfront property includes 227 rooms and suites, as well as 306 studios and apartments across a total of 11 room categories. Apart from five dining venues, it will also have a rooftop infinity pool, a spa and multiple events spaces too.

Hyatt to grow EMEA luxury portfolio by 30 per cent

HYATT HAS ANNOUNCED its pipeline of 13 anticipated openings within its luxury portfolio over the next three years across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). By 2026, these hotels will increase Hyatt’s luxury brand footprint by over 30 per cent in that region. Upcoming Hyatt properties in the Middle East include the Park Hyatt Riyadh Diriyah Gate which will open in 2025 alongside the Al-Turaif UNESCO World Heritage Site. Andaz Doha in Qatar will open in early 2023, while Grand Hyatt e Red Sea will be a 430-room property on Shaura Island and is expected to open in mid-2024. It will not only be the largest of the 11 hotels planned for the island, but also the second Grand Hyatt hotel in Saudi Arabia and the seventh in the Middle East.