Filed under: main | Tags: Business, Cyprus, Economy, flights, Germany, news, travel, Turkey
The flights will start after the ministry signs a protocol with the Turkish airline company Pegasus on February 10, the statement said.
Turkish Cypriot Economy and Tourism Ministry said on Sunday that scheduled flights would be conducted from Germany to Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) starting from April 1.
Scheduled flights will be conducted between TRNC and German cities of Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Cologne, Dusseldorf and Hannover via Turkish provinces of Istanbul and Antalya, a statement from the ministry said on Sunday.
The flights will start after the ministry signs a protocol with the Turkish airline company Pegasus on February 10, the statement also said.
With these flights, TRNC’s Economy and Tourism Ministry desires to accommodate 800 tourists in the first phase.
The protocol will enable tourists from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Denmark to travel to TRNC at rates of flights to Turkey.
The protocol will be in effect till April 2010, officials said.
The Government is compiling a database to track and store the international travel records of millions of Britons.
An intelligence centre will store names, addresses, phone numbers, travel itineraries and credit card details for all journeys made in and out of the UK.
Records will be kept for up to 10 years. The Government said it was essential in the fight against crime, illegal immigration and terrorism.
Tens of thousands of Indian construction workers are being flown out of the country by their employers on bulk-booked flights in March, it was reported on Sunday.
According to figures gleaned by the Indian Consulate in Dubai from Indian airlines, a total of 20,000 workers from several construction firms are leaving next month.
They are either being sent back home on long leave, or are being redeployed to work on projects in other Gulf countries, such as Qata, according to a report in UAE daily Emirates Business.
The move comes a week after it was revealed that 53 percent of the UAE’s planned $1.28 trillion construction projects were now on hold, as the real estate sector struggled with the global economic downturn, according to Dubai-based market research firm Proleads.
Venu Rajamony, Indian Consul General in Dubai, said the bulk bookings indicated that the financial crisis was now impacting on the one million Indian workers currently employed in the UAE.
But, he denied that there was any evidence of mass termination, pointing out that the recently reported 25,000 to 30,000 work visa cancellations in Dubai was a normal figure.
Instead companies were taking precautions by relocating, or giving leave, to surplus staff, he told the newspaper.
“Air-India and other Indian carriers are getting ready to accommodate these 20,000 bulk bookings in March,” Rajamony said.
“According to figures released by Dubai Emigration authorities to the Indian Consulate, there were between 25,000 and 30,000 visa cancellations in the past two months, which is a normal figure. There were also 13,000 new visas issued by the emigration authorities,” he added.
There was also no evidence that construction companies were flouting labour laws, with the number of labour complaints remaining stagnant, he added.
Companies were under strict orders of the UAE Ministry of Labour to follow the law to the letter, Rajamony revealed.
“We have not seen an increase in the number of complaints. There is an increase in the application for out passes, from 200 applicants a month in 2008, to 400 applications in January 2009.”
Big contracting and construction companies had also confirmed to the consulate that they had enough contracts to continue to employ workers, he told the newspaper.
“Some big companies from Dubai have projects in Abu Dhabi and Qatar and are repositioning their workers to these places. They are not cancelling the workers’ visas because it will be difficult to get new visas later,” Rajamony said.
AirTran’s 2007 bid to buy Midwest Airlines Inc. failed, but it’s still trying to take away part of Midwest’s business with a new Milwaukee marketing push – along with a big increase in flights from Mitchell International Airport.
AirTran Holdings Inc., the carrier’s corporate parent, will add 11 more daily departures this summer – up from its current schedule of 19 daily departures. AirTran is expected this week to announce details of its expanded Milwaukee schedule, including new destinations.
That boost in flights will be accompanied by more advertising and marketing.
That includes last week’s announcement that AirTran signed an agreement with the Milwaukee Brewers for naming rights to Miller Park’s right-field entertainment area. In what seems a fitting symbol of today’s economy, AirTran Airways – known for its low fares – replaced the former sponsor, luxury automaker Mercedes-Benz.
Orlando, Fla.-based AirTran also will likely reach endorsement deals with one or two individual Brewers similar to the airline’s billboards and radio spots featuring Donald Driver of the Green Bay Packers, said Tad Hutcheson, vice president of marketing and sales.
“We’re starting to ramp up our marketing in Milwaukee,” Hutcheson said. “As Milwaukee gets more flying in 2009, it’ll get more investment and more focus and more attention.”
That comes as Oak Creek-based Midwest is operating with half its work force from a year ago and around 40% fewer flights. Midwest made deep schedule cuts and outsourced much of its operations to save money as fuel prices spiked in 2008 and the recession later sapped demand for travel.
In December, Midwest’s market share at Mitchell, which for several years was at or above 50%, stood at 38%, according to airport data. Of that share, just 13% was on Midwest Airlines’ mainline Boeing 717 jets. Midwest Connect, which uses smaller regional jets flown by SkyWest Inc. and Republic Airways Holdings Inc., accounted for 25% of the share.
Shifting market share
AirTran’s market share was about 18% in December. Delta Air Lines Inc., through its recent purchase of Northwest Airlines Corp., had market share of around 24%.
Despite the market share decline, Milwaukee travelers still overwhelmingly prefer Midwest over AirTran, said Midwest spokesman Michael Brophy. According to the airline’s internal research, Midwest is especially favored by frequent travelers from Mitchell, he said.
Midwest has reduced its marketing budget because of the schedule reduction, Brophy said. But the airline still runs ads, including exclusive airline ad rights to Brewers radio and TV broadcasts, he said.
Midwest still has a sponsorship agreement with the Brewers as its official airline, Brophy said. Midwest has never sought exclusive airline marketing rights at Miller Park because such an arrangement would be too expensive.
He also said Midwest and Northwest had separate sponsorships in the 1990s at County Stadium before it was replaced by Miller Park.
Midwest also holds the naming rights to the city’s major convention facility – the Midwest Airlines Center downtown. The 15-year deal was signed in 1998.
Miller Park deal
AirTran’s multiyear agreement with the Brewers gives it the naming rights to the AirTran Airways Landing Zone and other signs in the ballpark.
The Landing Zone is “great for television because of the visibility,” said Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers’ executive vice president for business operations.
“It gets national attention when someone hits a home run,” Schlesinger said. “And the area is always sold out well in advance.”
The Landing Zone can hold as many as 75 fans. It is an all-inclusive area in which groups get a game ticket, food and beverage.
The Brewers began group sales Saturday. The Landing Zone is usually among the first group areas to sell out.
The Landing Zone deal “is big news because it really steps onto the hometown turf of Midwest Airlines,” said Jay Sorensen, a former Midwest marketing manager.
“The more exposure they have, the more Milwaukeeans will begin to relate to AirTran as a hometown airline,” said Sorensen, now an aviation industry marketing consultant based in Shorewood.
With the new push, Milwaukee probably will get more advertising dollars than any other AirTran market except for Atlanta and Baltimore, Hutcheson said.
Atlanta is AirTran’s largest hub, and the carrier had hoped to convert Milwaukee into its northern hub by buying Midwest. That hostile takeover attempt failed in August 2007 when AirTran was outbid by TPG Capital and Northwest.
As of Thursday, AirTran is flying 19 daily departures from Mitchell to nine cities. That will increase to 30 daily departures this summer, Hutcheson said. He declined to provide more details before the company’s official announcement.
Midwest has 93 daily departures from Milwaukee and flies to 29 nonstop destinations.
