City Updates

MANILA, Philippines - National flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), jointly owned by taipan Lucio Tan and diversified conglomerate San Miguel Corp. (SMC), is looking at flying to Oman starting next year as it focuses on the Middle East where majority of the overseas Filipino workers are based.

In its application for allocation entitlements, PAL is seeking seat entitlements from the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for the Sultanate of Oman (Muscat) equivalent to four weekly frequencies starting Jan. 30 next year.

India's Jet Airways will sell a minority stake to fast-growing Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways for roughly $379m after months of negotiations, giving a lift to India's embattled aviation industry.

The price represents a 31.7 percent premium to Jet's closing share price on Tuesday.

The total passenger traffic at Muscat International Airport increased by 10% to 1,331,026 in February 2013 compared to 1,208,603 in the previous year.

According to data released by the Air Transport Department at the Public Authority for Civil Aviation, arrival passengers increased by 10% to 683,906, while departing passengers were up 13% to 635,442.

Passengers traffic was also up 6% at Salalah airport to 107,366 passengers. Freight traffic at the airport increased to 19 tonnes during January 2013 compared to two tonnes in the same period in 2012.

Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, has commenced non-stop daily flights between Abu Dhabi and Washington, D.C., creating the first direct air link between the two capitals.

The new service to Washington Dulles International Airport has been introduced to meet strong demand for government and business travel, as well as growing demand for leisure trips between and beyond the cities.

Oman Air has said it is considering a plan to launch a low-cost airline that reduce the travel woes to the South Asian sectors, Oman Daily Observer has reported.

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Abu Dhabi International Airport has overtaken Dubai as the best in the region for customer service, according to a global survey of passengers.

Abu Dhabi International Airport, which sees more than 12 million passengers each year, recorded the largest improvement in passenger satisfaction, scoring 4.4, up from 4.31 in 2011 when it was ranked second behind Dubai. AB reported.

Samsung Electronics, smartphone market leader and the biggest seller of Android-based handsets, is working on bringing a new smartphone to market as soon as August, powered by the open-source Tizen OS, Bloomberg reported on Friday.

Emirates Airline is working on a two-class configuration for its Airbus A380s to increase the number of seats, ATW has reported, citing president Tim Clark.

Currently, the airline's A380s offer 517 seats in three classes. The new variant, which could reportedly enter service in 2016, would eliminate the first class and add more seats. Qatar Airways has done away with the first class on its 787s to add seats.

Oman Air is evaluating increasing its order of six Boeing 787 Dreamliners and six 737-800s, Bloomberg News has reported, citing CEO Wayne Pearce. The airline is due to get the planes on order from late 2014 and could help add services to destinations like London.

The airline wants to increase its fleet to 50 planes from the 42 currently in service or due for delivery, as it expands routes to India and the Middle East. It currently operates seven Airbus A330s, 17 737s and six regional aircraft. It is also evaluating adding an A330 as an alternative to the Dreamliner.