The UK carrier admits some Gulf services could still be affected after court injunction against strike action comes too late.

British Airways may still suffer “minor” disruptions on Gulf services even though the airline has obtained a UK court injunction blocking industrial action.

The carrier won a court injunction on Monday night, preventing BA cabin crew from striking between May 18-22 over pay and working conditions. Further strikes were scheduled for May 24-28, May 30-June 3 and June 5-9.

The High Court upheld BA’s argument that any strike action led by trade union Unite would be illegal as the right proceedings under UK law were not followed.

But the injunction was not granted early enough to prevent industrial action from disrupting some services, including Gulf flights.

“We are sorry the court judgment cannot undo the disruption already suffered by some customers who were due to travel during the early days of the union’s industrial action,” a BA statement read.

Before the High Court ruling, BA said on Sunday that some flights on the Doha-Bahrain-London route would be affected during the first wave of strikes. It is unclear whether that remains the case, although some disruptions to Gulf services are expected.

“Ash disruption permitting, we will aim to restore a full flying programme at Heathrow by the weekend. We will also offer a full programme at Gatwick and London City, as planned,” BA said.

The airline appealed for a swift resolution to the strike action to prevent further disruptions in the coming months.

“We hope all sections of Unite, including the leaders of the cabin crew branch Bassa, will take this opportunity to pause and focus on achieving the early and peaceful end to this dispute which the travelling public and all our employees want,” the airline said.

Kuwaiti airline wants unrestricted flights from Dubai’s new hub, its chief executive reveals.

Budget carrier Jazeera Airways could become one of the first passenger airlines to operate from Dubai’s new airport Al Maktoum International – but only if it secures an open skies agreement.

Al Maktoum is scheduled to commence cargo operations in June during phase one of the airport’s opening. Details for when the first passenger flight will take off have not been announced, although hub operator Dubai Airports is in talks with airlines currently flying from Dubai International Airport about making the switch.

Kuwaiti airline Jazeera Airways is one of them, but Pichler’s comments to commerce-magazine.com reveal the airline will only entertain the idea if certain conditions are met.

“When they give us unrestricted air traffic rights from Al Maktoum we are in,” Pichler said. “That was our proposal [when we spoke] and it still is.”

Pichler declined to comment on whether Dubai Airports and the General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) could guarantee unrestricted flights from Al Maktoum airport.

Jazeera dropped Dubai as its second hub last June amid rumours that the airline had been hit with several restrictions. It was claimed that Dubai government introduced various measures to create less competition for its start-up low-cost carrier, flydubai.

“We would prefer to continue to offer non-stop services to many destinations from Dubai but unfortunately regulatory changes in the UAE have meant that it is no longer economical for us to do so,” a Jazeera spokesman told local media at the time. Dubai’s GCAA immediately disputed the comments.

Even if an agreement on open skies with Dubai Airports was reached, it would not guarantee unrestricted flights in the Middle East as limits to where airlines can travel still exist, according to Pichler.

“If you look around on the map between the GCC there is open skies, but there are also a lot of restrictions in the Middle East and non-GCC countries,” he said.

But he added that airlines operating in the region would eventually be able to fly freely without restrictions.

“Historically, all the markets were restricted and then they open up when governments understand deregulation of air travel brings more benefits in terms of GDP growth than the benefit of protecting the national carrier. When this has sunk in markets will open up,” he said.

Qatar Airways and Emirates to follow other Gulf carriers into Iraq.

Emirates Airlines has revealed an announcement on launching flights to Iraq could come in a matter of weeks as Qatar Airways also confirmed plans to introduce its own service to the country.

Richard Vaughan, Emirates’ divisional senior vice president commercial operations worldwide, told commerce-magazine.com that talks with Iraqi authorities over operating a Baghdad service had taken place.

“We have to negotiate rights with the Iraqi government, so we’re looking at doing something,” Vaughan said at Arabian Travel Market (ATM) in Dubai.

“At the moment we don’t have a firm date but we are interested in going.”

Other Middle Eastern airlines such as Gulf Air in 2009 and more recently Etihad Airways have capitalised on growing demand among business travellers and Iraqi expatriates by launching services to Iraq.

When announcing their respective services, Gulf Air and Etihad, which only introduced Iraq services last week, insisted there were no security concerns over flying to a country that is still being rebuilt following years of war.

Echoing the sentiment, Vaughan said: “Security of passengers and crew is of paramount importance, so we won’t operate anything with a risk where passengers or crew could get hurt. On that, we would be guarded by security authorities.

“But at the moment, everything seems to be OK. In greater Iraq, there are some issues, but as far as operating into Baghdad, it’s fine.”

Hours after Vaughan spoke with commerce-magazine.com, Qatar Airways’ chief executive Akbar Al Baker told reporters during a press conference at ATM that the airline had secured rights to operate services to Irbil, Najaf and Baghdad.

“We will operate into Iraq and we want to do it aggressively. We have rights to operate into three destinations and as we get more aircraft deliveries we will plan to enter the Iraqi market, but in a strong way.

“We would like to go with a good number of frequencies and serve all the important destinations.”

Dubai carrier’s attempt to secure more North American flights angers Air Canada chief.

Calin Rovinescu’s angry outburst has left no one in any doubt as to how he feels about Emirates.

The head of Air Canada accused Dubai-based carrier Emirates of attempting to “flood” Canadian skies with airline seats and divert as many passengers as possible through the UAE.

He added airports and airlines operating in Canada would be severely damaged if the connecting passengers they relied on to make routes profitable were stolen by Emirates.

“While its argument may be seductive, what Emirates’ strategy will do is constrain the growth of Canadian airports by turning them from hubs into stubs at the end of a spoke that leads only to Emirates’ hub in Dubai,” Rovinescu said during a speech in Vancouver.

Emirates suffered the wrath of Rovinescu after lobbying the Canadian government to extend its thrice-daily services between Dubai and Toronto; the airline also wants to add Calgary and Vancouver to its roster.

To win the government’s approval, Emirates recently commissioned a study claiming it would generate $466 million for the Canadian economy and create 2,800 jobs if it secured more flights. The figures were dismissed out of hand by Rovinescu, who called them the “stuff of fairytales”.

“It is well known in the industry that Emirates is trying to push hard to divert as much global flow traffic via Dubai in order to deploy its massive fleet of wide-body aircraft, including (Airbus) A380s it has purchased or has on order,” he said.

Delivering a further blow to the airline, Rovinescu said statistics showed that daily passenger numbers between Dubai and Canada for 2009 would barely fill a mid-sized 213-seat Boeing 767.

So far, Emirates has remained tight-lipped following Rovinescu’s scathing attack. But the accusations will surely have angered the airline’s chiefs; criticism is not welcomed or appreciated by most UAE companies, especially state-owned ones. Still, all will be forgotten in the Emirates camp if the Canadian government awards the carrier more flying slots. Just don’t expect Rovinescu to keep quiet should that happen.

With airlines slashing fares for short-haul flights, Middle East and Asia travel has never been more popular.

UAE residents are snapping up cheap short-haul flights to tourist hotspots in the Middle East and Asia like never before, with Sri Lanka the latest destination to register a spike in travel.

Arrivals into Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo from the UAE jumped 164 per cent in January compared to the same period last year, according to figures from the Middle East office of the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Board (SLTPB).

“Judging by these early results, destination Sri Lanka is on track to surpass figures attained last year where tourist arrivals saw a double-digit growth,” said Heba Al Ghais Al Mansoori, Middle East Director of SLTPB based in Dubai.

Overall, Middle East tourist arrivals to Sri Lanka surged 50 per cent in January, with Saudi Arabia (up by 127 per cent), Qatar (171 per cent and Kuwait (up by 135 per cent) also reporting high growth rates.

Underpinning this trend is the rise of the UAE low-cost carriers, which has seen Flydubai and Air Arabia offer fares to cities within a four-hour flight for a few hundred dirhams return.

Sri Lanka’s increasing popularity is also down to the recent end to the country’s civil war, which stifled tourism for decades.

Air Arabia is offering fares to Colombo starting at Dh405.

Flydubai has a sale offering customers a 40 per cent discount on flights to or from Dubai between 1 March and 31 May if they book before 21 February. It does not fly to Colombo.

Anecdotal evidence suggests that more UAE residents, especially expats, are now flying smart rather than far, capitalising on the UAE’s location to take a weekend break on a budget.

For example, the cost of a return flight to Beirut could come up to the price of an evening meal at a restaurant for two in Dubai.