Dubai Lifestyle News
Emirates takes home 2013 ‘World’s Best Airline’ Award
Paris: Emirates Airlines was awarded the highly coveted ‘World’s Best Airline’ award, presented by Skytrax at the 2013 World Airline Awards yesterday. In addition to winning ‘World’s Best Airline’ Emirates scooped up a further two awards including; ‘Best Middle East Airline’ and for a record ninth year in a row, ‘World’s Best Inflight Entertainment’. The awards were collected on Tuesday by Tim Clark, President Emirates Airline at the Paris Airshow. The Skytrax World Airline Awards polled over 18 million business and leisure air travellers from more than 160 countries “Being honoured with these awards is testament to our unrelenting effort to be the world’s best airline,” said Clark. “We are constantly striving to offer our customers consistent, world-class service that extends from the moment they make their booking to the moment they arrive home at the end of their journey.” These awards are widely regarded as the industry’s benchmark for excellence. For us, the awards clearly reflect a vote of confidence from global travellers, who acknowledge and appreciate our continuous drive to deliver high-quality service. To be voted ‘World’s Best Airline’ by millions of discerning travellers really is something for our 60,000 strong workforce to be proud of,” added Clark. Since launching in 1985, Emirates has grown into one of the largest and most dynamic airlines in the world and has transformed Dubai into a major connecting hub for global air travel. Last year over 39 million customers flew with Emirates, connecting across the airline’s global network and enjoying the airline’s extensive onboard innovations, including the industry leading inflight entertainment system ice, offering over 1,400 channels of entertainment. Emirates has been, and continues to be, a leader in revolutionising air travel, working closely with manufacturers and suppliers to ensure all aspects of the customer experience are second to none. It is the many advances by Emirates in the area of aviation that have resulted in the airline winning more than 500 international awards. Etihad top in First Class category Etihad Airways took home the coveted title of Best First Class for the fourth consecutive year, as well as taking home top honours for Best First Class Seats and Best First Class Catering. Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways’ Chief Commercial Officer, said: “It is a huge accomplishment to take home the top honours in every First Class category again, underlining our leading premium product proposition. “Etihad Airways has, in just 10 years of operation, risen rapidly in the Skytrax rankings because we are continually investing in innovative new product and service concepts. We believe that world-class hospitality should not be limited to hotels and restaurants, so we are elevating the travel experience by bringing the best of hospitality to every touch point in the journey.” Continue reading
What can we expect from Dubai Sports World?
There are just a few days to go until the largest indoor sporting event in the Middle East gets started in the UAE.Dubai Sports World (DSW) is due to begin on June 21st and organisers of the event have announced details of the organisations that are expected to take part.According to bosses at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), a plethora of sporting groups will provide engaging activities such as fitness programmes, team sports and BMX parks.Tennis 360, Duplays, Active Sports, Original Fitness, IFA Sport, Rage Skate Park, Ping Pong Dubai, Football Centre, Dubai Badminton School, Adventure HQ, Ride Bike Shop and G Force Cricket have all confirmed their attendance at the event thus far.The Dubai government is hoping to see more UAE residents participating in physical activity and is also keen for tourists to get involved.Senior vice president of venues at DWTC Ahmed Alkhaja said: “In order to ensure DSW caters to individuals of all ages, interests and sporting ability, we have once again partnered with organisations that bring people together in a dynamic, active and friendly environment, led by some of the best trainers in the city.”Alex Medvedev from Rage Skate Park suggested there is a strong skating community in Dubai and he is proud to take part in DSW, AMEinfo reports.”Our competitions are meant to be celebrations of the sport, which is as physical as it is creative,” he was quoted as saying.Dubai has not always been renowned as a sporting hub, but a lot of work has gone into altering the city's image.In fact, footballing legend Diego Maradona – who has been working as an ambassador for the Dubai Sports Council – recently described the emirate as the “Disneyland of sport”.He told Gulf News said there is no place in the world that is better at hosting sporting events. Coming from one of the finest footballers to ever walk the planet, this is high praise indeed. Continue reading
Dubai set to host video game convention
Dubai is set to host the IGN Convention – the biggest video game, gadget and comic book event in the Middle East – at the start of next month.Held at the Meydan Imax, organisers of the gathering are expecting up to 7,000 gamers to show up, Gulf News reports.The event will be heaven for anybody who has a passion for games consoles, with Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 tournaments being staged across the two days. Those who reach the finals will be able to show off their skills on the venue's incredible Imax screen.Abbas Jaffar Ali – director of the convention – told the news provider that being able to play on this monstrous screen is a real incentive for gamers to perform well.”Imagine playing Fifa or your favourite combat game on the biggest screen in Asia,” he was quoted as saying.Mr Ali also confirmed that a number of new titles would be launched for the first time at the event, although he was unwilling to go into too much detail.”Sony Playstation are going to be there, and I don't want to steal their thunder in making that announcement,” he added.A number of people dressed as popular video game characters will be roaming around the exhibition, including Wolverine, Lara Croft, Batman and Darth Vader. Former World Wrestling Entertainment superstar Kevin Nash will also make a guest appearance.Visitors will be able to get some unique insight into the video game industry, as a number of designers and developers will be on hand to answer questions.This is one of many high-profile conventions set to take place in Dubai this year.The city is renowned for staging international exhibitions and conferences and the government hopes this vital experience will stand the city in good stead when organisers of the World Expo 2020 decide on a host venue.Events of this nature give the UAE's hospitality sector a real boost, with people flying into the country from all over the world. Continue reading
