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California-based Surf Air eyes profitability in 2019

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A turbulent year for Surf Air has finally come to an end. Exciting recent updates have already resulted in massive improvements to its scheduled service and membership growth.

A recent lawsuit against Encompass Aviation, its former flight operating partner, has been settled. Under the terms of the settlement, Surf Air has regained full access to its entire fleet of branded Pilatus PC-12s, an unfortunate consequence of negotiations that caused severe disruptions to the company.

“By doubling down on our most popular routes and eliminating non-core flying we have proven route profitability and that the fundamental business model works. Our plan for 2019 is to continue to invest further into these core markets and expand access to Surf Air through new, more flexible membership product offerings,” says Surf Air Chairman & CEO Sudhin Shahani.

Recent Club Updates:

A Robust Core Schedule

Surf Air has rebuilt a core schedule and added more flights across its most important routes: Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, and Lake Tahoe. The company will continue to add flights as it continues to acquire more members.

The company will also add back leisure weekend destinations as it makes sense (Las Vegas, Napa, Monterey, and Palm Springs).

Best-in-Class Reliability

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With the help of Advanced Air, the company’s current third-party flight operator and long-time partner, they’ve restored operational reliability to its former best-in-industry levels of over 90% completion factor.

“Advanced Air has been a critical partner during this transitional period. With their proven professional and safety record, they’re the perfect, value-aligned partner to continue to scale our business,” says Sudhin Shahani.

Flexible, Per-Seat Membership

Perhaps Surf Air’s most promising opportunities for scaling membership growth is the new Express membership, allowing flyers to buy and fly on a per-seat basis. Meaning, for the first time, less frequent flyers can enjoy the time-savings benefits of zero hassle air travel.

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New Delhi welcomes new Qatar Visa Center

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At the new Qatar Visa Center in New Delhi, India, work visa applicants for the State of Qatar will be able to sign on work contracts digitally, enroll their biometrics, and undergo mandatory medical test all under one-roof. This will save time and make it hassle free for applicants.

Mandated by the Ministry of Interior, State of Qatar, Qatar Visa Center was inaugurated by His Excellency Mr. Mohammed Khater Al Khater, Ambassador of the State of Qatar to the Republic of India in New Delhi. The opening ceremony was attended by Major Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, Director of Department of Visa Support Services, Ministry of Interior of the State of Qatar.

The move to get work visa applicants to complete the most essential and critical part of their visa processes in the country of origin (India in this case) is aimed at guaranteeing prospective employees their rights in a manner consistent with the best international standards.

The visa center is in sync with international standards guaranteeing greater transparency, traceability and improved anti-fraud measures and security screening mechanisms for the visa applicants. The center will operate between 08:30 am to 04:30 pm from Monday to Friday.

As part of the visa application process, the employer in Qatar will ensure all necessary procedures and make the visa payments on behalf of the applicant. The applicants will only need to book an appointment online and visit the Qatar Visa Center fifteen minutes prior to the scheduled time on a given day. Once at the center and after the identity of the visa applicant is verified and the list of required documents are checked a token gets issued. Once the token is being referred to, the respective visa applicant will be explained the contract terms and can thereby digitally sign the work contract. Biometric enrollment and the mandatory medical tests will be done at the center. Upon completion of the processes at the visa center, the visa applicant then can choose to track the status of his application online or through their employer in the State of Qatar.

On this occasion, the Ambassador of the State of Qatar in India, His Excellency Mr. Mohammed Khater Al Khater, stressed that the State of Qatar, under the wise leadership of His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Emir of the State of Qatar, has witnessed a speedy growth and development over the past years and the Indian community in the State of Qatar has contributed significantly in the development process. His Excellency further stressed upon the keenness of the State of Qatar to protect the rights of the expatriates and facilitate their work procedures while recognizing the contribution of the Indian community. He added that in order to provide better facilities for the Indian community and further strengthening the distinguished relations between the two friendly countries, it has been decided to choose India as one of the most important countries to open the “Qatar Visas Center” in seven different cities of India including New Delhi, it is certain that, a large number of Indian expatriates, travelling to the State of Qatar for work and tourism will benefit through these centers, which will facilitate smooth and hassle-free recruitment process and ensure speedy completion of procedures to obtain the visas and residence permits for the State of Qatar.

His Excellency added that the opening of Qatar visa centers in India comes with celebration of the year 2019 as Qatar-India year of Culture. He also expressed thanks and appreciation to the officials in Ministry of External Affairs, Republic of India, for their continued support to achieve this step goal, and noted that this step reflects Qatar’s keenness to ensure the protection and safety of expatriates, as the Qatar Visa Centres in India will enable the completion of recruitment procedures through one channel easily within a shorter period of time.

“As part of Qatar’s willingness to facilitate the work process and protect the rights of expatriates, Qatar Visa Centers will be opened in a number of countries which include India,” said Major Abdullah Khalifa Al Mohannadi, Director of Visa Support Services Dept at the Ministry of the Interior, Doha, Qatar. “Medical examinations, biometric data enrollment and the signing process of employment contracts will be done through the Qatar Visa Centers in the expatriate country of origin at the 7 Indian centers including the one in New Delhi. All of this, reflects the extent and depth of Qatar’s endeavors to ensure the protection and safety of expatriates under a simplified and effective recruitment regime upheld and facilitated by the visa center,” he added.

Suhail Shaikh. Business Head, said: “We are honored to launch the first Qatar Visa Center in India in New Delhi on behalf of Ministry of Interior, State of Qatar. We take great pride in being able to provide transparent, standardized and streamlined visa services for Indians seeking work visas through a simple process managed by our capable colleagues.”

Six other visa centers in Mumbai, Kochi, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Chennai and Kolkata will be operational shortly.

Qatar Visa Center maintains robust multi-lingual information services for the benefit of visa applicants across multiple touch points. Information on appointment scheduling, requirements and steps at the visa center can be found in English, Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam through a dedicated website, call center helpline (+91 44 6133 1333) and walk-in at the reception.

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Princess Cruises And Fincantieri Sign Contracts For Two Next-Generation Cruise Ships

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Princess Cruises and Fincantieri announced today the signing of the final contracts for the construction of two next-generation 175,000-ton cruise ships, which will be the largest ships ever built so far in Italy, with deliveries scheduled in Monfalcone in late 2023 and in spring 2025. This announcement follows the initial signing of a memorandum of agreement between the two parties in July 2018.

The vessels will each accommodate approximately 4,300 guests and will be based on a next-generation platform design, being the first Princess Cruises ships to be dual-fuel powered primarily by Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). LNG is the marine industry’s most environmentally friendly advanced fuel technology and the world’s cleanest fossil fuel, which will significantly reduce air emissions and marine gasoil usage.

“Princess Cruises continues to grow globally — adding new ships to our fleet built by our long-time trusted ship building partner, Fincantieri, who brings decades of expertise to these next-generation cruise ships,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises President. “Even more exciting is that these two ships are being designed to include our MedallionClass platform, powered by OceanMedallion, the most advanced wearable device available within the global hospitality industry.”

Giuseppe Bono, CEO of Fincantieri, commented on the announcement: “This result proves, once again, the trust we receive from the market, which allows us to look to the future with ambition. It honors our great work focused on innovation thanks to which we have been able to offer to the client a record-breaking proposal not only in terms of size. Besides we firmly believe that a new class of Princess Cruises’ ships, one of Carnival Group’s top brands, can stem from this promising project. In fact, for Princess Cruises, we have received orders for 21 ships, another unprecedented result in this industry.”

Considered a breakthrough in the vacation industry and recently honored with a CES® 2019 Innovation Award, the OceanMedallion is leading-edge technology that delivers personalized service on a large scale through enhanced guest-crew interaction, as well as enabling interactive entertainment. Guests are currently experiencing Princess MedallionClass vacations onboard Caribbean Princess and Regal Princess. By the end of the year, MedallionClass vacations will be activated on three additional ships, Royal Princess, Crown Princess and Sky Princess.

Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and United Nations reported that growth in the number of people cruising between 2004 and 2014 outpaced land-based vacations by over 20 percent, and CLIA projects 30 million people will take an ocean cruise in 2019, an all-time record. These stats signal a bright future for the cruise industry, as well as for professional travel advisor partners enthusiastic for more inventory to meet the growing demands for cruising.

With five ships being built over the next six years, Princess Cruises is the fastest growing premium cruise line in the world.

One of the best-known names in cruising, Princess Cruises is the fastest growing international premium cruise line and tour company operating a fleet of 17 modern cruise ships, carrying two million guests each year to 380 destinations around the globe, including the Caribbean, Alaska, Panama Canal, Mexican Riviera, Europe, South America, Australia/New Zealand, the South Pacific, Hawaii, Asia, Canada/New England, Antarctica and World Cruises. A team of professional destination experts have curated 170 itineraries, ranging in length from three to 111 days and Princess Cruises is continuously recognized as “Best Cruise Line for Itineraries.”
In 2017 Princess Cruises, with parent company Carnival Corporation, introduced MedallionClass Vacations enabled by the OceanMedallion, the vacation industry’s most advanced wearable device, provided free to each guest sailing on a MedallionClass ship. The award-winning innovation offers the fastest way to a hassle-free, personalized vacation giving guests more time to do the things they love most. MedallionClass Vacations will be activated on five ships by the end of 2019. An activation plan will continue across the global fleet in 2020 and beyond.
Princess Cruises continues its multi-year, “Come Back New Promise” – a $450 million-dollar product innovation and cruise ship renovation campaign that will continue to enhance the line’s onboard guest experience. These enhancements result in more moments of awe, lifetime memories and meaningful stories for guests to share from their cruise vacation. The product innovations include partnerships with award-winning Chef Curtis Stone; engaging entertainment inspired shows with Broadway-legend Stephen Schwartz; immersive activities for the whole family from Discovery and Animal Planet that include exclusive shore excursions to onboard activities; the ultimate sleep at sea with the award-winning Princess Luxury Bed and more.
Three new Royal-class ships are currently on order with the next new ship under construction, Sky Princess, scheduled for delivery in October 2019, followed by Enchanted Princess in June 2020. Princess has announced two new (LNG) ships which will be the largest ships in the Princess fleet, accommodating approximately 4,300 guests are planned for delivery in 2023 and 2025.  Princess now has five ships arriving over the next six years between 2019 and 2025. The company is part of Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE:CUK).

Fincantieri is one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups and number one for diversification and innovation. It is leader in cruise ship design and construction and a reference player in all high-tech shipbuilding industry sectors, from naval to offshore vessels, from high-complexity special vessels and ferries to mega yachts, as well as in ship repairs and conversions, production of systems and mechanical and electrical component equipment and after-sales services.
With over 230 years of history and more than 7,000 vessels built, Fincantieri has always kept its management offices, as well as all the engineering and production skills, in Italy. With over 8,600 employees in Italy and a supplier network that employs nearly 50,000 people, Fincantieri has enhanced a fragmented production capacity over several shipyards into a strength, acquiring the widest portfolio of clients and products in the cruise segment. To hold its own in relation to competition and assert itself at global level, Fincantieri has broadened its product portfolio becoming world leader in the sectors in which it operates.
With globalization, the Group has around 20 shipyards in 4 continents, over 19,000 employees and is the leading Western shipbuilder. It has among its clients the world’s major cruise operators, the Italian and the US Navy, in addition to several foreign navies, and it is partner of some of the main European defense companies within supranational programs.
Fincantieri’s business is widely diversified by end markets, geographical exposure and by client base, with revenue mainly generated from cruise ship, naval and offshore vessel construction. Compared with less diversified players, such diversification allows it to mitigate the effects of any fluctuations in demand on the end markets served.
www.fincantieri.com

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