Gulf Air officially inaugurated its Falcon Gold Lounge at Bahrain International Airport last week. The fully renovated lounge seamlessly integrates contemporary design and architecture with Arabian influences, creating an environment that combines peace and tranquillity with extensive modern-day business and catering facilities. For the first time, premium passengers have the added facilities of seven private sleeping rooms, a cigar lounge and shower rooms with hotel-style towels and luxury brand toiletries and amenities.

Passengers can stay connected with free Wi-Fi throughout the lounge, discreet power sockets at every seat and a business centre that includes PCs, fax machines and printers. For families the lounge offers a spacious family room with highly trained professional SkyNannies in attendance as well as a gaming room equipped with Xbox and PlayStation units. The lounge upgrade is in-line with the airline’s service and product enhancement strategy both in the air and on the ground including the company’s aircraft which are either new or have been refurbished. The current fleet age is 5.2 years, one of the youngest in the region.

Gulf Air Chief Executive Officer Mr. Samer Majali told TravelPlus the upgraded lounge was a further example of the airline’s commitment to investing in in passengers across its network, “Bahrain serves as a crucial transit hub for our passengers from the United Kingdom so developing and improving our product is key to ensuring customer satisfaction throughout their journey with us.

The new lounge is the latest in a series of service enhancements across our entire passenger value chain including the re-launch of our Sky Nanny Service, Sky Chef, online check in and robust network connectivity in the Middle East. 

“We believe in investing in our customers and, as we keep improving ourselves in our customer service on the ground, we will continue to add more features and facilities in the air as well, so that our premium customers enjoy a consistently enhanced experience throughout their journey” Mr. Majali concluded.

Arik Air, Nigeria and West Africa’s largest airline is to enhance its business class offering to customers in the UK with the launch of the dedicated chauffer drive service from this month.

Chauffer drive’s door-to-door service collects a passenger anywhere within a 50 mile radius of London, Heathrow and drives them to Terminal 4 using a fleet of new, climate controlled vehicles where customers can enjoy plenty of space and comfort as well as receiving free daily newspapers and free Wi-Fi access.

The new scheme only applies to UK booked and originating Business Class passengers on the London, Heathrow – Lagos route. Once a customer has purchased a business class ticket, then the passenger, or their travel agent, must contact the dedicated the Arik Air chauffeur drive line, on 0844 482 2320, to arrange the collection details and time. Chauffeur drive is not available on Arik Air business class campaign fares. The passenger will receive an SMS notification confirmation of the booking at the time of booking, a day before departure and when the driver is 15 minutes away from pick-up and when the chauffeur is outside the pick-up point.

Simon Cook, VP Sales UK & Europe, told TravelPlus “We are delighted to introduce this new, very convenient service for our Business Class passengers and I am sure that it will be well received. The new product is another example of Arik Air offering its customers the very best in expediency and comfort with a reliable door-to-door service, thus removing all the stress of travelling to and from the airport.”

Dragonair has launched a new inflight menu in conjunction with one of the world’s legendary hotels, the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. The menu, including 23 appetisers and main courses, is now being offered to First Class and Business Class passengers flying on Dragonair flights from Hong Kong to Beijing and Shanghai until mid-April 2013.

This is the first time that Dragonair and the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong have worked together on an inflight menu promotion. Each of the dishes has been designed and adapted by Uwe Opocensky, Executive Chef at the award-winning hotel, to ensure a delightful dining experience in the air for Dragonair passengers.

Dragonair General Manager Inflight Services Cecilia Leung told TravelPlus “It is Dragonair’s great honour to be the first airline partner to work with Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong on a selection of inflight meals. We have worked closely with Uwe Opocensky to bring a selection of the hotel’s signature dishes, from a number of its renowned restaurants and bars, for our passengers to enjoy in the air.”

Using only the finest seasonal ingredients, signature dishes from this newly launched promotional menu include the Michelin-starred Mandarin Grill + Bar’s appetizer, Forest Walk – Foie Gras, Mushroom, Brioche, and the Black Cod with Brown Ginger Sauce, Seaweed Pappardelle, Ginger, Dashi main course.

Forest walk – Foie Gras, Mushroom, Brioche is an innovative salad dish originally created to offer the sensation of walking in the forest and absorbing its many flavours.  It is presented with vibrant colours like a work of art that’s designed to stimulate both sight and taste. Black Cod with Brown Ginger Sauce, Seaweed Pappardelle, Ginger, Dashi is made from a piece of carefully selected cod that is coated in a mixture of pu-erh tea and seaweed to give it a dark colour, and then slowly cooked. The homemade seaweed pappardelle and dashi sauce give a perfect finishing touch to the dish.

“It is exciting for us to be able to offer guests of Dragonair a taste of some of our legendary dishes here at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. Home to 10 highly individual restaurants and bars, we have adapted many of our signature dishes for these discerning guests and they include our famed Forest Walk from the Michelin-starred Mandarin Grill + Bar and The Chinnery’s much-loved Shepherd’s Pie,” says David Collas, Executive Assistant Manager Food & Beverage “We hope that this opportunity will be enjoyed by all and that it will encourage Dragonair guests to return to the hotel to sample more.”

Dragonair, an affiliate member of oneworld, is a Hong Kong-based airline operating a fleet of 32 passenger aircraft and serving 34 regional destinations, including 18 cities in Mainland China. Dragonair has been recognised for its product and service quality. Dragonair is part of the Cathay Pacific Group, providing seamless connectivity for passengers to more than 160 cities around the globe.

SkyTeam, the global airline alliance, has launched its new Go Russia Pass offering greater flexibility and cost savings on flights operated by Aeroflot within Russia.  The pass is the latest in a series of Go Passes developed by SkyTeam to provide global customers with economical travel to suit their needs whether flying for business or leisure.  The Go Russia Pass is available to passengers traveling on flights originating outside Russia with any of SkyTeam’s 15 member airlines or on a Go Round the World ticket.         

Aeroflot – Russia’s flag carrier and a SkyTeam member since 2006 – operates an extensive network of domestic flights and more than 30 destinations are included from its hub at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport as part of the Go Russia Pass.  These include the famous financial, industrial and tourism center of St Petersburg, the major energy producing regions of Surgut and Tyumen and the industrial cities of Nizhny Novgorod and Vladivostok. 

Customers purchasing a Go Russia Pass can opt from a minimum of three to a maximum of 16 flight coupons. Fares are calculated based on the number of miles flown non-stop, offering discounts of up to 20% off standard fares, depending on the itinerary. Coupons have no minimum stay, open-jaw itineraries are permitted and passengers can stop in each city multiple times – giving them complete flexibility to plan their trips. The Go Russia Pass is available for sale starting May 2nd 2012.

“With the Russian economy continuing to perform strongly, the Go Russia Pass has been designed to meet the demand for increased travel within the country,” said Alfredo Frassoni, SkyTeam’s Manager Revenue Management & Fare Products. “The majority of SkyTeam airlines fly to Moscow and the Go Russia Pass enables customers to visit multiple cities in one trip, maximizing the potential for business travel and tourism.”  

SkyTeam’s Go Russia Pass is one of a number SkyTeam travel passes including: Go Round the World, Go China, Go Europe and the recently launched, Go Africa. Customers can contact their local SkyTeam airline, reservation center or travel agent for details and bookings. For more information and terms and conditions of SkyTeam’s travel passes, please visit SkyTeam.com.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has asked leading Dutch designer Hella Jongerius to revitalise its World Business Class (WBC) cabin interior across the fleet. This will enable KLM to modernise its WBC product, uniting international allure with top Dutch design to emphasise a sense of pride in its Dutch heritage.

By cooperating in this unique manner with Hella Jongerius, KLM intends to create an entirely new Business Class look & feel. In addition to designing the interior, Hella Jongerius will shape the full-flat seats. Customer comfort and safety always form the premise, harmonising well with KLM’s brand values. This also fits into the broader context of other successful KLM initiatives in WBC with top Dutch chefs and fashion designers.

Erik Varwijk, Managing Director KLM: told TravelPlus “By choosing to work with Hella Jongerius, KLM is opting to engage a top Dutch designer to help make our Business Class passengers feel at home on board. As a designer, Hella has broad experience which she can apply to the needs of KLM and its customers, in accordance with the specific requirements for cabin interiors in the airline industry. Her previous projects demonstrate her ability to process such criteria into top-quality designs such as the ‘polder sofa’, which is both comfortable and beautiful. With her expertise and focus on quality, she is keenly aware of what makes a brand unique. An outstanding match!”

Hella Jongerius: “It’s a brilliant opportunity for me to design the cabin interior and the new business class seat for KLM. The challenge is one of safeguarding individual comfort in amiable settings using innovations. In so doing, I can optimally combine traditional details, and my industrial textile and colour skills with high-tech functionality.”

KLM will begin revitalising the first aircraft in June 2013. The Boeing 747-400s will be converted first; a total of 22 aircraft. Further details of the design and the new seat will be published in the second half of 2012.