In Brief

Air New Zealand To Expand Code Sharing Arrangements With Lufthansa
Air New Zealand will expand its current code sharing arrangements with its Star Alliance partner, Lufthansa German Airlines, to provide code shared services between Hong Kong and Frankfurt five times weekly (increasing to a daily service from October) and between Hong Kong and Munich thrice a week, as from July 15, 2002. Air New Zealand’s senior vice-president - sales and distribution, Norm Thompson stated that, like other code share arrangements, this would create flow-on benefits for the airline’s New Zealand and international customers.

“The code sharing arrangement provides an additional gateway for European travellers to New Zealand on Air New Zealand services via Hong Kong as well as Singapore and Los Angeles. In addition, the arrangement re-establishes our connection with Munich (previously from Los Angeles) which was disestablished after 9/11 last year,” said Thompson. Air New Zealand also code shares on Lufthansa operated services between Singapore and Frankfurt (daily) and between Los Angeles and Frankfurt (twice daily) with connecting services from Frankfurt to several German/European cities. Air New Zealand will expand its intra German/Europe code shares on Lufthansa providing additional connectivity to the Hong Kong gateway via Munich and Frankfurt.

FedEx Serves Up Sponsorship Deal With French Tennis Federation
Federal Express Corp (FedEx Express) and the French Tennis Federation recently announced a five-year deal making FedEx, an official sponsor of the French Tennis Open. The agreement was signed by Robert W Elliott, president, FedEx Europe, Middle-East and Africa and Christian Bimes, French Tennis Federation, president, at Roland Garros, the home of French tennis.

The sponsorship entitles FedEx to a number of core sponsorship rights. More specifically, the agreement gives FedEx exclusive international carrier rights of Roland Garros products sold through the French Open website.

Commenting on the sponsorship deal, Elliott said: “We believe the Roland Garros Tournament, watched by an estimated three billion TV viewers and 113 television channels throughout the world, is an excellent platform to promote the FedEx brand. We plan on developing a variety of powerful marketing programmes and initiatives around the tournament that will target our key audience.”

Christian Bimes, President of the French Tennis Federation, further remarked, “We are proud to display their logo as we prepare for one of the worlds greatest tennis tournaments, the 2002 French Open.”

Emirates Bags Tourism Excellence Award
Emirates recently was awarded the tourism excellence award by the government of Andhra Pradesh. The award was presented by chief minister, Chandrababu Naidu to Nabil Sultan, general manager- Emirates India & Nepal, at a distinguished function held in the city. The airline’s achievements in facilitating travel and tourism between the state of Andhra Pradesh and the U A E has resulted in this prestigious award. The function also marked the inauguration of Shilpakala Vedika, the state-of-the-art convention centre located near the Hi-Tec City. Commenting on the occasion, Sultan said: “Emirates is honoured to be the only foreign airline recognised by the state government, for its instrumental role in inviting tourism opportunities into Andhra Pradesh. The award testifies to the airline’s initiative of promoting travel and tourism between Dubai and Hyderabad. As a tourism friendly airline, we will continue our efforts in this direction and hope to achieve more such coveted industry awards in future.”