REPORT – ATM 2006 – DUBAI: Singapore Airlines (SIA) celebrated its thirtieth anniversary of flying direct to the United Arab Emirates, with a gala dinner attended by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President…
REPORT – ATM 2006 – DUBAI: Singapore Airlines (SIA) celebrated its thirtieth anniversary of flying direct to the United Arab Emirates, with a gala dinner attended by Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President, Department of Civil Aviation, Dubai.
The event was also attended by His Excellency Dileep Nair, Counsel General for Singapore in the UAE, and a number of leading businessmen and figures from the aviation industry.
Speakers at the event congratulated the airline on this significant achievement and expressed the hope that the strong relationship between Singapore and the UAE would continue to develop and blossom.
“Singapore Airlines is proud of having served as a point of connection between these two great countries for thirty years, and we look forward to serving our passengers in the years to come,” said Lim Meow Seng, General Manager – Gulf Region for Singapore Airlines.
“This momentous occasion gives us the opportunity to reflect on how far our respective nations have travelled in the past three decades and how great the level of commercial, cultural and social exchange has been,” he added.
Travel between Singapore and the United Arab Emirates has risen significantly in the past few years, with high numbers of business travellers and families flying between the two attractive destinations.
The UAE is Singapore’s most important travel market, with 28,000 visitors travelling in 2005, a rise of 11.5 percent on previous years.
This growth beats the trend of rising visitor numbers from the Middle East to Singapore in recent years. In 2004, Singapore welcomed some 68,000 visitors from Middle East, representing an increase of 78% and 20% over the same period in 2003 and 2002 respectively. The steady growth in Middle East visitors to Singapore was sustained in 2005, with a 3.8% year-on-year growth.
“The United Arab Emirates is a valued partner for Singapore and we are delighted to celebrate the anniversary of Singapore Airlines this week,” said Alan Tan, Singapore Tourism Board’s (STB) Area Director for the Middle East and Africa.
“I would like to think that we are also celebrating the ongoing blossoming of the friendship between our two nations, which grows closer every day through the bonds of culture, trade and through the 1,000s of people who travel to and from our countries every year,” he added.
As an additional note of recognition, Singapore Airlines was named “Best Airline – Asia” in the Business Traveller Middle East Awards earlier this week, while Singapore Airport won “Best International Airport”.
Singapore is strongly represented at this year’s Arabian Travel Market, taking place at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre (DICEC), with both Singapore Airlines and a large number of Singapore Hotels and attractions represented on the National Pavilion.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
