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Ittihad Airlines

Ittihad Airlines is an airline company owned by the government of Abu Dhabi. It was established in the year 2003 as the United Arab Emirates’s national airline and in started operating fully by November later that year. They began with a paid-up capital of about AED500 million. They started services with the launching of ceremonial flights from Abu Dhabi to Al Ain and this took place on the 5th of November 2003. they later started operating commercially by launching of services to Beirut and today, ittihad airlines is growing so fast in the history of commercial aviation.

As at 2004, June to be precise, the airline made an incredible move of purchasing five Boeing 777-300 Ers, twenty-four Airbus aircrafts which included four A380-800s. They were said to have spent about US$8 billion in ordering for theses aircrafts. Ittihad airlines later went on making the largest order of aircrafts in the history of commercial aviation; this was officially announced at the Farnborough International Air Show in the year 2008. Can you possibly believe that they purchased about 205 aircrafts? Yes they did, and no airline company has been able to break this record so far. The order consisted of 100 firm orders, 50 as purchase rights and 55 as options.

It was recently recorded around July 2010 that ittihad airlines operates its services to about 64 destinations globally from its base of origin, Abu Dhabi. In 2007, they carried about 4.6 million passengers but figures drastically changed as at 2008 when they recorded more than 6 million passengers. These records prove how this airline is rapidly growing globally. Most air travelers in the United Arab Emirates and world wide prefer the luxurious comfort they derive each time they fly ittihad airlines. The building of their head office and training center in Khalifa, Abu Dhabi costs about 183.6 million dirhans (UAE), converting to USD should be about $50 million USD. In October 2006, the former CEO of Gulf Air ‘James Hogan’ was appointed as Chief Executive Officer.

When my friend was telling me about the performance of this airline, he classified it as the best and leading airline in the world but I kept arguing not until he told me about the greatest award which any airline would ever receive, and ittihad airlines happen to break records by meriting this award within six (6) years of existence. In the year 2009, UAE’s worthy airline ‘Ittihad airlines’ took up the golden award of the ‘World’s Leading Airline’ and this award was presented at the World Travel awards in the year 2009.

At this point, I’m sure you can agree with me that this airline offers premium services. I remember when I flew from South Africa to Malaysia via ittihad airlines, the services offered were maximum. I had a very relaxed and comfortable flight with all measures of security and competency.

Services

Diamond Zone: This is same as first class in every other airline. You are sure to rock with rotating seats of 180 degrees and 6’8 flat beds. There is a privacy shell which guarantees you of privacy in maximum and provides access to the aisles, directly. Others within this space range include an integrated personal mirror, magazine rack, a coatroom, 23” personal LCD mini-bar, fold and swivel meal table, and a desk lamp and light for reading. These are just to mention a few.

Pearl Zone: Same as the business class, ittihad airlines provides you with seats which recline to 180 degrees, 6’1 fully flat bed. You can access the aisle directly for maximum privacy and space, also with 88” pitch. The seats are provided are equipped self-contained seats with personal lights and reading lights. LCD 15” personal screen plus in-flight telephone. Mentioning a few.

Coral Zone: This is the economy class area. The seats here are with lumbar support, feet and head rests, and seat pitch of about 33 inches. Every seat here is loaded with a personal LCD 10.7” screen.

The vision of this airline company is to work with people who are capable of projecting them as the best airline in the world and also giving life to their five (5) corporate values which are; inspiring their customers globally, delivering the best practice, caring about details, positive actions, and responsibility taking. Most people, as part of their day to day work, respect, maintain and also have a clear understanding of ittihad’s values.

This airline also offers opportunities which are very significant. The opportunities are to help its people attain their personal and professional goals in life and these are organized in various ways. Their staff are always delivering their best thinking of the huge benefits they get asides their well-paid salaries. The airline takes care of their staff taxes, accommodation, health insurance, education allowance, ittihad holiday trips and cheaper airline fares, etc.

In summary, ittihad airlines are still the leading airline, worldwide.