Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/556862
Events 44 maltatoday, Sunday, 16 auguSt 2015 Emirates announces sixth daily A380 service to Australia and second daily A380 to Singapore EmiratEs, a global connector of people, places and economies, announced its sixth daily a380 service to australia and second daily service to singapore with the up-gauge of its current service be- tween Dubai and melbourne via singapore. From the 1st of march 2016, EK404 and EK405 will be oper- ated by Emirates flagship a380 aircraft, replacing the existing Boeing 777-300Er aircraft, pro- viding more customer options as well as additional seat capacity on the route. With this up-gauge, melbourne will be served twice daily with an Emirates a380. in addition to the increased ca- pacity, the aircraft up-gauge on this route will provide travellers with another seamless a380 con- nection option when travelling to melbourne or singapore from a number of Us, Europe and middle East destinations globally through its hub in Dubai. With the addition of this serv- ice, australia will become the third largest a380 destination for Emirates globally with a total of six daily a380 services from Dubai to four australian cities. this includes a double daily a380 service to sydney and melbourne and a daily a380 to Brisbane and Perth. the busiest Emirates a380 destination, with nine daily serv- ices from Dubai, is the United Kingdom, with the second be- ing the United states. Emirates partner Qantas also operates two daily a380s between Dubai and australia, and with this up-gauge, eight of the 13 code-shared flights between Qantas and Emirates to australia each day will be served by an a380 aircraft. the Qantas partnership also allows incoming passengers to seamlessly connect to more than 50 australian and New Zealand destinations beyond Emirates' existing gateways of adelaide, Brisbane, melbourne, Perth, sydney, auckland and Christchurch. "Emirates' daily service between Dubai and melbourne, through singapore has proven a popular choice amongst travellers and we're pleased to be able to provide additional capacity on this route by up-gauging the aircraft to our flagship a380," said Barry Brown, Emirates Divisional senior Vice President, Commercial East. "the a380 is one of the world's most efficient and comfortable ways to fly, and with 65 a380s in the Emirates fleet serving 35 des- tinations globally, and a further 75 aircraft on order, it remains firmly embedded in the future expansion plans for our global network," said mr Brown. On board the Emirates a380, passengers in all three cabins can enjoy more than 2,000 channels of the latest movies, tV shows and music from around the world alongside a range of games on the award-winning ice inflight enter- tainment system. the latest tech- nology allows passengers to stay connected throughout the flight with high-speed Wi-Fi access and mobile phone and data services. Emirates' First and Business Class experience on the a380 takes luxury to another level. First Class customers can freshen up in the two onboard shower spas, while both First and Business Class travellers can socialise at 40,000 feet in the popular On- board Lounge, while enjoying pre- mium beverages, hors d'oeuvres and delicacies prepared by gour- met chefs. the Emirates' a380 operating as EK404/EK405 is a wide-bodied double decker aircraft with a ca- pacity of 519 passengers including 14 luxurious First Class Private suites, 76 lie-flat beds in Business Class and 429 spacious seats in Economy Class. EK404 will leave Dubai at 0930hrs, arriving at singapore Changi airport at 2045hrs. it then departs singapore at 2225hrs and arrives at melbourne tullamarine airport at 0850hrs the following day. it returns as EK405 leaving melbourne at 1900hrs, landing at singapore Changi airport at 2335hrs and departing at 0120hrs to arrive at Dubai international airport at 0450hrs the same day. Emirates operates a daily sched- uled flight between Dubai and malta via Larnaca, Cyprus. For further information and flight schedules, one can visit the site: www.emirates.com/mt GO reports 41% increase in profitability during first half of 2015 DUriNg the six month period ending 30 June 2015, gO in- creased its operating profit by €4.0 million (41.4 per cent) to €13.7 million, when compared to the same period in 2014. this improvement in profit- ability was achieved thanks to stable revenues of €60.7 mil- lion (2014: €60.8 million) and improved cost management. During the first half of the year, gO continued to expe- rience growth in a number of areas, particularly mobile services and data centre busi- ness. retail revenues were positive, based largely on the continuing strong take up of Limitless mobile plans and Limitless Homepack, which also contributed to further over- all growth in gO's client base, which continues to stand at more than 500,000 connections. these positive trends compen- sated for a decline in wholesale revenues, a direct consequence of regulatory decisions. rev- enues from traditional fixed- voice services also continued to decline. Yiannos michaelides, CEO at gO plc, said, "this set of im- pressive half yearly results con- tinues to give us the confidence that the strategy gO is pursuing is the right one. Our ability to satisf y all the telecommunica- tion needs of households and businesses remains key to our success. Our straightforward Limitless propositions, which we have further improved in 2015, will continue to be popular with customers and drive growth. "at the same time, gO will later this year launch 4g and continue to invest in Fibre-to- the-Home, further enhancing its position as the leading 4P player in malta. gO will also continue to invest in its lead- ing data centre business. these investments, together with the ongoing review of processes aimed at improving service to customers and improved cost management have also contrib- uted significantly to delivering this excellent result. "Despite the fierce competi- tion, regulatory pressures, and the systemic declines in some areas of our business such as fixed telephony, gO has con- tinued to perform exceptionally well and for this i must thank all our employees for all their hard work and our customers for their loyalty." During the first six months of 2015, cost of sales and admin- istration costs excluding costs of an unusual nature, size or incidence, namely voluntary retirement costs and pension obligations, amounted to €47.4 million. this represents a decrease of €2.3 million over the compara- tive period. Whilst the group successfully pursued cost reduc- tions in most areas, it also expe- rienced increased incidence of costs in certain areas particu- larly those directly related to sales activity. Operating profit before costs of unusual nature, size or inci- dence, amounted to €14.1 mil- lion, an increase of €2.3 million (19.7 per cent) over the operating profit of €11.8 million achieved in the comparative period. Prof- it before tax increased by €4.5 million (53.0 per cent) from €8.5 million in 2014 to €13.0 million in the first half of 2015. Cash generation from op- erations remained healthy and amounted to €22.7 million (2014: €18.4 million) whilst as at 30 June 2015 the group's bor- rowings net of cash holdings amounted to €43.5 million, an increase in net debt of €2.1 mil- lion over December 2014. an increase in net debt is normal during the first half of the year and is directly related to the payment of a net dividend of €7.0 million (€0.07 per share). tHE grtU is saddened by the loss of Charles Camilleri (pictured), who served as grtU President in 1989. Camilleri was a respected entre- preneur and an example to the busi- ness community. He was for many years active within the organization on several levels and within various sectors, especially in representation of the Valletta business community. Camilleri was a person of great integrity and dedicated much of his time working for the betterment of the maltese business community. the grtU President, Execu- tive Council and staff extend their heartfelt condolences to Camilleri's family. HSBC Malta Foundation's support of hedgehog conservation bearing fruit a total of 124 hedgehogs have been rescued over the last six months through a joint Nature trust malta and HsBC malta Foundation project aimed at safe- guarding the existence of the pro- tected mammals on the islands. During this time, a total of 60 road signs have also been installed near known habitat areas of hedge- hogs in malta and gozo. Local councils have requested at least 20 more signs. referred to as the algerian or North african Hedgehog (atelerix algirus), the hedgehog is a native to the maltese islands and has no real predator. its number one killer is motor vehicles. Due to the heightened awareness the campaign has created, several calls have been received in the first half of the year from people keep- ing hedgehogs as pets not know- ing that species are protected in malta. Once notified, owners have voluntarily returned the hedge- hogs for rehabilitation and even- tual release. the campaign, which is part of the 'Hedgehog Conservation and rehabilitation of injured Hedge- hogs', is carrying out at least two hedgehog rescues per day as a re- sult of calls on an emergency line. the project includes a hedgehog adoption campaign to fund medi- cal and rehabilitation costs of in- jured, or orphaned hedgehogs. the aim of all rescues is to release hedgehogs back into the wild. the hedgehog rescue hotline is 9999 9505. to adopt a hedgehog, information can be obtained at adoptahedgehogmalta@gmail. com. GRTU mourns the loss of Charles Camilleri, former GRTU President