Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/637230
46 Events maltatoday, Sunday, 7 February 2016 Emirates goes non-stop Dubai-Auckland from March Emirates announced that it will start its first non-stop service from Dubai to Auckland on 1 March 2016, bringing many of its 38 European destinations and cities within just one-stop range of New Zealand through direct connections in Dubai. The new service will be in ad- dition to the award-winning air- line's existing flights, meaning that Emirates will then have five services daily into New Zealand – three A380 double-decker serv- ices to Auckland via Australia, a daily Christchurch service with a Boeing 777-300ER, and the new non-stop service operated with a Boeing 777-200LR. The new service will bring New Zealand much closer than at present, with an estimated flight time of just under 16 hours from Dubai to New Zealand and 17 hours, 15 minutes in the other direction, cutting journey times by almost three hours each way. "Having just one stop on the long haul to New Zealand will make the journey quicker and more comfortable. This will be a boon to many business people, tourists, expatriate New Zealand- ers and other travellers in Europe, parts of Africa and the Middle East," said His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman and Chief Executive, Emirates Airline and Group. "Tourists, in particular, will now have more options – travel- ling to Auckland with a stopover in Australia on one of our three daily A380s, flying non-stop di- rect into Auckland, or flying to the South Island on our daily Christchurch service. New Zea- land currently hosts about three million tourists a year and we want to do our part to cater for that flow and grow that figure above current expectations. "Operating a non-stop service between Dubai and Auckland has been in our sights for some time, dependent on availability of suitable aircraft as we rapidly ex- pand our global network of desti- nations, and frequency of flights and capacity on existing routes. We are particularly delighted that we can now bring this excit- ing plan to fruition." HH Sheikh Ahmed said that an aggressive fleet growth and re- newal programme which is rap- idly expanding both its A380 and Boeing 777 numbers had meant that the right sort of aircraft for the ultra-longhaul non-stop flight from Dubai was now available. "Emirates started operating in New Zealand with a double-daily Auckland service in August 2003, adding a third daily Auckland service a few months later, and then providing a daily Christch- urch service in 2004. Progressive- ly from 2009 onwards, we have upgauged the Auckland services to our flagship A380s and these fly via Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane respectively to Dubai and beyond, and reverse. With the introduction of the non-stop service, Emirates will then be flying more than 2,000 seats a day in each direction on New Zealand services. The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft that will operate the new, non- stop route are purpose-built for ultra-longhaul flights, carrying up to 266 passengers. Like Emir- ates' other New Zealand flights, the aircraft will offer three cabin classes: eight First Class suites, 42 lie-flat Business Class seats and 216 comfortable Economy Class seats. The flights will feature Emir- ates' gourmet meals and fine wines, and more than 2,000 channels of entertainment and information will be available on large, individual screens. Passen- gers will have the airline's usual generous free baggage allow- ances – 30kg for Economy Class, 40kg for Business Class, and 50kg for First Class. Travellers currently booked on existing services to Dubai and beyond will be able to switch to the new service without addi - tional fees (subject to seat avail- ability). Emirates operates daily sched- uled flights between Malta and Dubai. From 1st March Emirates will fly twice weekly, on Mondays and Wednesdays, via Larnaca in Cyprus, and on Sundays, Tues- days, Thursdays, Fridays and Sat- urdays the airline will operate the Dubai - Malta route on a circular routing via Tunis in Tunisia. The return flight will fly direct from Malta to Dubai. Design and win your own Opel ADAM SINCE its introduction in 2013, the Opel ADAM has been winning over the public with its sporty es- prit and as a stylish statement from the heart of Europe. The individu- alisation champion – the only car you can actually personalize ac- cording to your taste and style - is especially inspiring to the young and young-at-heart target groups. Boosting the motto ADAM & YOU onto the next level, Opel is driving its successful online cam- paign #ADAMyourself (www. adamyourself.com ), providing a forum for enthusiastic co-creators, giving individuals the opportunity to design their very own Opel AD- AM with the chance of winning it and seeing their model exclusively manufactured by Opel as a Limited Edition. The campaign is running in 15 countries, including Malta. For each participating country, there will be one limited edition Opel ADAM at the end of the campaign. This underlines the idea: "One car. A thousand personalities". The winner will be determined by the Opel judging panel where they would be presented with the top 10 most voted ADAMs locally. The winner will visit Germany for the photoshoot as he/she will also be part of the ADAM advertising campaign kicking off in September this year. Ten young, hip and commercial fashion and lifestyle bloggers from all over Europe are also living out their enthusiasm for the ADAM, championing the campaign by designing their own inspirational urban car, giving examples to their followers how they can personal- ize their car according to their own, individual taste and freedom. Nicoletta Reggio – Italian Fashion Blogger, Scent of Obsession web- site – is the influencer chosen for Malta. Nicoletta has become one of the most followed fashion bloggers in Italy thanks to her contributions on glossies and fashion websites like Harper's Bazaar, vogue.com, style. com, Glamour and Marie Claire. She is also a regular on Fashion TV, Grazia TV, Fashion Camp and Sky Class Life. For the ADAM campaign, Nicoletta keeps updating her fol- lowers how to track trends, what styles are in today – and why the Opel ADAM is the perfect car to give free reign to their own creativ- ity and personality. "With #ADAMyourself we are exactly in the place that's bustling with fans and future ADAM driv- ers – the social media channels," says Opel Chief Marketing Office Tina Müller, describing the online campaign. "Together with the stars of the digital lifestyle scene, we are not only very close to the style trends of the target groups, we also invite them to become a part of ADAM and express their person- ality and creativity in this unique car." How to create and win your own Opel ADAM Anyone can participate in the #ADAMyourself campaign where participants are encouraged to customise their favourite ADAM model with body colours, roof top colours, rims and backgrounds directly on the microsite https:// www.adamyourself.com until mid-February. The ADAMs created appear on the #ADAMyourself microsite and can also be shared on Facebook or Twitter. Once shared, friends and relatives can vote for your ADAM. The voting deadline is mid-March. The top 10 most locally voted ADAMs would then be judged by the Opel Judging Panel – including Opel representatives and 10 Euro- pean bloggers, including Nicoletta Reggio – who choose the country favourites, which will then each be produced from autumn 2016 as the limited special model series "ADAM YOURSELF". A new ADAM goes to that crea- tive person who manages to wow the Opel international judging panel with a personalised design of the already funky car and the very special part is that the winners will be the "advertising face" for their ADAM in their country. The winner will be announced between March and May. For more information, visit ad- amyourself.com Opel is represent- ed in Malta by Cars International Ltd in Mdina Road, Qormi. For more information or test-drive on an Opel ADAM, send an email to opelsales@cil.com.mt or call 2269 2122. You can also visit opel.com. mt or the Facebook page Opel Malta. Fiesta: Europe's favourite small car, again THE Ford Fiesta was the No.1 selling small car in Europe again last year, making it the top-selling small car in Europe for the fourth year run- ning. Customers purchased 314,432 Fi- estas in Europe in 2015, compared with 309,120 the previous year (an increase of 2 per cent) after Ford in- troduced significant upgrades. "Small-car customers will find what they're looking for in Fiesta, whether it's the fuel efficiency of the the 82 g/km CO2 Fiesta Econetic or the award-winning performance of the Fiesta ST," said Roelant de Waard, vice president, Marketing, Sales & Service, Ford of Europe. The new colours for Fiesta are Magnetic, a dark but sparkling me- tallic grey; Candy Red, a vibrant tinted clear-coated red; and Silver Silk, a luxurious, satin-like, metallic silver-grey. Ford also has extended the range of stylish Fiesta Red and Black Edition models to include 125 PS 1.0 litre EcoBoost petrol and 95 PS 1.5-litre TDCi diesel versions. Previously only available with Fiesta Red and Black Edition models, the 140 PS 1.0 litre EcoBoost engine also will now be offered with Titanium and Sport models. "Customers now have the widest ever choice of Fiesta models that of- fer extensive equipment levels; ex- cellent fuel efficiency and emissions; and eye-catching colours and style," said Roelant de Waard. "In terms of powertrain alone, we offer an exten- sive line-up that includes the 1.0- litre EcoBoost, the first engine ever to be named International Engine of the Year three times in a row." Madrid showcase for MSE's Prospects platform THE Malta Stock Exchange (MSE) hosted a seminar at the Club Financiero Genova, in Madrid, giving a detailed overview of Malta's finan- cial services sector, capital market, legal and regulatory framework and the Maltese post-trading infrastructure. The event served as a soft launch for the MSE's new capital market platform, Prospects, which offers SMEs access to the capital market as well as systems to address suc- cession planning issues. Eileen Muscat, CEO of the Malta Stock Exchange explained that this new product would allow SMEs in Malta as well as those within and outside the EU to access the capi- tal market in a very cost effective and efficient manner, creating investment and growth oppor- tunities and allowing investors the opportunity to participate in this exciting and dynamic sector of the economy. Succession plan- ning, often an unmanaged proc- ess within family-run businesses, could also be addressed through this exciting product. For almost 25 years, the Malta Stock Exchange has successfully fulfilled its role as an effective venue to raise capital finance, as well as offering the full value chain of services, from passport- able Admission to listing, to sec- ondary market trading, clearing, settlement and custodial services. Prospects is a new market that increases the choice of options to raise capital by SMEs. The event (left) was very well at- tended by local players in the capi- tal market service chain, financial intermediaries, stockbrokers, fi- nancial advisors and companies interested in discovering new op- portunities for raising capital. The seminar was organised by the Malta Stock Exchange in close cooperation with Finance Malta and under the auspices of the Em- bassy of Malta in Spain. The event was also being supported by Ernst & Young, Datum Finance, Camill- eri Preziosi Advocates and David Mulchi & Asociados.