Travel/Tourism
Africa’s First Social Travel App, TrekBuyFly, Goes Live
By Dipo Olowookere
What type of trip do you crave? Would you take a local trip across Nigeria, experience the beach by boat, climb Olumo rock, splash around in one of Nigeria’s beautiful waterfalls, or simply spend the day being pampered or at an event with friends?
Or perhaps plan your dream holiday around the world; glacier walking in Iceland, running with the herd in the Serengeti, tasting tea in China or much, much, more?
Nigeria and indeed Africa’s first Social Travel App, TrekBuyFlyTM satisfies all your travel, rip and group hangout wishes with one click. A simple swipe across your phone screen is the answer to all your travel wishes.
The TrekBuyFlyTM app was specifically built for the Nigerian and African market and helps users get off the beaten track or find the most pocket friendly trips, with student discount options and last moment sales! All of this whilst keeping friends updated through social media. The Application is available for download in the Google Playstore and the Apple App Store.
“Today’s traveller wants immediate answers. We want to know who’s in town when we arrive, what there is to do? We want to know the coolest places to hang out, the secret bars and see a little of the city too!” says Lola Adefope, General Manager of Business Travel Management Limited, developer of TrekBuyFlyTM app.
She continues, “We first came up with the idea when our classic clients kept calling us from their destinations after their meeting was done or shopping was completed, they would ask, ‘What else can we see, where can we just relax? What is outside the hotel?’TrekBuyFlyTM app gives you these answers!”
When asked why it’s called the Social Travel APP she replied, “Let’s face it, Africans are social, we like doing things together or carrying each other along! It’s the African way; it is especially the way we are in Nigeria! So when we built this, we decided to make group trips and hanging out doing other activities a lot less complicated.”
Amongst the long-term goals of developing the TrekBuyFlyTM app is to encourage Nigerians to travel and experience our own country and the world beyond our borders as well as utilising the app to improve internal tourism development in Nigeria.
At an elaborate corporate event in Lagos, TrekBuyFlyTM app was officially launched in two interconnecting waterside venues simultaneously. After a wine evening cocktail at Raddison Blu Anchorage Hotel Lagos, VIP guests were transported by luxury boat across the lagoon to an invitation only star-studded party at Tivoli Gardens in Ikoyi.
On arrival- guests posed on the red carpet then wandered through the TrekBuyFlyTM Amazing Maze for a thrilling experience. One guest said “The maze was great! There were surprises in each corner as you found your way around. We saw jugglers and the African corner with palm wine and even met a Sheik who told us Amazing Maze secrets!” another guest said “All events should be this much fun!”
Another guest who repeatedly roamed the maze said; “I saw my friend post online that there was a mirror selfie corner! How did I miss that? “. “We love the metaphor of the TrekBuyFlyTM maze- with the APP we are making our travel less complicated, planning our trips and meeting up with friends doesn’t have to be difficult or stressful at all, it’s easy now with TrekBuyFlyTM in our pocket!”
In continued celebration of the TrekBuyFlyTM App, TrekBuyFlyTM will be running competitions to send lucky winners on a fully paid holiday. Simply download the TrekBuyFlyTM app from the Google Playstore or the Apple App store and choose which holiday you want to win! It’s that simple! #Trekbuyfly
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Emirates has made an order for three twin-engine DA42-VI aircraft and its corresponding flight simulator from Austria-based Diamond Aircraft Industries for the Emirates Flight Training Academy (EFTA).
This is in fulfilment of its promise of offering cutting-edge tech and state-of-the-art aircraft to train pilots of the future and help close the industry’s skills gap.
Since 2020, more than 100 cadets have successfully graduated from EFTA, creating a strong pilot recruitment pipeline for Emirates and the industry.
The AUSTRO jet-fuel-powered DA42-VI aircraft is slated to be the flagship that ushers in multi-engine piston (MEP) training at EFTA.
The delivery of the aircraft is expected to commence soon, with all three slated to be received by EFTA in the first half of 2023.
“Our new fleet from Diamond Aircraft is part of our larger strategic intent for our cadet programme. It helps us design a bridging MEP programme for cadets to gain more flying experience while progressing from a single-engine to a light jet aircraft. It strengthens our offering and makes it more unique, rounded and robust.
“Our cadets will benefit hugely as they gain experience on three different types of aircraft, even before they’re licensed. The new fleet also helps us go above and beyond in complying with the new GCAA guidelines.
“The DA42-VI is reliable, eco-friendly and a practical platform for MEP training. We’re confident we’ve made the right choice,” the Vice President of EFTA, Capt Abdulla Al Hammadi, said.
“We are thrilled that our DA42-VI is the choice for Emirates’ flight training. This, once again, solidifies the aircraft’s position as the industry-leading multi-engine piston trainer,” said Liqun (Frank) Zhang, CEO of Diamond Aircraft Austria. “With Emirates, we are adding another premier flight academy to our long list of renowned training operators and are looking forward to supporting them with the most advanced and eco-friendly aircraft available on the market today.”
The 4-seat DA42-VI is the newest version of Diamond’s technology leading light piston twin-engine aircraft. It’s the first certified general aviation piston aircraft to combine modern technology airframe, avionics, and power plants.
With its unique combination of performance and utility, the jet fuel-powered DA42-VI is designed to make transitioning from single to twin-engine much easier. The aircraft generates fuel savings of up to 50% compared to conventional AVGAS-powered twins, and its panoramic canopy provides excellent visibility during all flight manoeuvres.
Since its introduction, well over 1,100 DA42 aircraft have been delivered, outselling all other certified piston twins combined. The all-composite DA42-VI is equipped with efficient, silent, clean and reliable 168hp jet fuel AUSTRO engines AE300, Garmin G1000 NXi with 3-axis Automatic Flight Control System and optional electrically driven air conditioning.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Chief Commercial Officer of Emirates, Mr Adnan Kazim, has said the airline’s forward bookings have remained robust amid a strong customer demand, spurring the company to ramp up its operations across continents.
According to him, in the past months, the airline has planned and executed the rapid growth of its network operations, reintroducing services to five cities, launching flights to one new destination (Tel Aviv), and adding 251 weekly flights onto existing routes and continuing the roll-out of service enhancements in the air and on the ground.
It was disclosed that Emirates has continued to scale up its A380 operations with the reintroduction of the iconic double-decker across its network: Glasgow (from 26 March), Casablanca from (15 April), Beijing (from 01 May), Shanghai (from 04 June), Nice (from 1 June), Birmingham (from 1 July), Kuala Lumpur (from 01 August), and Taipei (from 01 August).
“Emirates is working hard on several fronts – to bring back operating capacity as quickly as the ecosystem can manage while also upgrading our fleet and product to ensure our customers always enjoy the best possible Emirates experience.
“So far, four of our A380 aircraft have been completely refurbished with our new cabin interiors and Premium Economy seats, and more will enter service as our $2 billion cabin and service enhancement program picks up pace,” Mr Kazim added.
He noted that in the coming months, established routes to Europe, Australia and Africa would be served with more Emirates flights, while in East Asia, more cities are seeing route restarts.
Emirates had upcoming route enhancements by regions, including in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, East Asia, as well as in Africa which covers Cairo: from 25 to 28 weekly flights by 29 October; Dar es Salaam: from 5 flights a week to daily flights starting 01 May and Entebbe: from 6 flights a week to daily flights starting 01 July.
By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh
A number of African countries are focusing on promoting extensively inbound tourism. They are luring potential external investors to the tourism industry.
The latest in the southern African region is Mozambique, which has approved a visa exemption for 28 countries for tourism and business.
As the Council of Ministers approved the decree in mid-March, the exemption applies to visitors holding ordinary passports and allows for a 30-day stay, renewable to an additional 60 days.
The model adopted by the Mozambican government is similar to the United States visa waiver program in the sense that it requires travellers to register on a platform for pre-screening at least 48 hours before travelling and to pay a processing fee of MZN-650 (equivalent £8.50).
In the list released, Nigeria, which prides itself as the giant of Africa and the largest economy on the continent, was missing.
The approved countries for this programme are Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The visa exemption is a follow-up to the launch of a platform last December that allowed prospective visitors to apply for an electronic pre-authorization to travel into the country. The introduction of e-visas has seen an increase of over 30 per cent in the number of travellers entering the country compared to the same period in the previous year.
The e-visa platform commits the country to respond to applications within five days, but general feedback places an average response at 24 hours, and the few issues reported are usually created by users not uploading the required documentation.
President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, since August 2022, has taken steps containing 20 reform measures aimed at delivering to visitors and potential investors a path for a more competitive and more accessible country. Mozambique, with an approximate population of 30 million, is one of the 16-member Southern African Development Community.
