1. Art and Diseño

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2015
BUSINESS
Toyota earns 2015 ‘Top
Safety Pick’ awards
8 Toyota, Lexus models earn IIHS’s highest top safety pick+
Hassan El Houry, CEO, National Aviation Services with Gaoussou Toure, Minister of
Transport, Government of Cote d’Ivoire at the signing.
NAS awarded ground handling
contract for Abidjan airport
KUWAIT: National Aviation Services (NAS),
the fastest growing ground handling company in the emerging markets and a subsidiary of Agility, has reached a new milestone in its expansion with its first contract
award in West Africa. With the new contract, NAS has now expanded its operational network to 16 stations in nine countries.
Under the ten year contract, NAS will
provide ground handling services at the
Felix Houphouet-Boigny International
Airport in Abidjan as a part of a public private partnership with the Government of
Cote d’Ivoire. NAS was awarded the contract based on their proven track record
and the solutions proposed to turn the airport back to a regional hub as it was in the
past.
The ground handling contract includes
passenger services, ramp handling, cargo
management and warehousing as well as
other related airport services.
The official signing ceremony took place
in Abidjan last week with Cote d’Ivoire representatives, Gaoussou Toure, Minister of
Transport, Abdourahmane Cisse, Minister
of Budget, NialÈ Kaba, Minister of Economy
and Finance and Hassan El Houry, CEO,
National Aviation Services.
Following the signing El Houry highlighted, “The Government of Cote d’Ivoire
places development of its transport sector
at the heart of its economic growth. As the
chosen ground handling partner, we can
provide them with the operational expertise, security and reliability required by the
Abidjan Airport to reclaim its position as
the aviation hub for West Africa.”
The Abidjan airport currently handles
close to 1.5 million passengers, 8,200 air-
crafts and close to 20,000 tons of cargo.
NAS Ivoire, led by newly appointed General
Manager Olivier Berni will work through a
six month transition period before taking
over complete airport operations in midJuly.
National Aviation Services (NAS) is the
fastest growing aviation services provider
in emerging markets. From our initial operations in Kuwait in 2003, NAS has quickly
transformed into a leading airports service
provider with a presence across regions:
the Middle East, Africa and South Asia. The
6,000 capable, personable employees at
the core of our worldwide network are
committed to providing aviation services
that we benchmark to the best in the
world. NAS provides services to more than
half of the world’s top ten airlines. These
carriers rely on us to work directly with passengers and behind the scenes to deliver
the services that make a difference. Our
portfolio of services includes Ramp and
Passenger Ser vices, Cargo Handling,
Engineering
Ser vices
and
Line
Maintenance, Airport Technologies, Fixed
Base Operations, Aviation Training Center,
Travel Agency and the Pearl Assist product
which includes lounges and meet and
assist services across the company’s network.
NAS prides itself in providing world class
aviation solutions and is affiliated with
leading industry organizations such as
IGHC, GASA, ACI & EASA and follows practices of ISO, EMS & OHSAS. As one of the
first ground handlers in the world to obtain
the ISAGO certification, nothing is more
illustrative of NAS’ commitment to providing the leading global practices in aviation
services.
Bumper-to-Bumper service
centers join Ooredoo’s
Nojoom loyalty program
KUWAIT: Bumper-to-Bumper (BTB) has
announced that its service centers have
joined Nojoom loyalty program, introduced
by Ooredoo telecommunications. Thanks to
this auspicious partnership, BTB customers
can now exchange their Nojoom points for
service vouchers, which can be redeemed
at any BTB branch for car services.
Founded in 1980, BTB started as quickservice shops that specialized in replacing
and repairing exhaust systems. Five years
later, in 1985, the brand BTB was created as
a unique concept in the Kuwaiti market.
Today, BTB’s clear mission is to exceed
expectations by offering the best in car
maintenance and spare-parts services, for
both individual customers and corporate
owners. But what makes BTB truly stand
out is the highly-trained crew of technicians and professionals, who collectively
provide an unprecedented level of support
through state-of-the-art equipment and
auto maintenance knowledge.
The partnership between BTB and
Ooredoo, via Nojoom, is one of the many
new benefits that the service center aims to
offer its clients. As for the unique and consumer-centric loyalty program Nojoom,
customers can enjoy exclusive perks, discounts and vouchers across a variety of
Nojoom partners such as Crowne Plaza
Hotel, Holiday Inn Hotel - Salmiya, Sultan
Center, Pronto Wash, Kuwait Finance
House, M H Alshaya, Qatar Airways and a
lot more. The Nojoom redeeming process is
simple; all customers have to do is to
exchange the Nojoom points they receive
from paying their phone bills or recharging
their lines.
As one of the strongest local brands in
the country, with more than 150,000 vehicles serviced each year, in one of 150 service platforms in 8 service centers throughout the country, Bumper to Bumper provides customers with total convenience
and peace of mind, dealing with all makes
and models of cars. At Bumper to Bumper,
the customer comes first and each center is
designed with the customer’s comfort in
mind, including free wireless access, a spacious lounge area, a cafÈ, a playroom and
much more. Indeed, choosing Bumper to
Bumper service centers means turning over
your car to a crew of specialized technicians who, in return, operates the mostadvanced equipment and analyzing tools
to produce a highly detailed report and an
accurate estimate of total cost.
To top it off, Bumper to Bumper service
centers offer genuine spare parts for all car
models as well as warranty for parts and
labor. BTB service centers also offer easy
finance solutions such as installments and
other payment plans.
BTB service centers are strategically
located throughout Kuwait including
Sharq, Fahaheel, Shuwaikh and Jahra, as
well as being integrated in various Alfa
Petrol Stations in Shaab, Agaila, Shuwaikh
and South Surra.
KUWAIT: The Insurance Institute for Highway
Safety (IIHS) has presented 12 awards to Toyota.
The leading Japanese Automotive giant won
more awards than any other automaker, including the most of the Institute’s highest honor.
Toyota Motor Corporation earned this across
different car segments, for the advanced safety
features and strict compliance to high standards
of its vehicles. Toyota and Lexus models scored
high ratings in IIHS tests which evaluates two
aspects of safety: crashworthiness - how well a
vehicle protects its occupants in a crash and
crash avoidance and mitigation - technology
that can prevent a crash or lessen its severity.
2015 Toyota / Lexus Top Safety Pick+ winners
are: Lexus CT (built after Sept. 2014), Toyota
Prius, Toyota Camry, Toyota Prius V, Lexus RC,
Toyota Highlander, Lexus NX and Toyota Sienna.
2015 Toyota / Scion Top Safety Pick Winners
are: Toyota/Scion: Scion FR-S, Scion tC, Toyota
Avalon and, Toyota RAV4 (built after Nov 2014).
“At Toyota, our focus remains on the safety
and peace of mind of our customers,” said Dino
Triantafyllos, Toyota’s North American Chief
Quality Officer. “We’re pleased the IIHS has recognized the strong and improved safety performance of our vehicles in a range of crash
tests.”
The IIHS in particular recognized the Prius V
for it’s significantly improved all round performance in the small overlap crash test, naming it a
Top Safety Pick+. The Toyota Sienna was also the
only Mini-Van which was granted the 2015 Top
Safety Pick+ award.
Qatar Airways named ‘Best
Economy Long-haul Experience’
WASHINGTON: On January 16th, Qatar Airways
was named “Best Economy Long-Haul
Experience” by SKIFT, a recognized leader in
world tavel trends and information. The study,
which included all major international airlines,
was a comprehensive evaluation of the user
experience, designed to “determine the best
cabin experiences around the world”.
This distinction joins Qatar Airways’ other
coveted titles including “World’s Best Business
Class” from Skytrax, which the World’s 5-star airline has won for the past two consecutive years.
“Having received such prestigious honors for
our Business Class, we are proud to be recognized for our commitment to allof our world
travelers,” said Qatar Airway’s Group Chief
Executive, Akbar Al-Baker,
He continued: “Our vision has always been
to create the world’s finest travel experience; in
the air and on the ground, in every seat on
every flight, for both business and leisure pas-
sengers. We are honored by this recognition
and inspired to set new standards for our hospitable, Five-star service.”
The final decision, was reached by evaluating all aspects of the airline user experience,
including website, economy cabin comfort,
inflight meals, added perks (wif-fi, in-seat power, etc.) and overall design aesthetic. While
acknowledging the quality of previous passenger rating systems, SKIFT’s ground-breaking
study set out to minimize bias and deliver a
data-driven evaluation.
“We chose a system which put the very subjective “best” in an objective context,” wrote
Marisa Garcia of SKIFT, “We also wanted to consider the overall passenger experience pointto-point, and to give ratings which, though
always subjective, could be justified as equitable.
SKIFT’s recognition comes just weeks after
Qatar Airways launched the brand-new Airbus
A350 from the manufacturer’s headquarters in
Toulouse, France. Qatar Airways is the first airline in the world to offer the state-of-the-art
aircraft, and successfully completed the inaugural passenger flight, between Doha, Qatar
and Frankfurt, Germany, on January 15, 2015.
Qatar Airways has seen rapid growth in just
18 years of operation, to the point where today
it is flying a modern fleet of 146 aircraft to 146
key business and leisure destinations across
Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific,
North America and South America.
Qatar Airways flies daily to Washington DC,
New York, Houston, Dallas, Philadelphia,
Miami* and Chicago non-stop from the airlines
hub in Doha, Qatar. All of these routes are operated with the airline’s state-of-the-art Boing
777 aircraft, the backbone of the fleet.
*Miami to be daily from November 2015;
presently Qatar Airways flies five-times-weekly
to Miami International Airport.
X-cite by Alghanim Electronics
launches ‘Crazy Prices’
KUWAIT: X-cite by Alghanim Electronics,
Kuwait’s leading retail electronics and e-commerce player, has announced the commencement of their latest2-week’Crazy Prices.. Won’t
Last’ promotion in their17 showrooms and website, bringing incredible deals to customers on
computers, tablets, mobiles, gaming consoles,
cameras and more. The website www.xcite.com
also features an online exhibition called ‘XciteConnect,’ showcasing not only these amazing
offers, but also an extraordinary collection of
new and unique gadgets and devices accessible
from the comfort of their homes. It also includes
‘One day offers’ on selected products valid only
for 24 hours. This amazing promotion is sponsored by top suppliers such as Lenovo, Huawei
and HP and will run until the 7th of February
2015.
In addition to the aforementioned exciting
deals, tech-savvy customers will want to check
out the unique gadgets like mini-drones, 3D
printing pens, wearable fitness trackers, as well
as app-controlled smart home products, which
allow users to monitor and control their home
wirelessly from their smartphones. Customers
can get their hands on those gadgets in their
showrooms orvia the ‘Xcite Mobile App’ available
on Google Play Store and iOS Apple Store and
on www.xcite.com
As the leading destination for multi-brand
consumer electronics in Kuwait, customers are
encouraged to visit X-cite showrooms and shop
to their hearts’ content for the latest technologies where they can find over 300 leading
brands and a wide range of high quality products across the world.
To stay updated on the monthly promotions
and offers visit X-cite’s ever-expanding retail network of 17 showrooms (opening soon in Cube
Shopping Mall in Salmiya and relocating in
Hawallyto Al Fadalah Tower).Customers can also
subscribe to the daily newsletter on
www.xcite.com or follow X-cite’s social media
channels on Facebook.com/XcitebyAlGhanim,
Instagram and Twitter on @xcitealghanim.