Sharaf Travel has been appointed general sales agent (GSA) in the United Arab Emirates for Vietnam Airlines. The announcement followed a meeting in Hanoi, Vietnam, between Dr. Pham Ngoc Minh, president and CEO of Vietnam Airlines, and Ibrahim Sharaf, President of the Sharaf Group where the GSA agreement was signed. “We are delighted to appoint Sharaf Travel as our general sales agent in the United Arab Emirates and look forward to operating our service, when possible to dynamic and exciting Dubai,” said Dr. Pham. Commenting on the new partnership with Vietnam Airlines, which came into force on June 16, Sharaf said: “I am confident that reinstatement of the Vietnam Airlines flights to Dubai will facilitate tourism and trade between the two countries and foster stronger relationships.” Trinh Hong Quang, director Passenger Marketing, Vietnam Airlines, said the airline is very keen to operate flights to Dubai in due course. Vietnam Airlines currently operates flights to 41 international and 20 domestic destinations, with a fleet consisting of 49 passenger aircraft. The fleet includes 10 B777-200ERs, 10 A320-20s, 13 A321-20s and the average age of aircraft in the fleet is 6.5 years. Vietnam Airlines have on order of 16 B787-8s, five of these will be delivered in 2009 and with the remaining delivered by 2012. It has signed an MOU for the order of 10 A350 XWB and an additional 20 A321s. Headquartered in Dubai, Sharaf Travel is the GSA for several other airlines including ANA, Delta, Finnair, LTU, South African Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Bangkok Airways, Condor, Hainan Airlines, Garuda Indonesia, Icelandair, Virgin Nigeria, Afriqiyah Airways, Eritrean Airlines. It was established in 1991, by brothers Ibrahim Sharaf and Sharafuddin Sharaf, with the primary aim to provide quality travel services to business and leisure travelers. Today, it is a well established and progressive travel agency operating in the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Sharaf Travel also represents various leisure travel products including cruises, tourism boards and special interest brands such as student travel. In 2007 Sharaf Travel was appointed as the exclusive accredited space office in the Middle East for Virgin Galactic, the world's first commercial space line. __
