All Posts in "Day: July 20, 2021"

Emirates A380 makes first London Stansted trip to pick up Arsenal

By admin

 

Emirates’ Airbus A380 is making its first trip to London Stansted Airport to icknup Arsernal  football club which will compete in the Florida Cup, playing Inter Milan on Sunday, July 25th.

The airline is flying the giant of the skies to pick up the Arsenal football club ahead of the Florida Cup. By picking up the football team that it sponsors, Emirates will operate the third Airbus A380 to visit London’s low-cost hub.

Emirates, Airbus A380, London Stansted
Emirates is flying an Airbus A380 to London Stansted Airport for the first time (not pictured). Photo: Vincenzo Pace – Simple Flying

London Stansted Airport was the fourth busiest in the UK and the third busiest in London in 2019. Despite this, the Airbus A380 is a rare visitor to the airport. While Emirates’ London Stansted service remains suspended, this didn’t stop the airline from pulling out all the stops to fly the Arsenal team to Florida.

Dubai – London Stansted – Orlando
This morning one of Emirates’ newest Airbus A380s, a jet registered as A6-EVN, departed from Dubai at 09:54. According to data from FlightRadar24.com, the plane is flying to London Stansted as flight EK2545, where it will arrive at roughly 13:45 local time. At the time of writing, the empty A380 was just about to enter Bulgarian airspace.

As mentioned, the flight is empty. While London Stansted is a perfectly normal destination for Emirates with the Boeing 777, the route, along with its London Gatwick route, remains suspended.

The jet is going to pick up the Arsenal football club. The team will compete in the Florida Cup, playing Inter Milan on Sunday, July 25th.

It seems the aircraft will remain on the ground in Stansted overnight. While no set time of departure is scheduled, we know that the aircraft is due to arrive at Orlando International Airport tomorrow at around 18:15 as EK2456.

Only the fourth A380 to visit Stansted
With this flight, A6-EVN will be the third Airbus A380 to visit London Stansted Airport.

The first aircraft to visit was British Airways’ first Airbus A380, G-XLEA. The plane visited in July 2013. Rather than operating passenger flights, XLEA visited London’s low-cost gateway on a training flight ahead of its entry to service

Emirates A380 Makes First London Stansted Trip To Pick Up Arsenal

Patoma Admin by — July 20, 2021 in Aviation 0
Kenyan insurance market generates $2.1bn gross written premium

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

Kenyan insurers and reinsurers faced challenging economic factors in 2020 which made the year a difficult one as the market generated KSH233bn ($2.1bn) of gross written premium, according to a new report from AM Best.

However, Kenya’s relatively stable economy and strengthening regulatory environment, compared with other markets in sub-Saharan Africa, are expected to continue to facilitate the development of its insurance sector.

AM Best’s new report, Price Competition Inhibits Growth Potential of Kenya’s Insurance Market, notes that while low insurance penetration by international standards means the market has good long-term growth potential, stiff competition has led to price undercutting in recent years, hampering premium growth and contributing to the sector’s underwriting losses.

There are more than 50 licensed insurers operating in Kenya, and in 2020, the regulator reports, the market generated KSH233bn ($2.1bn) of gross written premium, representing growth of 2 percent compared to the previous year (6 percent).

In the five years to 2020, GWP grew on average 6 percent per year, however inflation at between 5 percent and 8 percent dampened that growth.

Meanwhile market conditions have remained soft, which has also kept a lid on real GWP growth. However, AM Best warns that the market is saturated, with 35 companies competing for circa $1.2bn of premium in the non-life segment and no single insurer having a market share greater than 8 percent

The number of non-life policies in force grew an average of 13% per annum between 2016 and 2019 – 7% higher than GWP growth in the same period, implying a growth in the total sum insured by the market has not resulted in a corresponding growth in revenue.

Patoma Admin by — July 20, 2021 in Insurance 0
PTAD pays 18 out of 24 pension arrears to DBS pensioners

By Favour Nnabugwu

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has paid 18 out of the 24 months arrears of pension increment to Defined Benefit Scheme, DBS, the Pension.

it paid additional 9 months of consequential adjustment arrears occasioned by the new minimum wage increase of 2019 to Civil Service Pension Department Pensioners and 6 months of the same arrears to Parastatals, Police, Customs, Immigration and Prisons Department Pensioners.

The Executive Secretary PTAD, Dr. Chioma Ejikeme made this statement today in her response to the commendations from Pensioners on the payment of the arrears.

It would be recalled that in May, 2021, the Directorate implemented the consequential adjustment on Pensions as a result of the minimum wage Increment of 2019 and commenced payment of arrears to the Pensioners of the 4 operational departments as directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Civil Service Pensioners were paid 9 months of the arrears while Parastatals, Police and Customs Immigration and Prisons Pensioners were paid 12 monhs arrears in May.

With this payment, each of the Pensioners in the 4 operational departments would have a balance of 6 months arrears left to be paid.”

According to the ES, “The payment was to further support DBS Pensioners especially during this festive period of the celebration of this year’s Eid el Kabir. While wishing all Muslim Pensioners a Happy Eid El Kabir, she promised to continue to support and promote the welfare of the Senior Citizens in accordance with the mandate of the Directorate.

Patoma Admin by — July 20, 2021 in Pension 0
UAE passengers from Nigeria, 15 other countries remain suspended, GCAA

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

 

The General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA).  a new safety decision circular issued on Sunday announced that Inbound passenger travel from a total of 16 countries to the UAE will remain suspended until further notice.

Among the countries covered by the advisory are Nigeria, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Indonesia, Liberia, Namibia, Nepal, Pakistan, Uganda, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, and Zambia.

The authority has maintained status quo on previously issued travel restrictions.

“The current development on the Covid- 19 pandemic leads the UAE to impose new flight and passengers’ restrictions. The UAE Ggovernment is closely monitoring the situation and will provide further updates and instructions as necessary,” it said.

The GCAA said the circular had been issued to ‘harmonise flight and passengers’ restrictions among all above countries’.

The authority has also barred all UAE nationals, with the exception of diplomats and those suffering from medical emergencies from travelling to these countries as well.

All other previously stated travel protocols — including allowing entry only to UAE citizens, diplomats, golden and silver residency visa holders — will remain in place. Private charter jet regulations still hold, with no more than eight passengers allowed to travel per flight, said the GCAA.

Inbound travel from South Asian countries such as India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka have been suspended since April this year. Thousands of expatriates stranded in these countries have been desperately waiting to return to their jobs and families. Many are attempting to travel into the UAE by undergoing quarantine in a third country for 14 days.

Besides clarifying the inbound travel suspension, the GCAA circular also spelt out protocols for Emirati passengers who test positive for Covid or have come in close contact with a patient.

“Confirmed Covid-19 patients or those who have come in close contact with Covid-19 patients should generally remain in place and not travel until they meet the criteria for discontinuing isolation or quarantine period based on national protocol of the country they are in,” stated the circular.

“This includes UAE national passengers who wish to return home or those planning to travel to other countries.”

Patoma Admin by — July 20, 2021 in Aviation 0
AXA Mansard emerges best health insurance company in Nigeria

By Favour Nnabugwu

 

AXA Mansard Health Limited, has announced that it has emerged as the Best Health Insurance Company in Nigeria, at the just concluded 2021 International Finance Awards.

AXA Mansard Health has a 24-hour call center, a team of highly trained and dedicated professionals, service portals at all AXA Mansard Welcome Centres nationwide and has deployed state-of-the-art technology to attain operational excellence while contributing to prompt service delivery and overcoming of challenges being encountered in the Nigerian health insurance industry.

The Company is today positioned as the No 1 health management organization in Nigeria providing health related services to both individuals and corporate bodies.

Speaking on the award, Chief Customer and Marketing Officer, AXA Mansard, Jumoke Odunlami said, “We are indeed elated that our continuous strive for excellence is once again being recognised globally as it has always been here in Nigeria.

At AXA, We Act for Human Progress by protecting what matters. At AXA Mansard Health, we have never been more convinced about this purpose (which we consider a higher calling) than during a period like this with the pandemic ravaging the world. Our Customers and Nations health and wellbeing will therefore always remain a major priority for us”.

AXA Mansard Health Limited has several products to ensure that our customers are truly protected by providing a world-class health cover for its customers. The products are flexible enough to suit one’s needs whilst also providing other value-added benefits such as 24 hour dedicated Telemedicine service, home vaccination service, home laboratory service, free home delivery of special medications, partnership with healthy eating restaurants, smarter budget-friendly discounts on healthy meals and many more.

AXA Mansard Health Limited is the Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) arm of the AXA Mansard group of companies. The HMO is geared to promote her members’ wellbeing.

It is able to serve all clients across the country virtually and has established functional offices in Lagos (the head office), Abuja, Port-Harcourt, Enugu, with ongoing plans to open offices in other locations.

Patoma Admin by — July 20, 2021 in Insurance 0