NETHERLANDS: Stay Alert, Dutch Tourists In Turkey Warned

The Netherlands has issued a travel warning for Turkey amid a growing row between the two countries. Meanwhile, Ankara has summoned the Dutch envoy, claiming a Turkish minister and hundreds of demonstrators were subject to “bad treatment” by authorities.

The Dutch Foreign Ministry released the updated advisory on Monday, warning citizens to be careful when visiting Turkey.

“Since March 11, 2017 there have been diplomatic tensions between Turkey and The Netherlands. Stay alert across the whole of Turkey and avoid gatherings and crowded places,” the ministry said in its warning.

It went on to warn that there is a safety risk when traveling to Turkey, adding that Dutch citizens should register with the ministry ahead of travel.

The Turkish tourism sector is already suffering following last year’s attempted military coup and a number of terrorist attacks. Visits from Dutch citizens saw a 30 percent drop last year.

FlyBe airline has announced it will be expanding its seasonal summer service on its London City-Amsterdam route.

It is currently operating this route only on weekends, however, beginning March 27, the airline will begin service on weekdays with 7 weekly flights overall.

Flybe is the largest independent regional airline in Europe. It is based in Exeter, and operates more UK domestic flights than any other airline. Its hubs are located at Manchester Airport and Birmingham Airport.

In January 2017, the airline was rated as the best UK airline for punctuality and the sixth worldwide in the 2016 OAG Punctuality League report.

The Air Lease Corporation will provide two Airbus A330-900NEO’s on a long term lease to Air Mauritius with delivery dates set for September and October next year, when two ageing Airbus A340’s will be retired from the airline’s fleet.

The new widebody jets will be powered by Rolls Royce Trent 7000 engines and offer passengers a dual class cabin layout with 28 flatbed business class seats and 263 new generation economy class seats. The airline has opted not to include a premium economy class section at this stage as this value added option is gaining traction now among the world’s leading airlines.

Air Mauritius also has orders for the Airbus A350XWB pending with the first two of these state of the art aircraft due for delivery in 2019 but rescheduled the dates for two more from 2020 to a provisional 2023.

The airline is also embarking on retrofitting the existing long haul fleet of two Airbus A330-200 and six Airbus A340’s with new seats, a new entertainment system and notably WiFi on board.

Meanwhile will Amsterdam become a year round destination for Mauritius as KLM has announced a code shared flight, KL501, to operate every Monday, Thursday and Saturday, using a brand new Boeing B787-9 as of 30th of October this year. The aircraft will be offering a three class layout for passengers with 30 flatbed Business Class seats, 45 Comfort Economy seats and 219 standard Economy Class seats.

The summer schedule flights, as of 26th of March 2018, will be operated by Air Mauritius using an Airbus A340 on the route every Monday and Friday with a third service added for the months of August and October.