UKRAINE: Wizz Air Starts Five New Routes from Ukraine

Wizz Air today announced that it will further expand its operations in Ukraine by adding a fourth Airbus A320 aircraft at its Kyiv base in March 2019, launching five long-awaited routes from Kyiv and Lviv airports and increasing the number of tickets offered with over 45% next year.

The new routes announced will operate from Kyiv to Breman, Billund and Riga and from Lviv to Copenhagen and Frankfurt Hahn and travelers can already book their tickets from just EUR 24.99 / UAH 759.

Today, Wizz Air also releases its 2019 summer schedule from Kyiv airport.

For the next two weeks the fares for the summer season, including the new routes will be exclusively available to WIZZ Discount Club members only, while from 13 September 2018, they will become available to everyone.

The new connections together with the weekly frequency increase on the popular service Kyiv- Lisbon are part of WIZZ’s 2018 summer schedule from Kyiv.

Wizz Air Routes From Ukraine

Tourism Observer

PORTUGAL: SATA International Rebrands As Azores Airlines

Five hours. Nonstop. From Toronto. That’s all it takes to get to the beautiful islands of the Azores with Azores Airlines year-round nonstop service from Toronto, and seasonal service from Montreal.

The oldest airline in Portugal has just become the newest, following the recent rebranding of SATA International as Azores Airlines, and the airline hosted a VIP dinner for agents and media at Toronto’s Old Mill Wednesday night to get agents reacquainted with the brand.

As Portuguese music duo, Sounds of Portugal, strummed traditional Portuguese music, the crowd mingled before sitting down to dinner and updates from Portugal Tourism and Azores Airlines.

Willie Delgado, country manager for Portugal Tourism, based in Toronto, welcomed guests before introducing Azores Airlines chief commercial officer, Gavin Eccles, who updated guests on Azores Airlines and their plans in Canada, including a new winter schedule and generous stopover programme.

At 76 years old, the airline has grown the number of seats they offer in Canada by 63%, offering year round service from Toronto to Ponta Delgada with five weekly nonstop this summer, and four weekly flights for the winter 2018/2019 period.

Onward connections are available to other destinations in Portugal such as Lisbon, Porto, and Madeira, as well as Gran Canaria, Cape Verde, London and Frankfurt.

They also offer seasonal summer service with one weekly flight from Montreal to Ponta Delgada, and one weekly flight from Toronto to Terceira Island.

We also believe in supporting those who work with us said Eccles as he spoke of Azores Airlines six percent at-source commission rate.

We believe passionately in upfront commission. You are our sales force. You are selling me. Why would I not want to reward you?

With Azores Airlines’ stopover programme, travellers can visit two destinations for the price of one, with stopovers available on the outbound or the return, staying as little as a few hours, or for as long as seven days. There’s no additional cost and no complex booking process.

We are offering our clients the ability to discover a part of the world that they may not normally think about going to.

Eccles again said It’s something that Iceland has done. And I stand here and say that what Iceland did for Icelandair is what I'm trying to do for Azores and Azores Airlines.

Portugal has been doing spectacularly well in the Canadian market and obviously I’m biased but it’s a great destination said Tourism Portugal’s country manager, Willie Delgado.

What we're doing here today is promoting another part of Portugal which may not be that well known, and that’s the Azores, a spectacular nine-island archipelago right smack in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

Delgado continued. It's an island of tremendous beauty, unique culture, great food and great history. And although the Azores is focused a lot on diaspora, we're working with Azores Airlines hand-in-hand to further broaden our market and I think that's what we did today.

Influenced by their location and by the Gulf Stream, temperatures in the Azores are mild year round, and while its winter temperatures may not make it a direct competitor to the Caribbean, the temperature averages 22°C in summer and 17°C in winter, making it ideal for nautical sports all year round.

But in closing, I had to ask Delgado whether, given its short flight time, the Azores is competing with the Caribbean this winter.

As a winter destination, it's wonderful. Temperate weather and a five hour flight from Toronto Delgado said.

There’s all kinds of wonderful experiences with nature, with the geothermal parks, with whale watching, the great food with the local culture and the local wines, so it's something to think about for sure.

It's a different experience but we're convinced that Canadians, once they learn about it, they'll take to it.


Tourism Observer

LATVIA: airBaltic Flying To Croatian City Of Split

Low-cost carrier airBaltic has introduced Split to its flight network, becoming its third Croatian city following previous routes to Dubrovnik and Rijeka.

Over the course of 2018, the airline already launched flights to Almaty, Gdansk, Kaliningrad, Lisbon, Malaga and Sochi/Adler.

We are delighted to add the seventh new destination from Riga to our summer route map of 2018, said Wolfgang Reuss, airBaltic’s SVP of Network Management.

Reuss later added that the Croatian city is not only attractive by itself, but with its position in Central Dalmatia it is also an ideal vantage point for journeys to Croatian islands including Hvar or Brac, he said.

As of December 2017, airBaltic manages a fleet of 31 aircraft, consisting of six Boeing 737-300, five Boeing 737-500, eight Bombardier CS300, and 12 Bombardier Q400.

Additionally, the Latvian flag carrier it’s expecting 12 extra Bombardier CS300, and its upcoming new route, Riga–Bordeaux, will launch on 3 June.

May 21, 2018, the inaugural flight was operated with one of the airline’s CSeries planes.

Though regular services are scheduled to be managed on that aircraft type, airBaltic will deploy as well its Boeing 737-300s and 737-500s kinds.

The new 2-hour 40-minute service between Riga International Airport (RIX) and Split Airport (SPU) will be flown twice per week, on Mondays and Fridays, and currently, it has no direct competition.


Tourism Observer

PORTUGAL: TAP Portugal And airBaltic Sign Codeshare Deal

Riga based carrier airBaltic and TAP Air Portugal have signed a codesharing agreement between the two airlines.

This partnership will enable airBaltic passengers through to TAP’s extensive network of international destinations such as Brazil and Africa with TAP benefiting more on flights to the Baltics, Scandinavia and other areas of Eastern Europe.

Martin Gauss, Chief Executive Officer of airBaltic said that TAP Air Portugal is already our 21st codeshare partner, thus we are further extending the impressive portfolio of partner airlines that ensures smooth and seamless travel for airBaltic customers around the world.

The CEO added that airBaltic will sell flights between Riga, Vilnius and Tallinn and TAP Air Portugal domestic network via Lisbon, as well to Lisbon via common gateways, better connecting Baltics to the world.

Antonoaldo Neves, Chief Executive Officer of TAP, said that this newest partnership with airBaltic will allow TAP Air Portugal customers to take advantage of new direct flights to Latvia and connecting services to the Baltic countries.

Thereby adding convenience and travel options to Northern Europe, in complementarity with TAP direct services to Scandinavia and Finland, he stated.

As part of the agreement, TAP will place its TP flight code on direct flights between Riga and Lisbon that are already operated by airBaltic as well as via common gateways between the Portuguese carrier’s network and Riga.

With TAP operating to 83 destinations across 35 countries, this is a big boost for airBaltic to get their name out further across the international industry.


Tourism Observer

SPAIN: Vueling Airlines Launches Flights From Palma de Mallorca To Stuttgart, Vienna And Lisbon

Vueling launched three new routes from Palma de Mallorca (PMI) in the last week, with services commencing to Stuttgart (STR) and Vienna (VIE) on 1 June, and to Lisbon (LIS) on 2 June.

The latter 1,025-kilometre connection to the Portuguese capital city will be operated twice-weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays and there is no direct competition.

The 1,138-kilometre link to Stuttgart and the 1,456-kilometre route to Vienna will both be operated four times weekly and there is incumbent competition on each airport pair.

The Stuttgart route is already operated by Laudamotion, Eurowings, TUIfly, Condor, easyJet and Ryanair, with these six carriers providing a combined 89 weekly flights.

The Vienna sector is currently flown by Laudamotion and Eurowings which offer a combined 39 rotations.

Commenting on the new link to Palma de Mallorca Julian Jäger, Joint CEO and COO of Vienna Airport said: Thanks to the new flight connection, passengers will enjoy an even broader travel offering to Spain’s most popular holiday island.

The island offers a change of scene to travellers of all ages, whether for a city trip, beach holiday or sport vacation.

Vueling has added two more sectors to its domestic network in the last seven days, with two new sectors from Palma de Mallorca (PMI), its fourth biggest operation after Barcelona, Rome Fiumicino and Paris Orly.

On 15 June, the IAG-owned subsidiary started a three times weekly rotation to Jerez (XRY).

The next day it began a similar frequency on the 393-kilometre city pair to Zaragoza (ZAZ).

Both sectors will be flown by the airline’s A320 fleet, with the latter route to Zaragoza facing direct competition from Air Europa (three times weekly) and Volotea (twice-weekly).

This summer Vueling will serve 26 destinations non-stop from Palma de Mallorca. This is one more than last summer.

However, while five new destinations have been added the others being Florence, Lille and Zurich, four have been dropped: Algiers, Brussels, Catania and Turin.

Vueling Airlines, S.A. is a Spanish low-cost airline based at El Prat de Llobregat in Greater Barcelona with hubs in Barcelona–El Prat Airport and Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport in Rome, Italy.

Its name comes from the Spanish word vuelo, which means flight. It is the largest airline in Spain by fleet size and the number of destinations.

There are thirteen additional bases at A Coruna, Alicante, Amsterdam, Bilbao, Florence, Madrid, Málaga, Palma de Mallorca, Paris-Orly, Santiago de Compostela, Seville and Valencia.

A fifteenth summer seasonal base is located at Ibiza.

Vueling serves over 100 destinations in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East. In 2015, the airline carried more than 24 million passengers, with a load factor of 81%.

MTV has since ended.

In November 2010, Vueling announced a new base at Toulouse Airport in France from April 2011, followed in December 2010 by the announcement of a new base in Amsterdam, also to open during April 2011.

The Toulouse base opened on 23 April 2011, but has since closed.

In January 2011, further expansion was announced with Vueling adding a further nine aircraft to its fleet, including Airbus A319 aircraft.

Six Airbus A320s were delivered between April and June 2011, whilst the remaining two A320s were delivered by the end of 2011.

On 21 March 2012, it was announced by CEO Alex Cruz that Rome would be added as a new base.

The base launched on 25 March 2012 with one aircraft based there, the airline has since expanded at Rome with numerous new destinations.

On 5 December 2012, Vueling announced the opening of a new base of operations in Florence, the carrier is to base one aircraft there and serve four new European destinations.

Ten months later, on 25 October 2013, Vueling launched Florence-Catania, its first domestic route in Italy.

Since November 2013, the airline has continued to expand from its hub at Barcelona.

On 6 November 2013, Vueling announced a new base with one aircraft in Brussels, with seven new destinations from May 2014, in addition to the four previous routes from Brussels.

Also in November 2013, Vueling announced an expansion of its base at Rome-Fiumicino. From mid-2014, 8 aircraft would be based there, operating more than 30 routes.

This expansion meant Rome-Fiumcino would become Vueling's second hub, after Barcelona.

During the first weekend of July 2016, Vueling had many delays and cancellations, which resulted in an investigation by the Spanish authorities.

During the same month, Vueling cancelled all the flights to Sheremetyevo International Airport, Vilnius Airport and Rabat–Sale Airport. Clients are able to get a refund or fly to the nearest airport where Vueling flies.

In October 2016, Vueling shut down their bases in Brussels, Catania and Palermo as part of restructuring measures.

In March 2017, Vueling cancelled its route from Barcelona to Frankfurt Airport.

On 29 December 2017, it was announced that IAG would acquire Austrian airline Niki as a subsidiary for Vueling.

In November 2012, International Airlines Group, whose subsidiary Iberia held a 45.85% stake in Vueling, offered to buy the remaining 54.15% of the company with both Iberia and IAG owning both shares and not resulting in the company being wholly owned by IAG through 100% of shares.

IAG, also the owner of British Airways, plans to use Vueling to help stem losses at Iberia.

However, market trends increased profits and improved figures from Vueling resulting in a higher share-price had made IAG's offer a significant undervaluation of the airline.

Vueling had urged its shareholders to reject IAG's offer and its shareholders had until the 8th of April 2013 to decide upon the recommendation.

On 27 March 2013, IAG improved its offer for Vueling, raising its offer per share from €7 to €9.25.

Vueling shares quickly surged following the announcement, rising by 8.8% to €9.23 following a temporary suspension as BMAD waited on an official comment from Vueling regarding the updated offer.

The acceptance period was also increased by 48 calendar days.

On 9 April 2013, the board of Vueling unanimously recommended shareholders accept an improved offer of €9.25 per share from IAG.

IAG CEO Willie Walsh confirmed that the board had recommended the new offer; however, Walsh also stated that Vueling would not be merged with Iberia, saying, Vueling will operate as a stand-alone entity in IAG group.

On 23 April 2013, IAG acquired control of Vueling which saw the recently purchased 44.66% stake by IAG merged with Iberia's existing 45.85% stake to form a 90.51% shareholding.

Vueling remains a standalone company now within the IAG and its management structure is unchanged; however, Vueling's CEO Alex Cruz reports directly to IAG CEO Willie Walsh.

Vueling has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

- British Airways

- Cathay Pacific

- Iberia

- Qatar Airways


The Vueling fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Airbus A319-100 - 5

Airbus A320-200 - 89

Airbus A321-200 - 15

Total - 107

Vueling orders for more aircrafts:

Airbus A320neo - 47


Tourism Observer

SOUTH KOREA: Seoul Is Preferable Destination For Wealthy Travellers

THE BUSTLING metropolis of Seoul, South Korea has topped a new survey ranking the luxury travel destinations that attract – and retain – wealthy tourists the longest.

For the 2015 Luxury Travel Index, prepared by technology and booking company Switchfly, analysts looked at the average length of stay that affluent travelers spend at top destinations around the world.

And while the list of 15 destinations is dominated by European cities and islands, the top spot goes to the South Korean capital, where wealthy travelers spend an average of 13 days shopping, eating and sightseeing – and dropping their money.

After Seoul, Dubai and Milan round out the top three spots.

The list, which is meant to serve as a snapshot into the traveling habits of tourists who fly first class and sleep in five-star hotels, also shows that interest in the Americas for deep-pocketed travelers is weak: The only two destinations to crack the list are Sao Paulo and Miami.

Here are the luxury destinations where wealthy travelers choose to spend the most time – and money – according to Switchfly, which powers booking and loyalty redemption programs for leading international hotel brands:-

1. Seoul, South Korea (13.0 days)
2. Dubai, UAE (12.7 days)
3. Milan, Italy (12.3 days)
4. Athens, Greece (11.5 days)
5. Singapore (11.1 days)
6. Frankfurt, Germany (11 days)
7. Sao Paulo, Brazil (tied 10.6 days)
7. Hong Kong, China (tied 10.6 days)
8. Bali, Indonesia (10 days)
9. Lisbon, Portugal (9.7 days)
10. Tokyo, Japan (9.6 days)
11. Crete, Greece (9.2 days)
12. Mykonos, Greece (8.7 days)
13. Rome, Italy (8.5 days)
14. Miami, Florida, USA (8.3 days)

SPAIN: Iberia To Start Flights To Manchester

Iberia Express will commence a three-times weekly service between Madrid and Manchester next week.

The low-cost carrier will operate the return flights on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from September 8.

During the winter season, the service will fly twice-weekly, on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Outbound flights to Manchester will depart Madrid at 1600 and arrive in Manchester at 1725, with return leg leaving Manchester at 1800 and landing in Madrid at 2135.

Iberia Express will roster a 180-seat A320 on to the route.

The airline said: “The flights are timed to offer easy connections from Madrid to Valencia, Vigo, and other Spanish destinations, as well as to Lisbon, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Montevideo, Santiago de Chile, Sao Paulo, and Tel Aviv.”

In July, Iberia announced plans to launch new services to destinations in Asia, Africa and the Americas over the next two years