EUROPE: Important Plane Crashes

A Germanwings Airbus A320 crashed into the French Alps on March 24, 2015 during a flight from Barcelona to Dusseldorf. All 144 passengers and six crew members were killed. A co-pilot with mental problems intentionally crashed the plane.

Rebels in eastern Ukraine were accused of shooting down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 on July 17, 2014 during a flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

All 298 people on board died, 193 of them Dutch. A Dutch investigation found pro-Russian rebels shot the plane down with a Buk surface-to-air missile launched from separatist territory in eastern Ukraine.

A Polish air force plane carrying President Lech Kaczynski crashed near the Russian airport of Smolensk on April 10, 2010. A Russian and Polish investigation found pilot error during landing in thick fog caused the crash that killed more than 90 people.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the twin brother of Lech and leader of the ruling PiS, suggested the crash was a political assassination.

An Air France flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed in the Atlantic on June 1, 2009, killing all 228 people on board.

It took nearly two years for the black box to be recovered from the bottom of the ocean. The investigation found a combination of technical and pilot error caused the crash.

A Spanair MD-82 plane crashed after take-off from Madrid airport on August 20, 2008, killing 154 people.

Surprisingly, 18 people survived the crash and subsequent fire. The crash was caused by an improper flap and slat configuration and a failure of the pilots to follow a pre-flight checklist.

A Russian passenger plane operated by Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise crashed near the eastern Ukraine city of Donetsk on August 22, 2006, killing all 170 people aboard. The plane was flying from St. Petersburg to the Black Sea resort of Anapa.

A Helios Airways flight from Cyprus crashed on August 14, 2005 near its destination Athens, killing all 121 on board. The crash was caused by a loss of cabin pressurization that immobilized the crew. The plane flew on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed.

On October 8, 2001 a Scandinavian Airlines MD-87 airliner collided with a small Cessna on take-off from Milan's Linate Airport. All 114 people on the SAS and Cessna aircraft were killed, as were four people on the ground. The accident happened in thick fog. The SAS plane crashed into a hangar.

On July 25, 2000 a Air France Concorde flight from Paris to New York crashed two minutes after take-off, killing 109 people on board and four people on the ground.

The crash was caused by the Concorde running over a piece of debris on the runway, which sent tire debris into part of the fuel tank that burst into flames.


Tourism Observer

ETHIOPIA: Ethiopian Airlines To Commence Flights To Barcelona, July 1st

Ethiopian Airlines has finalized preparations to launch new flight services to Barcelona, as of July 01, deploying a Boeing 787–8 Dreamliner aircraft on the route.

Barcelona, the capital and largest city of Catalonia and the second most populous municipality of Spain, is also the second largest trade fair and Exhibition Centre in Europe.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mr. Tewolde GebreMariam, said:

We are very happy to spread our wings to Barcelona, which will be our second destination in Spain, after Madrid, and the 13th city in our European network.

The start of this new flight to Barcelona is part of our global route network expansion plan in line with our strategic roadmap, Vision 2025.

The new flight to Barcelona will provide seamless connectivity options for business people as well as tourists from Barcelona to our extensive African network of 58 destinations via our main hub in Addis Ababa.


Tourism Observer

FINLAND: Finnair To Launch Flights to Hanover, Germany

Finnair has unveiled plans to launch flights between Helsinki and Hanover, Germany, next summer.

The new route will start on 29 April 2019 with five weekly frequencies and will become a daily and year-round frequency as of 1 June 2019.

Hanover is one of Northern Germany’s largest cities and hosts several important fair and trade events throughout the calendar year.

The city will be Finnair’s seventh destination in Germany as the airline already flies year-round to Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Stuttgart.

We are very excited to open a new route to Hanover and to continue our growth and expansion into Germany as it is a very important market for Finnair.

We’ve also significantly increased our presence in the German market for the upcoming 2018 summer season by adding approximately 35 percent capacity compared to last summer, said Juha Järvinen, Chief Commercial Officer at Finnair.

Additional capacity is also being added for the 2019 summer season on some popular European routes.

Finnair will add four weekly frequencies to Barcelona from the beginning of June until the end of the summer season.

An additional frequency will be added to Reykjavik, making it a daily destination for the entire summer season. In addition, an additional daily frequency will be added to Warsaw on both Saturdays and Sundays.

The airline is also adding capacity on its Helsinki-Dubai route for the upcoming winter 2018 season.

One weekly frequency will be added which means Finnair will fly seven weekly frequencies to Dubai.

In addition, two of the weekly frequencies will now be operated with a A350, instead of a narrow-body aircraft.

Flying some of the Dubai frequencies with the A350 during the winter season will also allow us to offer our Finnair Business Class product with full-flat seats on this popular leisure and business route, Juha Järvinen said.


Tourism Observer

UNITED KINGDOM: British Airways To Begin Heathrow To Marrakech Flights

British Airways has announced that the launch of its new service between London-Heathrow (LHR) to Marrakech for their Winter 2018/19 operations.

The services will commence from October 28t this year on a four times per week basis using the airline’s Airbus A320.

The airline already operates to Marrakech but from London-Gatwick (LGW) up to eight times per week.

This new LHR route will cement the connectivity that Marrakech currently has.

Flights are to depart Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Marrakech adds another exciting destination to our leisure network at Heathrow and is a fantastic starting point to explore Morocco.

From trekking in the Atlas Mountains to discovering the amazing deserts and beaches and soaking up the atmosphere of the many medinas, Sean Doyle, British Airways’ Director of Network and Alliances, said.

Marrakech is one of the key tourism destinations in North Africa, so we’re excited to serve it from two of our London airports.

On top of these flights, BA is increasing frequencies on other destinations from Heathrow.

Prague will be increasing from 27 flights weekly to 34 per week, Budapest from 20 to 23 per week, Barcelona from 46 to 53 per week, Gibraltar nine to 13 times per week, Larnaca seven to ten times per week as well as Malaga from four to six times per week.

On top of these frequency increases, the carrier has recently launched international services to Durban, South Africa as well as Nashville in the U.S.

It shows that in terms of expansive growth, British Airways are not looking to stop anytime soon and that this will continue.

This regardless of the competitive and economic climate the carrier is facing against the likes of Ryanair, Norwegian and other low-cost carriers in the region.


Tourism Observer

GERMANY: Ryanair Boeing 737-800 Flight From Barcelona To Hamburg Overrun Runway

Ryanair Boeing 737-800, performing flight from Barcelona to Hamburg, landed on Hamburg’s runway 05 following a non-precision approach but overran the displaced end of the runway.

The aircraft vacated the runway via taxiway E6 instead of last usable exit A6 and taxied to the apron.

The occurrence aircraft remained on the ground in Hamburg for 7 hours before returning to service.

On May 17th 2018 Germany’s DFS (ATC Provider) reported the aircraft was unable to stop before the last exit A6 and vacated via the next exit immediately before the begining of the reconstruction works.

The area between A6 and E6 was kept clear as a safety buffer zone, hence no machinery, men or other obstacles were on the runway in this area and no critical situation arose.

Like all runway excursions this occurrence is being investigated internally by the DFS.

Airport and the works permitting authorities (LBA) have been informed about the runway excursion.

Meanwhile, Ryanair passengers will soon have less time to check-in unless they pay extra to reserve their seat.

The budget airline said its check-in window for passengers who have not paid for reserved seating will shrink from four days to 48 hours starting June 13.

But if customers pay for a reserved seat, which costs from £4 about $5.50 each way but rises to £15 about $20 for seats with more leg room, they will be allowed to check in up to 60 days before flying.

Passengers who turn up at the airport and have not already checked in online will be charged an extra £55 about $74.

The latest rule change comes just months after a controversial baggage policy change.

Passengers now have to pay £5 about $6.75 for priority boarding to avoid having their main cabin bag checked in to the hold at their departure gate.

The new check-in policy could encourage travellers on weekend breaks to pay for reserved seating or be forced to find ways to check in online while they are on holiday.

In 2016, passengers could check in for free up to a week before departure, but this was cut to four days and will now move to 48 hours.

The airline has also faced widespread criticism for its seat allocation policy when passengers haven't paid to reserve a seat.

Many couples travelling together have reported finding themselves seated at opposite ends of the aircraft despite Ryanair claiming that the allocation policy is random.

A Ryanair spokesman said Online check-in for those customers who don’t choose reserved seats will be available from 48 hours to 2 hours pre-departure for all flights from Wednesday, 13th June.

This is double the 24 hour check-in period operated by Aer Lingus, British Airways, Lufthansa, Norwegian and Iberia.

This will give reserve seat customers more time to select their preferred seats prior to departure.


Tourism Observer

SPAIN: Valencia To Ban Airbnbs From Selling The Best Views

A group of residents of Valencia, Spain, are supporting a bill that would ban tourists from booking the rooms in town with the best views.

Valencia city hall is considering a new tourism law that would limit private rentals like Airbnbs to the ground and second floor levels of apartment buildings.

The law would essentially ban all private home rentals that offer a view of Valencia’s coastline and historic buildings.

It would also ban tourist rentals from the historic heart of the city and allow holiday rentals to be regulated on a zone-by-zone basis, according to The Local Spain.

Locals have complained that Valencia’s tourism boom is pricing locals out of the city’s most desirable neighborhoods.

With this new legislation, councils can take back control of what properties may be used for, and in Valencia we are going to impose an important barrier to ensure the trend does not grow in future, Sandra Gomez, the deputy mayor of Valencia, said in a statement.

Valencia is just the latest in a string of European cities that are fighting against private holiday rental sites like Airbnb.

Last year, Barcelona threatened to ban all Airbnbs from the city over hundreds of properties that were operating without a tourism license.

And just last month, the city of Paris filed a lawsuit against Airbnb and illegal listings on the site.

A court hearing, scheduled for June 12, could affect up to 85 percent of listings on the site.


Tourism Observer

UNITED NATIONS: Lionel Messi Is Ambassador To Promote Responsible Tourism

The UN World Tourism Organization said Monday it has appointed FC Barcelona’s Argentine star Lionel Messi as an ambassador to promote responsible tourism.

During my travels I have had the opportunity to know other cultures and societies as well as other ways to see the world and this is very enriching, Messi said in a statement released by the Madrid-based United Nations body announcing his nomination.

I am happy I can join this mission of promoting responsible tourism, the five-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year award added as the body steps up its campaign to minimise harm tourism can cause to the environment and historical sites.

The UN body defines responsible tourism as tourism that helps maximise the sector’s benefits while minimising its potentially negative impact on the environment, cultural heritage and societies across the globe.

World Tourism Organization chief Zurab Pololikashvili said it was a great honour to have Messi promote the positive values and benefits that tourism represents.

Messi is a unique sportsman and an example of how willpower and constant work yield good results, he added.

The 30-year-old is the leading scorer in La Liga this season with 29 goals and is also the all-time top marksman in Spain’s top flight.

He is also the top scorer in the history of Barcelona and Argentina.


Tourism Observer

ITALY: Overtourism Impacting More And More Destinations Worldwide

Experts who gathered in Italy for the 25th World Travel Monitor Forum® in Pisa last month agreed that the travel and tourism industry must draw up new strategies to manage the phenomenon of overtourism impacting more and more destinations worldwide.

In view of protests by residents at popular destinations across the globe, the Pisa forum – initiated by consultancy IPK International and supported by ITB Berlin – found that diverse measures and solutions must be taken by local authorities to manage visitor numbers without restricting growth.

The international travel industry must act together with destinations on coordinated strategies including managing seasonality and visitor flows, spreading tourism benefits such as jobs and revenues more widely among local communities, and investing in infrastructure and protection of tourism assets, the experts suggested.

According to the findings, overtourism affects travelers as much as it does residents, the destinations, tourist attractions and local infrastructure.

Indicatively, approximately 25 percent of all international tourists felt that their destination had been over-crowded this year, according to a World Travel Monitor® survey of 29,000 travelers in 24 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas conducted in September 2017.

With 9 percent – equivalent to around 100 million tourists – admitting this over-crowding had affected the quality of their outbound trip.

Ski resorts were the most crowded tourism locations with one in five (19 percent) saying their winter sports holiday had been impacted affected by overtourism.

As for the most affected cities these were: Guangzhou (24 percent), Shanghai (23 percent), Beijing (21 percent), Amsterdam and Istanbul (both 19 percent), and Barcelona, Florence and Venice (18 percent), according to the survey

Overtourism is clearly not good for nature, culture, locals and tourists alike. However, global tourism has not reached its limits.

Many destinations would be happy to see more visitors, either throughout the year or in the low season.

So tourism does not have a growth problem but rather a regional and seasonal problem, said Rolf Freitag, CEO of IPK International.

The 25th World Travel Monitor Forum was supported by ITB Berlin.




Tourism Observer

RUSSIA: Traffic Through Moscow Airports Of Vnukovo, Domodedovo And Sheremetyevo Drops In August

Domodedovo International Airport
Passenger traffic through the three airports of Moscow namely Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Sheremetyevo continued to climb in August compared to the same month in 2016, albeit at a slower rate than in July 2017.

Vnukovo saw its traffic increase by 22.9% to 2.071 million passengers- against 31.5% in July; Domodedovo, by 5% to over exceeding 3.5 million (5.8% in July); Sheremetyevo, by 19.6% to 4.141 million (22.9% in July).

At Vnukovo, international traffic continued to grow faster than domestic passenger numbers; it increased by 77.3% in August to 875,000 passengers.

The most popular destinations includes Antalya, Larnaca, Istanbul, Barcelona, Pathos, Dushanbe, Baku, and Heraklion. Domestic traffic grew by just 0.4% to 1.196 million passengers.

The most popular destinations were Sochi, Simferopol, Anapa, Mineralnye Vody, St. Petersburg, Makhachkala, Krasnodar, Surgut, and Rostov-on-Don.

A similar trend was observed at Domodedovo, where international traffic grew 15% year-on-year, exceeding 1.6 million passengers.

The most popular destinations were Antalya, Tivat, and Barcelona. Some 1.9 million passengers traveled on domestic routes, 2% down from the same month last year.

The fastest growing routes within Russia were to Krasnodar, Kaliningrad, Ufa, Makhachkala, and Sabetta.

At Sheremetyevo, the trend got reversed: international traffic grew at a slower rate than domestic in August.

The airport served 4.141 million passengers traveling abroad, up 18.3% year-on-year.

Domestic traffic, although smaller in absolute figures at 1.798 million, grew faster at 21.3%.

The most popular destinations out of Sheremetyevo in the past eight months were Paris, Tel Aviv, Prague, Beijing, Shanghai, St. Petersburg, Simferopol, Sochi, Yekaterinburg, and Krasnodar.



Tourism Observer

Barcelona, Venice Have Uncontrolled Floods Of Tourists, Others Have Nothing

According to the latest World Tourism Barometer report of UNWTO (UN World Tourism Organisation), international tourist arrivals grew by 3.9% to reach a total of 1,235 million last year. Some 46 million more tourists (overnight visitors) travelled internationally in 2016 compared to the previous year.

It was also the seventh consecutive year of sustained growth following the 2009 global economic and financial crisis. And, 300 million more international tourists travelled the world last year as compared to the pre-crisis record in 2008.

Tourism has shown extraordinary strength and resilience in recent years, despite many challenges, particularly those related to safety and security. Yet, international travel continues to grow strongly and contribute to job creation and the wellbeing of communities around the world, said UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai.

Indeed, tourism has been one of the fastest growing industries worldwide in the past couple of years. The tragic incident in Barcelona recently when 13 people were mowed down and more than a hundred injured by a rampaging vehicle in the popular Las Ramblas area also in a way demonstrates the diversity of the nationals who go on holidays as the list of the countries affected show.

Have you been jostled by hordes of visitors while trying to get a better view of the artefacts in the beautiful Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg? Have you been to Venice recently and smelled the rotting water?

Or think of the hill stations in India now, most of which are wilting under the pressure of thousands of feet with people enjoying the ‘summer holiday’ with nary a thought before throwing an ice-cream cone or a plastic bag on the sidewalk.

But there has been a downside too to burgeoning sector. Unbridled tourism has created tension among local residents in some of the most popular destinations in the world in the recent past. And they have been striking back with anti-tourism protests. In Spain, for example, which saw a some 75.6 million tourists in 2016.

In Barcelona, protest group Arran, the youth wing of the radical CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) have been vehemently opposing cheap- to- rent houses alleging they spoil the neighbourhoods and the environment alike.

The Venetians too have been demonstrating against unrestrained tourism in the last few months. The romantic city on the Italian lagoon sees more than 20 million visitors a year. Add to it the huge cruise ships anchoring to let hundreds of leisure travelers a day to explore the city. The local populace is only 55,000 in number.

No wonder, tired of losing their neighbourhood ambience , some even pushed to the fringe of the city by aggressive real estate developers, more than two thousand locals recently marched through the city putting their feet down and demanding that the mayor and local government take action and they can get their city back.

Popular destinations in India too have seen deterioration to local environment with increasing foot fall. With an expanding middle class and more disposable income in hand, domestic tourism has seen a surge in the last few years.

As a result, local residents, be it in Darjeeling, Shimla or Mussoorie, mourn the loss of their habitat and point out that irresponsible tourists spoil the very ambience of the hills stations where they rush in to escape the summer heat.

Rifai in an interview to media on the subject said that the people wanting to travel is not at fault, which is natural; rather the need of the day is the manage growth in a sustainable manner which the local authorities need to look into. Among measures UNWTO recommends to achieve it is taking into account the needs of the local community.

Striking a balance between the number of visitors who bring in revenue to the local market and make it sustainable is a tightrope walk, no doubt. But economists and environmentalists say that with policies with a long term view and concerted efforts by local authorities can manage to do so in a better way.

Bhutan, the kingdom at the Himalayan foothills, is often showcased as an example of this point of view. The country’s long-term strategy of controlled tourism with a focus on sustainability and quality has earned it praise worldwide. In the process, it has also been able to retain the pristine beauty of the land and its cultural ethos.

The happiest country in the world, according to a survey measured on its Gross National Happiness, introduced a framework for the development of tourism in 1974. With a high-value, low-volume focus its aim was to control the type and quantity of tourism right from the beginning. Even UNWTO recognised this step as commendable.

Of course, it has also meant that Bhutan remains a rather expensive destination for the average tourist. But then, uncontrolled tourism would have destroyed the very character of this tiny kingdom. One has to make a choice.

Meanwhile, the mayor’s office in Venice plans to introduce a ban on new tourist accommodation by this summer end. In addition, there would be monitoring agencies to check overcrowding and pinpoint areas that see high concentration of visitors.

Rome recently announced a ban on eating near its numerous beautiful fountains or paddling in the water. Milan too has taken steps to preserve its old quarters from getting spoiled by insensitive tourism.



Tourism Observer

SPAIN: Barcelona Was Overcrowded With Tourists Before Attack, What Happens Next?

It is heartbreaking to hear about an attack in Barcelona, one of the most popular tourism destinations of the world.

Thinking about the 13 innocent lives lost, it is a very distressing thought that such an attack can happen at any second anywhere in the world. This is why, in the midst of these terrorist attacks.

Barcelona, where the attack happened, and Venice are increasingly mentioned with anti-tourism protests that recently started and have been gradually increasing as the cities that attract the most tourists in Europe.

The anti-tourism protests by locals to get attention to the business, material damage, and increasing rents continue to spread to popular tourist destinations such as Dubrovnik and Rome.

According to the latest statistics of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the number of tourists going to European cities rose 6 percent from January to April, and it does not seem that it will slow down in the next months.

In 2016, the total number of global foreigner tourists reached 1.23 billion and European cities got 50 percent of this, around 615 million.

The reason for the protests is not complicated. Venice whose local population is 55 thousand hosts 20 million tourists a year.

Spanish cities receive close to 75.6 million tourists in total. When compared, the total number of foreigner tourists that go to Turkey from 2014 to 2016 is just over 30 million, 12 million in the first six months of 2017, and 35 percent of them, close to 4.5 million, go to Istanbul.

The increasing business is putting a strain on the local people in popular European cities.

Especially with applications such as Airbnb that became popular in recent years, rent in the cities has been on the rise because homeowners prefer to rent their houses to tourists, expunging locals from their houses.

Additionally, the fact that historical sites cannot handle the burgeoning tourist numbers harms both the spirits of the city and its standards of living.

The latest agenda of the Italian government who has introduced food and alcohol bans in outdoor venues in previous months is to limit the number of tourists in Venice.

If they find a solution, the number of daily visitors will be closely monitored and the entry of tourists will be delayed or blocked when capacity is exceeded.

In Croatia's most popular city, Dubrovnik, local authorities have started to impose tough monetary penalties with new regulations to fight the deranging tourists. The financial profit brought by tourism next to the distress it causes is at a size that cannot be overlooked.

According to 2016 statistics, the tourism income of Spain was $60 billion. However, Catalans were the force behind the protests that became violent in Barcelona where the most eventful incidents took place.

Even though the protests did not directly influence political decisions, they catalyzed a social setting where being a foreigner is getting more difficult. While the banners used in Barcelona mostly included violence and hatred against tourists, the tone of the protest in Venice where 2000 people marched was calmer.

The focus in the Venice protest where the word "foreigner" was not used was on the pollution and rising rent in the city. The United Nationals World Tourism Organization and similar institutions invite Europe to peace.

While Europe is discontent with excessive tourists, Saudi Arabia has announced that it will lift its ban on bikinis in the new tourism region around the Red Sea.

According to the news on Gulf Insider, the Saudi administration will allow women to wear bikinis in the tourism region of 50 islands that will be finished by 2022 according to plans.

This new tourist area will be governed with "laws similar to international standards" following the decision of the new prince.

Moving forward, Turkey ranks third in the environment award in blue flagged beaches category where the coasts of 49 countries compete, from the Bahamas to Spain and Mexico to New Zealand.

Turkey is also seventh in the race for the title of cleanest marinas in the world.

We must continue highlighting Turkey as one of the most beautiful and cleanest destinations in the world, surely yes.



Tourism Observer

LATVIA: airBaltic Planning Eight CS300 Aircraft By End 2017

airBaltic has received the fourth of its 20 Bombardier CS300 jets on firm order. By the end of this year, airBaltic is planning to have eight CS300 aircraft.

The modernized fleet is ensuring growth of airBaltic with at least 13 additional routes and +15% more tickets on sale in 2017.

The fourth airBaltic CS300 aircraft, registered as YL-CSD, arrived in Riga on June 2, 2017. The flight time was 7 hours and 58 minutes and the aircraft covered 6 410 km non-stop distance between the Canadian and Latvian airports.

Thus far, airBaltic has completed more than 1 296 flights and flown over 3 130 block hours with the brand new Bombardier CS300 aircraft.

By the end of 2019 airBaltic is planning to have 20 Bombardier CS300 aircraft on its fleet. With an average jet fleet age of only 2 years, airBaltic, as an all-Bombardier operator, will have one of the youngest jet fleets in Europe.

airBaltic CS300 aircraft currently operates on such popular routes as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Moscow, London, Paris, Vienna, Athens, Madrid and others.

The new Bombardier CS300 aircraft, with a total of 145 seats, offers excellent flying experience with such benefits for passengers as wider seats, larger windows, more hand luggage space in the cabin, improved lavatories and more.

New aircraft is also much quieter – with four times smaller noise footprint.

Moreover, at the moment, it is the greenest commercial aircraft in the world, as it is the first aircraft to have a transparent declaration of the life-cycle environmental impact, helping to reduce CO2 and NOX emissions by 20% and 50% respectively.

airBaltic serves over 60 destinations from its home base in Riga, Latvia. From every one of these locations, airBaltic offers convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East.

In addition, airBaltic also offers direct flights from Tallinn and Vilnius.

UNITED KINGDOM: Luton Airport Registered More Than 1.3 Million Passengers

More than 1.3 million passengers flew through London Luton Airport in April, representing a 16.1 per cent increase compared with the same month last year.

Having enjoyed over three years of continuous growth, LLA is currently making its biggest ever investment to meet soaring passenger demand and grow the airport’s capacity by 50 per cent to 18 million in the next three years.

Last week a major milestone was reached with the opening of a new dual carriageway access road making it quicker and easier to reach the terminal.

Some 3,500 tonnes of tarmac were used in its construction and more than 30,000 m³ of earth had to be moved.

The construction of the dual carriageway follows the construction of a 1,700 space multi-storey car park and re-designed bus interchange.

As part of the redevelopment, LLA is also doubling the current retail space to include 43 exciting new shops and restaurants including some big name brands.

But despite being one of the fastest-growing UK airports, LLA remains the only London airport without direct express-style rail services and is calling for timetable changes which will introduce four fast trains per hour from central London as part of the upcoming East Midlands rail refranchising process.

Nick Barton, chief executive, LLA, said: The Easter getaway always makes for a busy period at the airport but this year saw record passenger demand.

Customers are now starting to see the benefits of our investment, as we transform every area of the airport experience, both in the terminal and off-site through improved transport connections.

Meanwhile, easyJet has launched a new partnership offering customers tours and excursions alongside its low air fares.

In partnership with Get Your Guide, easyJet will offer customers more than 16,000 activities across Europe including destination tours and excursions via a dedicated site.

Activities will also be featured within the easyJet app and through the partnership easyJet has negotiated exclusive offers for its customers.

All tastes are catered for from fast track entry to the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, an ancient Rome walking tour to tickets to Harry Potter world at the Warner Bros studios near London all covered by a best price guarantee.

There have now been more than 20 million downloads of the easyJet app and for its users the tours will be completely integrated - allowing customers to browse the best options after booking a flight.

For ultimate ease, most of the tickets are paperless, so customers simply scan a QR code at the tour or activity to gain entry.

Push notifications will also act as a reminder of the booking.

Andrew Middleton, head of ancillary revenue for easyJet, commented: “We are excited to bring together easyJet’s low fares and award-winning digital platforms with GetYourGuide’s comprehensive range of activities to help our customers get the most out of exploring Europe.”

easyJet tours and activities is available to book now, on the app, after flight confirmation, or via the dedicated site - activities.easyJet.com at any time.

Tao Tao, chief operating officer, GetYourGuide, added: “Travel tours and activities are one of the main reasons people book flights, which is why it makes so much sense for GetYourGuide and easyJet to become travel partners.

“By joining forces, we now provide easyJet travellers with an easy way to book amazing experiences both before they go or when they are in destination.

“GetYourGuide looks forward to innovate with easyJet to provide their customers’ with the best travel experiences.”

UAE: Emirates Launch Flights To Hong Kong

Emirates is set to boost its service to Hong Kong with the arrival of a 615-seater superjumbo, while Cathay Pacific will launch new summer flights to Barcelona in a double coup for the airport.

The Dubai carrier will start regular service with its Airbus A380 on the Dubai-Bangkok-Hong Kong service – flights EK384/385 – from October 1, according to aviation data tracking service Airline Route. The airline confirmed the aircraft would be upsized and it would also be deployed to the city over the Lunar New Year in response to high demand during the holiday period.

The existing service provides 517 seats. But first class will be scrapped entirely and some business class seats will be removed to make room for economy class seats.

The extra seats will mean more cheap airfare opportunities for travellers to Bangkok and Dubai. Emirates’ low-fare strategy has already caused much anger and frustration among rival airlines in Asia, Europe and the United States.

The airline currently operates four daily flights between Dubai and Hong Kong, including one via Bangkok, three of which are served by the Airbus A380, the largest passenger aircraft in the world.

Will Horton, a Hong Kong-based aviation analyst at CAPA Centre for Aviation, said the upgrade of the Emirates flight to 615 seats was ideal for cost-conscious Hongkongers.

“The routing through Hong Kong and Bangkok brings the aircraft back to Dubai in time for European connections. So hub efficiency is maintained,” Horton said. “Emirates grows Bangkok capacity at key hours and can offer a lower-cost option for the Hong Kong market compared to the non-stop to Dubai, and also make a play in picking up local Hong Kong-Bangkok traffic.”
Airlines have sought ways to grow at Hong Kong International Airport in recent years as the number of take-off and landing slots have become increasingly scarce as the two runways reach full capacity.

Budget carrier HK Express took delivery of the world’s first 188-seat single-aisle Airbus A320neo aircraft (neo stands for new engine option), in response to the challenges, adding up to 14 seats compared to its existing aircraft.

In more good news for the Airport Authority, home carrier Cathay Pacific announced it intended to launch a new summer seasonal service to Barcelona, Spain, from July, adding to the airport’s global footprint.

The expansion raises Cathay’s list of European destinations to 13, including the launch of Tel Aviv in Israel from March.
“Barcelona isn’t important for the sake of Barcelona but rather launching it seasonally shows Cathay is willing to break away from regimented consistency,” Horton said. “What you fly in July you don’t have to fly in February. It’s a positive sign about becoming more agile.”

Cathay, Hong Kong’s largest carrier, said it would fly four times a week deploying its next-generation Airbus A350 aircraft. The service is expected to run until October, during the peak of the summer travel season. The airline currently flies four times a week to the Spanish capital Madrid.

SLOVENIA: The Great Museum Of Illusions,

A new museum in Ljubljana promises to be a mind-bending experience. The Museum of Illusions in the Slovenian capital aims to take travellers through a series of optical illusions, holograms and more.

According to its website, visitors will have to have their cameras ready for exhibits that make people look like their head is on a platter, a rotated room where they can walk on the ceiling, an “anti-gravity” room where balls rolls upwards and water flows uphill, and an Ames room that will make visitors shrink and grow like Alice in Wonderland.

There is also the Vortex Tunnel that “will drive you crazy and make you believe you’re heavily struggling just to make a step forward through a rotating cylinder – on a surface so stable and flat”.

But the tricks are intended to do more than just disorient, they are designed to teach visitors about vision, perceptions, the human brain and science. The museum is open every day from 9 am to 10 pm and it located at Congress Square, one of the city’s central squares.

While the museum is new in Ljubljana, it’s not the first of its kind in Europe.

Zadar, Croatia also has a Museum of Illusions, as does Barcelona, Moscow and St Petersburg.

GERMANY: Lufthansa Acquires Its Fifth A320neo

Lufthansa took delivery of another A320neo from Airbus. This means that five aircraft of this model have been delivered to Lufthansa this year, as planned.

The ‘Transfer of Title’ of the new aircraft – with the registration D-AINE – took place yesterday on the Airbus business premises in Hamburg-Finkenwerder.

Certification for use of transport and an operating license will be issued over the next few days; transfer of the aircraft to the ‘home base’ in Frankfurt is scheduled for 2 January 2017.

In the coming year, an additional ten A320neo aircraft are toLufthansa is the first customer for this new generation Airbus A320neo. These new aircraft have been in service since the beginning of 2016 on routes within Germany as well as on European routes such as Oslo, Stockholm and Barcelona. be delivered to Lufthansa.



Through new technology engine design and the latest cabin layout with up to 180 seats, the A320neo is, in fact, around 20 percent cheaper to run per passenger. Another important feature of the A320neo is the significant reduction in both noise and CO2 emissions.

The 85-decibel ‘noise footprint’ of an A320neo at take-off is only half as loud as comparable levels of an A320 in the existing fleet, making an important contribution towards active noise reduction.

The Lufthansa Group has a total of 116 neo-type aircraft on order, 45 of them in the larger A321neo model.

MOROCCO: Marrakech Preferred Destination For French Tourists

An analysis published by Trivago, a popular price comparison website, places Marrakech among the top 10 most preferred destinations for French tourists.

The analysis, published on Tuesday, August 11, ranks Morocco’s Red City the 6th most favored city for French travelers to spend their mid-August holiday. Marrakech is the only non-European city on the list intended as a holiday destination by tourists.

According to the analysis, the French capital Paris tops the list as the most favored destination. The second and the third attractions are Barcelona and Amsterdam, while the fifth position goes to London. The British capital has remained an attractive destination for the French despite the Brexit vote.

The analysis classifies the French tourists’ top 10 favorite attractions only for this year’s Feast of the Assumption, which takes place on a Monday this year. This gives French tourists a chance to spend an extended weekend at their favorite attractions.

The Feast of the Assumption is a Christian holiday observed on August 15 of every year. It celebrates the Assumption of Mary, the mother of Jesus in the Christian faith. According to the Christian Encyclopedia, this feast has a two-fold objective: “the happy departure of Mary from this life; the assumption of her body into heaven. It is the principal feast of the Blessed Virgin.”

As to the French’s affinity for Marrakech, this analysis confirms the finding of a previous analysis by the same hotel-comparing tool that was published in mid-June. The analysis ranked both Marrakech and Agadir in the top 10 most preferred cities for French tourists in 2016.

UNITED KINGDOM: Birmingham Is UK’s Top Destination

Cvent, a global event management company, listed Birmingham 22nd in its second annual ranking of more than 2,500 EMEA cities, based on event booking activity through the firm’s supplier network. Activity was tracked from 1st January to 31st December 2015, with criteria including how often a destination is searched for by Cvent clients and the total number of room nights generated by events.

Birmingham moved up one place to 22nd in Cvent’s top 25 rankings, overtaking its nearest UK rival Manchester (23rd). The top five comprised London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Paris and Berlin.

Emma Gray, director of Marketing and Communications at Meet Birmingham, the city’s business tourism programme, commented:“Birmingham’s position as the preferred UK meetings destination outside London is further evidence of the consistent hard work of our venues and partners to provide the best possible experience for our many event visitors.

“It is also testament to the continued, significant investment being made to enhance Birmingham’s business tourism sector. Events play a vital role in the city’s visitor economy, which hit an all-time high of £6.2 billion in 2015. By launching new spaces including the Vox Conference Centre and accommodation providers such as Park Regis – together with redeveloped transport hubs New Street station and Birmingham Airport – we’re ensuring we remain attractive to this valuable market.”

Cvent monitors approximately 230,000 hotels, resorts and event venues in 175 countries worldwide through its Supplier Network database. The company has 16,000 customers and 2,000 employees across the globe.

The news comes as it revealed that Birmingham welcomed more than one million international visitors for the first time in 2015, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The 163,000 increase (17.3%) in foreign guests was the largest for any city outside London.

SPAIN: Spanish Airline Joins European Lobbying Group

Spanish low-cost airline Volotea has joined newly-formed airline association, Airlines For Europe (A4E).

The airline, which operates from bases in France, Italy and Spain, is headquartered in Barcelona.

A4E is a campaign and lobbying group for the European aviation industry, currently working to bring an end to ongoing strikes in France and Germany and calling for passenger taxes to be abolished.

"We are looking forward to working with Airlines for Europe and its member airlines on a focused aviation agenda for Europe," said Volotea CEO Carlos Munoz.

"A4E is now our new strong voice to address policy and regulatory issues which are affecting our daily business and should be tackled in the interest of all European passengers."

MALAYSIA: Malaysia Airlines And Emirates Airlines Sign Agreement To Expand Codeshare Partnership

Malaysia Airlines and Emirates has announced a new partnership that will give their customers a seamless international network connecting Malaysia to more than 90 destinations on the Emirates network across Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas, exclusive frequent flyer benefits and world-class travel experiences.

Under the agreement signed by Emirates’ President Sir Tim Clark and Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller, Malaysia Airlines will add its code on flights of Emirates to Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas. In return, Emirates will add its code on flights of Malaysia Airlines to domestic routes in Malaysia, South East Asia and selective cities across the Asia Pacific region.

The codeshare will be implemented progressively throughout 2016 subject to regulatory approvals. With the Emirates partnership, Malaysia Airlines’ customers will have access to 38 European, 15 Americas and 38 destinations in the Middle East and Africa and Indian Ocean, whilst Emirates’ customers will have access to Malaysia Airlines’ extensive Asia Pacific network with up to 300 daily departures in the region. Sales under this codeshare agreement will commence from February 1 2016.

Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller said: “The strategic partnership paves the path towards an integrated customer proposition offering for both airlines. The improved connectivity will enable Malaysia Airlines customers to reach up to 38 destinations in Europe on a daily and even double daily basis for key European cities such as Zurich, Rome, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid, and Barcelona.

This partnership gives our customers access to a dramatically expanded range of travel options. It is a great way for customers to travel seamlessly to major cities across the world. Furthermore, Dubai is a tourism, trade and logistics hub which has earned itself the reputation as being the gateway between the East and the West.

Not only will this provide Malaysians unprecedented super-connectivity to the whole world, it will also make it much easier for travellers from all corners of the globe to visit Malaysia and experience its rich culture, nature and Malaysian hospitality. This is part of the national carrier’s initiative towards enhancing air connectivity with key priority markets overseas for increased tourist arrivals into Malaysia.”

“Our new codeshare agreement with Malaysia Airlines will enable our passengers to experience new destinations and improved connectivity in the ever-popular Southeast Asia region, and also additional comforts such as reciprocal lounge access and priority check-in,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates.”

“Malaysia Airlines’ extensive network in the emerging Southeast Asia region perfectly complements Emirates’ global network and enhances the choice of travel destinations for customers in both the business and leisure segment.”