SLOVENIA: Adria Airways Goes Bankrupt And Ceases Operations

The collapse of Adria Airways has cost Slovenia connections to dozens of international markets, a study has revealed.

The national airline filed for bankruptcy and cancelled all flights on Monday.

Adria had previously withdrawn virtually all its flights last week.

Bankruptcy proceedings were initiated by the management of the company because of the company’s insolvency, the carrier said in a statement.

A study by ForwardKeys, the travel analytics firm, revealed that the bankruptcy resulted in the loss of direct flight connections with two dozen countries, including Czech Republic, Spain and Switzerland, all important origin markets for the country.

Adria has accounted for 60 per cent of all international seat capacity to Slovenia.

Other key source markets such as Austria, Germany and France will also be impacted, as Adria Airways accounted for 99 per cent, 87 per cent and 51 per cent of seat capacity on flights from these countries.

The full list of countries, which had direct connections to Slovenia in the past 12 months and have now lost them, comprises: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Macedonia, Norway, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Ukraine.

However, the impact is less dramatic than the list suggests, because some of the routes, such as those from Estonia, Georgia and Greece are seasonal, and others, from Cyprus, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine are irregular.

Olivier Ponti, vice president, insights, ForwardKeys, said: Given the attractiveness of Slovenia as a destination, I expect other airlines to fill the gaps left by Adria Airways but how long it will take to get back to the previous level is anyone´s guess.

Slovenia, and its vibrant capital Ljubljana, remain accessible and well worth a visit; however, if you were counting on Adria Airways to get you there quickly, you must now allow more time.

So following the collapse of Adria Airways this week, Slovenia’s only airport in Ljubljana has lost almost half of all its air traffic.

Most flights by Adria Airways were feeder flights to Star Alliance hubs, so it is no great surprise that Lufthansa Group announced today it will launch an entire network out of Ljubljana Joze Pucnik Airport within a month.

Simple Flying first reported in June that an Adria Airways bankruptcy was increasingly likely. Adverse circumstances surrounding the Slovenian flag carrier kept growing over the summer and operations officially ceased in full earlier this week.

For years, Adria has been positioned as a feeder to Lufthansa Group hubs, serving Brussels, Frankfurt, Zurich, Vienna and Munich several times daily.

Adria Airways had such a strong relationship with Lufthansa Group that it also had feeder flights to Frankfurt and Munich from the capitals of Albania and Kosovo.

Thus, with the collapse of Adria, Lufthansa Group has been left with a loss of 216 weekly outbound and inbound flights to channel its connecting passengers.

These include 64 weekly flights to Frankfurt, which even for a giant like Lufthansa is not insignificant. 42 of these flights were from Ljubljana, 6 from Tirana and 16 from Pristina.

To fill the acute gap left by Adria in Ljubljana, several Lufthansa Group airlines are stepping in. An entire network is being formed in Ljubljana by Lufthansa’s airlines, despite the Group not having a single route to Slovenia at all at the moment.

Brussels Airlines is launching a six-times-a-week service in November. This will coincide with Wizz Air pulling out of Slovenia and no longer flying the Ljubljana to Brussels route after seven years.

Today, an announcement followed from Lufthansa Group too, that Lufthansa and Swiss will launch their own services.

Lufthansa CityLine will be flying double daily between Frankfurt and Ljubljana with its CRJ900 aircraft. Flights will depart Frankfurt every day at 09.15 am and 4.40 pm, arriving in Ljubljana at 10.30 am and 5.55 pm.

They will then depart Ljubljana at 11.05 am and 6.30 pm, returning to Frankfurt at 12.25 pm and 7.50 pm. Flights are already bookable, from Sunday 27 October, the first day of the winter schedule.

These are clearly timed to coincide with Lufthansa’s morning arrival wave into Frankfurt and evening departure wave out of it. The route is very clearly intended to be a feeder.

From Munich, the German airline will be flying daily starting Friday 1 November. Flights will depart Munich at 10.45 am to arrive at Ljubljana at 11.45 am. They will then depart Ljubljana again at 1.10 pm to return to Munich at 2.10 pm.

Swiss itself will be the first to begin flying, launching five weekly flights in just two weeks’ time. At the start of the winter schedule, on 27 October, the frequency will increase to daily.

Once the frequency increases to daily, the flights will be operated by Swiss’s A220 aircraft. Until then, presumably, because no spare aircraft are available, flights will run as five weekly with a Helvetic Airways E190.

What will be interesting to see is whether Lufthansa Group airlines expand their schedule to Ljubljana to match the capacity that Adria had on these routes.

Adria had three daily flights to Zurich all summer long, while Swiss has only scheduled a single daily rotation.

Austrian Airlines has been absent from this announcement. Adria’s two daily flights to Vienna remain nonexistent and all the feeder traffic to Austrian and Eurowings left unserved.

With Slovenia’s only airport now fully dominated by Lufthansa Group airlines, it will be interesting to see how they adapt their network over time.

It will also be interesting to see which competitors to Lufthansa Group step in to take some of the market share left vacant by Adria.

Meanwhile, bankruptcy proceedings have officially been initiated against Slovenia's Adria Airways following its cessation of operations.

Documentation issued by the district court in the city of Kranj gives creditors three months, until 3 January 2020, to declare claims against the operator.

It names Janez Pustaticnik as the manager.

Adria's latest operating licence, issued in 2011, has been revoked by the Slovenian civil aviation agency and the carrier banned from operating commercial air transport.

Star Alliance has also confirmed, as a matter of formality, that Adria Airways has left the airline group as a result of the bankruptcy.

Adria ceased to be a member of Star on 2 October, the alliance says. It says the situation is a regrettable development, given that Adria has been a member for 15 years.

But Star points out that its links with Slovenia are being maintained by new services from Lufthansa, Swiss and Brussels Airlines

Tourism Observer

LATVIA: Air Baltic Restart Riga To Dublin Flights 31st Of March 2019

Latvian Flag Carrier Air Baltic has announced that it will restart flights from its hub in Riga to Dublin, Ireland.

The inaugural flight will be on the 31st of March 2019, operated four times a week with the airline’s Airbus A220-300. Air Baltic had previously operated flights between these two cites, however, it discounted it in 2012.

Air Baltic was the launch customer for the A220-300 Previously Bombardier CS300 in 2016. The carrier plans to have an all A220 (CS300) fleet by 2025.

Originally founded in 1995, the airline currently flies to over 70 destinations from Riga, Tallinn, and Vilnius—the carrier’s three bases.

For Summer 2019 season, Air Baltic will base A220s at Tallinn and start flights to Malaga, Brussels, and Copenhagen. In addition to Dublin, the airline will also launch Stuttgart and Lviv from Riga.

The flights will run every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Flight BT661 will depart Riga at 07:30, arriving into Dublin at 08:35 local time. The return flight BT662 will depart Dublin at 09:15 local time, arriving back into Riga at 14:10.

Martin Gauss, CEO of Air Baltic, said that he is glad to offer our guests regular flights to Dublin. This route has a strong demand for years now and we are very happy that we can add Dublin to our expanding route portfolio.

Dublin Airport Managing Director Vincent Harrison also commented on the route’s announcement. This new service to Riga will further enhance the connectivity between Ireland and Latvia and is good news for passengers as it will offer additional choice and convenience, he said.

airBaltic, legally incorporated as AS Air Baltic Corporation, is the flag carrier of Latvia, with its head office on the grounds of Riga International Airport in Mārupe municipality near Riga. Its hub is at Riga International Airport with further bases at Tallinn Airport and Vilnius Airport.

The airline was established as Air Baltic on 28 August 1995 with the signing of a joint venture between Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) and the Latvian state.

Operations started on 1 October 1995 with the arrival of the first Air Baltic aircraft, a Saab 340, at Riga, and that afternoon, the plane made the first passenger flight for Air Baltic.

In 1996, the airline's first Avro RJ70 was delivered; and Air Baltic joined the SAS frequent flier club as a partner. 1997 saw the opening of a cargo department and, in 1998, the airline's first Fokker 50 plane was delivered.

The adopted livery was mainly white, with the name of the airline written in blue on the forward fuselage, the 'B' logo being heavily stylized in blue checks. The checker blue pattern was repeated on the aircraft tailfin.

In 1999, Air Baltic became a joint stock company; it was previously a limited liability company. All of their Saab 340s were replaced by Fokker 50s.

By September, the airline had begun operating under the European Aviation Operating Standards, or JAR ops. Air Baltic welcomed the new millennium by introducing new uniforms and opening a cargo center at Riga's airport.

The first Boeing 737–500 joined the fleet in 2003, and on 1 June 2004, Air Baltic launched services from the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, initially to five destinations. In October 2004, Air Baltic was rebranded as AirBaltic.

Their present livery consists of an all-white fuselage and lime tailfin. AirBaltic.com is displayed on the forward upper fuselage, and the word Baltic is repeated in blue on the lower part of the tailfin. In December 2006, the first Boeing 737–300 joined the fleet and was configured with winglets.

In July 2007, AirBaltic introduced an online check-in system. It was the first online check-in system in the Baltic states. In the spring of 2008, two long-haul Boeing 757s joined the existing AirBaltic fleet.

On 10 March 2008, it was announced that in the next three years the airline would acquire new aircraft, experiencing the largest fleet expansion in the company's history. The new additions will be next generation Q400 aircraft.

AirBaltic had strong links with SAS, which owned 47.2% of the airline, and operated frequent flights to SAS hubs in Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm, and the airline formerly used the SAS EuroBonus frequent flyer programme, but it now has its own frequent flyer programme called PINS.

Some of AirBaltic's products and services are still shared with SAS, including co-ordinated timetabling and shared airport lounges. AirBaltic is not a member of any airline alliance, but does have codeshare agreements in place with several Star Alliance member airlines and others.

AirBaltic had secondary hubs at Vilnius International Airport and Lennart Meri Tallinn Airport. The majority of the routes commenced from Tallinn were cancelled shortly after opening, leading to complaints from the Estonian Consumer Protection Department.

In January 2009, SAS sold its entire stake in the company 47.2% of the airline to Baltijas aviācijas sistēmas Ltd (BAS) for 14 million lats. BAS was wholly owned by Bertolt Flick - President and CEO until December 2010, when 50% of BAS shares were transferred to Taurus Asset Management Fund Limited, registered in the Bahamas.

airBaltic operates direct year-round and seasonal flights from Riga, Tallinn and Vilnius, mostly to metropolitan and leisure destinations within Europe. Long-haul flights are not operated.

airBaltic has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

- Aegean Airlines

- Aeroflot

- Air France

- Air Malta

- Air Serbia

- Alitalia

- Austrian Airlines

- Azerbaijan Airlines

- Belavia

- British Airways

- Brussels Airlines

- Czech Airlines

- Etihad Airways

- Georgian Airways

- Iberia

- KLM

- LOT Polish Airlines

- TAP Air Portugal

- TAROM

- Ukraine International Airlines

- Uzbekistan Airways

airBaltic fleet consists of the following aircraft:

- Airbus A220-300: 14

- Boeing 737-300: 6

- Boeing 737-500: 3

- Bombardier Q400: 12

- Total: 35


Tourism Observer

EUROPE: Ryanair Unending Troubles, 250 Flights Cancelled Allover Europe Due To Strike

Thousands of Ryanair passengers across Europe face travel disruption on Friday after strikes forced the airline to cancel 250 flights.

The total had stood at 150 until German pilots decided on Thursday to walk out, resulting in another 100 cancellations.

Almost 200 Ryanair flights across Europe won't take off as Ryanair staff in six European countries strike. The decision of the Cockpit pilots' union to join the strike will cancel 35-45 flights in and out of Germany.

They will join striking pilots in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Cabin crews in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain will also go on strike in a row over contracts and conditions.

Unions want staff to be given contracts in the countries where they live, rather than under Irish law.

Irish budget airline Ryanair was bracing for staff walkouts in six European countries on Friday, with 40,000 travelers expected to be affected, including passengers in Germany.

Ryanair cabin crews in Germany, Belgium, Portugal, the Netherlands, Spain and Italy, as well as pilots in Germany, served Ryanair strike notices of the 24-hour walkout as they seek better pay and conditions.

Chief executive Michael O'Leary said the company had written to unions offering to move all staff to local contracts, which made the strike action unnecessary.

However, the Dutch pilots union said it had only verbally offered its members local contracts and had refused to put the offer in writing.

Joost Van Doesburg, of the VNV union, said his members also wanted pensions in line with Dutch standards, and firmer guarantees on sick pay

The genesis of today's row stretch back to autumn last year when Ryanair 400,000 Ryanair passengers had their flights cancelled.

The airline had already canceled 150 of the 2,400 European flights scheduled for Friday, but the announcement of strikes by pilots from Germany's Vereinigung Cockpit pilots' union (VC) has caused the airline to cancel additional flights.

The subsequent decision to start recognising pilot and cabin crew unions around Europe was a multinational problem.

Some deals with some unions in some countries have been done.

But overall there is plenty to resolve.

Ryanair marketing head Kenny Jacobs said the decision by VC to participate would result in 35 to 45 flights to and from Germany not taking off.

In total, around 10 percent of Ryanair's German flights will be affected while around 6 percent of Ryanair's EU flights are affected.

Ryanair released a statement condemning what it called "unnecessary" strikes by the VC union.

The airline on Wednesday released a letter showing it had agreed to arbitration with the union with an implementation period of four to five weeks, compared to the five months VC had sought.

Ryanair staff have been pushing for higher wages and an end to the practice that has seen many work as independent contractors without the benefits given staff employees.

Some Ryanair staff across Europe want the airline to be answerable to local employment laws, instead of the employment law of Ireland, where it is based.

The Irish airline says it has made significant progress in recent weeks in negotiations, including reaching collective labour agreements with staff in Ireland, Britain, Italy and Germany.

Ryanair this week signed deals with cabin crew unions in Italy to provide employment contracts under Italian law and agreed to arbitration with the union representing its German pilots.

The European Commission said Ryanair employees should have contracts in the countries where they live rather than in Ireland, where its planes are registered.

EU rules on employment of air crews were based on where workers left in the morning and returned in the evening, and not where aircraft were registered.

Respecting EU law is not something over which workers should have to negotiate, nor is it something which can be done differently from country to country.

The internal market is not a jungle it has clear rules on fair labour mobility and worker protection. This is not an academic debate, but about concrete social rights of workers.

Ryanair has traditionally employed a large proportion of its staff under Irish law, which unions say inconveniences workers and affects their ability to access social security benefits.

Ryanair said the vast majority of its 2,400 flights on Friday would be unaffected, with only 35,000 of 450,000 passengers experiencing disruption.

Passengers whose flight have been cancelled were contacted by email and text message on Tuesday to advise them of their options.

We sincerely apologise to those customers affected by these unnecessary strikes on Friday which we have done our utmost to avoid, Ryanair said.

It has rejected calls by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority to compensate passengers whose flights have been cancelled, claiming they were caused by competitor airline crew, unions and lobby groups and were therefore extraordinary circumstances.

However, Coby Benson, a lawyer specialising in flight delay compensation at Bott and Co, said Ryanair's arguments did not comply with the precedent set in April by a case in Germany.

Last month, Ryanair pilots across Europe staged a coordinated 24-hour strike to push their demands for better pay and conditions, plunging tens of thousands of passengers into transport chaos at the height of the summer holiday season.

In July, strikes by cockpit and cabin crew disrupted 600 flights in Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, affecting 100,000 travellers.

Another indication of the company's rethink on contracts came on Thursday when it announced two new bases in France.

They will be the first in the country since it closed Marseille in early 2011 after being sued for employing French workers on Irish contracts.

It will also open another base at Bordeaux for summer 2019 and had another four under consideration.

Two aircraft will be based at both Marseille and Bordeaux and will offer a total of 64 routes and handle 3.5 million passengers a year.

Ryanair has just struck a three-year deal with cabin crew unions in Italy, with a key point being that staff based there can now get local contracts with associated benefits and rights.

Friday's strike will be the second biggest one-day strike after some 55,000 customers were put out in August when pilots in five European countries walked out during the peak of the summer holiday season.

All affected customers have received email and text message notifications to advise them of cancelations and options, Ryanair said.


Tourism Observer

UAE: Tourism Growing Very Fast And Steadily, Dubai Alone Is Worth $29.6 Billion (AED109 Billion)

The UAE’s efforts to diversify its economy are bearing fruit, as new data has revealed that the country’s tourism sector is experiencing a boom in revenue and visitors.

Abu Dhabi and Dubai are in the forefront of the resounding success.

Tourism sector gives oil a run because of its money. The UAE has been taking active steps through the years to solidify the tourism sector as a venerable area of the country’s economy, in addition to a major feature to tourists and investors alike.

According to the planet Tourism Organization (WTO), the UAE happens to be among the ten fastest growing holiday destinations in the global world, which was attained by the country’s Emirates, abu Dhabi especially, through developing their infrastructure and supporting the hotel sector, along with holding exhibitions, festivals along with other events.

With new data revealed by Dubai’s Department of Commerce and Tourism Marketing, Dubai Tourism, the real numbers appear to support this.

At the ultimate end of 2017, the sector in Dubai was worth $29.6 billion (AED109 billion) per year in accordance with their findings.

The true amount of visitors through the first quarter of 2018, who found its way to the country’s airports, reached around 32.8 million.

Dubai welcomed an archive 8.10 million international overnight tourists through the first half a year of 2018, year representing a frequent increase on the same period last.

In fact, DXB’june that 1 s operator revealed in late. 1 million passengers were likely to visit in 3 days just, between July 5th and July 8th.

The initial half a year of 2018 have both sustained and generated a reliable performance, supporting strong growth across our global feeder markets.

Attracting 8.10 million visitors through the first 1/2 of 2018 stands us in good stead once we accelerate momentum towards our visionary aspiration to become the most-visited city on the planet, Helal Saeed Almarri, Director-General of Dubai Tourism, commented.

According to the most recent Q2 data published by the Expedia Group, a ongoing company that runs travel fare aggregator sites, the true amount of travelers visiting the center East from Europe is increasing.

The set of the most notable ten markets in to the UK be included by the UAE, France, Germany, Italy, Ireland, and Switzerland – a complete of six Europe.

Recent research released prior to the Arabian Travel Market revealed that arrivals from Europe to the GCC are set to cultivate for the time of 2018 – 2020 by around 17%, Expedia explains.

The most these travelers are anticipated to reach in the UAE.

India, Saudi Arabia, and the united kingdom, for the reason that order, earned the greatest amount of visitors into Dubai in H1.

Spread across a complete of 700 establishments, Dubai’s accommodation inventory stood at 111,of June 2018 317 by the end, up 7% set alongside the same time this past year.

With a rise popular for mid-market hotels operating in Dubai, the real amount of four-star properties has increased from 114 to 138, representing 25% of the rooms’ inventory, highlighting the high level of big spenders passing through the national country.

According to WAM, occupied room nights were up year-on-year with a complete of 14 also.97 million in comparison to 14.53 million through the same period in 2017, outlining the ongoing popularity and diversity of Dubai’s hospitality sector.

On another hand, the most recent statistics from the Abu Dhabi Department of Tourism and Culture concur that 162 hotels, hotel resorts and apartments in the emirate received 339,592 guests through the first 1/2 of 2018.

That is a rise of around 19,from June 2017 000 guests, while hotel establishments in the emirate received 2,413,year 230 guests through the first half a year of the existing, a rise of 5% on the same period in 2017.

The increased popularity of a comparatively more budget option for accommodation such as for example Airbnb in addition has contributed to a rise in tourism.

30% of individuals say they wouldn’t normally have traveled if it had been not for Airbnb, Hadi Moussa, the company’s general manager for the MENA region.

Moussa also said that Airbnb has its eyes set on growth within the spot, such as for example plans to capitalize on the 25+ million visitors likely to go to the UAE for the Expo 2020.


Tourism Observer

A Billion Visitors In The First Nine Months Of 2016

Tourism sites around the world have recorded close to about one billion visitors in the first nine months of 2016, the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) says.

The UNWTO World Tourism Barometer found that destinations around the world received 956 million international tourists between January and September 2016.

“This is 34 million more than in the same period in 2015, a 4 per cent increase,” the organisation said.

The UN tourism agency sated that demand for international tourism remained robust in the first nine months of 2016, though growing at a somewhat more moderate pace.

“After a strong start of the year, growth was slower in the second quarter of 2016 to pick up again in the third quarter of the year. While most destinations report encouraging results, others continue to struggle with the impact of negative events, either in their country or in their region,” it added.

Indicating results for the various regions of the world, it said Asia and the Pacific led growth across world regions with international tourist arrivals, noting that overnight visitors went up 9 per cent through September. It indicated that all the four subregions shared in the growth.

The UNWTO said many destinations reported double-digit growth, with the Republic of Korea (+34 per cent), Vietnam (+36 per cent), Japan (+24 per cent) and Sri Lanka (+15 per cent) in the lead.

According to the UNWTO, in Europe, international arrivals grew by 2 per cent between January and September 2016, with solid growth in most destinations.

“Nonetheless,” it added, “double-digit increases in major destinations such as Spain, Hungary, Portugal and Ireland were offset by feeble results in France, Belgium and Turkey. As a consequence, Northern Europe grew by 6 per cent and Central and Eastern Europe by 5 per cent while results were weaker in Western Europe (-1 per cent) and Southern Mediterranean Europe (+0 per cent).”

The Barometer indicated that international tourist arrivals in the Americas increased by 4 per cent through September. South America recorded +7 per cent and Central America up at +6 per cent led the results, followed closely by the Caribbean and North America both at +4 per cent.

In Africa there was +8 per cent increase, as sub-Saharan destinations rebounded strongly throughout the year, while North Africa picked up in the third quarter.

Available data for the Middle East points to a 6 per cent decrease in arrivals, though results vary from destination to destination. Results started to gradually improve in the second half of the year in both North Africa and the Middle East,” the UNWTO said.

The UNWTO however indicated that the results from the Barometer reflect preliminary data reported to date and are subject to revision.

UNITED KINGDOM: UK Must Stay In Europe To Protect Brighton's £750 Million Tourism Industry

THE boss of Brighton's i360 viewing tower has come out in support of remaining in the EU.

Chief executive Eleanor Harris claimed leaving would cause huge damage to the city’s tourism industry as she firmly nailed her colours to the Remain mast in warning that Brexit would leave many potential EU visitors less inclined to visit the city.

Ms Harris said: “As an organisation which has been marketing the i360 and Brighton and Hove to international travel buyers, I am a strong advocate of remaining in the EU.

“The EU is by far our most important market.

"Two thirds of all of our international visitors in the UK and Brighton and Hove are from the EU and our most important markets are Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Ireland and Spain."

Ms Harris said that during her 20 years’ experience in the industry, which has seen her work for the London Eye and British Airways, she had seen the huge benefits of EU membership for UK tourism.

She said EU membership had brought many benefits to British tourism including the ability to travel without a visa while the open skies agreement had made it both cheaper to fly to Europe but also made it cheaper for Europeans to fly to the UK.

The i360 boss said Brighton and Hove particularly benefited because of its proximity to Gatwick.

She also pointed to a recent survey of 6,000 international travel buyers by online travel website Travelzoo which found that one third said a Brexit vote would make them less likely to visit the UK as they would feel less welcome.

A Liberal Democrat published report released earlier in the campaign claimed that leaving the EU would harm the city’s £750 million tourism economy and the more than 19,000 jobs it supports.

The report’s authors warned that Brexit could result in higher flight costs and higher mobile data roaming charges putting off some of the 8.5 million annual visitors to the city.

Brighton and Hove City Councillor Tom Bewick dismissed the concerns about Brexit’s impact on the city’s tourism sector and said the claims were just the latest example of Remain scaremongering.

Cllr Bewick said: “This is just another example of Project Fear.

“Travel is a global industry and the price of flights is more affected by changes in the price of oil than the EU or the threat of Brexit, I don’t accept that our tourism industry would be affected.

“In fact our tourism industry has been hampered in recent years because Chinese and Indian visitors find it very difficult to come to Britain and prefer to visit Schengen countries on a single visa.

“It was EU law that the Channel Tunnel operators tried to use to close down the Newhaven to Dieppe ferry service.”

TURKEY: Fastest Growing Airport In Europe - Sabiha Gokcen International Airport

Passenger traffic in Europe grew by an average +5.2% in 2015, according to Airports Council International Europe (ACI EUROPE).

Amongst Top 30 European Airports, Sabiha Gökçen International Airport (SAW) in Istanbul recorded the fastest growth in passenger numbers, with a 19.7% growth Y-o-Y.

At EU airports, the average increase in passenger traffic was +5.6% with airports in Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Lithuania achieving double-digit growth.

Meanwhile, non-EU airports reported diminished growth of +3.9%. This was mainly due to a significant decline in demand for air travel across Russian and Ukrainian airports, as well as almost flat growth in Norway – despite a stellar increase in passenger traffic in Iceland and sustained growth at most Turkish airports.

Freight traffic at Europe’s airports only grew by +0.7%, as international trade remained subdued. Aircraft movements saw an increase of +2.2%.

ACI EUROPE Director General Olivier Jankovec said:

“2015 has been a very good year in terms of passenger traffic, with European airports welcoming an estimated 1,95 billion passengers. 20% of them achieved a double-digit increase and many broke new traffic records – mostly fueled by the continued growth of low cost airlines and selected non-EU airlines.”

“EU airports generally performed extremely well, despite Germany and France being impacted by airline & ATC strikes and the Paris terror attacks.”

“Remarkably, Istanbul-Atatürk airport became the 3rd busiest European airport with 61,8 million passengers, after London-Heathrow (74,9 million) and Paris-Charles de Gaulle (65,7 million). It should be noted however that small regional airports* across the continent underperformed the European average, with their passenger volume only increasing by +3,8%.”

“This is indicative of traffic growth becoming more concentrated and less inclusive.”

Commenting on the air traffic recovery since the global financial crisis, Jankovec added:

“While the EU economy did not even grow by +3% between 2008 and 2015, passenger traffic at EU airports increased by +13,6% over the same period. Such a wide gap is pointing to a lasting discontinuity in the usual relationship between GDP growth and passenger traffic performance.”

“This is reflective of new market dynamics, changing consumer behaviours and the increased importance of air transport for the European economy.”

Over the full year, airports welcoming more than 25 million passengers per year (Group 1), airports welcoming between 10 and 25 million passengers (Group 2), airports welcoming between 5 and 10 million passengers (Group 3) and airports welcoming less than 5 million passengers per year (Group 4) reported an average adjustment +3.7%, +6.3%, +7.1% and +5.5%.

GROUP 1 Airports: Madrid-Barajas (+12.0%), Istanbul IST (+9.1%), Amsterdam (+6.0%), London LGW and Barcelona El-Prat (+5.7%) and Rome FCO (+5.0%)

GROUP 2 Airports: Istanbul SAW (19.7%), Athens (+19.1%), Dublin (+15.3%), London STN (+12.8%) and Izmir (+12.1%)

GROUP 3 Airports: Milan BGY (+18.6%), Gothenburg GOT (+18.1%), Berlin SXF (+16.9%), Porto (+16.7%) and Glasgow (+12.9%)

GROUP 4 Airports: Ohrid (+53.3%), Ponta Delgada (+29.5%), Astrakhan (+26.1%), Santorini/Thira (+87.6%), Cluj and Timisoara (+25.8%)

Among the airports in the Top 5, several airports will now move to a higher traffic category for 2016.

IRELAND: Irish Tourism To Rise Due To Filming Star Wars Movie On Skellig Michael

Tourism in Ireland hit an all-time high this year and is set to feel the force even more with a new Star Wars campaign.

Over the past 12 months 7.9 million visitors from overseas have visited our shores adding €4.2billion in revenue to the economy.

And Tourism Ireland said it hopes the filming of the latest Star Wars movie on Skellig Michael, off the coast of Co Kerry, will help to draw even more in the coming months.

Boss Niall Gibbons added: “Following a record 2015, ambitious targets have been set for 2016
and beyond.

“This week’s release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens – which will feature Skellig Michael – also presents Tourism Ireland with a truly unique opportunity to highlight the South West and Ireland in 2016.”

Tourists from the US, Canada, Germany, France, Spain and Australia have come to Ireland in record numbers this year.

There was also a 10% jump in visitors from Britain, our largest tourism market.

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office showed an extra half a million holidaymakers came here in the first nine months of the year – a rise of 19%.

And more importantly for the economy, revenue from overseas visitors jumped by 18% during this period – an additional €500million compared to 2014.

Star Wars filming will help bring 8.2m tourists to Ireland in 2016.

Tourism Ireland said a number of its key promotions around the world including the 150th anniversary of the birth of WB Yeats and its Ireland Says “I do” campaign helped to increase numbers.

Mr Gibbons added: “Throughout 2015 Tourism Ireland undertook a packed programme of promotions to bring Ireland to the attention of travellers everywhere.

“A major focus of our activity was the Wild Atlantic Way. Other important themes have included ID2015 [Year of Irish Design] and Yeats2015.”

World's Unfriendliest & Friendliest Countries For Tourists

When traveling, some countries just don't like you. Or at least, it can certainly feel that way.

A new report, put out earlier this month by the World Economic Forum, has ranked which countries roll out the welcome mat to travelers and which give the cold shoulder.

The "Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2013" ranked 140 countries according to attractiveness and competitiveness in the travel and tourism industries.

Unwelcoming

Among the extensive analyses, one of the most interesting rankings was how welcome tourists are in each country, under the category "Attitude of population toward foreign visitors."

And the world's most unfriendly country, according to the data?

Bolivia took the dubious honor, scoring a 4.1 out of seven on a scale of "very unwelcome" (0) to "very welcome" (7).

Venezuela and the Russian Federation were next.

Interestingly, despite their huge tourist arrivals, South Korea and China tied with four other countries for the eighth least friendly spot.

At the other end of the scale, Iceland and New Zealand were ranked the world's most welcoming nations for visitors.

You can see a top 10 for friendliest and unfriendliest at the bottom of this article.

Strengths and weaknesses

The "friendly" ranking was just one aspect of the report, analyzing each country's competitiveness in travel and tourism. That competitiveness is "based on the extent to which they are putting in place the factors and policies to make it attractive to develop the travel and tourism sector."

In the overall Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Index, Europe was the top region with the first five positions all held by European countries. Switzerland, Germany and Austria were the top three in that order. Switzerland has headed the ranking since the index began five years ago.

Excellent tourism infrastructure and facilities, business travel appeal, sustainable development of natural resources and rich cultural resources were among the key factors in landing the highest positions in the rankings.

Safety/security, underdeveloped infrastructure and concerns about sustainable development were among the factors bringing down countries' competitiveness.

Haiti scored the lowest on the competitiveness index.

The United States (6th) topped the combined Americas, Singapore (10th) just pushed out Australia and New Zealand to lead the Asia Pacific region, the United Arab Emirates (28th) was the highest performer in the Middle East and the Seychelles (38th) overtook Mauritius to head Africa.

The report emphasized the need for continued development in the travel and tourism sector particularly for its role in job creation in a relatively stagnant global economy. The industry currently accounts for one in 11 jobs in the world.

The report used data compiled from the World Economic Forum's Executive Opinion Survey and hard data from private sources and national and international agencies and organizations such as the ICAO, IATA, UNWTO, World Bank/International Finance Corporation, IUCN, WHO and UNESCO.

Attitude of population toward foreign visitors
(1 = very unwelcome; 7 = very welcome)

Friendliest

1. Iceland 6.8
2. New Zealand 6.8
3. Morocco 6.7
4. Macedonia, FYR 6.7
5. Austria 6.7
6. Senegal 6.7
7. Portugal 6.6
8. Bosnia and Herzegovina 6.6
9. Ireland 6.6
10. Burkina Faso 6.6

Unfriendliest

1. Bolivia 4.1
2. Venezuela 4.5
3. Russian Federation 5.0
4. Kuwait 5.2
5. Latvia 5.2
6. Iran 5.2
7. Pakistan 5.3
8. Slovak Republic 5.5
9. Bulgaria 5.5
10. Mongolia 5.5

IRELAND: Fire Causes Suspension Of Flights At Dublin AIrport

Flight operations have been temporarily suspended at Dublin Airport this morning.

The suspension comes as fire crews at the airport deal with a fire in one of the hangars.

Passengers are advised to check with their airline or consult their airline website for the latest flight information.

The fire is in a hangar in a restricted area of the airport, which is separate from the passenger facilities, the airport said in a statement.

Almost 2.7 million passengers used Dublin Airport in July, setting a new record for traffic in a single month.