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Adria had previously withdrawn virtually all its flights last week.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

CANADA: Air Canada Rouge Goes To Bucharest From Montreal And Toronto

Air Canada Rouge inaugurated new service from Montreal to Bucharest on Thursday and events were held on both sides of the Atlantic to celebrate the new service to the Romanian capital.

Air Canada Rouge president Duncan Bureau and his team flew on the inaugural flight.

Air Canada Rouge is the only North American airline flying to Romania, the largest European market without trans-Atlantic flights.

And so the new, seasonal route from Montreal to Bucharest, as well as seasonal Toronto-Bucharest service which launched on June 9, are the only direct air links between North America and Romania, and the first from Canada in over 16 years.

In the departure lounge at Montreal-Trudeau, passengers sampled Romanian treats, while a troupe of Romanian dancers in traditional costume entertained.

Several dignitaries then addressed the room including Adrian Ligor, Romanian Ambassador to Canada, Ioana Gabriela Costache, Romanian consul general in Montreal, Stephane LaPierre, Aeroport de Montreal’s vice president operations, and Adina Georgescu, president of the Romanian Chamber of Commerce of Quebec.

This new link will make it easier for investors and tourists from both Romania and Canada to travel either for business or pleasure. said Ambassador Adrian Ligor.

It also brings closer families and friends of the large Canadian-Romanian community in the Montreal area. I wish Air Canada every success with its new direct service to Bucharest.

This direct connection with Romania comes at the right time. At a time where Europe is at our doorstep and where the business relationships between Canada and our European neighbours will only get stronger with the coming into force of the CETA Agreement - Canada EU Trade Agreement, said Adina Georgescu.

It paves the way for the deepening of bilateral trade between Romania and Canada, be it commercial, personal, cultural or tourist.

I congratulate Air Canada and Aeroports de Montreal for their initiative and efforts to put this service in place. Air Canada can count on our support to help make this new direct air link a success.

Duncan Bureau, who was recently named president of Air Canada Rouge, welcomed and thanked passengers.

Thank you for joining us today on our inaugural flight to Bucharest. Bureau said.

We're extremely proud of this new route…This route opens up new economic ties between Canada and Romania, also tourism, cultural exchange, and a great opportunity for people to get home to visit their friends and family.

He then introduced the crew on the flight, saying We have a tremendous crew, one of the best crews in the world, and some of them are here, they’ll be with you today and I’ll be joining you as well, so I’m looking forward to flying over to Bucharest with all of you on this very, very first flight.

Following cake cutting and ribbon cutting ceremonies, it was time to board the aircraft for the eight hour and 55 minute flight from Montreal to Bucharest, the nonstop flight cutting three hours off the typical travel time between the cities when you factor in connections.

Following a smooth flight, we touched down just a few minutes early at Bucharest’s Henri Coanda airport, and what a welcome we received.

In addition to a water cannon salute from the airport’s fire department, which is customary when an airline begins flying to a new destination, Henri Coanda Airport also rolled out the red carpet, with a host of Romanian and Canadian dignitaries on hand to welcome the flight.

Also on hand were throngs of local media, who literally swarmed the tarmac, interviewing passengers as they deplaned on a hot, bright, sunny day. The arrival of Air Canada flight 1928 was big news in Bucharest, with the arrival even featured on that evening’s TV news programs.

Once all passengers had deplaned, and following another ribbon cutting ceremony, a press conference was held with local media.

Responding to a question from one reporter asking if Air Canada Rouge planned to expand service, Bureau responded We’re very happy with the advanced bookings and for the month of June we have a 90 per cent load factor and for the rest of the summer we’re very, very strong.

Typically what happens with these routes, we’ll start out with a few flights a week and then we’ll grow that operation as we start to see the market react.

Nothing would please us more if we could go to daily service if we get the support from the markets. So we’ll wait and see how the market reacts.

While most of the passengers between Canada and Romania will be VFR - Visit Friends and Relatives, Bureau said Canada that the Canada-Romania business communities are behind the new service and that there’s still a significant tourism opportunity as well.

Kevin Hamilton, Canadian Ambassador to Romania, was also on hand and had the opportunity to speak with him one-on-one about Air Canada Rouge’s new service and what it means for Canadians and Romanians.

First of all, it reinforces those people-to-people ties, which are already so strong. We have 200,000 Canadians of Romanian descent, and so the family ties across the ocean are already very strong and so this will make it that much easier for family reunifications.

For people to visit one another’s country. So that’s the most immediate impact over the summer.

Of course we hope that business-to-business ties are going to grow as well. We’ve got the new Canada-EU Trade Agreement, which is effectively in force right now, and so with Visa free travel especially, this is going to provide an opportunity for Romanian and Canadian business communities to get together more often.

In November 2016, Canada dropped the Visa requirement for Romanian nationals visiting Canada, although Visa-exempt travellers like Romanians must still obtain an eTA - Electronic Travel Authorization, prior to travelling.

From a tourism perspective, Hamilton seconded Bureau’s remarks adding Canadians more and more are looking for that sweet spot, between adventure tourism and all the comforts of home at the same time.

You get that in Romania. You’ve got a lot wild parts of the country, in Transylvania for example, but you’ve got larger, really dynamic cities with great nightlife and food.

And so I think you’re going to see Canadians attracted to that sense that Romania is still a little bit exotic. It’s an up and coming country for tourism and there’s lots to do and lots to see.

Air Canada Rouge’s service from between Montreal and Bucharest will operate twice weekly until October 4, 2018, while their twice weekly Toronto-Bucharest service will end on October 6.

Flights will operate using Air Canada Rouge Boeing 767ER aircraft equipped with 24 Premium Rouge seats and 258 seats in Economy class.

Schedule details:

- AC1928 departs Montreal on Mondays and Thursdays at 6:00 PM, arriving in Bucharest at 9:55 AM the following morning, until October 4, 2018. Flight duration is approximately eight hours and 55 minutes.

- AC1929 departs Bucharest on Tuesdays and Fridays at 1:45 PM, arriving in Montreal at 4:20 PM the same day, until October 5, 2018. Flight duration is approximately nine hours and 30 minutes.

- AC1964 departs Toronto on Tuesdays and Saturdays at 5:30 PM, arriving in Bucharest at 9:55 AM the following morning, until October 6, 2018. Flight duration is approximately nine hours and 30 minutes.

- AC1965 departs Bucharest on Wednesdays and Sundays at 1:45PM, arriving in Toronto at 5:00 PM the same day, until October 7, 2018. Flight duration is approximately 10 hours and 15 minutes.

Air Canada Rouge’s new Montreal-Bucharest service is one of ten new destinations launching from Montreal in 2018, alongside domestic flights to London, Windsor and Victoria, transborder service to Phoenix, Pittsburgh and Baltimore, and International flights to Tokyo-Narita, Dublin and Lisbon.


Tourism Observer

ROMANIA: Ryanair B738 Overruns Runway When Landing At Bucharest Otopeni Airport

A Ryanair Boeing 737-800 performing flight from Berlin Schoenefeld (Germany) to Bucharest Otopeni (Romania) with 183 people on board landed on Otopeni’s runway but overran the displaced end of the runway, damaged a runway end light and came to a stop on the paved surface of the runway.

The aircraft was able to immediately turn onto the next taxiway and taxi to the apron.

There were no injuries, the aircraft sustained minor if any damage.

The aircraft was still on the ground at Otopeni Airport preparing for flight FR-1008 to London Stansted, EN (UK) at 15:32Z.

The aircraft actually departed to Stansted at 15:56Z. Romania’s CIAS reported they were notified about the occurrence at 10:51L and are investigating the runway overrun.




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CHINA: Central And Eastern Europe Tourism Exchange Week Event In Ningbo

The official Central And Eastern Europe Tourism Exchange Week will open today, June 7th 2017 in the coastal city of Ningbo.

The event is organized by Ningbo Tourism Administration.

The Central and Eastern Europe exchange is the third Chinese Investment and Trade Expo of its type. Central and Eastern European tourism exchange week is the Chinese government directive to expand mutual cooperation and development in the region.

The exchange week welcomes official representatives from the Czech Republic, Poland, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Benin and Romania.

Ningbo is a beautiful coastal city on the East China Sea. It has advanced transportation infrastructure, a developed information & technology industry, and over two thousand years of Chinese history and culture.

Ningbo is a thriving social and business environment, representing modern China's many decades of development, urban management and the unprecedented growth of industry.

Ningbo is an ideal window into understanding the development of China. To host the third China International Investment and Trade Expo at this week's exchange is of great importance to the city of Ningbo.

The representatives and their nation states have expressed their willingness to cooperate fully under the mutually beneficial framework of "One Belt One Road" cooperation.

The framework will aim to increase quantities of Chinese tourists traveling to the participating country within this year. The "One Belt One Road" agreement plans a new era of Chinese tourism and prosperity for all participating countries.

EUROPE: European Parliament Wants U.S. Citizens To Apply For Visas Before Traveling To Europe

The European Parliament wants U.S. citizens to have to apply for visas before traveling to Europe this summer.

The issue has developed due to an ongoing dispute over U.S. treatment of citizens from Eastern European countries such as Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, who are part of the EU but who are not allowed visa-free travel to the U.S. through the visa-waiver program.

The European Parliament is pressuring the EU executive to force Americans to apply for visas in retaliation.

Forcing Americans to obtain visas would definitely put a dent in Europe’s tourism industry especially during the busy summer season, which is why the European Commission says it is pursuing a resolution through diplomatic channels.

On June 15, EU Commission officials will meet with the U.S. to discuss the issue.

"We will report on further progress made before the end of June and continue to work closely with both the European Parliament and the Council," a Commission spokeswoman said, referring to the council which groups the governments of the 28 EU member states.

In the meantime, negotiations are taking place to resolve the issue, allowing for full “visa reciprocity,” an official said.

While European lawmakers voted with a show of hands to impose restrictive measures on American travelers, they have little power.

European Parliament Votes To Discontinue Visa Free Travel For Americans

European Parliament has voted to end visa-free travel for Americans within the EU.

It comes after the US failed to agree visa-free travel for citizens of five EU countries – Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Poland and Romania – as part of a reciprocity agreement. US citizens can normally travel to all countries in the bloc without a visa.

The vote urges the revocation of the scheme within two months, meaning Americans will have to apply for extra documents for 12 months after the European Commission implements a “delegated act” to bring the change into effect.

The Commission discovered three years ago that the US was not meeting its obligations under the reciprocity agreement but has not yet taken any legal action. The latest vote, prepared by the civil liberties committee and approved by a plenary session of parliament, gives the Commission two months to act before MEPs can consider action in the European Court of Justice.

Australia, Brunei, Japan and Canada were also failing in their obligations, but all four have lifted, or are soon to lift, any visa restrictions on travel for EU citizens.

The Commission is legally obliged to act to suspend the visa waiver for Americans, but the European Parliament or the Council of the European Union have the chance to object to the “delegated act” it uses to do so.

In December, MEPs pressed for the move in order to “encourage” Washington to play its part, according to a statement by the parliament.

But Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos warned of “consequences”, including potential “retaliation” and a drop in visitor numbers precipitating substantial losses for the continent’s tourism industry.

Just days ago the Council said it would liberalise the visa regime for citizens of Georgia travelling into the EU.

Georgians can now, subject to final approval of the regulation, stay in any EU country for 90 days in any period of 180 days without needing a visa.

Carmelo Abela, Malta’s minister for national security, said: “This agreement will bring the people of Georgia and the EU closer together and will strengthen tourism and business ties. It follows the completion of the necessary reforms by Georgia, addressing document security, border management, migration and asylum.”

Last month it was reported that the EU was considering the adoption of a US-style electronic travel permit scheme – a move that could create a new administrative hurdle for British tourists after Brexit.

Immigration minister Robert Goodwill told Parliament the EU was discussing the possibility of introducing a version of America’s Electronic System for Travel Authorisation (ESTA).

Currently foreign travellers must pay a fee of $14 (£11) when they complete ESTA, an automated online system that determines their eligibility to travel to the US.

“British people are now used to the US ESTA scheme and, therefore, we view with interest how the European scheme might develop and what similarities, and differences, there may be to the US scheme,” Mr Goodwill said.

“This type of scheme is generally there to help enhance security. To get to know as much as possible about the people who are intending to travel.

“It isn’t just flights, it could be people using ferries, or other border crossings into the European Union.”

Alan Brown, an SNP member of the European Scrutiny Committee, pointed out that Leave advocates in the referendum campaign had said there would be no need for visa-like travel schemes after Brexit.

UAE: Etihad Airways Looking For Pilots In Europe To Fly Airbus And Boeing Fleets

Etihad Airways has embarked on a major recruitment drive to hire additional crew, as it fleet expands.

The UAE’s national carrier said it is looking for pilots in Europe to join both its Airbus and Boeing fleets, with new aircraft expected to arrive between this year and 2025. The main focus of the talent search is to fill posts for First Officers.

Recruiters for the airline were scheduled to be in Europe on Sunday, November 13. They started in Romania and were expected to be in Bulgaria today, Tuesday. They will then make stops in Hungary, Lithuania, Greece, Poland, Belgium and Portugal.

Etihad had earlier announced it would freeze the hiring of non-operational staff, as currency fluctuations, economic uncertainty and market competition are putting pressure on yields. Recruitment of pilots, cabin crew and engineers, however, will continue.

The airline has a range of aircraft including Airbus 330s, 380s, Boeing 777s and B787s, and expects new A380 deliveries next year.

GERMANY: Welfare Tourism, Germany Will Block EU citizens

German government wants to stop citizens of other EU countries, particularly from eastern Europe, from moving to Germany just for its benefits.

Government sources told DPA that the German cabinet was in agreement about approving a proposed law to prevent EU citizens from countries outside Germany from claiming welfare benefits during their first five years in the country.

“We are aiming for a swift approval by the cabinet,” said a Labour Ministry spokeswoman. The law will then go to the German parliament (Bundestag) for debate.

The law would mean that EU citizens would have no entitlement to welfare payments unless they are currently in employment or if they have acquired an entitlement to social security payments by working.

Only after a stay of five years without any government support would EU citizens have an automatic right to claim ‘Hartz IV’, the most basic form of unemployment benefit that exists in Germany.

Hartz IV was introduced in 2003 as a base social welfare payment available to all German citizens, regardless of whether they had ever had a job.

German media first reported in April on the draft of the proposal by Labour Minister Andrea Nahles, and she said at the time that only a small number of people would be affected by the law.

“Cities have been waiting for this law and now the German parliament should quickly pass it,” said deputy head of the Association of German Cities, Helmut Dedy, to the Mitteldeutschen Zeitung.

“The new rules are necessary to create legal compliance and to avoid the significant financial strains on cities that come with extra social benefits.”

Nahles drafted the bill in reaction to a ruling by the Federal Social Court which found that EU citizens have a right to welfare payments after living in Germany for 6 months.

Local governments - which are responsible for paying social welfare - were outraged by the ruling, arguing that it would put an unbearable pressure on their finances.

According to the Federal Employment Agency, nearly 440,000 people from other EU states receive social benefits. Polish people made up the largest group of recipients at 92,000, followed by Italians (71,000), Romanians (57,000), and Greeks (46,000).

Many of these people are not unemployed, but rather earn too little money to support themselves and thus use social benefits to subsidize their low incomes. Many of those who do this come from Bulgaria and Romania.

THAILAND: Thailand Doubles Visa-on-arrival For 18 Countries

The new charge will come into effect on 27 September, and apply to the citizens of all 18 countries offered visa-on-arrival in Thailand. These include China, India, Taiwan and Saudi Arabia.

The newspaper reported the Thai Foreign Ministry as saying that the decision to implement a 100% increase was based on the belief that the current charge is lower than the visa fees paid by Thai tourists visiting other countries.

The timing of the decision is not ideal however; Thailand’s tourism authorities are working hard to encourage international travellers not to cancel their trips to the kingdom, following the recent bombings in several resort areas. The reason for the attacks is still unclear.

The other countries offered visa-on-arrival to Thailand are Bulgaria, Bhutan, Cyprus, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Maldives, Malta, Mauritius, Romania, San Marino, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.

NIGERIA: 60 Million Nigerian Fraudster Arrested By Interpol

A Nigerian behind an online fraud network which engineered scams worth more than $60 million (54 million euros) has been arrested in southern oil city of Port Harcourt, Interpol said on Monday.

“The 40-year-old Nigerian national, known as ‘Mike’, is believed to be behind scams totalling more than $60 million involving hundreds of victims worldwide,” the international police organisation said in a statement.

“In one case, a target was conned into paying out $15.4 million,” Interpol said, indicating that the arrest was carried out with the support of Nigeria’s anti-graft agency the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“The network compromised email accounts of small to medium businesses around the world including in Australia, Canada, India, Malaysia, Romania, South Africa, Thailand and the United States,” it said.

The suspect ran a network of at least 40 people working from Nigeria, Malaysia and South Africa which used malware and carried out the fraud, and he also had money laundering contacts in China, Europe and the US who provided bank account details for the illicit cash flow.

“Following his arrest in Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria, a forensic examination of devices seized by the EFCC showed he had been involved in a range of criminal activities including business e-mail compromise and romance scams,” it said.

The suspect and a fellow fraudster, 38, who was also arrested in the city, face charges including hacking, conspiracy and obtaining money under false pretences.

ESTONIA: Will Russian Tourists Visit Estonia

For this summertime season, worryingly low are bookings at Estonia’s hotels. Should visitors be down just as sharply as in winter, the blow for local tourism biz might prove severe. For several players, outright catastrophic.

At the moment, bookings are down from all main markets, but in a month we’ll see how dramatic it will be in peak season,said Estonian Travel and Tourism Association president Külli Karing.

If the 11 percent drop is carried over into the summer, the sustainability of the service may start to be affected, because in the summer period every percent equals a much larger amount of people and bigger money.

Lots of hotels make majority of their income in the summers and should the clients disappear, they might not be able to keep doors open.

At the beginning of the year, Estonia fell to the bottom of European tourism barrel, with Finland, and Slovakia, as in the other 16 nations surveyed by EU tourism committee the trend was uphill.

Due to poor economy, the Russians dropped their traditional travels to Estonia in the winter, leading to an over 11 percent drop, confirmed the study. The Finns, also dependent on Eastern neighbours, fared worse still – more than a fifth of visitors were lost.

Russians cut back travels into lion’s share of European nations, except for Montenegro and Romania. Therefore, the damage done to our tourism business revealed our deep addiction to visitors from the East, and an inability to replace Russian tourists with folks from elsewhere.

On top of the tourism services VAT rise, cold-bloodedly and ill-timely served up by the new government, entrepreneurs are troubled by the drying up of connections with the world outside. The disappearance of train lines to Moscow and St Petersburg may seem like a tragedy of the few railway companies, but Ms Karing says this is suffocating for all tourism companies.

Up to now, any new travel channel opened such as an air line has blessed Estonian hotels with added visitors. Tourism firms in Ida-Viru County, blooming mainly due to Russian citizens, acknowledge the downturn to come but believe their former good clients would still find the near-Narva beaches this summer as well.

To attract tourists, Ida-Viru people have joined forces, to sell packages of hotels, Narva Castle, mining museum, and Alutaguse Adventure Park.

At the moment, the tempo of bookings is below the average, the foreign tourists are fewer as they desire more options, to see more places that would be attractive, related Sergei Jegorovtsev, senior sales manager at Meresuu Hotel.

We are rather negatively affected by the campaign in Russia promoting internal tourism whereby they want people to visit Crimea and spend their money there, not in neighbouring Estonia.

As for the tourism VAT in the situation where tourists are drying up is, according to Mr Jegorovtsev, a matter of life and death. We expect the government to show understanding and support in the difficult situation: we would need help to advertise in neighbouring countries, not to have tax raised, said Mr Jegorovtsev.

Thankfully, this past month the rouble has stayed stable, making the Estonian price level much friendlier towards Russians as compared to just a few months back. While the rouble rate plummeted and Russian travel agencies sizzled in bankruptcies, bookings were cancelled en masse.

New companies arose in the place of those that went bankrupt, we begun to form relations with them, but there are fewer people coming via the new companies as the people trust them less,admitted Mr Jegorovtsev.

At the moment, we have more of the domestic tourists than Russian ones, as we have made special offers for locals.

Likewise, Narva-Jõesuu town government is predicting a drop in tourist arrivals, but is drawing its plans hoping that their summer-friends will still find the way back somehow.

We hope that Russia being so close by the people will return, said Narva-Jõesuu town government culture specialist Jevgeni Timoštsuk.

A tourist will not leave behind as much money as last year. My acquaintances and friends from Russia reckon that perhaps they will stay at a hotel, eat breakfast there, but the supper they will buy in grocery store.

With great festivity, this coming Sunday Narva-Jõesuu will open the beach season. Despite the fact that the longest beach in Estonia and probably in the Baltics was cleaned up by the start of this week and lined with changing rooms, as Postimees paid a visit is was just these five US students trying to have a good time there, who study Russian at Narva College.

It was so cold that the poor youth were shuddering. Hailing from Carolina, a lad said it was 30 degrees Celsius back home. Still, he said Narva-Jõesuu is a nice place to be.

A town of 2,700 inhabitants, Narva-Jõesuu swells to 15,000 in summer – mainly on account of Estonian domestic tourists and people from St Petersburg.

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.

KYRGYZTAN: Kyrgyzstan Must-Visit Country

Kyrgyzstan is in the list of must-visit countries, Kyrgyzstan enlisted among 12 countries that everyone should visit. “The Telegraph” published rating of Gunnar Garfors, the traveler who had visited all 198 countries in the world by the age of 37.

In his rating, Garfors noted amazing beauty of the nature, colorful markets and friendliness of Kyrgyz people. The expert of “The Telegraph” Chris Moss says this "rugged country" has long been favoured by horseback riders, because it's the best way to access "the fertile valleys and mountain passes".

Kyrgyzstan is on the 5th place in the rating of Gunnar Gafors after Romania, Madagascar, Iceland and Vietnam.

ROMANIA: Blue Air To Fly To Dublin

Blue Air, the well-managed and fast growing, low cost airline of Romania, has chosen Dublin as an airport for expansion for its Summer 2016 flying programme with more services to Bucharest and Bacau, plus a a new twice weekly flight to the regional city of Cluj, in Transylvania.

The new services to Cluj will leave Dublin Airport at 17:55 every Tuesday and Saturday landing in Cluj at 23:35, returning from Cluj at 15:30 landing at Dublin Airport at 17:10.

Blue Air already fly from Dublin to its home base Bucharest (Otopeni) and Bacau which will now have increased frequencies rising to four times and three times a week respectively for Summer 2016.

Ryanair And Wizz Air Passenger Numbers Grow

Budget airline Ryanair has hailed another month of rising passengers’ numbers as it continued with its strategy to modernise aircrafts and improve customer service.

The Dublin-based airline saw a 21 per cent increase to 7.71million passengers, with the load factor – how many seats were filled – increasing by 5 percentage points to 93 per cent.

Chief marketing officer Kenny Jacobs said the ‘record’ monthly traffic figures were a result of lower fares, stronger forward bookings and the continuing success of their ‘Always Getting Better' customer experience programme.

This was unrolled two years ago in a bid to lure passengers back after many deserted the airline for its rude treatment of customers. On a rolling basis, Ryanair’s annual traffic to November grew 17 per cent to 99.9million passengers.

‘Ryanair customers can now look forward to more service enhancements, as we continue Year 2 of our AGB programme, which includes our new car hire service, new website, new app, new cabin interiors, new crew uniforms, and improved inflight menus’, said Jacobs in a statement.

Analysts at Numis said Ryanair’s traffic figures were in line with the recent trend of improving load factors.

‘Slightly surprising this trend has remained so strong even as the comparative toughen, which suggests there may be some more scope for winter load factors to continue to improve with significantly less volume variation between peak and trough months.

‘However, we would expect the seasonality to still be evident in revenue’, Numis said.

Ryanair said more passengers were chosing them because of an improvement in service

Shares in Ryanair were €0.14, or nearly 1 per cent, higher at €14.71

Central and eastern Europe-focused carrier Wizz Air also posted strong November traffic figures today.

The FTSE 250-listed firm saw a 25.5 per cent rise in passengers to 1.5million, up from 1.2million last year, with load factor up 0.6 per cent to 83.6 per cent.

Hungarian Wizz Air continued with its expansion in November, adding new routes from Lithuania and Romania, where it also said it had opened its 23rd base in the city of Iasi. The group said it aimed to increase the number of routes served from Iasi to eight and triple seat capacity to 2650,000 in 2016.

Shares in Wizz Air were up 2p at 1,752p this morning.

Ryanair and Wizz Air's traffic figures come ahead of BA-owner IAG, which releases its November numbers this afternoon, and easyJet’s, which are due tomorrow.

Budget airline easyJet recently posted profits of £686million for 2015, a steep 18.1 per cent increase on its £581 million in 2014. This was the fifth straight year of record profits, as easyJet flew an extra 4 million passengers.

HUNGARY: Wizz Air Opens New Office In Romania’s Iasi

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air will open a new base in Iasi, eastern Romania, in the summer of 2016 and will introduce five new routes from the city to Bologna, Catania, Larnaca, Rome, and Tel Aviv. It will also increase the frequency of flights from Iasi to London and Milan.

The company will allocate an Airbus A320 aircraft for international flights from the Iasi airport.

By opening the new base in Iasi, Wizz Air reaches six operational bases in Romania.

The company, which will have 16 airplanes in Romania starting next year, has a market share of 29.5%, said Gyorgy Abran, Wizz Air commercial director.

“We transported 3.4 million passengers in 2014 and for this year we estimate a 19% growth,” he added.

Thus, Wizz Air may pass 4 million passengers in Romania this year and the number will continue to grow next year, after opening the new base in Iasi.

Wizz Air Adds Bratislava And Copenhagen To Its Network

The latest expansion and the flights to two new European capitals will increase the Wizz Air network to 116 airports across 38 countries as it continues its rapid growth. Its departure capacity has grown at an average annual rate of 64.4 per cent between 2005 and 2104 from just over 2.5 million seats to almost 17.5 million last year. This year capacity will grow by an estimated 24.0 per cent to over 21.5 million departure seats.

Central and Eastern European low-cost airline specialist, Wizz Air is to add two new European capital cities to its network as it expands its route network from Macedonia with three new routes from Skopje’s Alexander The Great Airport.

The carrier will launch its first flights to Bratislava, Slovakia and Copenhagen, Denmark, as well launch a new route to Berlin Schoenefeld as it reinforces its position as Skopje’s principal carrier and Macedonia’s de facto national carrier. All three routes will be operated on a twice weekly frequency with flights to Berlin commencing from March 21, 2016; Copenhagen from March 22, 2016 and Bratislava from March 28, 2016.

This will be the first scheduled route between Macedonia and Slovakia and will resurrect a link into Denmark that was last served by SAS Scandinavian Airlines over ten years ago in March 2005.

Wizz Air introduced operations in Macedonia in June 2011 with flights between Skopje and London Luton and is now offering a total of 24 routes to eleven countries from Skopje and Ohrid.

Elsewhere, Wizz Air has confirmed it will open a new base at Iasi International Airport, its sixth in Romania. The airline will station a single A320 in the largest city in eastern Romania to increase the number of routes served from Iasi to eight and will triple the seat capacity to 265,000 in 2016. The airline hopes this will stimulate the local job market in aviation and tourism sectors as consumers will have access to more low cost routes.

The new aircraft will facilitate the introduction of a three times weekly link to Bologna and twice weekly services to Catania, Larnaca, Rome Ciampino and Tel Aviv from the start of July 2016. It will also allow frequencies to Milan Bergamo to increase from two to three a week, adding to the significant growth of the Iasi – London Luton route which will grow from two to five weekly rotations from the end of March 2016.

Wizz Air first launched flights in Romania in 2007 and now offers a total of 106 Romanian routes to 16 countries from eight Romanian airports.

“We put Iasi on the map of aviation a year ago and it will now become the sixth Romanian airport where we establish base operations,” said György Abrán, Chief Commercial Officer, Wizz Air. “We have constantly expanded our operations in Romania, developed regional airports, and this announcement once again underlines our commitment to the country.”

The latest expansion and the flights to two new European capitals will increase the Wizz Air network to 116 airports across 38 countries as it continues its rapid growth. Its departure capacity has grown at an average annual rate of 64.4 per cent between 2005 and 2104 from just over 2.5 million seats to almost 17.5 million last year. This year capacity will grow by an estimated 24.0 per cent to over 21.5 million departure seats.

Analysis of OAG schedule data shows that the airline’s top five country markets – Poland, United Kingdom, Romania, Italy and Hungary – account for a 58.0 per cent share of its capacity offering.

TAJIKISTAN: Tajik Lady Gardener Turns Celebrity Because Of Her Photo

Munira Mirzoyeva, a 19-year old city gardens worker.

A city gardens worker in the capital of Tajikistan has become a local celebrity through a chance picture taken by a visiting Romanian photographer.

Internet and local TV reports about 19-year-old Munira Mirzoyeva's inclusion in the Atlas of Beauty — an online compendium of the diversity of feminine beauty around the world — has made her readily recognizable on the streets of Dushanbe where she plants flowers.

She hopes this newfound fame will help rescue her from relative poverty. She wants to resume her studies so she can get a job better suited to supporting her family in the former Soviet nation in Central Asia, where she shares a one-bedroom apartment with her parents and four younger siblings.

Mirzoyeva's dream is to become a doctor, although she was forced by poverty to stop her education while still in elementary school.

Following her improbably rise to fame, online groups have sprung up to raise money to send her back to school. That has sparked a hope that appeared remote until only a few weeks ago.

"If the chance presents itself, I will definitely continue my studies, because that is my biggest dream," Mirzoyeva said. "I like my job as a gardener, but because I don't have the opportunity, I cannot study. But if I get the chance, I will definitely do it."