Bruce Dickinson of Iron Maiden delivered Albawings’ second aircraft, named Sir Norman Wisdom, a very popular actor amongst Albanians, mainly for his role of Mr. Pitkin, on 11 December. The 737-400 joins the carrier’s 737-500 which is named “Spirit of Tirana”.
Last year Albawings was Tirana’s 11th largest airline, however with the arrival of a second aircraft, it should go further up the ranking in 2017.
Tirana Airport, also known as Nënë Tereza, is the only airport in Albania which offers scheduled flights. Situated 11 kilometres to the northwest of central Tirana, it serves a city with a population of over 800,000 people. In 2016 Tirana welcomed just under 2.2 million passengers, the first time in the airport’s recent history that it has passed the two million milestone.
Traffic last year grew by 9.9% when compared to the 1.99 million that passed through the facility the year before. Since 2005, traffic throughput from Tirana has grown by an impressive 180%.
During the period between 2005 and 2016 only one year has seen traffic levels drop, with passenger numbers in 2012 falling by 8.4%. This also involved traffic movements dropping by 10% to 20,500 that year.
Putting Tirana’s 2016 passenger statistics into anna.aero’s Seasonal Variation in Demand calculator (SVID), the airport performs okay, generating a score of 5.14 – a “Good” rating.
Rome Fiumicino is the largest route at Tirana, with it carrying just under 14% of all passengers from the airport in 2016. Fiumicino is followed by Milan Malpensa which carried 9.5% and Istanbul (both Atatürk and Sabiha Gökçen) which occupied 9.3%.
The importance of the Italian market shows in Tirana’s top 12 routes, with seven of the top 12 being destinations in Italy. Of the 38 routes that were operated from Tirana last year, 18 were Italian. Overall Italian routes carried 58% of passengers from Tirana last year.
Of Tirana’s top 12 routes, four of them (highlighted in red) have seen a drop in traffic between 2015 and 2016. The worst performing route in the top 12 is Venice Marco Polo, with traffic on the sector falling by nearly 20% last year.
Of the 38 routes which flew from Tirana in 2016, 11 saw traffic declines, most notably Munich which witnessed traffic fall by 42%.
Blue Panorama Airlines commands 31% of seats at Tirana
Blue Panorama Airlines is the largest carrier at Tirana, with the Italian carrier commanding 26% of seat capacity from the airport in 2016.
However, last summer the airline also had one 737-400 operated by Air Explore (highlighted in light green) flying services for it into Tirana, so including data for this carrier, Blue Panorama actually had a 31% share of seats from the Albanian capital last year.
Looking ahead to this summer, airline seat capacity has grown 22% when compared to S16. However, not all airline schedules from Tirana have been completed for S17, so this figure may grow further or fluctuate depending on finalised timetables.
Another carrier also highlighted in light green is Mistral Air. The Italian carrier last summer became an operator of flights for the new start-up carrier Ernest, an airline which anna.aero analysed when it first started operations in S16.
Originally operating nine routes from Tirana on a w-pattern with aircraft based at Ancona and Bari, the carrier has added routes from Tirana to Cuneo and Milan Malpensa.
It should be noted that looking at the carrier’s booking engine, these flights are not bookable after the start of April, though neither are the carrier’s existing nine routes.
A further examination of its booking engine also shows Bologna, Genoa, Rome Fiumicino, Venice Marco Polo and Verona as destinations.
So although these services have not been confirmed, or able to be booked, it looks as though they will be coming online with the carrier in the future from Tirana.
Finally since the start of 2017, Ernest has taken delivery of its first A319 (ex-Iberia) which has now taken over some services from Mistral Air.
Another recent addition to the Tirana carrier line-up is Albawings (11th largest carrier last year). Founded in February 2015, the carrier started operations early last year when it welcomed its first 737-500.
A second aircraft, which arrived on 11 December – a 737-400 – was flown into Tirana and delivered by Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson.
Similar to Ernest, the carrier operates between Albania and Italy, offering routes from Tirana to Ancona, Florence, Milan Malpensa, Perugia, Rimini, Venice Treviso and Verona.
In April Tirana will welcome its newest airline, with Wizz Air beginning flights from Budapest. Scheduled to launch on 5 April, the carrier will initially offer a twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Sundays) service to the Hungarian capital on its A320s.
Another route that is scheduled to commence from Tirana in S17 is Amsterdam. Pencilled in to commence on 10 May, Transavia will offer a three times weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) service to the Dutch hub on its 737-700s according to OAG schedules.
Tourism, Travel, Hospitality, Conservation: News,Stories And Experiences From Allover The World
Thursday, 1 June 2017
ITALY: Milan Malpensa Airport Traffic Up by 11%
Milan Malpensa is the busiest of the three airports that serve Milan, with Milan Bergamo (11.2 million passengers in 2016) and Milan Linate (9.6 million) being the other two airports which serve the city.
Last year Malpensa handled over 19.3 million passengers across its two terminals, which represents a 48% market share of all Milan traffic in 2016, with the city welcoming just over 40 million passengers.
By welcoming 19.3 million passengers in 2016, Malpensa witnessed an increase in traffic of 4.7% when compared to 2015. Looking at statistics for Q1 2017, growth for the year so far is much stronger than last year, with traffic up by over 11% for the first three months of this year, with a little over 4.4 million passengers using the airport.
However, what is important is that most of this traffic is growing from an O&D perspective. During the last winter season, Milan Malpensa welcomed 7.3 million O&D passengers, a record season for the airport, commented Andrea Tucci, Aviation Business Development, Milan Airports SEA.
This O&D traffic figure represents nearly 13% growth on the same season the year before. Tucci commented that this was even more impressive considering it was natural growth.
In 2015 the EXPO was held in Milan and in 2014 Malpensa welcomed Ryanair traffic from Bergamo as it was closed for runway work, so this year is the first to have seen natural growth which makes this result even more impressive.
For this calendar year, the hope is that Malpensa will break the 20-21 million passenger barrier, which is achievable given the current recording for the first three months of 2017.
Looking at the domestic/international split of traffic from Malpensa last year, around 86% of passengers travelled on non-Italian routes, with the remaining 14% flying domestically in 2016. This is the same ratio as was achieved in 2015, while in 2014 international traffic accounted for 85% of passengers.
Looking at the two markets individually, international traffic grew by 4.5% in 2016, while the domestic market shows a 6.2% rise. Looking at the two markets for Q1 2017, international passengers are up by over 10%, while the domestic market is growing faster, with traffic in this sector up 18% for the first three months of this year.
When referring to OAG schedules, this summer’s seat capacity from Malpensa has risen by 14%, matching the growth patterns of passenger traffic for the year so far, with just under 300,000 weekly one-way seats on offer, up from 259,000 weekly seats in June last year. The largest carrier at Malpensa is easyJet, with it occupying 29% of weekly seat capacity in S17.
Malpensa is the airline’s joint-largest base in continental Europe, with it occupying 4.6% of monthly seat capacity in S17, the same as easyJet’s Geneva base, while London Gatwick leads with 12% of capacity. Last year easyJet carried 6.75 million passengers from Malpensa, with 4.6 million flying on international services and over 2.1 million on domestic routes.
In recent weeks the airline has added new routes from Malpensa to Stockholm Arlanda, Granada and Santiago de Compostela, helping the UK LCC report a 3.1% increase in weekly seats this summer.
The next-largest carrier at the airport is Ryanair, an airline which has grown its weekly seat capacity from the airport by a mighty 189% in the last year, with it having been the airport’s 10th biggest carrier in S16.
Looking ahead to the winter season, Ryanair will expand further from Malpensa by adding an extra seven routes, with its next destinations including Alicante, Eindhoven, Katowice, Lamezia Terme, Liverpool, Palermo and Valencia. Malpensa officially became a Ryanair base in December 2015.
The carrier is reporting 45% growth in weekly seats for S17. In total 73 airlines are operating flights into Malpensa this summer, with the top 12 making up 63% of the overall seats when referring to OAG schedules.
Malpensa welcomed the return of Air France and KLM
On 26 March Malpensa Airport welcomed the return of two carriers after an absence of five years, with Air France beginning five daily flights from Paris CDG and KLM beginning a four daily service from Amsterdam.
As a result of both airlines’ return to Malpensa, Air France and KLM have become the airport’s 14th and 15th largest carriers respectively, with both of them sitting behind Italian national carrier Alitalia (which operates flights to Abu Dhabi, New York JFK and Tokyo Narita from Malpensa) in 13th.
It should be noted that Air France and KLM still serve Milan Linate.
With the arrival of Air France on the connection between Paris CDG and Malpensa, the route has welcomed a 45% increase in weekly seats this summer, with the airport pairing already served by easyJet (43 weekly flights). Along with CDG, Catania and Amsterdam (all highlighted in light green) have all welcomed an additional carrier in the past year, allowing all three to climb into the airport’s top four routes, with them joining Barcelona in third.
In 2016 Barcelona was the #1 route from Malpensa.
Currently this summer 152 non-stop destinations are served directly from Malpensa when referring to OAG schedules, with new routes recently launched including London Southend with Flybe and Moscow Domodedovo with Meridiana.
Last year Malpensa handled over 19.3 million passengers across its two terminals, which represents a 48% market share of all Milan traffic in 2016, with the city welcoming just over 40 million passengers.
By welcoming 19.3 million passengers in 2016, Malpensa witnessed an increase in traffic of 4.7% when compared to 2015. Looking at statistics for Q1 2017, growth for the year so far is much stronger than last year, with traffic up by over 11% for the first three months of this year, with a little over 4.4 million passengers using the airport.
However, what is important is that most of this traffic is growing from an O&D perspective. During the last winter season, Milan Malpensa welcomed 7.3 million O&D passengers, a record season for the airport, commented Andrea Tucci, Aviation Business Development, Milan Airports SEA.
This O&D traffic figure represents nearly 13% growth on the same season the year before. Tucci commented that this was even more impressive considering it was natural growth.
In 2015 the EXPO was held in Milan and in 2014 Malpensa welcomed Ryanair traffic from Bergamo as it was closed for runway work, so this year is the first to have seen natural growth which makes this result even more impressive.
For this calendar year, the hope is that Malpensa will break the 20-21 million passenger barrier, which is achievable given the current recording for the first three months of 2017.
Looking at the domestic/international split of traffic from Malpensa last year, around 86% of passengers travelled on non-Italian routes, with the remaining 14% flying domestically in 2016. This is the same ratio as was achieved in 2015, while in 2014 international traffic accounted for 85% of passengers.
Looking at the two markets individually, international traffic grew by 4.5% in 2016, while the domestic market shows a 6.2% rise. Looking at the two markets for Q1 2017, international passengers are up by over 10%, while the domestic market is growing faster, with traffic in this sector up 18% for the first three months of this year.
When referring to OAG schedules, this summer’s seat capacity from Malpensa has risen by 14%, matching the growth patterns of passenger traffic for the year so far, with just under 300,000 weekly one-way seats on offer, up from 259,000 weekly seats in June last year. The largest carrier at Malpensa is easyJet, with it occupying 29% of weekly seat capacity in S17.
Malpensa is the airline’s joint-largest base in continental Europe, with it occupying 4.6% of monthly seat capacity in S17, the same as easyJet’s Geneva base, while London Gatwick leads with 12% of capacity. Last year easyJet carried 6.75 million passengers from Malpensa, with 4.6 million flying on international services and over 2.1 million on domestic routes.
In recent weeks the airline has added new routes from Malpensa to Stockholm Arlanda, Granada and Santiago de Compostela, helping the UK LCC report a 3.1% increase in weekly seats this summer.
The next-largest carrier at the airport is Ryanair, an airline which has grown its weekly seat capacity from the airport by a mighty 189% in the last year, with it having been the airport’s 10th biggest carrier in S16.
Looking ahead to the winter season, Ryanair will expand further from Malpensa by adding an extra seven routes, with its next destinations including Alicante, Eindhoven, Katowice, Lamezia Terme, Liverpool, Palermo and Valencia. Malpensa officially became a Ryanair base in December 2015.
The carrier is reporting 45% growth in weekly seats for S17. In total 73 airlines are operating flights into Malpensa this summer, with the top 12 making up 63% of the overall seats when referring to OAG schedules.
Malpensa welcomed the return of Air France and KLM
On 26 March Malpensa Airport welcomed the return of two carriers after an absence of five years, with Air France beginning five daily flights from Paris CDG and KLM beginning a four daily service from Amsterdam.
As a result of both airlines’ return to Malpensa, Air France and KLM have become the airport’s 14th and 15th largest carriers respectively, with both of them sitting behind Italian national carrier Alitalia (which operates flights to Abu Dhabi, New York JFK and Tokyo Narita from Malpensa) in 13th.
It should be noted that Air France and KLM still serve Milan Linate.
With the arrival of Air France on the connection between Paris CDG and Malpensa, the route has welcomed a 45% increase in weekly seats this summer, with the airport pairing already served by easyJet (43 weekly flights). Along with CDG, Catania and Amsterdam (all highlighted in light green) have all welcomed an additional carrier in the past year, allowing all three to climb into the airport’s top four routes, with them joining Barcelona in third.
In 2016 Barcelona was the #1 route from Malpensa.
Currently this summer 152 non-stop destinations are served directly from Malpensa when referring to OAG schedules, with new routes recently launched including London Southend with Flybe and Moscow Domodedovo with Meridiana.
GERMANY: Traffic At Nuremberg Airport Grows 23%
The city of Nuremberg is home to a population of over 500,000 people, an important industrial centre with a strong standing in the markets of Central and Eastern Europe. With a strong manufacturing prowess, items made in the area around the city include electrical equipment, mechanical and optical products, and printed materials.
The city is also strong in the fields of automation, energy and medical technology, with one of the city’s biggest employers being Siemens. Nestled in the northern part of Bavaria, the city is served by Nuremberg Airport, the tenth largest airport in Germany which last year welcomed just under 3.5 million passengers.
The airport has had many successes during the past year, including the opening of a new Ryanair base, and the team being highly commended at this year’s Routes Europe Marketing Awards in Belfast.
Nuremberg Airport has had an exceptional start to 2017, with Q1 traffic up 23% when compared to the same three-month period of 2016. Passenger figures for January were up 22%, while February indicated a 25% rise and March 23%.
Looking at the international and domestic markets, the former welcomed a 37% increase in traffic during Q1, while the latter showed a more modest 3% rise, highlighting that international expansion is the driving force behind Nuremberg’s impressive growth.
According to ADV monthly statistics, the average growth during the first quarter of 2017 across Germany’s leading airports was 4.5%, showing that Nuremberg is well above the national average.
With the airport’s exciting growth comes the news that it is Germany’s fastest-growing top 10 airport for Q1, with only Berlin Schonefeld (sixth largest airport; 16% growth in Q1 2017) and Düsseldorf (third; 13%) also registering double-digit growth. If Nuremberg’s growth pattern continues throughout 2017, then it should welcome around 4.2 million passengers this calendar year.
When taking Nuremberg’s 2016 monthly passenger statistics and placing them in anna.aero’s Seasonal Variation in Demand calculator (SVID) it performs well, generating a score of 5.48 – a “Good” rating. This is an improvement from the 6.26 also good that it scored for its 2015 monthly statistics.
What this indicates is that with Nuremberg’s impressive traffic growth, the impact has not damaged its seasonality. In fact with the seasonality profile of the airport being reduced, even with more traffic, shows that Nuremberg has demand for year-round services, not just summer seasonal ones when the airport is at its peak.
Since Ryanair opened its base at Nuremberg in October 2016, it now has two 737-800s stationed at the Bavarian airport and as a result it has grown to become Nuremberg’s largest airline. In total the ULCC occupies 18% of weekly departing seat capacity this summer, with its own individual seat capacity growing by over 420%, a result of the based aircraft.
Last year the airline occupied 4.4% of weekly seat capacity during summer. In the past year the airline has opened flights to Bari, Budapest, Madrid, Manchester, Milan Bergamo, Palermo, Porto, Rome Ciampino and Verona from Nuremberg. In total the airline will offer 58 weekly flights from the city during S17.
Wednesdays and Sundays are the busiest of the week with nine flights each, while the rest of the week sees eight daily departures. Looking ahead to W17/18, the most significant route that Ryanair will open from Nuremberg is Krakow, the first connection to be offered between the Polish and German sister cities, and Nuremberg’s first direct flight to Poland.
Ryanair will also connect Nuremberg to Vilnius from the end of October.
The most recent carrier to join the airline roll call at Nuremberg is bmi regional which began flights from Birmingham on 8 May, a route which will operate six times weekly and which anna.aero was fortune to attend the launch of.
In total, weekly seat capacity this summer from Nuremberg has risen by nearly 32% when analysed with S16 data.
Antalya is fastest-growing route for Nuremberg in S17
With SunExpress increasing its seat offering between Nuremberg and Antalya by 128% during the past 12 months, the Turkish resort is the fastest-growing top 12 route from the German airport this summer. It is followed by London Stansted which has seen its capacity increase by over 71%, the result of Ryanair increasing its frequency to 12 times weekly (twice-daily Mondays to Fridays) from daily on the route to the UK capital.
The leading route from Nuremberg this summer is Palma de Mallorca, a title it holds on to from S16 despite a 8.5% drop in capacity.
Looking at OAG schedules for this summer, Nuremberg will have direct flights to 58 destinations (w/c 13 June 2017), an increase of 15 when compared to the same week of 2016.
Along with the new routes to Krakow and Vilnius being launched by Ryanair, other services that are to be introduced from Nuremberg during the remainder of 2017 include Adana, Athens, Dalaman, Reykjavik/Keflavik and Tel Aviv with Germania, with the latter two being the airport’s first flights to Iceland and Israel.
Finally Wizz Air, which has grown its seat capacity from Nuremberg by 122% since last summer, will begin services from Kiev Zhuliany in August.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2017, one of the most significant route launches from Nuremberg is to Tel Aviv, a sector that will be inaugurated by Germania in November.
Along with Tel Aviv, Germania will also add Reykjavik/Keflavik to its Nuremberg schedule from June, becoming the German airport’s first flights to Israel and Iceland.
Other important route launches from Nuremberg in 2017 include Krakow and Vilnius with Ryanair, and Wizz Air adding Kiev Zhulyany flights.
The city is also strong in the fields of automation, energy and medical technology, with one of the city’s biggest employers being Siemens. Nestled in the northern part of Bavaria, the city is served by Nuremberg Airport, the tenth largest airport in Germany which last year welcomed just under 3.5 million passengers.
The airport has had many successes during the past year, including the opening of a new Ryanair base, and the team being highly commended at this year’s Routes Europe Marketing Awards in Belfast.
Nuremberg Airport has had an exceptional start to 2017, with Q1 traffic up 23% when compared to the same three-month period of 2016. Passenger figures for January were up 22%, while February indicated a 25% rise and March 23%.
Looking at the international and domestic markets, the former welcomed a 37% increase in traffic during Q1, while the latter showed a more modest 3% rise, highlighting that international expansion is the driving force behind Nuremberg’s impressive growth.
According to ADV monthly statistics, the average growth during the first quarter of 2017 across Germany’s leading airports was 4.5%, showing that Nuremberg is well above the national average.
With the airport’s exciting growth comes the news that it is Germany’s fastest-growing top 10 airport for Q1, with only Berlin Schonefeld (sixth largest airport; 16% growth in Q1 2017) and Düsseldorf (third; 13%) also registering double-digit growth. If Nuremberg’s growth pattern continues throughout 2017, then it should welcome around 4.2 million passengers this calendar year.
When taking Nuremberg’s 2016 monthly passenger statistics and placing them in anna.aero’s Seasonal Variation in Demand calculator (SVID) it performs well, generating a score of 5.48 – a “Good” rating. This is an improvement from the 6.26 also good that it scored for its 2015 monthly statistics.
What this indicates is that with Nuremberg’s impressive traffic growth, the impact has not damaged its seasonality. In fact with the seasonality profile of the airport being reduced, even with more traffic, shows that Nuremberg has demand for year-round services, not just summer seasonal ones when the airport is at its peak.
Since Ryanair opened its base at Nuremberg in October 2016, it now has two 737-800s stationed at the Bavarian airport and as a result it has grown to become Nuremberg’s largest airline. In total the ULCC occupies 18% of weekly departing seat capacity this summer, with its own individual seat capacity growing by over 420%, a result of the based aircraft.
Last year the airline occupied 4.4% of weekly seat capacity during summer. In the past year the airline has opened flights to Bari, Budapest, Madrid, Manchester, Milan Bergamo, Palermo, Porto, Rome Ciampino and Verona from Nuremberg. In total the airline will offer 58 weekly flights from the city during S17.
Wednesdays and Sundays are the busiest of the week with nine flights each, while the rest of the week sees eight daily departures. Looking ahead to W17/18, the most significant route that Ryanair will open from Nuremberg is Krakow, the first connection to be offered between the Polish and German sister cities, and Nuremberg’s first direct flight to Poland.
Ryanair will also connect Nuremberg to Vilnius from the end of October.
The most recent carrier to join the airline roll call at Nuremberg is bmi regional which began flights from Birmingham on 8 May, a route which will operate six times weekly and which anna.aero was fortune to attend the launch of.
In total, weekly seat capacity this summer from Nuremberg has risen by nearly 32% when analysed with S16 data.
Antalya is fastest-growing route for Nuremberg in S17
With SunExpress increasing its seat offering between Nuremberg and Antalya by 128% during the past 12 months, the Turkish resort is the fastest-growing top 12 route from the German airport this summer. It is followed by London Stansted which has seen its capacity increase by over 71%, the result of Ryanair increasing its frequency to 12 times weekly (twice-daily Mondays to Fridays) from daily on the route to the UK capital.
The leading route from Nuremberg this summer is Palma de Mallorca, a title it holds on to from S16 despite a 8.5% drop in capacity.
Looking at OAG schedules for this summer, Nuremberg will have direct flights to 58 destinations (w/c 13 June 2017), an increase of 15 when compared to the same week of 2016.
Along with the new routes to Krakow and Vilnius being launched by Ryanair, other services that are to be introduced from Nuremberg during the remainder of 2017 include Adana, Athens, Dalaman, Reykjavik/Keflavik and Tel Aviv with Germania, with the latter two being the airport’s first flights to Iceland and Israel.
Finally Wizz Air, which has grown its seat capacity from Nuremberg by 122% since last summer, will begin services from Kiev Zhuliany in August.
Looking ahead to the rest of 2017, one of the most significant route launches from Nuremberg is to Tel Aviv, a sector that will be inaugurated by Germania in November.
Along with Tel Aviv, Germania will also add Reykjavik/Keflavik to its Nuremberg schedule from June, becoming the German airport’s first flights to Israel and Iceland.
Other important route launches from Nuremberg in 2017 include Krakow and Vilnius with Ryanair, and Wizz Air adding Kiev Zhulyany flights.
CHINA: 20 Million Passengers Went Through Changsha Airport in 2016
Changsha Huanghua International Airport handled 21.3 million passengers in 2016 according to CAAC statistics. This was an increase of close to 14% on the previous year and left the airport ranked 13th in China.
This was one place higher than in 2015 when it was still ranked below Wuhan Airport which it has now overtaken. Analysis of OAG Schedule Analyser data indicates that international traffic at the airport was around 7% of the total in 2015, increasing to about 9% in 2016.
Since 2007 passenger demand at the airport has grown by an average of over 11% per annum. Last year’s growth of almost 14% was the airport’s fastest increase in traffic since 2010. The year-on-year increase in passenger numbers was almost 2.6 million, the most in the airport’s history.
The airport finished building a second runway in 2016, which is expected to become operational during 2017. There are also plans to build a third runway in the medium-term.
Last year saw the airport welcome a number of new high-profile international services with Hainan Airlines, with the carrier beginning direct flights to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, as well as Los Angeles in California.
Hainan Airlines drives growth but China Southern Airlines still #1
China Southern Airlines is the busiest carrier at the airport, accounting for just under 22% of annual scheduled seat capacity. A total of 39 airlines served Changsha in 2016 with the top 15 accounting for 89% of the airport’s capacity.
While China Southern and China Eastern Airlines appear to have both reduced capacity marginally at the airport in 2016, other carriers grew their presence at the airport considerably.
Hainan Airlines has jumped from fourth place in 2015 to second place in 2016 thanks to a 46% increase in seat capacity at the airport. Beijing Capital Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Tianjin Airlines all grew their capacity at the airport by more than 40% last year.
Beijing is #1 Changsha route; high-speed rail may impact some routes in 2017
The busiest route from Changsha is the 1,355-kilometre sector to Beijing. Capacity on the route is provided by Air China, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
Between them these four carriers offer 116 weekly flights, equivalent to around 17 flights per day. The fastest-growing domestic route in 2016 was Tianjin, where capacity was up almost 40%.
At the end of last year the opening of a new high-speed rail link to Kunming reduced travel time from Changsha from 19 hours to just five. This may have an impact on air travel demand on the 1,099-kilometre route in 2017.
As a result Haikou may become the airport’s second busiest route in 2017.
Currently the airport offers non-stop service to 20 international destinations in 13 countries. The leading international country markets currently are Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia.
There are non-stop flights to Europe, with China Southern Airlines operating a three times weekly service to Frankfurt. North America is now also served directly since Hainan Airlines began twice-weekly flights to Los Angeles in January 2016.
On 21 January 2016 Hainan Airlines celebrated the launch of the first non-stop service between Changsha and an airport in North America. Los Angeles was the lucky destination with the Chinese carrier offering twice-weekly (Mondays and Thursdays) flights using its 787s.
This was one place higher than in 2015 when it was still ranked below Wuhan Airport which it has now overtaken. Analysis of OAG Schedule Analyser data indicates that international traffic at the airport was around 7% of the total in 2015, increasing to about 9% in 2016.
Since 2007 passenger demand at the airport has grown by an average of over 11% per annum. Last year’s growth of almost 14% was the airport’s fastest increase in traffic since 2010. The year-on-year increase in passenger numbers was almost 2.6 million, the most in the airport’s history.
The airport finished building a second runway in 2016, which is expected to become operational during 2017. There are also plans to build a third runway in the medium-term.
Last year saw the airport welcome a number of new high-profile international services with Hainan Airlines, with the carrier beginning direct flights to Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, as well as Los Angeles in California.
Hainan Airlines drives growth but China Southern Airlines still #1
China Southern Airlines is the busiest carrier at the airport, accounting for just under 22% of annual scheduled seat capacity. A total of 39 airlines served Changsha in 2016 with the top 15 accounting for 89% of the airport’s capacity.
While China Southern and China Eastern Airlines appear to have both reduced capacity marginally at the airport in 2016, other carriers grew their presence at the airport considerably.
Hainan Airlines has jumped from fourth place in 2015 to second place in 2016 thanks to a 46% increase in seat capacity at the airport. Beijing Capital Airlines, Shanghai Airlines and Tianjin Airlines all grew their capacity at the airport by more than 40% last year.
Beijing is #1 Changsha route; high-speed rail may impact some routes in 2017
The busiest route from Changsha is the 1,355-kilometre sector to Beijing. Capacity on the route is provided by Air China, China Southern Airlines, Hainan Airlines and Xiamen Airlines.
Between them these four carriers offer 116 weekly flights, equivalent to around 17 flights per day. The fastest-growing domestic route in 2016 was Tianjin, where capacity was up almost 40%.
At the end of last year the opening of a new high-speed rail link to Kunming reduced travel time from Changsha from 19 hours to just five. This may have an impact on air travel demand on the 1,099-kilometre route in 2017.
As a result Haikou may become the airport’s second busiest route in 2017.
Currently the airport offers non-stop service to 20 international destinations in 13 countries. The leading international country markets currently are Thailand, South Korea, Taiwan and Malaysia.
There are non-stop flights to Europe, with China Southern Airlines operating a three times weekly service to Frankfurt. North America is now also served directly since Hainan Airlines began twice-weekly flights to Los Angeles in January 2016.
On 21 January 2016 Hainan Airlines celebrated the launch of the first non-stop service between Changsha and an airport in North America. Los Angeles was the lucky destination with the Chinese carrier offering twice-weekly (Mondays and Thursdays) flights using its 787s.
TURKEY: Are Visitors Going Back To Turkey?
The number of foreign visitors to Turkey rose for the first time since a row with Russia deepened a crisis in the nation’s tourism industry.
Tourist arrivals rose 18 percent from a year ago to just over 2 million in April, ending a losing streak that began in August 2015 and worsened after Turkey shot down a Russian jet near its border with Syria bringing ties with Moscow to a near-collapse.
Russia, then the second-biggest source of visitors, responded by banning travel to Turkey for tourism.
A tourism recovery is crucial for Turkey, which relies on the foreign-exchange revenue to plug part of a current-account gap predicted to reach 4.7 percent of gross domestic product this year.
Nearly a year after Turkey apologized to Russia for the jet incident, the April data is the first sign of a possible turnaround, according to Muammer Komurcuoglu, an economist at IS Investment in Istanbul.
Tourism revenue may jump more than expected this year if the trend continues, Komurcuoglu said in an emailed note on Tuesday, adding that he had predicted a 10 percent increase.
This will have a positive impact on the current-account gap and growth, he said.
Gross travel income was about $18.7 billion last year, according to central bank data.
Even so, the data illustrate just how much ground the tourism industry needs to make up. Excluding the 2016 comparison, visitor numbers in April were still the lowest for that month since 2010.
The improved figures also came at a cost, according to the Turkish Touristic Hotels and Investors Association. While average hotel occupancy rose to 61.2 percent last month from 52.9 percent a year earlier, the average daily rate in the key Istanbul market fell from 111.9 euros to 78.5 euros in the same period, it said on Tuesday.
Tourist arrivals rose 18 percent from a year ago to just over 2 million in April, ending a losing streak that began in August 2015 and worsened after Turkey shot down a Russian jet near its border with Syria bringing ties with Moscow to a near-collapse.
Russia, then the second-biggest source of visitors, responded by banning travel to Turkey for tourism.
A tourism recovery is crucial for Turkey, which relies on the foreign-exchange revenue to plug part of a current-account gap predicted to reach 4.7 percent of gross domestic product this year.
Nearly a year after Turkey apologized to Russia for the jet incident, the April data is the first sign of a possible turnaround, according to Muammer Komurcuoglu, an economist at IS Investment in Istanbul.
Tourism revenue may jump more than expected this year if the trend continues, Komurcuoglu said in an emailed note on Tuesday, adding that he had predicted a 10 percent increase.
This will have a positive impact on the current-account gap and growth, he said.
Gross travel income was about $18.7 billion last year, according to central bank data.
Even so, the data illustrate just how much ground the tourism industry needs to make up. Excluding the 2016 comparison, visitor numbers in April were still the lowest for that month since 2010.
The improved figures also came at a cost, according to the Turkish Touristic Hotels and Investors Association. While average hotel occupancy rose to 61.2 percent last month from 52.9 percent a year earlier, the average daily rate in the key Istanbul market fell from 111.9 euros to 78.5 euros in the same period, it said on Tuesday.
SAMOA: New Zealand Contributes $US5.15 Million Dollars To Boost Tourism In Samoa.
The New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English, who is in Samoa for its 55th anniversary of independence, said helping to develop the tourism industry was a way to strengthen the bond between the countries.
He said enhancing tourism would increase economic growth and improve livelihoods in Samoa.
The funding will supplement work to upgrade the Apia waterfront, help redevelop the Savalalo Market, revamp the central Apia event space and build a clock-tower boulevard.
Mr English said Samoa had an enormous amount to offer international visitors.
Samoa's Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, is confident his government can build a resilient economy and ensure the community gets the service it demands.
The minister was speaking in Parliament on Wednesday during the presentation of the new Budget.
He said the government's financial priority would continue to be in education and health.
19.3 percent of the budget goes to education and 17.3 percent to health.
Sili said the government was to ease the tax burden on lower paid workers by lifting the tax free threshold so that nearly 15,000 workers would not have to pay income tax.
The minister said the government would also support exporters with a tax deduction equal to 50 percent of the profit made on exports, if the proceeds were remitted back to Samoa.
This would halve the tax currently payable on those profits.
The budget features total spending of 934 million tala [$US 362 million]
This would be funded by local revenue of 615 million tala [$US238 million] with another 237 million tala [$US92 million] cominge from external grants.
This would leave a deficit of 82 million tala [$US32 million].
He said enhancing tourism would increase economic growth and improve livelihoods in Samoa.
The funding will supplement work to upgrade the Apia waterfront, help redevelop the Savalalo Market, revamp the central Apia event space and build a clock-tower boulevard.
Mr English said Samoa had an enormous amount to offer international visitors.
Samoa's Minister of Finance, Sili Epa Tuioti, is confident his government can build a resilient economy and ensure the community gets the service it demands.
The minister was speaking in Parliament on Wednesday during the presentation of the new Budget.
He said the government's financial priority would continue to be in education and health.
19.3 percent of the budget goes to education and 17.3 percent to health.
Sili said the government was to ease the tax burden on lower paid workers by lifting the tax free threshold so that nearly 15,000 workers would not have to pay income tax.
The minister said the government would also support exporters with a tax deduction equal to 50 percent of the profit made on exports, if the proceeds were remitted back to Samoa.
This would halve the tax currently payable on those profits.
The budget features total spending of 934 million tala [$US 362 million]
This would be funded by local revenue of 615 million tala [$US238 million] with another 237 million tala [$US92 million] cominge from external grants.
This would leave a deficit of 82 million tala [$US32 million].
ZANZIBAR: French, German And Canadian Tourists Stabbed In A Restaurant At Unguja Island
Three foreign tourists were stabbed in a restaurant on Zanzibar’s main island of Unguja, by what local sources were quick to describe as an obviously deranged individual.
When fleeing the scene of the first attack the man then also stabbed a fourth foreign tourist but attacked two Zanzibaris too before disappearing into the crowds.
The victims in the restaurant were reportedly of German and French origin while the fourth foreign victim was said to be from Canada.
In the absence of an arrest, no motives can be named with any certainty but the rumour mill is already in full swing, given that the attack took place just after the start of Ramadhan, the holy month of fasting in the Islamic annual lunar calendar.
Suggestions have been made that the perpetrator may have been under the influence of drugs but that too is mere speculation at this time.
Radicals in Europe and other parts of the world have in recent months often carried out knife attacks with ISIS claiming ultimate responsibility and tourists visiting Zanzibar have therefore been cautioned already to be extra vigilant and in particular avoid offending locals by eating and drinking in public places during day hours as the local population observes their month long fast.
Police and other security organs are now hunting for the attacker who was reportedly identified but is still in hiding.
In 2013 An acid attack on the eve of the Eid holiday, which marks the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, against two young British tourists on the Zanzibari island of Unguja swiftly brought out condemnation from the Spice Island’s tourism community as well as from official government sources, as a manhunt was launched to find the criminals who sped away on a motorbike.
The two `18 year old young women, working as volunteers in one of the island’s schools, were flown to the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam to get better treatment as the acid splashed on their faces, arms and hands.
Radical Islamists have in recent years repeatedly tried to damage the generally good relationship between Christians and the majority Muslims on the island by storming, firebombing and destroying churches on the island before shooting a Catholic priest earlier this year.
This situation, which then also spread to the mainland, was eventually brought under control by a determined security apparatus leaving nothing to chance when hunting down the inciters and perpetrators of such attacks.
Unfortunate statements by a small section of politicians that foreign tourists were subject to their religious law when eating or drinking during the fasting daylight hours of Ramadan, did also not go down well with the tourism fraternity, especially after some bars and restaurants were targeted last year and prior to that by radicals.
Tourism sources, on condition of anonymity, expressed their anger and frustration over this latest incident, saying in unison that such acts, this in fact being the first known direct attack on tourists, were extremely rare but yet impacted heavily on the island’s tourism industry.
Tourism is a big source of employment on Unguja. It is also the largest source of foreign exchange earnings. We hope the police can find the perpetrators and bring them to justice quickly. Such incidents give any destination a bad reputation and it is no different here in Zanzibar.
The people here absolutely must be rated as a very friendly lot but a few rotten apples spoil the entire picture the world has of Zanzibar. It is time for community and religious leaders to come out in support of tourism after this incident and condemn such acts in no uncertain terms.
These radicals may well remember that Islam is a religion of peace and not one which condones violence against the innocent’ wrote one source in an overnight mail.
Another source in Arusha also confirmed that following the incident making it into the global news channels, emails started coming in asking if it was safe for booked clients to go and visit Zanzibar after their safaris or if the arrangements needed cancelling in favour of Kenyan or other Indian Ocean islands beaches.
Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery to the two young ladies, whose selfless engagement to volunteer in a Zanzibari school was repaid with aggression and violence.
In 2014, A total of three grenade attacks were reported from Zanzibar’s main island of Unguja, raising concern levels among the tourism and hospitality operators, which have been doing extraordinarily well in recent months.
One of the grenades was thrown on Sunday already towards an Anglican church, fueling suspicion that radical militants continue to inflict terror and inflame cross religious sentiments with their activities.
This was followed yesterday by two more incidents in the famous Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and as such hugely popular with foreign tourists, when another church was targeted before the Mercury Restaurant too had a grenade thrown towards their premises.
Last year were churches and Christian priests repeatedly targeted and two British tourists attacked in the Stone Town with acid, leading to a series of raids by security forces aimed to arrest the perpetrators.
The December murder of a French couple, which had chosen to make Unguja their retirement home, while thought to be an ordinary crime and not related to radical militants, too had rattled the local expatriate and tourism communities, fueling their worries over the impact of negative publicity for the destination.
Tourism operators are said to be particularly unhappy with these latest incidents, one regular source claiming it will harm the image of the Spice Island and could result in tourists staying away from Zanzibar over fears of sectarian violence, which could cost hundreds of jobs if resorts would suffer from a sharp drop in occupancies.
God Forbid, let Ugunja an Zanzibar remain peaceful. The people of Zanzibar learn a lesson from Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Tunisia.
When fleeing the scene of the first attack the man then also stabbed a fourth foreign tourist but attacked two Zanzibaris too before disappearing into the crowds.
The victims in the restaurant were reportedly of German and French origin while the fourth foreign victim was said to be from Canada.
In the absence of an arrest, no motives can be named with any certainty but the rumour mill is already in full swing, given that the attack took place just after the start of Ramadhan, the holy month of fasting in the Islamic annual lunar calendar.
Suggestions have been made that the perpetrator may have been under the influence of drugs but that too is mere speculation at this time.
Radicals in Europe and other parts of the world have in recent months often carried out knife attacks with ISIS claiming ultimate responsibility and tourists visiting Zanzibar have therefore been cautioned already to be extra vigilant and in particular avoid offending locals by eating and drinking in public places during day hours as the local population observes their month long fast.
Police and other security organs are now hunting for the attacker who was reportedly identified but is still in hiding.
In 2013 An acid attack on the eve of the Eid holiday, which marks the end of the Holy Month of Ramadan, against two young British tourists on the Zanzibari island of Unguja swiftly brought out condemnation from the Spice Island’s tourism community as well as from official government sources, as a manhunt was launched to find the criminals who sped away on a motorbike.
The two `18 year old young women, working as volunteers in one of the island’s schools, were flown to the Tanzanian capital Dar es Salaam to get better treatment as the acid splashed on their faces, arms and hands.
Radical Islamists have in recent years repeatedly tried to damage the generally good relationship between Christians and the majority Muslims on the island by storming, firebombing and destroying churches on the island before shooting a Catholic priest earlier this year.
This situation, which then also spread to the mainland, was eventually brought under control by a determined security apparatus leaving nothing to chance when hunting down the inciters and perpetrators of such attacks.
Unfortunate statements by a small section of politicians that foreign tourists were subject to their religious law when eating or drinking during the fasting daylight hours of Ramadan, did also not go down well with the tourism fraternity, especially after some bars and restaurants were targeted last year and prior to that by radicals.
Tourism sources, on condition of anonymity, expressed their anger and frustration over this latest incident, saying in unison that such acts, this in fact being the first known direct attack on tourists, were extremely rare but yet impacted heavily on the island’s tourism industry.
Tourism is a big source of employment on Unguja. It is also the largest source of foreign exchange earnings. We hope the police can find the perpetrators and bring them to justice quickly. Such incidents give any destination a bad reputation and it is no different here in Zanzibar.
The people here absolutely must be rated as a very friendly lot but a few rotten apples spoil the entire picture the world has of Zanzibar. It is time for community and religious leaders to come out in support of tourism after this incident and condemn such acts in no uncertain terms.
These radicals may well remember that Islam is a religion of peace and not one which condones violence against the innocent’ wrote one source in an overnight mail.
Another source in Arusha also confirmed that following the incident making it into the global news channels, emails started coming in asking if it was safe for booked clients to go and visit Zanzibar after their safaris or if the arrangements needed cancelling in favour of Kenyan or other Indian Ocean islands beaches.
Best wishes for a speedy and full recovery to the two young ladies, whose selfless engagement to volunteer in a Zanzibari school was repaid with aggression and violence.
In 2014, A total of three grenade attacks were reported from Zanzibar’s main island of Unguja, raising concern levels among the tourism and hospitality operators, which have been doing extraordinarily well in recent months.
One of the grenades was thrown on Sunday already towards an Anglican church, fueling suspicion that radical militants continue to inflict terror and inflame cross religious sentiments with their activities.
This was followed yesterday by two more incidents in the famous Stone Town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and as such hugely popular with foreign tourists, when another church was targeted before the Mercury Restaurant too had a grenade thrown towards their premises.
Last year were churches and Christian priests repeatedly targeted and two British tourists attacked in the Stone Town with acid, leading to a series of raids by security forces aimed to arrest the perpetrators.
The December murder of a French couple, which had chosen to make Unguja their retirement home, while thought to be an ordinary crime and not related to radical militants, too had rattled the local expatriate and tourism communities, fueling their worries over the impact of negative publicity for the destination.
Tourism operators are said to be particularly unhappy with these latest incidents, one regular source claiming it will harm the image of the Spice Island and could result in tourists staying away from Zanzibar over fears of sectarian violence, which could cost hundreds of jobs if resorts would suffer from a sharp drop in occupancies.
God Forbid, let Ugunja an Zanzibar remain peaceful. The people of Zanzibar learn a lesson from Egypt, Turkey, Yemen, Tunisia.
NEPAL: Tourists Fake Ascents On To Everest Highest Peak
Satyarup Siddhanta only discovered he was at the centre of an Everest fraud when he spotted news of a couple whose false claim to have scaled the world's highest peak has set off a debate about how mountaineering feats are authenticated.
The Indian couple had doctored his summit photo, superimposing their own faces to support their claim, and were awarded an official summit certificate from the Nepal authorities before other climbers raised doubts.
Ascents of many of the world's highest peaks are validated based largely on trust, a system that has until now worked within the close-knit community of high-altitude climbing.
But as the numbers heading up Everest have boomed, many are questioning whether summits need to be validated more scientifically.
For an Everest summit, climbers have to provide the Nepali or Chinese authorities with a photo from the top and a report from the team leaders and government liaison officers stationed at base camp.
In 2016, Indian couple Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod provided just that, before other climbers said their story and photos didn't add up.
In one photo, Tarakeshwari's face had been superimposed on Siddhanta's, the colour of his boots changed and India's national flag pasted over his hands. In another, Siddhanta had been replaced by Dinesh.
I looked at their photo and immediately recognised the people around, Siddhanta said
I took out my own photo to compare. I was shocked, it was my photo.
The couple were stripped of their summit certificate and banned from Nepal for 10 years.
A record 509 paying clients headed to Everest at the beginning of this spring climbing season hoping to make it to the summit.
Standing at the top of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain adds a star to a climber's resume, and many go on to forge careers as motivational speakers and authors.
But the growth has diminished the exclusivity of Everest and created a new pressure to summit, particularly for those who have been sponsored or raised money for their climb.
Climbing was never a competitive sport, but now there is so much pressure to find some way to be the 'first'. There's the pressure to find sponsors and then the pressure to be special, said German journalist and climber Billi Bierling.
That has resulted in climbers sometimes offering bribes for authentication of a failed climb.
Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking, one of the oldest operators in the Himalayas, said that his company had received such offers but turned them down.
We have been offered but it would be foolish to partake, he said. We would not jeopardise our reputation for a single climber.
Another Nepali guide also said that he was aware of climbers trying to bribe their sherpas to lie about ascents.
Competition between expedition operators has also created another new pressure as a growing number of cut-price climbing companies have started leading expeditions to Everest.
Operators fiercely guard their summit records and there are reports of climbers being handed summit certificates despite not making it to the top so the firm can still claim a perfect success rate.
If it becomes more common, the government should take steps. Perhaps have an expert panel assess the summits, Sherpa said.
The head of Nepal's tourism department, which grants the certificates, conceded the system had loopholes.
The department is considering giving climbers GPS trackers -- a system also open to exploitation as the small devices can easily be given to other climbers.
We don't expect mountaineers who come to climb Everest to cheat, Dinesh Bhattarai said.
That sentiment is also shared by Himalayan Database -- considered one of the most authoritative records of mountaineering feats within the climbing community.
The archive -- a record of expeditions to around 400 peaks in Nepal dating back to the 1920s -- was originally started by journalist Elizabeth Hawley, once described by Edmund Hillary as the "Sherlock Holmes of the mountaineering world".
If you tell me you've summited, I'm going to believe you. It's you who has to live with the lie if you do, said Bierling, who in recent years has largely taken over management of the database from 92-year-old Hawley.
The database has 21 Everest ascents marked as disputed and another 18 considered unrecognised, meaning it was obvious the climbers had not achieved what they claimed.
Mountaineering used to be honourable. Now if we can't count on the word of climbers -- that's sad, said Bierling.
The Indian couple had doctored his summit photo, superimposing their own faces to support their claim, and were awarded an official summit certificate from the Nepal authorities before other climbers raised doubts.
Ascents of many of the world's highest peaks are validated based largely on trust, a system that has until now worked within the close-knit community of high-altitude climbing.
But as the numbers heading up Everest have boomed, many are questioning whether summits need to be validated more scientifically.
For an Everest summit, climbers have to provide the Nepali or Chinese authorities with a photo from the top and a report from the team leaders and government liaison officers stationed at base camp.
In 2016, Indian couple Dinesh and Tarakeshwari Rathod provided just that, before other climbers said their story and photos didn't add up.
In one photo, Tarakeshwari's face had been superimposed on Siddhanta's, the colour of his boots changed and India's national flag pasted over his hands. In another, Siddhanta had been replaced by Dinesh.
I looked at their photo and immediately recognised the people around, Siddhanta said
I took out my own photo to compare. I was shocked, it was my photo.
The couple were stripped of their summit certificate and banned from Nepal for 10 years.
A record 509 paying clients headed to Everest at the beginning of this spring climbing season hoping to make it to the summit.
Standing at the top of the 8,848-metre (29,029-foot) mountain adds a star to a climber's resume, and many go on to forge careers as motivational speakers and authors.
But the growth has diminished the exclusivity of Everest and created a new pressure to summit, particularly for those who have been sponsored or raised money for their climb.
Climbing was never a competitive sport, but now there is so much pressure to find some way to be the 'first'. There's the pressure to find sponsors and then the pressure to be special, said German journalist and climber Billi Bierling.
That has resulted in climbers sometimes offering bribes for authentication of a failed climb.
Dawa Steven Sherpa of Asian Trekking, one of the oldest operators in the Himalayas, said that his company had received such offers but turned them down.
We have been offered but it would be foolish to partake, he said. We would not jeopardise our reputation for a single climber.
Another Nepali guide also said that he was aware of climbers trying to bribe their sherpas to lie about ascents.
Competition between expedition operators has also created another new pressure as a growing number of cut-price climbing companies have started leading expeditions to Everest.
Operators fiercely guard their summit records and there are reports of climbers being handed summit certificates despite not making it to the top so the firm can still claim a perfect success rate.
If it becomes more common, the government should take steps. Perhaps have an expert panel assess the summits, Sherpa said.
The head of Nepal's tourism department, which grants the certificates, conceded the system had loopholes.
The department is considering giving climbers GPS trackers -- a system also open to exploitation as the small devices can easily be given to other climbers.
We don't expect mountaineers who come to climb Everest to cheat, Dinesh Bhattarai said.
That sentiment is also shared by Himalayan Database -- considered one of the most authoritative records of mountaineering feats within the climbing community.
The archive -- a record of expeditions to around 400 peaks in Nepal dating back to the 1920s -- was originally started by journalist Elizabeth Hawley, once described by Edmund Hillary as the "Sherlock Holmes of the mountaineering world".
If you tell me you've summited, I'm going to believe you. It's you who has to live with the lie if you do, said Bierling, who in recent years has largely taken over management of the database from 92-year-old Hawley.
The database has 21 Everest ascents marked as disputed and another 18 considered unrecognised, meaning it was obvious the climbers had not achieved what they claimed.
Mountaineering used to be honourable. Now if we can't count on the word of climbers -- that's sad, said Bierling.
PHILIPPINES: 10 Soldiers Killed In Marawi ‘friendly fire’
Military airstrikes aimed at Islamist militants in Marawi killed 11 of their own soldiers and injured seven others, Brig. Gen. Restituto Padilla, spokesperson of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), said in a news conference on Thursday.
In an earlier news conference, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana put the number of fatalities at 10. But Padilla updated the figure.
A group of our military armed men were hit by our own airstrikes, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters in Manila, adding the incident happened on Wednesday.
Security forces have been battling militants flying the black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group in Marawi, a major Muslim city in the predominantly Catholic Philippines, since Tuesday last week.
The military has bombed and fired rockets from attack helicopters throughout the conflict with the militants, who have been hiding in residential areas holding hostages.
About 2,000 civilians are also trapped in the militant-held areas, according to the local government.
Military chiefs have repeatedly said the assaults involved “precision” and “surgical” airstrikes, and assured they were not harming any of the trapped civilians or hostages.
It’s sad but sometimes it happens in the fog of war. The coordination was not properly done, Lorenzana said Thursday as he announced the deaths.
He said later via text message that seven soldiers had also been wounded.
The clashes erupted when security forces raided a house to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as IS’s leader in the Philippines. He is on the US government’s list of most-wanted terrorists.
Authorities said they were taken by surprise when dozens of gunmen emerged to protect Hapilon and then went on a rampage through Marawi, which has a population of 200,000.
Most of the residents had fled the city but the International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly expressed deep concern for those who remained trapped, and called for a humanitarian ceasefire
I think it’s horrific for the civilian people who are in there and we really hope that both sides can agree that the civilians should be given the opportunity to come out, the deputy head of the ICRC’s Philippine delegation, Martin Thalmann, said in Marawi on Wednesday.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao in response to the crisis, which he described as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines.
Eighty-nine militants have been killed in the fighting, and the gunmen have murdered 19 civilians, the military said on Wednesday.
The announcement of the friendly fire deaths brings the number of security forces killed to 31, and the combined death toll to 139.
In an earlier news conference, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana put the number of fatalities at 10. But Padilla updated the figure.
A group of our military armed men were hit by our own airstrikes, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters in Manila, adding the incident happened on Wednesday.
Security forces have been battling militants flying the black flags of the Islamic State (IS) group in Marawi, a major Muslim city in the predominantly Catholic Philippines, since Tuesday last week.
The military has bombed and fired rockets from attack helicopters throughout the conflict with the militants, who have been hiding in residential areas holding hostages.
About 2,000 civilians are also trapped in the militant-held areas, according to the local government.
Military chiefs have repeatedly said the assaults involved “precision” and “surgical” airstrikes, and assured they were not harming any of the trapped civilians or hostages.
It’s sad but sometimes it happens in the fog of war. The coordination was not properly done, Lorenzana said Thursday as he announced the deaths.
He said later via text message that seven soldiers had also been wounded.
The clashes erupted when security forces raided a house to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, a veteran Filipino militant regarded as IS’s leader in the Philippines. He is on the US government’s list of most-wanted terrorists.
Authorities said they were taken by surprise when dozens of gunmen emerged to protect Hapilon and then went on a rampage through Marawi, which has a population of 200,000.
Most of the residents had fled the city but the International Committee of the Red Cross has repeatedly expressed deep concern for those who remained trapped, and called for a humanitarian ceasefire
I think it’s horrific for the civilian people who are in there and we really hope that both sides can agree that the civilians should be given the opportunity to come out, the deputy head of the ICRC’s Philippine delegation, Martin Thalmann, said in Marawi on Wednesday.
President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the entire southern region of Mindanao in response to the crisis, which he described as the start of a major campaign by IS to establish a foothold in the Philippines.
Eighty-nine militants have been killed in the fighting, and the gunmen have murdered 19 civilians, the military said on Wednesday.
The announcement of the friendly fire deaths brings the number of security forces killed to 31, and the combined death toll to 139.
PHILIPPINES: Foreign Terrorists Killed In Marawi
At least eight foreign terrorists have been killed in besieged Marawi City as residents reported seeing "foreign-looking" fighters joining gunfights against state forces, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said Thursday.
Lorenzana said the military has so far identified 2 Malaysians, 2 Saudis, 2 Indonesians, a Yemeni, and a Chechen as among those killed in the siege, which started Tuesday last week.
Government had earlier reported that six foreigners, among them Malaysians and Indonesians, were among terrorists slain in government operations.
The report we got from the civilians from Marawi is they saw a lot of foreign-looking fighters, the defense chief said.
There could be more that we killed that we have not identified, he added.
Lorenzana said 95 terrorists have been killed in the clashes, with 33 already identified.
The defense chief said foreigners who were fighting alongside local terror groups Maute and Abu Sayyaf could have entered the country through the southern backdoor.
The participation of foreign terrorists in the Marawi fighting lends credence to long-running reports that the Islamic State was trying to establish a foothold in Asia through the Philippines as it dealt with losses in Iraq and Syria.
Philippine intelligence said that of the 400-500 marauding fighters who overran Marawi City, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas, including from countries in the Middle East.
The source said they included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport.
Lorenzana’s revelation also confirms the research finding of security expert Rohan Gunaratna that foreign fighters were killed in the clashes.
This indicates that foreign terrorist fighters form an unusually high component of the IS fighters and emerging IS demography in Southeast Asia,Gunaratna said.
According to an intelligence brief authorities in Jakarta believe 38 Indonesians travelled to the southern Philippines to join Islamic State-affiliated groups, and about 22 of them joined the fighting in Marawi City.
However, an Indonesian law-enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the actual number of Indonesians involved in the battle could be more than 40.
Lorenzana said about 50 to 100 militants remained holed up in Marawi City, and that efforts were now underway to flush them out, with the Philippine Marines sending up to 400 of its men to neutralize continuing resistance in the city.
Some of them have already started to rejoin their barangays. They are going to their former places, he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte on May 23 placed Mindanao under martial following the clashes.
Violence erupted in the city after government troops attempted to arrest top Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon. The terror leader, considered as the Islamic State’s point man in Southeast Asia, managed to evade arrest.
Lorenzana, however, said Hapilon remains in Marawi City.
A military helicopter unleashed more rockets on positions held by the rebels in Marawi City on Thursday, marking the 10th day of the crisis that has triggered martial rule in all of Mindanao island.
The airstrike came some 2 hours after the rumble of cannons and gunfire clattered throughout the city.
President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on Tuesday last week, when the hardline Maute and Abu Sayyaf laid siege to Marawi after the government attempted but failed to arrest terror leader Isnilon Hapilon.
Government forces have since retaken 90 percent of Marawi, but the rebels had kept up the fight with rifles and ammunition stolen from a police station, a prison, and an armored police vehicle, military spokesman Restituto Padilla said Wednesday.
The crisis has claimed the lives of 129 people, including 89 militants, 21 security forces and 19 civilians.
The government on Wednesday said another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed to help get civilians out of Marawi and had accepted Duterte's unconventional offer for communists, separatists and the military to unite against radical Islam.
At least 164 people have died in clashes between government security forces and terrorists in the southern city of Marawi, the military said Thursday.
Among the fatalities were 120 Abu Sayyaf and Maute fighters, 25 government troops and 19 civilians, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Edgar Arevalo said in a phone interview with radio DZMM.
Arevalo added that about 966 civilians have been rescued from war zones while 98 high-powered firearms were seized from militants.
Earlier Thursday, the military marked the 10th day of the crisis by unleashing more rockets on the positions held by the hardline Maute and Abu Sayyaf.
There are still some areas held by the rebels and they are preventing soldiers and policemen from extracting civilians.
The militants laid siege to Marawi on Tuesday after the government attempted to arrest terror leader Isnilon Hapilon, promting President Rodrigo Duterte to place Mindanao under martial rule.
Government forces have since retaken 90 percent of Marawi, but the rebels had kept up the fight with rifles and ammunition stolen from a police station, a prison, and an armored police vehicle, military spokesman Restituto Padilla said Wednesday.
The government said another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed to help get civilians out of Marawi and had accepted Duterte's unconventional offer for communists, separatists and the military to unite against radical Islam.
Soldiers, military trucks and checkpoints have become a regular sight in this city just about 30 kilometers from conflict-torn Marawi, as martial law remains in effect in Mindanao.
This city south of the Philippines has been a place of refuge for most Marawi City residents escaping clashes between government forces and terrorists, where more than a hundred people, including at least 19 civilians have been killed.
Checkpoints mounted by both the police and military on different entry and exit points in Iligan City have been very strict, requiring passengers on almost every vehicle to come out for inspection.
Despite increased visibility of security forces in this city, residents continued to go about their daily lives, trying to go on business as usual but with a heavy heart.
A businesswoman, said her relatives from Marawi City have been staying at their home here since the fighting erupted.
She broke into tears while sharing how sad she felt seeing her loved ones down, when they were supposed to be happy at the start of Ramadan.
I don't ask them questions but I know they are worried. Actually, they already want to go back to check on their properties, but it's really hard to get caught up in the situation there.
Lisa manages her husband's gasoline station in Iligan City. They usually open 24 hours, but because martial law has been in effect, they must close shop before 10:00 p.m., the start of the six-hour curfew.
Just like Lisa's gasoline station, other establishments like restaurants, cafes, pharmacies and other businesses usually operating round-the-clock or until late at night have to close early, usually by 9:00 p.m.
Employees who live far from their workplace have to rush to get a ride home quickly as public utility drivers also hurry back to their garages.
At the Iligan City Police Headquarters, cops in full battle gear would get ready at 9:30 p.m. for the "rekoridos," or their nightly rounds on the city's busiest streets to remind residents of the curfew.
Eye witnesses saw people on foot or in their vehicles trying to beat the 10:00 p.m. curfew. As 10:00 p.m. neared, random police checkpoints began to appear on the streets.
The team caught up with cops conducting searches on vehicles passing by an intersection, where the night scene would have been alive if not for martial law.
PO2 Cryster John Biaoco, one of the officers conducting the searches, said this martial law was different from the military rule during the Marcos regime, as the implementation gave consideration to the people.
Some people are just coming out from work so we're giving them consideration. If it's 10:00 p.m., we'll still call their attention. But if they can present an ID, we'll let them go. But those who could not present any identification, we bring them to the station.
The Iligan City Police said they would only hold curfew violators in the headquarters until morning, but explained that those rounded up are not detained.
Most of the residents said they were okay with the curfew so far, as they felt more secure amid the conflict in Marawi City. This even as some admitted that they would feel a little worried whenever they saw military trucks and soldiers around the city.
Just last Sunday, as the Marawi clashes entered its sixth day, security forces enforced stricter searches for people coming from the conflict-stricken city, as reports surfaced that terrorists were trying to blend in with the evacuees going to Iligan.
Alex Aduca, chief of the Philippine Army's 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, said evacuees would be sent to "consolidation and processing areas" as the military enforced stricter measures to prevent a spillover of the Marawi conflict.
Lorenzana said the military has so far identified 2 Malaysians, 2 Saudis, 2 Indonesians, a Yemeni, and a Chechen as among those killed in the siege, which started Tuesday last week.
Government had earlier reported that six foreigners, among them Malaysians and Indonesians, were among terrorists slain in government operations.
The report we got from the civilians from Marawi is they saw a lot of foreign-looking fighters, the defense chief said.
There could be more that we killed that we have not identified, he added.
Lorenzana said 95 terrorists have been killed in the clashes, with 33 already identified.
The defense chief said foreigners who were fighting alongside local terror groups Maute and Abu Sayyaf could have entered the country through the southern backdoor.
The participation of foreign terrorists in the Marawi fighting lends credence to long-running reports that the Islamic State was trying to establish a foothold in Asia through the Philippines as it dealt with losses in Iraq and Syria.
Philippine intelligence said that of the 400-500 marauding fighters who overran Marawi City, as many as 40 had recently come from overseas, including from countries in the Middle East.
The source said they included Indonesians, Malaysians, at least one Pakistani, a Saudi, a Chechen, a Yemeni, an Indian, a Moroccan and one man with a Turkish passport.
Lorenzana’s revelation also confirms the research finding of security expert Rohan Gunaratna that foreign fighters were killed in the clashes.
This indicates that foreign terrorist fighters form an unusually high component of the IS fighters and emerging IS demography in Southeast Asia,Gunaratna said.
According to an intelligence brief authorities in Jakarta believe 38 Indonesians travelled to the southern Philippines to join Islamic State-affiliated groups, and about 22 of them joined the fighting in Marawi City.
However, an Indonesian law-enforcement source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the actual number of Indonesians involved in the battle could be more than 40.
Lorenzana said about 50 to 100 militants remained holed up in Marawi City, and that efforts were now underway to flush them out, with the Philippine Marines sending up to 400 of its men to neutralize continuing resistance in the city.
Some of them have already started to rejoin their barangays. They are going to their former places, he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte on May 23 placed Mindanao under martial following the clashes.
Violence erupted in the city after government troops attempted to arrest top Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon. The terror leader, considered as the Islamic State’s point man in Southeast Asia, managed to evade arrest.
Lorenzana, however, said Hapilon remains in Marawi City.
A military helicopter unleashed more rockets on positions held by the rebels in Marawi City on Thursday, marking the 10th day of the crisis that has triggered martial rule in all of Mindanao island.
The airstrike came some 2 hours after the rumble of cannons and gunfire clattered throughout the city.
President Duterte declared martial law in Mindanao on Tuesday last week, when the hardline Maute and Abu Sayyaf laid siege to Marawi after the government attempted but failed to arrest terror leader Isnilon Hapilon.
Government forces have since retaken 90 percent of Marawi, but the rebels had kept up the fight with rifles and ammunition stolen from a police station, a prison, and an armored police vehicle, military spokesman Restituto Padilla said Wednesday.
The crisis has claimed the lives of 129 people, including 89 militants, 21 security forces and 19 civilians.
The government on Wednesday said another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed to help get civilians out of Marawi and had accepted Duterte's unconventional offer for communists, separatists and the military to unite against radical Islam.
At least 164 people have died in clashes between government security forces and terrorists in the southern city of Marawi, the military said Thursday.
Among the fatalities were 120 Abu Sayyaf and Maute fighters, 25 government troops and 19 civilians, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Col. Edgar Arevalo said in a phone interview with radio DZMM.
Arevalo added that about 966 civilians have been rescued from war zones while 98 high-powered firearms were seized from militants.
Earlier Thursday, the military marked the 10th day of the crisis by unleashing more rockets on the positions held by the hardline Maute and Abu Sayyaf.
There are still some areas held by the rebels and they are preventing soldiers and policemen from extracting civilians.
The militants laid siege to Marawi on Tuesday after the government attempted to arrest terror leader Isnilon Hapilon, promting President Rodrigo Duterte to place Mindanao under martial rule.
Government forces have since retaken 90 percent of Marawi, but the rebels had kept up the fight with rifles and ammunition stolen from a police station, a prison, and an armored police vehicle, military spokesman Restituto Padilla said Wednesday.
The government said another rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) had agreed to help get civilians out of Marawi and had accepted Duterte's unconventional offer for communists, separatists and the military to unite against radical Islam.
Soldiers, military trucks and checkpoints have become a regular sight in this city just about 30 kilometers from conflict-torn Marawi, as martial law remains in effect in Mindanao.
This city south of the Philippines has been a place of refuge for most Marawi City residents escaping clashes between government forces and terrorists, where more than a hundred people, including at least 19 civilians have been killed.
Checkpoints mounted by both the police and military on different entry and exit points in Iligan City have been very strict, requiring passengers on almost every vehicle to come out for inspection.
Despite increased visibility of security forces in this city, residents continued to go about their daily lives, trying to go on business as usual but with a heavy heart.
A businesswoman, said her relatives from Marawi City have been staying at their home here since the fighting erupted.
She broke into tears while sharing how sad she felt seeing her loved ones down, when they were supposed to be happy at the start of Ramadan.
I don't ask them questions but I know they are worried. Actually, they already want to go back to check on their properties, but it's really hard to get caught up in the situation there.
Lisa manages her husband's gasoline station in Iligan City. They usually open 24 hours, but because martial law has been in effect, they must close shop before 10:00 p.m., the start of the six-hour curfew.
Just like Lisa's gasoline station, other establishments like restaurants, cafes, pharmacies and other businesses usually operating round-the-clock or until late at night have to close early, usually by 9:00 p.m.
Employees who live far from their workplace have to rush to get a ride home quickly as public utility drivers also hurry back to their garages.
At the Iligan City Police Headquarters, cops in full battle gear would get ready at 9:30 p.m. for the "rekoridos," or their nightly rounds on the city's busiest streets to remind residents of the curfew.
Eye witnesses saw people on foot or in their vehicles trying to beat the 10:00 p.m. curfew. As 10:00 p.m. neared, random police checkpoints began to appear on the streets.
The team caught up with cops conducting searches on vehicles passing by an intersection, where the night scene would have been alive if not for martial law.
PO2 Cryster John Biaoco, one of the officers conducting the searches, said this martial law was different from the military rule during the Marcos regime, as the implementation gave consideration to the people.
Some people are just coming out from work so we're giving them consideration. If it's 10:00 p.m., we'll still call their attention. But if they can present an ID, we'll let them go. But those who could not present any identification, we bring them to the station.
The Iligan City Police said they would only hold curfew violators in the headquarters until morning, but explained that those rounded up are not detained.
Most of the residents said they were okay with the curfew so far, as they felt more secure amid the conflict in Marawi City. This even as some admitted that they would feel a little worried whenever they saw military trucks and soldiers around the city.
Just last Sunday, as the Marawi clashes entered its sixth day, security forces enforced stricter searches for people coming from the conflict-stricken city, as reports surfaced that terrorists were trying to blend in with the evacuees going to Iligan.
Alex Aduca, chief of the Philippine Army's 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion, said evacuees would be sent to "consolidation and processing areas" as the military enforced stricter measures to prevent a spillover of the Marawi conflict.
Latest Airline Routes
Mumbai Airport welcomed the arrival of its newest European carrier on 30 March – Brussels Airlines. The Star Alliance member will offer five weekly flights on the 6,862-kilometre link from Brussels on a mixture of its A330-200s and -300s according to OAG schedules. Seen carrying out traditional lamp-lighting ceremony to welcome the airline to Mumbai.
Brussels Airlines this week also began flights to Funchal, with the inaugural crew being greeted with flowers on arrival. This is the only route of the three launched by Brussels Airlines this week that will face direct competition. The 2,663-kilometre route will be flown by the Star Alliance member weekly (Saturdays) on its 141-seat A319s.
Brussels Airlines this week initiated three new scheduled services from its hub at Brussels (BRU), with the most significant being a 6,862-kilometre link to Mumbai (BOM). Launched 30 March, the service marks the end of a one-year gap of scheduled flights between Brussels and India, with Jet Airways, which served both Mumbai and Delhi from Brussels, having moved its European hub to Amsterdam at the end of March last year.
Our new service has received a warm welcome here in the Indian market. We see very encouraging booking results for travel to Belgium and many destinations beyond Brussels including Canada, US, UK, Spain, France and several African destinations, said Patrick Roofthooft, Brussels Airlines Director India and Commercial Development.
Brussels Airlines will operate the route on a mixture of its A330-200s and -300s on a five times weekly basis, with no other carrier offering direct competition. Not only did Brussels Airlines begin its first flights to India this week, but it also linked Brussels to Funchal (FNC) and Yerevan (EVN).
Flights to both destinations will be flown weekly (Saturday), with the 2,663-kilometre connection to Funchal being operated on the airline’s A319s and the 3,281-kilometre link to Yerevan on A320s. While flights to the Armenian capital will not face direct competition, services to Funchal will go head-to-head with Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium and TUIfly, with both also operating weekly flights.
It should be noted that Brussels Airlines did begin services to Yerevan in December, though these were initially operated as charter flights. With scheduled services now in place, the airline will increase the frequency to Yerevan from Brussels to twice-weekly in July. Vote for either Brussels or Funchal’s FTWA in this week’s Arch of Triumph Public Vote. Vote for Mumbai Airport’s cake in this week’s Cake of the Week Public Vote.
Arkia Israeli Airlines has begun twice-weekly flights between Tel Aviv (TLV) and Milan Bergamo (BGY). The 2,638-kilometre sector will be flown by the airline’s E195s and faces no direct competition. However, three carriers offer flights between Tel Aviv and Milan Malpensa; El Al with 10 weekly flights, easyJet with five weekly flights and Neos Air with twice-weekly flights. According to OAG data the Israeli carrier now operates scheduled services from Tel Aviv to 11 destinations in 11 different countries.
Cathay Pacific Airways has added Israel to its network with the introduction on 26 March of a four times weekly service between Hong Kong (HKG) and Tel Aviv (TLV). The oneworld carrier will use its 280-seat A350-900s on the new route. Starting last May the airline has acquired 12 of the type with the most recent addition being delivered this month.
The new route to Tel Aviv has already proved so popular that a fifth weekly frequency will be added from 1 September. Paul Loo, Director of Corporate Development at Cathay Pacific, said: “We are very excited to launch this service. Tel Aviv is such a technologically advanced business capital and Hong Kong is the international financial centre in Asia, we are very excited to link these two cities together.
The route is already flow by El Al, which offers six weekly flights. Next up for Cathay Pacific are new routes to Barcelona and Christchurch starting in July and December respectively.
Jetstar Pacific Airlines on 18 November began a four times weekly service on the 1,490-kilometre route between Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and Hong Kong (HKG). The route, which will be flown using the LCC’s fleet of 12 A320s, is already served by Cathay Pacific Airways (17 times weekly) and Vietnam Airlines (10 times weekly). Jetstar Pacific already serves Hong Kong from Hanoi, a route it launched on 7 September 2015. This winter the airline will serve 19 destinations from Ho Chi Minh City, 15 in Vietnam as well as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore, plus Guangzhou, a new route which will start at the beginning of December.
Hong Kong Airlines has further expanded its network in Japan with the introduction on 14 September of twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays) flights from Hong Kong (HKG) to Yonago (YGJ). The 2,375-kilometre route will be flown by the airline’s A320s and faces no direct competition. This becomes the carrier’s eighth destination in Japan which it now serves with 58 weekly flights.
In his speech at the inaugural ceremony, Stanley Kan, Director of Hong Kong Airlines’ Service Delivery Department, said: “The beautiful natural landscape, local cuisine and cultural scene of Tottori Prefecture is very appealing to tourists from Hong Kong and broader regions.
With Hong Kong Airlines, passengers can choose to travel around Osaka, Okayama and Yonago, providing more options in their trip planning.” Hong Kong Airlines is the third biggest carrier in the Hong Kong to Japan market with 17% of seats. It lags behind Cathay Pacific Airways (35%) and HK Express (18%) but is ahead of All Nippon Airways (9%) and Dragonair (5%). Curiously, Japanese carriers only account for 22% of seat capacity in the market.
Hong Kong Airlines on 11 November became the third carrier to link Hong Kong (HKG) and Auckland (AKL) with non-stop flights. The 9,164-kilometre sector is already served by Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific Airways with daily flights. Hong Kong Airlines will also operate the route on a daily basis using its 283-seat A330-200s.
In his speech at the welcome ceremony, Mr. Li Dianchun, CCO of Hong Kong Airlines, said: We are delighted with the successful launch of this much-anticipated new route in Auckland. So far, we have received an overwhelming response from travellers since tickets became available for purchase. As a result, we have already increased our service to 10 times weekly from 11 December to 13 February 2017.
We also anticipate strong demand out of the New Zealand market to Hong Kong and connecting onto our network in Asia. We hope that the new route will further strengthen the cultural, tourism and business ties between these two countries. This new route easily becomes the airline’s longest sector beating the 7,033-kilometre route to Gold Coast in Australia. The unaligned carrier now serves a total of 32 destinations non-stop from Hong Kong on its fleet of 23 A330s and 11 A320s. See how Auckland Airport’s FTWA compares to others from around the world.
Aegean Airlines launched flights on its latest route to Germany on 20 May, beginning a twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays) service between Athens (ATH) and Hannover (HAJ). The Star Alliance member will operate the 1,954-kilometre sector on its fleet of A320s, with no other carrier operating the city pairing.
With this launch, Aegean Airlines now serves eight destinations in Germany from Athens on 35 weekly flights including Berlin Tegel, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Kassel-Calden, with the latter being operated by the airline for the documenta 14 art exhibition. The Greek carrier will stop flights to Kassel-Calden on 23 June.
Air Canada has expanded its presence at Denver (DEN) by beginning twice-daily flights from Vancouver (YVR). The carrier already serves the Colorado city from Montreal and Toronto Pearson. “Air Canada has been a valued airline partner at Denver since 1995, and is our longest-tenured foreign flag carrier,” said Kim Day, CEO of Denver Airport at the Vancouver launch.
These new flights between Denver and Vancouver will provide more options for travelers to explore two of the most dynamic cities in North America.Air Canada will operate the 1,788-kilometre route, which launched on 18 May, twice-daily on its fleet of CRJ 700s according to OAG schedules.
The Canadian flag carrier joins fellow Star Alliance member United Airlines on the route, with the latter already offering 20 weekly flights. By launching flights to Denver, Air Canada now links Vancouver to 15 airports in the US on 220 weekly flights.
Hong Kong Airlines has chosen to re-enter the highly competitive market between Hong Kong (HKG) and Tokyo Narita (NRT). On 1 July the airline resumed service on the 2,961-kilometre route, operating twice-daily with a mix of A330-300s and A330-200s. It last served the market in January 2013. Competition is provided by: Cathay Pacific Airways (four daily flights); All Nippon Airways, HK Express and Vanilla Air (all with twice-daily flights); as well as Japan Airlines and Jetstar Japan, who both operate daily flights.
This becomes Hong Kong Airlines’ sixth route to Japan. In his speech at the welcome ceremony, Mr. Li Dianchun, CCO of Hong Kong Airlines, said: As the capital of Japan and one of Asia’s world cities, Tokyo has always been a top business and travel destination for Hong Kong travellers. In recent years, Hong Kong Airlines has been actively expanding our network in Japan. The opening of the Hong Kong-Narita route is of special strategic significance to us as we now cover this crucial destination in Kanto area.
British Airways flight BA 7025 departed Birmingham (BHX) on the inaugural service to Florence (FLR) on 20 May, but it also marked a significant return to regional flying for the airline. It was the first of four new regional routes launched from the Midlands, as well as from Bristol (BRS) in the UK’s Southwest, this weekend and the first time BA’s colours have been seen at either airport for years. The airline last flew from both airports in 2007 when its regional airline business BA Connect was sold to Flybe.
Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport CEO said: Today is a momentous day for Birmingham Airport. To see the British Airways tailfin on the ground after ten years is great news for the region and adds to the other IAG carriers already here. The introduction of four routes for the summer season ensures passengers have more choice on popular routes from the airport and additionally have the chance to visit the beautiful city of Florence, which was previously unserved.
Alex Cruz, BA CEO and chairman said: We continue our regional growth following the successful launch of services from Stansted last year.
Now we are flying from Birmingham once again we are excited about the future opportunities.” In addition to these eight services, the oneworld carrier also started nine more from London City (LCY), Dublin (DUB), London Stansted (STN) and Manchester (MAN) over the last seven days. Jonathan Ford, anna.aero’s Assistant Editor, went to Bristol to witness the start of BA’s operations.
Germania launched the first connection between Zurich (ZRH) and Rostock (RLG) on 19 May. Operated twice-weekly (Fridays and Sundays), the German airline will serve the unique 764-kilometre city pair on its fleet of 737-700s. On 26 May, the Hanseatic city will also boast a direct link to Vienna thanks to Germania.
Dörthe Hausmann, MD Rostock Airport said: We have established successful links with South Germany over the last few years. The connections to Linz and Basel set up over the last few years have also been promising. With these newly established connections to Vienna and Zurich, considerably more tourists from Switzerland and Austria can bring their financial strength to our region.
Claus Altenburg, Germania’s Director Sales Development Routes and Systems added: We are glad to be a partner of the regions and we are also pleased to strengthen their collaboration. These city links will complement our range of leisure flight connections from Rostock Airport for passengers living in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Meanwhile, Vienna and Zurich are great cities to which we are delighted to offer connections. In addition to this service the airline has opened a base in Palma de Mallorca (PMI), adding three new routes to three different countries – namely Dortmund (DTM; Germany), Maastricht (MST; Netherlands) and Strasbourg (SXB; France).
Throughout the summer season, daily flights to Friedrichshafen, Münster/Osnabrück, Dresden, Bremen and Nuremberg will be available from the base. Erfurt and Rostock will also be connected with the island several times per week. Flights to Cuxhaven/Nordholz will also be offered in autumn from Palma de Mallorca.
New services were also launched from Hamburg (HAM) and Berlin Schönefeld (SXF), the airline’s ninth and 14th largest bases in terms of weekly seats, to Menorca (MAH) and Kos (KGS) respectively.
AirAsia X Indonesia on 19 May introduced daily flights from Denpasar (DPS) on the Indonesian island of Bali to Mumbai (BOM) in India via Kuala Lumpur (KUL) in Malaysia. The 3,621-kilometre sector between Malaysia and India is already served by Malaysia Airlines (double-daily flights) and Malindo Air (eight weekly flights).
AirAsia X Indonesia will operate the route using its 377-seat A330-300s of which it currently has two. AirAsia X Indonesia CEO, Captain Sulistyo Nugroho Hanung said, “AirAsia X Indonesia is pleased to offer guests this new daily flight between Mumbai and Bali, Indonesia. We are so delighted to offer free seats on this route and hope that many will take advantage of this opportunity to travel to our beautiful island destination.
We see this route as promising, as it opens connectivity for India’s population of one billion people to their dream holiday destination.
airberlin launched a new long-haul service from Berlin Tegel (TXL) on flight AB 7022 to Los Angeles (LAX). From 16 May, the airline now offers three connections per week on its A330-200 fleet between the capital of Germany and the second largest city in the US. “This new long-haul flight from Berlin Tegel to Los Angeles is the next step in airberlin’s new strategic policy.
Both locations are of great importance to the international film industry. It therefore makes sense to link the two metropolises,” said airberlin CEO Thomas Winkelmann. We are happy about this long-haul connection to Los Angeles, the city of film, said Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg CEO. It provides business travellers as well as tourists with a direct connection to the west coast of the US. It will also strengthen our region by providing it with additional visitors
An additional inaugural flight will follow on 29 May as airberlin launches services from Tegel to San Francisco. With its current summer schedule, airberlin offers a total of 33 weekly non-stop services to five destinations in the US out of Berlin Tegel: Chicago O’Hare, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK and San Francisco.
Allegiant Air has begun flights on three unique routes this week, starting on 17 May with flights between Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Belleville (BLV) in Illinois. The 1,654-kilometre route will be served by the carrier twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays). On 19 May, a second route to Fort Lauderdale was also launched, with Allegiant Air connecting the Floridian airport with Louisville (SDF) in Kentucky. The 1,422-kilometre city pairing will also be served twice-weekly (Mondays and Fridays).
The third and final route to launch this week was a 1,479-kilometre sector between Austin (AUS) and Indianapolis (IND). Now the race fans of the Indy 500 can easily come to our Grand Prix at the Circuit of America or see a concert there and enjoy the live music capital of the world,” said Jim Smith, Executive Director of Austin Airport.
We welcome Allegiant Air’s growth at Austin’s Airport. Also operating twice-weekly (Mondays and Fridays), the city pairing between the racing centres of the US is scheduled to operate on Allegiant Air’s fleet of MD-83s. Both routes involving Fort Lauderdale will be operated on the carrier’s fleet of A320s.
Cebu Pacific Air started its second new domestic route from Cebu (CEB) this week with the launch on 16 May of a four times weekly service to Cotabato (CBO). The 351-kilometre route will be flown by CebGo using its ATR 72s. No other carrier connects these two airports. Cotabato is located on the province of Maguindanao.
The airport’s only other scheduled services are to the capital, Manila, which are offered by both Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines. Cotabato City is home of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, also known as the Grand Mosque of Cotabato, which is the largest mosque in the Philippines. Completed in 2011 the facility can accommodate 15,000 people and was funded by the Sultan of Brunei.
Croatia Airlines has this week begun four new capital connections from Zagreb (ZAG), with the carrier now linking the capital of Croatia to Bucharest (OTP), Helsinki (HEL), Oslo Gardermoen (OSL) and Stockholm Arlanda (ARN). In general, the interest for Mediterranean countries has increased heavily among Swedish travellers. Zagreb is also a completely new direct route from Stockholm Arlanda and it is also one of the top unserved destinations.
We welcome Croatian Airlines’ expansion at Stockholm Arlanda, giving Swedes more opportunity to experience Croatia, said Elizabeth Axtelius, Aviation Business Director at Swedavia of the new link between Sweden and Croatia. Along with Arlanda, none of the other three capital connections launched by Croatia Airlines will face direct competition.
While the three new routes to Scandinavia will operate on 100-seat CRJ 1000s leased from Air Nostrum, Bucharest services will be flown on the airline’s own Q400s. All four routes will be flown three times weekly, while the average sector length is 1,427 kilometres.
Ethiopian Airlines introduced Chengdu (CTU) to its network on 22 May, meaning that the Star Alliance member now serves four destinations in China from Addis Ababa (ADD), with Chengdu joining Beijing, Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou. Ethiopian Airlines’ flights were originally planned to operate three times weekly from the date of inauguration, however the airline’s next flight on the 7,125-kilometre sector will be on 2 June.
From the latter date a regular three times weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) service will operate. Facing no direct competition, Ethiopian Airlines will serve the city pair on its 787-8s, with the carrier now reporting to have 17 of the type in its fleet, with a further two still to be delivered.
With launching flights to Chengdu, Ethiopian Airlines now serves 13 airports in Asia on 100 weekly flights, including Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Delhi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul Incheon, Singapore and Tokyo Narita according to OAG schedules.
Frontier Airlines this week introduced two new unique routes to San Diego (SAN), with the carrier launching flights to the Californian city from Cincinnati (CVG) and Cleveland (CLE). The growth of Frontier at Cincinnati over the last four years has been incredible,” said Candace McGraw, CEO Cincinnati Airport.
The airline now offers 17 non-stop year-round and/or seasonal destinations on 93 flights a week. Frontier also becomes the airport’s fourth largest carrier in terms of daily flights and second largest carrier in terms of seats offered. This success would not have been possible without the support of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky community.
Frontier will operate the 2,993-kilometre link between Cincinnati and San Diego, which launched 21 May, three times weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays).
Flights on the 3,254-kilometre city pairing of Cleveland and San Diego, which began 22 May, will be flown four times weekly, with both routes being served by the carrier’s fleet of A320s. Finally this week, Frontier has also started a connection between Cleveland and Houston Intercontinental (IAH).
Also launched 22 May, the 1,754-kilometre route, which will also be flown on A320s, will go head-to-head with United Airlines, with the Star Alliance member already providing 33 weekly flights on the sector according to OAG schedules.
Nordica has expanded its network by introducing flights between its base in Tallinn (TLL) and Hamburg (HAM). The carrier, which launched the route on 16 May, will offer three weekly flights (Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays) on the 1,109-kilometre connection between Germany’s second largest city and the Estonian capital.
The route, which will not face direct competition, will be served by CRJ 900s operated by LOT Polish Airlines. With this launch, Nordica now serves three airports in Germany, with it also linking Tallinn to Munich (twice-daily) and Berlin Tegel (twice-weekly), with the latter only being summer seasonal. Earlier this week the airline launched flights to St. Petersburg in Russia.
Pegasus Airlines has added Saarbrücken (SCN) to its network this week, beginning a twice-weekly operation from Antalya (AYT) on 22 May. The seasonal flight, which will operate until October, initially begins with a Monday rotation, with a sector on Fridays to be added in early June.
The airline operates to 20 airports from Antalya, with Saarbrücken becoming the seventh in Germany, according to this week’s OAG schedules. Flown by its 189-seat 737-800s, the route faces direct competition from SunExpress, which offers the city pair three times weekly.
SalamAir has entered the Pakistani market this week, beginning a three times weekly operation from Muscat (MCT) to Sialkot (SKT) on 16 May. This will be the first stage of the airline’s development in the market, as it will introduce services to Multan and Karachi in the coming weeks. The LCC will face competition from incumbents Pakistan International Airlines (twice-weekly) and Shaheen Air International (weekly) on the city pair.
The 1,860-kilometre sector will be flown by SalamAir’s growing A320 fleet. Sialkot becomes SalamAir’s fourth destination, with it already serving Dubai Al Maktoum, Jeddah and Salalah from Muscat.
Ukraine International Airlines has launched its second route to Milan Bergamo (BGY) this week, starting a daily service to the Italian airport from Kiev Boryspil (KBP). Launched 16 May, the 1,651-kilometre route will be served daily on a mixture of the carrier’s 737-800s and E190s according to OAG Schedules Analyser data.
The link from the Ukrainian capital will not face any direct competition. The airline started serving Milan Bergamo on 28 April, the day on which it inaugurated a twice-weekly (Mondays and Saturdays) summer seasonal service from Chernivtsi. Milan Bergamo is the second airport in Milan to be served by Ukraine International Airlines, as it already offers daily flights from Boryspil to Milan Malpensa.
Volotea expanded its presence in Montpellier (MPL) on 20 May, with the addition of a weekly (Saturdays) rotation to Bastia (BIA). The 463-kilometre sector, which will be flown by a variety of the airline’s equipment, joins the carrier’s five other domestic services from Montpellier – namely to Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, Brest and Ajaccio. No other airline flies on this sector.
Wizz Air has been busy promoting the eight new routes it opened this week across Europe, with the services including two new airports to the airline’s network – Frankfurt (FRA) and Osijek (OSI). Commenting on the launch of flights to Frankfurt, Gabor Vasarhelyi, Corporate Communications Manager at Wizz Air, said: We are thrilled to be starting operations from Frankfurt Airport, the 11th airport that Wizz Air serves in Germany.
Wizz Air will connect Frankfurt to Sofia with a daily service and the carrier will shortly launch a second route to another dynamic Central European capital, Budapest begins December.
By launching flights to Osijek, Wizz Air now serves two airports in Croatia, with its new route between Basel and Osijek complementing the carrier’s existing seasonal services to Split from London Luton and Warsaw Chopin.
Apart from the airline’s new service between Sofia and Frankfurt, the remaining sectors launched by Wizz Air this week will operate twice-weekly. The average sector length of Wizz Air’s eight new routes is 1,119 kilometres.
Brussels Airlines this week also began flights to Funchal, with the inaugural crew being greeted with flowers on arrival. This is the only route of the three launched by Brussels Airlines this week that will face direct competition. The 2,663-kilometre route will be flown by the Star Alliance member weekly (Saturdays) on its 141-seat A319s.
Brussels Airlines this week initiated three new scheduled services from its hub at Brussels (BRU), with the most significant being a 6,862-kilometre link to Mumbai (BOM). Launched 30 March, the service marks the end of a one-year gap of scheduled flights between Brussels and India, with Jet Airways, which served both Mumbai and Delhi from Brussels, having moved its European hub to Amsterdam at the end of March last year.
Our new service has received a warm welcome here in the Indian market. We see very encouraging booking results for travel to Belgium and many destinations beyond Brussels including Canada, US, UK, Spain, France and several African destinations, said Patrick Roofthooft, Brussels Airlines Director India and Commercial Development.
Brussels Airlines will operate the route on a mixture of its A330-200s and -300s on a five times weekly basis, with no other carrier offering direct competition. Not only did Brussels Airlines begin its first flights to India this week, but it also linked Brussels to Funchal (FNC) and Yerevan (EVN).
Flights to both destinations will be flown weekly (Saturday), with the 2,663-kilometre connection to Funchal being operated on the airline’s A319s and the 3,281-kilometre link to Yerevan on A320s. While flights to the Armenian capital will not face direct competition, services to Funchal will go head-to-head with Thomas Cook Airlines Belgium and TUIfly, with both also operating weekly flights.
It should be noted that Brussels Airlines did begin services to Yerevan in December, though these were initially operated as charter flights. With scheduled services now in place, the airline will increase the frequency to Yerevan from Brussels to twice-weekly in July. Vote for either Brussels or Funchal’s FTWA in this week’s Arch of Triumph Public Vote. Vote for Mumbai Airport’s cake in this week’s Cake of the Week Public Vote.
Arkia Israeli Airlines has begun twice-weekly flights between Tel Aviv (TLV) and Milan Bergamo (BGY). The 2,638-kilometre sector will be flown by the airline’s E195s and faces no direct competition. However, three carriers offer flights between Tel Aviv and Milan Malpensa; El Al with 10 weekly flights, easyJet with five weekly flights and Neos Air with twice-weekly flights. According to OAG data the Israeli carrier now operates scheduled services from Tel Aviv to 11 destinations in 11 different countries.
Cathay Pacific Airways has added Israel to its network with the introduction on 26 March of a four times weekly service between Hong Kong (HKG) and Tel Aviv (TLV). The oneworld carrier will use its 280-seat A350-900s on the new route. Starting last May the airline has acquired 12 of the type with the most recent addition being delivered this month.
The new route to Tel Aviv has already proved so popular that a fifth weekly frequency will be added from 1 September. Paul Loo, Director of Corporate Development at Cathay Pacific, said: “We are very excited to launch this service. Tel Aviv is such a technologically advanced business capital and Hong Kong is the international financial centre in Asia, we are very excited to link these two cities together.
The route is already flow by El Al, which offers six weekly flights. Next up for Cathay Pacific are new routes to Barcelona and Christchurch starting in July and December respectively.
Jetstar Pacific Airlines on 18 November began a four times weekly service on the 1,490-kilometre route between Ho Chi Minh City (SGN) and Hong Kong (HKG). The route, which will be flown using the LCC’s fleet of 12 A320s, is already served by Cathay Pacific Airways (17 times weekly) and Vietnam Airlines (10 times weekly). Jetstar Pacific already serves Hong Kong from Hanoi, a route it launched on 7 September 2015. This winter the airline will serve 19 destinations from Ho Chi Minh City, 15 in Vietnam as well as Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore, plus Guangzhou, a new route which will start at the beginning of December.
Hong Kong Airlines has further expanded its network in Japan with the introduction on 14 September of twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays) flights from Hong Kong (HKG) to Yonago (YGJ). The 2,375-kilometre route will be flown by the airline’s A320s and faces no direct competition. This becomes the carrier’s eighth destination in Japan which it now serves with 58 weekly flights.
In his speech at the inaugural ceremony, Stanley Kan, Director of Hong Kong Airlines’ Service Delivery Department, said: “The beautiful natural landscape, local cuisine and cultural scene of Tottori Prefecture is very appealing to tourists from Hong Kong and broader regions.
With Hong Kong Airlines, passengers can choose to travel around Osaka, Okayama and Yonago, providing more options in their trip planning.” Hong Kong Airlines is the third biggest carrier in the Hong Kong to Japan market with 17% of seats. It lags behind Cathay Pacific Airways (35%) and HK Express (18%) but is ahead of All Nippon Airways (9%) and Dragonair (5%). Curiously, Japanese carriers only account for 22% of seat capacity in the market.
Hong Kong Airlines on 11 November became the third carrier to link Hong Kong (HKG) and Auckland (AKL) with non-stop flights. The 9,164-kilometre sector is already served by Air New Zealand and Cathay Pacific Airways with daily flights. Hong Kong Airlines will also operate the route on a daily basis using its 283-seat A330-200s.
In his speech at the welcome ceremony, Mr. Li Dianchun, CCO of Hong Kong Airlines, said: We are delighted with the successful launch of this much-anticipated new route in Auckland. So far, we have received an overwhelming response from travellers since tickets became available for purchase. As a result, we have already increased our service to 10 times weekly from 11 December to 13 February 2017.
We also anticipate strong demand out of the New Zealand market to Hong Kong and connecting onto our network in Asia. We hope that the new route will further strengthen the cultural, tourism and business ties between these two countries. This new route easily becomes the airline’s longest sector beating the 7,033-kilometre route to Gold Coast in Australia. The unaligned carrier now serves a total of 32 destinations non-stop from Hong Kong on its fleet of 23 A330s and 11 A320s. See how Auckland Airport’s FTWA compares to others from around the world.
Aegean Airlines launched flights on its latest route to Germany on 20 May, beginning a twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays) service between Athens (ATH) and Hannover (HAJ). The Star Alliance member will operate the 1,954-kilometre sector on its fleet of A320s, with no other carrier operating the city pairing.
With this launch, Aegean Airlines now serves eight destinations in Germany from Athens on 35 weekly flights including Berlin Tegel, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and Kassel-Calden, with the latter being operated by the airline for the documenta 14 art exhibition. The Greek carrier will stop flights to Kassel-Calden on 23 June.
Air Canada has expanded its presence at Denver (DEN) by beginning twice-daily flights from Vancouver (YVR). The carrier already serves the Colorado city from Montreal and Toronto Pearson. “Air Canada has been a valued airline partner at Denver since 1995, and is our longest-tenured foreign flag carrier,” said Kim Day, CEO of Denver Airport at the Vancouver launch.
These new flights between Denver and Vancouver will provide more options for travelers to explore two of the most dynamic cities in North America.Air Canada will operate the 1,788-kilometre route, which launched on 18 May, twice-daily on its fleet of CRJ 700s according to OAG schedules.
The Canadian flag carrier joins fellow Star Alliance member United Airlines on the route, with the latter already offering 20 weekly flights. By launching flights to Denver, Air Canada now links Vancouver to 15 airports in the US on 220 weekly flights.
Hong Kong Airlines has chosen to re-enter the highly competitive market between Hong Kong (HKG) and Tokyo Narita (NRT). On 1 July the airline resumed service on the 2,961-kilometre route, operating twice-daily with a mix of A330-300s and A330-200s. It last served the market in January 2013. Competition is provided by: Cathay Pacific Airways (four daily flights); All Nippon Airways, HK Express and Vanilla Air (all with twice-daily flights); as well as Japan Airlines and Jetstar Japan, who both operate daily flights.
This becomes Hong Kong Airlines’ sixth route to Japan. In his speech at the welcome ceremony, Mr. Li Dianchun, CCO of Hong Kong Airlines, said: As the capital of Japan and one of Asia’s world cities, Tokyo has always been a top business and travel destination for Hong Kong travellers. In recent years, Hong Kong Airlines has been actively expanding our network in Japan. The opening of the Hong Kong-Narita route is of special strategic significance to us as we now cover this crucial destination in Kanto area.
British Airways flight BA 7025 departed Birmingham (BHX) on the inaugural service to Florence (FLR) on 20 May, but it also marked a significant return to regional flying for the airline. It was the first of four new regional routes launched from the Midlands, as well as from Bristol (BRS) in the UK’s Southwest, this weekend and the first time BA’s colours have been seen at either airport for years. The airline last flew from both airports in 2007 when its regional airline business BA Connect was sold to Flybe.
Paul Kehoe, Birmingham Airport CEO said: Today is a momentous day for Birmingham Airport. To see the British Airways tailfin on the ground after ten years is great news for the region and adds to the other IAG carriers already here. The introduction of four routes for the summer season ensures passengers have more choice on popular routes from the airport and additionally have the chance to visit the beautiful city of Florence, which was previously unserved.
Alex Cruz, BA CEO and chairman said: We continue our regional growth following the successful launch of services from Stansted last year.
Now we are flying from Birmingham once again we are excited about the future opportunities.” In addition to these eight services, the oneworld carrier also started nine more from London City (LCY), Dublin (DUB), London Stansted (STN) and Manchester (MAN) over the last seven days. Jonathan Ford, anna.aero’s Assistant Editor, went to Bristol to witness the start of BA’s operations.
Germania launched the first connection between Zurich (ZRH) and Rostock (RLG) on 19 May. Operated twice-weekly (Fridays and Sundays), the German airline will serve the unique 764-kilometre city pair on its fleet of 737-700s. On 26 May, the Hanseatic city will also boast a direct link to Vienna thanks to Germania.
Dörthe Hausmann, MD Rostock Airport said: We have established successful links with South Germany over the last few years. The connections to Linz and Basel set up over the last few years have also been promising. With these newly established connections to Vienna and Zurich, considerably more tourists from Switzerland and Austria can bring their financial strength to our region.
Claus Altenburg, Germania’s Director Sales Development Routes and Systems added: We are glad to be a partner of the regions and we are also pleased to strengthen their collaboration. These city links will complement our range of leisure flight connections from Rostock Airport for passengers living in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Meanwhile, Vienna and Zurich are great cities to which we are delighted to offer connections. In addition to this service the airline has opened a base in Palma de Mallorca (PMI), adding three new routes to three different countries – namely Dortmund (DTM; Germany), Maastricht (MST; Netherlands) and Strasbourg (SXB; France).
Throughout the summer season, daily flights to Friedrichshafen, Münster/Osnabrück, Dresden, Bremen and Nuremberg will be available from the base. Erfurt and Rostock will also be connected with the island several times per week. Flights to Cuxhaven/Nordholz will also be offered in autumn from Palma de Mallorca.
New services were also launched from Hamburg (HAM) and Berlin Schönefeld (SXF), the airline’s ninth and 14th largest bases in terms of weekly seats, to Menorca (MAH) and Kos (KGS) respectively.
AirAsia X Indonesia on 19 May introduced daily flights from Denpasar (DPS) on the Indonesian island of Bali to Mumbai (BOM) in India via Kuala Lumpur (KUL) in Malaysia. The 3,621-kilometre sector between Malaysia and India is already served by Malaysia Airlines (double-daily flights) and Malindo Air (eight weekly flights).
AirAsia X Indonesia will operate the route using its 377-seat A330-300s of which it currently has two. AirAsia X Indonesia CEO, Captain Sulistyo Nugroho Hanung said, “AirAsia X Indonesia is pleased to offer guests this new daily flight between Mumbai and Bali, Indonesia. We are so delighted to offer free seats on this route and hope that many will take advantage of this opportunity to travel to our beautiful island destination.
We see this route as promising, as it opens connectivity for India’s population of one billion people to their dream holiday destination.
airberlin launched a new long-haul service from Berlin Tegel (TXL) on flight AB 7022 to Los Angeles (LAX). From 16 May, the airline now offers three connections per week on its A330-200 fleet between the capital of Germany and the second largest city in the US. “This new long-haul flight from Berlin Tegel to Los Angeles is the next step in airberlin’s new strategic policy.
Both locations are of great importance to the international film industry. It therefore makes sense to link the two metropolises,” said airberlin CEO Thomas Winkelmann. We are happy about this long-haul connection to Los Angeles, the city of film, said Engelbert Lütke Daldrup, Flughafen Berlin Brandenburg CEO. It provides business travellers as well as tourists with a direct connection to the west coast of the US. It will also strengthen our region by providing it with additional visitors
An additional inaugural flight will follow on 29 May as airberlin launches services from Tegel to San Francisco. With its current summer schedule, airberlin offers a total of 33 weekly non-stop services to five destinations in the US out of Berlin Tegel: Chicago O’Hare, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK and San Francisco.
Allegiant Air has begun flights on three unique routes this week, starting on 17 May with flights between Fort Lauderdale (FLL) and Belleville (BLV) in Illinois. The 1,654-kilometre route will be served by the carrier twice-weekly (Wednesdays and Saturdays). On 19 May, a second route to Fort Lauderdale was also launched, with Allegiant Air connecting the Floridian airport with Louisville (SDF) in Kentucky. The 1,422-kilometre city pairing will also be served twice-weekly (Mondays and Fridays).
The third and final route to launch this week was a 1,479-kilometre sector between Austin (AUS) and Indianapolis (IND). Now the race fans of the Indy 500 can easily come to our Grand Prix at the Circuit of America or see a concert there and enjoy the live music capital of the world,” said Jim Smith, Executive Director of Austin Airport.
We welcome Allegiant Air’s growth at Austin’s Airport. Also operating twice-weekly (Mondays and Fridays), the city pairing between the racing centres of the US is scheduled to operate on Allegiant Air’s fleet of MD-83s. Both routes involving Fort Lauderdale will be operated on the carrier’s fleet of A320s.
Cebu Pacific Air started its second new domestic route from Cebu (CEB) this week with the launch on 16 May of a four times weekly service to Cotabato (CBO). The 351-kilometre route will be flown by CebGo using its ATR 72s. No other carrier connects these two airports. Cotabato is located on the province of Maguindanao.
The airport’s only other scheduled services are to the capital, Manila, which are offered by both Cebu Pacific and Philippine Airlines. Cotabato City is home of Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Masjid, also known as the Grand Mosque of Cotabato, which is the largest mosque in the Philippines. Completed in 2011 the facility can accommodate 15,000 people and was funded by the Sultan of Brunei.
Croatia Airlines has this week begun four new capital connections from Zagreb (ZAG), with the carrier now linking the capital of Croatia to Bucharest (OTP), Helsinki (HEL), Oslo Gardermoen (OSL) and Stockholm Arlanda (ARN). In general, the interest for Mediterranean countries has increased heavily among Swedish travellers. Zagreb is also a completely new direct route from Stockholm Arlanda and it is also one of the top unserved destinations.
We welcome Croatian Airlines’ expansion at Stockholm Arlanda, giving Swedes more opportunity to experience Croatia, said Elizabeth Axtelius, Aviation Business Director at Swedavia of the new link between Sweden and Croatia. Along with Arlanda, none of the other three capital connections launched by Croatia Airlines will face direct competition.
While the three new routes to Scandinavia will operate on 100-seat CRJ 1000s leased from Air Nostrum, Bucharest services will be flown on the airline’s own Q400s. All four routes will be flown three times weekly, while the average sector length is 1,427 kilometres.
Ethiopian Airlines introduced Chengdu (CTU) to its network on 22 May, meaning that the Star Alliance member now serves four destinations in China from Addis Ababa (ADD), with Chengdu joining Beijing, Shanghai Pudong and Guangzhou. Ethiopian Airlines’ flights were originally planned to operate three times weekly from the date of inauguration, however the airline’s next flight on the 7,125-kilometre sector will be on 2 June.
From the latter date a regular three times weekly (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) service will operate. Facing no direct competition, Ethiopian Airlines will serve the city pair on its 787-8s, with the carrier now reporting to have 17 of the type in its fleet, with a further two still to be delivered.
With launching flights to Chengdu, Ethiopian Airlines now serves 13 airports in Asia on 100 weekly flights, including Bangkok Suvarnabhumi, Delhi, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Manila, Mumbai, Seoul Incheon, Singapore and Tokyo Narita according to OAG schedules.
Frontier Airlines this week introduced two new unique routes to San Diego (SAN), with the carrier launching flights to the Californian city from Cincinnati (CVG) and Cleveland (CLE). The growth of Frontier at Cincinnati over the last four years has been incredible,” said Candace McGraw, CEO Cincinnati Airport.
The airline now offers 17 non-stop year-round and/or seasonal destinations on 93 flights a week. Frontier also becomes the airport’s fourth largest carrier in terms of daily flights and second largest carrier in terms of seats offered. This success would not have been possible without the support of the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky community.
Frontier will operate the 2,993-kilometre link between Cincinnati and San Diego, which launched 21 May, three times weekly (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays).
Flights on the 3,254-kilometre city pairing of Cleveland and San Diego, which began 22 May, will be flown four times weekly, with both routes being served by the carrier’s fleet of A320s. Finally this week, Frontier has also started a connection between Cleveland and Houston Intercontinental (IAH).
Also launched 22 May, the 1,754-kilometre route, which will also be flown on A320s, will go head-to-head with United Airlines, with the Star Alliance member already providing 33 weekly flights on the sector according to OAG schedules.
Nordica has expanded its network by introducing flights between its base in Tallinn (TLL) and Hamburg (HAM). The carrier, which launched the route on 16 May, will offer three weekly flights (Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays) on the 1,109-kilometre connection between Germany’s second largest city and the Estonian capital.
The route, which will not face direct competition, will be served by CRJ 900s operated by LOT Polish Airlines. With this launch, Nordica now serves three airports in Germany, with it also linking Tallinn to Munich (twice-daily) and Berlin Tegel (twice-weekly), with the latter only being summer seasonal. Earlier this week the airline launched flights to St. Petersburg in Russia.
Pegasus Airlines has added Saarbrücken (SCN) to its network this week, beginning a twice-weekly operation from Antalya (AYT) on 22 May. The seasonal flight, which will operate until October, initially begins with a Monday rotation, with a sector on Fridays to be added in early June.
The airline operates to 20 airports from Antalya, with Saarbrücken becoming the seventh in Germany, according to this week’s OAG schedules. Flown by its 189-seat 737-800s, the route faces direct competition from SunExpress, which offers the city pair three times weekly.
SalamAir has entered the Pakistani market this week, beginning a three times weekly operation from Muscat (MCT) to Sialkot (SKT) on 16 May. This will be the first stage of the airline’s development in the market, as it will introduce services to Multan and Karachi in the coming weeks. The LCC will face competition from incumbents Pakistan International Airlines (twice-weekly) and Shaheen Air International (weekly) on the city pair.
The 1,860-kilometre sector will be flown by SalamAir’s growing A320 fleet. Sialkot becomes SalamAir’s fourth destination, with it already serving Dubai Al Maktoum, Jeddah and Salalah from Muscat.
Ukraine International Airlines has launched its second route to Milan Bergamo (BGY) this week, starting a daily service to the Italian airport from Kiev Boryspil (KBP). Launched 16 May, the 1,651-kilometre route will be served daily on a mixture of the carrier’s 737-800s and E190s according to OAG Schedules Analyser data.
The link from the Ukrainian capital will not face any direct competition. The airline started serving Milan Bergamo on 28 April, the day on which it inaugurated a twice-weekly (Mondays and Saturdays) summer seasonal service from Chernivtsi. Milan Bergamo is the second airport in Milan to be served by Ukraine International Airlines, as it already offers daily flights from Boryspil to Milan Malpensa.
Volotea expanded its presence in Montpellier (MPL) on 20 May, with the addition of a weekly (Saturdays) rotation to Bastia (BIA). The 463-kilometre sector, which will be flown by a variety of the airline’s equipment, joins the carrier’s five other domestic services from Montpellier – namely to Nantes, Strasbourg, Lille, Brest and Ajaccio. No other airline flies on this sector.
Wizz Air has been busy promoting the eight new routes it opened this week across Europe, with the services including two new airports to the airline’s network – Frankfurt (FRA) and Osijek (OSI). Commenting on the launch of flights to Frankfurt, Gabor Vasarhelyi, Corporate Communications Manager at Wizz Air, said: We are thrilled to be starting operations from Frankfurt Airport, the 11th airport that Wizz Air serves in Germany.
Wizz Air will connect Frankfurt to Sofia with a daily service and the carrier will shortly launch a second route to another dynamic Central European capital, Budapest begins December.
By launching flights to Osijek, Wizz Air now serves two airports in Croatia, with its new route between Basel and Osijek complementing the carrier’s existing seasonal services to Split from London Luton and Warsaw Chopin.
Apart from the airline’s new service between Sofia and Frankfurt, the remaining sectors launched by Wizz Air this week will operate twice-weekly. The average sector length of Wizz Air’s eight new routes is 1,119 kilometres.
Airlines In Network Expansion
Two European flag carriers (KLM and SAS) both made the top 15, while British Airways and Lufthansa both only just missed out.
British Airways has done quite well at growing its route network from London Heathrow during the last couple of years. This got our data elves wondering which of Europe’s flag carriers has seen the biggest growth in its route network from its home base in recent times.
The criteria selected was to compare the number of destinations served non-stop at least seven times during 2015 from the airline’s biggest hub,usually serving the country’s main airport in the capital city with the number of destinations served non-stop at least seven times during the whole of 2016 and 2017.
This allows for inclusion of those seasonal services that may only operate once per week during the peak summer period. Some liberties were taken with SAS being counted as the flag carrier for Denmark, Norway and Sweden while Aegean Airlines was designated the national carrier of Greece.
Consideration was given to examining the largest carriers at capital city airports that no longer have an obvious national airline,such as in Cyprus, Hungary or Slovakia but this was rejected for this analysis.
If this kind of analysis had been undertaken a couple of years ago the winner would most likely have been Turkish Airlines, but due to recent events in the country the airline’s network growth has slowed somewhat, though it still serves more destinations non-stop from its Istanbul Atatürk hub than any of its rivals do from their hubs.
However, the European flag carrier airline that will have celebrated the most new route launches in the last two years, come 31 December 2017, will be LOT Polish Airlines, which has seen its network from Warsaw Chopin grow by 28 destinations from 46 in 2015 to 74 in 2016-17.
Many of these ‘new’ routes are actually service resumptions after the carrier cut routes as part of a deal with the EU regarding financial support. LOT was given permission to grow its route network once more from the beginning of 2016 and since then the Star Alliance member has been busy making up for lost time.
While the rapid network growth is indeed impressive it is worth noting that way back in 2010 the airline was already serving more than 70 destinations non-stop from the Polish capital.
Finnair’s rapid growth from its Helsinki base has been more genuine, with the oneworld carrier starting several, low-frequency, seasonal, leisure destinations to its network in S16 and S17.
In 2016 the airline began new routes to Billund, Edinburgh, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Preveza, Puerto Plata, Pula, Rimini, Santorini, Skiathos, Varadero, Varna, Verona and Zakinthos.
This year it has already added service to Alicante and Reykjavik/Keflavik with additional new connections to Astana, Corfu, Goa, Havana, Ibiza, Menorca, Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco set to begin before the end of the year.
KLM’s net gain of 21 new non-stop destinations includes new routes in 2016 to Alicante, Astana, Dresden, Dublin, Genoa, Ibiza, Inverness, Salt Lake City, Southampton, Tehran and Valencia, as well as new services which have either already launched, or will be shortly, to Cagliari, Catania, Freetown, Gdansk, Graz, Malaga, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Porto and Split.
Despite the capacity constraints face by the carrier at Heathrow, British Airways has managed to grow its route network by almost 20 destinations since 2015.
Last year the oneworld carrier added new routes from Europe’s busiest airport to Asturias, Biarritz, Billund, Chania, Doha, Innsbruck, Inverness, Kalamata, Menorca, Muscat, Palermo, San Jose and Tehran, while 2017 will see the UK flag carrier add links to Brindisi, Montpellier, Murcia, Nantes, New Orleans, Pula, Santiago (Chile), Tallinn and Zakinthos.
In terms of destinations served non-stop, Turkish Airlines is way out in front among Europe’s flag carriers with non-stop flights in 2017 to almost 270 destinations, more than any other airline from a single airport anywhere in the world.
In Europe, Lufthansa is in a clear second place with its Frankfurt hub, though the battle for third place is pretty close between Air France, British Airways and KLM. A total of 10 national airlines offer non-stop flights to at least 100 destinations.
The main airports in Denmark (Copenhagen) and Sweden (Stockholm Arlanda) both offer almost 90 destinations with SAS. However, the Scandinavian carrier’s network from Oslo is rather smaller with fewer than 60 destinations served.
British Airways has done quite well at growing its route network from London Heathrow during the last couple of years. This got our data elves wondering which of Europe’s flag carriers has seen the biggest growth in its route network from its home base in recent times.
The criteria selected was to compare the number of destinations served non-stop at least seven times during 2015 from the airline’s biggest hub,usually serving the country’s main airport in the capital city with the number of destinations served non-stop at least seven times during the whole of 2016 and 2017.
This allows for inclusion of those seasonal services that may only operate once per week during the peak summer period. Some liberties were taken with SAS being counted as the flag carrier for Denmark, Norway and Sweden while Aegean Airlines was designated the national carrier of Greece.
Consideration was given to examining the largest carriers at capital city airports that no longer have an obvious national airline,such as in Cyprus, Hungary or Slovakia but this was rejected for this analysis.
If this kind of analysis had been undertaken a couple of years ago the winner would most likely have been Turkish Airlines, but due to recent events in the country the airline’s network growth has slowed somewhat, though it still serves more destinations non-stop from its Istanbul Atatürk hub than any of its rivals do from their hubs.
However, the European flag carrier airline that will have celebrated the most new route launches in the last two years, come 31 December 2017, will be LOT Polish Airlines, which has seen its network from Warsaw Chopin grow by 28 destinations from 46 in 2015 to 74 in 2016-17.
Many of these ‘new’ routes are actually service resumptions after the carrier cut routes as part of a deal with the EU regarding financial support. LOT was given permission to grow its route network once more from the beginning of 2016 and since then the Star Alliance member has been busy making up for lost time.
While the rapid network growth is indeed impressive it is worth noting that way back in 2010 the airline was already serving more than 70 destinations non-stop from the Polish capital.
Finnair’s rapid growth from its Helsinki base has been more genuine, with the oneworld carrier starting several, low-frequency, seasonal, leisure destinations to its network in S16 and S17.
In 2016 the airline began new routes to Billund, Edinburgh, Fukuoka, Guangzhou, Preveza, Puerto Plata, Pula, Rimini, Santorini, Skiathos, Varadero, Varna, Verona and Zakinthos.
This year it has already added service to Alicante and Reykjavik/Keflavik with additional new connections to Astana, Corfu, Goa, Havana, Ibiza, Menorca, Puerto Vallarta and San Francisco set to begin before the end of the year.
KLM’s net gain of 21 new non-stop destinations includes new routes in 2016 to Alicante, Astana, Dresden, Dublin, Genoa, Ibiza, Inverness, Salt Lake City, Southampton, Tehran and Valencia, as well as new services which have either already launched, or will be shortly, to Cagliari, Catania, Freetown, Gdansk, Graz, Malaga, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Porto and Split.
Despite the capacity constraints face by the carrier at Heathrow, British Airways has managed to grow its route network by almost 20 destinations since 2015.
Last year the oneworld carrier added new routes from Europe’s busiest airport to Asturias, Biarritz, Billund, Chania, Doha, Innsbruck, Inverness, Kalamata, Menorca, Muscat, Palermo, San Jose and Tehran, while 2017 will see the UK flag carrier add links to Brindisi, Montpellier, Murcia, Nantes, New Orleans, Pula, Santiago (Chile), Tallinn and Zakinthos.
In terms of destinations served non-stop, Turkish Airlines is way out in front among Europe’s flag carriers with non-stop flights in 2017 to almost 270 destinations, more than any other airline from a single airport anywhere in the world.
In Europe, Lufthansa is in a clear second place with its Frankfurt hub, though the battle for third place is pretty close between Air France, British Airways and KLM. A total of 10 national airlines offer non-stop flights to at least 100 destinations.
The main airports in Denmark (Copenhagen) and Sweden (Stockholm Arlanda) both offer almost 90 destinations with SAS. However, the Scandinavian carrier’s network from Oslo is rather smaller with fewer than 60 destinations served.
PERU: Visiting Machu Picchu New Rules Introduced
In order to ensure the adequate flow of tourist visits to the sanctuary of Machu Picchu, the Decentralized Culture Bureau of Cusco ordered that, from July 1, 2017, all the articles of the “Regulation on Sustainable Use and Tourist Visit for the Conservation of the Llaqta or Inca City of Machupicchu” will be effective .
Two entry periods have been established for the visits: the first one will run from 06:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and the second, from 12:00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
In case a visitor wishes to visit the citadel throughout the day, two tickets must be purchased, one for each period.
The use of a tour guide will be mandatory. The guides will be able to attend a maximum of groups of 16 people.
The guides will deliver a ticket that will serve tourists who wish to re-enter Machu Picchu the next day to be shown at the entrance of the citadel.
It should be noted that tickets that have been booked and purchased until May 2 for the months between July and December will not have restrictions on the entry and exit.
This implementation responds to compliance with the “Regulation on Sustainable Use and Tourist Visit for the Conservation of the Llaqta or Inca City of Machupicchu”, approved by Ministerial Resolution No. 070-2017 of the Ministry of Culture.
The 2017 edition of the prestigious World Travel Awards South America will be held on September 9 in the Riviera Maya of Mexico and has 41 nominations for our country.
In total there are 31 nominations for the private sector - hotels, cruises, airports and travel agencies - and ten as a country, among which we highlight our capital as Best Destination for Meetings and Conferences, Best Sports Destination or Best Travel Destination of business.
Likewise, our country competes as Best Culinary Destination - a reward we have obtained for five consecutive years - Best Green Destination, Best Cultural Destination and Best Adventure Destination.
Voting for this award can be made until July 19.
The winners of the South American edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA) will compete in the worldwide edition of these awards, to be held on December 10 in Phu Quoc, Vietnam.
Peru is again in the eyes of the world!
The National Geographic Traveler Magazine of the United Kingdom has placed it within the five destinations to visit in 2017. The competition was tough, managing to impose itself among tourist places like Donegal, Greenland, Helsinki and Santiago.
This year has been very noticeable for Peru in the tourist area, after the BBC of the United Kingdom broadcast documentaries on the Peruvian Amazon and the fortress of Kuélap, being seen by millions of spectators.
Also, a new direct flight from London to Lima by British Airways was inaugurated.
National Geographic Magazine highlighted Peruvian gastronomy, tourist attractions such as Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of the modern world, and Kuélap, known for being built on top of a high mountain in Chachapoyas.
Those in charge of this list are the editors and writers of the magazine, who were fascinated with Peruvian culture and cuisine.
Two entry periods have been established for the visits: the first one will run from 06:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and the second, from 12:00 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.
In case a visitor wishes to visit the citadel throughout the day, two tickets must be purchased, one for each period.
The use of a tour guide will be mandatory. The guides will be able to attend a maximum of groups of 16 people.
The guides will deliver a ticket that will serve tourists who wish to re-enter Machu Picchu the next day to be shown at the entrance of the citadel.
It should be noted that tickets that have been booked and purchased until May 2 for the months between July and December will not have restrictions on the entry and exit.
This implementation responds to compliance with the “Regulation on Sustainable Use and Tourist Visit for the Conservation of the Llaqta or Inca City of Machupicchu”, approved by Ministerial Resolution No. 070-2017 of the Ministry of Culture.
The 2017 edition of the prestigious World Travel Awards South America will be held on September 9 in the Riviera Maya of Mexico and has 41 nominations for our country.
In total there are 31 nominations for the private sector - hotels, cruises, airports and travel agencies - and ten as a country, among which we highlight our capital as Best Destination for Meetings and Conferences, Best Sports Destination or Best Travel Destination of business.
Likewise, our country competes as Best Culinary Destination - a reward we have obtained for five consecutive years - Best Green Destination, Best Cultural Destination and Best Adventure Destination.
Voting for this award can be made until July 19.
The winners of the South American edition of the World Travel Awards (WTA) will compete in the worldwide edition of these awards, to be held on December 10 in Phu Quoc, Vietnam.
Peru is again in the eyes of the world!
The National Geographic Traveler Magazine of the United Kingdom has placed it within the five destinations to visit in 2017. The competition was tough, managing to impose itself among tourist places like Donegal, Greenland, Helsinki and Santiago.
This year has been very noticeable for Peru in the tourist area, after the BBC of the United Kingdom broadcast documentaries on the Peruvian Amazon and the fortress of Kuélap, being seen by millions of spectators.
Also, a new direct flight from London to Lima by British Airways was inaugurated.
National Geographic Magazine highlighted Peruvian gastronomy, tourist attractions such as Machu Picchu, one of the wonders of the modern world, and Kuélap, known for being built on top of a high mountain in Chachapoyas.
Those in charge of this list are the editors and writers of the magazine, who were fascinated with Peruvian culture and cuisine.
USA: Celebrate Peruvian Gastronomy Day, Why Wait?
Earlier this year, Washinton D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced that every first Sunday of June will henceforth be known as the official Peruvian Gastronomy Day. On that day, Peru’s Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister Magali Silva declared that this decision reflects the international recognition of Peruvian cuisine.
El Comercio reports that on June 4, the first annual Peruvian Gastronomy Day in history, the University of the District of Columbia will be putting on an event called “Taste of Peru” where 28 stands will offer a variety of Peruvian plates prepared by real Peruvian chefs that have their own restaurants in the United States.
Attendees can expect to find everything from ceviches and regional foods to national drinks and desserts at this smorgasbord.
We at Living in Peru are ecstatic that this event is set to become an annual happening in Washington D.C. and hope to see it spread throughout the states. Why wait?
Apega’s 2nd International Gastronomic Congress gathers the young and ambitious chefs of Peru’s future. Did it fulfill its mission?
Apega is Peru’s leading gastronomic council. They organize various events (such as Mistura) geared towards promoting Peruvian food and conscious eating.
This year, for the 2nd year in a row, they held their International Gastronomic Congress which has gained a little bit more of an entity since last year, yet dropped slightly in quality.
The Congress is geared towards students, mainly students who go to a school with moderate prestige in or around the city of Lima. About 75% of the attendees were students. Although the discussion topics seemed to be interesting, the way some of the speakers gave their presentations didn’t quite get any message across or pertain any useful information.
This isn’t to say there weren’t interesting speakers. Participants in the panel of nutritionists educated the room about how the greatest nutritional problems in the country span from obesity to extreme malnutrition, the necessary amounts of salts and sugars needed in our diets, and a crash course on the colon.
Other speakers included Bernarndo Roca Rey (President of Apega) & Eduardo Ferreyros (Minister of Exterior Commerce & Tourism); of whom the latter stated that the public and private sectors should work together to position our gastronomy (cuisine) in the world.
The most anticipated speaker at the congress was Malena Martinez, the scientific head of the Mater Initiative, which is the body of scientists who work with the world famous restaurant Central and chef Virgilio Martinez (who is also Malena’s brother.)
She gave a great presentation about what they do at Mater presenting their explorations to places within the country to find distinctive consumable flora and either identify or document them to later find a use for them in our food.
For those of us who already knew what Mater was all about, it was a slight disappointment because, I for one, was hoping to hear more about their discoveries. Also, quite a few students who saw me with a press pass asked me if, “Virgilio” was going to make an appearance, which was something that was implied in the promotion of the event.
All in all, Apega’s 2nd International Gastronomic Congress, met its goal. It educated the new generation of cooks in Lima and gave them exposure to different professionals in the field and different social issues, both ecologically and nutritionally, that they would have to answer as cooks. Was the knowledge all that valuable? Or when it was, was it enough? I’m not so sure of that.
Germany enjoyed Peru’s cuisine at a recent diplomatic event.
The Peruvian Embassy in Germany created an event to boost Peruvian food in the hosting country. According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Peruvian Gastronomic Week in Germany started on April 28 and it was held at the Inselhotel in Potsdam, capital of Brandenburg.
Political authorities from both countries were delighted by the Peruvian dishes. During the event, there was also an opportunity to introduce the many tourist attractions in Peru.
Peruvian Ambassador Elmer Schialer stressed the importance of Peruvian gastronomy and its export products including Superfoods.
Previously, Germany has hosted food fairs where Peru participated and presented its Superfood products to the world. The latest fair was held in Nuremberg where a Peruvian Committee displayed Peru’s native products at Biofach.
Peruvian superfood travels to Nuremberg
Events like this, strengthen ties between Peru and Germany. It is worth noting that Germany is involved in a conservation project along with the Peruvian Government.
El Comercio reports that on June 4, the first annual Peruvian Gastronomy Day in history, the University of the District of Columbia will be putting on an event called “Taste of Peru” where 28 stands will offer a variety of Peruvian plates prepared by real Peruvian chefs that have their own restaurants in the United States.
Attendees can expect to find everything from ceviches and regional foods to national drinks and desserts at this smorgasbord.
We at Living in Peru are ecstatic that this event is set to become an annual happening in Washington D.C. and hope to see it spread throughout the states. Why wait?
Apega’s 2nd International Gastronomic Congress gathers the young and ambitious chefs of Peru’s future. Did it fulfill its mission?
Apega is Peru’s leading gastronomic council. They organize various events (such as Mistura) geared towards promoting Peruvian food and conscious eating.
This year, for the 2nd year in a row, they held their International Gastronomic Congress which has gained a little bit more of an entity since last year, yet dropped slightly in quality.
The Congress is geared towards students, mainly students who go to a school with moderate prestige in or around the city of Lima. About 75% of the attendees were students. Although the discussion topics seemed to be interesting, the way some of the speakers gave their presentations didn’t quite get any message across or pertain any useful information.
This isn’t to say there weren’t interesting speakers. Participants in the panel of nutritionists educated the room about how the greatest nutritional problems in the country span from obesity to extreme malnutrition, the necessary amounts of salts and sugars needed in our diets, and a crash course on the colon.
Other speakers included Bernarndo Roca Rey (President of Apega) & Eduardo Ferreyros (Minister of Exterior Commerce & Tourism); of whom the latter stated that the public and private sectors should work together to position our gastronomy (cuisine) in the world.
The most anticipated speaker at the congress was Malena Martinez, the scientific head of the Mater Initiative, which is the body of scientists who work with the world famous restaurant Central and chef Virgilio Martinez (who is also Malena’s brother.)
She gave a great presentation about what they do at Mater presenting their explorations to places within the country to find distinctive consumable flora and either identify or document them to later find a use for them in our food.
For those of us who already knew what Mater was all about, it was a slight disappointment because, I for one, was hoping to hear more about their discoveries. Also, quite a few students who saw me with a press pass asked me if, “Virgilio” was going to make an appearance, which was something that was implied in the promotion of the event.
All in all, Apega’s 2nd International Gastronomic Congress, met its goal. It educated the new generation of cooks in Lima and gave them exposure to different professionals in the field and different social issues, both ecologically and nutritionally, that they would have to answer as cooks. Was the knowledge all that valuable? Or when it was, was it enough? I’m not so sure of that.
Germany enjoyed Peru’s cuisine at a recent diplomatic event.
The Peruvian Embassy in Germany created an event to boost Peruvian food in the hosting country. According to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Peruvian Gastronomic Week in Germany started on April 28 and it was held at the Inselhotel in Potsdam, capital of Brandenburg.
Political authorities from both countries were delighted by the Peruvian dishes. During the event, there was also an opportunity to introduce the many tourist attractions in Peru.
Peruvian Ambassador Elmer Schialer stressed the importance of Peruvian gastronomy and its export products including Superfoods.
Previously, Germany has hosted food fairs where Peru participated and presented its Superfood products to the world. The latest fair was held in Nuremberg where a Peruvian Committee displayed Peru’s native products at Biofach.
Peruvian superfood travels to Nuremberg
Events like this, strengthen ties between Peru and Germany. It is worth noting that Germany is involved in a conservation project along with the Peruvian Government.
PERU: Suspected Drug Traffickers Kill Two Policemen
Two Peruvian policemen were killed in an ambush on Wednesday by suspected drug traffickers in a remote Andean coca growing region, a regional police chief said on local radio.
The deaths come a week after Peru announced security forces would enter criminally controlled coca-growing areas for the first time as part of a plan to eradicate half the country's supply of the leaf used to make cocaine.
The police chief said the deaths occurred in Luricocha district in a region known as the VRAEM, where traffickers have formed alliances with remnant bands of Shining Path rebels and about 75 percent of Peru's coca is grown.
"They were returning from a road patrol when they were ambushed by alleged drug traffickers; there were six to eight attackers," Alexis Bahamonde, head of police in the VRAEM, said on RPP radio.
Peru and Andean neighbor Colombia are the world's biggest cocaine producers, according to the United Nations.
The government’s initiative to reduce coca producing areas by 50% appears to be having success, including an initiative to replace it with cacao. Are there more sides to the story?
In the past week, we have seen several big advancements in the coca eradication program that the incumbent government has put into place. First, Peru’s armed forces entered the rainforest valleys where the coca growers are concentrated.
Second, the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (DEVIDA) stated their goal of a 50% reduction in coca growing area by 2021.
Third and finally, in the valley of Bolson Cuchara near Tingo Maria, cacao has been introduced to replace coca leaves with considerable support, or some might say “pressure”, from DEVIDA.
As can be observed by the recent progression of news that has come out on the subject, there is a three-pronged attack on coca growing areas in Peru that is formed by the military, central government programs, and the introduction of a crop alternative for producers.
The allure for those producers who switch from coca to cacao, for example, is that of their work finally being under legal and formal conditions.
Another benefit reported by Telesur is the construction of infrastructure and the formal land titles those producers may receive once their business is legal and acceptable.
However, on another side of the debate, coca has been an important part of Peruvian culture for many centuries, if not millenniums, and some might consider these actions on part of the government rather heavy-handed and blind to this dimension.
That being said, the goal does not appear to be to eliminate all coca, as teas and other coca products are sold legally through Enaco,the National Coca Company in Peru.
Historically, however, it has been more profitable for growers to join the illegal market than to sell for the meager amount that Enaco pays per kilo, and so the government needs to seek other solutions apart from nationalizing the legal coca supply.
Is replacing it with cacao a good solution? Well, let’s be honest, the cacao business doesn’t have the most savory reputation either.
The last point is that it is well known in Peru that coca has often been misunderstood by foreigners for its connotation with the illegal drug cocaine, which is a highly condensed and processed form of the coca leaf.
Consumed naturally, it acts as a mild stimulant and has many medicinal properties including hunger and fatigue relief, altitude sickness, and stimulating stomach functions.
It is possible, maybe even probable, that much of the pressure to reduce or eliminate coca in Peru has come from foreign countries where the majority of cocaine consumption takes place rather than from within Peru where it is generally used as a medicinal herb or a mild stimulant.
This is, however, another theme with many economic and historic dimensions. There is so much more to the debate over coca to be taken into account than what we have covered here.
What do you think about the Coca plant and the government initiatives to reduce growing areas?
Are they right to do so, and to what extent?
The deaths come a week after Peru announced security forces would enter criminally controlled coca-growing areas for the first time as part of a plan to eradicate half the country's supply of the leaf used to make cocaine.
The police chief said the deaths occurred in Luricocha district in a region known as the VRAEM, where traffickers have formed alliances with remnant bands of Shining Path rebels and about 75 percent of Peru's coca is grown.
"They were returning from a road patrol when they were ambushed by alleged drug traffickers; there were six to eight attackers," Alexis Bahamonde, head of police in the VRAEM, said on RPP radio.
Peru and Andean neighbor Colombia are the world's biggest cocaine producers, according to the United Nations.
The government’s initiative to reduce coca producing areas by 50% appears to be having success, including an initiative to replace it with cacao. Are there more sides to the story?
In the past week, we have seen several big advancements in the coca eradication program that the incumbent government has put into place. First, Peru’s armed forces entered the rainforest valleys where the coca growers are concentrated.
Second, the National Commission for Development and Life without Drugs (DEVIDA) stated their goal of a 50% reduction in coca growing area by 2021.
Third and finally, in the valley of Bolson Cuchara near Tingo Maria, cacao has been introduced to replace coca leaves with considerable support, or some might say “pressure”, from DEVIDA.
As can be observed by the recent progression of news that has come out on the subject, there is a three-pronged attack on coca growing areas in Peru that is formed by the military, central government programs, and the introduction of a crop alternative for producers.
The allure for those producers who switch from coca to cacao, for example, is that of their work finally being under legal and formal conditions.
Another benefit reported by Telesur is the construction of infrastructure and the formal land titles those producers may receive once their business is legal and acceptable.
However, on another side of the debate, coca has been an important part of Peruvian culture for many centuries, if not millenniums, and some might consider these actions on part of the government rather heavy-handed and blind to this dimension.
That being said, the goal does not appear to be to eliminate all coca, as teas and other coca products are sold legally through Enaco,the National Coca Company in Peru.
Historically, however, it has been more profitable for growers to join the illegal market than to sell for the meager amount that Enaco pays per kilo, and so the government needs to seek other solutions apart from nationalizing the legal coca supply.
Is replacing it with cacao a good solution? Well, let’s be honest, the cacao business doesn’t have the most savory reputation either.
The last point is that it is well known in Peru that coca has often been misunderstood by foreigners for its connotation with the illegal drug cocaine, which is a highly condensed and processed form of the coca leaf.
Consumed naturally, it acts as a mild stimulant and has many medicinal properties including hunger and fatigue relief, altitude sickness, and stimulating stomach functions.
It is possible, maybe even probable, that much of the pressure to reduce or eliminate coca in Peru has come from foreign countries where the majority of cocaine consumption takes place rather than from within Peru where it is generally used as a medicinal herb or a mild stimulant.
This is, however, another theme with many economic and historic dimensions. There is so much more to the debate over coca to be taken into account than what we have covered here.
What do you think about the Coca plant and the government initiatives to reduce growing areas?
Are they right to do so, and to what extent?
KENYA: Madaraka Express Railway Launched, Cost $3.2 Billion
More than a century after a colonial railway gave birth to modern Kenya, the country has a new Chinese-built route to cement its position as the gateway to East Africa.
The $3.2 billion (2.8 billion euro) railway linking Nairobi with the port city of Mombasa will Wednesday take its first passengers on the 472 kilometre (293 mile) journey, allowing them to skip a hair-raising drive on one of Kenya's most dangerous highways.
The railway is the country's biggest infrastructure project since independence, and while it has courted controversy, it is a key selling point for the ruling Jubilee party ahead of August elections.
It is also part of a "master plan" by east African leaders to connect their nations by rail, with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) planned to eventually link Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi and Ethiopia.
There is no country which has ever developed without having a very robust railway system. It was long overdue, Kenya's Transport Minister James Macharia told this reporter.
He said not upgrading the railway in over 100 years has dragged us backwards in terms of development.
It was on May 30, 1896, that colonial Britain began building a railway from what is today Kenya's coast to improve access to the riches of Uganda, showing little interest in the wild land in between.
The railway, steeped in tales of swashbuckling colonial adventure and beloved by tourists up until its last, creaking journey in April, is credited with shaping Kenya into its current form.
The capital Nairobi, today a regional hub, was a swampy outpost with no particular attraction until it became the headquarters of Kenya Railways.
The construction of the railway is the stuff of legend, with British and Indian workers terrorised by a pair of lions said to have eaten some 135 men.
The train was later dubbed the Lunatic Express.
In as much as the old line traced the development of colonial Kenya, the new railway has proven a mirror for modern Kenya: dogged by corruption accusations, battling environmental concerns while trying to position itself as the gateway to east Africa.
The World Bank, and others, warned that building a new railway, instead of refurbishing the old one, was by far the most expensive option.
However, the government went ahead with the project, skipping an open tender to make a direct deal with China, whose Export Import Bank has loaned Kenya 90 percent of the venture's cost.
We should ask: Why did you negotiate this badly? said Kwame Owino, head of the Nairobi-based Institute of Economic Affairs.
He points to similar Chinese-built railways in Ethiopia, Tanzania and elsewhere on the continent which cost much less per kilometre.
Macharia dismisses this argument, saying Kenya's SGR could carry more cargo, and passes through trickier terrain.
He said the government expects the railway to boost GDP by 1.5 percent, allowing them to pay back the loan in about four years.
I think that is a little bit of wishful thinking, said Owino, questioning assumptions about the volume of cargo available to be carried, while warning high growth rates in east Africa were beginning to moderate.
He said the government, whose debt has doubled in three years, would be forced to raise taxes to cover the bill.
My feeling as an economist is that it is going to be a white elephant, but as a taxpayer I hope not,said Owino.
Trucks currently take two days to carry goods from Mombasa to Nairobi, while the train will take eight hours. Passenger trains will take around five hours.
The railway will be managed by the Chinese contractor for five years, with 610 Chinese workers in charge, while Kenyans are trained to take over.
The railway has also concerned environmentalists, as it cuts through a key wildlife migration route.
Ben Okita of Save The Elephants said that while underpasses have been built to allow elephants to cross, the creation of an embankment and fencing around the new railway was creating deadly confusion.
Previously one or two elephants were killed annually, but since 2016, 10 elephants have been hit on the old route.
They are used to crossing the old line and then they get to the new railway line and they find the fence and they get confused, in the process they are hit by a train, said Okita.
The next leg of the SGR, to connect Nairobi with the Rift Valley town of Naivasha at a cost of $1.5 billion has also caused a furore as it will cut through the capital's iconic national park.
The government is currently negotiating the financing to link Naivasha to Kisumu near the Ugandan border, which Macharia says is expected to cost another $3.5 billion.
President Uhuru Kenyatta last evening officially opened the Nairobi SGR station at Syokimau, with a vow to connect the line to other countries.
In his speech, he said the railway line is only a piece of the jigsaw for an integrated Africa.
We Kenyans will prosper alongside our neighbours, and peace and stability will be one of the fruits we shall reap together, he said.
I believe that Kenya’s geographic, economic and political position makes us destined to economically connect Africa to the rest of the world, and especially to the peoples and economies of the Indian Ocean Rim.
Our new railway will play an immense role. Some of the world’s largest cities, companies and populations are on the Indian Ocean Rim. Our location is strategic, he said.
President Kenyatta said he hopes there will be continuity of infrastructure projects regardless of who wins in the next elections.
In a press conference aboard the Madaraka Express train from Mombasa, the President said all projects under Vision 2030 must be completed regardless of changes in government.
It is my strong belief that administrations come and go. Governments are permanent and so we have a responsibility as leaders and even those who come after us to follow through because all these projects are all envisioned in Vision 2030 and they belong to Kenyans, he told journalists in a coach.
Whoever is in power has to ensure that public resources are utilised for projects that are ultimately completed for the benefit of Kenyans, he added.
The President was responding to questions about the completion of projects he started when he took power but which have been criticised by the Opposition who argued they have left the country indebted.
They signed a loan worth Sh327 billion to build the Standard Gauge Railway from China. The railway had been conceived during the Grand Coalition Government of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. They also signed loans from Japan to expand the Port of Mombasa and borrowed more to construct roads.
Kenya is due to hold elections this August and the fear is that a new administration under a different party or coalition could abandon them altogether.
The President, who was riding the inaugural train journey on the new railway, though, argued his administration was following through a vision established years ago when he was not in power.
When we took over in 2013, there are no projects that we stopped. We actually focused ourselves first to finish the projects that had been initiated or were in various stages of completion by the previous administration, he said.
We only started our programmes once we had completed those. That is why we are now at the tail end. And actually delayed in some of the projects we had wanted to start, he said.
The President was riding with his Deputy William Ruto, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials, African diplomats and Chinese officials.
During his many stops, the President announced lowered fares for economy class from Sh900 to Sh700 between Nairobi and Mombasa. Kenyans can buy tickets from any train station.
National Super Alliance presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga has said he would prosecute people who inflated the cost of the standard gauge railway if he forms the next government.
Mr Odinga said the project cost Ksh227 billion but was inflated to Ksh327 billion by the Jubilee administration.
We know the people responsible and it is not the Chinese, he told a press conference at Orange House.
Mr Odinga, however, said the railway would contribute to the economic growth of the country.
We are happy it is happening. We want to thank the Chinese Government for working with us to make this dream a reality, he said.
Opposition leader hit out at President Kenyatta and Mombasa County Directorate of Criminal Investigations head Washington Muthee for blocking Governor Hassan Ali Joho from attending the launch of the standard gauge railway.
This is a national project. Joho is leading one of the 47 county governments. The project was launched in his county and he should have been there, Mr Odinga said.
He is the one who should have welcomed the President to do the launch.
He also blamed Mr Kenyatta for using the launch of the project to campaign.
At the same time, Mr Odinga said this year’s elections would be a bigger tsunami than what the country witnessed in 2002 when the National Rainbow Coalition ended Kanu’s long rein.
We will walk with everyone and we urge Kenyans to join Nasa, said Mr Odinga while receiving a delegation of politicians from Nakuru, led by former county TNA chairman Peter Njuguna, who defected to the opposition.
Mr Odinga said he supported President Kenyatta’s stand on action to be taken against railway vandals.
During the launch, Mr Kenyatta said he would sign execution orders for vandal as he equated the railway destruct on to economic sabotage.
Mr Odinga said the project was a big step towards Kenya’s economic freedom.
Anyone who attempts vandalise the railway is foolish, Mr Odinga said.
He, however, called for legal procedures and the Constitution to be followed when punishing offenders.
We do not want to return to the days when people were detained without trial, the opposition leader said.
The $3.2 billion (2.8 billion euro) railway linking Nairobi with the port city of Mombasa will Wednesday take its first passengers on the 472 kilometre (293 mile) journey, allowing them to skip a hair-raising drive on one of Kenya's most dangerous highways.
The railway is the country's biggest infrastructure project since independence, and while it has courted controversy, it is a key selling point for the ruling Jubilee party ahead of August elections.
It is also part of a "master plan" by east African leaders to connect their nations by rail, with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) planned to eventually link Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Burundi and Ethiopia.
There is no country which has ever developed without having a very robust railway system. It was long overdue, Kenya's Transport Minister James Macharia told this reporter.
He said not upgrading the railway in over 100 years has dragged us backwards in terms of development.
It was on May 30, 1896, that colonial Britain began building a railway from what is today Kenya's coast to improve access to the riches of Uganda, showing little interest in the wild land in between.
The railway, steeped in tales of swashbuckling colonial adventure and beloved by tourists up until its last, creaking journey in April, is credited with shaping Kenya into its current form.
The capital Nairobi, today a regional hub, was a swampy outpost with no particular attraction until it became the headquarters of Kenya Railways.
The construction of the railway is the stuff of legend, with British and Indian workers terrorised by a pair of lions said to have eaten some 135 men.
The train was later dubbed the Lunatic Express.
In as much as the old line traced the development of colonial Kenya, the new railway has proven a mirror for modern Kenya: dogged by corruption accusations, battling environmental concerns while trying to position itself as the gateway to east Africa.
The World Bank, and others, warned that building a new railway, instead of refurbishing the old one, was by far the most expensive option.
However, the government went ahead with the project, skipping an open tender to make a direct deal with China, whose Export Import Bank has loaned Kenya 90 percent of the venture's cost.
We should ask: Why did you negotiate this badly? said Kwame Owino, head of the Nairobi-based Institute of Economic Affairs.
He points to similar Chinese-built railways in Ethiopia, Tanzania and elsewhere on the continent which cost much less per kilometre.
Macharia dismisses this argument, saying Kenya's SGR could carry more cargo, and passes through trickier terrain.
He said the government expects the railway to boost GDP by 1.5 percent, allowing them to pay back the loan in about four years.
I think that is a little bit of wishful thinking, said Owino, questioning assumptions about the volume of cargo available to be carried, while warning high growth rates in east Africa were beginning to moderate.
He said the government, whose debt has doubled in three years, would be forced to raise taxes to cover the bill.
My feeling as an economist is that it is going to be a white elephant, but as a taxpayer I hope not,said Owino.
Trucks currently take two days to carry goods from Mombasa to Nairobi, while the train will take eight hours. Passenger trains will take around five hours.
The railway will be managed by the Chinese contractor for five years, with 610 Chinese workers in charge, while Kenyans are trained to take over.
The railway has also concerned environmentalists, as it cuts through a key wildlife migration route.
Ben Okita of Save The Elephants said that while underpasses have been built to allow elephants to cross, the creation of an embankment and fencing around the new railway was creating deadly confusion.
Previously one or two elephants were killed annually, but since 2016, 10 elephants have been hit on the old route.
They are used to crossing the old line and then they get to the new railway line and they find the fence and they get confused, in the process they are hit by a train, said Okita.
The next leg of the SGR, to connect Nairobi with the Rift Valley town of Naivasha at a cost of $1.5 billion has also caused a furore as it will cut through the capital's iconic national park.
The government is currently negotiating the financing to link Naivasha to Kisumu near the Ugandan border, which Macharia says is expected to cost another $3.5 billion.
President Uhuru Kenyatta last evening officially opened the Nairobi SGR station at Syokimau, with a vow to connect the line to other countries.
In his speech, he said the railway line is only a piece of the jigsaw for an integrated Africa.
We Kenyans will prosper alongside our neighbours, and peace and stability will be one of the fruits we shall reap together, he said.
I believe that Kenya’s geographic, economic and political position makes us destined to economically connect Africa to the rest of the world, and especially to the peoples and economies of the Indian Ocean Rim.
Our new railway will play an immense role. Some of the world’s largest cities, companies and populations are on the Indian Ocean Rim. Our location is strategic, he said.
President Kenyatta said he hopes there will be continuity of infrastructure projects regardless of who wins in the next elections.
In a press conference aboard the Madaraka Express train from Mombasa, the President said all projects under Vision 2030 must be completed regardless of changes in government.
It is my strong belief that administrations come and go. Governments are permanent and so we have a responsibility as leaders and even those who come after us to follow through because all these projects are all envisioned in Vision 2030 and they belong to Kenyans, he told journalists in a coach.
Whoever is in power has to ensure that public resources are utilised for projects that are ultimately completed for the benefit of Kenyans, he added.
The President was responding to questions about the completion of projects he started when he took power but which have been criticised by the Opposition who argued they have left the country indebted.
They signed a loan worth Sh327 billion to build the Standard Gauge Railway from China. The railway had been conceived during the Grand Coalition Government of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga. They also signed loans from Japan to expand the Port of Mombasa and borrowed more to construct roads.
Kenya is due to hold elections this August and the fear is that a new administration under a different party or coalition could abandon them altogether.
The President, who was riding the inaugural train journey on the new railway, though, argued his administration was following through a vision established years ago when he was not in power.
When we took over in 2013, there are no projects that we stopped. We actually focused ourselves first to finish the projects that had been initiated or were in various stages of completion by the previous administration, he said.
We only started our programmes once we had completed those. That is why we are now at the tail end. And actually delayed in some of the projects we had wanted to start, he said.
The President was riding with his Deputy William Ruto, cabinet secretaries, senior government officials, African diplomats and Chinese officials.
During his many stops, the President announced lowered fares for economy class from Sh900 to Sh700 between Nairobi and Mombasa. Kenyans can buy tickets from any train station.
National Super Alliance presidential flag bearer Raila Odinga has said he would prosecute people who inflated the cost of the standard gauge railway if he forms the next government.
Mr Odinga said the project cost Ksh227 billion but was inflated to Ksh327 billion by the Jubilee administration.
We know the people responsible and it is not the Chinese, he told a press conference at Orange House.
Mr Odinga, however, said the railway would contribute to the economic growth of the country.
We are happy it is happening. We want to thank the Chinese Government for working with us to make this dream a reality, he said.
Opposition leader hit out at President Kenyatta and Mombasa County Directorate of Criminal Investigations head Washington Muthee for blocking Governor Hassan Ali Joho from attending the launch of the standard gauge railway.
This is a national project. Joho is leading one of the 47 county governments. The project was launched in his county and he should have been there, Mr Odinga said.
He is the one who should have welcomed the President to do the launch.
He also blamed Mr Kenyatta for using the launch of the project to campaign.
At the same time, Mr Odinga said this year’s elections would be a bigger tsunami than what the country witnessed in 2002 when the National Rainbow Coalition ended Kanu’s long rein.
We will walk with everyone and we urge Kenyans to join Nasa, said Mr Odinga while receiving a delegation of politicians from Nakuru, led by former county TNA chairman Peter Njuguna, who defected to the opposition.
Mr Odinga said he supported President Kenyatta’s stand on action to be taken against railway vandals.
During the launch, Mr Kenyatta said he would sign execution orders for vandal as he equated the railway destruct on to economic sabotage.
Mr Odinga said the project was a big step towards Kenya’s economic freedom.
Anyone who attempts vandalise the railway is foolish, Mr Odinga said.
He, however, called for legal procedures and the Constitution to be followed when punishing offenders.
We do not want to return to the days when people were detained without trial, the opposition leader said.
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