“The Lufthansa Group continues to develop successfully,” says Carsten Spohr, Chairman of the Executive Board & CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG. “We are again in a stronger position today than we were a year ago. And once again we were able to convince our customers of the quality and the appeal of our products and services.” “In a very demanding market environment,” Spohr adds, “we successfully kept the Lufthansa Group’s margins at their record prior-year levels, through consistent capacity...
Today, WestJet launched its newest service to Montreal with the departure of flight 3451 from Halifax. The new route operates twice daily on WestJet Encore using its fleet of Canadian-made Bombardier Q400 NextGen aircraft. “WestJet sees a bright travel future for both the Quebec and Nova Scotia markets as we add to our growing presence in Eastern Canada,” said Brian Znotins, WestJet Vice-President, Network Planning, Alliances and Corporate Development. “We are proud to connect...
The Secretariat of the World Tourism Organization referring to decision CE/DEC/15(CIV) of the Executive Council at its 104th session (Luxor, Egypt, 30 October – 1 November 2016), on the procedure for the election of the Secretary-General, informs in regards to the election for the post of Secretary-General for the period 2018-2021, that as of 11 March 2017, 24:00 hours, Madrid time, the deadline for the submission of candidatures in accordance with the aforementioned decision, the following...
The US Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported today that US airlines carried an all-time high number of passengers in 2016 – 823.0 million systemwide, 719.0 million domestic and 103.9 million international – surpassing the previous highs reached in 2015. The airlines also set all-time annual highs for systemwide, domestic and international revenue passenger miles (RPMs) and available seat-miles (ASMs). Although passenger trips handled by airlines...
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are expected to welcome 195 million international tourists by 2030. Between 25 million and 50 million new jobs will be required in the region over the next decade. Over 20 Ministers and industry leaders will gather at the Ministerial Forum to discuss how tourism can play a role in the future of the MENA region. Visitors to the MENA region will total 195 million by 2030, growing at a rate higher than the world average, according to figures by the World...
The National Assembly has approved the Seychelles Tourism Board’s (STB) proposed budget for 2017 amounting to the sum of R147.3m. This was during the National Assembly’s sitting this morning, after the leader of government business Charles de Commarmond presented a motion to move that the National Assembly resolves to approve the supplementary estimates to regularize the expenditure of SR226,533,165 (Rupees Two hundred and twenty-six million, five hundred and thirty –three thousand and one...
“The decision to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities is a new low point for the current Administration. By ignoring the voices of millions of Americans, and focusing on the ill-informed advice of organizations like The Heritage Foundation, President Trump has taken an ax to one of the best investments the federal government makes year in and year out. Rather than the short-sighted point of view that the arts are a frivolity or a...
Russian low-cost carrier Pobeda last week announced it will launch a new service to Turkey on a Moscow Vnukovo-Alanya/Gazipasa route, starting April 21. Pobeda Airlines is a wholly owned subsidiary of Aeroflot and is based in the Vnukovo International Airport, an international airport 28 kilometers southwest of Moscow. The airlines will fly a Boeing 737-800 aircraft on its new route 3 times a week.
Rossiya Airlines will add flights to Turkey in just a few days, via a St. Petersburg-Istanbul Ataturk route, beginning March 27. The airline will operate an Airbus A319 aircraft to accommodate this route 3 times a week. Rossiya Airlines is a Russian airline based in Saint Petersburg with its hub at Pulkovo Airport. Istanbul Atatürk Airport is the main international airport serving Istanbul.
Oman’s national airline, Oman Air, announced plans to increase air service on its Muscat-Jakarta route this summer, beginning on July 2, 2017. Flights will grow from 4 weekly to 6 weekly. Muscat is considered the pulsating heart of Oman, and it is linked to Port Sultan Qaboos by Muttrah Corniche where visitors can view the variety of nature, from golden beaches to mountainous heights, and golden sand dunes. It has a unique intermingling of ancient cultural heritage and modern style. Visitors...
HK Express will beef up its summer service to Eastern Taiwan when it commences another daily flight from Hong Kong to Hualien beginning March 26, 2017. Right now, the airline is flying between the 2 destinations 5 times a week. HK Express is Hong Kong’s first and only low-cost carrier, bringing competition to the Hong Kong market and surrounding region. The airline’s first flight took off on October 27, 2013, and it currently flies to destinations around Asia including cities in Japan, Korea...
Tanzanian airline, Precision Air, provides scheduled flight services to over 10 destinations within and outside Tanzania from its main hub, Dar es Salaam. Come this summer and fall, in July and October respectively, the airline will increase its routes on the regional level as well as bringing service back to Entebbe. Starting July 1, Precision Air will begin flying a Dar es Salaam-Kilimanjaro-Entebbe route, and a Dar es Salaam-Zanzibar-Arusha route. Four days later on July 5, the airline will...
Come March 27, less than 2 weeks from today, Oman Air will launch a 4-times-a-week service from Muscat to Nairobi, using a Boeing B737-800NG on the route. The flights will leave Muscat every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 1450 hours local time and are scheduled to land in the Kenyan capital at 1855 hours local time. The return flights are then leaving at 0045 hours the following day, i.e., Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday, landing at 0650 hours, in time for connections into...
tigerair will be taking over Scoot Jaipur’s Singapore-Jaipur flights beginning March 26, 2017, subject to government approval. Jaipur is the first planned city of India and is known the world over for its colored gems. The capital city of Rajasthan combines the allure of its ancient history with all the advantages of a metropolis. This bustling modern city is one of the three corners of the golden triangle that includes Delhi, Agra, and Jaipur. The airline is planning on 4 weekly nonstop...
A federal judge in Hawaii granted the state’s request to block President Trump’s revised travel ban. Trump has said his administration will appeal. Just one day ahead of when the revised ban was to take effect, US District Court Judge Derrick Watson granted a temporary restraining order against the ban, finding that the order violates the religious establishment clause in the US Constitution. Swaying the judge’s decision was the remark made by Trump while he was campaigning...
Royal Air Maroc has revised its original plans for New York JFK and Sao Paulo, for its summer flight schedule. The airline will keep its plans to increase service on its Casablanca-New York JFK route using a Boeing 787-8 but instead of 14 weekly flights during the period March 27 – May 14, there will now be 11 weekly flights. Also, from May 15 to June 18, the initial increase of 7 weekly flights has grown to 8-9, and on June 19 will go up to 14 weekly flights. On its Casablanca-Sao Paulo...
WizzAir is introducing a new route from Sofia to Bratislava. Beginning June 30, this route will be served 4 times a week. Sofia is the capital of the Balkan nation of Bulgaria. The city’s landmarks reflect more than 2,000 years of history, including Greek, Roman, Ottoman, and Soviet occupation, making for a grand cultural and historical trip. Of equal cultural delight is Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, set along the Danube River by the border with Austria and Hungary. It’s surrounded by...
The Chainsmokers have been announced as the first and headline act to perform at MTV’s annual open-air, summer music festival – Isle of MTV Malta. Widely regarded across the music industry as one of the “breakout acts” of 2016, the multi-platinum selling duo will perform the closing set under the stars, on Tuesday, June 27. MTV’s partnership with the Malta Tourism Authority was recently renewed for a further four years and will be returning to the sun-lit island for what is the 11th consecutive...
Frontier Airlines announced it is ending service to Havana, Cuba, in June of this year. The last flight will take place onboard an Airbus A320 departing from Miami, Florida, on June 4 and landing in Havana, Cuba. The airline is headquartered in Denver, Colorado, USA, and currently serves more than 55 cities in the United States, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic on more than 275 daily flights.
TAROM, Romanian airline and member of skyteam, announced it is expanding its summer service to Spain. The airline is adding one flight to its Bucharest-Barcelona route and Bucharest-Valencia route, as well as adding 2 more flights to its Bucharest-Madrid route. TAROM is Romania’s flag carrier and the oldest operating airline of the country. Its headquarters and main hub are located at the Henri Coandă International Airport. TAROM is also the largest airline operating in Romania based on...
Etihad Airways is introducing its award-winning A380 on the Abu Dhabi-Paris route this summer as part of seasonal adjustments to the airline’s fleet deployment plan. The aircraft will operate on one of its twice-daily services to the French capital between July 1 and October 28. Paris becomes the airline’s latest A380 long-haul destination following London, Sydney, New York and Melbourne. With the aircraft upgrade from a 328-seat Boeing 777, Etihad Airways is able to offer an all-A380 daily...
Air Astana and Lufthansa have enhanced their cooperation with the signing of a codeshare agreement today. The codeshare agreement is valid on Air Astana’s flights between Astana and Frankfurt and Lufthansa’s flights from Frankfurt to Almaty and Astana with effect from 26th March 2017. The agreement allows for increased choice for the customers of both airlines. Passengers will now be able to choose from a combined total of 14 flights per week instead of the seven weekly flights between...
Low-cost carrier, Volaris, is a Mexican airline based in Santa Fe, Álvaro Obregón, Mexico City, with its main base at Tijuana International Airport. Volaris has scheduled a second service to Ontario, Canada, serving flights from Leon/Gyanajuato twice a week. León is the most populous city and municipality in the Mexican state of Guanajuato. In the 2015 Intercensal Survey, INEGI reported 1,578,626 people living in the municipality of León, making it the fourth most populous municipality in...
A woman’s battery-operated headphones exploded on a flight from Beijing to Melbourne, leaving her with a blackened face and singed hair. Australian officials have warned of the dangers of batteries on flights as a result. The unnamed woman was listening to music on her battery-operated headphones on a flight in February. Two hours into the flight, the passenger, who had fallen asleep, heard a loud explosion and felt a burning sensation on her face. “As I went to turn around I felt burning on my...
Today was the start of MITT 2017 in Moscow. With over 1,600 participating companies from around the globe, MITT is the key meeting place for the tourism industry in Russia or interested in Russian tourism. Dmytro Makarov from the eTN head office in Hawaii was among the participants. He met today with Daria Ovechkina Fomina. She is a mountain climber and a medical doctor from Russia. She recently got married in Tyanboche in the Everest Region of Nepal. She was among the many visitors saying...
Air Canada announced today the introduction of daily summer seasonal service between Vancouver and Boston starting June 23, 2017 until September 4, 2017. “We continue to strategically expand our trans-border network and we are excited to link Vancouver and Boston with daily nonstop flights this summer, complementing our existing Boston services from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Halifax. These new non-stop flights will shave two hours of travel time for customers travelling between the...
Through the Cologne Tourist Board, groups of visitors can now book exclusive tours of the European Astronaut Centre (EAC) on the grounds of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Cologne-Wahnheide. The tours are organized by Space Time Concepts GmbH. The service can be booked in either English or German and includes a presentation as well as a guided tour of the training centre. After the tour, visitors can ask questions regarding the work of the EAC, astronaut training and space travel in...
Budapest Airport has been awarded the Skytrax title for “Best Airport in the Region” for the fourth time in a row – the first time in the history of the awards that an Eastern European airport has kept its top position for four consecutive years. Presented at the gala reception of the biggest airport-related fair on the continent, the Skytrax World Airport Awards were staged last night at Passenger Terminal EXPO. Hosted in Amsterdam this year, the award for winning the title of “Best Airport in...
Norway has approved the financing of an ambitious project to build the world’s first full-size tunnel for ships. The tunnel will be 45 meters high, 36 meters wide and 1.7 kilometers long, and be constructed through the Stad peninsula on the west coast of Norway. The tunnel will be designed to accommodate 16,000-tonne cargo and passenger ships with a draft up to 12 meters. “It will provide a safe journey around Stad, laying the foundation for the region’s industrial development and establishment...
The 2017 tourist season at Loop Head Lighthouse commences tomorrow as the historic West Clare landmark opens to the public for the first time this year. Clare County Council, which manages the lighthouse in conjunction with the Commissioner of Irish Lights (CIL), says 27,274 people visited the lighthouse in 2016 delivering an estimated €2 million injection to the local economy. The popular tourist attraction is located at the mouth of the Shannon Estuary on the Loop Head Peninsula, which is one...
