Filed under: air travel, airlines news, cheap flights, flights, main, news, perfect flights, travel | Tags: Bangkok, Breaking News, Business, canada, Toronto
The news comes after the A380 was successfully launched in Sydney and Auckland in February.
Tim Clark, Emirates’ president, said he was “extremely pleased” that the aircraft would operate on the flights to Toronto and the Thai capital.
“Our Toronto route has had consistently high demand since the thrice weekly service was launched two years ago,” he said.
“The A380 will allow Emirates to address some of the unmet need in Toronto, while in Bangkok the A380 will help support the Thai government’s new tourism initiatives.”
Capacity on the routes will increase by around 30 percent following the introduction of the A380.
Among the aircraft’s features are onboard shower spas in the first class cabin, while the onboard lounge available to first and business class passengers includes a bar offering a number of beverages and canapes.
Earlier this month Emirates was unveiled as FIFA’s Global Tour Operator for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
Filed under: air travel, airlines news, cheap flights, flights, main, news, travel | Tags: Africa, Breaking News, Business
A humanitarian air service run by the World Food Programme, serving Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone is to stop because of a lack of money.
The WFP service to four of Africa’s poorest countries costs the UN half a million US dollars a month. It uses chartered helicopters and aircraft to ferry aid workers and supplies to remote parts areas in the region.
The decision has been called a death blow for thousands who depend on the service.
Filed under: air travel, cheap flights, flights, main, news, travel | Tags: tourism
DONCASTER’S tourism industry has suffered a major blow after flights from Robin Hood Airport to Dublin were axed.
Airline Ryanair is to ditch flights from Finningley to the Irish capital in a move it blamed on air traffic control costs introduced by the Irish Government.
Robin Hood bosses have now said they intend to find another airline to operate the route which was used by around 60,000 people in the last year.
The announcement is the latest blow to the airport which has seen a number of city destinations including Amsterdam, Paris and Prague lost since it opened in 2005.
Neil Pakey, deputy chief executive of Peel Airports, which owns Robin Hood, said: “There is no hiding our disappointment at the Ryanair announcement and we know that there will be a similar reaction from the
many thousands of passengers who have supported the service.”
Previous statistics have shown that the route brought Irish tourists to Doncaster with the borough’s races a popular destination.
Coun Jonathan Wood, Doncaster Council’s economy committee watchdog vice chairman, warned of the dangers of taxes pushing business out.
He added: “Any loss of service, particularly in this economic climate, is a big blow to Doncaster.
“I’m sure it will hurt tourism and the racing economy in the borough, and hurt us as a stopping off point to other places in Yorkshire and the UK.
“I would worry there may be a knock-on effect on hotels.”
Ryanair said its Doncaster to Dublin route would stop in July. It added that services from Doncaster to Alicante and Girona in Spain were not affected.
The Irish company’s Dublin to Teeside, Basle, and Porto routes would be axed and eight other routes will be reduced.
Ryanair said increased taxes and other price hikes had led to a 12 per cent drop in passenger numbers travelling to Dublin last month.
Michael Cawley, Ryanair’s deputy chief executive, said: “This latest 12 per cent increase in government-controlled charges at Dublin Airport is another nail in the coffin of Irish tourism.
“These massive cost increases prove that the Irish government is devastating the tourism industry.
“Ryanair appreciates that it is not only the Irish economy that is affected by these horrendous increases in air traffic control charges, and we will continue to look at other route opportunities from
Doncaster and Tees Valley where such draconian cost increases are not imposed upon us.”
A spokesman for the department of transport in the Irish Republic said: “This decision by Ryanair is regrettable but the Government’s
departure tax is not why Ryanair decided to cut these services.”
Filed under: air travel, airlines news, cheap flights, flights, main, news, travel | Tags: Breaking News, Business
Air Jamaica is to discontinue its hot meal service and complimentary champagne for economy class passengers – a main plank of the airline’s marketing strategy in the mid-1990s – as it seeks to drive down costs.
The airline said it will be replacing the hot meal service with a 
complimentary packaged snack, but passengers will continue to enjoy complimentary tea, coffee, soft drinks and juices. Passengers will also have to pay for alcoholic beverages.
The changes are to take effect May 1.
The airline said its premium service in Lovebird Executive Class will continue to feature complimentary meals and beverages.
In a telephone interview yesterday, Air Jamaica’s president and chief executive officer, Bruce Nobles, told the Observer that the cuts were necessary for the airline to remain competitive.
“I don’t know if there is any carrier in the world which serves hot meals except for those long flights like 15 hours,” he said, adding that the airline plans to develop a “buy on board” meal programme.
Earlier in a release, Nobles said the changes will allow the airline “to be more competitive in today’s environment and will secure significant efficiencies as we serve the travel needs of our customers”.
Yesterday’s announcement was the latest of several new measures to stop haemorrhaging at the airline, apparently in readiness for divestment.
As part of what it said was the beginning of the execution of a new business plan, the airline last month dropped several routes, including its previously popular flights to the United States city of Miami, in addition to reducing its aeroplanes from 15 to nine with plans to drastically cut staff.
The airline lost US$170 million last year and a month ago Nobles told Parliament’s Public Administration and Appropriations Committee that US$135 million would be needed to offset the airline’s losses over the next six months as well as to pay transition cost to put the company’s new business plan in place.
More Brits are finding it easier to travel to Brittany following the introduction of direct flights to Rennes, the Brittany Tourist Board has said.
Michael Dodds, director of the Brittany Tourist Board, said that Rennes could become a popular city break destination because “it is a very happening place”.
Commenting on Brittany’s appeal, Mr Dodds said: “The Welsh and the Scottish feel very at home there and you can sense it in the old stone and the general ambience of the place.
“There are no ten places you have to go and see [as] they’ve all got their own appeal and a special feel about the place.”
Mr Dodds added that Brittany has “become very accessible” due to airlines flying into Rennes and regional airlines serving Brest and Quimper.
One of the region’s biggest draws is its 600km of navigable waterways, which range from the historic Nantes-a-Brest canal to the Rance and Vilaine river estuaries.
According to figures from the Office for National Statistics, the number of Brits travelling to Europe fell by one percent in February to 54.5 million.
