Travel News Page 733
Celebrating Jane Austen’s 250th Anniversary in the City of Bath
2025 marks 250 years since the birth of Jane Austen and Strictly Jane Austen Tours, known for its inspiring Regency adventures, is marking the occasion with two six-day celebrations in the heart of Bath, the city she called home. Devotees of Jane Austen can be found across the world, and they are positively a-flutter with excitement about their heroine’s upcoming anniversary. With these ‘Janeites’ in mind, Bath’s most Austen-tatious travel company has curated an exceptional programme of events in Spring and Autumn 2025.
Madeira’s Capital City, Funchal, Recognised for Clarity of Air
Funchal, the capital city of the Madeira archipelago, has been recognised in a report released by the European Environment Agency as one of Europe’s leading cities when it comes to air quality and cleanliness. According to the agency’s latest report, released on 29th August, Funchal was ranked in eighth place among a list of more than 350 cities.
Manila welcomes travel leaders for first World Travel Awards ceremony in Philippines
Manila, the beguiling capital of the Philippines, is making final preparations as it steps up to host the World Travel Awards Asia & Oceania Gala Ceremony 2024. The historic city is welcoming travel and tourism figureheads from across the region for the VIP reception at City of Dreams Manila, World Travel Awards Official Hotel Partner, on 3 September.
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Interview with Philip Barnes, Rotana CEO
FHS World, 30 SEP - 02 OCT 2024 Madinat Jumeirah, Dubai, is the hospitality industry’s platform to invest in its future. It is a premium platform for investors, hotel owners and operators in the hospitality industry to connect, network and drive the future of hospitality.BTN caught up with Philip Barnes, Rotana CEO
Greece’s emerging summer destinations lead the way in tourism growth
As Greece continues to be one of the world’s top travel destinations, there is a notable shift in travel demand as travellers are increasingly seeking off-the-beaten-path locations for their Greek holidays, according to the latest report, “Emerging Destinations in Greece 2024,” which highlights evolving travel preferences and the country’s ability to maintain competitive hotel rates despite growing international competition.
Finnair celebrates 70 years of flights between London and Helsinki
Finnair celebrated 70 years of flights between London and Helsinki yesterday, having operated its first-ever service between the two cities in 1954. The Nordic airline’s inaugural flight departed Helsinki on 1 September 1954, flying to Copenhagen and on to Dusseldorf, before finally arriving in London Airport - now known as Heathrow - over eight hours later; compared to just three hours today.
Turkish Airlines Celebrates 20 Million Miles&Smiles Members
Turkish Airlines, the airline that flies to more countries than any other, has announced a significant milestone for its Miles&Smiles loyalty programme, welcoming its 20 millionth member. This achievement marks 35 years of growth and innovation since the frequent flyer programme’s inception in 1989.
KLM takes delivery of its first Airbus A321neo aircraft
Dutch national carrier KLM, member of the Air France-KLM Group, has taken delivery of its first A321neo as part of their fleet modernisation with latest generation, fuel-efficient aircraft. With the aircraft KLM joins the community of successful A321neo operators. By selecting the A321neo, KLM brings on-board the latest technology to lower decibels and to reduce the noise footprint during take-off, approach and landing. Together with its advanced fuel efficiency, the A321neo will play a key role in KLM’s environmental ambition.
Lufthansa Airbus takes off in fall with special ‘helping hands’ livery
Exactly 25 years ago, Lufthansa Group employees in Frankfurt am Main founded the help alliance, Lufthansa Group’s aid organization. To mark this anniversary, Europe’s largest aviation company is sending a clear sign of support across the continent: an Airbus A321neo with the lettering ‘help alliance’ and many colorful “helping hands” will be flying in Lufthansa’s European route network from autumn.
Ethiopian Airlines to Add Dhaka, Bangladesh, to its Expanding Global Network
Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s leading carrier, is pleased to announce the commencement of its new six weekly flights to Dhaka, Bangladesh, starting November 1, 2024. The new service will be operated with the state-of-the-art Boeing B787 Dreamliner, offering passengers a comfortable and seamless travel experience.
Emirates celebrates South Africa with spectacular, first-ever A380 flypast
Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, takes to the skies to celebrate its longstanding and ongoing commitment to South Africa, with the country’s first ever A380 flypast. Running up the score, the remarkable low-level aerial showcase also marks Emirates’ first ever flypast in Africa and the first international airline to execute such a feat in South Africa.
SWISS improves punctuality while transporting more passengers
SWISS has reported mixed results from its flight operations for the 2024 summer holiday period. Various actions taken in advance of this year’s peak travel season helped raise the airline’s year-to-date punctuality to 64 per cent – an improvement on the same period in 2023 that was achieved despite its transporting some 8 per cent more passengers this summer between the beginning of July and the middle of August. At the same time, more SWISS travellers were affected by irregularities this year during the peak summer period. Most of these were attributable to exogenous factors such as thunderstorms, bottlenecks in Europe’s air traffic control system and associated knock-on delays.