Google now offers a Street View of the Dublin airport and the interior of an Aer Lingus Boeing 757. Check it out here.
A Warner Bros theme park is to open in Abu Dhabi in 2018. The National reports that the park will be on Yas Island, which is also home to the Ferrari World and Water World parks. The report said that work on the US$1 billion, 19-ride park and a themed hotel has already begun. Meanwhile, there are reports that the Legoland, Motiongate and Bollywood parks planned for Dubai will be joined by a Six Flags park.
Singapore Airlines and Airbus have launched a pilot training centre with the capacity for 10,000 trainees a year. The news comes on back of a warning that Asia faces a severe shortage of pilots as air travel demand increases. “We believe that we will require close to 200,000 pilots for the region, whereas there are only 65,000 right now, in the next 20 years,” Airbus president and CEO Fabrice Bregier said. The new training centre has eight full-flight simulators and six cockpit training devices. SCMP.com has the story here.
Halal tourism, targeting Muslims who want an Islamic travel experience, is growing around the world. The Halal Tourism Conference, from May 3-5 in Konya, Turkey, will bring together big names in the travel industry from Europe, Middle East and the Far East. Themed “Developing Halal Tourism Industries” it will feature speeches, panel discussions and workshops and will se the launch of new campaigns and projects. More than 1,000 delegates are expected and 100 businesses will exhibit. And, of course, there are 1.6 million potential customers. Details here.
Celebrity Cruises has launched faster internet access on most of its fleet. Called Xcelerate, it promises accelerated page loads, more dependable video streaming and Skype capability. It has also revealed details of land excursions out of Abu Dhabi, where Celebrity Constellation will be based in 2016/17 season. More here.
Airports are probably not be the best place to exchange currency, although those booths certainly are handy. According to this report, some place are better than others. It ays that the worst places in the UK to convert British pounds into euros are Cardiff, Luton, Stansted, Birmingham and Exeter. The worst places to buy US dollars with sterling are Cardiff, Glasgow Prestwick, Glasgow, Luton and Stansted. If you’re wondering what’s at stake here, The Telegraph says the difference when buying £1,000 worth of currency between the best (Travelex at Heathrow Terminal 5) and worst (ForExchange at Cardiff) was €160. That’s a lot of holiday fun going into somebody else’s pocket.
Forget your preconceptions about Russian airlines, Aeroflot is now officially a four-star carrier. That puts it in the same category as Qantas, British Airways and Emirates, according to the industry-acknowledged Skytrax ratings system. Vitaly Saveliev, the Russian Ambassador to the UK, said the rating was “recognition of our considerable efforts over the years to make the Aeroflot brand synonymous with quality”. More here.
Free drinks for all – previously available only at the high end of the market – seems to be the next big thing in mid-priced cruising. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) is offering an open bar on selected Norwegian Sky sailings to the Bahamas ex-Miami. Details here. [Update: it’s also been reported that the new TUI Discovery, the latest addition to the fleet formerly known as Thompson, will offer all-inclusive drinks as standard.]
Hong Kong’s tourism industry has been rocked by the announcement of a large number of lay-offs at the enclave’s Disneyland theme park. As the South China Morning Post reports, the company would only confirm that “under 100” people had been sacked in an “adjustment”. The park, which made its first operational loss last year, is expected to face increased competition from a Disney-themed resort that will open in Shanghai this year.
A music video by country music star Randy Houser for his song Top of the World. has been partly credited for a spike in visitor numbers to Tuscon, Arizona. The video features the city’s hiking trails, the downtown area and spa resorts. More information on Tucson is available here.
As I’ve noted on my blog, sometimes flying further costs you less, and airfares are often tied to where you start a flight rather than how far you go. Here’s an example: flying to the US from New Zealand can be a big money saver for Australians, with American Airlines offering a US$225 fare from Auckland to Los Angeles. More here.
Got a spare US$20,000 and looking for upscale accommodation? That’s the price per night at the Winston Churchill suite in the St Regis Dubai hotel. The National reports that the 913 square metre, two-storey suite is furnished with antiques and art from the Churchill archive and was opened by Sir Winston’s grandson, Randolph Churchill. Make inquires, or a reservation, here.
Virgin Australia Airlines has announced a partnership with Italy’s Alitalia, meaning greater options for Virgin passengers flying to Europe. Both airlines are already in partnership with Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways. More here.
Hotel stays in the capital of the United Arab Emirates are about to get a little more expensive. Abu Dhabi has imposed a 4 per cent “municipality fee” on hotel bills and a 15 AED (about US$4) charge per night per room. This is in addition to the city tax of 6 per cent and a 10 per cent service charge. Hotels in Dubai also have a hotel tax ranging from 7-20 AED depending on the star-rating of the property. Dubai also has a 10 per cent service charge and 10 per cent municipality fee per room per night.
Would you be comfortable booking a trip to Egypt? The country’s tourism minister, Yehia Rashed, certainly hopes so. He says he is confident that the country’s tourism industry can rebound after a series of blows, including the bombing of a Russian passenger plane over the Sinai last year. That incident cost 224 lives and was blamed on poor security at the airport in the popular resort enclave of Sharm El Sheikh. There certainly are plenty of reasons to visit Egypt: the Red Sea resorts, the pyramids, Valley of the Kings, Karnak, Aswan and Abu Simbel among them. But it’s up to the authorities to make tourists – and gloabl tourism operators – confident that there is no risk in doing so.
Planning a trip to Cuba, and hoping to sample the local brew? You may have a problem The Guardian reports that an influx of American tourists ans an associated rise in the number of bars is threatening supplies of the local Cristal and Bucanero beer brands. They are even importing beer from Dominica to help keep up with demand.
Anyone who has been to Spain will have noticed that things slow down in the afternoons. In fact, many businesses and some shops close altogether for that time-honoured tradition: the siesta. But those days may be over. Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said that he wants to “find a consensus to make sure the working day ends at 6pm”. At the moment, because of the afternoon break, many people work until 9pm.
Starwood Hotels has issued some advice to its many Starwood Preferred Guest (SPG) loyalty club members trying to find some clarity over the future of the program in light of the company’s merger with Marriott Hotels. The email acknowledges that members will have many questions, and says: “Getting answers to these complicated, important questions will take time. In fact, we don’t anticipate launching a newly combined program until 2018. This means SPG will continue to run separately until then. In the meantime, we’re actively exploring ways to build bridges between the two programs to further enhance your experience.”
The United States Senate has refused to intervene to stop American airlines from shrinking the size of their seats. CBS News reports that the senators voted down an amendment that would have prevented airlines from further reducing the “size, width, padding, and pitch” of seats, passengers’ legroom and the width of aisles. Economy-class airline seats have shrunk on average from a width of 18 inches to 16.5 inches (45.7cm to 42cm) despite the fact that Americans are getting larger. My feelings about this are expressed here. [Update: As this story illustrates, airlines can ask people to leave the plane “for the safety and comfort of other passengers” – even though the airlines themselves don’t seem to be too concerned about the comfort thing.]
Customers of TigerAir’s Australian network can now use book flights using their Virgin Australia Velocity points. The procedure involves checking into the the Tigerair Australia website, making the booking and then logging in to your Velocity account once on the payments page. TigerAir destinations include all state capitals (but not Canberra), plus Cairns, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, the Whitsunday Coast and Singapore.
Rayani Airlines in Malaysia is under investigation after it issued a handwritten boarding pass to a passenger, who posted it on social media. Experts say the boarding pass, which did not include a barcode, posed a security risk. Details from news.com.au here.
Carnival Cruises is under fire for banning Cuban Americans from its cruises from Florida to Cuba. The Miami Herald reports that the cruise company is being accused of discrimination.
The Norwegian Joy, an NCL cruise ship designed for the Chinese market, will feature a two-level go-kart race track, along with bumper cars, immersive rides, virtual reality experiences, and a 100m-long water slide that partly hangs off the side of the ship. Gizmodo calls the ship, due to launch next year, “obscenely monstrous”. Cruising fans may choose to differ.
What does an airline do when it wants to encourage its passengers to get healthy through simple physical fitness? It enlists actor Christopher Walken, of course. Walken walking. Get it? Qantas is promoting a new Apple Watch app that tracks your fitness and offering Frequent Flyer points to those Australian customers who sign up for their Qantas Assure health insurance offering.
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