ISSUE 323 | MARCH 2022
www.nitravelnews.com
WIN Two Return Flights WIN WIN
to Inverness from Belfast City Airport With Loganair
See Page 38 to enter...
UK & Ireland £1/€1
BELFAST’S BOOST BEGINS NOW WITH NEW SHIP AND AIR ROUTES
By Sarah Pickering
Northern Ireland has suffered the rath of the covid-19 padnemic over the past number of years. Both travel and tourism sectors havesuffered greatly at the hands of an uncontrollable source, propped up with harsh restrictions and extended measures. Finally, Northern Ireland and the Island of Ireland is opening and regenerating to pre-pandemic levels in terms of both travel and tourism. New routes and destinations have followed and are springing in light into the travel and tourism sectors of the island...
Northern Ireland has seen a massive increase to the
air and cruise traffic for the year 2022. From 2019 until now, the travel sector has suffered greatly due to the covid-19 pandemic, which curbed, not only travellers jetting off to other countries, but the increased capacity of flights and ships coming to the shores of Northern Ireland. Built-up demand has gathered across the province where travellers have waited patiently for new routes connecting them to the shores of Spain, the USA and further afield. Bucketlist destinations have also become hot on the list of 2022 travellers and this needed addressed by the travel sector as tourism across the world began to slowly pick up once again. With Northern Ireland following closely in the lead of England and the rest of mainland Britain, the removal of inbound travel restriction , and domestic regulations alike, was seen as a god send for the sector, and the industry as a whole has welcomed the move with open arms.
Northern Ireland has been placed on the list once
again for travel to resume with airlines, ships and tourist bodies encouraging travellers from here to get delving into the world once more. An increase of air routes from both Belfast and
Dublin will see a huge increase to the market and especially for our travel agents here, this boost reveals a new found readiness to getting back to pre-pandemic times. In a recent interview with Northern Ireland Travel News,
Jet2.com and Jet2Holidays CEO Steve Heapy revealed that new routes will be introduced from Belfast to the much-loved sunny destinations in both Spain and Turkey.
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays have responded to the
strong demand for Spring and Easter holidays, by adding more flights and holidays to Malaga and Tenerife from Belfast International Airport. Steve Heapy, CEO of
Jet2.com and Jet2holidays,
said: “We are seeing sustained demand right across the board from Belfast International Airport, with customer confidence bouncing back strongly as international travel starts to look like normal again. After the uncertainty of the past two years, it is very clear that customers want to book through a trusted package holiday provider rather than take their chances with a company that has let them down.” “In response to that, we are seeing strong demand
and we are responding to that quickly by adding more capacity where necessary, providing customers and independent travel agents with even more choice and flexibility. Spring and Easter are looking like extremely popular times to escape, and we anticipate there will be a huge getaway to the sun which is why we are adding more capacity to these fantastic destinations.” The demand for the USA has increasingly grown in
recent months and weeks also, which has encouraged a multitude of airlines to increase their connections to Northern Ireland and the Island of Ireland. Aer Lingus confirmed the return of the much anticipated route to Seattle from Dublin Airport. Aer Lingus have confirmed the direct route to Seattle will resume from May 2022. The route will return from May 25th, just in time for
the summer. Aer Lingus also secured a date for Miami travel as the airline confirms Dublin flights with the flights starting back from 21 October
2022.This will be the first time the airline flies to Miami since the start of the pandemic. Speaking on the re-route, Bill Byrne, Executive Vice- President US at Aer Lingus said; “We are delighted to be building back our US connectivity this year and there’s no doubt that travel is back for 2022. We are so happy to be flying to the US again, and this week we are delighted to be continuing to connect families, friends and businesses to Florida.
UK customers travelling transatlantic with Aer
Lingus can not only avail of great on board service but also seamless connections via Dublin and US Customs and Immigration preclearance at Dublin. Customers can look forward to our transatlantic in-
flight food, drink, and entertainment services on board with top-class entertainment including the latest movie releases, TV boxsets, games and music. Along with Wi- fi and the PressReader app which offers passengers over 7,000 digital newspapers & magazines via their smart device.”
Signalling its confidence in the British tourism and
cruise market, Ambassador Cruise Line also announced the purchase of its second ship, to be named Ambition, entering service in
2023.Ambition, like her sister ship Ambience will offer no-fly sailings predominantly targeting the 50-plus market with a premium-value, authentic cruise experience. In addition to London Tilbury, she will also offer a summer 2023 programme of regional departures from ports such as Newcastle, Dundee, Belfast, Liverpool, Bristol and Falmouth. This is a massive boost to the Belfast port as cruising
has been one of the hardest hit sectors, facing harsh restrictions surrounding masks, number limitations and destination closures. To see this element return to our shores is a hughes boost and showcases a sense of achievement and trust within the Northern Ireland Travel sector. With the inclusion of new routes comes new travellers
into Northern Ireland; the boost to outbound travel will increase the country’s inbound tourism, again, a sector which has suffered at the hands of the pandemic. To place both sectors together in harmony is a must over the next few months, which is showing positive signs of strength, growth and development as the world moves to come out the over side of the pandemic which essentially halted all travel and tourism.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48
