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www.nitravelnews.com Jet2 Announce AWARD Top designs
Etihad Airways Awarded Global Design Airline of the
Year 2023 ETIHAD
Airways has
been crowned ‘Design Airline of the Year 2023’, the top honour in the annual DesignAir Awards.
The UAE’s
national airline also received DesignAir’s ‘Most Improved Airline Brand’.
The awards follow in quick succession from the global edition of the World Travel Awards 2023 on Friday 1 December, where Etihad celebrated a hat- trick with Best Customer Experience, Best Economy Class and Best First Class Lounge.
The DesignAir judges commented: “Etihad has not just shone in its own region where it was crowned Design Airline of the Year Middle East, 2023 – but also our most prestigious award
–
Design Airline of the Year, 2023. Etihad has proven itself above all other carriers across the globe as this year’s leading global design airline.”
The award recognises Etihad’s continued investment experience,
which
in guest this
year has included the introduction of new menus and the launch of a new design-led and sustainable Economy dining experience.
The
airline also welcomed a new partnership with Armani/Casa
to elevate
the soft furnishings and tableware in Etihad’s acclaimed Business class experience.
Jet2holidays Launches ‘a Sustainable Hotels’
Labelling Scheme JET2HOLIDAYS has launched
a brand-new
hotel sustainability labelling scheme, meaning that customers can easily find and choose from a collection of certified sustainable
hotels which
meet Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC) Recognised standards.
TUI UK Announce AccessAble Partnership
TUI has confirmed Detailed Access Guides to an initial 200 hotels are now live, after joining forces with accessibility specialist AccessAble.
TUI UK&I Director of Customer Experience Sue Bradley said: “TUI takes over six million UK holidaymakers away each year and accessible holiday
Significant Expansion of Italian Programme
JET2.COM and Jet2holidays have announced a significant expansion of their Italian programmes, with thousands of extra seats going on sale to Sardinia, Sicily and Verona across both Summer 24 and 25 in response to demand for ‘La Dolce Vita’ from customers.
With holidaymakers looking to enjoy late Summer
in Verona and Lake Garda, Jet2 has responded by adding more September/October 25 flights from Belfast International, Edinburgh, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and Newcastle International.
bookings have grown by 56% since 2022. We want to make travel easy and enjoyable for all our customers.
“This can be especially true for those with access needs, who rely on the hotel’s accessibility details being available before booking. “Earlier this year we partnered with AccessAble and tasked them with the job of running accessibility surveys at 200 of our most popular hotels.”
Finnair Continues Summer 2024 Expansion with Flight Additions
FINNAIR, the flag carrier of Finland, has added even more flights to its growing Summer 2024 schedule, due to increased global demand for travel. The extra flights to Europe, Asia and the US, come just ahead of the Christmas season, giving customers a chance to plan a summer to remember. In the US, Finnair will
be expanding its highly- sought after connection between Helsinki and Dallas, with flights increasing from four times to six times per week.
Flights to the T exan city
were
launched in March 2022 to allow seamless connections oneworld
with partner
American Airlines, and have since become one of the airline’s most popular routes.
In Asia, Helsinki Finnair
will also be adding an additional weekly flight to Shanghai, its
bringing service up
to three times per week, as demand for travel to/
WORK on road improvements and rail upgrades will boost business and improve connectivity across the UK,
Transport Secretary
Mark Harper announced in his response to Lord Hendy’s Union Connectivity Review.
Northern Ireland will receive £4.8 million to investigate improvements to the rail network
from China grows. This news comes hot on the heels of the announcement that Finnair will relaunch direct flights between Helsinki
and Nagoya
from 30 May 2024. The newly resumed twice-weekly connection between Helsinki and Nagoya – Japan’s fourth largest city – will support
the airline’s
existing services to Osaka,
Tokyo-Haneda
and Tokyo-Narita. As part of the expansion, will also
Finnair
A350s to three European destinations – up to 29 times per week – the highest number since before the pandemic. The unique experience will offer customers the chance
to start their
summer in style, being one of the only European airlines to offer luxurious long-haul lie-flat beds on short-haul European hops.
From 31 March 2024, Finnair will add five weekly A350 flights on its popular Helsinki to Munich route, g ivi ng
customers the option of travelling in
r e l a u nc h
three weekly flights between Helsinki and Alicante from 4 April 2024, giving customers easier access to Spain’s most sought-after resorts.
Finnair is also boosting its European schedule next summer, offering customers lie- flat beds on even more short-haul services. Next summer,
the
Finnish airline will operate its flagship long-haul
A330s and
in Northern Ireland, and will benefit from reforms which will allow the UK Government support to protect vital domestic flight connectivity between more regions of the UK, rather than just into London.
The package also includes a commitment to funding targeted improvements to the A75 in
space and style. Those
travelling
between London Heathrow and Helsinki, can also enjoy double daily flights on Finnair’s A350 next summer, with flights between Amsterdam and Helsinki seeing up to 10 weekly A330/A350 rotations. All services have specifically
been
timed to allow for easy connections from the UK & Ireland onto Finnair’s extensive global network within Europe, Asia and the US.
UNITED GROWTH PLANS FOR USA AIRPORT
UNITED has announced growth plans in Houston that include a $2.6 billion renovation and expansion of Terminal B at George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH), a new United Club location and Early Bag Storage facility (EBS) as well as a new direct flight to Georgetown, Guyana.
January 2024
Removal of Visa Restrictions Boosts China Bookings
CHINA recently Germany, the Netherlands, announced
a new visa-free policy for passports holders from France,
Italy, Spain,
and Malaysia. This policy took effect on December 1, 2023, and will last for one year. It applies to trips of up to 15 days for business travel, tourism, visiting relatives and friends and for transitioning within China. The aim of this policy is to create convenience for passport holders from these countries in order to stimulate inbound tourism. Based on DidaTravel’s booking data, since the implementation of the recent visa-free policy, hotel bookings from the six countries named have grown by over 50% from 1 December to 7 December in comparison to the previous week. In fact, hotel bookings for travelers from Spain to China have jumped by more than 100% compared to the same period last week. Bookings from Italy and Malaysia to China saw an impressive increase of 50% and 67% week on week, respectively. Meanwhile, although the wider Chinese inbound market has not yet recovered to pre- pandemic levels due in part to the fact that China’s borders only fully opened in early 2023,
DidaTravel’s year-to-date inbound hotel sales to China have seen a remarkable 151% growth vs. the same period in 2019. This highlights DidaTravel’s ability to outpace wider market dynamics and capture significant new market share. According to DidaTravel’s the most booked destinations in China are Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Xiamen, Suzhou, Langfang, Dongguan, and Wuhan.
Number of Icelandair Passengers Increased by 13% in November
IN November 2023,
Icelandair
transported 282 thousand passengers, a 13% increase since November last year.
increase
The largest was 37%
on the N-Atlantic market via Iceland. Year to date, the Company has transported four million passengers, 17% more than last year.
In November,
36% of Icelandair’s passengers were traveling to Iceland, 16% from Iceland, 40% were via passengers and 8% were traveling within Iceland. Load Factor was 75.4%,
improving
by 1.9 percentage points and on-time performance was 84.5%.
Bogi Nils Bogason, Icelandair
Northern Ireland to Receive UK Government Funding to Develop Transport Projects
Scotland, providing better links between the Cairnryan ferry terminals
serving Northern
Ireland and southwest Scotland. Projects across Scotland,
Wales and Northern Ireland will strengthen
connections across
communities and the UK, helping to drive tourism and grow the economy.
CEO: “In November, we continued seeing an increase in the number of passengers and a stronger
load
factor compared to last year, on 12% capacity increase. This is despite some negative impact on the
booking
flow sparked by media reporting on the Reykjanes peninsula seismic activity. forward,
Going there
is some impact on
bookings and revenues for the next few months but looking at the longer
term the
booking flow is moving towards its former strength. In 2023, we have transported four million passengers. I am very proud of the Icelandair team and thankful to our
Turkish Airlines
Expands Fleet with Historic Airbus Order TURKISH
Airlines, proudly announces a
monumental expansion of its fleet with the acquisition of 355* state-of-the-art Airbus aircraft. This significant order comprises 250 of the
best-selling A321s and 105 of the highly efficient A350 widebody aircraft, including 60 firm orders, 20 purchase right A350-900s, 15 firm order A350- 1000s, and 5 firm order and 5 purchase right A350- Freighters.
loyal passengers for
these results
and already look forward to the year 2024 where we will
continue to
use the Company’s strengths and flexibility to address challenges and seize opportunities in our markets.”
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