British Airways welcomes millionth A380 passenger
British Airways’ millionth A380 customer took flight earlier on the BA268 from Los Angeles to London departing at 08:45 – the first destination the airline’s superjumbo flew to on its inaugural flight. British Airways took delivery of its first A380, registration LEA, in July 2013. Following a complex introduction to service programme, the first flight departed to Los Angeles on September...
Sandals Royal Bahamian offers Rolls Royce service to guests
Sandals Royal Bahamian Spa Resort & Offshore Island is rolling out the red carpet for guests with two sparkling new Rolls Royce vehicles. Nothing says Luxury Included at Sandals Resorts like the arrival itself. From touching down in the beautiful Bahamas, checking-in to the exclusive Sandals Airport Lounge, to travelling in a Rolls Royce and being welcomed by a personal butler,...
EU approves Etihad alliance with Italian flag-carrier Alitalia
Alitalia and Etihad Airways have received merger clearance from the European Commission. They can therefore proceed with the proposed strategic partnership which was announced in August. Following the completion of its review, the European Commission today confirmed that the partnership complies with the European regulations on competition. Etihad president James Hogan said: “We are delighted to be able to move forward with...
One&Only to manage Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort
10th Nov 2014 Emirates has appointed One&Only Resorts, a subsidiary of Kerzner International to manage the highly acclaimed luxury resort Emirates Wolgan Valley Resort & Spa in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area in Australia. This will be One&Only’s second resort in Australia, following the successful rebirth of One&Only Hayman Island in July 2014. From early 2015, One&Only will be able...
easyJet plans 26 summer routes
easyJet will operate 26 new routes next summer including two, Essaouira in Morocco and Stuttgart in Germany, which are new destinations for the airline. The new routes on sale will provide over 420,000 additional seats across the entire easyJet network. Stuttgart becomes the airline’s eighth destination in Germany and a brand new one for easyJet’s growing network. Porto in Portugal becomes a...
Royal Caribbean seeks to wow crowds in Southampton with Quantum of the Seas launch
30th Oct 2014 Quantum of the Seas arrives in Southampton Royal Caribbean International has welcomed the arrival of Quantum of the Seas in Southampton, the first-ever smartship and most technologically advanced cruise ship in the world. Quantum takes the guest experience to a whole new level with never seen before technology offering super-speedy bandwidth to keep guests connected wherever the ship is...
In the age of Isis, how vigilant do UK tourists need to be?
Simon Calder was in Barcelona at Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Familia when he learned that the world was now a more threatening place for the British tourist. In early November, British travellers in even the most innocuous of nations were urged by the Foreign Office to be more vigilant. The FO sent about 100 emails updating Britons on the latest events...
School-holiday skiing in Norway for all the family
They were the tracks that stopped me in mine – those tell-tale Vs, left by long, thin, and (crucially) light, Nordic skis, stretching up the snowy path. They epitomised what Norwegian skiing is all about, and, as I gasped for breath, cursing my cumbersome planks, what it isn't: downhill. The clues were everywhere, from Geilo's vital statistics – 39 downhill...
Skiing in Slovakia: Join the Tatra pack for a bargain break
Surrounded by hunting trophies and enticed by the spicy scent of goulash, I make a dash for a lunch table in the cosy slope-side restaurant of Chata Zahradky. "Nie!" snaps a woman. "Nyet!" another responds, in Russian. When this sparks further argument with an adjacent table of well-fed Slavs, I slip back to my sheep-skin covered bar stool to...
10 Québecois idioms French don’t get
1. Ça a pas d’allure! | It makes no sense whatsoever!
While a French person might think that this idiom has something to do with style or elegance (allure), the French Canadians are only trying to explain that whatever is happening is ridiculously crazy. Example: A: Martine decided that she would bike to work through ten feet of snow this morning.
B: Ben...
Spirit Airlines announces executive key appointments
Spirit Airlines has named three new executives to its leadership team. Ted Botimer has been named the Senior Vice President of Network Planning and Revenue Management, Laurie David Villa is the new Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and Eric Netland has been promoted to Vice President of Pricing and Revenue Management. “Spirit is one of the fastest growing...
Hotel Heliopic, France
A new four-star hotel in downtown Chamonix is a rarity, especially one built from scratch like the Heliopic. Opened last December, it is the resort's most recent addition, looming large on the road up from Geneva, in a prime spot next to the Aiguille du Midi cable car station. Its substantial twin buildings vaguely suggest overgrown chalets, with gently pitched...
Madsen joins Norwegian Cruise Line as chief operating officer
14th Oct 2014 Norwegian Cruise Line has announced hospitality veteran Drew Madsen has joined as president and chief operating officer. Madsen brings a strong track record of success to Norwegian with more than 30 years of leadership experience in the hospitality and consumer products industry, most recently as president and chief operating officer at Darden Restaurants. “Having delivered exceptional results during his...
Christmas in Lapland and New Year in Italy: Great getaways
Italian new year Ease yourself into the new year with a ski break. Mark Warner is offering a week at Chalet Hotel Cristallo, in the Italian resort of Courmayeur, departing 4 January, for £569pp, based on two sharing. Included are Monarch flights from Gatwick to Geneva, transfers, a twin room with daily breakfast and afternoon tea, plus six three-course dinners...
Fresh snow falls prompt an early start to the winter season
Winter has arrived in the mountains of Europe. In fact, it has been a record-breaking start to the season for Switzerland, where some resorts are opening up to three weeks earlier than planned. Verbier, Saas Fee, Andermatt, and Zermatt all have pistes open at the weekends. Zermatt is expecting more than 55cm of new snow by next Friday, with...
High-street skiwear is a bargain for beginners
For anyone hoping to find a new ski outfit at a bargain price, I have good news and bad. The bad news – for women – is that the offer of a ski jacket and trousers, marked down to £20 for both items, ended a couple of weeks ago. The good news is that between now and Christmas several...