Author: News Team

Cambridge airport in the UK has been boosted by the introduction of new routes to be operated by a Swiss airline. Swiss carrier Darwin is establishing Cambridge as a new base for routes to Amsterdam in the Netherlands; the French capital, Paris; Milan in Italy; and Geneva in Switzerland. Operations will commence from September 2, and will involve 50 flights per week in and out of Cambridge. Of these, 24 flights per week will be from or to Amsterdam, 12 will serve Paris Charles de Gaulle airport, 8 will operate to Milan Malpensa, and 6 will serve Geneva. The flights…

Tourist’s health issues are set to benefit from developments in the treatment of two of the biggest travel threats, yellow fever and malaria. Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease that is spread by mosquitoes and can be fatal. Its prevalence in certain parts of the world, including parts of Africa, South America, Trinidad and Tobago, has meant that until now travellers have required an initial inoculation against the disease, followed by booster injections every ten years. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has announced that new research has indicated that a single dose of vaccination gives the recipient…

Sir Roy McNulty, the new chairman of Gatwick Airport, has criticised the Gatwick Express train service. In an interview with the London Evening Standard, the new chairman stated his concern that Gatwick Express, the high-frequency passenger rail service that operates between London Victoria station and Gatwick Airport, gives incoming passengers a bad first impression because of problems with overcrowding and old rolling stock. He even claimed that the service ‘at times veers towards Third World conditions.’ He was quoted in the newspaper, saying, ‘In the short to medium term, our main priority is improvement in the road and rail infrastructure…

Ryanair, an Ireland-based low-cost airline, has announced record pre-tax profits for the last financial year. The airline made a profit of €650.9 million in 2012/13, a 14.6 percent increase on the €568 million that it made in the previous year. An increased number of passengers and increased revenue were the primary reasons given for the record figures. The company’s revenue increased by 13 percent to €4.88 billion for the last financial year, and it carried a total of 79.3 million passengers, an increase of 5 percent on the previous year. Fuel costs, which rose by 18 percent year-on year, could…

A survey has revealed that 65 percent of British holidaymakers are planning to take a summer break in the UK this year. The survey, which was carried out by budget hotel chain, Travelodge, polled around 3,000 individuals and discovered that a greater percentage of them intended taking a UK-based holiday this year compared to last year. The UK’s poor prevailing weather conditions in recent times might have been expected to dampen holidaymaker’s enthusiasm for a domestic break, but with the credit crunch still biting, the lower costs associated with staying in Britain will also have had an influence. This year’s…

Passengers using London Bridge station will experience changes from later this month due to the first major stage of redevelopment work. Southern services that use platforms 8 to 16 will be affected by platform closure from the latter part of the May bank holiday, as work starts on platforms 14 to 16. No Southern train services will call at the station between Saturday May 25 and Monday May 27, while some will be diverted to Victoria. Three platforms at the station – 14, 15 and 16 – will be taken out of use from May 28 until spring of 2014…

Ibis, a worldwide economy hotel brand and member of the Accor Group, has launched a fixed rate summer offer for the three key European travel destinations of Spain, Portugal and Italy. Regardless of the format used to book accommodation at any Ibis hotel in any of the three participating countries, the price will be fixed at €45 (£38). The promotion, believed to be the first of its kind for any hotel group, is available to book immediately and will run until May 31. It allows for bookings of one or two people between the offer dates of June 1 and…

The British Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has said that consular officials are constantly left bemused by the strange requests for assistance that they receive from British travellers overseas. The Daily Mail has reported that while British Embassies are there to perform an important service for those travellers that are in serious difficulty with such problems as lost travel documents or having been the victim of a crime, it is the expectation of a section of the travelling community that consular services and advice are almost boundless. Among the more bizarre requests that have been received from travellers overseas in…

Virgin Atlantic, a UK-based airline, has partly blamed the 2012 London Olympic Games for its latest reported losses. Sir Richard Branson’s company has reported a loss of £93 million for the last financial year, adding to the £80 million deficit that it reported for the previous year. The airline’s new chief executive, Craig Kreeger, said that a dent in business travel that was partly due to the effect of the Olympic games had impacted on the figures, although he was optimistic for the future, forecasting a return to profitability for the company within two years. Kreeger said, ‘Last year saw…

Etihad Airways, the United Arab Emirates national airline, has become the first company to launch a mapping tool that is intended to help business people in particular to plan more efficient trips. The ‘Etihad Mapped-out’ tool was developed in association with professional network, LinkedIn, and claims to make it easier to message new contacts, arrange meetings and be more productive while traveling. It does this by utilising the Linkedin network for users to search their connections by geographical location and display them on a map for an overview of the traveller’s proximity to their global network of contacts as they…