Author: Shawon Hannan
If you’re planning a winter break this year, you might be interested to learn that many Brits are shunning the winter sun in favour of cosy staycations. As consumers look to make the most of their holiday budgets, many parts of the UK are seeing a boost to their winter season. From country walks in the Lake District to cosy pubs in the Welsh valleys, Britain has plenty to offer for a winter holiday. “The UK is the destination of choice now for many people”, according to travel-industry expert Simon Gardner, of Wirral spa hotel Thornton Hall. If you’re looking…
Malaysia Airlines, a Malaysia-based airline, will be expanding its services to the UK. The airline is offering double daily Airbus A380 flights for the service from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to London Heathrow, UK, from November 24, 2012. The route was launched in July 2012, and since then has seen an increase in demand for the service. The new expansion will increase its weekly capacity by 16 percent. The company expects to add two more Airbus A380 aircraft to the route, once the expansion takes off. Encik Ahmad, the group chief executive officer of Malaysia Airlines, said, ‘Ever since our A380…
British Airways, a UK based airline, has reported a post-Olympic surge in passenger traffic in September this year. The airline has reported a 5.1 percent increase in traffic for September 2012, following a post-Olympic campaign that it conducted. The increase in traffic has been mostly from premium cabin sales, which have seen an increase of around 8 percent for the month when compared to the same month in 2011, while economy class traffic has increased by 4.6 percent during the period. IAG, the parent company of British Airways, said in a statement, ‘British Airways has been engaging in heavy promotional…
Those travellers intending to use the London Underground on routes that involve Grange Hill, Newbury Park, Woodford, and Leytonstone stations, should be prepared for detours due to a planned maintenance programme. Transport for London (TfL), a UK-based government agency responsible for the transport system in Greater London, UK, will be closing the Central Line between Grange Hill and Newbury Park, and between Woodford and Leytonstone, for maintenance work. London Underground (LU) will be closing the line closed between Grange Hill and Newbury Park on weekdays, and between Woodford and Leytonstone for two weekends (October 27 and 28; and November 3…
A flare up is expected between government agencies and local residents in northern New Mexico, with locals opposing the Santa Fe National Forest’s travel management plan. The area has been used by Hispanics for centuries, for ranching and collecting firewood from the forests. Government agencies have now revealed a plan to build new roads and to allow off-road vehicles into the area as a part of new travel plans. The US Forest Service was given a time frame of four years to decide which roads and trails throughout the nation’s vast network of forests should be designated for travel by…
North Korea’s notorious pyramid-shaped hotel, dubbed the ‘Hotel of Doom’, is still incomplete, even though work was begun on it 25 years ago. Details of the strange-shaped hotel were not available to the outside world until now. Some details, and perhaps the first views of its interior, have now become accessible to the world through a Chinese media company that has been allowed access to it. Beijing-based Koryo Tours was given the chance of viewing the interior of the 105-storey Ryugyong Hotel, which is located in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. Work on the hotel started in the 1980s,…
Butlins, a chain of UK-based holiday camps, has announced an increase in profits with its latest accounts. The holiday company, now owned and run by Butlins Skyline Ltd, a subsidiary of Bourne Leisure, has announced that its 2011 profits have increased by 4.3 percent to GBP97.4m. Butlins’ annual turnover showed an increase of 1.4 percent over the same period in 2010, to GBP813.7 million, enabling the company to distribute a USD43.9 million dividend to its shareholders. The rise in the company’s fortunes is said to be due to two positive factors, a programme of modernisation and refurbishment that has been…
Easyjet, one of the UK’s major airlines, is offering two new routes from Manchester and Edinburgh, in the UK, to Reykjavik, Iceland. The airline will be flying a new service from Manchester Airport in England, to Reykjavik, twice weekly, on Thursdays and Saturdays, and from Edinburgh Airport in Scotland, to Reykjavik, on Mondays and Thursdays. Both of the routes commence from March 2013. Paul Simmons, the airline’s director in the UK, said, ‘We’re delighted to be expanding our flights from the UK to Reykjavik in response to the route’s growing popularity. The destination is proving popular for leisure and business…
Ryanair, an Ireland-based low cost airline, is offering a daily return flight to Brussels Charleroi airport in Belgium, from Dublin, Ireland. The new route between Brussels and Dublin is priced at €19 one way, with a morning and evening flight leaving daily, compared to a single daily flight that left previously. The extended route will be effective from November 7, 2012. The airline head of communications, Stephen McNamara, said, ‘Ryanair is delighted to announce an additional daily return flight (from November 7, 2012) between Brussels and Dublin to mark Ireland’s upcoming Presidency of the EU. European and Irish politicians can…
The city of London has triumphed at the World Travel Awards Europe, by taking the title for ‘Europe’s Leading City Breaks Destination.’ Undoubtedly aided by its impressive handling of this summer’s Olympic Games, the UK’s capital city beat off competition from Venice in Italy; St. Petersburg in Russia; Madrid in Spain; Prague in the Czech Republic; and Paris, France, to take the coveted title. The awards, which were held at Conrad, Algarve, Portugal, drew tourism VIP’s and media from 35 countries, and London’s award was only one of several that were bestowed across the industry at the Gala Ceremony. Paris-based…