Author: Shawon Hannan

Ryanair, an Ireland-based low cost airline, is launching four new routes for its winter 2012 schedule. The flights will be connecting Birmingham Airport in the UK, with Barcelona (Spain), Krakow (Poland), Milan (Italy) and Palma De Mallorca (in Majorca). The new services will commence from November 2012. The airline is also releasing 100,000 seats from £13 for travel on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, during August and September. The airline sales and marketing manager for the UK and Ireland, Maria Macken, said, ‘Ryanair is pleased to announce 4 brand new routes from Birmingham to Barcelona, Krakow, Milan and Palma De…

Best Western, an independent hotel brand in the UK, has announced the launch of the nation’s first pet hotline. The hotel brand is offering a dedicated Pet Hotline for its guests travelling with pets, after seeing an increase in its animal guests of around 900 percent year-on-year. The hotel company has been cited many times for its pet-friendly customer service, and the new Dog ‘n’ Bone hotline will be handling all queries from guests travelling with their dogs and cats. The hotline will also be handling all reservations for guests vacationing with their pets at Best Western’s 112 pet-friendly hotels…

The Trafalgar Hotel, a modern boutique hotel located on Trafalgar Square in the centre of London, is hosting an art exhibition as a continuation of the recent Diamond Jubilee celebrations. The art exhibition, which is to be held within the hotel, will host select artwork depicting the life and culture of Britain, and that of London, its capital city. The artwork currently on display includes dark and moody cityscapes from Steven Spencer, illuminated mosaics from Susan Elliott, and nineteenth century style photographs of London by Dave Hacker. The exhibit is open until July 25, 2012, to hotel guests and members…

British travellers prefer to sleep at airport lounges and waiting areas rather than indulge in any other activities, according to a recent survey conducted by UK-based holiday company, HolidayExtras.com. Around 53 percent of British travellers owned up to taking a nap at airports while waiting to board their flights, rather than involving themselves in more obvious activities, like dining or shopping. Asking what travellers require at airports, the survey suggested that there is a demand for additional sleeping areas in airport lounges to allow passengers to have a nap while waiting for their flights. However, given a choice, lady travellers…

Flybe, a UK-based airline company, is allowing increased hand baggage sizes for its passengers, with immediate effect. The airline is now allowing passengers to carry larger hand luggage, with maximum dimensions of 55 x 40 x 23cm, providing up to 20 percent more baggage space for travellers, from the previous baggage allowance. Simon Lilley, the airline director of marketing, said, ‘Flybe has listened to our passengers’ feedback in relation to hand-held luggage so have worked on maximising our carry-on dimensions to the greatest possible allowance that can be accommodated on our aircraft. We know that a lot of our passengers…

The London 2012 Festival, a 12-week celebration for international travellers visiting London for the 2012 Olympics Games, which start later this month, has urged Olympic fans to consider cycling or walking to the Games venues. The Active Travel programme has invested around £10m in the development of approximately 75km of walking and cycling routes to London 2012 venues, both inside and outside London. Parking spaces for cycles, which are offered free of charge, will be available at the Olympics Games venues, and guided walks are being organised to assist spectators in getting to the Games. The organisers of the Olympic…

London is not only an economic and financial hub but it is also believed to be the tourism capital of the entire world. People from everywhere love to visit this part of the globe for various reasons. To fulfill the needs of all these passengers there are five major airports in this city and Stansted Airport is one of them. British Airport Transfers offers Taxi service to Stansted Airport, where you can make the bookings online. Stansted Airport is connected with the surrounding areas and the rest of the country with a railway network and some excellent taxi services. Located…

With the passing of the UK’s wettest June since 1910, but still no sign of the deluge abating, the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), a UK-based travel agent association, has reported a 20 percent increase in outbound travel searches in the UK, as British travellers desperately search for sunnier options. ABTA has reported that an estimated 13 million UK holidaymakers have plans to go abroad in July and August, 2012, with 90 percent of them heading for destinations in the Mediterranean. With a strong pound, having increased in value by 10 percent against the Euro in last year, and…

UK bus operating companies are looking at plans to offer discounted travel to NEETS, young people not in education, employment or training. The new travel scheme, designed to assist unemployed youths in finding work, has the support of five major transport companies, who operate around 70 percent of the UK bus services, and will include limited free or heavily discounted travel to NEETS, who are estimated to number in the region of one million. The details are yet to be agreed nationwide, but should enable the record numbers of young unemployed to benefit from some kind of assistance by mid-autumn,…

Torrential rainfall has created chaos for travellers in Scotland today. The rain, which fell incessantly for just two hours last night, has wreaked serious damage on roads and railways. A spokesperson for the Met Office said, ‘We had 35mm of rain recorded in some places, which is not what we expect in one day in July. It came down very heavily in the Central Belt and southern Scotland and caused many problems on transport routes before the conditions cleared up. We expect more unsettled weather in the next few days.’ The rainfall has led to flooding and the closing of…