LONDON: British Airways customers will be transported to their own 3D cinema in the skies as the airline exclusively trials a new virtual reality headset. From now until the end of 2019, customers travelling on select flights in First from London Heathrow to New York JFK will be able to enjoy a selection of award-winning films, documentaries and travel programmes in 2D, 3D or 360° formats. The headsets from VR eyewear specialists, SkyLights, allow customers to fully immerse themselves in 3D view regardless of the position they are sat in. The experience even works when they are lying fully flat.…
Author: holidayweekly
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has suffered a loss of Rs1.8 trillion over the past 11 years. During that period, the PIA management faced political interference, ‘unjust’ re-routing of flights, manipulation of activities by trade unions and use of flights by heads of state and government. In a meeting last month, PIA CEO told the cabinet that the national air carrier had faced massive political interference during the 2008-18 period, without any consideration of merit. He said unjustified re-routing of flights and manipulation of operational activities by trade unions put the national flag carrier on a downward spiral. He revealed…
BRUSSELS: Ten European cities have been shortlisted for the 2020 European Capital of Smart Tourism competition. The Cities are Bratislava-Slovakia, Breda- Netherlands, Bremerhaven-Germany, Gothenburg-Sweden, Karlsruhe-Germany, Ljubljana- Slovenia, Málaga-Spain, Nice-France, Ravenna-Italy and Torino-Italy. The finalist cities were selected from a total of 35 applications from across 17 EU Member States. The European Capital of Smart Tourism was proposed as a preparatory action by the European Parliament and is implemented by the European Commission. It aims to promote smart tourism in the EU, foster innovative, sustainable and inclusive tourism development, as well as spread and facilitate the exchange of best practices. This…
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will be hosting the World Tourism Forum 2020 in Islamabad. Over 1,000 foreign travel, tourism, aviation and hospitality seniors will be attending the five-day proceedings of the forum in the capital of Pakistan. In this regard, a meeting was held in Islamabad between Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan and a delegation of World Tourism Forum, led by President of the forum’s Executive Board, Mr. Bulut Bagci. The Chairman of Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) Sayed Zulfikar Abbas Bukhari was also present at the meeting. The Chairman of PTDC informed the participants of the meeting about the initiatives being…
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan has underscored the need to highlight the tourist magnets of Pakistan at international level while focusing on the provision of world-class facilities to the tourists.He was chairing the meeting of Task Force on tourism in Islamabad. While Chairing the meeting, the Prime Minister said there are numerous opportunities of promoting tourism in the country. The meeting was attended by Special Assistant to Prime Minister on Information Firdous Ashiq Awan, Tourism Minister Punjab Teymour Bhatti, Tourism Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Atif Khan, besides others. The MD PTDC briefed the Prime Minister about progress made so far for…
KARACHI: Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) has successfully completed its IATA’s Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) 2019 audit for the 8th consecutive time. According to details, PIA is the first and only airline in Pakistan to have IOSA registration, which is an internationally recognised safety standard. IOSA is a comprehensive operational safety audit conducted by IATA accredited audit organisation every 24 months. PIA has been successfully maintaining its registration as an “IOSA Operator”. While addressing at the ceremony, CEO PIA Air Marshal Arshad Malik said that safety was and had always been PIA’s foremost priority and this IOSA registration showed the airline…
HONG KONG: Empty hotel rooms, struggling shops and even disruption at Disneyland, months of protests in Hong Kong have taken a major toll on the city’s economy, with no end in sight. City leader Carrie Lam has warned that the international financial hub is facing an economic crisis worse than either the 2003 SARS outbreak that paralysed Hong Kong or the 2008 financial crisis. “The situation this time is more severe,” she said. “In other words, the economic recovery will take a very long time.” The private sector, in particular the tourism industry, has begun counting the cost of more…
JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia’s General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) has announced that first international flights from the new King Abdulaziz International Airport Terminal 1 in Jeddah has launchedon Friday, Aug 9. The first two destinations, operated by kingdom’s national carrier Saudi Arabian Airlines, were Abu Dhabi and Bahrain. Muscat International Airport in Oman was the third destination, which was added on August 10, a Saudi Press Agency report said. Saudi Arabian Airlines had previously transferred the operation and flights of 21 of its domestic destinations to Terminal 1 at the New King Abdulaziz International Airport.
WRITTEN BY Ch. FAISAL MEHMOOD As ‘we the people’ of Pakistan celebrated our Independence Day, we find our children and youth going about it with some merriment, some sadness because of burning issue of Kashmir but the senior citizens yet amongst us are stoic. Not able to smile, not wanting to cry, they are stoically pondering what Pakistan was to be and where it has arrived. The monumental efforts that went into defining and delivering the concept; the all-pervading unity that had gripped the community; the unprecedented sacrifices of human lives, properties, careers and dreams that went into its founding…
KARACHI: The two-day, 60th Children’s Literature Festival (CLF) culminated here last week at Arts Council, where children of all ages and backgrounds as well as adults could be seen participating with great enthusiasm. All locations of the venue being used for the festival had been renamed by CLF to commemorate authors, literati, artists, citizens, noble prize winners and grand geographies of Pakistan like Shah Abdul Latif Bithai Auditorium, Sohail Rana open air theatre, Hakim Said ki Baithak, Anita Ghulam Ali Auditorium, Fahmida Riaz ki Baithak, Dr Hamida Khuhro ki Baithak, Sadequain Gali, Bab-e-Hingol, Abdus Salam labs, Jamshed Nusserwanjee Mehta Courtyard,…