CHRISTCHURCH: Air New Zealand’s charity has taken a special group of children on a mystery flight adventure. Koru Care, a charity established to give children with illnesses or disabilities the opportunity to see the world, took 50 children on a unique flight path around the centre of New Zealand today. The Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight, Registration ZK-NZE and flown by Chief Pilot Captain David Morgan, traced a Kiwi after it departed from Christchurch this morning towards the West Coast of New Zealand, looping around Taranaki then taking a few turns before landing back in Christchurch. Air New Zealand CEO Greg…
Author: holidayweekly
KARACHI: Tourism and hospitality sector has been suffering worldwide since the advent of Covid-19 early last year, bringing it practically to a halt with the continued spread of the Virus. Pakistan’s hospitality and tourism sector however, has been the worse hit as it was not flourishing to begin with, and with tourism at a complete standstill, the very survival of this sector is at stake. In a recent webinar conducted by FPCCI’s Central Standing Committee on Tourism Development with tourism and hospitality stakeholders and as the socio-economic crises of Covid-19 are far from over, the numerous problems are being faced…
LONDON: London’s Heathrow Airport has delayed the planned reopening of Terminal 3 due to “ongoing uncertainty” over rolling travel restrictions imposed by the UK government. T3, which was shuttered in April 2020 as the coronavirus pandemic made its first sweep around the world, was previously slated to welcome back selected airlines and passengers from May 17, with Virgin Atlantic and Delta Air Lines among the first to return. That timeline has now been pushed back to at least the end of May, with early June also considered a realistic restart. “We are continuing to prepare for the restart of international…
LAHORE: To the extent of route (Derince-Kapikoy) originating and passing through its territory, Turkey has announced tariff /charges for Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad freight train. However, schedule for resumption of the train which is called ECO (Economic Cooperation Organisation) is yet to be agreed and finalised by Pakistan, Iran and Turkey due to various issues. According to a report submitted by the quarters concerned in the Turkish government (railways, foreign and logistic affairs) at a recent meeting held by the ECO secretariat virtually, the container tariff for export, import and transit had been set as 0.18 Euro per km and 0.23 Euro per…
ISTANBUL: In April 2021 Turkish Airlines resumed hot inflight meal service, after having very limited service for over a year. Now the airline is bringing back its popular inflight chefs. As of May 2021, Turkish Airlines’ inflight chefs are once again taking to the skies on flights of eight hours or longer. Turkish Airlines’ flying chefs work in business class on long haul flights and oversee the meal service. They do everything from welcoming passengers, to taking meal orders, to handling the preparation and presentation of meals. As Turkish Airlines’ Chairman of the Board, M. Ilker Ayci, explains the decision…
MANAMA: Gulf Air, the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bahrain, announces the addition of two boutique summer destinations to its global network with Santorini and Mykonos in Greece. Both Santorini and Mykonos will be served by the airline’s new Airbus A320neo with two weekly flights each starting from 2 June until 22 September for Santorini and starting from 3 June until 30 September for Mykonos. The seasonal summer routes to the Greek islands will boost the airline’s network with popular boutique seaside destinations that are favourite to many tourists and families in the Kingdom of Bahrain and the region…
Visitors to Dracula’s castle are being jabbed with needles rather than fangs after a Covid-19 vaccine centre has been set up at the Transylvanian site. Medics with fang stickers on their scrubs are offering Pfizer shots to everyone who visits the 14th-century Bran Castle in central Romania. It is part of a government drive to encourage more Romanians to get jabbed. Some believe the castle inspired the vampire’s lair in Bram Stoker’s iconic novel Dracula. Romania has recorded just over a million infections since the pandemic began, and nearly 29,000 deaths. The country’s government says it wants to vaccinate 10…
RIYADH: In a major move, Saudi Arabia has granted permission to companies listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) to buy real estate in Makkah and Madinah. This comes following the approval from the Council of Ministers amending Article 5 of the Law of Real Estate Ownership and Investment by non-Saudis under which listed Saudi companies are exempted from the prohibition of non-Saudis owning real estate within the borders of Makkah and Madinah, reported Saudi Gazette. As per this law, a non-Saudi investor with a natural or corporate personality is licensed to practice any professional, vocational, or economic activity may…
DUBAI: The world’s first in-person international travel trade event in 18 months, the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) 2021 opened in Dubai on Sunday, May 16 with the participation of over 1,300 exhibitors from 62 countries. Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, CEO and Founder of the Emirates Group and Chairman of Dubai World, officially inaugurated the ATM, marking the start of the 28th edition of the Middle East’s largest travel and tourism exhibition. Sheikh Ahmed was accompanied by Helal Saeed Al Marri, CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) and Director-General of Dubai’s…
DUBAI: Official statistics showed on Monday, May 04 that the number of tourists visiting Dubai fell by 67.2 per cent during the first quarter of 2021 compared with the same period last year, Anadolu has reported. Travel concerns and restrictions continue as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing in Dubai (DTCM), 1.26 million tourists visited Dubai in the first three months of this year, compared with 3.84 million in the first quarter of 2020. India was the largest source of tourists during this period, with 320,000 visitors, followed by Russia with…