A plane belonging to Italy’s national carrier was forced to make an emergency landing in Abu Dhabi on Monday following the death of a passenger.

Kailash Chandra Saini, 52, was travelling with his son, Heera Lal, 26, from New Delhi to Milan when he suddenly fell ill and died.

Pilots on the Alitalia flight were forced to divert to Abu Dhabi International Airport, where Mr Saini was transferred to Mafraq hospital.

Officials said his body was expected to be repatriated to his home state of Rajasthan, India, on an Etihad flight on Wednesday.

Embassy officials have been assisting the family with the formal process of repatriation.

His son, Heera Lal Saini, who was also travelling with his father to Milan, was in Abu Dhabi and talked briefly with the press but was not in position to share any further details.

The Indian embassy in Abu Dhabi is helping Heera repatriate his father's body to India.

The Department of Health in Abu Dhabi has issued a death certificate on Tuesday to help repatriate the body.

The son will be carrying the body of his father to India on Wednesday from Abu Dhabi.

Alitalia – Società Aerea Italiana (Alitalia – Italian Air Company), operating as Alitalia, is the flag carrier of Italy.

The company has its head office in Fiumicino, Rome, Italy. Its main hub is Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport, Rome, and a secondary is Linate Airport, Milan.

Other focus airports are Catania-Fontanarossa Airport, Milan-Malpensa Airport, Palermo Airport and Naples Airport.

In 2018, it was the twelfth-largest airline in Europe. The name "Alitalia" is an Italian portmanteau of the words ali (wings), and Italia (Italy).

On 2 May 2017, the airline went into administration after the Italian government formally approved the move.

Between 2009 and 2011, Alitalia renewed its fleet with 34 new aircraft, while 26 older planes were retired. The renewal process ended in early 2013.

These new planes are not owned by Alitalia itself, but are leased mostly from Aircraft Purchase Fleet, an Irish leasing company created by former Air One owner Carlo Toto primarily to purchase the new Alitalia fleet.

Following the Air One merger, the entire fleet that was not already leased from other lessors, plus the former Air One fleet that was owned by Air One outright, came under the ownership of APF, a subsidiary of Toto's Italian conglomerate Toto Holding.

The entire fleet, except the two new A330s, is now on the Irish registry instead of the Italian registry.

Alitalia codeshares with the following airlines:

- Aeroflot

- Aerolineas Argentinas

- Air Corsica

- Air Europa

- Air France

- Air Malta

- Air Serbia

- Air Seychelles

- airBaltic

- All Nippon Airways

- Avianca Brazil

- Azerbaijan Airlines

- Bulgaria Air

- Blue Air

- China Airlines

- China Eastern Airlines

- China Southern Airlines

- Croatia Airlines

- Czech Airlines

- Delta Air Lines

- Etihad Airways

- Flybe

- Gol Transportes Aéreos

- Hainan Airlines

- HOP!

- Kenya Airways (Resumes 12 June 2019)

- KLM

- Korean Air

- Kuwait Airways

- Luxair

- Middle East Airlines

- Montenegro Airlines

- Pegasus Airlines

- Royal Air Maroc

- Royal Jordanian

- Saudia

- SriLankan Airlines

- TAP Air Portugal

- TAROM

- Uzbekistan Airways

- Vietnam Airlines

- Virgin Australia

Incidents and accidents since Alitalia-CAI's launch of operations on 13 January 2009:

On 24 April 2011, an attempt was made to hijack Alitalia Flight 329, en route from Charles de Gaulle Airport, Paris, France to Fiumicino Airport, Rome and divert it to Tripoli International Airport, Libya.

The hijacker, reported to be an advisor to the Kazakhstan delegation to UNESCO, was subdued by cabin crew and other passengers. He was arrested and taken into custody after the aircraft made a safe landing at Rome.

On 29 September 2013 at 20:10, an Alitalia Airbus A320 flying from Madrid–Barajas Airport to Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport failed to lower the landing gear during a storm on landing and the aircraft toppled, skidded off the runway and crashed.

10 passengers suffered minor injuries and all 151 passengers and crew were evacuated and taken to the hospital.


Tourism Observer

Emirates announced on Wednesday a code-share agreement with Trenitalia, Italy’s national railway company, allowing Emirates customers to visit new destinations across Italy.

Travellers can use one ticket to fly on Emirates and then reach other Italian cities by train.

Emirates currently flies to four Italian cities; Milan, Rome, Venice, and Bologna.

Customers can book their code-share trips through Emirates’ website and use their ticket to then travel by train.

First and Business class passengers will automatically be booked in First Class on Trenitalia’s trains.


Tourism Observer

It is heartbreaking to hear about an attack in Barcelona, one of the most popular tourism destinations of the world.

Thinking about the 13 innocent lives lost, it is a very distressing thought that such an attack can happen at any second anywhere in the world. This is why, in the midst of these terrorist attacks.

Barcelona, where the attack happened, and Venice are increasingly mentioned with anti-tourism protests that recently started and have been gradually increasing as the cities that attract the most tourists in Europe.

The anti-tourism protests by locals to get attention to the business, material damage, and increasing rents continue to spread to popular tourist destinations such as Dubrovnik and Rome.

According to the latest statistics of the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the number of tourists going to European cities rose 6 percent from January to April, and it does not seem that it will slow down in the next months.

In 2016, the total number of global foreigner tourists reached 1.23 billion and European cities got 50 percent of this, around 615 million.

The reason for the protests is not complicated. Venice whose local population is 55 thousand hosts 20 million tourists a year.

Spanish cities receive close to 75.6 million tourists in total. When compared, the total number of foreigner tourists that go to Turkey from 2014 to 2016 is just over 30 million, 12 million in the first six months of 2017, and 35 percent of them, close to 4.5 million, go to Istanbul.

The increasing business is putting a strain on the local people in popular European cities.

Especially with applications such as Airbnb that became popular in recent years, rent in the cities has been on the rise because homeowners prefer to rent their houses to tourists, expunging locals from their houses.

Additionally, the fact that historical sites cannot handle the burgeoning tourist numbers harms both the spirits of the city and its standards of living.

The latest agenda of the Italian government who has introduced food and alcohol bans in outdoor venues in previous months is to limit the number of tourists in Venice.

If they find a solution, the number of daily visitors will be closely monitored and the entry of tourists will be delayed or blocked when capacity is exceeded.

In Croatia's most popular city, Dubrovnik, local authorities have started to impose tough monetary penalties with new regulations to fight the deranging tourists. The financial profit brought by tourism next to the distress it causes is at a size that cannot be overlooked.

According to 2016 statistics, the tourism income of Spain was $60 billion. However, Catalans were the force behind the protests that became violent in Barcelona where the most eventful incidents took place.

Even though the protests did not directly influence political decisions, they catalyzed a social setting where being a foreigner is getting more difficult. While the banners used in Barcelona mostly included violence and hatred against tourists, the tone of the protest in Venice where 2000 people marched was calmer.

The focus in the Venice protest where the word "foreigner" was not used was on the pollution and rising rent in the city. The United Nationals World Tourism Organization and similar institutions invite Europe to peace.

While Europe is discontent with excessive tourists, Saudi Arabia has announced that it will lift its ban on bikinis in the new tourism region around the Red Sea.

According to the news on Gulf Insider, the Saudi administration will allow women to wear bikinis in the tourism region of 50 islands that will be finished by 2022 according to plans.

This new tourist area will be governed with "laws similar to international standards" following the decision of the new prince.

Moving forward, Turkey ranks third in the environment award in blue flagged beaches category where the coasts of 49 countries compete, from the Bahamas to Spain and Mexico to New Zealand.

Turkey is also seventh in the race for the title of cleanest marinas in the world.

We must continue highlighting Turkey as one of the most beautiful and cleanest destinations in the world, surely yes.



Tourism Observer

airBaltic has received the fourth of its 20 Bombardier CS300 jets on firm order. By the end of this year, airBaltic is planning to have eight CS300 aircraft.

The modernized fleet is ensuring growth of airBaltic with at least 13 additional routes and +15% more tickets on sale in 2017.

The fourth airBaltic CS300 aircraft, registered as YL-CSD, arrived in Riga on June 2, 2017. The flight time was 7 hours and 58 minutes and the aircraft covered 6 410 km non-stop distance between the Canadian and Latvian airports.

Thus far, airBaltic has completed more than 1 296 flights and flown over 3 130 block hours with the brand new Bombardier CS300 aircraft.

By the end of 2019 airBaltic is planning to have 20 Bombardier CS300 aircraft on its fleet. With an average jet fleet age of only 2 years, airBaltic, as an all-Bombardier operator, will have one of the youngest jet fleets in Europe.

airBaltic CS300 aircraft currently operates on such popular routes as Amsterdam, Barcelona, Rome, Moscow, London, Paris, Vienna, Athens, Madrid and others.

The new Bombardier CS300 aircraft, with a total of 145 seats, offers excellent flying experience with such benefits for passengers as wider seats, larger windows, more hand luggage space in the cabin, improved lavatories and more.

New aircraft is also much quieter – with four times smaller noise footprint.

Moreover, at the moment, it is the greenest commercial aircraft in the world, as it is the first aircraft to have a transparent declaration of the life-cycle environmental impact, helping to reduce CO2 and NOX emissions by 20% and 50% respectively.

airBaltic serves over 60 destinations from its home base in Riga, Latvia. From every one of these locations, airBaltic offers convenient connections via Riga to its network spanning Europe, Scandinavia, the CIS and the Middle East.

In addition, airBaltic also offers direct flights from Tallinn and Vilnius.

British Airways has cancelled all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick until 18:00 BST because of computer problems.

A "major IT system failure that is causing very severe disruption to our flight operations worldwide", the airline said.

It apologised for the global system outage and said it was working to resolve the the problem.

Heathrow Airport said it was "working closely" with BA to solve the issue.

There is no evidence at this stage to suggest the system failure was caused by a cyber attack, British Airways says.

All affected passengers will be offered the option of rescheduling or a refund.

In a statement, the airline asked passengers with flights before 18:00 BST on Saturday not to come to Gatwick or Heathrow airports, which it said had become extremely congested.

Other airlines flying in and out of Heathrow and Gatwick are unaffected.

The problems mean parts of British Airways's website are unavailable and some travellers claimed they could not check in on the mobile app.

BA aircraft landing at Heathrow are unable to park up as outbound aircraft cannot vacate the gates, which has resulted in passengers being stuck on aircraft.

A passenger said he had been sitting on a plane at Heathrow for 90 minutes. He said the captain told passengers the IT problems were very problematic and catastrophic.

BA staff in Heathrow's Terminal 5 were resorting to using white boards, according to passengers.

Delays have been reported in Rome, Prague, Milan, Stockholm and Malaga due to the system failure.

Passengers say they haven't been told very much just that there is a worldwide computer system failure.

They were told that we couldn't even get on other flights because they are unable to see what flights we can be moved to.

Not even flights from other countries can fly to the two airports.

British Airways staff are unable to say how long delays would take, but they say all flights are grounded around the world.

Passengers are being told their computer systems were down worldwide.

Some delayed passengers have been given vouchers for food and drink.

EU flight delay rights

- If your flight departed the European Union or was with a European airline, you might have rights under EU law to claim if the delay or cancellation was within the airline's control

- Short-haul flights: 250 euros for delays of more than three hours

- Medium-haul flights: 400 euros for delays of more than three hours

- Long-haul flights: 300 euros for delays of between three and four hours; and 600 euros for delays of more than four hours

- If your flight's delayed for two or more hours the airline must offer food and drink, access to phone calls and emails, and accommodation if you're delayed overnight - including transfers between the airport and the hotel.

I hope this is just not a cyber attack or

Alitalia will launch the new flight from Rome to Kyiv (Zhuliany) starting on May 2, 2017.

Departure from Kyiv will be at 05:00, arrival in Rome — at 06:55 local time. The return flight will depart from the airport of Rome at 23:00 and arrive in Kyiv at 02:50. The new route Rome – Kyiv – Rome will be operated daily on modern А320 and А319 aircraft with two cabin classes: Business Class and Economy Class.

Morning arrival at Fiumicino Airport, Rome will allow passengers to access most of the cities in Italy, Europe and North America.

One-way ticket prices start at 110 EUR, including airport fees and transaction costs.

Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi works to accompany pilgrims on journeys around the world with adequate spiritual assistance and logistical organization. It promotes pilgrimages to important destinations that have a spiritual and cultural interest. While they have developed many itineraries to Catholic Christian destinations for pilgrims from around the world, they also help to organize customized itineraries based on individual groups' needs and desires.

Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi (ORP) has forged a North American partnership to offer spiritual pilgrimages for American and Canadian travellers. Ornit, the official distributor of Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi services in North America, will offer pilgrimage packages to Rome, Lourdes and other Marian sites, Israel and Palestine, walking pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, as well as social justice and event packages. Tours custom-tailored for individuals and groups are also possible.

ORP is a department of the Vatican, the Vatican's Institutional Unit of the Vicariate of Rome, Department of the Holy See, at the direct dependence of the Cardinal Vicariate of the Holy Father. Having the imprimatur of the Holy See, their guides and pastoral leaders are trained Catholics. What distinguishes ORP from other travel agencies, even Catholic operators, is that they are able to "open doors" to special places which may not otherwise be possible. Working with ORP, Ornit's tours assure a faith focus for all their pilgrimages, including daily Mass.

Founded in 1934, Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi works to accompany pilgrims on journeys around the world with adequate spiritual assistance and logistical organization. It promotes pilgrimages to important destinations that have a spiritual and cultural interest. While they have developed many itineraries to Catholic Christian destinations for pilgrims from around the world, they also help to organize customized itineraries based on individual groups' needs and desires. ORP is also committed each day to furthering its other important mission of creating a dialogue, as well as solidarity, charity and peace among people.

"We're living in a globalized world," said Patrizia De Libero Brown, ORP/Ornit's representative for the Eastern US and Canada.

"We believe that a pilgrimage is a lasting inner experience. It is a "journey of the spirit" that stimulates and helps a traveller to feel the presence of Christ in him or her and in others," said De Libero Brown. "It is also a way to explore the beauty of life and its Creations, a search for a face, as result of offering one another. A pilgrimage is a real opportunity for an inner transformation."

"Over the past couple of generations the Catholic Church's spiritual response to those changes has been to recover its spirituality of pilgrimage," said De Libero Brown. Discovering the Catholic Church today means discovering the pilgrim Church, whether it's through a monastic experience in the Holy Land or time travel through the history of the Church in Rome.

In a globalized world, pilgrimage is no longer the privileged experience of relatively wealthy North Americans and Europeans. Increasingly the 750,000 people who take Opera Romana trips each year come from countries like India, Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines. More than ever, pilgrimages represent an important opportunity to discover and reforge the global unity of the Catholic Church.

"The most important aspect of any ORP/Ornit-organized tour is the opportunity to meet with the local Church and local people, whether it's in a village in the Palestinian Territories or along the streets of Rome," said De Libero Brown. "A journey of the spirit cannot happen without human faces," she said.

A pilgrim should experience both the life of the Church and their own personal Christian journey. "Pilgrimage is a metaphor of our Christian existence," said De Libero Brown.

But just buying a package tour doesn't necessarily lead to conversion.

"There's no magic to it," she said. "If any change is going to take place, it's going to come from within. Our mission here in the United States is to help in some small way to bring that about."

Ornit considers its market the 67 million Catholics in North America. In the last year it has established offices in Texas and Massachusetts, where De Libero Brown is based. Travel agents can book pilgrimages through Ornit, or individuals and groups can deal directly with Ornit by calling Ms. De Libero Brown in the Massachusetts office at 1-978-249-6580.

Emirates Airline has announced a third daily flight between Cape Town and Dubai, starting July 4.

Flight EK778 departs Dubai at 10h50 and arrives in Cape Town at 18h30.

Flight EK779 departs Cape Town at 20h05 and arrives in Dubai at 07h30.

The airline now has connections to New York, London, Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, Rome, Sydney, Athens, Mumbai, Shanghai, Milan, Beijing, Munich, Hong Kong, Phuket, Bangkok, Singapore, Medina, Deli, Male and more.

A plane on a flight from Istanbul to Rome operated by the Turkish firm Pegasus Airlines made an unscheduled stop at Sarajevo on Feb. 25 to evacuate five drunken passengers who had insulted crew members, police said.

"The plane made an unscheduled landing at Sarajevo airport," a border police spokeswoman said.

"Police arrested five passengers, Turkish nationals, who were visibly under the influence of alcohol," spokeswoman Sanela Dujkovic added.

The passengers allegedly insulted the crew, took liquor without permission and refused to pay for it, she said.

Local media reported that fans of Galatasaray, playing Feb. 25 in Rome the 16th final leg of Europa League against Lazio, were on board. However, police could not confirm the information.

After the evacuation the plane continued its flight to Rome. The five passengers will be kept under police surveillance at the airport and returned to Istanbul on Feb. 26, the spokeswoman said.

Malaysia Airlines and Emirates has announced a new partnership that will give their customers a seamless international network connecting Malaysia to more than 90 destinations on the Emirates network across Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas, exclusive frequent flyer benefits and world-class travel experiences.

Under the agreement signed by Emirates’ President Sir Tim Clark and Malaysia Airlines Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller, Malaysia Airlines will add its code on flights of Emirates to Europe, Middle East, Africa and the Americas. In return, Emirates will add its code on flights of Malaysia Airlines to domestic routes in Malaysia, South East Asia and selective cities across the Asia Pacific region.

The codeshare will be implemented progressively throughout 2016 subject to regulatory approvals. With the Emirates partnership, Malaysia Airlines’ customers will have access to 38 European, 15 Americas and 38 destinations in the Middle East and Africa and Indian Ocean, whilst Emirates’ customers will have access to Malaysia Airlines’ extensive Asia Pacific network with up to 300 daily departures in the region. Sales under this codeshare agreement will commence from February 1 2016.

Malaysia Airlines’ Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller said: “The strategic partnership paves the path towards an integrated customer proposition offering for both airlines. The improved connectivity will enable Malaysia Airlines customers to reach up to 38 destinations in Europe on a daily and even double daily basis for key European cities such as Zurich, Rome, Munich, Frankfurt, Madrid, and Barcelona.

This partnership gives our customers access to a dramatically expanded range of travel options. It is a great way for customers to travel seamlessly to major cities across the world. Furthermore, Dubai is a tourism, trade and logistics hub which has earned itself the reputation as being the gateway between the East and the West.

Not only will this provide Malaysians unprecedented super-connectivity to the whole world, it will also make it much easier for travellers from all corners of the globe to visit Malaysia and experience its rich culture, nature and Malaysian hospitality. This is part of the national carrier’s initiative towards enhancing air connectivity with key priority markets overseas for increased tourist arrivals into Malaysia.”

“Our new codeshare agreement with Malaysia Airlines will enable our passengers to experience new destinations and improved connectivity in the ever-popular Southeast Asia region, and also additional comforts such as reciprocal lounge access and priority check-in,” said Sir Tim Clark, President Emirates.”

“Malaysia Airlines’ extensive network in the emerging Southeast Asia region perfectly complements Emirates’ global network and enhances the choice of travel destinations for customers in both the business and leisure segment.”

The passenger-pleasing national airline, Aerolineas Argentinas has announced extra services for Summer 2016 from its home base at Buenos Aires to two of its well established European gateways in Barcelona and Rome.

Buenos Aires to Barcelona and Buenos Aires to Rome both get an extra weekly flight bringing frequency up to six times a week and five times a week respectively with the flag ship service from Buenos Aires to Mardid maintaining the successful formula of a daily flight.

Previously Aerolineas Argentinas have put on record that it in will get three new Airbus A330-200 aircraft in 2016 and will continue to replace its Boeing 737-700 aircraft with the newer Boeing 737-800.

Hungarian low-cost airline Wizz Air will open a new base in Iasi, eastern Romania, in the summer of 2016 and will introduce five new routes from the city to Bologna, Catania, Larnaca, Rome, and Tel Aviv. It will also increase the frequency of flights from Iasi to London and Milan.

The company will allocate an Airbus A320 aircraft for international flights from the Iasi airport.

By opening the new base in Iasi, Wizz Air reaches six operational bases in Romania.

The company, which will have 16 airplanes in Romania starting next year, has a market share of 29.5%, said Gyorgy Abran, Wizz Air commercial director.

“We transported 3.4 million passengers in 2014 and for this year we estimate a 19% growth,” he added.

Thus, Wizz Air may pass 4 million passengers in Romania this year and the number will continue to grow next year, after opening the new base in Iasi.

Emirates Airline on Tuesday launched direct, daily flights to Bologna, its fourth Italian city after Rome, Venice and Milan.

Airline looking to draw more leisure and business travellers from East and West

Water cannons received the Boeing 777-300 at the turmac of the city, which is rich in its art, culture, trade and known world-wide for its medieval historical centres.

Bologna has a “good customer base and we want to offer people the option of flying from here”, Thierry Antinori, Emirates Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial officer Commercial Operations Worldwide, told Gulf News.

“It is going to be a very popular destination,” he added.

Emirates airline is planning to connect tourists and businessmen from Asian countries to Bologna and to offer the tourists from Europe the option of flying to the East though Dubai.

In order to achieve the goal, the senior official announced during the press conference that Emirates airline will bring 12 media groups from the different far eastern countries to Bologna in the next two months.

Emirates wants “to show them the city, because it is not known as Venice or Rome, also because we want to be successful and, to be successful, part of the job is to do the job by yourself,” he said.

While Emriates airline has a total of 1,000 Italians working with it world-wide, the UAE has the biggest Italian community east of Europe.

Enrico Postacchini, Chairman of Bologna Airport, told Gulf News that the airport has a capacity of over seven million passengers a year. Plans for further investment to increase the capacity are under way, he added.

Bologna airport is among the top European airports in terms of connectivity, he added.

Pobeda became the latest carrier on the highly competitive city pair between Moscow and Sochi when it commenced services between Moscow Vnukovo and Sochi/Adler on 6 February. Aeroflot’s in-house LCC now serves the route with six daily flights. This summer, the link between Moscow and Sochi is the most highly competed route in Europe with a total of 10 carriers operating services between the two cities.

We look at several aspects such as aircraft type operated, weekly frequency, sector length and which other carriers may already be operating on the route. Typically around half of all new airlines services are on airport pairs that are not served by anyone else. (Coincidentally, out of 25 new services launched this week, 12 are already served by other carriers.) However, that means that around half of all new services are airlines entering a market already served by at least one other carrier. These existing carriers are not likely to take kindly to having their position challenged.

This got us wondering as to which were the most competitive routes within Europe, during the peak summer season, on both an airport pair and city pair basis. At this point the anna.aero data elves let out a big sigh and got to work to see what they could uncover. For summer we used the first week of August in 2015. When attaching airports to cities we used the IATA recommended allocations for the following 16 cities: Belfast, Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, Glasgow, Istanbul, London, Milan, Moscow, Oslo, Paris, Rome, Stockholm, Tenerife, Venice and Warsaw.

German airports to Antalya dominate summer airport pairs ranking
For this summer the following table reveals the airport pairs served by the highest number of airlines. Routes to Antalya from German airports appear five times among the top eight, with Cologne Bonn and Düsseldorf to Antalya both offering flights on eight different airlines. Two more ‘summer sun’ routes also appear in the rankings; Düsseldorf to Heraklion and Manchester to Palma de Mallorca. The final route is the Italian domestic link between Rome Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa.

Moscow – Sochi/Adler most competitive city pair
If instead of considering airport pairs we examine city pairs within Europe, the most competitive markets now include a large number of markets from London. With six airports designated as serving the UK capital (Gatwick, Heathrow, London City, Luton, Southend and Stansted) it’s no surprise that London routes now feature prominently. However, only one city pair can beat the eight carriers between Cologne Bonn and Antalya, and Düsseldorf and Antalya as reported earlier in this analysis. And it does not involve London. Instead it is the Russian domestic route between Moscow and Sochi/Adler, which according to OAG Schedules Analyser data had a total of 10 different carriers serving the market this August.

Two other Moscow routes also appear with seven competing airlines. Moscow is served by three airports; Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo. Seven city pairs involving London are served by seven carriers; four in Spain, two in Greece and one each in Cyprus and Italy.

Vueling will operate flights to Alicante on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday

Spanish low cost airline Vueling will offer direct services to Alicante and Rome from June next year.

Vueling Airlines has announced it will launch two new routes from Manchester Airport for summer 2016.

Part of International Airlines Group (IAG), Vueling will offer direct services to Alicante and Rome from June next year.

The Spanish low cost airline will operate three flights a week to Alicante and two flights a week to Rome in addition to their existing service to Barcelona, which started in June this year.

Flights to Alicante will operate on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday with flights to Rome on Friday and Monday.

The routes will be operated by an Airbus A320, with capacity for 180 passengers.

Ken O’Toole, managing director for Manchester Airport, said: “We’re delighted that Vueling Airlines has chosen to expand its route network from Manchester Airport.

“Alicante and Rome are popular destinations with our 22.9 million passengers and these additional services reinforce our status as the UK’s Global Gateway for the North of England.”

Gabriel Schmilovich, network planning, scheduling and slots manager at Vueling, said: “We are very pleased to announce the new routes to Rome and Alicante. With these additions, Vueling passengers from Manchester will have the opportunity to fly to more than 140 destinations across Europe connecting via our hubs in Barcelona and Rome Fiumicino.”

THE BUSTLING metropolis of Seoul, South Korea has topped a new survey ranking the luxury travel destinations that attract – and retain – wealthy tourists the longest.

For the 2015 Luxury Travel Index, prepared by technology and booking company Switchfly, analysts looked at the average length of stay that affluent travelers spend at top destinations around the world.

And while the list of 15 destinations is dominated by European cities and islands, the top spot goes to the South Korean capital, where wealthy travelers spend an average of 13 days shopping, eating and sightseeing – and dropping their money.

After Seoul, Dubai and Milan round out the top three spots.

The list, which is meant to serve as a snapshot into the traveling habits of tourists who fly first class and sleep in five-star hotels, also shows that interest in the Americas for deep-pocketed travelers is weak: The only two destinations to crack the list are Sao Paulo and Miami.

Here are the luxury destinations where wealthy travelers choose to spend the most time – and money – according to Switchfly, which powers booking and loyalty redemption programs for leading international hotel brands:-

1. Seoul, South Korea (13.0 days)
2. Dubai, UAE (12.7 days)
3. Milan, Italy (12.3 days)
4. Athens, Greece (11.5 days)
5. Singapore (11.1 days)
6. Frankfurt, Germany (11 days)
7. Sao Paulo, Brazil (tied 10.6 days)
7. Hong Kong, China (tied 10.6 days)
8. Bali, Indonesia (10 days)
9. Lisbon, Portugal (9.7 days)
10. Tokyo, Japan (9.6 days)
11. Crete, Greece (9.2 days)
12. Mykonos, Greece (8.7 days)
13. Rome, Italy (8.5 days)
14. Miami, Florida, USA (8.3 days)

Ryanair launched two new routes from Cologne Bonn this week to Copenhagen and Berlin Schönefeld. Services to Schönefeld will operate 30 times weekly, while Copenhagen will see a daily flight. Services to the Danish capital were celebrated by: Maike Lyssy, Business Development & Aviation Marketing, Cologne Bonn Airport; Jan Möller, Head of Business Development, Cologne Bonn Airport; Tim Howe Schröder, Head of Sales and Marketing Manager, Ryanair; Markus Leopold, Marketing & Sales Executive, Ryanair; and the Ryanair crew of the inaugural flight.

Ryanair launched four new routes on the 2 and 3 September, of which three connect with Copenhagen (CPH). The airline will connect the Danish capital with Cologne Bonn (CGN), Madrid (MAD) and Rome Ciampino (CIA).

The ULCC will also connect the German airport of Cologne Bonn with Berlin Schönefeld (SXF). The domestic link will operate 30 times weekly according to OAG Schedules Analyser data. T

he only route that Ryanair will see direct competition on is the connection between the capital cities of Copenhagen and Madrid, a 2,057-kilometre sector already served by Iberia (daily) and Norwegian (daily).

All of the new routes will be served with at least a daily rotation.

On 3 September, Berlin Schönefeld celebrated the launch of Ryanair services to Cologne Bonn. The domestic 470-kilometre airport pair will face no direct competition, but airberlin and germanwings both offer multiple daily flights from Berlin Tegel to Cologne Bonn.

See how Cologne Bonn Airport’s FTWA compares to others from around the world.

The Hill of Crosses (Lithuanian: About this sound Kryžių kalnas) is a site of pilgrimage about 12 km north of the city of siauliai, in northern Lithuania. The precise origin of the practice of leaving crosses on the hill is uncertain, but it is believed that the first crosses were placed on the former Jurgaiciai or Domantai hill fort after the 1831 Uprising. Over the generations, not only crosses, but giant crucifixes, carvings of Lithuanian patriots, statues of the Virgin Mary and thousands of tiny effigies and rosaries have been brought here by Catholic pilgrims. The exact number of crosses is unknown, but estimates put it at about 55,000 in 1990 and 100,000 in 2006.

Over the generations, the place has come to signify the peaceful endurance of Lithuanian Catholicism despite the threats it faced throughout history. After the 3rd partition of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1795, Lithuania became part of the Russian Empire. Poles and Lithuanians unsuccessfully rebelled against Russian authorities in 1831 and 1863. These two uprisings are connected with the beginnings of the hill: as families could not locate bodies of perished rebels, they started putting up symbolic crosses in place of a former hill fort.

When the old political structure of Eastern Europe fell apart in 1918, Lithuania once again declared its independence. Throughout this time, the Hill of Crosses was used as a place for Lithuanians to pray for peace, for their country, and for the loved ones they had lost during the Wars of Independence.

Most recently, the site took on a special significance during the years 1944–1990, when Lithuania was occupied by the Soviet Union. Continuing to travel to the Hill and leave their tributes, Lithuanians used it to demonstrate their allegiance to their original identity, religion and heritage. It was a venue of peaceful resistance, although the Soviets worked hard to remove new crosses, and bulldozed the site at least three times including attempts in 1963 and 1973.There were even rumors that the authorities planned to build a dam on the nearby Kulvė River, a tributary to Mūša, so that the hill would end up underwater.


On September 7, 1993, Pope John Paul II visited the Hill of Crosses, declaring it a place for hope, peace, love and sacrifice. In 2000 a Franciscan hermitage was opened nearby. The interior decoration draws links with La Verna, the mountain where St. Francis received his stigmata.The hill remains under nobody's jurisdiction; therefore people are free to build crosses as they see fit.


The Hill of Crosses has about 100 000 crosses. It is said that first crosses were erected here by the next-of-kin of the rebels that fell in the 1831 rebellion. The Hill of Crosses ia an historical architectural monument, it is a unique composition of folk art. The Hill of crosses atract's people with it's peace, spirituality, authenticity and sacred nature. The hill of crosses was visited by Pope John Paul II. Even more crosses appeared after the rebellion in 1863. At tht time the traditions of visiting and erecting crosses on the hill of crosses were being formed. The Hill of crosses became a place of vows in Lithuania. In the beginning of the 20th century, the hill was already quite well known. It was being visited by a lot of people, and services and feasts were taking place here. Now It has about 100 000 cross.

Pope John Paul II visiting Hill of Crosses

In 1993 it was visited by Pope John Paul II. The Hill of crosses in Lithuania has left a deap inpression on Pope John Paul II. Also by initiative of Pope was build Monastery close to the hill.