For Immediate Release | Official News Wire for the Travel Industry

Where press releases are breaking news

Hainan Airlines announces nonstop Beijing-Oslo service

by

Hainan Airlines Holding Co., Ltd. (Hainan Airlines) plans to formally launch nonstop service between Beijing and Oslo on May 15. This will be the first direct route between mainland China and Norway as well as the airline’s first nonstop Nordic service. The Beijing-Oslo route, with three round trip flights weekly on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, will be serviced by an Airbus A330-300 aircraft with 32 seats in business class and 262 seats in economy class. Business class will be equipped with 180-degree flatbed seats, while every seat on the aircraft comes wired with an exclusive on-demand entertainment system and every passenger will be served sumptuous offerings from both Western and Oriental cuisines. In addition, the use of portable electronic devices on board will be allowed.

The airline now operates 21 routes with destinations in Europe including Berlin, London, Paris, Rome, Brussels, Edinburgh, Zurich, Vienna, Manchester, Madrid and Moscow. Tickets for Beijing-Oslo flights can now be reserved.

Hainan Airlines’ Beijing-Oslo Flight Schedule (All times are local):

Flight No.

Aircraft

Schedule

Departure City

Departure Time

Arrival Time

Arrival City

HU769

A330

Monday/Wednesday/Friday

Beijing

1:30 am

5:30 am

Oslo

HU770

A330

Monday/Friday

Oslo

2:30 pm

5:30 am+1

Beijing

HU770

A330

Wednesday

Oslo

1:55 pm

5:00 am+1

Beijing

Travel News | eTurboNews

Strange blue lights over the arctic stun travelers

by

Travelers were stunned this weekend to spot strange blue lights appear in the Arctic skies. The blue lights appeared in two clear spots in the sky causing stargazers to look on in wonder.

These stunning displays of the Northern Lights above Lapland were captured by photography experts at Lights Over Lapland.

Founder of Lights Over Lapland, Chad Blakley, said; “I first spotted the lights on our Aurora Web Cam which continually captures the night sky above Abisko in Sweden, and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was completely out of this world!”

Since the sighting, social media has been awash with speculation, however the phenomenon has since been attributed to a scientific experiment from the Andøya Space Center in Norway which launched two rockets that released metallic powder into atmosphere inside the Northern Lights.

“Although every experience with the Northern Lights is different – this one was a complete mystery and surprise even for me,” adds Lights Over Lapland founder Chad Blakley who has been photographing the Northern Lights for the last 10 years. “It just goes to show that there is always something new to experience on a Northern Lights holiday.”

Travel News | eTurboNews

Wizz Air boosts Budapest Airport’s summer schedule

by

The early days of the summer season see Budapest Airport welcoming two new connections with Wizz Air as the home-based carrier launches links to London Gatwick and Oslo.

Supporting the advancement of the Hungarian gateway, the ultra-low-cost carrier (ULCC) added a daily service to London Gatwick on Sunday, which sees Budapest offer over 100,000 seats to the UK’s second-largest airport (in terms of passenger traffic) during S19.

Today, the ULCC also launched the airport’s third operation to Oslo, adding to Budapest’s growing connection with Norway’s capital city.

Seeing a 35% increase in flights to Oslo during the summer season, Wizz Air will offer close to 200 services in total to the Scandinavian country as the latest service joins the airline’s existing links to Stavanger.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Summer Schedule 2019: Frankfurt Airport puts spring in its step

by

New flight schedule to take effect on March 31 – Total flights expanding moderately

Frankfurt Airport (FRA) continues to strengthen its status as Germany’s leading international aviation hub. Starting on March 31, travelers will be able to fly from Frankfurt to a total of 306 destinations in 98 countries.

In this year’s summer season, the number of flights will increase moderately (by more than one percent) compared to last year. Seat capacity will also grow by between one and two percent.

European, domestic German and especially intercontinental flight offerings will all expand. A rise of between 1.5 and two percent of aircraft movements is expected in the intercontinental category, with seat capacity increasing by 1.5 to 2.5 percent.

 New long-haul destinations

United Airlines will introduce daily services to Denver (DEN) in early May. Lufthansa will also offer a once-daily flight to DEN, while adding Austin (AUS), Texas as a new destination in North America. Cathay Pacific is increasing the frequency on its Frankfurt-Hong Kong (HKG) route, thus bringing the total to three services a week. Qatar Airways will offer more seats on one of its two daily flights to Doha (DOH), which will now be operated by an Airbus A380.

The intercontinental connections available from Frankfurt are marked by an impressive diversity, serving a total of 137 destinations. Lufthansa is continuing the new services introduced last winter to Cancún (CUN) in Mexico and Agadir (AGA) in Morocco. Condor will retain its flights to Kuala Lumpur (KUL) in Malaysia while stepping up the frequency to Phoenix (PHX) in the U.S., Calgary (YYC) in Canada, and Mombasa (MBA) in Kenya. Air India will also maintain its Frankfurt-Mumbai (BOM) route.

More connections to Turkey from FRA

Holidaymakers who wish to spend their vacation in Turkey have quite a few options to choose from: 11 airlines will now fly from FRA to a total of 15 destinations in that country, 15 percent more than before. They include a new service to Bodrum (BJV) by Lufthansa, which is also adding two other European holiday destinations: Heraklion (HER) in Greece and Tivat (TIV) in Montenegro.

Lufthansa will also continue flying to the new destinations it inaugurated last winter. Among them are Thessaloniki (SKG) in Greece, Trieste (TRS) in Italy, and Tromsø (TOS) in Norway. The airline is also adding more frequencies to Tirana (TIA) in Albania and Sofia (SOF) in Bulgaria, as well as Palma de Majorca (PMI) and Pamplona (PNA) in Spain. German leisure carrier TUIfly is strengthening its services from Frankfurt to Lamezia Terme (SUF) in Italy, Larnaca (LCA) in Cyprus, and Djerba-Zarzis (DJE) in Tunisia. In late March, Ryanair will add more services to Dublin (DUB), the Irish capital, bringing the total to 12 a week. Altogether, the total number of European destinations served from FRA will climb to 154, and within Germany to 15.

The impact on Frankfurt Airport of recent airline insolvencies is negligible. Flybmi will no longer be serving Bristol (BRS) in the United Kingdom and Jönköping (JKG) and Karlstad (KSD) in Sweden but because the aircraft used on those routes had only limited passenger seating their cancellation is only minimally affecting FRA’s total capacity. Nor are the failures of two other airlines, Germania and Small Planet Germany, having more than a very slight effect on total traffic. 

Good preparation for a positive travel experience

The moderate growth in flight movements is fully in line with the expectations of Fraport, the operator of Frankfurt Airport. To handle the increase, Fraport has been hiring more staff and allotting more space for additional security checks during the summer season. Nevertheless, passengers may still experience processing delays on peak days. They are therefore advised to check in online before leaving home, arrive at the airport at least two and a half hours before departure, and then head immediately for the security checkpoint. Travelers intending to drive to the airport and leave their vehicles there can book parking spaces online in advance. Passengers are also advised to observe the airlines’ rules on cabin luggage. Fraport recommends taking as few carry-on items as possible. Information and pointers on travel and carry-on luggage can be found at www.frankfurt-airport.com.

Travel News | eTurboNews

Viking Sky cruise ship safely towed to Norwegian port, 643 passengers rescued, 20 hospitalized

by

A luxury Viking Sun cruise ship that was left floating due to engine failure and nearly crashed into the rocks in rough waters has safely arrived in the port of Molde on the west coast on Norway, with over 900 people on board.

The Viking Sky was towed to safety by two tugs, with one sailing in front of the vessel and another behind it.

The luxury cruise ship, which set sail with almost 1,400 passengers and crew aboard, sent out an SOS signal on Saturday. It was drifting in rough waters near a rocky coast after all its engines stopped working.

At some point, it approached the land at the distance of just 100 meters, with passengers posting dramatic photos. But the crew was eventually able to start one of the engines and avoid the crash.

“If they had run aground we would have faced a major disaster,” Hans Vik, the heads of the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre for southern Norway, told TV2.

Rescue services airlifted 479 passengers on to a helicopter before the weather improved and Viking Sky could be towed.

Twenty people required hospitalization as result of the order, the vessels operations said. The passengers were mainly elderly citizens from the US and Britain.

Travel News | eTurboNews