Jamaica jumps ahead with new & refurbished accommodation

JAMAICA'S  tourism sector continues to make huge strides with regard to product development. Last year, approximately 3,000 new and refurbished hotel rooms were added to the island’s accommodation stock and in 2017, the destination expects to add more than 1,100 new rooms. Furthermore, it is expected that between 2018 and 2021, the #destination will have added more than 12,000 new rooms, spanning the various resort areas.

MONTEGO BAY

Breathless Resort & Spa consisting of 150 rooms had its official opening in February 2017. The ultra-modern adults-only resort features luxury accommodations, a worldclass spa, mouthwatering gourmet cuisine and a non-stop party with the world’s hottest DJs performing. Located in Freeport Montego Bay, the property boasts a chic design with state of the art technology including free WiFi and in-room tablets. More than half of the suites offer complimentary butler service. 

The 146-room Royal Decameron Cornwall Beach resort in Montego Bay, St. James, was officially opened in February bringing the company’s room count in #Jamaica to 521. The new property adds to the 144 rooms at the Royal Decameron Montego Bay and 231 at the Royal Decameron Runaway Bay in St. Ann. 

Jewel Grande (formerly Palmyra) is expected to open late Summer/Fall 2017. Construction is now underway to complete the unfinished buildings on 16 acres of pristine waterfront land on the Rose Hall estate. The property comprises 88 junior suites, along with one, two and three bedroom units and private villas. 

Spanish Court Montego Bay, which formerly operated as Breezes is set to open this Fall. The 120-room hotel located on the popular “hip strip” in Montego Bay has been undergoing extensive refurbishing and redevelopment expected to cost in the region of US$12.5 million. 

NEGRIL 

Azul Beach scheduled to open in May 2017 will add 98 rooms to the resort’s inventory. Situated on a coveted stretch of Negril’s world-famous Seven Mile beach, Azul Beach hotel offers spacious, contemporary oceanfront accommodations, with special adults-only sections dedicated exclusively to romantic honeymoon suites. 

Grand Lido officially opened in March. This oceanfront boutique property comprises 26 exquisite suites complete with butler service. Grand Lido provides a unique all-inclusive clothing optional vacation experience catering to adults only. 

KINGSTON 

The R Hotel, (previously Renfrew), the newest five-star addition to Kingston’s room stock is scheduled to open this Fall. When complete, the property will consist of 32 exclusive rooms as well as eight two-bedroom duplex apartments. Poised to become Kingston’s first business ‘extended stay’ hotel, it is the result of collaboration between noted architect Evan Williams and investor Joe Bogdanovich. 



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Flybe Heathrow bound

FLYBE, Europe’s largest regional airline, announced in December that it is heading to London Heathrow for the first time next year to connect the UK’s largest international airport with Scotland, offering a choice of more than 40 scheduled flights a week from Aberdeen and Edinburgh.

The new routes complement Flybe’s well-established London City flights from the two Scottish airports. This route expansion means that, with effect from 26th March 2017, Flybe will offer up to 18 flights a day between London and Edinburgh, and 10 between London and Aberdeen.

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Aberdeen to Newquay – fast!

FLYBE has launched its new weekly summer flights between Aberdeen in Scotland and Newquay in Cornwall in south-west England.

Taking two hours, the new Saturday flight service takes approximately nine hours less compared to travelling by car. With the shortest train journeys from Aberdeen to Newquay taking more than 14 hours, including up to four changes, travellers choosing to fly can save almost 24 extra hours of holiday time.

Vincent Hodder, Flybe’s chief revenue officer, says: ‘Our new route to Newquay from Aberdeen opens up a whole new part of the country to travellers who might previously have been put off by the long journey times. We have all experienced driving or taking the train at peak holiday times, often an extremely stressful experience, especially for families taking a well-earned break.’

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Up in the air …

WIZZ AIR has launched direct flights from Aberdeen to Warsaw. The service will operate the year-round twice weekly service on Monday and Fridays. 

Wizz Air arrived at Aberdeen Airport last year when it launched a twice-weekly service to Gdansk, Poland, in June.

EASYJET has recorded the busiest ski season in its history this year. With a 40 percent share of the UK ski market, easyJet carried 1.3 million passengers to destinations across Europe, 90,000 more than last year. New routes, good ski conditions, and a strong consumer demand have fuelled the growth in customer numbers, the airline said. 

easyJet operates ski flights to Lyon, Salzburg, Innsbruck, Grenoble, Friedrichshafen, Turin, and its largest gateway, Geneva.

ICELANDAIR will take its Glasgow to Reykjavik service daily on September 7. Currently it runs six flights a week between the cities.

Icelandair now offer services to 16 North American gateways with connections from six UK airports: London Heathrow, Gatwick, Birmingham, Manchester, Glasgow, and Aberdeen.

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Icelandair begins flights from Aberdeen

ICELANDAIR is to start a year-round service from Aberdeen to Reykjavik. The gateway will become Icelandair’s second in Scotland and sixth in the UK. Flights will operate four-times weekly.

The flight to Reykjavik will provide connections to Icelandair’s 16 gateways in North America and reduce current travel times by up to several hours.

Icelandair destinations in North America include New York, Orlando, Seattle, Toronto, Chicago, and Montreal.

www.icelandair.co.uk

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Aberdeen Airport to get £20 million overhaul

ABERDEEN AIRPORT has revealed details of what will be its largest investment since the terminal opened its doors in 1977. £20 million will be invested in the airport resulting in a 50% increase in the size of the terminal building. 

The revamp will provide two new passenger lounges, an expanded baggage reclaim area, a new security search area, new immigration facilities, and modern restaurants.

The first phase of what will be a three-year project will begin in May. This will involve the construction of a two-storey extension to the south of the existing terminal building. At ground level, the extension will accommodate all facilities for international arriving passengers as well as domestic baggage reclaim. Two business lounges will be located on the upper level.

Carol Benzie, managing director of Aberdeen International Airport, said: ‘We have long recognized the need to expand the terminal and we are doing so with the long term future of the airport in mind. It is one of the most important pieces of transport infrastructure in the north-east of Scotland and it plays a crucial role in supporting the wider economy. Now more than ever, it is vital that we invest in our airport to help improve the region’s attractiveness as a key investment destination, and that we provide passengers, airlines, and the city with an airport they can all be proud of.’

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Picture Credit: By Gregory Deryckère, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org

BMI beefs up Norwich-Aberdeen service

BMI REGIONAL is launching additional flights and a multiple purchase discount scheme on its Norwich-Aberdeen route. Capacity will increase to three flights daily while regular passengers can expect to save up to 40%.

From January 11, the airline will increase capacity on the route, moving from two to three daily return flights. Additionally, the airline is introducing ‘Flight Pass’, a multiple purchase discount scheme, offering regular travellers savings of between 10% and 40% on the base fare. It will enable regular passengers to achieve savings in excess of £1,000 by booking up to six return trips in advance. A sliding scale of discounts will see two return trips attracting a 10% discount while six return trips will attract the maximum 40% reduction.

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Up in the air ...

Flybe to commence Liverpool-Edinburgh route – A domestic route from Liverpool to Edinburgh is being started by Flybe in September.

The daily service from October will be the regional carrier’s fourth route from Liverpool, complementing other services to the Isle of Man, Belfast, and Amsterdam.

Fares start at £27.99 one-way.

Finnair launches Edinburgh-Helsinki flights – Finnair is start a seasonal service, thrice-weekly service from Edinburgh to Helsinki in 2016. The service begin

Icelandair starts year-round service from Aberdeen – Icelandair’s year-round service from Aberdeen to Reykjavik commences in March next year, and will run four times weekly

Investment deal for Liverpool Airport – A major investment programme for Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport has been announced by its owners, The Peel Group. The operator said it has reached a long-term agreement with the airport’s lenders to underpin investment over the next five years.

The Peel Group said the arrangement will support future growth and has reduced the airport’s bank debt. It has also committed funding to improve the airport’s terminal and passenger facilities.

Ryanair in car hire partnership – Ryanair has launched a partnership with CarTrawler – a travel-technology platform and online aggregator of car rental services – allowing its passengers to book on the airline’s website.

The deal gives customers direct connections to more than 1,500 independent car rental agents in more than 30,000 airport and city locations in 174 countries.

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Heathrow pulls in £1 billion from regional airports sale

HEATHROW Airport Holdings has confirmed it will sell its 100 percent holdings in Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Southampton airports to a consortium formed by Ferrovial and Macquarie.

The deal – subject to European Union merger regulation clearance – is expected to bring the airport operator £1.04 billion in cash and assumed debt.

John Holland-Kaye, chief executive of Heathrow, said: ‘This sale enables us to focus on improving Heathrow for passengers and winning support for Heathrow expansion. Heathrow is the UK’s only hub airport, connecting the whole of the UK to the world and bringing economic benefits locally and nationally.’

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Virgin to axe Little Red flights

VIRGIN ATLANTIC is to shut down its short-haul UK operation Little Red next year..... 

....Its daily services between Heathrow and Manchester will end in March, and Heathrow flights to Edinburgh and Aberdeen will stop in September.

Little Red launched in March 2013 following British Airways’ takeover of bmi, when Virgin Atlantic was awarded “remedy slots” on the Edinburgh and Aberdeen routes. Virgin hoped to build connecting traffic into Heathrow on the domestic routes, the first it has operated.

Announcing the closure, the airline said: ‘Demand has been predominantly from point-to-point customers rather than connecting traffic. Little Red has unfortunately not been able to make a positive contribution to Virgin Atlantic’s network.’

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Picture Credit: 'Virgins "Little Red" EI-DEO at Heathrow'  by Simon Boddy via Wikimedia Commons

Fybe takes on key north-south service

FLYBE has announced its plans to pick up the key Aberdeen to London City route, with twice daily flights starting in October. The news comes after British Airways announced that it would be withdrawing from the route at the end of the summer season.

Seats on the new Aberdeen-London City route are on sale at www.flybe.com from £49.99 one way including taxes and charges.

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Flybe’s bus in the sky

FLYBE has announced multi-stop hop-on hop off services between Aberdeen and Jersey.

From October 26, the hop-on and off FlyShuttle service will operate three flights a day between the two destinations, with people able to board or get off at Southampton and Leeds-Bradford.

The new option will increase frequencies and re-instate some routes between the four locations, with the first flight from Aberdeen and Jersey departing at 7am each day.

Paul Simmons, Flybe’s chief commercial officer said: ‘Designed to be used as a shuttle bus service in the sky, all the way between Jersey in the south and Aberdeen in the north, we are again showing that we are‘the fastest way from A to Flybe, faster than road or rail … and certainly more affordable.’

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