Baby Boomers Top 10 Destinations

WITH an increasing number of baby boomers opting to travel later in life, new data from Emirates has revealed the top 10 destinations visited by this group of travellers. The top #destinations highlight the baby boomers’ love for all things European. On average, baby boomer’s trips spanned 20 days and they travelled twice a year.

The top 10 Emirates destinations for baby boomers are: 

1.   London 

2.   Rome 

3.   Paris 

4.   Dublin 

5.   Athens 

6.   Barcelona 

7.   Manchester 

8.   Amsterdam 

9.   Milan 

10. Frankfurt

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Up in the air . . .

ETIHAD Airways offers Early bird travel deals for 2018 , the offers are available for departures out of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, meaning there is no better time to book a 2018 European holiday and to enjoy Etihad Airways’ acclaimed service and hospitality. With connections via Abu Dhabi, travellers have a host of European destinations to choose from, including London, Paris, Rome, Dublin and Athens. The promotion is available for bookings until 6 October, for travel from 1 February – 26 September 2018.

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Athens Airport Sees Healthy Passenger Traffic Growth in May

#ATHENS International Airport (AIA) served four percent more passengers in May to 1.87 million, compared to the same month last year.

International passengers enjoyed robust rise of 7.3 percent, whereas domestic passengers were below 2016 levels. 

Greek residents presented an overall growth at the level of 12 percent, while foreign residents presented an overall slight drop of one percent. 

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Up in the air . . .

#Emirates has announced it will launch a new daily service from Dubai to Newark Liberty International Airport, via the Greek capital city of Athens, starting on March 12.

The new route complements Emirates’ existing four daily flights between Dubai and New York’s JFK airport.

Emirates’ new Dubai-Athens-Newark flight will also provide a year-round non-stop daily service between the #UnitedStates and #Greece – a service that does not exist today and has not existed since 2012.

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Picture Credit: BeeFortyTwo 95963839@N07/31188854753 Parthenon via photopin

Resort plan for old Athens airport

AN ABANDONED airport complex in #Athens that currently houses a migrant camp is to be transformed into a coastal resort if a Greek development company get its way, the Daily Telegraph reports. 

Hellenikon – once the only airport in Athens – was closed to make way for a modern hub ahead of the 2004 Olympics in the city. Some 3,000 migrants are now living on the coastal site.

Leisure company Lamda Development has a plan to turn the crumbling wasteland into a glitzy seaside town of hotels, houses, shops, and a 495-acre park.

‘This project is a game-changer,’ Odisseas Athanassiou, Lamda’s chief executive, told Reuters. ‘It is going to change the psychology of foreign capital toward investment in #Greece.’

Backed by Chinese conglomerate Fosun, an Abu Dhabi-based company, and other prospective investors, Lamda intends to spend about €1.5billion on roads and other infrastructure, with a further €5.5billion earmarked for 8,000 homes, hotels, shops and a 494-acre park. Mr Athanassiou hopes that construction will start at the site in the first half of next year, with many of the buildings ready for 2020.

The Greek government is planning to move the 3,000 migrants and refugees who have fled war and poverty in the Middle East and Asia to other sites in the country.

The country’s tourism industry has shown resilience despite a continuing migrant crisis, a beleaguered economy, and political instability. A record 23.5million holidaymakers visited Greece in 2015.

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UK spending in Greece soars in 2015

TOURIST arrivals in #Greece reached 26 million last year, up 5.6 percent compared to 2014, according to the Bank of Greece’s final data on the 2015 tourism season. The rise in arrivals boosted the country’s travel industry receipts by 5.5 percent to €14.1 billion (£11.03 billion).

Among major countries of origin, receipts from Germany rose by 12.5 percent, from France by 5.8 percent … and those from Britain soared by 30.1 percent.

The first three months of this year saw a total of 5.7 million passengers pass through Greek airports, an increase of 16.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2015. Athens, Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Chania on Crete, and Rhodes received the most passengers.

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Ryanair expands Athens winter flights

RYANAIR has launched its biggest ever #Athens winter 2016 schedule, with one extra based aircraft, six new routes (to Bologna, Bucharest, Dublin, Malta, Mykonos, and Sofia), and more flights to Rhodes and Rome. 

The expansion will sustain 2,500 jobs at Athens Airport.

Greek passengers and visitors can now choose from 19 Athens routes this winter.

Ryanair will continue to connect Athens with Europe’s major business centres including Berlin (daily), London (two daily) and Milan (daily), as well as Thessaloniki (eight daily).

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Athens ‘cheapest city’ for breaks in Western Europe

THE Post Office's annual Travel Money City Costs Barometer has found Athens to be the cheapest city for visitors in Western Europe.

The barometer collects data on costs for city break visitors, including a three-course dinner with wine – which in Athens averaged at £29.15 for two – drinks, two nights' accommodation, airport transfers, sightseeing attractions, and city transport.

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Picture Credit: "Panoramic view of Athen" by Andreas Trepte - Own work via Wikimedia Commons.

Accolade for Athens Airport

ATHENS AIRPORT has been named Airport of the Year (in the 10-30 million passengers category) by Air Transport News.

Said airport CEO Yiannis Paraschis: ‘2014 has been a year of spectacular traffic development for our airport, which achieved an increase of 21.2 % within the context of a very critical economic and political situation in Greece.’

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AEGEAN increase UK flights to Cyprus and Crete

GREEK airline AEGEAN is to launch a new direct route from the UK to Larnaca, Cyprus and Heraklion, Crete.

The flights to Larnaca will depart from Heathrow airport daily as of March 29, while the Heraklion flights will be from Gatwick in June, with up to six departures a week. 

The airline - www.aegeanair.com - will also renew its summer flight schedule to Athens from Birmingham, and the once seasonal flights from Manchester to Athens is to be an all-year service.

AEGEAN’s summer 2015 timetable includes a network of 134 destinations; 100 international in 42 countries and 34 domestic, with 15 million available seats.

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Aegean boosts summer schedules

AEGEAN Airlines has announced new flights between Gatwick and Heraklion, Crete, next summer as part of an improved summer schedule.

The new service will start on June 21 with up to six flights a week.


Flights between Athens and Manchester have now been made into year-round services, operating twice a week.

Its seasonal summer route between Athens and Birmingham will also operate again next summer, also running twice a week.

AEGEAN also operates flights between Heathrow and Gatwick to Athens.

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Picture Credit: Aegean Airlines

Aegean stretches the season

AEGEAN AIRLINES says its Manchester flights will continue into winter. The summer route to Athens will carry on during the winter months, alongside connections from the Greek capital to Stockholm, Copenhagen, Zurich, and Marseille.

Dimitris Gerogiannis, CEO of Aegean said: ‘It is time we realise that the main challenge and objective for all of us in the tourism industry is how to extend the season. This requires concentrated efforts and investment in flights, charges, products, and promotion. Aegean is strong enough to support this effort and will continue to do it. However, we also need the airports, the state tourism policy, and the overall tourism product to evolve in the same way.’

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Picture Credit: Aegean Airlines Boeing 737-400 by Andrei Dimofte from Stuttgart, Germany via Wikimedia Commons

Travel matters............

‘Athens, the eye of Greece, mother of arts /And eloquence.’ John Milton

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New light on old treasures

AS part of its fifth anniversary celebrations, the Acropolis Museum in Athens has begun an ambitious programme using digital technologies to recreate ancient sculptures and marbles with original detail and colour. 

It is now possible to see the horse riders of the 'west frieze' with 3D digital images of copper weapons, bridles, and flowing blue capes scanned onto the ancient marble.

The museum opened in 2009 and since then has welcomed 6.5 million people. British visitors make up the largest proportion of foreign visitors.

Considered to be one of the best museums in the world, it has almost 4,000 objects on show.  theacropolismuseum.gr

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New flights to Athens

AEGEAN Airlines has launched a twice-weekly Birmingham-Athens service, which this year will run until October 25.

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