Up in the air . . .

AIR Europa will launch new, three-times weekly flights to Colombia’s second city, Medellin, in June. The new route, operated by Air Europa’s state-of-the-art Dreamliner aircraft, will launch on the June 1st, with three flights per week between Madrid’s Barajas International Airport and José María Córdova International Airport, the international airport of Medellin.

British travellers are able to connect through Air Europa’s twice-daily flight from London Gatwick.

Visitor numbers to #Colombia have grown over recent years, with travellers enticed to Colombia by the South American country’s spectacular natural wonders, unspoiled Caribbean beaches, magnificent colonial architecture and lively local culture.

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Gatwick to Budapest with Wizz Air

WIZZ Air has announced the launch of a new route from London Gatwick to Budapest.

This new Gatwick connection to Hungary’s capital will see Wizz Air increase its presence at London’s second busiest airport, where it already operates flights three times daily to the Romanian capital of Bucharest.

Beginning on March 31st, the new flights will run daily, bringing a low-fare travel option for passengers travelling from the south London hub.

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Up in the air . . .

LONDON Gatwick is gearing up for its busiest summer on record, with 8,846,000 people set to use the airport during the school holidays. It follows a successful June at #Gatwick, which saw 4.5 million passengers travelling through, with the airport’s long-haul routes growing by +26% year-on-year.

Gatwick’s Canadian routes performed particularly well, in the month that saw world leaders visiting the country for this year’s G7 summit. Winnipeg grew by +66.3% in June, with Edmonton +28.2%, Montreal +23.8% and Calgary +13%.

Other long-haul routes that experienced significant year-on-year growth in June included Lima and Kigali, while emerging short-haul destinations Volos and Tallin also saw large growth rates.

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On the runway

LAST month saw London Gatwick experience the busiest May in its history, as 4.1 million passengers travelled through the airport.

In the same month that Qatar Airways launched a new service from Gatwick to Doha, the airport’s 65 other long-haul routes continued to soar, services to Asia performed strongly, with Hong Kong particularly popular, +39% on last year.

Gatwick’s connections to the United States, +42.8% for the month, drove the airport’s busiest-ever May. The USA’s most iconic cities were among the most popular long-haul destinations during the month, East Coast favourites Boston and New York and Los Angeles.

Bucharest, Pula and Vienna, respectively, were among the most popular European destinations.  Elsewhere, domestic routes to Newquay and the Isle of Man were up 18.6% and 8.7% respectively, while Guernsey saw a 5.8% rise on May last year.

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App awards for Gatwick

GATWICK'S new passenger app has won Mobile Innovation of the Year at the National Technology awards and also picked up Mobile App of the Year at the Real IT awards.  The airport also won Cloud Project of the Year at the Real IT awards after becoming the world’s first major airport to introduce a cloud-based Flight Information System (FIDS).

Under the slogan App App and Away, Gatwick’s first passenger app launched at the start of the year and provides personalised, real-time flight updates, gate information and check-in and security queue times straight to your phone.

The new app means that holidaymakers and business travellers can enjoy a more seamless experience when travelling through Gatwick as it boasts a range of features including intuitive maps that guide passengers through the airport using 2,000 navigation beacons located throughout terminal buildings

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Going further with Thomas Cook and easyJet

THOMAS Cook Airlines has joined easyJet as a new partner of ‘Worldwide by easyJet’ from London Gatwick Airport.

The innovative technology platform (by Dohop) allows customers to book connections and forward flights from London Gatwick with Thomas Cook Airlines, meaning customers can travel as far as the United States or the Caribbean.

Gatwick connections will be able to purchase via Skyscanner or Easyworldwide via Easyjet.com. Worldwide by easyJet is subject to a 2 hour 30 minute ‘Minimum Connection Time’, which will give customers plenty of time to transfer between flights and/or terminals. Should a passenger miss a connecting flight they will be transferred to the next available flight.

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On the runway . . .

LONDON Gatwick last month experienced the busiest January in its history, with 2.8 million passengers travelling through – an increase of 1.4% year-on-year.

As thousands of Brits travelled Stateside for a January escape, US routes saw the biggest percentage increase in passenger numbers. Fort Lauderdale was the North American destination with the highest passenger growth rate and New York and Boston also saw significant year-on-year growth.

It wasn’t just Gatwick’s thriving American routes that pushed its long-haul growth figure to 16.8% in January; the airport’s Asia routes soared too, with Hong Kong +42.4% year-on-year.

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Up in the air . . .

AIR Europa has announced the launch of a new service from London Gatwick to the Brazilian city of Recife travelling via Madrid due to start December 2017. The twice-weekly route will operate on Wednesdays and Fridays with the addition of a third weekly flight expected in 2018. Return flights are priced from £651 per person.

www.aireuropa.com

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On the runway . . .

JAMIE Oliver has visited Gatwick Airport to unveil his new flagship restaurant, The Diner, a homage to great American comfort food, serving up honest home-cooked dishes in a relaxed and vibrant setting.

The Diner is home to three distinct areas, a diner restaurant section serving food in a rustic way, on big trays or in baskets, making it perfect for sharing, an art-deco inspired bar plus also a ‘grab and go’ deli.

At 627 m2 the new arrival is one of the largest restaurants at Gatwick serving 278 covers.

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Explore the 'New Midtown' in New York with Norwegian

FOR most travellers, #NewYork likely conjures up images of the City’s many classic attractions - Times Square, the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, but in 2017 the beating heart of Manhattan is set to see the opening of some brand-new landmark attractions:

The immersive, first-of-its-kind NFL Times Square Experience (opening November 2017) will bring the world of professional football to life. Including a 4D film with exclusive footage, interactive displays that dive into the NFL training regimen and game plan, physical challenges that allow guests to measure up against the pros, and championship memorabilia, the first-of-its-kind attraction will take fans of all ages from the stands to the field.

During the jaw-dropping interactive undersea journey that will be National Geographic Encounter: Ocean Odyssey (opening October 2017) visitors will be transported to breath-taking places from around the world thanks to virtual reality technologies and interactive “real-time’ audience tracking.

Gulliver’s Gate - In May this year, Gulliver’s Gate became the newest addition to Midtown Manhattan. The attraction features more than 300 miniature buildings and more than 1,000 model train cars, including 3-D printed replicas of Times Square, Grand Central Terminal and parts of Lower Manhattan, along with scenes from around the world (gulliversgate.com).

Country music’s most famous brand, the Grand Ole Opry’s, first “home away from home,” in the shape of Opry City Stage (opened April 2017)

#Norwegian has launched a new second daily service to New York City with fares from £149, meaning that passengers can now experience the city that never sleeps in just one day!

The new flight departs London Gatwick in the morning and arrives into John F Kennedy airport for 9am. Jet setters can then spend the whole day exploring the city before returning on the 11pm ‘red eye’ from JFK, landing back to London Gatwick the following day – perfect for a weekend break.

Flights direct to New York City from London Gatwick start from £149 one-way and £259 return for a LowFare economy ticket or £419 one-way and £759 return in Premium including all taxes and charges.

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Relax before you fly with Virgin Holidays at Gatwick Airport

WHETHER you’re a honeymooner off to the Caribbean or taking the kids away to Orlando, the v-room truly caters for everyone, all with a premium design ethos, yet retaining a lot of family-friendly quirks. Covering more than 7,200 square feet and available exclusively for Virgin Holidays’ customers, the new space creates a calming atmosphere away from the hectic airport terminal through its pastel tones, sumptuous relaxation areas and extensive menus. Here, visitors can sip a specialty cocktail, enjoy a hearty breakfast and even try their hand on one of the lounges many interactive games. Split into a number of distinct sections, the v-room includes:

Innovate: Practice your driving skills in the Forza racing car sled, take part in a kids vs adults game of table football or Xbox Kinect games and even take the first of your holiday selfies in the dedicated booth, all with your chosen destination super imposed on the background.

Toddler Time: Created specifically for the under-fives, this immersive space really focuses on the needs of the youngest travelers. There’s a variety of touch screen games, with a soft play area and slide, an arts & crafts table and TVs screening child friendly content, to ensure the little ones are kept fully immersed during their airport experience.

Try before you fly!: Inspired by some of the most tropical destinations, cabana daybeds will make you feel like you’ve already arrived on holiday. The space is designed strictly with older guests in mind, who can relax in style with a cocktail and a magazine, before they even hit the beach.

Guests can also enjoy an al-a-carte hot food menu, along with an extensive continental buffet offering. Other finishing touches include a gourmet coffee shop, Cup Cup and Away, and a pancake machine that offers a variety of personalised toppings.

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Up in the air . . .

NORWEGIAN is continuing its UK expansion with a new direct service from London Gatwick to Rhodes taking off just in time for a sunshine break.

Norwegian’s inaugural flight to Rhodes departed on Saturday 17th June with a weekly service throughout summer, and fares available from just £29.90 one-way. 

Rhodes will be the fifth Greek island Norwegian serves direct from London Gatwick, including Corfu, Crete, Kefalonia, and Santorini.

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Firsts with British Airways

BRITISH Airways is transforming its customers' airport experience by becoming the first UK airline to introduce automated biometric technology throughout the airport – with the launch of self-service boarding gates. Following a successful trial last June, the first three boarding gates for UK domestic flights departing from Heathrow Terminal 5 are now open, and more than 4,000 customers have already benefited from the new technology. 

The gates create a smoother journey for customers as they travel through the airport, with travellers scanning their own boarding pass when they arrive at the gate and then simply walking through to the aircraft. A digital facial scan of the customer is recorded when they travel through security, and when they arrive at the gate, their face is matched with this representation when they present their boarding pass – allowing them to board the aircraft. Safety and security is at the core of the biometric facial recognition technology, and British Airways' equipment is more advanced than alternative systems currently used by other airlines and airports. 

Three more British Airways self-boarding gates will open at each domestic departure stand each week until mid-June, with a view to roll-out the scheme on international flights in the future. The introduction of the new gates is part of wider investment into new technology that will enhance the experience British Airways customers have during their time at the airport. 

British Airways has also opened self-service bag drop points at Gatwick and Heathrow, and later this year will introduce an improved, more streamlined connections area at T5. This week, The First Wing opened at T5 - an exclusive redesigned check-in area for premium customers, including a dedicated private security channel with direct lounge access for the first time.

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Singapore Sling

NORWEGIAN will launch a new route from London Gatwick to #Singapore this winter as the airline’s growing low-cost long-haul UK network expands into Asia for the first time.

From 28th September, Norwegian will operate four weekly flights, increasing to five in the winter, from London Gatwick to Singapore Changi Airport, voted the World’s Best Airport by passengers for five years in a row. 

Flights are now on sale at www.norwegian.com from £179 one way.

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On the runway . . .

THREE of Gatwick’s major carriers will move terminals this January. 

• British Airways will move to the South Terminal,
• Virgin Atlantic will move to the North Terminal, and
• easyJet, which currently operates out of both terminals, will consolidate its operation in the North Terminal.

These changes will improve the experience for passengers at #Gatwick with brand new facilities including state-of-the-art technology at check-in, security and immigration as well as new bag-drop zones along with new British Airways and Virgin Atlantic lounges. It will also simplify and streamline the journey through the airport for passengers.

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Connection to China

NEW connections from Gatwick to key markets in the Far East were revealed. Tianjin Airlines has announced a new connection to Xi’an home of, UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Terracotta Army - providing the UK’s only direct route to the city.

The airline will also be increasing its existing Tianjin and Chongqing services from Gatwick to three services a week, plus providing a direct onward connection to Auckland, New Zealand, via Chongqing.

Gatwick’s growth has seen the airport chart among top five fastest growing airports in Europe, as announced this week by the Airport Council International.

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In the air . . .

Norwegian has announced two new routes from London Gatwick to Keflavik, Iceland and Rovaniemi, Finland.

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London to Las Vegas – direct

NORWEGIAN is continuing the expansion of its low-cost long-haul network by launching a direct service to #LasVegas from London Gatwick from £179 one-way.

The twice-weekly flights – on Mondays and Thursdays – will start on October 31.

‘We are thrilled to see our partnership with Norwegian continue to expand, providing another non-stop option for European visitors to visit Las Vegas,’ said Cathy Tull, senior vice president of marketing for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.

Says Norwegian chief commercial officer Thomas Ramdahl: ‘Las Vegas is a fantastic addition to our growing transatlantic network from the UK. Viva low-cost, viva Las Vegas!’

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Picture Credit: By Matthew Field, http://www.photography.mattfield.com - Own work, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org

Up in the air . . .

RYANAIR has further expanded its London Stansted winter 2016 schedule with a new daily service to Luxembourg from September, 2016.

WOW AIR has started its Reykjavik-Bristol route. The route will be operated three times a week year round. With the new service, WOW air becomes the second airline to link Bristol to Iceland with a direct service, after British airline easyJet.

NORWEGIAN continues the expansion of its low-cost long-haul network by launching the UK’s only direct flights to Oakland, California. Three weekly flights will depart Gatwick serviced by Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
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Picture Credit: Luxembourg Grund night panorama via photopin.com

Ryanair confirms London-Tolouse routes

RYANAIR has confirmed that it will launch flights to Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, France, daily, from London Gatwick and Heathrow respectively in November.

It will join easyJet and British Airways in serving the destination daily from both London airports.

The area is home to one of the oldest wine-growing regions in France.

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