All eyes on Milan

THE eyes of every fashion and style expert on the planet will soon turn to Milan as the city celebrates Fashion Week 2018 (Wednesday 19th to Tuesday 25th September).

As the countdown to this ostentatious annual event continues, the city's most famous pan-Asian restaurant is putting the finishing touches to a new menu. KOWA's new collection of dishes is every bit as stylish as the 1.6 million beautiful people who will soon descend on the city in celebration of fashion and design.

Spanning both Chinese and Japanese cuisines and including sashimi, dim-sum, uramata and robaki, this sleek new set of dishes also includes a greater range of vegetarian choices, in line with requests from diners.

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Qatar Airways continues expansion in Europe and Russia

QATAR Airways has announced that it will increase daily frequencies to the Scandinavian capitals of Stockholm and Oslo, alongside the Italian cities of Milan and Rome. Due to an increase in demand to key European destinations, especially from the Asia Pacific region, flights to Rome, Milan and Stockholm will increase to 17 per week from Doha’s Hamad International Airport, while flights to Oslo are set to increase from seven to 10 frequencies per week.

The award-winning airline has also announced that double daily flights to the Russian capital Moscow will increase to three times daily from 14 December, just five days before Qatar Airways’ inaugural daily flight to the Russian city of St. Petersburg. 

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Musical Milan

KNOWN as the Temple of Opera, La Scala one of the leading opera and ballet theatres in the world there are seasonal choral and orchestral events held throughout the year. Designed by Giuseppe Piermarini and inaugurated in 1778, Teatro alla Scala was recently totally refurbished under the supervision of the renowned architect, Mario Botta.

Adjacent to La Scala, the former Ricordi Casino hosts the Museo Teatrale alla Scala which was founded in 1913. You can explore a rich collection of musical instruments, documents, memorabilia related to the opera and the theatre, as well as a gallery of portraits and busts dedicated to several of the great artists who performed there. Unless a rehearsal or show is in progress, visitors can admire the auditorium from a box and actually watch the set-moving machinery in action.

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British Airways launches year round services to Milan

BRITISH Airways is launching new year-round services to #Milan, Italy from two London airports in April. 

The new routes to Milan’s Linate Airport will start from London City Airport on April 24 and from Stansted Airport on April 29. 

There will be two flights a day on week days and one a day at weekends from London City and two a week from Stansted.

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Picture Credit: British Airways

New flights to Italy from Britain and Ireland

ALITALIA has introduced a fifth daily flight from London City to Milan Linate. www.alitalia.com 

RYANAIR is to increase frequencies to Bologna with two weekly flights from Dublin and Edinburgh for the 2016 winter season. www.ryanair.com

EASYJET will introduce new flights for the 2016 winter season from Bristol, London Luton, and Manchester to Turin to facilitate winter sport tourism in Piedmont. www.easyjet.com

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Picture Credit : 96802003@N07/28851048495">Digital Pen and Ink Drawing of the Ponte Vecchio in Florence by Charles W. Bailey, Jr.</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com

easyJet confirms record profit

EASYJET has issued a positive long-term forecast after confirming a record annual profit of £686 million. 

Passenger numbers rose by 6% to 68.6 million in the year to September 30 as people took more holidays and city breaks, and the airline attracted increased numbers of business travellers.

The airline's pre-tax profit was up by £105 million or 18.1% year-on-year as revenue rose by 3.5% to £4.6 billion.

Carolyn McCall, the company’s chief executive, said: ‘Our outlook for the longer term is positive. We expect demand in our markets to be sustained and for easyJet to continue to be a winner in its markets.’

New routes - The company is to run three new routes – Paris, Milan Malpensa, and Olbia in Sardinia – next summer for business and leisure passengers travelling from Manchester Airport.

Across the new routes, the airline is expected to fly 5,000 passengers a week from the airport throughout next summer, operating nine times a week to Paris, up to seven times a week to Milan Malpensa, and twice a week to Olbia, Sardinia.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/33442029@N02/4292189441">Vacanze in Sardegna - Summer Holiday in Sardinia</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">(license)

Italy’s top Xmas markets

CITALIA’S travel experts have chosen their top pick of the Italian Christmas markets for an affordable pre-Christmas get-away

Italy’s #Christmas markets – ‘Mercatino di Natale’ – are smaller and more intimate than the famous German markets that make their way to the UK. Many feature elaborate nativity scenes made by local craftsmen, while hosting stalls offering regional seasonal food and drink, as well as locally made products and gift items.  

The markets often run during the advent period and some remain open right through to Epiphany, since Christmas in #Italy is traditionally celebrated from December 24 to January 6.

Milan – Piazza Castello
Milan is home to several Christmas Markets, but Oh Bej! Oh Bej! (How Beautiful! How Beautiful!) is one of the longest running, dating back to at least 1510. The market bustles with activity, as locals and tourists meander around the 350+ stalls selling handicrafts, antiques, clothing, toys, Christmas gifts, and festive foods. It runs for just one weekend at the beginning of December, this year December 4-7. December.

 Merano – River Passirio
Visit one of Citalia’s newest destinations, Merano in South Tyrol, between November 27 and January 6 to experience the town’s unique Christmas market located on the banks of the River Passirio.

Rome – Piazza Navona
Among the fountains in the Piazza Navona, the square turns into a multi-coloured Christmas Market, with stalls and booths filled with chocolates and traditional Christmas gifts. Between November 26 and January 6, there are street artists, acrobats, and Christmas music. 

Bolzano – Piazza Walther

Set against the backdrop of the Rosengarten Dolomites, Bolzano hosts Italy’s biggest Christmas Market. Wooden huts filled with traditional gifts and decorated with garlands, lamps, and candles line the streets in the medieval town. The runs from November 29 to January 6.

Florence – Piazza Santa Croce
Florence flourishes with Christmas cheer and a huge market inspired by the tradition of the German city of Heidelberg. More than 50 huts and stalls selling Italian and German delicacies, decorations, and handicrafts fill one of the most beautiful squares of the city, Santa Croce. December 2-20.

Citalia can arrange hotel packages in all of these locations – www.citalia.com

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/31039095@N02/5262101186">Christmas in Florence | Natale Fiorentino 2010</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">, http://www.flickr.com/photos/87690240@N03/15481788014">Vatican city, Rome, Italy</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

European tourism - growth, but no grounds for complacency

LONG-HAUL travel to #Europe enjoyed an encouraging summer this year, and the upward trend in arrivals is expected to continue, according to a study by ForwardKeys, which monitors future travel patterns by analysing 14 million reservation transactions daily.

Total international long-haul arrivals from January to September were up 5.1% on the previous year, and forward bookings are up 4.8% for the rest of the year.

Sebastien Cron, global sales director at ForwardKeys, said: ‘While it’s widely recognized that Europe is losing its competitiveness, it’s good to see from our data that long-haul travel to Europe has been growing well recently, pushed up by a strong summer season, particularly in July.’

But the European Tourism Association’s CEO Tom Jenkins urged the industry not to be lulled into a false state of security over figures showing growth. ‘Travel and #tourism in other parts of the world is increasing faster than in Europe. Although the statistics show we are continuing to grow at an average annual growth rate of 3.6% since 2007, the rest of world is growing at a rate of 5.7% over the same period.’

Within Europe, the picture is mixed. Germany and the Netherlands have been the stand-out performers since 2007, displaying total tourism growth of 37% and 33% respectively for the period, a 4.6% and 4.2% annual average, whereas the UK and France have grown just 13% and 10% for the period, an average of just 1.7% and 1.4% per annum.

Top European destinations for arrivals, between January and September, were London, Paris, Istanbul, and Rome, though growth in London and Paris was anaemic, with London 0.3% down and Paris just 1.6% up. For the rest of year, Barcelona and Milan, top the list for the fastest growing destinations, are up 20.3% and 25.6% respectively, owing to the Milan Expo and improved connectivity to Barcelona, particularly via Dubai.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/130796800@N02/16207624370">Sunrise - Good morning Paris</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)

easyJet switches airport to drive growth in Italy

EASYJET is to expand its bases in Italy – at Milan Malpensa and Naples – and open a new one in Venice from April‎ next year. 

The carrier plans to support the expansion by re-deploying aircraft and crew from Rome Fiumicino, criticizing the airport’s high fees and poor passenger service. The airline’s base at Rome Fiumicino will shut next April due to a ‘worsening performance’, blamed on airport passenger charges which have doubled in three years.

‘In addition, Rome Fiumicino provides a poor passenger experience which has led to low levels of punctuality and customer satisfaction,’ easyJet said.

The airline still expects to fly around two million passengers to and from Rome in 2016, but without having crew and aircraft based there. Instead, the airline is to deploy four aircraft in Venice, creating 150 jobs, and add three to the 18 already based at Milan Malpensa, providing 100 extra jobs for pilots and cabin crew. Naples will get a fourth aircraft from April, creating 35 jobs.

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/58613084@N02/5857518179">Airbus A319-111 G-EZBZ EasyJet, Bristol - Lulsgate - UK, June 19 2011.</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">(license)