Latest Travel News

SILVERJET FLIES TO DUBAI

Silverjet has announced it will start flights to Dubai this November, making it the first business class airline to launch a non-transatlantic service. The firm, which flies from Luton, will offer fares from £1,099 return as well as a private terminal experience - with dedicated security and 30-minute check-in - at both ends.

Silverjet chose Dubai for its second international route in light of its status as one of the world's fastest developing commercial centers and its buoyant business relationship with the UK.

"With premium air traffic to the emirate growing at 20 per cent year-on-year, this new route represents an exciting opportunity for Silverjet", said Lawrence Hunt, Silverjet's CEO.

Silverjet will be the first commercial airline to use the executive terminal at Dubai International Airport for customer arrivals and departures. A private chauffeur service and valet parking service is also available at both airports.

CUTTING FLIGHTS?

Airlines in the U.S. are being warned to cut down flight schedules or face government action. The strongly worded message from the Federal Aviation Administration came after record flight delays. The airline industry's on-time performance in the first seven months of 2007 was its worst since comparable data began being collected in 1995. Blakey said the agency is particularly concerned about overcrowded skies and congested airports on the East Coast, saying "if the airlines don't address this voluntarily, don't be surprised when the government steps in."

"Passengers are growing weary of schedules that aren't worth the electrons they're printed on," said FAA Administrator Marion Blakey. She is calling for airlines and the government to make the transition from 1960's radar-based air traffic control systems to satellite-based technology, "a solution that will cut delays by 20 percent and reduces noise for 600,000 people."

WEEKEND JAUNT

Travel search site Kayak.com is launching a series of new functions, which will allow users to compare prices for upcoming weekend breaks. The new 'Weekend Search' tool allows users to specify days of the week and preferred times in the search parameters, resulting in relevant search results.

Core results are organized by price while an interactive Weekend Snapshot box offers an overview of dates and prices for the next five weekends. Check boxes allow users to compare prices for two or more weekends. Kayak.com also allows consumers to save and compare favorite itineraries.

Several recent studies show travelers all over the world are taking shorter vacations, typically opting for long weekend trips," said Steve Hafner, Kayak.com co-founder and CEO.

SPIRITUAL JOURNEY

The Vatican has launched the first airline targeting Catholic pilgrims. The airline hopes to carry 150,000 pilgrims a year to places like Fatima in Portugal, Mount Sinai in Egypt and Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

The Diocese of Rome is chartering the Boeing 737 from Italy's Mistral Air, which Mistral Air, owned by the private Italian post office.

Pilgrims returning from Lourdes, France, on the inaugural flight had to hand over to airport security officials bottles of water they had collected from the Our Lady of Lourdes Cathedral. Any container containing more than 100 milliliters of liquid cannot be carried in hand luggage.

BIG GAMBLE?

Macao is already the world's most lucrative gambling center. But some say this small city in southern China lacks the wow factor of Las Vegas, as well as having problems with city planning. Macao's casinos are currently scattered across the territory, which is a peninsula connected to mainland China and two outlying islands by a reclaimed strip of land called Cotai.

The new $2.4 billion Venetian Macao Resort Hotel hopes to remedy that and concentrate attention on Cotai. The resort hotel is twice the size of the Las Vegas original, making it one of the largest buildings in the world. There is a 15,000-seat sports arena, three indoor canals and a Cirque du Soleil-produced show. For the gamblers, there are still more than three thousand slot machines and more than 800 gambling tables.

The vision is to transform Macao from a gambling den for Chinese tourists to Asia's capital of entertainment: a vacation and business convention destination with shopping and shows. The Venetian aims to be the cornerstone of what will become a concentrated resort area called the Cotai Strip.

SINGAPORE AIRLINES' A380 AUCTION

To celebrate the launch of the Airbus A380, Singapore Airlines is auctioning seats on the aircraft's maiden passenger flight through its own website and global marketplace website, ebay. The airline says that every dollar raised will go to two Australian and a Singapore-based charity.

Singapore Airlines will take delivery of the Airbus A380 this October. The airline will initially using the A380 on the Singapore-Sydney route, around eight hours each way, allowing the aircraft to return to its Singapore home base every night with enough time to deal with any possible teething problems. E-mail to a friend