Lithuanian low-cost carrier “Star1 Airlines” announced a new route from Edinburgh to Vilnius (Lithuania), commencing 28 of March.

“The “Star1 Airlines” decision to launch direct flights between Edinburgh and Vilnius will definitely help to attract more tourists from Scotland to Lithuania. We are happy to cooperate with them marketing Lithuania to the Scottish travel trade and travel writers.” – states Augusta Jaudegyte, the Director of Lithuanian National Tourism Office in the UK.

“Our constantly expanding market share and growing passenger flow enables “Star1 Airlines” to establish itself as the only Lithuanian low-cost airline and further develop new routes and services. We believe that low fares of flights combined with the high quality of service and individual attention to each client offers us a strong competitive position”, Martynas Laivys, the head of the company said.

The airline does not charge for luggage – one suitcase not exceeding 20 kg will be carried free of charge. “This is particularly important to our customers who travel for business or leisure purposes. Free luggage and flight check-in are some of our advantages which bring down the costs for each traveller”, says the head of “Star1 Airlines”.

“Star1 Airlines” will launch its regular flights between Edinburgh and Vilnius from 28 March on Thursdays and Sundays (as of May 7 – on Fridays and Sundays). Fares to Edinburgh including all fees start from just 99 litas (£25). For booking, visit www.star1.aero or call +44 1293 874 986.
Apart from Edinburgh, “Star1 Airlines” also operates direct flights from Vilnius to London (Stansted), Milan (Malpensa) and restores summer season flights to Dublin and Girona (Barcelona).

Lithuanian low-cost carrier “Star1 Airlines” belongs to the Star Team Group of companies which also owns a tour operator “Star1 Holidays”. During the first six months of operations, the company has carried nearly 66 thousand of passengers in its scheduled and charter flights, while the period’s turnover amounted to 28 million litas.

Tune Hotels.com, part of the Tune Group, the private investment group of Tony Fernandes, founder and Group CEO of low cost airline AirAsia and Team Principal of the Lotus F1 Racing team, has entered into a strategic partnership with London-based Queensway Group Limited to invest in, develop and operate 15 Tune Hotels.com hotels across Greater London by 2017.

Under the terms of the strategic partnership, Tune Hotels.com’s limited service concept of a ‘5-star sleeping experience at a 1-star price’ will be rolled-out across approximately 1,500 hotel rooms, representing £150 million of investment into the London hospitality sector. The roll-out will commence with the launch of Tune Hotels.com-Westminster at 118 Westminster Bridge Road in Q3 2010.

Queensway Group Limited is a UK-based private investment group owning and operating hospitality assets in the UK, Europe and United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.com, said: “We believe Tune Hotels.com will significantly boost London’s hospitality sector. While this city’s global reputation as a leisure and business destination will be enhanced by the Olympic Games in 2012, sterling’s current weakness works in London’s favour in attracting overseas visitors and spend, and in times of continuing economic uncertainty, superior value for money remains key.

“We are pleased to be working with organisations such as Visit Britain, Visit London, Think London and Visit England; and believe our dynamic pricing model will provide a strong call to action that will be hard to ignore.

“Our limited service concept encourages guests to spend less within the hotel itself, driving more spend outside the hotel, within the local business community.

“More consumers are demanding a ‘5-star sleeping experience at a 1-star price’ so that they can spend their hard-earned income on shopping, dining and recreational pursuits outside the hotel. Tune Hotels.com creates a multiplier effect, growing overall tourism spend throughout the locations we establish. Understandably, our expansion requires strategic collaborations with solid local partners who share our vision and we’re delighted to have found the right partner in Queensway Group Limited for Greater London. “

The fast developing economies of Asia, with their major populations and innovative regional low-cost carriers such as Tune Hotels.com’s sister company AirAsia, have fostered significant increases in travel activity. Tune Hotels.com has leveraged this by embracing the limited service model used by low cost airlines, passing on savings from eliminating costly, yet underutilised facilities like conference rooms, food & beverage facilities, swimming pools and gyms, directly to its guests.

Tune Hotels.com focuses only on the high quality basics of great beds with ensuite Power Showers; implementing a pay-as-you-use system of optional add-ons for energy-consuming amenities. It encourages guests to book early online to enjoy exceptionally low prices, with rooms available from as low as £2 per night in its Malaysian and Indonesian hotels.

Tune Hotels.com’s healthy occupancy figures confirm it has hit upon a concept that resonates with today’s modern traveller. Until recently, much of Asian travel activity was intra-regional. However, with the AirAsia-X launch of low-cost, long-haul flights between Kuala Lumpur and London in 2009, there is now a truly affordable bridge between a key Asian hub in Kuala Lumpur and a Europe-American hub which can be found in London. Tune Hotels.com therefore see it a logical step to enter the London hospitality sector with a limited service product that has already been embraced by over half a million guests in South East Asia, in addition to the expected customer base from the United Kingdom and Europe.

Nick Jivraj, Managing Director of Queensway Group Limited, said, “We’re extremely excited about partnering with Tune Hotels.com to develop the London market. Their association with AirAsia, AirAsia-X and Lotus F1 through the Tune Group provides a unique platform for marketing synergies, and their strong brand and marketing expertise in generating room nights online aligns with trends revealing the internet as the prime channel for travel purchase decisions.”

He continued, “Queensway Group Limited views Tune Hotels.com’s brand presence in Asia Pacific as positive for the medium to long term as we expect Asia Pacific to become a major incoming market into London. In addition, we appreciate the strong match of cultures and values fostered in both teams – highly entrepreneurial, people-focused companies for which the Customer is King. By leveraging on Tune Hotels.com’s proven brand, team expertise, and operational model, Queensway Group Limited expects that our investment into the brand will present significant growth in the near future.”

Despite the challenging global economic environment, the partnership with Queensway Group Limited forms only a part of Tune Hotels.com’s aggressive expansion plans. Mark Lankester, Group CEO of Tune Hotels.com, says, “By 2015 we will have invested in over 100 hotels in key cities across the world.”

The global roll-out involves recent strategic partnerships in India and Thailand. On 11 September 2009, Tune Hotels.com announced a strategic partnership with Apodis Hospitality Group to invest in, develop and operate 20 Tune Hotels.com hotels across India by 2012. Under the terms of the strategic partnership, 5 Tune Hotels.com hotels are targeted to be operational in India by December 2010 with a staggered roll-out of the subsequent 15 hotels to be completed by the end of 2012. Initial hotels are likely to be located in and around Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Delhi, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jodhpur, Kochi, Mumbai, Pune, Pipavav, Raipur, Thiruvananthapuram and Tiruchirapally.

On 17 December 2009, Tune Hotels.com announced a strategic partnership with Evolution Capital PCL, a real estate investment advisory firm listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand, to franchise a roll-out of 44 Tune Hotels.com hotels across Thailand, China, Bangladesh, the Philippines, and Indonesia. Under the terms of the strategic partnership, the first 24 Tune Hotels.com hotels are targeted to be in development by early 2010 and operational by 2012 with staggered roll-out of the subsequent 20 hotels to be completed by 2013.

Tune Hotels.com employs a self-service online booking system similar to low-cost carrier airlines that encourages guests to book as far in advance as possible on www.tunehotels.com to enjoy exceptionally low prices.

All Tune Hotels.com hotels feature space-efficient, streamlined rooms focusing on high-quality basics: 5-star beds and powerful hot showers. Though minimally priced, the strategically located hotels still provide housekeeping services, electronic keycard access into rooms, extensive CCTV systems, and no access into the main lobby without a keycard past midnight. Through Tune Hotels.com’s ‘Less Waste, More Earth’ pay-as-you-use system of add-ons for air-conditioning, laundered towels and other energy-consuming facilities and amenities, Tune Hotels.com aims to help guests conserve both their funds as well as the earth’s resources.

Since Tune Hotels.com was first launched in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2007, more than 500,000 guests have stayed in one of its properties, currently totaling 9 hotels located in Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Kuching, KLIA-LCCT Airport, Penang, Danga Bay, Johor and Kota Damansara in Malaysia and Kuta – Bali and Double Six, Legian – Bali in Indonesia.

For bookings made between 3-12 March 2010, Tune Hotels.com is offering promotional rates from less than £3 per night across its network of Asian hotels for stays between 1 November 2010 – 31 January 2011.

Bookings can be made online at www.tunehotels.com.

FEBRUARY 2010 – today nowfly.co.uk unveils the latest version of its successful travel search engine. It’s now even easier to use, with a new look and feel, but still generates fantastically quick results.

nowfly.co.uk successfully launched at the start of 2009 and was rated by Times Online as one of the top ten travel websites. It was also acknowledged by the Daily Telegraph in November 2009.

nowfly.co.uk is also launching its new e-newsletter that’s packed with great flights deals and a selection of articles from its travel column ‘zip it’, as well as offering exclusive offers to its readers. “The newsletter is snappy, topical and has relevant content that will certainly appeal to our users” comments Dan Hart, CEO. “We will avoid the usual boring topics that get churned out week in, week out, and will also offer some great exclusive offers – the first of which is a free TraceMe Luggage tag.”

As part of the launch of the e-newsletter, nowfly.co.uk is also offering a prize-draw of £250 cash*. Participants simply need to add their email details in the email submission box on nowfly.co.uk’s home page.

Using cutting-edge technology, nowfly.co.uk searches over 340 airline websites, including those of 90 low-cost carriers as well as scheduled and charter airlines, to find the very lowest fares available at any moment. But nowfly.co.uk is not just about flights. The new site is also the place to find hotels, hire cars and other travel extras so that users can build their own bespoke holiday. It also features a great selection of inspiring travel tips and ideas, ranging from ‘top ski chalets for families’ to ‘top winter suntraps’. There’s also some great tips that have been contributed from some well-known faces including James, Cracknell, Scott Maslen and Gabby Logan.
*Subject to Terms and Conditions

Yorkshire Airline To Rescue 13 Lions From Run-Down Romanian Zoo

Friendly low fare airline, jet2.com has pledged to fly a pride of neglected lions from a Romanian zoo to Yorkshire free of charge this February as part of what is planned to be the biggest ever big cat rescue to date.

jet2.com has joined forces with Yorkshire Wildlife Park, who is leading the mission, to charter a one-off flight to rescue a pride of 13 lions which are being held in cramped conditions, facing an uncertain future at Oradea Zoo, Romania.

Under the supervision of leading wildlife veterinarians, the big cats, which range in age from one to 27 years old, will be flown to Doncaster Robin Hood Airport and re-housed at a specially built 10-acre enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, Doncaster.

Philip Meeson, Boss of jet2.com said,

“When we heard about the plight of the lions at the Romanian zoo, we immediately offered to provide a jet2.com charter aircraft and the support of our highly trained staff free of charge to transport the big cats to their new home near Doncaster this February.”

“As Yorkshire’s leading leisure airline, it’s a great honour to be involved in what is looking to be one of the biggest ever cat rescues. We are working closely with the wildlife park to ensure the campaign runs as smoothly as possible so that these majestic animals will soon, quite literally, be the pride of Yorkshire.”

Cheryl Williams, Director of Yorkshire Wildlife Park said,

“This is a huge project for the Park and we are extremely grateful to jet2.com for chartering a flight specifically for these magnificent creatures that desperately need our help.

“Without jet2.com’s generosity, we would now be facing a long and arduous journey by road which would have been particularly treacherous with temperatures now dropping to minus 20 throughout central Europe. We just can’t thank them enough.”

John Minion, Animal Director at Yorkshire Wildlife Park, commented on his visit to Oradea Zoo,

“The zoo is in a very poor state of repair, with lack of money for even food for the animals. The Romanian zoo now must now abide to European legislation; therefore these issues are now being addressed, which is why we have planned this mission.”

“Despite the dreadful living conditions, their spirit was still very evident as seen by one of the lionesses who came over to greet us, purring like a family cat. Some of them had health problems that veterinary care, good diet, exercise and appropriate housing will help greatly.”

Yorkshire Wildlife Park who has raised over £120,000 for the welfare mission, but is still in need of another £30,000 to pay for veterinary care, building a lion house, transportation costs and creating the reserve for the big cats. Further donations can be made at www.lionrescue.co.uk

- 3 new aircraft, 22 new routes, 1500 new jobs -

Wizz Air, the largest low fare – low cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe announced at a press conference in Warsaw today that it would increase capacity on its Polish network by 30% in 2010.

Wizz Air carried 3.6 million passengers in Poland in 2009 and plans to fly 4.7 million passengers in 2010.

The airline’s Polish fleet will increase to 14 Airbus A320 aircraft by March 2010.

Following the earlier announced expansions in Gdansk and Warsaw as well as the opening of the Wroclaw base Wizz Air will also expand operations in Katowice by adding a new aircraft in March 2010.

Also in March Wizz Air will start flying Lodz, the 6th Polish airport the airline operates from.

The carrier will open 22 new routes and reinstate the summer seasonal services.

The airline’s Polish network will consist of 86 routes next summer.

The new services are as follows:

From to Start date

Katowice Madrid 30 March 2010

Hamburg Lübeck 30 March 2010

Pisa 29 March 2010

Bergen 28 March 2010

Bourgas 12 June 2010

Lodz Dortmund 30 March 2010

Gdansk Eindhoven 17 December

Bergen 18 December

Paris Beauvais 18 December

Milan Bergamo 20 December

Wroclaw Oslo Sandefjord Torp 17 December

Dortmund 17 December

Paris Beauvais 18 December

Doncaster/Sheffield 12 March 2010

Eindhoven 12 March 2010

Forli/Bologna 12 March 2010

Milan Bergamo 13 March 2010

Cork 14 March 2010

Poznan Paris Beauvais 14 March 2010

Milan Bergamo 28 March 2010

Bourgas 12 June 2010

Warsaw Barcelona 29 March 2010

Eindhoven 30 March 2010

Venice Treviso 30 March 2010

Bourgas 12 June 2010

bmibaby, announced its first new route from Bournemouth Airport.

The airline will introduce a new summer service to Jersey which will commence on 29 March 2010. Flights will depart on Monday, Friday and Saturday. The airline expects to carry over 24,000 passengers on the route over the summer months. bmibaby is currently the only low cost carrier to operate flights from Bournemouth Airport to Jersey. Prices on the new route start from just £24.99 one way including taxes and charges.

bmibaby, part of the bmi group, commenced services in March 2002, and currently flies from four UK bases: Manchester, Cardiff, East Midlands and Birmingham to 30 European destinations. The airline is well known for being the fun, friendly low cost airline, headed up by its cheeky spokesbaby, Tiny.

Crawford Rix, managing director, bmibaby, said:

“bmibaby is proud to introduce a new route to our flying programme from Bournemouth to Jersey, and we are confident the route will be a great success. Plus the development of the new terminal at Bournemouth Airport, which is due to open in spring 2010, will open up even more opportunities for bmibaby.

“We not only offer our customers great low fares, but also benefits such as allocated seating for everyone, and customers can join bmi diamond club, the UK’s most generous frequent flier programme.”

Rob Goldsmith, managing director, Bournemouth Airport, added:

“This announcement by bmibaby is great news – especially in the current economic climate. Jersey is a wonderful place to visit and the timings of the flights are ideal for a weekend getaway or a mid-week break. I know that everyone at the airport is looking forward to working with the team at bmibaby to ensure this route is a success.”

Head for the sun and enjoy a fabulous three nights’ B&B and three rounds of golf experience at Polaris World’s InterContinental La Torre Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain

(Windsor, Berks – November 24th, 2009) Golfbreaks.com, Europe’s largest golf travel company, is offering golfers an exclusive opportunity to stay and play at the luxury five-star InterContinental La Torre Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain, from just £239 per person.

This offer, exclusive to Golfbreaks.com, is available from now until March 2010, and includes three nights’ bed and breakfast accommodation at this contemporary and elegant resort situated on Spain’s sun-kissed southeast coastline.

The package includes rounds of golf on three of the complex’s five courses – either the Hacienda Riquelme, El Valle, La Torre, Mar Menor or the newly-opened Condado de Alhama Jack Nicklaus-designed Signature course – and includes the use of shared buggies.

As an added Golfbreaks.com incentive, every golfer in the party will also receive a dozen TaylorMade Burner golf balls, 15% discount on food and beverage and 15% off any purchases from the Pro Shop.

If there is time after experiencing the five-star golf, visitors can also explore the beautiful and historic surrounding area, including the Roman Theatre in Cartegena and Murcia, famous for its narrow streets and distinctive Spanish boutiques.

With low cost airlines offering regular services and very competitive rates to the Murcia region, it makes this offer incredible value for money and one which will guarantee golfers a bit of sun during the UK’s dark days of winter.

Golfbreaks.com offers over 900 venues to play golf in the UK, Europe and further afield and is one of the golf travel industry’s most innovative companies, offering a Price Promise guarantee on all bookings. It is also ABTA-bonded to protect its customers and a member of IAGTO, the International Association of Golf Tour Operators.

To take book this very special break, call the Golfbreaks.com team on 0800 279 7988 or visit: www.golfbreaks.com for further information

Head for the sun and enjoy a fabulous three nights’ B&B and three rounds of golf experience at Polaris World’s InterContinental La Torre Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain

(Windsor, Berks – November 24th, 2009) Golfbreaks.com, Europe’s largest golf travel company, is offering golfers an exclusive opportunity to stay and play at the luxury five-star InterContinental La Torre Golf Resort in Murcia, Spain, from just £239 per person.

This offer, exclusive to Golfbreaks.com, is available from now until March 2010, and includes three nights’ bed and breakfast accommodation at this contemporary and elegant resort situated on Spain’s sun-kissed southeast coastline.

The package includes rounds of golf on three of the complex’s five courses – either the Hacienda Riquelme, El Valle, La Torre, Mar Menor or the newly-opened Condado de Alhama Jack Nicklaus-designed Signature course – and includes the use of shared buggies.

As an added Golfbreaks.com incentive, every golfer in the party will also receive a dozen TaylorMade Burner golf balls, 15% discount on food and beverage and 15% off any purchases from the Pro Shop.

If there is time after experiencing the five-star golf, visitors can also explore the beautiful and historic surrounding area, including the Roman Theatre in Cartegena and Murcia, famous for its narrow streets and distinctive Spanish boutiques.

With low cost airlines offering regular services and very competitive rates to the Murcia region, it makes this offer incredible value for money and one which will guarantee golfers a bit of sun during the UK’s dark days of winter.

Golfbreaks.com offers over 900 venues to play golf in the UK, Europe and further afield and is one of the golf travel industry’s most innovative companies, offering a Price Promise guarantee on all bookings. It is also ABTA-bonded to protect its customers and a member of IAGTO, the International Association of Golf Tour Operators.

To take book this very special break, call the Golfbreaks.com team on 0800 279 7988 or visit: www.golfbreaks.com for further information

Gourmet cuisine or a soggy sandwich? Cheapflights.co.uk whets frequent fliers’ appetites

As winter rolls in and the smell of roasted chestnuts and freshly baked Christmas cookies fills the air, thoughts turn to dining during the festive season.

Satisfying your stomach may be easy when you’re on the ground, but what about when you take to the skies this holiday season?

Cheapflights.co.uk <http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/?source=WPR> , the UK’s leading flight price comparison website, has selected the airline food which will leave you feeling like a king next time you fly. Its extensive tips page on Airline Food <http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/travel-tips/airline-food/?source=WPR> offers a guide to what’s hot and what’s not in in-flight dining.

“Airline food has come under a bit of heat over the years with accusations of too many preservatives, and meals loaded with cholesterol or lacking in flavour,” says Francesca Ecsery, Global Sales Director of Cheapflights Ltd. <http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/about-us/biographies/francesca-ecsery/?so urce=WPR>

“But even the toughest critics have to admit it’s come a long way. Gone are the days when travellers had a choice of only beef or chicken with the ‘fancy’ food reserved for the premier cabins. This is the era of accommodation – whatever your palette commands, whatever your religious or dietary preferences, airlines <http://www.cheapflights.co.uk/airlines/?source=WPR>

are able to cater for it.”

The website’s tips page compares the service and choices of 13 different airlines comprising flagship and low cost carriers catering, for everything from kosher and low calorie to vegan and gluten free meals.

Cheapflights.co.uk’s top three airlines in terms of dietary choice are:

1. Singapore Airlines: Caters to 27 different types of dietary preferences including Hindu, Muslim, and Kosher, through to raw vegetarian, Asian vegetarian, Western vegetarian, lacto ovo vegetarian, bland, diabetic, nut-free and soft-fluid

2. Emirates: Provides 19 different dietary preferences including Jain, fruit, gluten-free, high fibre, low purine, Oriental, child and baby

3. Lufthansa: Caters to 19 different dietary requirement including Indian vegetarian, Oriental vegetarian, wholefood, light wholefood, fish and fruit.

“When you’re flying back and forth between London and US as regularly as I do, food and sleep are high on the priority list of creature comforts,” says Ecsery.

“As such, knowing you’ll be served tea if you’re flying in the afternoon or dinner shortly after take-off followed by breakfast shortly before landing on a red eye makes the journey that little bit more welcoming. Personally, I’m also health conscious, so knowing that I can have a choice of different dietary options is very helpful.”

London, UK – Pegasus Airlines Chairman Ali Sabanci announced record growth last night, Tuesday 10th November, at a special press conference and reception in the City of London to coincide with World Travel Market 2009, with the Pegasus team flying in especially for the occasion.

“In the first 9 months of 2009 alone, Pegasus Airlines grew by an impressive 46% on international routes and 41% on domestic routes”, Sabanci announced.

“This figure comes on the back of four years of extraordinary performance following the launch of scheduled services in 2005, which has seen the airline capture 19% of the Turkish aviation market and follow a growth path of 43%, 2.3 times greater than the sector average”, he continued.

The celebratory reception was attended by Turkish Ambassador H.E Yigit Alpogan; editors and journalists from the aviation, trade and consumer international and Turkish press; as well as invited guests from across the travel and aviation industries.

“It’s wonderful to be celebrating the success of Pegasus Airlines in London with the Pegasus Family four years since launching Turkey’s first real low-cost airline; it was always my father’s dream of owning an airline and together with my hard-working team, we’ve turned that dream into reality. We’re all very proud of what we’ve achieved in such a short time.”

Defying the economic crisis, Pegasus Airlines is set to continue this stunning growth, as Sabanci added that 23 new generation Boeing 737-800s will join the fleet by 2012, making it the largest aircraft order in the region at $2.3 billion.

The airline is in negotiations to increase this order further.

Pegasus Airline parent company ESAS Holding is also rapidly developing into a global airline, with Pegasus’ sister company IZair on board since 2007 and the acquisition of an 18.3% stake in Air Berlin this year, making it Germany’s second largest and Europe’s fifth largest airline’s biggest private shareholder; The airline also announced the setting up of a joint venture Kyrgyz Pegasus Airlines (KPA), with Kyrgyzstan Airlines in October 2009.

The airline’s UK operations are also set to grow, with 17 flights from UK to Turkey per week scheduled for next year including London-Istanbul, Bodrum, Dalaman; Manchester- Antalya, Dalaman; Birmingham- Antalya, Bodrum.

The airline carried 100,154 guests in 2008 from the UK, with a huge growth in passenger numbers this year, reaching 213,136 in the first 10 months of this year.