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

easyJet to introduce 36 New routes in 2010

- and becomes North of England’s the largest airline -

easyJet, the largest UK airline, today unveiled further details of its expansion plans for 2010, with the introduction of 36 new routes across Europe.

The expansion plans include the introduction of a fifth aircraft to be based at Manchester, which will operate a further three new routes next spring to Mahon (Menorca). Sharm el Sheik and Zurich.

In addition, easyJet will introduce new routes to its regional bases across the UK and will also add Doncaster Sheffield Airport to the airline’s network with introduction of five new routes to Amsterdam, Barcelona, Faro, Palma (Majorca) and Prague.

This move means that easyJet, which is currently the largest airline operating across the UK, will also become the largest airline in the North of England, reflecting the airline’s commitment to the UK regions. With 20 aircraft based at its Northern bases, easyJet expects to carry over six million passengers to / from the North of England in the coming year. 18% of the airline’s UK capacity will operate from the North of England, with 40% of its total UK network operating outside of London serving the regions.

Paul Simmons, easyJet’s UK Regional General Manager commented:

“easyJet is committed to expansion across the UK regions, tapping in to new catchment areas such as Yorkshire and Humberside and providing greater access to our famously low fares and convenient services from your local airport.”

The new routes are as follows:

ROUTE

START DATE

FREQUENCY

FARES one way / return inc taxes

Bristol – Paphos

14 April

Mon, Wed, Sat, Sun

£ 32.99/64.98

Bristol – Tenerife

30 March

Tue, Fri, Sat

£ 35.99/68.81

Doncaster – Amsterdam

£ 24.99/52.98

Doncaster – Barcelona

£ 24.99/ 47.81

Doncaster – Faro

Mon, Wed, Thu, Sat

£ 26.99/ 51.98

Doncaster – Palma de Mallorca

20 April

£ 26.99/ 52.81

Doncaster – Prague

20 April

Tue, Fri, Sun

£ 26.99 / 48.98

Edinburgh – Lisbon

4 May

Tue, Thu, Sun

£ 28.99/ 53.98

London Gatwick – Bordeaux

28 March

£ 29.99/ 52.15

Liverpool – Rhodes

12 June

Wed, Sun

£ 26.99/ 58.98

Manchester – Zurich

Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu, Fri, Sun

£ 26.99/ 54.98

Manchester – Sharm El Sheik

Wed, Fri, Sun

£ 76.99/ 110.81

Manchester – Mahon

1 May

£ 28.99/ 51.81

Amsterdam – Split

EUR 38.99/ 69.98

Basel -

Nantes

25 June

Tue, Fri, Sat

CHF 39.95/ 79.40

Basel – Split

26 June

Wed, Sat

CHF 39.95/ 85.90

Basel – Thessaloniki

30 March

Tue, Fri, Sun

CHF 39.95/ 81.90

Basel – Ajaccio

26 June

Sat, Sun

CHF 31.95/ 75.40

Dortmund – Palma de Mallorca

3 April

Sat, Sun

EUR 33.99/ 68.98

Rome Fiumicino – Dubrovnik

EUR 21.99/ 42.98

Rome Fiumicino – Heraklion

Rome Fiumicino – Ibiza

EUR 25.99/ 53.98

Rome Fiumicino – Mykonos

Rome Fiumicino – Palma de Mallorca

EUR 28.99/ 56.98

Rome Fiumicino – Split

EUR 23.99/ 50.98

Ibiza – Naples

Mon, Wed, Fri, Sat

EUR 27.99/ 56.98

Ibiza – Venice

EUR 24.99/ 53.98

Milan Malpensa – Bordeaux

EUR 23.99/ 50.98

Milan Malpensa – Corfu

Milan Malpensa – Thessaloniki

28 March

Milan Malpensa – Santorini

Paris Orly – Mykonos

EUR 35.99/ 74.98

Paris Orly – Olbia

Tue, Sat

EUR 38.99/ 79.98

Paris Orly – Palermo (Sicily)

EUR 35.99/ 56.98

Berlin Schoenefeld – Corfu

3 July

EUR 30.99/ 64.98

Berlin Schoenefeld – Split

3 July

EUR 30.99/ 61.98

Robin Hood Airport is delighted to announce that Ryanair flights to Barcelona (Girona) and Alicante are back on the menu for summer 2010.

The popular flights, which stopped for the Winter season are to be reinstated and are a further addition to Robin Hood Airport’s growing Summer 2010 offering.

Nick Smillie, Aviation Sales Director for Peel Airports said: “We are delighted that Ryanair have decided to continue these popular routes from Doncaster Sheffield Airport for Summer 2010.

“Barcelona (Girona) and Alicante are well used flights and this is great news for the airport and our loyal passengers who can now continue to reach these destinations from Doncaster.”

The new flights follow recent developments by Thomson and First Choice to add to their summer 2010 program with additional services to Antalya (Turkey), Monastir (Tunisia) and Lanzarote, bringing the total number of services available from the Airport next summer for the region’s travellers to over 30.

Situated just 7 miles from Doncaster and 25 miles from Sheffield, Robin Hood Airport currently has already handled over 4 million passengers since opening less than 5 years ago.

We are continuing to work with Ryanair and our other airlines to develop relationships and look at ways to offer more routes and extra flights to attract passengers to Doncaster,” added Nick

Passengers at Doncaster Sheffield Airport are preparing to go in search of the magical Northern Lights as they go on a flight with a difference. On March 16 2010, trippers will board a three hour flight with two astronomers, as they search for the Northern Lights, a natural display often seen in the Polar Regions. The plane, which will depart at 2100hrs, will head north, over Aberdeen and the Shetland Isles to a point in the North Atlantic between the UK and Southern Norway.

Passengers will also have an hour long pre-flight briefing from the astronomers, one of which is scheduled to be televisions Pete Lawrence from the BBC ‘Sky at Night’ programme.

Jodi Stow, marketing and communications manager for Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield said: “If the conditions are right this could be an unforgettable flight. The tour company, Omega Holidays, say there is an 80 per cent chance of seeing the spectacular natural light show and will have an astronomer on board to explain any sightings.

“This is a really unusual destination but a very popular one as it makes a very unique gift or Christmas present. Previous flights to the Northern Lights have been booked up well in advance.”

The Northern Lights were beamed into homes across the UK when actress Joanna Lumley undertook an amazing journey for a BBC Documentary to Norway’s Far North to pursue a lifelong dream to track down the elusive, stunningly beautiful Northern Lights – ‘the true wonder of the world,’ as she puts it.

The Northern Lights can vary from a gentle glow to quite dramatic burst of colour across the sky. They illuminate the northern horizon as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the sun was rising from an unusual direction.  Subject to flying conditions, the pilot and crew will be briefed to do everything possible to enable passengers to witness the phenomena.