News

British Airways enlists top celebs for centenary campaign

Stars of Hollywood and sporting world to appear in advert celebrating airline’s 100th anniversary

Kate Kenward will leave the association next month after 10 years

Abta: Outbound travel now worth £37 billion to UK economy

The association’s latest report on the value of the outbound travel sector highlights 36% growth since 2014

Travelsphere unveils Brexit cancellation guarantee and booking incentives

Operator will allow passengers to cancel trips three months in advance of departure if changes to EU visa or immigration policy resulting from Brexit affects their travel

MSC Cruises introduces virtual cruise assistant Zoe

The line revealed its voice-activated technology in London last night

Snow and ice hit flight schedules at Bristol and Heathrow airports

Bristol airport was forced to shut overnight due to heavy snow while Heathrow cancelled more than 30 flights

Oceania Cruises to phase out single-use plastic water bottles

Line teams up with Vero Water to supply ships with reusable glass bottles

Uniworld unveils details of 2020 ship launches

Four Super Ships will make their debuts for river cruise operator next year

Thailand unveils new website for LGBT travel campaign

Tourist office has worked with specialist publication on new Go Thai Be Free site and initiative

Balkan Holidays strengthens sales and marketing team

Louise Newton joins as head of marketing and PR from Hotelplan while Lynsey Jones becomes regional sales manager for Scotland, Northern Ireland, Cumbria and north-east England

Virgin Voyages announces Caribbean itineraries

New cruise line will visit Mexico and Dominican Republic as well as Cuba

Travel firms urged to ensure T&Cs are ‘fair’

New campaign will highlight importance of checking small print in contracts

Cunard’s Graham Bishop joins Just You and Travelsphere

Bishop’s appointment follows that of Princess’s John Docherty, who joined the operator earlier this month as key account manager Scotland and Northern Ireland

Turkish Airlines announces Gatwick-Antalya service

The direct flights will operate twice weekly on Thursdays and Saturdays

New era of supersonic air travel could trigger hundreds of sonic booms daily

By 2035, some 5,000 supersonic flights could take to the sky every day

Dnata bosses serve up peaks treat to call centre staff

John Bevan and Paul Gale kept staff going with hot drinks and cake during the busy January peaks

Thailand e-visa on arrival launch to exclude UK and Ireland

New system will be rolled out to travellers from 21 countries starting February 14

Beaches Turks & Caicos resort to close ‘indefinitely’ in January 2021

Parent company Sandals Resorts International cites ’critical, long-standing issues impacting operations’ for closure

P&O Cruises to roll out new drinks packages across fleet

The line says it has made changes to its onboard drink offering following feedback from guests

Silversea launches first expedition world cruise

The 167-day sailing from Ushuaia to Tromso will call at 107 destinations in 30 countries in 2021

Jet2 extends twilight check-in service to additional four UK bases

Passengers flying with Jet2 from Birmingham, East Midlands, Leeds Bradford and Stansted will now be able to drop their bags off between 3pm and 8pm the day before their flight

Airlines reveal spike in vegan meal orders

Norwegian and Emirates both reported increases in vegan meal demand during Veganuary this year

Snow forces Liverpool and Manchester runway closures

Airports have taken action after conditions worsened during the early hours of Wednesday morning

Emerald Waterways celebrates ‘best January sales day on record’

River cruise specialist considering annual ’Emerald Monday’ campaign after Blue Monday sales bonanza