British Airways' longhaul franchise partner, British Mediterranean Airways, has introduced autumn flight promotions on its Middle East and African routes.
The carrier is offering fares at £255 ($392) to Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Aleppo and Alexandria, and £390 to Addis Ababa. The fares are for travel from many UK points including London, Manchester and Edinburgh, in World Traveller and exclusive of taxes, fees and charges. The booking period is until September 30 for travel until December 17. A special fare of £307 to Iran has also been extended until September 30 for booking and until December 2 for travel. ***** The world's longest aircraft, the Airbus A340-600, has gone into service at UK carrier Virgin Atlantic with an inaugural flight from Heathrow in London to New York's JFK airport. The A340-600 measures 75.3 metres, 4.8 metres longer than any other commercial plane. The aircraft is the first of an order of 10 due to be delivered between now and 2006 in a deal worth $1.9 billion. The new aircraft was named 'Claudia Nine' by supermodel Claudia Schiffer. It offers passengers many new onboard features including a redesigned onboard bar and inflight beauty therapy area in Upper Class and new seats for both Premium Economy and Economy passengers. The aircraft also has the most advanced in flight entertainment system in the world which provides passengers with up to 300 hours of video on demand, 14 audio on demand channels, 15 computer games including multi-player games, and a quick find search facility. Virgin Atlantic's A340-600s will seat 311 passengers in total - 50 in Upper Class, 28 Premium Economy and 233 Economy. This represents a 25 per cent increase in capacity per aircraft compared to the airline's current A344-300 fleet. ***** A new website launched by Visitscotland aims to provide information on all aspects of Scottish national parks from how to get there to activities you can do in the parks as well as information on the wildlife and habitats within the park. The website was launched by Visitscotland chairman Peter Lederer to coincide with the creation of Scotland's first national park, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. Another national park is also planned covering the Cairngorms. ***** A European jet leasing programme and the world's first ocean-going luxury resort have teamed up to offer a convenient and efficient private jet service to customers. Marquis Jet Partners Inc, the world's largest provider of pre-paid private jet leases in the form of the Marquis Private Jet Card, said its partnership with The World of ResidenSea will offer residents and guests of the resort, the safety, flexibility and luxurious style of its premier private jet fleet when travelling to and from the resort. Through the Marquis/ResidenSea Gold and Platinum Card Programs, residents and guests of The World will have the opportunity to purchase flexible flight time on the jet type of their choice with only a short-term commitment. Structured as a single-year, all-inclusive lease of a fractional interest in a specific aircraft, the Card is available in 25-hour increments of "occupied hourly" time. ***** A wide range of attractions and destinations specifically targeting the group travel market will be on show at the International Group Leisure & Travel Show in London this month. Organiser YPL Exhibitions said visitors to the show can visit the biggest range of national and international exhibitors including companies from Holland, France, Bangladesh, Germany and Malta as well as Britain. They can taste delights from Cadbury's courtesy of Cadbury World, drool over Dutch diamonds as well as tastings of 'Cheers Wine & Beers' finest! "We have been overwhelmed with the response for the show so far," said exhibition organiser Penny Anderson. The show is being held on September 26-27 at Hall 1, Wembley Exhibition Centre in London.