The airline has invited 125 New Zealand wineries to bring their best drops for consideration onboard the airline’s Business Premier cabins and in its Tier One Lounges. Next month, some of New Zealand’s most respected and discerning wine connoisseurs will come together to choose their much-awaited list of the country’s finest wines for 2024.
Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty says more than 500 wines will go through a rigorous blind taste testing where wine experts will uncork bottles and sip, swirl and savour wines from across New Zealand vineyards.
The selection of wines, carefully curated by a Master of Wine and a Wine Consultant is a celebration of New Zealand’s diverse and exceptional winemaking and Air New Zealand’s commitment to serving and sharing the best of New Zealand wine onboard.
Across all its flights and lounges, Air New Zealand serves up roughly 62,000 litres of Sauvignon Blanc, 53,000 Litres of Chardonnay and 59,000 litres of Pinot Noir of wine each year – all of which is New Zealand grown and made.
“Here’s to the best of New Zealand, celebrated with every sip, on board Air New Zealand!”
TUI (London: TUI) River Cruises has announced a brand-new River Nile cruise set to commence in Winter 2024 with exclusive TUI charter flights to Luxor from London Gatwick and Manchester Airports. The exciting expansion means that the river cruise line will add a fully refurbished five-star ship, to be named TUI Al Horeya, which means ‘freedom’, to operate seven-night, all-inclusive round-trip sailings from Luxor. TUI Al Horeya can accommodate 145 passengers and offers 74 cabins including singles, standard cabins and suites.
Two flights per week will operate from London Gatwick and Manchester to Luxor; a city which encompasses a mesmerizing blend of history, architecture, and culture. The new routes is exclusive to TUI, which will be the only tour operator to offer direct, non-stop flights from the UK to Luxor which will operate weekly on a Thursday from 7th November 2024 until 24th April 2025.
Dedicated licenced Egyptologists will be on hand throughout the trip to enhance the customer experience to be on hand to answer any questions. The modern and contemporary ship will boasts a top deck swimming pool, two whirlpools, an entertainment area, restaurant, Al Fresco dining, lounge bar, wellness studio and a boutique shop.
Like the rest of the fleet, TUI Al Horeya will include a day and night entertainment programme, as well as offering customers a wide range of excursions which have been curated by industry experts, guaranteed to transport visitors back in time to the era of pharaohs and dynasties.
Qantas will reignite its love affair with Rome, adding direct flights from Australia to the eternal city from the middle of next year. From 22 June 2022, Qantas will operate the only direct service between Australia and continental Europe, flying three return Sydney-Perth-Rome flights per week to meet demand over the European holiday peak season.
The new flight will cut more than three hours off the current fastest travel time to Rome using the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, with cabins designed specifically for long haul travel.
Customers will be able to combine Qantas’ Rome flights with its double-daily direct flights between Australia and London, meaning they will be able to fly in and out of different cities on one return ticket through to October 2022.
The Rome service will also give customers another option for reaching onward destinations across the Mediterranean and southern Europe through Qantas’ network of partners.
Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce said strong travel demand since borders re-opened had given the Flying Kangaroo confidence to explore new destinations as travelers look to make up for lost time.
The new route is expected to entice more visitors to Western Australia and Qantas will partner with Tourism Western Australia to boost inbound tourism from Europe into Perth and regional WA, as well as promote Perth as an ideal stopover for Australians travelling to Europe from the east coast.
Qantas recently started new flights from Sydney and Melbourne to Delhi and re-started a number of existing routes from Sydney and Melbourne to destinations including Los Angeles, London and Singapore.
Fares for the new Sydney-Perth-Rome flights go on sale today starting from $1785 return. Qantas will operate two Points Planes (bookable until 21 December 2021) for Frequent Flyers with every seat in every cabin available to book as a reward seat on the inaugural flight to Rome on 22 June and on the first flight departing Rome on 23 June.
The seasonal route will operate from 22 June until 6 October. Qantas will offer connections to 16 destinations in Europe including Athens, Barcelona, Frankfurt, Nice, Madrid and Paris and 15 destinations within Italy including Milan and Venice.
Qantas Frequent Flyers can now earn and use points on premium train trips around Australia including The Ghan, Indian Pacific and the Great Southern – marking the first time Classic Reward Seats have been offered on the ground.
From today, members can use points to book Classic Rail Reward seats or earn 1 point per $1 spent on Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions journeys.
Journey Beyond offers extended overnight rail holidays that traverse some of Australia’s most picturesque and iconic landscapes such as the Red Centre, Blue Mountains and east coast. The all-inclusive high-end expeditions include bespoke menus inspired by the places the trains travel through and the opportunity for guests to explore beyond the tracks with immersive Off Train Excursions before returning to their onboard accommodation and world-class hospitality.
Qantas Loyalty CEO, Olivia Wirth said at a time when Australians are planning domestic holidays more than ever the partnership with Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions provides even more choice for frequent flyers to use their Qantas Points.
“Ninety per cent of our members want to use their points for travel so the ability to explore the country by rail is an exciting alternative for frequent flyers and a real drawcard for our program,” Ms Wirth said.
“Whether members are redeeming points on flights, hotel bookings, holiday packages or now rail travel, we’re always evolving and innovating to meet the needs of our 13 million members and help bring them closer to their next dream trip.”
Journey Beyond Chief Executive Officer, Chris Tallent said the announcement reflected a coming together of two great Australian brands.
“We’re thrilled to partner with Qantas Frequent Flyer and provide people who love to travel with greater value when they choose a premium rail holiday experience,” Mr Tallent said.
“Like Qantas, Journey Beyond is in the business of taking people to incredible places across the country and curating unique experiences that forge lasting memories.
“As the first travel partner to offer Classic Reward Seats outside of flights, with the launch of our ‘Classic Rail’ Rewards, we look forward to growing our partnership with Qantas and sharing the joy of travel with our guests.”
Bookings are now available for rail travel next year with the Great Southern’s second season being extended by two weeks into February and the once-a-week Ghan service becoming a twice-weekly service from May to August. Work is currently underway to see the Indian Pacific return with its weekly journeys from mid-February.
Qantas Frequent Flyers can earn 1 Qantas Point per $1 spent on all Journey Beyond Rail Expeditions or use points to book twin and single Gold Cabins on The Ghan, Indian Pacific and Great Southern starting from 100,000 Qantas Points.
Emirates and flydubai have announced that customers of both airlines can once again access a wider range of travel options around the world, connecting seamlessly and safely through Dubai.
Following the progressive resumption of passenger flights to global destinations, the two Dubai-based airlines have revived their successful and strategic partnership to offer customers increased connectivity, convenience and travel flexibility. Emirates customers can now travel on codeshare flights to over 30 destinations on flydubai, while flydubai customers have over 70 destinations they can travel to on Emirates. Some of the favourite flydubai destinations for Emirates passengers include: Belgrade, Bucharest, Kyiv, Sofia and Zanzibar.
Commenting on the renewal of the partnership, Adnan Kazim, Emirates’ Chief Commercial Officer said: “We are delighted to announce that our customers can once again take advantage of the complementary strengths of Emirates and flydubai to access an enhanced network of cities on a single ticket and integrated loyalty programme, enjoy a safe, smooth and stress-free transfer experience through Dubai and have their baggage checked through to their final destination.
Hamad Obaidalla, Chief Commercial Officer at flydubai said: “We are confident that the demand for travel will continue to increase as more countries gradually start to lift restrictions on international travel. flydubai has restarted operations to 32 points around the network since June and we expect the number to steadily grow over the next few months. Dubai has put strong health and safety protocols in place which has encouraged well informed passengers to travel, whether for business, leisure or to reunite with their loved ones.
Emirates and flydubai will offer travel experiences reflecting their individual brands while keeping the health and safety of customers and employees on the ground and in air as their top priority. The two airlines have each implemented extensive safety measures to combat COVID-19 at every step of the customer’s journey including enhanced sanitisation of all touchpoints and advanced HEPA filters fitted in aircraft cabins to eliminate dust, allergens and germs from the cabin air.
Customers transiting through Dubai go through thermal screening at the airport. Transfer desks at Dubai airport have been fitted with protective anti-microbial screens and airport staff dressed in personal protective equipment (PPE) are available to provide additional assistance. Several of flydubai’s flights to destinations in Africa, Central Asia and Europe operate from Terminal 3 of Dubai International Airport, facilitating seamless connections to passengers travelling on Emirates’ flights to and from Dubai.
Following self-quarantine restrictions issued by the Australian government, Delta is temporarily suspending service from Los Angeles to Sydney beginning March 18 through April 11.
The last flight from L.A. to Sydney will depart Tuesday, March 17. The last flight from Sydney to L.A. will depart Thursday, March 19.
See here for a list of all current schedule changes.
CHANGING YOUR FLIGHT
Delta has waived change fees for customers traveling to, from or through Australia through May 31. Additional details are available on delta.com.
To help address customers with immediate travel needs, Delta is asking those who do not have travel in the next 72 hours to wait and contact the airline closer to their trip. Customers can also change or cancel a flight anytime before their travel date using My Trips on Delta.com.
To provide even more flexibility, any Delta ticket expiring in March or April is being extended to enable rebooking and travel until Dec. 31, 2020. If you’re not able to adjust your plans in time and don’t make your flight, your ticket number automatically becomes an unused eCredit within 24 hours that can be used to rebook a flight in My Trips or with Delta Reservations.
CAPPED FARES
To ensure customers can travel with financial peace of mind, Delta will cap fares to and from all destinations Delta serves throughout the U.S. and Canada through March 31. These fare caps are in place in all cabins, from Delta One to Main Cabin.
PROVIDING A SAFE AND CLEAN ENVIRONMENT
Delta’s highest priority is to ensure the health and safety of customers and employees. The airline is regularly disinfecting check-in kiosks, ticket counters, gate areas, jet bridges, and more multiple times a day. More information on our cleaning procedures can be found here.
