Thursday 16 December 2021 – Virgin Australia has restarted international flights, today operating the first of the airline’s daily Fiji services since being relaunched 12 months ago. The inaugural flight, departing Sydney International Airport, was sent off in spectacular style, with Virgin Australia CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka marking the occasion with a departure gate launch party to remember.
Passengers were treated to branded coconuts, free beach tote bags by Australian resort-wear brand Double Rainbouu, tropical Boost juices, and a performance by Fijian-Australian and 2022 Eurovision contestant, Paulini Curuenavuli, who sang a rendition of Madonna’s ‘Like A Virgin’ before a traditional Fijian song.
For the final departing gift, CEO Jayne Hrdlicka announced that all passengers would each receive a free Economy return flight anywhere on the Virgin Australia domestic network, as a thank you for their support and loyalty.
o celebrate the return of Virgin Australia international flights, Virgin Australia has dropped a 48-hour snap Fiji sale with return Economy fares available from as low as $369* between Melbourne and Fiji. Sale fares are now available to book at virginaustralia.com until midnight this Friday 17 December 2021, or until sold out.
From horseback riding to cave diving, puffin watching to hot spring soaking, Iceland has turned itself into a popular vacation destination. Until fairly recently however, beer tourists didn’t have much to entice them to this island nation in the North Atlantic. In fact, 2019 marks only 30 years since Iceland legalized the sale and consumption of beer with over 2.25% alcohol, ending nearly eight decades of a curious and narrowly defined type of prohibition. Things have changed considerably however, particularly in the last few years.
The first Icelandic craft brewery, Bruggsmiðjan, which produces the popular Kaldi, didn’t open until 2006, and as recently as 2015 there were only seven small breweries nationwide. Today, nearly 30 beer companies dot the countryside, with the highest concentration in greater Reykjavík. There’s trendy KEX Brewing in the capital city, which just opened its second location in Portland, Oregon; Ölverk Pizza and Brewery in the South, where the brewhouse is powered by geothermal energy; Brugghús Steðja, which gained publicity by making beers with unusual ingredients including smoked whale testicles; and Lady Brewery, one of the newer brands in Iceland, started by two young women in a home kitchen.
Ölverk Pizza and Brewery in Hveragerði.
“The culture has changed so fast,” says Valgeir Valgeirsson, head brewer at RVK Brewing Company in central Reykjavík. “[Craft beer] is quite a new concept. We’re just trying to build it up.”
Ten taps greet visitors to RVK, along with a British beer engine, traditionally used to serve cask ales. Here, in an unassuming taproom overlooking the brewery’s stainless steel fermentation tanks, those with adventurous palates can try everything from a juicy, easy-drinking pale ale with notes of tropical fruit, to a boldly flavored, high-alcohol stout made with coffee and coconut. Creativity is king in this new era of brewing, with the sky as the limit. Valgeir and a number of other brewers around the country have even made sour beers by incorporating skyr, an Icelandic cultured dairy product, into their recipes.
Meanwhile, more than 230 miles (370 km) away in the small but scenic fishing village of Siglufjörður, Marteinn Haraldsson is the proud owner of the country’s northernmost brewery, Segull 67. Marteinn, a computer scientist who grew up in town but lives in Akureyri, learned the basics one homebrew recipe at a time, but now produces much larger batches in a former fish-freezing factory a short distance from the popular Herring Era Museum. An amber lager simply called Original and Sigló, an India pale ale, sell best, but Marteinn also makes a Belgian-style wheat beer with coriander and lime peel and a pineapple summer ale—not exactly options you would have had in Iceland as recently as a few years ago.
Segull 67’s Sólstingur, brewed with pineapple.
For all of the tourists that arrive in Siglufjörður via cruise ship during the summer months, Marteinn talks about the obstacles to being a little business in a remote town of 1,200. “Most of our challenges are getting people to know about us,” he says. “We just try to take it one day at a time.”
East of Reykjavík, in the town of Hveragerði, Ölverk Pizza and Brewery has successfully gained attention since opening its doors in 2017, by combining complementary passions: wood-fired pizza, and craft brewing. General manager Laufey Sif Lárusdóttir and her partner head brewer Elvar Þrastarson don’t currently can or bottle any of the beers they make, preferring to serve them on premise by the glass, pitcher, or tasting flight. Working on a small system enables Elvar to keep the draft list varied and interesting, tempting taste buds with a mild, malty, and food-friendly Altbier alongside a hazy, hoppy, party-in-a-glass imperial IPA like Disco Juice. The couple also typically devotes two of their eight taps to other small Icelandic breweries they admire, like Ölvisholt in Selfoss or The Brothers Brewery on Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago.
Cheese-stuffed breadsticks at Ölverk.
“It’s really small and friendly,” says Laufey of the young Icelandic beer scene. “For other industries it’s really weird. But if someone else opened up a brewery here I would say ‘Okay, I will be better.’” Ólafur Ágústsson, one of the partners behind KEX Brewing, echoes this sense of camaraderie, and explains how a desire to build and promote interest in craft brewing motivated the company to begin hosting an annual Icelandic Beer Festival at KEX’s four-story space in downtown Reykjavík eight years ago. Last year more than a dozen Icelandic brewers poured their ales and lagers alongside examples from the US and elsewhere in Europe.
“We’re not brewers at all,” he says. “I’m a chef. We’re just people who like good beer. We wanted to make the scene better. That’s what’s important right now—helping everybody and trying to grow the market.”
Something’s Brewing, All Around Iceland
1. KEX Brewing Hosts of the popular annual Icelandic Beer Festival.
2. RVK Brewing Company Fruity sours share space with easy- drinking lagers and hazy, hoppy IPAs.
3. Brugghús Steðja Sleep on the farm in an insulated cabin at this rural brewery.
4. Dokkan Brugghús The first brewery in the Westfjords, and possibly the most remote in Iceland.
5. Segull 67 Brewery Fresh beer, fishing history, and views of Siglufjörður.
6. Bruggsmiðjan Kaldi Brewery Soak in a beer spa at the country’s oldest craft brewery.
7. Húsavík Öl Expect creative saisons made with birch, rhubarb, juniper, or mint.
8. Beljandi Brugghús Approachable beers and a rustic vibe inside a former slaughterhouse.
9. Smiðjan Brugghús Try the baby back ribs cooked in Icelandic stout.
10. The Brothers Brewery Watch for puffins on the ferry ride to this island brewery.
11. Ölvisholt Brewery Don’t miss the chance to try Lava, a smoked imperial stout.
12. Ölverk Pizza and Brewery Pair a tasty ale with the surprisingly delicious banana pizza.
FILE PHOTO: A logo of low cost carrier Spirit Airlines is pictured on an Airbus plane in Colomiers near Toulouse
(Reuters) – Spirit Airlines <SAVE> on Friday cut its third-quarter outlook for a key revenue measure as it estimates an about $25 million hit on its sales, hurt by hundreds of flights cancellations due to Hurricane Dorian.
The company now expects third quarter unit revenue to fall between 2.5% and 3.5% compared to its prior estimate of a decline of 1% to 2%.
The hurricane has led airline operators including American Airlines <AAL.O> and Delta Air Lines <DAL.N> to cancel thousands of flights across the United States this week.
Dorian, which briefly made a landfall on the Outer Banks of North Carolina on Friday, is expected to bring tropical storm winds to Nantucket Island and Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts early on Saturday
In Partnership with Carbonfund.org, JetBlue Will Help Protect a Portion of the Brazilian Rainforest and Support Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Offsets
Since 2008, JetBlue Has Offset More than 2.3 Billion Pounds of CO₂ to Help Introduce ‘Carbon Offsetting’ to Customers
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– To kick-off the busy summer travel season while keeping carbon offsetting top of mind, JetBlue (Nasdaq: JBLU) today announced it will offset the carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) for all JetBlue customers flying throughout the month of June. JetBlue is partnering with Carbonfund.org Foundation, an environmental non-profit organization, to offset CO2 for all scheduled JetBlue flights from June 1 to June 30, 2019.
Over the past 11 years, JetBlue has partnered with Carbonfund.org, allowing travelers to offset an estimation of the ‘carbon footprint’ from their flights by supporting a variety of carbon dioxide reduction projects. To date, JetBlue has purchased offsets totaling more than 2.3 billion pounds (1 million metric tons) of CO2 emissions. Since 2008, JetBlue’s carbon offsets have helped fund technology and forestry projects to help counterbalance the addition of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere from flying.
“As an airline, we admit that we emit. Communally, the traveling public’s and airline’s first-line of defense is flying efficiently and avoiding unnecessary emissions,” said Sophia Mendelsohn, head of sustainability and environmental social governance, JetBlue. “Flying remains a backbone of our economy. JetBlue is inspiring our customers by purchasing offsets on their behalf for emissions that cannot be avoided. While we work toward renewable jet fuel options and ‘carbon-neutral’ flying, offsets are one small way we’re addressing emissions.”
Offsetting all scheduled customers’ flights throughout June will reduce JetBlue’s flying impact by an estimated 700,000 metric tons of CO2, according to Carbonfund.org. This reduction is accomplished by offsetting CO2 through the Envira Amazonia Tropical Rainforest Conservation Project, a carbon offset project approved by the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) and Climate, Community & Biodiversity (CCB) Standard. These third party verifications demonstrate the project protects nearly 500,000 acres of Amazon tropical rainforest and, mitigates the release of more than 12.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions over the project lifetime, preserves the habitat for biodiversity and enhances the lives of rural forest communities.
JetBlue’s Carbon Offsetting Initiatives – JetBlue has a history of offsetting emissions. Since 2008, JetBlue has offset 2.3 billion pounds of CO₂ emissions. In April 2015, JetBlue offset a month of customers’ flight in celebration of Earth Month. In 2014, JetBlue worked with Carbonfund.org to offset the CO2 emissions for an entire year on all A321 flights between San Francisco and New York’s JFK Airport.
Beyond June, JetBlue is focused on emissions reduction and avoidance in the long-term. JetBlue recently released its annual environmental social governance (ESG) report detailing the airline’s long-term emissions and climate risk management strategy. The 2018 report is available here.
