Beijing now has 2 civilian airports: Beijing Capital International Airport (3 terminals, the 2nd busiest airport in the world, 2nd only to Atlanta Airport) and Beijing Nanyuan Airport (1 terminal).
The new Beijing Daxing International Airport is expected to be the world’s largest airport upon completion. Covering 1.4 million square meters, the terminal will be about the size of 200 standard football fields.
The first-phase construction will complete on June 30, 2019 and the new airport is due to open on September 30, 2019.
The new airport is expected to serve an initial 45 million passengers a year with an eventual capacity of 100 million.
The new airport will feature:
1. Minimal walking distances – The distance between the transport hub and airport terminal center is less than 600 meters or 8 minutes’ walk.
2. A ground transportation center where passengers can be transferred to Beijing in about 30 minutes by such transportation methods as high-speed rail, metro, expressways, Beijing Airport Bus routes and local buses.
3. Fast baggage delivery – The aim is for the first luggage item to appear on the carousel within 13 minutes of landing.
Beijing Daxing International Airport will be the world’s first airport to have two floors each for departures and arrivals. Foreign airlines such as American Airlines and Delta Air Lines have planned to operate in the new airport and open flights to the United States.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who’s declared a war on the city’s pollution, this week announced plans to transform the bridgeway linking the historic Trocadéro square with the Eiffel Tower into a “green corridor” reserved for pedestrians by 2024.
Hidalgo, whose mission to “pedestrianise” the historic centre of the French capital has already led to the banning of cars along large parts of the banks lining the Seine river, said that: “We’re really aiming for a high pedestrian target (…) We’re going to have a splendid garden where we can hear the birds sing,” she said when she announced the €72 million project on Tuesday. Work is set to start at the end of 2020 or the start of 2021.
Link: https://www.france24.com/en/20190522-paris-hidalgo-create-green-corridor-giant-garden-between-trocadero-eiffel-tower#_=_
Google has severed business ties with Huawei, in a stunning move that could threaten the smartphone maker’s global ambitions.
The U.S. tech giant has decided to stop licensing its Android operating system to the Chinese telecommunications firm, in order to comply with a U.S. trade blacklist.
CNBC runs through what that means if you own a Huawei phone right now, or are looking to buy one in the future.
Link: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/05/20/what-google-android-move-means-if-you-own-a-huawei-phone.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain
World’s best airport has new $1 billion shopping, entertainment hub with indoor waterfall.
Singapore Changi Airport, ranked the No. 1 airport in the world, is opening to the public a new shopping and entertainment hub called the Jewel, on April 17.
Inspired by Singapore’s reputation as a “city in a garden,” Jewel features a sprawling indoor forest, 280 retail shops and restaurants and the tallest indoor waterfall in the world. The complex cost $1.7 billion SGD, or nearly $1.3 billion US, to build.
Take a look inside:
The centerpiece of Jewel is the Forest Valley, a tropical four-story garden with a large plant collection.
Walking trails lead guest to Canopy Park, a separate section opening in June 2019, which features activities like a 160-feet suspended bridge with glass floor, a bouncing net (to jump up and down on), a walking net (82 feet high above the greenery), a hedge maze, a mirror maze and slides.
In Jewel’s Rain Vortex, another self-contained section, there is the world’s tallest indoor waterfall, which is over 130 feet high. The water cascades from an oculus in the roof. (Previously, nature park Gardens By The Bay, also in Singapore, held the title of world’s tallest indoor waterfall at 115 feet.)
Source: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/12/photos-jewel-changi-airport-in-singapore-has-tallest-indoor-waterfall.html
Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/asia/singapore/articles/timelapse-video-worlds-best-airport-changi-singapore/
Le Parisien reported that the main pilots union in France, SNPL, has called off a strike scheduled for May 14-19
Link:
The agreement, which came into effect in November, will enable Qatar Airways’ passengers to travel from Doha to any Cyprus Airways destination via Larnaca.
Similarly, Cyprus Airways’ passengers will be able to continue their journey from Larnaca to Doha and beyond, to more than 150 destinations, across six continents, with Qatar Airways flights.
“We are very excited about this agreement. Our partnership with Qatar Airways is a pillar of Cyprus Airways strategy to diversify services with the aim of offering our passengers more travel opportunities and to establish Cyprus as a hub,” said Natalia Popova, Chief Commercial Officer of Cyprus Airways.
Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive, Akbar Al Baker said: “As one of our key gateways to the Eastern Mediterranean islands, Larnaca is a significant part of the Qatar Airways network.”
“We are delighted to partner with Cyprus Airways to provide a greater choice of travel opportunities to passengers travelling through Doha and Larnaca.”
This latest agreement by the Cypriot-based airline follows a codeshare deal with Romania’s Blue Air for popular flights to London and Greece.
Cyprus Airways recently became a full member of IATA.
“Membership enables the company to collaborate with other international member airlines for codeshare and interline agreements and provide a seamless travel experience through an extended global network to travellers to and from Cyprus,” said Popova.
In July 2016, Charlie Airlines Ltd, a Cyprus registered company, won a tender competition for the right to use the trademark Cyprus Airways for a decade.
The company launched flights in June 2017.
Cyprus Airways operates flights to Europe, Russia and Middle East. All Cyprus Airways flights operate on modern Airbus A319 aircraft with a capacity of 144 Economy Class seats.
A multiple award-winning airline, Qatar Airways was named ‘World’s Best Business Class’ by the 2018 World Airline Awards, managed by international air transport rating organisation Skytrax.
It was also named ‘Best Business Class Seat,’ ‘Best Airline in the Middle East,’ and ‘World’s Best First Class Airline Lounge.’
Qatar Airways was the first Gulf carrier to join global airline alliance, oneworld, enabling its passengers to benefit from more than 1,000 airports in more than 150 countries, with 14,250 daily departures.
Cyprus Airways and Blue Air have agreed to extend their codeshare partnership, which was launched in December 2018.
More specifically, the collaboration between the two airlines will be extended over the summer schedule, starting on March 31, and until October 26, 2019.
Under this codeshare partnership, the two airlines’ customers will have an enhanced connectivity from Larnaca to Athens, Thessaloniki and Heraklion, Crete.
“Our cooperation with Blue Air proved to satisfy our travelers’ needs… The codeshare agreement with Blue Air will give our customers more opportunities and flexibility to choose from when booking their flights to Greece”, said Natalia Popova, Chief Commercial Officer of Cyprus Airways.
Blue Air has nine bases in Cyprus (Larnaca), Romania (Bucharest, Bacau, Cluj-Napoca, Constanta, Iasi), Italy (Turin, Alghero) and the United Kingdom (Liverpool).
Link: https://news.gtp.gr/2018/11/29/cyprus-airways-blue-air-launch-codeshare-partnership/
Indonesia plans to relocate its capital from Jakarta because it’s one of the fastest-sinking cities in the world.
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/29/asia/indonesia-relocate-jakarta-intl/index.html
or
https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/indonesia-plans-to-move-its-capital-away-from-jakarta/news-story/b6a43e1f4dcf8c1bcfd412c9ab1a1683
or
https://news.sky.com/story/indonesia-to-move-capital-away-from-jakarta-11706822
1:38pm, 30 April 2019: Latest update: Summary – Large-scale protests linked to the yellow vest movement (as well as other political groups and trade unions) are expected to take place on Wednesday 1 May in Paris and in other cities across France (1 May is a public holiday in France); as with previous demonstrations, these may lead to violence.
Source: https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/france?utm_source=e8de12d5-6e41-4a14-966e-3b21bc172b90&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=immediate
Emirates named Best Airline Worldwide, sweeps up five awards at Business Traveller Middle East Awards 2019
The airline was also crowned Airline with the Best First Class, Airline with the Best Economy Class, Airline with the Best Frequent Flyer Program and Best Airport Lounge in the Middle East
Dubai, UAE: 29 April 2019 – Emirates continued its winning streak when it took top honours by sweeping five awards last night at the Business Traveller Middle East Awards 2019. The airline took home the highly regarded industry accolades for Airline with the Best First Class, Airline with the Best Economy Class, Airline with the Best Frequent Flyer Program and Best Airport Lounge in the Middle East. Recognised for its operational excellence and exceptional products and services – the world’s largest international airline also took home the coveted award of Best Airline Worldwide.
Link: https://www.emirates.com/media-centre/emirates-named-best-airline-worldwide-sweeps-up-five-awards-at-business-traveller-middle-east-awards-2019