Win with SWISS!

To celebrate the launch of the new business class service between Johannesburg and Zurich, Swiss International Air Lines are giving away two return Business Class tickets!

To enter, click on this link: http://www.swiss.com/web/EN/various/competition/Pages/business_class_competition_form.aspx?WT.ac=Presenter-Contest_PR_ZA_EN02

Arik Air completes 100% conformity with IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA)

NIGERIAN carrier, Arik Air, has successfully completed 100% conformity with the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA). The international evaluation system is a requirement and precursor to full IATA membership.

Membership of IATA accords an airline a range of operational benefits such as enhanced opportunities for code-share.

Starwood Hotels launch new resort website

White Plains, NY USA: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.  and its award-winning Starwood Preferred Guest(R) (SPG) program today announced the launch of spg.com/resorts, a new website to help travelers plan and purchase the perfect resort escape.

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Starwood's research shows that leisure guests buy vacations based on the specific experiences they want to have while traveling. That's why the new spg.com/resorts centres on what visitors will see and experience while staying at any of Starwood's over 200 resorts around the world. The site draws on images, including live webcams and actual resort footage, rather than words to show each breath taking resort. In addition, the "Discover Your Perfect Resort" search process, the new resort compare feature, and social media plug-ins all provide travellers with the most relevant content they need to pair the perfect Starwood resort with their vacation vision. 

"One of our members' favourite SPG benefits is being able to stay in our inspiring collection of unmatched luxury resorts around the world. We developed spg.com/resorts to make it easy for them to explore each of these incredible resorts." said Chris Holdren, Senior Vice President of Starwood Preferred Guest. "The highly visual website highlights the experiential aspect of travel through stunning photography along with new resort search and social functionality." 

The launch of the site also coincides with the unveiling of the inaugural user-generated "SPG Member Favourites" list. For the first time, SPG invited thousands of its most well traveled members to identify their favourite resorts across the following nine categories: Best Beach Resort, Most Romantic Retreat, Best Exotic Escape, Best Family Experience, Best Golf Getaway, Best Island Paradise, Best Spa Indulgence, Best Winter Adventure and Best Small Wonder. For a complete list of all SPG Member Favourites visit spg.com/memberfavourites. Additionally, SPG polled top travel professionals to identify the best Starwood resorts by region, including Best in U.S., Best in Asia and Best in Europe. For a complete list of travel professional recommendations visit spg.com/travelprofessionalfavorites.

To celebrate the launch of the site, the Starwood Preferred Guest program invites travelers to bid adieu to one of the coldest winters with the "SPG Pack Your Bags Giveaway." From March 15 through April 14, 2011, a new Member Favorites category will be swapped out every Tuesday and Friday for guests to choose where they would like to win the trip of a lifetime. Ten lucky winners will receive a five-night stay, plus airfare, to the resort of their choice. Members may enter once a day. To view official rules and enter, visit spg.com/packyourbags. 

www.spg.com

New 'Cape Country Meander' guides visitors through diverse Cape region of South Africa

Much as travellers have come to enjoy the sights, sounds and experiences of the Garden Route and Route 62, explorers of the Western Cape can now unlock the treasures of eight rural Cape towns and their surrounding regions with the newly launched Cape Country Meander route. 

The Cape Country Meander maps and brochures are now available at tourism bureaus and select guest houses, hotels and eateries in Cape Town and the region, to assist travellers in maximising their experience of this part of the Overberg. A comprehensive website, with event calendar, is also on hand at www.thecapecountrymeander.co.za

Located on the other side of Cape Town’s Sir Lowry’s Pass border, The Cape Country Meander comprises eight towns – Grabouw/ Elgin Valley, Botriver, Caledon, Riviersonderend, Tesselaarsdal, Greyton, Genadendal and Villiersdorp. Six mountain ranges, three magnificent mountain passes and seven dams, including the Theewaterskloof Dam, provide the natural backdrop to this attractive route.

The route journeys through fine wines, cuisine and family adventures along the historic trails cut by our indigenous peoples. Explorers, adventure-seekers, traders, missionaries and farmers have all left their mark on the region, which is today a sought-after lifestyle option for those wanting to escape the city.

Says The Cape Country Meander’s, Lizette Kok; “This region has been a best-kept secret for too long. Many people have visited one of our eight towns but have not seen the diversity, beauty and rich history of the region in its entirety. The Cape Country Meander is a tool that can be used to discover all the gems within the area throughout the year.”

Easily accessed through the overarching themes of Food & Beverage, Adrenaline Adventure and History & Culture; The Cape Country Meander has much to offer independent travelers, action seekers, families and groups all within close proximity to Cape Town.

Tourism is an important contributor to employment in this region, which was previously dominated by seasonal agricultural work. The Cape Country Meander has been created by the Theewaterskloof Municipaility, in partnership with the regions’ tourism organisations and private sector contributors.

For more information about The Cape Country Meander, please visitwww.capecountrymeander.co.za

Iberia makes tests during flights to optimize routes and save fuel

• The company is taking part in the DORIS (Dynamic Optimization of the Route In Flight) program whose aim is to improve efficiency on air routes between Europe and America
• Iberia is also making "green approach" landings at the Madrid-Barajas airport at night and when weather and traffic conditions allow

Iberia has carried out its first tests during flights as part of the DORIS (Dynamic Optimization of the Route In Flight) program, whose aim is to optimize routes between Europe and North America, improving the efficiency of North Atlantic air space, thanks to improvements in communications and to flight plans that are modified after takeoff, and take into account the latest weather conditions. On the ground the best route is sought on the basis of winds, and if one is found that is more favourable than that in the original flight plan, the aircraft is advised so that the course may be altered in real time, as long as it is authorized to do so by air traffic control.

Initial analyses indicate that an average of 2 per cent of fuel per flight may be saved. For an Airbus A340 like those used by Iberia on transatlantic routes, this would amount to a savings of some 400 kg. of aviation fuel on a flight from Madrid to Guatemala City, for example.

Iberia takes part in the DORIS program along with Spain's AENA and Portugal's NAV air traffic control authorities, and such companies as SENASA, INECO and Air Europa. DORIS is an initiative of the AIRE (Atlantic Interoperability Initiative to Reduce Emissions) program, within the framework of the cooperation agreement between the US FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) and the European Commission, aimed at reducing the environmental impact of commercial aviation.

Iberia participates in another AIRE program called RETACDA (Reduction of Emissions in Terminal Areas using Continuous Descent Approaches), that consists of using continuous or "green" landing approaches at low engine speeds. This practice cuts fuel consumption and can lower CO₂ emissions by as much as 25 per cent, while reducing noise to a minimum.

Iberia was the first airline in Spain to use such approaches and it took part in the initial phase of the project with more than 600 continuous descents at the Madrid-Barajas airport, all of them at night, and when permitted by weather and traffic density conditions.

South Africa's newest low cost airline takes too the skies

Velvet Sky, South Africa's newest low-cost airline is open for bookings. Visit http://www.velvetsky.co.za/ for great specials between Johannesburg ORTIA, Durban KSIA, and Cape Town International

First Car Rental signs exclusive partnership with new airline, Velvet Sky

First Car Rental is proud to announce the exclusive car rental partnership with the new, low cost airline, Velvet Sky, as of March 2011.

Velvet Sky will open their reservation system for bookings during the course of Friday 18 March and their first commercial flight will commence on Tuesday 22 March. 

Services will commence with one plane, flying the Durban/ Johannesburg route twice a day and Johannesburg/ Cape Town route once a day.  They intend to have three planes in the sky by June 2011, which will include a Durban / Cape Town route.

Says Melissa Storey, Executive Head: Strategy, Development & Marketing, “This is an exciting partnership for First Car Rental. We take our strategic alliances very seriously and adopt an approach that selects the best partners to grow with. We firmly believe in mutually beneficial relationships, focussing on each partner’s strengths, leveraging each opportunity that presents itself, and this will be the case with Velvet Sky who shares similar beliefs.”

First Car Rental’s business is well-segmented in terms of direct consumer, corporate, retail, replacement, tour operator, inbound and film but a market sector that they haven’t enjoyed, until now, is aviation.

Says Storey, “This segment will assist us in combating seasonality, enabling us to manage and balance our fleet with less risk of high volume last minute up-fleeting or de-fleeting to try and match demand. Car rental is a cyclical business, and the purchasing as well as the planning thereof, is crucial to make this contribution model work.”

Storey continues, “A low cost airline like Velvet Sky presents us with an opportunity to become the preferred car rental company of their daily direct consumer and corporate SME base, and inevitably, a stable, less seasonal domestic base. They present us with the ability to reach a captive, and more importantly, a targeted audience.”

Storey says that the stronger the exclusive relationship is, the more both customer bases are likely to utilise combined air and land services that these two companies, as partners, provide.

She says, “We, on the other hand, can provide Velvet Sky with an existing customer base, all our valued customers, the majority of them having to fly to a local destination before they collect a car from us.  We will do all in our power to expose the Velvet Sky product to them, and ensure that we enable loyal First customers to become loyal Velvet Sky customers.  We have agreed to make all our channels available to our new exclusive airline partner so that Velvet Sky has an automatic catapult into the market.”

She concludes, “We will create brand awareness for our new partner and support them with everything available to us, which includes actual flight bookings from our website and corporate booking tools. On a lighter note, First Car Rental and Velvet Sky share similarities in their logo palette, they are both predominately purple and this will make the creative process of dual branding campaigns easy on the eye and a pleasure to create - this is an advantage, but just the start of great things to come.”

Velvet Sky air ticket booking capability will be available on the First Car Rental website from Friday 18 March onwards, and will offer clients business and holiday packages in one seamless process in the very near future.