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International tourism continues to rise around the world, with only the Middle East and North Africa lagging, and even those regions expected to improve later this year, according to the latest United Nations figures.

The World Tourism Barometer, released recently by the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) at its headquarters in Madrid, shows that international tourist arrivals rose by 4.5 per cent in the first four months of this year compared to the same period of 2010.

About 268 million tourists travelled between January and April, up from 256 million last year, which was affected by the closure of much of European airspace because of the ash cloud resulting from the eruption of an Icelandic volcano.

source: UN News Centre

Lufthansa has become the first airline to run regular commercial flights powered partially with biofuel.

Airlines have flown many demonstration biofuel flights, but Lufthansa’s LH013 11:15am Hamburg to Frankfurt flight will start the first passenger service to run on a blend of biofuel and conventional fuel.

The company will use the novel fuel mix for six months on eight of its 28 daily 50-minute flights between the two German cities – a distance of 244 miles each way. The German airline says the 1,200 flights will save 1,500 tonnes of CO2.

source: Guardian.co.uk

Businessman Andrew Gaule invented this coat with huge pockets in frustration at seeing fellow budget passengers charged over the odds for their luggage.

”This jacket allows you to carry on board everything that you would otherwise have to pack in the hold. The pockets are big and strong enough to take 10kg of luggage, including even laptop computers or bottles of wine.”

A recent study showed that the budget airline’s extra luggage charges have resulted in a dramatic change in the way people pack for holidays. The ‘Co-operative Travel’ study found that a quarter of all leisure budget air passengers now either take only hand luggage or share a hold bag.

source: dailymail.co.uk

A US businessman has been told he will never again have to queue at an airport he racked up 10m air miles over nearly 20 years of business travel.

Thomas Stuker, a sales consultant, is also to have a plane named after him and will always be upgraded as a reward for his loyalty to United Airlines.

The frequent flyer has taken off with the airline 5,962 times and flown the equivalent of 400 trips around the globe.

But he reached the sacred 10m mark yesterday, after flying from Los Angeles to his native Chicago.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

Dubai-based Emirates Airline and TUI Travel Plc have teamed up to launch ‘Emirates Live’, a package of services offering customers easy-to-book access to major international events.

In partnership with TUI Travel’s Sport Division, Emirates Airline now offers packages to tournaments such as the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, the F1 British Grand Prix in Silverstone and the England v India npower Test Series in Birmingham.

Via Emirates Live, customers can book event tickets, flights, hotels and transport and tailored individual and group packages can also be arranged.

source: hoteliermiddleeast.com

Business class flights for ministers and civil servants will be for the chop, as David Cameron seeks to rescue his government’s green credentials on Wednesday by announcing tougher energy efficiency targets – even as most of his MEPs defied his wishes by voting against more ambitious climate aims for Europe.

For the first time, travel by ministers and civil servants will be taken into account in judging central government’s greenhouse gas emissions – meaning flights that account for higher carbon dioxide emissions will have to be cut back.

source: guardian.co.uk

In future, Air Berlin and Iberia are offering selected flights under joint flight numbers.

The connection possibilities from and to Madrid will improve for Air Berlin passengers as a result of the agreement. Iberia in turn will benefit from the extensive domestic route network and the good connections to destinations in Germany and Scandinavia via the Air Berlin hub in Berlin.

In a further step, plans are underway to expand the codeshare agreement to the frequent flyer programs of both airlines, Air Berlin‘s topbonus as well as Iberia’s plus.

source: the FINANTIAL

U.S. airlines will step up their campaign against European Union climate policy next week, with a legal challenge at Europe’s highest court to their inclusion in the EU carbon market.

The EU aims to lead the world in fighting climate change, and says it needs to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions to guard against future climate impacts such as crop failures, droughts or flooding.

From January 2012, airlines flying to or from Europe will have to buy permits from the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme for 15 percent of the carbon emissions they produce. They join 11,000 factories and power plants already in the scheme.

source: Reuters

Virgin America has teamed up with Google to offer travelers access to a Chromebook, Google’s new laptop, when they fly with the US airline.

The carrier announced June 30 that some passengers will be able to pick up a Chromebook at the gate on select US domestic routes, to trial while they fly.

As the Chromebook is a cloud-based computer and requires an internet connection for almost all of its features, flyers who get their hands on the laptop will be given a free in-flight WiFi.

source: Independent.co.uk

In 2016, San Sebastian will join Wroclaw (Poland) as the ‘European Culture Capital’. San Sebastian was picked out of six other Spanish cities.

The “‘peace and co-existence’” slogan which caught the jury’s attention aims to “‘overcome violence and to have culture serve peace and cohabitation’”.  The whole Basque region is delighted with the decision.

The other European Culture Capitals are Guimarães and Maribor (2012), Marseille and Kosice (2013), Riga and Umeå (2014), Mons and Plzen (2015).

source: artmediaagency.com