With one eye on the next generation of European tourists, Ryanair has launched a new dedicated booking platform in partnership with Erasmus Student Network, offering Erasmus students fare discounts, free bags and tailored travel offers. It’s the latest cuddly push by the airline under year four of its “Always Getting Better” programme, and offers 15pc […]

Air Berlin confirmed it has filed for insolvency proceedings after its main shareholder Etihad Airways said it “would not provide any further financial support”. Air Berlin said it was in talks with Lufthansa over the German airline buying parts of its business. It also said its flights were continuing and the German government was supporting […]

Europe traffic up 7pc to 1.7m Britain flat at 896,000 passengers, less than 0.05pc change. Transatlantic up 18pc to 404,000  Middle East up 8pc to 91,000  Domestic up 22pc to10,000 Year to date up 6pc to 16.9m  Dublin Airport is still on course to break the 30m barrier this year, with 3.1m passengers in July, up 6pc, […]

HEADLINES – AVIATION – AFLOAT – DEALWATCH – FOOD & WINE – HOTELS – INTERNATIONAL – IRELAND – STRANGE WORLD – TRAVEL TRADE Things to know about travel this week Even the Fairies think there are too many tourists Aer Lingus announces biggest ever winter schedule Germany Tourism gets a new head for Ireland. Louise Jordan joins the team as Insight launch USA and Canada brochure Moher hits the 1m club 11 days […]

Canadian players taking part in the Women’s Rugby World Cup met their match on the pitch against a tricky and skilled team – a Dublin under-11 camogie team. The World Cup, being held in Dublin and Belfast, kicked off this week, with 12 national teams participating. The event is set to generate an estimated 15,000 bednight […]

Long-haul: 350 more transatlantic flights for Winter 2017 13pc increase in transtlantic capacity compared to 2016 New Airbus A330-300 in operation for full winter season 12 flights per week to US West Coast Short-haul: 194,000 more seats to Europe New winter route to Bilbao 47,000 extra seats to key European cities of Hamburg and Zurich Additional […]

Travel agents are benefiting from the upturn in the economy, with almost three-quarters saying bookings for April to June are up on last year. The latest Irish Travel Agents Association quarterly survey found that a quarter of agents reported an increase of more than 10-15pc in bookings. “We’re looking at a year-on-year increase of about 15 to 20pc,” ITAA […]

Qatar is to allow visa-free entry for citizens of 80 countries, including Ireland, effective immediately. Citizens of those countries* wishing to visit Qatar will no longer need to apply or pay for a visa; instead, a multi-entry waiver will be issued free-of-charge at the port of entry, upon presentation of a valid passport with a […]

Tourism Minister Shane Ross has insisted that despite concerns over queues at Dublin Airport, there’ll be no extra funding for the DAA. Irish Travel Agents Association President Cormac Meehan was among those urging the Government to look at the issue. “The ITAA has called for a meeting with the Department of Justice and Equality to […]