AVIATION NEW ROUTES DESTINATIONS Ready for Stay on top of the most interesting new take off flights for 2017, writes Samantha Mayling Think Routemasters are just Details: British Airways flies w GLASGOW TO w LONDON TO SANTIAGO a type of London bus? Sure, four times a week (Monday, NEW YORK Route: Heathrow to Santiago they’re a common sight on in Wednesday, Friday, Saturday) on Route: Glasgow airport to Details: British Airways flies the capital, but every travel a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner. JFK airport. four times a week (Tuesday, agent should aim to become Tell me more: The service Details: Delta Air Lines flies daily Wednesday, Friday, Sunday) a ‘route master’ too. starts on March 27, connecting on a Boeing 757-200ER. on a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Knowing the ins and outs Big Ben with the Big Easy and Tell me more: The service begins Tell me more: With a flight time of of the routes launching next making BA the only airline to fly on May 26, and will be the only 14 hours 40 minutes, Santiago will year not only helps you keep direct between Europe and the non-stop flight from Glasgow become BA’s longest route when your finger on the pulse, but it Louisiana city. to JFK. It follows Delta’s launch of it starts on January 3. It’s the only opens up new opportunities to On arrival: New Orleans is Edinburgh-JFK this summer.It’s a direct flight between London and sell more – by getting in touch famous for its music, arts busy time for Glasgow, as Ryanair the Chilean capital, and follows with existing customers who and festivals, with Mardi has revealed its biggest summer other BA launches to San Jose in have been the region before or Gras the jewel in the crown. schedule from the airport, adding Costa Rica and Lima in Peru. by encouraging others to give Holidaymakers can follow jazz Valencia, Lisbon, Zadar and On arrival: History buffs can it a go now they don’t have to and blues trails, visit sugar cane Palanga in Lithuania. explore the colonial heritage, catch a connecting flight. plantations, cruise the Mississippi On arrival: New York is the city while active holidaymakers can ski Here, we round up a handful River or drive a short distance to that never sleeps, with world- and snowboard; trek in the Andes; of the highlights so you can the Alabama Gulf Shores class shopping, dining, theatre or try water sports along the stay ahead of the game. and Orange Beach. and culture. The must-see list coast. The region is famous for its In 2018, the city will celebrate includes the Statue of Liberty, vineyards and natural attractions, w LONDON TO its tricentennial and open a Empire State Building, 9/11 from lakes and glaciers to the NEW ORLEANS North Terminal at the airport. Memorial and Times Square. driest desert in the world. Route: Heathrow to Louis Book it: Return fares from £599. Book it: Return fares from £603. Book it: Return fares from £814. Armstrong New Orleans airport. britishairways.com delta.com britishairways.com 1 December 2016 travelweekly.co.uk 55 DESTINATIONS NEW ROUTES AVIATION w MANCHESTER TO SANTA CLARA, CUBA Route: Manchester to Santa Clara. The UK and China Details: Thomson flies every Tuesday on a 787 Dreamliner. signed a deal in Tell me more: Ahead of the October to increase rebrand to Tui, Thomson and First the number of flights Choice will expand long-haul between the countries holiday offerings by almost 20% rstock in 2017. As well as Cuba, Thomson E is launching Saint Lucia, Dubai and Miami next summer, following shutt the long-haul destinations such as w LONDON TO XI’AN, CHINA CVB; NS A E LEFT: New the Maldives and Sri Lanka. Route: Gatwick to Xi’an Xianyang. L OR Orleans On arrival: This is Cuba, but not Details: Tianjin Airlines has NEW as you know it – away from the confirmed the route, but timings : BELOW crumbling colonial buildings of are yet to be confirmed. TURES LEFT: Santa Havana, Thomson features hotels Tell me more: It will launch in PIC Maria, Cuba in Cayo Santa Maria, 100 miles May as the UK’s only direct flight off the north coast of Cuba. to Xi’an in Shaanxi Province. Linked to the mainland by a The UK and China signed a On arrival: One of the oldest cities alongside modern life. manmade causeway, the island’s deal in October to increase the in China, and once an ancient Must-see attractions include main attraction is its eight-mile- number of flights between the imperial capital, Xi’an is home to the 16th-century forts of Al Jalali long white-sand beach. two countries, albeit after BA the famous Terracotta Army, a and Al Mirani; the city’s parks and Book it: Return flights from £635. announced it would scrap its Unesco World Heritage Site. gardens; and four main museums. thomson.co.uk direct Chengdu service in January. Book it: Fares yet to be released. Beach activities include water- tianjinairlines.co.uk skiing, kayaking and scuba diving, while souvenirs can be bought at w MANCHESTER TO the souk in Muttrah. MUSCAT Book it: Return fares from £529. Route: Manchester to Muscat. omanair.com Details: Oman Air starts a daily service on May 1, with an A330. w LONDON TO CAPE TOWN Tell me more: The service is in Route: Gatwick to Cape Town. addition to the airline’s double- Details: Thomas Cook Airlines daily flight from Heathrow, flies three times a week (Sunday, making Manchester the only UK Monday and Thursday), from airport outside London to have December 15 to March 20, 2017, direct flights to Muscat. using a refurbished A330 fleet. On arrival: Between the Gulf of Tell me more: Thomas Cook Oman and the mountains of AI has added the South African Hajr Al Sharyi, Muscat offers the city as part of its long-haul chance to experience traditional expansion, just after British culture and architecture Airways launched a service 56 travelweekly.co.uk 1 December 2016 AVIATION NEW ROUTES DESTINATIONS from Gatwick in November. and Sunday, with an A320 and an Details: Virgin Atlantic offers On arrival: Cape Town makes A321 aircraft. three flights a week (Tuesday, an ideal city break during the Thomas Cook is Tell me more: With Sharm el- Friday, Sunday) from March 28 British winter, catering to cultural Sheikh still off limits for air travel, on an A330-300. sightseers, hikers who fancy returning to the Costa Monarch is shifting capacity to Tell me more: This is the first a trek up Table Mountain, and del Sol for the first European destinations, including time in the airport’s history gourmet gurus seeking quality time in four years Portugal. The northwest city of there has been a direct route food and wine in the city and the Porto joins Lisbon, introduced to San Francisco, and comes as surrounding Cape Winelands. last summer, Faro and Funchal. Virgin launches Boston and JFK The exchange rate means South Porto flights start April 28, along services from Manchester. Africa is still affordable for with new services to Stockholm On arrival: Tourists can see Brits, even with the ongoing Tell me more: Thomas Cook is and Zagreb. famous landmarks such as the fluctuations in the pound. The returning to the Costa del Sol On arrival: Porto is in the top Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and Post Office Travel Money survey and Malaga for the first time 10 ‘best value destinations’ in Fisherman’s Wharf. A massive recently named Cape Town as the in four years. Thomas Cook Lonely Planet’s Best in Travel expansion of the San Francisco best value long-haul destination. UK managing director Chris 2017. Renowned for its port wine Museum of Modern Art has Book it: Return fares from £910. Mottershead said the Turkish and architecture, the coastal city more than doubled the size of thomascookairlines.com coup and terror attacks in offers visitors the chance to tour the original museum, which Turkey and North Africa mean its port wine cellars or take a boasts work by Andy Warhol and LEFT: w MANCHESTER TO capacity is being shifted to “old Cape Town cruise on the River Douro. Jackson Pollock. The Bay Area MALAGA favourites” such as Malaga, along to established city-break spots w LUTON/MANCHESTER Book it: Return fares from £89. is also home to the vineyards of Route: Manchester to Malaga. with new destinations such as BELOW LEFT: such as Split and Dubrovnik, it’s TO PORTO, PORTUGAL monarch.co.uk Napa Valley and Sonoma, as well Details: Thomas Cook will fly such as Sicily and Croatia. Phu Quoc, also a gateway to the beaches Route: Luton and Manchester to as Silicon Valley, headquarters of Vietnam twice a week (Saturday and On arrival: The Costa del Sol is and forested parks of the Istrian Porto. w MANCHESTER TO SAN Google, Facebook and Apple. Wednesday) from April on an the original home of the sun, RIghT: peninsula. Details: Monarch, from Luton on FRANCISCO Book it: Return fares start at A321, replaced by an A320 in May. sea, sand and sangria holiday. Pula, Croatia Book it: One-way fares from £50. Tuesday, Saturday, Sunday; from Route: Manchester to San £539. jet2.com Manchester on Thursday, Friday Francisco. virgin-atlantic.com Resorts include Benalmadena, to draw international tourists. Torremolinos and Marbella, but Thomson’s Tour and Stay options banish those 1970s stereotypes: include stops in Hanoi, Halong it might retain an air of Brits Bay and Ho Chi Minh City in abroad, but Malaga boasts two Vietnam, and a trip along the ancient Moorish castles and a Mekong River to Angkor Wat Roman amphitheatre, there are in Cambodia.