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XL Airways

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Tens of thousands of British tourists who booked with the tour operator group, XL, are facing massive disruption to their holidays.

The company has gone into administration and all its flights have now been grounded.

The XL Leisure Group went into administration in the early hours today, leaving about 85,000 customers abroad and hitting 200,000 people with forward bookings.

All XL’s flights were immediately cancelled and its fleet has been grounded, leaving crowds of angry tourists at Gatwick Airport.

The CAA released a statement saying it was making arrangements for all customers abroad who had booked their holiday or flight with an Atol tour operator so they could complete their holidays and fly home.

It said: “The CAA estimates that there are 50,000 tour operator customers of XLUK abroad, and a further 10,000 abroad with XL Airways, and 25,000 with other tour operators who shared the XL flights. A further 200,000 customers have advance bookings with the XL tour operators.

“All future departures with the XLUK tour operators and XL Airlines have been cancelled. Customers due to travel from the UK are advised not to go to their departure airport.  Tour operator customers will be able to claim a full refund from ATOL.”

XL said it went into administration as a result of “volatile fuel prices, the economic downturn” and a failure to obtain more funding.

The administration covers XL’s UK companies, which include XL Airways, Freedom flights, Aspire Holidays, Travel City Direct, Kosmar, the Really Great Holiday Company, and Medlife Hotels.

The XL Group’s companies in France and Germany continue to trade as normal.

Atols were held by Freedom Flights, Aspire, Kosmar, and the Really Great Holiday Company, which traded as Travel City Direct.

Medlife Hotels customers are also not Atol protected. XL’s website said all holidays booked through the company had been cancelled and the administrators would not be able to offer customers a refund.

Source: Travel Trade Gazette.

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Ixia – located at the north end of the island of Rhodes

Ixia is a resort that caters to everyone whether you are looking for luxury or going away on a budget. There is something for everyone in the resort and a number of excursions to enjoy. The transfer time for Ixia is around 25-35 minutes meaning you have just enough time to look around at surrounding scenery as well as gain a slight understanding of the location of the resort and the location of your accommodation within the resort. The beach at Ixia is long and covered in sand leading down to the waters edge. You will find a number of sunbeds and parasols available as well as a number of water sports. Ixia has all types of accommodation available, such as de luxe hotels, self-catering apartments and basic accommodation. The hotels are mainly 2-5-stars and offer half-board or all-inclusive.

Ixia – plenty of beach based activities to enjoy

Ixia is home to a good beach with a range of water sports available. The water sports available to you include windsurfing, surfing, scuba diving, snorkelling, jet-skiing, water-skiing, paragliding, going on boat trips and swimming. A trips to Rhodes Town is very popular as there is a lot of shopping and sightseeing to be done in the area. There is also a brilliant Greek evening that is very popular among both tourists and locals. Lindos is a popular place to visit with the ancient acropolis and a full island tour comes highly recommended as it gives you the chance to look around the resort and visit different beaches and areas. The water park in Faliraki is must see for families, couples and groups of singles as it offers brilliant rides, slides and swimming pools.

Ixia – large choice of restaurants available

Ixia has a brilliant choice of restaurants available with a range of cuisines on offer. The favourite cuisine is the traditional Greek cuisines as well as a lot of seafood. If you prefer something different then you will find a number of French restaurants as well as Italian and a number of steak houses. There is plenty of fast food for you to enjoy which you will find familiar. When it comes to nightlife, the resort is quite good with a number of bars and discos to choose from. You will find live music and entertainment in a number of the bars. Apart from mini markets and supermarkets the only other real shops you will find will be souvenir shops. There is a frequent bus service into Rhodes Town and there are also a number of taxis available in the area.

Ixia – long hot Mediterranean summers

Ixia enjoys a Mediterranean climate of very long and hot summers. July and August are the hottest months in the resort with an average temperature of 25°C although this commonly rises to highs of well over 30°C. May is the official start to the summer with temperatures at 21°C which quickly rises to 25°C by June. There is normally no rainfall over July and August and the evenings remain hot at highs of 22°C. July and August see 12 hours of sunshine a day which drops to around 5 hours a day in the winter. Spring and Autumn are pleasant times to come if you are not keen on very hot weather, with temperatures mostly ranging between 16-20°C. Winters tend to be mild in Ixia with temperatures staying at around 10°C. Between October and May you can expect to see some rainfall but not to the extent that we are used to. December if the wettest month in Ixia however it still tends to remain fairly warm.

Lonely Planet, the world’s most trusted travel information company, has joined forces with two of the world’s leading accommodation providers, Expedia and Hostelworld.com, to deliver a unique accommodation booking service.

The new service provides travellers with tens of thousands of author reviews and recommendations written by Lonely Planet’s 360 authors around the world. From backpacker hostels in Adelaide to boutique designer hotels in Zurich, travellers can evaluate properties and book securely online with Expedia and Hostelworld.com.

“Combining the vast number of Lonely Planet’s author accommodation reviews with the depth of inventory provided by Expedia and Hostelworld is a real win for our travellers. They get trusted advice, great pricing and wide availability in one easy to use website” explains Troy Suda, Lonely Planet’s Global Head of Hotels & Emerging Online Business.

For the new service, Lonely Planet looked globally for partners where there was strong alignment between Lonely Planet’s author reviews and the bookable properties of prospective partners.

“Lonely Planet has built its business on the quality of its author reviews and recommendations, and we’re delighted to be partnering with a company that is as renowned in its field as Expedia is,” said Tamer Tamar, Vice President and Managing Director for Expedia Distribution. Read the rest of this entry »

Airline passengers encouraged to donate their change and help recruit lifesaving donors

England World Cup winner and Lions Rugby star, Will Greenwood MBE, today launched easyJet’s in-flight collection campaign for leukaemia charity, The Anthony Nolan Trust. Throughout the summer, easyJet cabin crew will be asking passengers to donate any loose change to support the charity.

This will be the third year that easy Jet passengers will be asked to donate their loose change and the continuation this year will help save hundreds of lives throughout Europe. easyJet has already raised an incredible £1.3 million in total for The Anthony Nolan Trust after carrying out on board collections during the summers of 2006 and 2007.This funding has enabled the charity to recruit approximately 18,000 new lifesaving donors to the bone marrow register.

The Anthony Nolan Trust saves lives by providing bone marrow donors to adults and children in need of transplants. Last year, The Anthony Nolan Trust saved the lives of over 600 men, women and children who might have otherwise died. However, currently 16,000 patients worldwide are searching for a suitable donor and to give these patients a chance of life the charity urgently needs to fund the recruitment of thousands of new donors. Read the rest of this entry »

The operator of Scotland’s busiest airports today welcomed a report from an influential group of MSPs which calls for additional marketing support for airlines operating direct flights into Scotland.

BAA Scotland, which owns and operates Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, said any additional marketing support for the airline industry was welcome, particularly at a time of rising fuel prices.

Responding to the report published today by the Scottish Parliament’s Economy, Energy and Tourism Committee, Gordon Dewar, managing director of Glasgow and acting MD of Edinburgh airport, said:

“Aviation is an integral part of the social and economic life of our country, delivering thousands of high quality jobs, generating investment and sustaining our tourist industry, now, more than ever, the lifeblood of our economy.

“We have made it clear that we believe there is a strong case for some form of EU-compliant marketing support fund and argued strongly for this in our evidence to the committee. Since 2002 BAA Scotland has invested in excess of £110 million in route development support for airlines starting new direct international services. This work has transformed Scotland’s international connectivity. We would welcome any additional support which builds on this success for the benefit of business and leisure travellers.

“The worldwide airline industry is entering a difficult phase, with many carriers reducing capacity or scaling back expansion plans as a result of rising fuel prices and the impact of the credit crunch. We are working hard to support our airlines, in partnership with organisations such as VisitScotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau. Any additional support would be welcome.”