Edinburgh at Hogmanay, a place to be seen in the New Year, presents a glowing night of entertainment, spirit, passion and celebration with eight tones of fireworks, around 100,000 people, 4 days of gala comprising of the Torchlight Procession, Candlelit Concert, The Hoog, The Hoog Royale, and Edinburgh's Hogmanay Street Party, a 40-foot long wooden longboat, 25 bands, one gun shot, 500 mad swimmers, and 40 huge devils with a height of over 100 metres tall.

EventScotland Chief Executive, Paul Bush, says: "Edinburgh's four-day festival is already one of the biggest and most vibrant Hogmanay celebrations. This year's additional celebrations of Highland culture and the Monster Ceilidh on the Night A'fore will only help to cement the fact that the city's New Year festivities are among the best, not only in Europe, but the world".

"With over 100,000 people predicted to attend the celebrations, Edinburgh's Hogmanay provides a great platform to show the city at its best and proves that it is the place to be this Hogmanay".

In Birmingham, the Christmas sale shoppers will have more than they negotiate for when they come face to face with a 33-foot high, 50-tonne ice wall in Centenary Square.

A division of Birmingham's Street Ice event, the ice wall will remain open till 15th January. 12% rise has been seen in participation in adventure sports since last four years by VisitScotland and is assumed to grow further.

Scotland's various landscape - dramatic mountains, fast flowing rivers and extensive coastline, is accurate for around 50 distinct adventure sports available the entire year.

Monarch is introducing scheduled services to Cyprus from Manchester next year. Starting on 18th May, the new service will be operated on Mondays, Tuesdays (from July), Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Prices begin at just £78 one way.

flyMonarch.com's Managing Director, Liz Savage, said, "We are delighted to be expanding our network to the Eastern Mediterranean with the launch of this service from Manchester, a market that has historically been dominated by the flag carriers and charter services. We have seen overwhelming demand for our service from London Luton to Larnaca, carrying 50,000 passengers on the route since its launch in March this year and have been inundated with requests from the public to introduce further services to Cyprus from our UK bases. I am sure that the people of the North-West will warmly welcome the introduction of this service from Manchester offering more choice of direct flights and low fares".

Flight times: departs Manchester at 4 p.m. and reach Larnaca at 10.40 p.m. (Mondays); departs Manchester at 5.25 p.m. and reach Larnaca at 12.25 a.m. next day (Tuesdays); departs Manchester at 2 p.m. and reach Larnaca at 8.40 p.m. (Wednesdays and Fridays); and departs Manchester at 3.30 p.m. and reach Larnaca at 10.10 p.m. (Sundays).

Qantas is selling a number of special fares flights to worldwide destinations, including Australia. Book your seat by the 31st of December and grab the opportunity.

The quoted fares are for return flights, and also include all the taxes and charges.

For travel between 16th April and 15th June, 2008, the offer prices are available from London Heathrow to:

From Thursday, 20th December, Air France has started accepting reservations for its new services between the UK and the US.

The new services that will be started on 30th March, 2008 are: Manchester to New York JFK, Manchester to Atlanta, Heathrow to Los Angeles, Heathrow to New York JFK, Heathrow to Atlanta, Edinburgh to New York JFK, Gatwick to Cincinnati and Gatwick to New York JFK.

All these services will be offered daily, except Heathrow to New York service, which will be offered twice a day. All the services to Los Angeles will be offered by Air France, while the services to Cincinnati, New York and Atlanta will be offered by Delta Air Lines. So, passengers can plan their air carrier accordingly.

With the opening of Loch Ness Lodge-the loch's first purpose constructed exclusive-use residence, the everlasting bloom of the Loch Ness landscape is now the ideal location for Scotland's newest special moment and house party place.

Loch Ness Lodge, the ultimate sample of a comfortable 5-star home from home' experience, has been designed with care for small parties who want to have a memorable experience at this unique setting close to the shores of the world's most popular loch.

With its classic appeal, the privately-owned Highland retreat, offers a tailored experience for up to fourteen guests in the seven especially styled en suite bedrooms of the Lodge. Guests can enjoy excellent facilities and discreet and attentive services for special moments such as celebrations, anniversaries and private weddings.

After running for a period of nine months, the shuttle bus service between York and Leeds Bradford Airport has been marked off.

First York, the operator of the service has said that it is cutting the frequency of its services on this route, claiming that the scheme is a big hit, even if most buses have been running without any passenger!

The shuttle bus service operator has announced it is pulling back a few of the early morning and late night services during the winter season. The service operator has also said that it has also cut the number of services in running during the day from once every 60 minutes to once every 75 minutes. That means that the number of services has been reduced from seventeen per day on seven days a week, to twelve on Mondays to Fridays, eleven on Saturdays and ten on Sundays.

The ultimate luxury pamper package has created by Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes London-the stylish but intimate, for the bride to be and her hens.

Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes, which is located on the infamous Baker Street of London and close to all the major attractions in London, offers a plain access to the heart of the city-a good location, deluxe but affordable, and a range of activities to suit all tastes.

Park Plaza Sherlock Holmes' Angel package, a luxurious and great treat, offers an opportunity to enjoy the weekend in a spacious, beautifully decorated deluxe Loft Suite, and is ideal for this big occasion. Start the party with champagne on reaching here, before enjoying the big time in the bar of the hotel.

Low fares long-haul carrier, Zoom Airlines will start offering its services from London Gatwick Airport to Fort Lauderdale and San Diego from the coming year. Londoners would love to have this service, as the ticket availability on Gatwick airport is decreasing and there is a need of more flights by different carriers.

From the month of May, the airline will start offering a twice a week service to Fort Lauderdale, in Florida. The service will be offered on Thursdays and Sundays. The price of tickets for the new service starts at just £399 return, including all the charges and taxes.

This will be the first scheduled carrier to offer services to the sunshine resort from Europe in ten years.

Thomas Cook, the Travel operator has made an announcement that in the coming year, its economy-class customers on long-haul flights will have more room to stretch out. From the month of May 2008, a seat pitch of 33 inches (up from 30 inches) will be made available for the passengers travelling with Thomas Cook Airlines.

MyTravel Airways flights will also be included in this, as the carrier will join Thomas Cook Airlines in the month of March next year. Passengers would love to receive this offer, as many other air carriers are also increasing their leg-room, and now Thomas Cook has joined them.

In a recent poll conducted by the travel website TripAdvisor, it was discovered that passengers give maximum value to the legroom when they are in air. The poll also found that most of the travellers would be happy to pay an extra amount if they get a little more space.

A new direct rail link has been opened this week which connects travellers in Penrith, Carlisle and Lockerbie with Manchester Airport. This would be welcome move for passengers who want to board the flights from Manchester Airport and live in the areas of Penrith, Carlisle, and Lockerbie.

The new cross-country service is operated by First Transpennine Express it offers a regular rail link to the people living on the routes between the airport and both Edinburgh and Glasgow. So, this would be a great addition for passengers to have Manchester Airport as well in the route.

There will four services operated on all weekdays, between Edinburgh and Manchester with another three leaving Glasgow. All of these services will call at Penrith and Carlisle, and the services to and from Glasgow also stop at Lockerbie.

The Funny Meal-a new in-flight little one's meal concept has been introduced by Danish carrier Sterling Airlines. The meal will be offered on all the flights of Sterling. The meal includes cream cheese, ham, crispy breadsticks and carrots. What's more? –a bag of Haribo sweets will also be there for a treat.

The child-friendly meal is offered at a price of just €7 (£5). The option also contains a colouring book and crayons. There is no of a pre-booking to avail the new option.

Michael T Hansen, the carrier's commercial vice president, said, "Families constitute an important target group for Sterling. And that's why we believe that their needs are just as important as those of our other customers. If we make travel easier for children, we make it easier for the entire family".

A research released today shows that as many as one in four people living in the UK will be going out of the nation over the period of Christmas.

Ebookers.com conducted a survey of 8,000 holidaymakers in which it was found that about fifteen per cent of its clients say that they always prefer to go away over the Christmas period, and around 23 per cent will be going out for the first time at this year's Christmas.

Warm weather and Beaches offer a big draw for the holidaymakers who prefer to go away on during the Christmas time: 42 per cent of those surveyed say that catching the winter sun is the major reason why they love to go away.

A huge expansion has been announced by Ryanair-the Europe's largest low cost airline, for 2008. In this expansion, the carrier will create 50 fresh routes across Europe.

The expansion would prove to be a vital one for the airlines in offering more destinations and flights to its passengers, who would be visiting various places in summer 2008.

The new routes to and from the UK will include: London Stansted to Angouleme and Faro; Birmingham to Barcelona (Girona), Marseille and Pisa; Durham Tees Valley to Alicante; Newquay to Alicante and Barcelona (Girona); Liverpool to Malaga and Nantes; Edinburgh to Alicante, Bremen, Frankfurt, Marseille and Pisa; and Manchester to Barcelona (Girona), Bremen, Marseille and Milan.

Enjoy a great festive offer-confirm your bookings by midnight on the 27th of December, and enjoy your journey. bmibaby, the low fares carrier, has put more than one million tickets on sale at a price starting from just £16.99 one-way. All the taxes are also included in the quoted price.

The carrier is offering these discounted fares for travel up until the 30th of April. This could sound somewhat unbelievable, but it is true to its core-if you are looking for some great travel experience in the coming season, this could be a great chance for you to get some real benefit from this offer. You can choose from a wide variety of destinations offered by bmibaby, and also save a lot of money.

A number of routes are offered by the carrier. These are: from East Midlands to: Glasgow, Belfast and Jersey; and from Belfast to: Manchester, Cardiff, Birmingham and East Midlands. So, if you are looking to get some travel experience on any of these routes, you should not waste time: book your tickets at the earliest.

A new terminal has been opened by Virgin Atlantic at Terminal 3 of Heathrow Airport. The new terminal has been opened to improve comfort as well as the of the check-in process. Virgin Atlantic has launched many destinations and flights for its passengers and obviously the traffic and check-in time had increased; but with the opening of a new terminal, it is believed that the passengers would find it more convenient to get the services of Virgin Atlantic.

The fresh development features the launch of the Upper Class Wing, a facility for business travellers boasting the world's fastest check-in. So, business travellers would be at a great benefit with this offer.

Passengers in the airline's Economy and Premium Economy class will also benefit from a newly-developed check-in, with the company saying that it expects that around eight per cent of its clients will use kiosk or online check-in by the end of next year.

From this summer, holidaymakers will be able to make their journey to Jersey directly from Inverness Airport, as C. I. Travel Holdings-the charter company is set to start offering dirct services to the island.

This is a good news for passengers of Inverness Airport, as they would be able to board direct flights to Jersey. From the 28th of June, the charter company will start offering a weekly service: the service will be offered on Saturday. And the service from Inverness to Jersey flying will be offered until the mid of the month of September.

C. I. Travel Holdings' managing director, Peter Drew, said, "We're delighted that we will be making it possible for the people of the Highlands to enjoy a holiday in one of the most unspoiled European holiday destinations which offers a unique blend of British and French influences."

A new fast check-in option has been launched by the low cost airline, easyJet on 18th December. The new option has been introduced to benefit users of the airline's Speeding Boarding service-the latest innovation of the carrier to offer its passengers more choice and flexibility.

The new fast check-in option offers a dedicated check-in desk for the customers who have made additional payments to be among the first passengers to board a flight but still have luggage to check-in.

Andy Harrison, the chief executive of the airline, said, "Speedy Boarding Plus is the latest easyJet innovation to give our customers more choice and flexibility. This new facility builds on the success of Speedy Boarding by not only providing passengers with the opportunity to board a flight first and have a wider choice of seats, but will also offer them a dedicated check-in area".

A new system will be implemented in the main car park at Heathrow T 5 when it opens in the month of March 2008.

People who have ever forgotten the exact location where they have parked their vehicles will be thankful to the new system: the new system features infrared cameras and sensors to capture the number plate of each vehicle on their entry to the building.

Then, the cameras, which are installed all through the garage, will take more pictures of the vehicle's number plate when it has been parked at a specific place, and stores the information.

If you book a Haven Holiday before 31st January, 2008, you can get selected holidays at half the price quoted in the brochure. And, they are also offering 20% off on school holiday dates for early bookings.

With 35 family holiday parks, Haven offers lots of things for everyone. It offers clubs, sports and activities for little ones during the day, a number of interactive games and competitions, lively entertainment venues, and child-friendly venues in the evening so that everyone can enjoy well.

The coming year will witness cuddly characters of Haven in some great new guises: Rory the Tiger will be the top of the pops. And, Haven has also brought in a fabulous 3D version of a panto-favourite, Boggle-Vision' bringing some interesting effects to Aladdin's production.

In order to reduce carbon in London, Avis is now using a fleet of electric bikes for its deliveries and collections around the town. Avis' supplier Vehicle Enhancement Services (VES) provide and operate the bikes.

Before becoming the service provider for vehicle preparation, delivery and collection, and site transfer, VES had earlier worked with Avis for around three years. Being an element of its tender, VES propounded that Avis became the chief rental company to replace petrol-driven bikes with electric-powered vehicles in London, in order to reduce pollution.

VES invested in buying additional batteries and charging equipment to reduce downtime and to make sure the best use of the electric bikes.

It was declared the previous day that ifyouski.com has been possessed by Ski Solutions, Britain's original specialist ski travel agency, from Online Travel Corporation (OTC) for an untold sum.

Lizzie Norton, director of Ski Solutions says, "At a stroke, this landmark purchase vastly increases the presence of the Ski Solutions group as a key ski holiday distributor".

The ifyouski.com label will be kept and trimmed in the arriving months, with ample fresh investment in promotional programmes.

Qantas Holidays (qantas.co.uk/holidays) has established a new 10-night trip to Bali for 2008, for those visitors who are in search of humour and rest. It emphasizes on choosing luxurious 5* hotels placed in the resorts of Benoa, Ubud and Seminyak.

Bali has put itself on the map of the world by offering great offers for green tourism, and it would be a great offer for travellers of UK looking for some good options to have eco-tourism offers. Qantas Airways has really come up with a very good offer and at a very suitable time too.

The luxurious trip starts with four nights at the stunning, yet secluded 5* Conrad Bali Resort & Spa placed in Benoa Harbour among lagoons with cascading waterfalls.

London's official website for tourists, Visitlondon.com, is commencing its Christmas in London campaign, educating as what all is to take place around London during the festive period as well as a number of new competitions and games.

The daring game, Santa's Superbounce, makes the players to launch Santa as far as possible into the night sky by adjusting bounce power and speed with the help of the mouse. The game is perfect for friends, families and work colleagues, as players can dare others to beat their high score.

The people who wish to go to London in this festive season can look for visitlondon.com Christmas website. It will assist them to look for the city's best markets, fashion, luxury and department stores.

Keycamp is introducing exciting new tree house holiday accommodation for 2008 around three of its most famous campsites in France. It will fulfil the desires of adventurous families and couples and will make them feel homely.

Each tree house has been intelligently made around the trunk and is approached through a spiral staircase which leads magically into the forest canopy. The thatched-roofed living accommodation provides two sleeping areas, with one double and four single beds, with a large decked terrace with table and chairs. A well furnished Frontier Tent with all kitchen facilities is given for cooking.

Having a ninety minute run from Paris, the tree houses can be found at La Croix du Vieux Pont in Berny Riviere, and the Breton sites of La Grande Métairie at Carnac and Château des Ormes, at Dol-de-Bretagne.

Just like the new online car hire website, by-car.co.uk, the German im-mietauto.de is also turning to be a beneficial holiday resource. The website provides the information keeping in mind the requirements of holiday makers during the winter sun and ski holiday season. In this current winter season, holidaymakers would be greatly benefitted by these websites.

By-car.co.uk includes an extensive range of European and American destinations and users can analyse several winter sun resorts. For example, they can go through the guide to Spain and can locate about attractions around the Costa Blanca, Costa Del Sol, or the Canaries.

By-car.co.uk also provides basic guidance regarding driving in several conditions. For those holiday makers who are searching for a winter sun holiday there is an advice on driving in cities, and tips for driving in hot and sunny climates. For the people heading off on a skiing or snowboarding holiday during the winter season, the website provides beneficiary detailed suggestions for driving in winter conditions.

Confirm your bookings by the 31st of December and avail the benefits of a special offer. A special deal is being offered by Virgin Atlantic for travellers who are looking to travel to Japan early next year. Japan is hot destination for passengers all across the UK, and if you are looking for a good offer, this could be a good chance for you.

Passengers booking a flight before 10 p.m. on the 31st of December will be able to get benfitted by the special deal. Between London Heathrow and Tokyo, the economy fares are beginning at just £549 return.

The special offer prices are available for outbound journey between 9th January and 29th February. The quoted price includes all the charges and taxes.

From the 27th of June, passengers will have a link to the Swedish capital as SAS Scandinavian Airlines will be reintroducing its summer service from Bristol International Airport to Stockholm-Arlanda Airport. SAS is on a great expansion spree and more offers could be on hands. So, passengers should watch out for more flights from the airlines.

The carrier will operate its service on Mondays and Fridays. The prices for this service are beginning at just £49 one way.

The service comes soon after an announcement by the carrier that it would start operating its services on a route between Bristol and Oslo next year.

Low cost airline, easyjet has shaped its plans by for the North West of England and Manchester Airport will be home to a new base of the carrier.

Earlier this year, easyJet has taken over GB Airways, and after this takeover, the budget airline has to re-brand two planes in its characteristic orange livery. The airline aims to have 5 planes at the airport by the year 2010.

Meanwhile, the low cost airline has also revealed that it will have 10 flying machines based at Liverpool John Lennon Airport by the year 2010 as well, which will make it the biggest carrier in the region. And, it will be able to offer its services on 40 routes to around 8 million customers within a drive on an hour of the two airports.

Jet2.com, the low fares carrier, is offering fifty pairs of free flights at ski shops across Yorkshire. Passengers can try their chances in getting the tickets. A good offer to try--be a lucky one and enjoy!

As a result of an early snowfall in the Alps, it seems that this will be a fantastic ski season. The airline is running a competition to offer its customers an opportunity to enjoy the season at its most appropriate time.

Snow-lovers can win a chance by simply visiting a ski shop and picking up a flyer to be in the competition. Then, they ned to fill in their details, and just send it off to the address there on the flyer.

Air France/CityJet is to begin offering its services on a new route to Paris from Shannon Airport in the west of Ireland. This is a very good offer for regional passengers, as they can now choose from varied airlines for their travel.

The new service to Paris Charles De Gaulle, which will be offered twice a day will start from February 4, 2008, connecting Shannon to the 248 Air France and KLM destinations that are served from the main airport of the French capital, and 841 cities of the SkyTeam alliance.

Irish transport minister, Noel Dempsey, said, "Over the past few months the business community sought to have a service that will provide them and their customers with connectivity to and from key destinations throughout the world.

White knuckle adventure holidays at FlatEarth in Norway with DFDS Seaways, abseil 360m down mountains, climb on glaciers along with white water kayaking is a refreshing experience. Located in Eidford are the most awesome backdrops and is an accurate environment for abseiling down 360m vertical mountain walls, white water kayaking. So, if you are a kaykaying enthusiast, you will surely love this place to be.

You can opt for a variant activity for each day, it may be climbing, a two day glacier expedition, kayaking, abseiling, or for something a bit more relaxing canoeing. Really, a lot of exciting opportunities are on offer.

All the activities are made to fit to your own capability of making this an ideal holiday for the truly adventurous, right down to beginners.

The Spicy Hut has received the Gold Award for Manchester's Environmental Business Pledge and become the first restaurant in Rusholme to receive this recognition.

By taking advantage of free advice from Manchester City Council and Environmental Consultants Groundwork, the Spicy Hut has brought in several recycling and energy saving measures that helped in increasing its profits and reducing waste.

Besides installing low energy cooking, lighting and refrigeration systems, the restaurant is now using a smart car for deliveries. It has also introduced recycling plans.

A well-known Borders hotel has been selected in the Rising Star category of the 2008 Scottish Hotel of the Year Awards in. The hotel has been nominated in recognition of its contemporary interiors and fine cuisine.

The Townhouse Hotel, Melrose is already popular and well-liked around the Scottish Borders and this new recognition further strengthens its position as one of the hotels to be seen in the year 2008.

The property was acquired by the Henderson family in early 2004 and since then, they have completely changed the quaint Borders hotel into a present-day, boutique residence. Their sense of style and high standards is obvious all over with a charming atmosphere describing every aspect of the property.

A grand programme to get millions of people walking and cycling has won The People's £50 Million contest of the Big Lottery Fund.

Based on the public vote on ITV1, Sustrans' Connect2 project was one of the four short-listed organisations.

Connect2 will work for the improvement of local travel in 79 communities all over the UK by developing links, constructing walking and cycling tunnels and bridges and even re-introducing a ferry.

From December 17, people visiting Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery will be able to see and enjoy two latest art videos by Mariele Neudecker-a Bristol-based internationally-renowned artist.

The new art pieces, which have been commissioned distinctively, will offer visitors an opportunity to know one more dimension to the interpretation of the recently-renovated Egypt Gallery.

For telling the story of the ancient Egyptians, the Egypt gallery shows over 500 items, in 4 sections, namely Belief, Life, Death and Afterlife. Some of the items being displayed by the gallery are more than 3,000 years old.

On Saturday, the 22nd of December, an Activity for Children of all ages will be held by Ross Heritage Centre. This event will start at 1 p.m. and will run until 4.30 p.m.

The event will allow its participants to prepare a Christmas Rubbish Catcher-it will be used to collect all of the bits of rubbish that accumulates throughout the Christmas Festivities.

There are no charges to take part in the activity and anyone who wants to participate in the activity can drop in between the hours of the event-there is no need of bookings. However, little ones must be accompanied for their visit to the activity.

The international live online holiday booking engine, Super Holiday Rentals, has just added a new studio apartment at the Schwarzwalder Hof Hotel, to its ongoing list of rental properties. This new property is an extension to the Super Holiday Rentals collection of accommodation in Germany.

Located in the heart of Todtmoos in the Black Forest region of Germany, the brand new holiday apartment is part of the Schwarzwalder Hof Hotel. The hotel is placed along the town's pedestrian shopping mile, and is a short stroll from the baroque pilgrim's church; a health and spa centre, and is near to the majestic Black Forest which provides lot of wonderful walks, and wildlife spotting chances.

The holiday rental itself is a well off furnished studio apartment; furnished with a king sized double bed, a telephone, cable television, free internet access, and a bathroom with shower, tub and wc.

The international live online holiday booking engine, Super Holiday Rentals, has just added the Boland Townhouse to its ongoing list of rental properties. This new property is an extension to the Super Holiday Rentals collection of holiday cottages in Ireland.

It is placed in the centre of Kinsale, County Cork, Ireland. Kinsale is the gourmet capital of Ireland, a vibrant blend of history and modern cosmopolitan Ireland. The town shows the finest, world famous restaurants in Ireland and pubs to match with every taste whether it's traditional Irish music, cool blues or a cosy conversation bar. It is based on the River Bandon which is known for its salmon fishing.

For every taste, every budget and every time of year Kinsale provides the very best of restaurants, shopping, walking, golf, sailing, fishing, music and history. 

The bond between long-standing partners UAE and South Africa for trade and tourism is assumed to strengthen with the declaration of Dubai-based Emirates Airline. It will start daily flights to Cape Town, from 30th March 2008.

Tourist's idol, Cape Town, will be Emirates' second gateway in South Africa, and its 15th in the African continent.

On the route, Emirates will carry its Airbus A330-200 in a three class design of 12 First, 42 Business and 183 Economy Class seats. From 1st October the aircraft type will be amended to the bigger capacity Boeing 777-200 providing 12 First, 42 Business and 236 Economy Class seats.
Cape Town is one of the world's most sought-after holiday destinations with beautiful scenery, wildlife, various entertainment facilities and robust tourism infrastructure.

People visiting Croxteth Park could be able to get into the swing of things if proposals for a new adventure park get approval from the executive board.

Jungle Parc, which lets visitors climb, glide and swing over trees is a breathtaking high wire activity. And, if the plans get a green signal, it will be for the first time that Jungle Parc has a site in the UK.

The plans would see the new park in woodland called Potters Plantation at Croxteth Hall and Country Park and would firstly be for 5 years.

A new 24-hour bus route was declared on Friday connecting Harlow, Sawbridgeworth and Bishop's Stortford to Stansted Airport. This route will begin from January 7 and will perform in partnership with present service. This is a very good service offered to the passengers of these areas so that they can reach Stansted Airport easily and with more comfort.

The present service of 510 Arriva Shires and Essex will conduct an additional eight journeys in a day, and these will arrive and depart from the airport late at night and early in morning, seven days a week. From Monday to Saturday, the new 24-hour route will function between 07:00 and 18:00 every 20 minutes and either hourly or half hourly on Sunday and outside of these hours.

Nicola Hooper from Stansted Airport says: 'The airport is very much a 24 hour business and we are looking to provide 24-hour public transport services to meet the needs of both our staff and passengers. This extended service will benefit staff who finish late or start early, and will allow passengers from three local towns to arrive at the airport at any time of their choice'.

The chief commercial transatlantic flight with a new, more evironmentally-friendly approach has been initiated by Scandinavian airlines SAS. Flying from New York Newark to Stockholm Arlanda Airport, the Airbus A330 landed with a Continuous Descent Approach (CDA). Such type of the approach is assumed to save near about 150 kilos of aircraft fuel and 470 kilos of CO2. So, this could prove to be major step towards green travel, which is of course the demand of the future air travel. SAS will be benefitted very much from this experiment if they are able to have same type of flights on other routes also.

Sigmund Lockert, Airbus 330 fleet chief pilot and first officer on the flight, comments: 'The approach was in fact very easy for us pilots. The engines were running at idle power from our cruise altitude, until the final stage of the approach. The aircraft's Flight Management System was automatically flying the whole approach routing and the passengers said the approach was smooth and quiet'.

SAS says that after conducting this test flight, it will become the chief airline in Europe to test this method of cutting emissions and noise. Green approaches will be tested by the airline in this weekend transatlantic flights from Chicago and New York to Stockholm. Around 2000 green approaches have already been conducted with a Boeing 737, saving around 150 kilos of fuel and 470 kilos of CO2 with each landing. Passengers would surely love to avail the opportunity of green travel with SAS.

It is assumed that the cost of the ticket will be reduced by Ryanair in this winter whereas the expense for passengers checking in luggage will be raised as announced by the Chief Executive Michael O'Leary the previous day. He says: 'They will go up again next year, when I don't know, probably some time in advance of the summer'.

Passengers who pre-book baggage that they want to check in to the hold through Ryanair's Web site can presently pay £5 or €6 for the first bag and £10 or €12 for every add on item. Along with this, those people with only hand luggage can check in for their flight online, and those having bigger items of luggage need to use check in desks for which they have to give an additional cost of £2 or €3, which surely doubles the cost.

Ryanair is planning to keep the costs lower by motivating people to travel with hand luggage only. Commenting over it Mr. O'Leary has already said earlier that the hold baggage charge will continue to rise until around 50 percent of passengers were checking in luggage.

The UK's biggest airline, easyJet, will receive the arrivals on-board today at its chief flight from Birmingham that takes off for Geneva today. This new daily service offers the region's passengers an access to the ravishing city of Geneva, and gateway to some of the largest and most famous ski resorts in the world, all at easyJet's lowest cost of £22.99 one way inclusive of all taxes.

Joe Kelly, Acting Managing Director of Birmingham International Airport, and Andy Campbell, easyJet's Airport Manager, will receive the passengers checking in for today's introductory flight. The first passengers to check in will get a gift of two free flights to the airline's next new destination from Birmingham - Grenoble, which begins on 22 December 2007.

Birmingham, the second biggest city in the UK, has a large catchment area and there is a big demand for direct cheapest services to Europe.

The UK's biggest airline, easyJet, has received the arrivals onboard from its introductory flight from Bristol to Innsbruck. It offers the area's tourists a better option of destinations from their local airport. Surely, easyJet has launched many routes that are favourite with the air travellers and being the largest airlines of the UK, easyJet is fulfilling the promise appropriately. It won't be a surprise if we have more flights on some other routes.

Thrice in a week (Mon, Fri, Sun) service to Innsbruck will cost £24.99 one way inclusive of all taxes and it is assumed that the airline will deliver 13,000 passengers on the route during the first 12 months of its conduct.

The native capital of the Tyrol, Innsbruck is located in the valley of the Inn River between the Alps and the Tuxer Mountains. It will be among the famous, up and coming new cheapest destinations for 2008, the elegant city of Innsbruck is known as the "Capital of the Alps" and is the exact gateway for snowsports enthusiasts to reach the stunning Austria ski resorts.

The UK's flagship carrier, British Airways that carries a global network of around 145 destinations embarks the winter schedule today. Six weekly flights on the Dubai - London Heathrow route will be seen.

It includes daily services from Abu Dhabi International, and 20 weekly flights from Dubai International, to Heathrow. The carrier's weekly schedule from the UAE to London's main airport provides 27 travels options at all times of the day.

Paul Starrs, British Airways' Commercial Manager, Middle East, speaks, "The service increases are down to huge demand over the festive period. The start of our winter schedule today coincides with Eid tomorrow, and rolls right through Christmas, carrying on well into the New Year – all traditional holiday times".

As part of the national Pride of Place drive, visitors to the website of the Preston city council have voted Preston's Avenham and Miller Parks as the number one Preston attractions.

The campaign ran during the months of October and November. It was aimed to motivate individuals from all over the nation to log on to the website of their local council to vote for the number one attraction in their region.

The winners were announced last week and Avenham and Miller Parks secured the top position in the list of winners after scooping twenty-three percent of the votes for the Preston region.

From December 17 to December 21, a large number of people visiting Brussels from London by Eurostar will receive a special welcome in the form of a Brussels Green Pack, when they reach at Brussels Midi Station from Mrs. Evelyne Huytebroeck, Brussels Minister for the Environment and Tourism.

The Brussels Green Pack, created by Marie Cabanac-the Brussels-based ethical wear designer, will include many free gifts and items which will help visitors to explore and enjoy the European capital in a more creative and comfortable way.

It will include: a Green Passport to Brussels, highlighting the green attractions of the city and its sustainable development aims, a one day travel ticket for use on the metro, trams and buses with a metro map, a voucher for a free guided tour of Brussels valid from May 30 to August 1, 2008, a guidebook to Brussels, a voucher for a vitamin-packed Greeny Mary cocktail drink which will be valid until February 29, 2008 and can be redeemed at 4 of Brussels eco-dynamic labelled hotels (The Royal Radisson Hotel, the Plaza Hotel, the Sheraton Four Points and the Meridien), some iris seeds to bring back and sow in the spring, some Max Havelaar Fair Trade tea and Pierre Marcolini chocolates.

A part of devoted local residents behind the newest and biggest public park in Canterbury-the Sturry Road Community Park, is celebrating receiving the highest award for stepping forward.

The volunteers received their award from Kent County Council last weekend at a function held at the Ramada Hotel in Hollingbourne. They also planted 480 native shrubs and trees funded by a Breathing Places grant of £10,000.

Taking advantage of the help from the city council and the Kent Gardens Trust, volunteers have converted a sterile landfill tip into a forty-five-acre park for the public and wildlife. The main aim of the programme has been to provide sport and play facilities for young generation within the Northgate region.