Volotea lands in Asturias on Friday with a plane coming in from Malaga

View of the main apron at Malaga Airport, showing various aircraft parked up at the stands, including Transavia and Air Europa Boeing 737s (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Volotea airline, presented as a low cost for the small and medium cities in Europe, will be initiating their operations in Asturias this coming Friday with the arrival of an airplane from Malaga airport.

With this route, Volotea announce the beginning of their activities at the Asturias airport, that will include direct connections with other cities.

Alfons Claver, the airline’s Institutional Relations manager, will be presenting the content of the offer of flights, one hour before the first flight arrives, which will be landing on the Asturias airport runway on Friday at 12:00h.

After a 25-minute stopover, the same plane will be departing towards Ibiza, as announced today by the company themselves, that are now part of the list of other companies that regularly operate at the Asturias airport.

Royal Caribbean operates the only transatlantic cruise with boarding in Malaga

Liberty Of The Seas docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

From Malaga to San Juan, in Puerto Rico. This is the itinerary of the only transatlantic cruise that will allow the boarding of passengers at Malaga port this year, according to the Malaga port’s managing director, Sebastian Camps. The ship company Royal Caribbean has been the one in charge of programing this fifteen-day trip, that will departing Malaga on the following 3rd of November, and that’s successfully selling tickets from 750 euros.

“It’s the first time we strongly focus commercially on this product, although last year a transoceanic cruise also departed from Malaga port”, the ship company pointed out. The ship chosen for this trip is the ‘Adventure of the Seas’, that as from next Saturday and until the 3rd of November will be initiating at Malaga port a one-week cruise around the Mediterranean.

The trip to the Caribbean will be marking the end of the operation as the base port of the Royal Caribbean in Malaga, given that the ship, with a capacity for 3.800 passengers and 311.1 metres long, will carry on touring the American coasts during the winter.

Itinerary

The passengers of this transatlantic cruise departing from Malaga will be able to discover, over these fifteen days of the trip, the Funchal islands (Madeira), Lanzarote, Las Palmas, Gran Canaria and Tenerife before beginning five days of sailing. After these, the cruisers will enjoy the Caribbean islands of St. John’s, Antigua; Phillipsburg, St. Maarten and Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas until the end of the cruise in the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico. “It’s a very attractive itinerary that’s very demanded in the national market with many foreign clients. In fact, it’s expected that the vast majority of passengers are from several different countries, highlighting the UK. In Spain’s case, they have sold many tickets to groups in Malaga that have come all the way from Canarias”, explained the ship company, that also pointed out that some of the passengers plan to extend their stay in Puerto Rico, from where they’ll be returning by plane.

This ship company will be playing the star role in the cruising activity in Malaga today with the arrival at the port of the biggest ship to sail around the Mediterranean, the ‘Liberty of the Seas’, with a capacity for 4.328 passengers. This ship will be sharing the dock with  Pullmantur, that will be bringing around two thousand tourists to Malaga. In total, over 6.000 cruisers will be visiting the city.

Is denied that in Spain there is a lack of cars or availability problems

Malaga Location Map (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There are still big companies which preventing the high season increase their fleet of cars before summer so there is no special danger of availability, at least in Malaga. However I always recommend to book in advance, not only your rental car but anything related to your holiday.

My own experience and I live in Malaga is from a few years ago, when I wanted to book an apartment in Benalmadena, and left it for the last minute (I was meeting a friend)…it was really a pain to find availability, but we were lucky. However we had to stay for one night in a Torremolinos hotel before the apartment was free. What if this happens to you with all your holiday planned, a lot of luggage and with children?…well, I will tell you, the begining of your holidays would become a hell.

If you are thinking about coming to Malaga this summer 2012…you should book now and have peace of mind. find below my recommended holiday resources for Malaga province:

• Car hire Malaga
• Hotels in Malaga
• Malaga airport

And of course….this blog, where I will try to provide with the most useful information and tips for your Malaga holidays.

Malaga airport dropped to sixth place in Spain last month

The incessant trickle of loss of passengers that Malaga airport has registered since the beginning of the year has caused a drop of positions in the national ranking and now finds itself in sixth place by volume of passengers at the end of this trimester. The figures provided yesterday by Aena show an amount of 1.9 million travellers that have passed through this terminal until March, which means a 6% decrease compared to the same period last year. This figure comes from a new descent of five points that it experienced during last month.

This evolution has caused that ahead of the Malaga – Costa del Sol airport, the order is Madrid, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Gran Canaria and South Tenerife, this last one with a 6% increase of traveller activity. However, regarding operations it’s currently in fifth position in Spain, in front of South Tenerife, with 18.447 flights until March. This figure means a fall of 8.7%.

Andalucia

The whole lot of Andalusian airports add up a total amount of 3.434.049 passengers during the first three months of the year, in other words, almost nine points less than in the same period in 2011. Almost 50.000 operations have been registered over this trimester, that also marks a downward trend in the flights of 6.8%.

The situation of Malaga and the Andalusian terminals is in keeping with the evolution registered nationally. The airports of Aena’s network have lost 5.3% of passengers in the first three months of the year, up to 37.6 million, while the downfall has been steeper in the month of March, by 7%, up to 14.2 million travellers.

The network’s main airport, Madrid-Barajas, registered a significant decrease of 8.8% in March’s traffic, until transporting a total of 3.7 million travellers, while the Barcelona-El Prat airport experienced a slight decrease of 0.5%, transporting 2.6 million travellers. During the past month of March, the Spanish airports operated 156.123 flights, 10.4% less, while the first trimester’s downfall is reduced to 8.9%.

The seasonality is still affecting the air sector, that hopes to improve in April with the launching of the high season program.

The PSOE party wins in Andalusia

A small politician

The Andalusians have chosen PSOE (Partido Socialista Obrero Español), with the help of IU (Izquierda Unida), to govern Andalusia for next four years. This, consequently, leaves the PP (Partido Popular) occupying the opposition seat despite having won their first elections in 30 years. An explicit desire that is translated in PSOE’s 47 parliamentarians and the 12 of the IULV-CA coalition, enough to reach a vast majority beating the PP’s 50.

But, in an implicit way, the Andalusians have awarded the PSOE the bastion role, placing Jose Antonio Griñan on the top of the prop with whom they intend to demolish the PP’s hegemony all over Spain. You get the feeling that the Andalusians have been reluctant in giving the PP absolute power and have preferred that the Junta de Andalucía (the Andalusian Government) maintain as a counterweight against Rajoy’s government and the rest of innumerable town halls and delegations in Andalusia.

Politics is ruthless and Javier Arenas knows this. His opportunity has vanished with the ingratitude of a sour victory and opens in the PP an unknown succession that Arenas himself must clear if he wants to avoid the frustration taking over his party.

This legislation could become a tragedy if Griñan in Seville and Rajoy in Madrid forget that, today, the main objective is to get out of this crisis, whatever it takes.

Malagacar release new discount vouchers for car hire Malaga airport during Easter

 

Wikipedia Malagacar.com

Malagacar.com has announced new discount voucher codes for car hire at Malaga airport during Easter. If you were thinking in visiting the Costa del Sol during Easter then I recommend to check the offers discount codes from Malagacar + or Malagacar Facebook.

Malagacar.com is the leading company for car hire Malaga, if you have never used them you will not regret.

Found in the press release:

Malaga car hire discount voucher codes

Andalusia and Malaga maintain its idyll with the British tourism

Andalucia, one of the three favourite destinations in Spain of these travellers for their summer holidays. The demand of this market increases by 25%

Andalusia will become, once again, one of the favourite destinations of the British tourists for next summer. Andalusia is the second destination in Spain for these travellers, right behind Baleares and in front of the Valencia region.

Spain maintains its worldwide leadership as the priority holiday destination for the British tourist. In fact, the holiday demand in Spain on behalf of these travellers during the last trimester of 2011 increased by 27% compared to the same period the year before.

Tenerife and Malaga were the favourite holiday destinations of the Brits during the last three months of last year. Now, the Baleares, Andalusia and the Valencia region are their chosen destinations mainly for next summer, occupying, respectively, the second, fourth and fifth place, together with London, in first place, and Florida, in third.

In general, in the Euro zone countries the British tourism is recovering. In fact, according to their survey, 56% of the population “plan to go on a trip to one of the Euro zone countries in 2012 to take advantage of the current strength of the pound”.

This market is up in Andalusia. It closed 2011 with an 8.1% increase, and consolidated its position as top issuer of visitors for the Andalusian region. In general terms, Andalusia registered the arrival of 21.8 million tourists last year, 500.000 more than in 2010, which means an increase of up to 2.3%.

On the other hand, the offer on holiday accommodations in Spain through the groups website in the UK increased considerably during the last trimester of 2011. Spain sits, for the first time, in tenth position of the ranking of those whose offer most increases.

Winter and cold arrives to Malaga with the siberian cold front

 

Temperature (Photo credit: lengda)

This week Malaga is experiencing the siberian cold front, reaching temperatures of 3º and 4º at Malaga airport…but don’t be afraid!, those temperatures are at 7 am, being higher after a few hours.

The cold front will still during the the next week with temperatures ranging from 1º to 13º aproximately.

If you are coming to Malaga during this weekend or the next week, do not forget to bring some warm clothes! However this cold front will not still longer than a few days and it is not a common situation in the Costa del Sol, where mountains protect the province creating a microclimate unique in Andalucia.

Related articles

• Siberian cold front sweeps across Europe, bringing record low temperatures (telegraph.co.uk)
• More pictures of the extreme Siberian cold snap sweeping across Europe (telegraph.co.uk)

Norwegian inaugurate in Malaga port until April

Yesterday, three hundred passengers boarded the ship ‘Jade’, that will be making eleven stopovers in Malaga with the start and end of a cruise towards the Canary Islands.

Norwegian join the companies that operate in Malaga port

Norwegian Star – Cruise ship

as a base or stopover to pick up or drop off passengers. This shipping company, one of the largest of the sector, inaugurated yesterday in Malaga by boarding three hundred passengers on the ship named ‘Jade’, that begins a cruise from the Costa del Sol’s capital city to the Canary Islands. The company has planned for this ship, that was remodelled this year despite its youth -built in 2006-, to make a total of eleven stopovers, adding passengers to the ship that departs Barcelona. Specifically, this cruise will dock in Malaga in 2012 on the 2nd, 11th, 20th and 29th of January, as well as the 7th, 16th and 25th of February, and the 5th, 14th and 23rd of March. The last chance to board the ship in Malaga will be on the following 1st of April.

Alex Busquet, sales consultant at Norwegian in Spain, assured that there has been a big response on behalf of the cruise passengers regarding the operation that has just been inaugurated in Malaga, for which they have already reserved over a hundred cabins and in which both national and international passengers travel on board due to the numerous air connections that Malaga offers. Furthermore, he stated that the company has planned a discounts campaign and reward travellers over 55 years old with special offers.

The strategy to place this ship with a stopover in Malaga for embarkation and disembarkation of passengers is only the first step. Busquet assured that the decision of the cruise ship Spirit to repeat this experience next summer is still in the air.

Meanwhile, the passengers will be able to sail across the ocean with Norwegian on board the ‘Jade’, a ship with a capacity for 2.402 passengers in its 1.201 cabins. It’s a 93.558 ton cruise ship, with fifteen decks and 294 metres long and 32 metres of beam.

The client is as varied as the offer. The ship has 32 different categories of cabins, including ‘The Haven’ class, which has 15 suites and two big 438 m2 villas, each one with three bedrooms, all of them with access to an exclusive area with a swimming pool, a jacuzzi and a gym. The passengers in this high class category also have a butler and a concierge.

The shipping company has great expectations for the Spanish market and is immerse in an expansion plan in Europe, to which they’ll be contributing with the service commencement of two large ships in 2013 and 2014.

Promotion of Malaga, Antequera and Ronda in Fitur

Ronda

Every year, Fitur becomes the tourism’s main accomplice, and has arrived this year packed with good news for Ronda. The most important are the announcement of the upcoming fair ‘Ecovivir’, that hopes to gather thousands of visitors in the town, the launching of different local products and the presentation of the provincial programme ‘MAR de culturas’ (Sea of cultures), that aims to promote the cultural tourism with Malaga, Antequera and Ronda as the main axles.

Ronda’s delegation returns with a basket full of fish in these moments of crisis, with a very important limitation of the resources, that demands an increase of imagination and to make the most of the political administrations.

In addition to this, a wide agenda of meetings with international tour-operators aim to position Ronda as a product in the so-called emerging issuers, such as Brazil or China.

Everything indicates that we appear to be in front of a job well done, although we will have to wait for the results to come through to definitely grade it.

This fact reflects that this sector has to be a priority for the town hall of Ronda, that has to provide the necessary resources, in a moderate and cautious manner, so that the sector remerges and is able to pull the city and its employment through the delicate economic situation.

Related articles

• Malaga will be offering packages to discover the Holy Week (malagaweb.wordpress.com)
• Unusual Rock Formations at Torcal de Antequera (amusingplanet.com)