Travel
Everything you need to know if you’re flying from Manchester Airport
What you need to know…
Manchester Airport has released all the information on what to expect from the airport to keep passengers safe.
The government announced that travel can commence from 55 countries without needing to quarantine upon returning to England.
This change will come into effect from July 10th, and the full list of travel corridors countries can be found here.
The decision has led to the reopening of Terminal Two at Manchester Airport to accommodate the increase in passengers.
All three of the terminals are now operating and helping people to travel safely with social distancing in place where possible.
Any carriers that normally fly from Terminal Two such as Brussels Airlines, Ethiopian Airlines and Eurowings, will continue to operate from Terminal One throughout July, with the change back to Terminal Two yet to be confirmed.
Jet2.com flights are resuming from July 15th from Terminal One while Qatar Airways will move to Terminal Two on July 17th.
TUI’s flights are resuming from July 11th at Terminal One and will move to Terminal Two on July 15th.
Terminal Three reopened on the 1st July and currently, British Airways, Air France, KLM, Ryanair, Loganair and Eastern Airways operate from there.
Passengers are advised to check which terminal they are flying from.
Manchester Airport has enhanced cleaning, put perspex screens in place, introduced temperature checks and is advising wearing face coverings.
A handful of retail outlets have remained open with more set to open in the coming weeks.
For everyone who usually stocks up their liquor cabinets from the airport, you’ll be pleased to know Bizaduty free is still open and Terminal Three Biza set to open on July 8th.
JD Sports (Terminal One) is set to open on July 15th alongside Cafe Nero and W H Smith in Terminal Two. Playnation in Terminal One is set to open wc July 13th alongside Lion & Antelope airside in Terminal Three.
Brad Miller, Chief Operating Officer at Manchester Airport, said: “As we continue to see the return of more airlines and destinations for our passengers to fly to, we remain fully committed to ensuring their safety throughout their airport journey.
“With the introduction of travel corridors, we envisage passenger numbers to continue to increase, which is why we are opening Terminal Two from 15th July, to maximise the airport space.
“These travel corridors will open up the chance for people to enjoy a well-earned break abroad and directly benefit the hundreds of thousands of people whose jobs depend on air travel for their livelihoods – whether they work in aviation or for the UK’s tourism and hospitality businesses, which can now welcome the first overseas visitors we will have seen for months.
“We have made our airport safe for our passengers and staff, and we have already started limited operations to many of these countries. With the quarantine requirement now removed, we look forward to safely welcoming back many more passengers in the coming weeks.
“I’d again like to thank all our passengers for continuing to abide by the measures in place during these uncertain times, and also thank all our staff who have gone above and beyond to ensure safe travel for all.”
For more information see www.manchesterairport.co.uk/coronavirus
Virgin Atlantic has launched an epic Black Friday sale with return flights to NYC for as little as £280.
New York isn’t the only destination on the list of cheap flights either! There’s also deals on flights to Vegas, San Francisco and Orlando!
Return flights from London to New York in January and February next year start at just £280 per person. Flights in April from Manchester will set you back just £288.
In April you can fly to LA for £321, a round trip to San Francisco will set you back £324 and Vegas and Orlando are £326.
There’s also deals to be had on some winter sun with discounts on flights to the Caribbean in January and March. You can fly to Barbados from £345, or Jamaica from £395.
The airline has handily separated their deals into sections including Winter Sun, Easter Getaways, Visit Friends & Relatives, West Coast USA, East Coast USA, Caribbean, Premium, Upper Class and Our Best Prices.
You will need to check the current restrictions to flying as well as any quarantine restrictions that might be in place at the end of travel!
Virgin Atlantic is offering a free Covid-19 cover worth £500,000 which gives you flexible booking, enhanced hygiene measures, free amenity kits including mask and hand sanitisers plus other perks.
Travel
Holidaymaker arrested and jailed after giving hotel a bad review on Tripadvisor
He fell foul of strict local laws.
A holidaymaker left a bad review of a hotel on Tripadvisor, leading to his arrest.
US citizen Wesley Barnes left a series of harsh reviews of the Sea View Resort in Thailand via Tripadvisor, but the hotel then pursued legal action against Mr Barnes.
It resulted in him being detained and charged under the country’s strict defamation laws.
He faced a two-year prison sentence and was released only after issuing a public apology.
Mr Barnes accused the resort of ‘modern-day slavery’. The hotel said the harsh criticism was untrue and damaging to its reputation.
The incident occurred at the resort on the island of Koh Chang earlier this year, and was triggered by an argument over Mr Barnes wanting to bring his own bottle into the hotel’s restaurant.
The hotel said he refused to pay a corkage fee and ’caused a commotion’.
After leaving, he left a negative review after which the hotel sued him for defamation. He subsequently was detained and spent two nights in prison before being released on bail.
He was found guilty of breaking the country’s notorious anti-defamation laws. The hotel said the reviews were ‘fabricated, recurrent and malicious’.
Now, Tripadvisor has left a warning on the hotel’s page urging travellers to be mindful of the local laws in the country, the MEN reports.
The warning reads: “This hotel or individuals associated with this hotel filed criminal charges against a TripAdvisor user in relation to the traveller writing and posting online reviews. The reviewer spent time in jail as a result.
“The hotel may have been exercising its legal rights under local law, however, it is our role to inform you so you may take this into consideration when researching your travel plans.”
Tripadvisor added that they believe in ‘the right of every traveller to write about their first-hand travelling experiences – good or bad’.
The travel site said: “TripAdvisor strongly opposes any action where a business, like the Sea View Hotel & Spa in Koh Chang, uses local law to send someone to jail for expressing their opinion.”
The hotel has hit back at the review site, telling the New York Times they were ‘deeply disappointed’, adding that ‘the warning message from TripAdvisor is extremely misleading and lacks complete information’.
The hotel claims they initially tried to contact Mr Barnes to remove the reviews, but he didn’t respond, and they filed the complaint as the negative comments led to them losing bookings.
After he was arrested and spent two days in jail the case was eventually dropped, as Mr Barnes admitted the reviews were ‘fabricated, recurrent, and malicious’ and gave a full public apology – as per the terms of the settlement between the two parties.
Travel
Benidorm launches cheap seven-night package holiday scheme including food and drink for just £180
This looks great…
You can stay for a week in Benidorm with food included for just £180 in the new scheme.
The ban on travel throughout the lockdown has caused the popular holiday destination to suffer, enhanced by the 14-day quarantine after travelling.
The new scheme in the resorts, starting on October 14th, gives tourists a choice of where to stay and where to eat in the seven-night deal.
The only thing you’ll have to arrange on your own is your flights out to Benidorm, but deals start at £200 a return ticket.
The scheme has been launched by two trade associations, Abreca and Cobreca representing bars and restaurants plus Rosemberg Real Estate Agency and the Nicaragua Apartments.
They said in a statement: “This project is the result of the essential synergy between all the business sectors of the city and it will be a pioneer in Europe offering visitors to enjoy all the gastronomic offer of our city.
“The tourist will have a complete experience of Benidorm, being able to stay in apartments of Real Estate Rosemberg or Apartments Nicaragua and have breakfast, lunch and dinner in any bar, restaurant and cafeteria member of Abreca and Cobreca and adhered to this project.
Benidorm could also be launching the new ‘Benidorm Island’ scheme which hopes to create an effective ‘island’ on mainland Spain.
It will encourage Brits to the resort, offering testing and new safety features like a ‘safe’ coach that transfers holidaymakers directly to their holiday accommodation from the airport.
In the day a ‘Hospitality Team’ would monitor the tourist’s health.
Currently Brits must self-isolate for two weeks after returning from Spain plus other countries on the list.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay confirmed the new measures that will include swabbing at the airport.
Mr Barclay explained: ““I am expecting Grant Shapps and Matt Hancock to say more about this in the coming days.
“If we look, for example, at some of the German states, which are using testing to then release earlier from some of the restrictions.”
The current two-week quarantine period could be reduced to four days with two mandatory tests.
This week, a duo from Ashton-under-Lyne returned from Spain and refused to isolate and were both lumped with £1,000 fines.
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