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New British Airways Route
British Airways has announced that it has added Lapland to its routes for the winter, departing from London Gatwick. The new twice-weekly flights to Ivalo will launch on 3 December 2024 and fly customers to Ivalo, which is home to Finland’s most northerly airport.
Ivalo is a village on the Ivalo River in Lapland, located in the Arctic Circle. It is known as a gateway to Saariselkä, a resort village attracting those who enjoy winter sports from skiing and snowmobile safaris to toboggan rides and snowshoeing.
Those who’d like to hand deliver their Christmas lists to Saint Nick can meet him at the Northern Lights Village in Saariselkä, and Ivalo’s remote location also lends itself to spectacular views of the northern lights.
BA Euroflyer, British Airways’ short-haul subsidiary based at London Gatwick’s South Terminal, will operate the flights. Customers can take skiing or snowboarding equipment as part of their checked baggage as long as the bag is within 190 x 75 x 65cm.
Ivalo joins Tromsø in Norway, which was announced last week as a new route to join the winter schedule from London Heathrow this December.
Return flights are available now from £345 in economy £720 in Club and should give 160 tier points in Club return. The service will run until 14 February 2025 on the following schedule:
| Ivalo Airport (IVL) from London Gatwick (LGW) All times are local Aircraft: A320 | ||||||
| Days | Flight number | Departing LGW | Arriving IVL | Flight number | Departing IVL | Arriving LGW |
| Tue and Fri | BA2860 | 08:35 | 14:30 | BA2861 | 15:30 | 17:30 |
Etihad sale from £1276 business class return
Etihad’s latest sale has some good deals with up to 20% off, particularly if you depart from mainland Europe. Etihad is a great choice of airline with new all-aisle access seats, a brand new terminal, and new lounges in Abu Dhabi. There is also a premium sale which ends today 7 June, so some of the fares below may be part of that sale.
- Promo Code: SUMMER24
- Sale Period: 7th – 9th June 2024.
- Travel Window: 10th June – 30th November 2024
Here are some of the best deals I could find:
London to
- Abu Dhabi £1903
- Mumbai £1612
- Shanghai £1943
Paris to
- Colombo £1871
- Bangkok £1871
- Jakarta £1870
- Tokyo £1870
Munich to
- Seoul £1911
- Bangkok £1541
- Phuket £1783
- Colombo £1487
- Mumbai £1360
- New Delhi £1276
- Bali £1949
- Jakarta £1775
- Maldives £1614
- Johannesburg £1940
Frankfurt to
- Johannesburg £1880
- Maldives £1657
- Kuala Lumpur £1605
- Seoul £1690
Vienna to
- Bangkok £1610
- Seoul £1695
- Kuala Lumpur £1585
- Singapore £1835
- Jakarta £1644
- Shanghai £1840
You can find the sale page here.
Conrad Midtown rebrands as Marriott’s Luxury collection
Conrad Midtown was one of my favourite New York hotels due to its location and large room sizes (nearly all suites). On 5 June, the hotel will leave Hilton and join Marriott’s Luxury Collection. You can read my review here.
Another hotel that has a great location in the US is the Turtle Bay Resort on the north shore of Hawaii’s O‘ahu island. This was previously independent and is set to join The Ritz-Carlton brand later this summer. Prices are likely to rise, so it could be worth trying to book in advance of the official launch date being announced. You can read my review here.
