The Week In Travel

The developer behind Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Airport announced this week that the airport will open by the end of the year. The ambitious six-runway airport, which has selected Saudia as its first airline, will initially operate domestic flights before international flights become available in 2024. Reportedly, this activity had led to a 32.9% increase in transport-related jobs between August 2022 and August 2023.

In Europe, the Spanish Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda has released Spanish air traffic levels across July 2023, revealing higher numbers than in 2019. July 2023 saw a 7.3% increase when compared to 2019, with domestic flights leading the recovery. In addition, air navigation management agency ENAIRE, managed 7,449 flights on Saturday, 22nd July, exceeding the previous record reached in July 2019. Minister Raquel Sanchez called July “a historic month for aviation” in Spain.

In a major development, Emirates and Sri Lankan Airlines have joined forces, creating more travel options for passengers. The agreement allows single-ticket access to new destinations through Colombo and Dubai. Emirates passengers can explore 15 regional destinations operated by Sri Lankan Airlines, while Sri Lankan Airlines passengers gain access to Emirates’ global network.

Over in the US, Lufthansa has announced it will offer a total of 27 routes to and from the country next year. As part of this expansion, the airline will offer new routes to Raleigh-Durham, Seattle and Minneapolis-St Paul from Frankfurt and Munich. The German flag carrier stated the US routes available to passengers will be ‘decidedly more’ than it offered pre-pandemic.

And finally, a passenger’s smart strategy to guarantee extra space on flights is taking the internet by storm. A man on a Southwest Airlines flight revealed his tactics in a video, where he put a jacket and a cap over his arm to construct a mannequin like figure in the seat next to him. While it might not hold up to close scrutiny, this could be enough to fool passers-by and secure some extra leg room.