It's time for travel news again here at FREEDOMtravel. This week we can report on WiFi on long haul flights, on safe airlines and on dark tourism... whatever that is? What are your reflections on this week's travel news?
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Norwegian launches WiFi on long-haul routes
The airline Norwegian will install WiFi on its long-haul aircraft, becoming the first low-cost carrier in the world to offer free WiFi on intercontinental flights. There will be two WiFi options: basic and premium. Basic is free and allows you to surf and email. Premium is a high-speed internet connection so you can also stream films. This option will cost €13 for three hours.
Dark tourism is growing
Dark tourism - visiting places associated with death, suffering or the macabre - has become a growing phenomenon, writes Dagens Nyheter. John Lennon, a researcher on the subject, says that places that can be defined as dark tourism are getting more and more visitors. When the travel website Tripadvisor published its 2018 list of the twenty-five most popular museums in the world, six were related to the phenomenon.
Safest airline: Finnair
Finnair tops the list of the world's safest airlines in 2018 according to JACDEC (Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre), according to TravelNews. Other safe airlines on the list include Scoot Tigerair, Norwegian Air Shuttle, Emirates, Air Europa, Transavia, Etihad Airways, Virgin Atlantic Airways, KLM and Jetstar Airways.
Safest airline: Quantas
Airlineratings.com also lists the world's safest and most unsafe airlines. On their list, the Australian company Quantas comes top. In joint second place are 19 different airlines, including Finnair, KLM, SAS, Lufthansa, British Airways, Emirates and Singapore Airlines. Ariana Afghan Airlines, Blue Wing (Suriname), Iraqi Airways, Airlines PNG (Papua New Guinea), NOK Air (Thailand) and Air Asia Thailand (not Air Asia X) have the worst safety record.
Popular destinations in 2019
According to the travel agency Ving, destinations are primarily booked in Spain and Greece for the summer of 2019. Interest in Turkey has also returned, and many people are also curious about Ving's new Albania. For winter 2019/2020, Ving is continuing its investment in the Vietnamese island of Phu Quoc and the small West African country of Gambia.
Did you miss the last travel news? Read the Ice sculptures and Christmas holidays
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Minett says:
Interesting about dark tourism. That's because death is inevitable for all of us. And we are affected indirectly (when people around us die) and one day directly (when we die) by death. If you want to see and know more about this topic, we recommend the series Dark tourist on Netflix.
https://www.netflix.com/se/title/80189791
14 January 2019 - 6:20
Helena says:
Thank you very much for the tip Minett! Interesting!
14 January 2019 - 19:56
Ama de casa says:
Hmm... Interesting coincidence that a researcher on the very subject of "visiting places associated with death" is named John Lennon....
Another reflection is that Ving seems to predict a very long winter next season: winter 2019/20120? It is probably important to stock up on warm clothes now, a new ice age is coming? 😉 (Haha! Sorry, couldn't help it 😀 )
Have a great start to the week - hope you feel better now!
14 January 2019 - 9:22
Helena says:
Haha ... new ice age!? As luck would have it, it's just me who wrote wrong 🙂 Have changed now!
14 January 2019 - 19:57
Britt-Marie Lundgren says:
Interesting that Dark tourism has become so popular. I myself am so conflicted about this. Actually, I don't want to visit concentration camps, torture centres and the like, while at the same time not turning a blind eye to their existence.
When we travelled with Ving to Mexico, our tour guide talked about how Gambia is increasing in popularity while several round trips in Mexico have been cancelled. What trends in our travelling are due to can be pondered.
Hope you feel better!
14 January 2019 - 9:48
Helena says:
I agree that dark tourism is a bit tricky. In some cases, it can feel questionable. At the same time, it feels important to remember terrible events in history! Yes, what are the trends ... anything in particular that comes to mind?
14 January 2019 - 19:58
Emma, Sol som sol? says:
But isn't it true that a little creepiness is appealing? I mean, think of the cannonball in the wall at Stortorget, Gamla Stan in Stockholm, how imaginative it is, especially for school children! (The truth is not nearly as fun.) Now, a cannonball is not as scary as a church dressed with skeleton parts, that is macabre in our Protestant eyes. And that's the attraction, that it's macabre and odd, different.
(How nice that you are not alone in this world, Language Police Ama has already commented on what I was thinking).
14 January 2019 - 12:16
Helena says:
Yes, scary things can attract! And many times it is important to remember the nasty in the story too, I think! (And hehe, the language error is corrected now ;))
14 January 2019 - 19:59
Maria / Magnolia Magis says:
It's interesting to see which companies top and which flop. Dark tourism...well split! The picture with all the skulls at the top is not for me!!! (By the way, the book Ferry is scary...;D But exciting at the same time! Got halfway ..)
14 January 2019 - 14:43
Helena says:
Excited that you took on the Ferry! 🙂
14 January 2019 - 20:00
Ditte says:
I really think that SAS should also get Wifi within Europe. There are only a few planes here so far. Maybe Norwegian could have the same concept in Europe that you can pay to get a little better quality because it often fails in Europe. (Have emailed them and suggested it.) As for Finnair, we usually travel with them if we are going east and it has worked very well. Quick change in Helsinki and state-of-the-art planes with comfortable seats even if you're not travelling on business. Interesting that the lists are slightly different.
Interesting about "dark tourism" but the story is a familiar one.
14 January 2019 - 17:55
Helena says:
We have also found the quality of Norwegian's WiFi to be unsteady to say the least. Maybe the one you pay for will be better?
14 January 2019 - 20:01
Lennart says:
Wi-fi is something I appreciate!
More and more buses and coaches have free Wi-fi!
14 January 2019 - 18:41
Helena says:
WiFi is great (as long as it works that way ;))!
14 January 2019 - 20:01
BP says:
That thing about Norwegian's wifi - well, I'll believe it when I see it. Because on flights within Europe, their wifi is weak to say the least ...
John Lennon - hahaha! Dark places to travel to are not my thing.
Ving was the first to invest in Gambia in the 1980s, where we visited the country, which I can highly recommend. Great fun that they still invest in Gambia.
14 January 2019 - 19:09
Helena says:
I can understand what you mean about WiFi, I don't have very good experiences so far either. Hope it gets better! Glad you have good experiences from Gambia!
14 January 2019 - 20:02
Veiken says:
Never fly with Norwegian so they can have as much wi-fi as they want.
We try to go with the Finns as much as possible or with someone else in One World. For example Qatar. Dark tourism is like that, but everyone should see Auschwitz and the like.
15 January 2019 - 5:36
Lena - gott för själen says:
Hmm, then it's good if that wifi on the planes works too! It did NOT on one occasion. And it does not seem to be an "eyebrow raiser" for the cabin crew either. What a bummer. Convenient to advertise that you have wifi....
Hug Lena
15 January 2019 - 6:02