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Don't the weeks go very fast anyway? Now it's Monday again and thus time for travel news here at FREEDOMtravel. This week there is a bit of a mixed bag - everything from phone conversations on the flight to threatened motorhome dreams.

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How Swedes feel about talking on the phone while travelling by plane

Earlier this summer, the European Commission decided to allow airlines to offer 5G technology to their passengers. This means that phone calls, text messages and mobile data may soon be available even 10,000 metres up in the air. Hotel and travel search site momondo.se has taken the pulse of how Swedes feel about the possible end of "airplane mode". The survey shows that:

  • 33% welcome the change without restrictions. 35 per cent welcome the change with restrictions such as 'silent hours'.
  • 17% do not welcome change, but will travel as usual anyway. 4 per cent will avoid flights that allow telephony.

SJ starts running fast trains between Skåne and Gothenburg again.

SJ will resume its Malmö-Gothenburg service from Monday 21 August. On weekdays there will be seven departures in each direction and on weekends four departures in each direction. All trains have a bistro. Breakfast is included in 1 class and in 2 class calm for departures before 09.00. In 1 class it is also possible to pre-order food. All trains stop in Malmö, Lund, Helsingborg, Halmstad and Gothenburg. The journey takes 2:35 hours and is the fastest way to travel along the west coast.

Charter from Visby to Gran Canaria this winter

Travel operator TUI is returning to Visby Airport this winter and is now offering Gotlanders trips to the popular Canary Island of Gran Canaria, in collaboration with the airline Jettime. The route will be operated on two occasions, on 20 March and 28 March 2024, with a one-week journey.

Here are the summer openings at Arlanda

At the beginning of the summer, the new modern security checkpoint in Terminal 5 at Arlanda opened and the new Marketplace is emerging in the vicinity. The marketplace will have 11,000 square metres of commercial space and the first shops and restaurants will open this autumn. But things are already happening at Arlanda. Here is the full list of openings at Arlanda during June - August:

  • SkyCity: Barino Café (aug: Barino Cuisine)
  • Terminal 2, before the security check: Espresso House, Pressbyrån
  • Terminal 2, after the security check: WHSmith, Upstairs & Bar, InMotion (aug: Brew'd Beans & Hopes)
  • Terminal 5: FOREX, Take Away Mart, C/C Cornelius Coffee, Pressbyrån, InMotion, Pressbyrån, Eton (Aug: Fresh Forward).

Monet's Garden art experience in Stockholm this autumn

On 6 October 2023, the visually dazzling art experience Monet's Garden - The Immersive Experience opens in a brand new, temporary and beautifully located exhibition hall at Sjöhistoriska on Kungl. Djurgården in Stockholm. Using state-of-the-art technology, visitors can dive into some of Claude Monet's most famous masterpieces and interact with the art themselves. Monet's Garden will be shown in Stockholm until 21 January 2024, and then in Malmö between 1 March and 26 May 2024. Tickets are sold via Eventim.se.

Swedes' motorhome dreams under threat again

Once again, a change - an increase - in the tax on new mobile homes, class II passenger cars, is being prepared. The fifth in just over a decade. Now four industry and interest organisations are reacting in an opinion piece in Expressen about what is happening again at the Ministry of Finance, the Swedish Tax Agency and the Swedish Transport Agency. "This motorhome nightmare must come to an end, which we in Husbilskampen, manufacturers and retailers of motorhomes, campsite hosts, motorhome owners and motorhome workshops, agree on", the four write.

Reflection of the week

So this motorhome tax, what can we say ...? We really hope that politicians will listen. Taxation must be fair and with reasonably predictable changes, so that people can plan their expenses and dare to buy a motorhome.

Did you miss the last travel news? Read the Here's what Swedes want to do on car holidays

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