2016 Wrap Up!

It’s been a big year in air travel, as another year comes to an end and we look forward to 2017, we’re recapping some of the top announcements from 2016.

What were were talking about:

Lufthansa Teamed Up with Air Canada
In February Lufthansa and Air Canada strengthened their ties and opened up greater options for Lufthansa round the world tickets, meaning passengers from Sydney and Brisbane could now fly direct to Vancouver, skipping the previously required Auckland stopover. Read More.

New  Airport Lounges
New lounges opened in airports all over the world. In February Swiss opened their new Zurich lounges, in March there was the new Air New Zealand Lounges in Brisbane. June saw the opening of 5 new Lufthansa lounges in Munich, and in November Cathay Pacific reopened their London Heathrow lounges after year-long renovations.

Austrian Airlines Went Back To Hong Kong
In March Austrian Airlines announced they would be resuming flights to Hong Kong for the first time since 1999. The airline reinstated their Hong Kong – Vienna – Hong Kong route in September. Read More.

Finnair Upped Their RTW Offering
Finnair proved they are real players in round the world game when they added services to South America in April, and then added a whole list of European Summer destinations in October. They then turned around in December and offered never before seen prices for round the world tickets starting at $1637 for economy and $5747 for business class airfares through San Francisco.

oneworld Created The First Southern Hemisphere RTW Ticket
When LATAM Airlines launched a new Sao Paolo to Johannesburg route in December it opened up the possibility of a round the world ticket travelling solely in the Southern Hemisphere. Read more.

Qantas Released Dreamliner Routes
In December Qantas announced their new Dreamliner routes with Melbourne to Los Angeles being the first route to get the new aircraft. Of course, the big news was the confirmation that the new Dreamliner would be flying Perth – London, the first non stop flight between Australia and Europe. Read more.

What We Reviewed:

Air New Zealand Premium Economy
We flew Air New Zealand Premium Economy; Auckland – Los Angeles – London, Auckland – Buenos Aires and Auckland – Houston and reviewed the lot. Read our Air NZ review.

Lufthansa Premium Economy
We flew Hong Kong to Munich in Lufthansa Premium Economy on their A340 aircraft. Read our Lufthansa review.

Thai Airways & APT River Cruise
We flew Thai Airways Sydney – Bangkok – Frankfurt and then toured with APT. Read our review of both.

Swiss Round The World
We flew Round The Word on Swiss with a 10 year old, travelling: Adelaide – Auckland – San Francisco – Zurich – Mallorca – Zurich – Singapore – Adelaide. Read our Swiss RTW review.

Cathay Pacific A330 Business Class
We flew Cathay Pacific business class Hong Kong – Adelaide. Read our Cathay Pacific Business Class review.

Qantas A380 Business Class
We flew Melbourne – Los Angeles in Qantas business class. Read our Qantas A380 review.

We can’t wait to see what 2017 will bring and where it will take us. Contact us to see where it can take you!