Hi flying with AirAsia

Valid for both AirAsia and AirAsia X, the new service is expected to be a welcome move especially with business travellers, who often need more flexibility when travelling than the average leisure traveller. The new service lets the passenger pick a seat, load heavier baggage and allow them priority boarding. Visit www.AirAsia.com.

 

Free WiFi for German stations

Rail travellers at 105 German train stations can now surf the Internet for free for half an hour. The wireless hotspots cover most of the area around public telephones in the stations, according to the German railway company Deutsche Bahn. Waiting areas are often covered as well. Users just need to find the available networks on their smart phone, tablet or laptop and select Telekom. Before users can start surfing, they must first enter their mobile telephone number and wait for a text message with an access code. Then they have 30 minutes of free WLAN access. Find out more www.Bahn.de/wlan.

 

On the right track

Direct rail connections between Amsterdam and London are set to be launched in December 2016, the Eurostar rail company has announced. The envisaged travel time would be just four hours. A high-speed train would be in service for runs twice a day, with stops along the way in Brussels, Antwerp, Rotterdam and Schiphol Airport. Eurostar says the rail route will serve as a viable alternative to air travel between the two cities, currently one of the most frequently flown routes anywhere in Europe. – DPA

 

Pretty as a picture

Whether it’s a jetty, a house facade or a rubbish container, the “canvases” of Lisbon’s street art scene are diverse. Portugal’s capital is one of the leading locations for street art in all of Europe, according to the city’s tourism office. Tourists can best discover the side-by-side existence of historical facades and modern art by just taking a walk around the city or with a trip to one of the metro stations such as the Oriente. Eleven artists designed the walls of the station anew for the World Expo in 1998. Collections of works can be seen in galleries in the Amoreiras district. Visit www.VisitLisboa.com.

 

Patients with shells

An animal shelter for turtles in Florida is allowing visitors to examine its operating theatres and patient tanks. In one of the most recent treatment successes at the Turtle Hospital in the city of Marathon, a dentist repaired the cracked shell of turtle Elena using material for filling teeth. Elena had been struck by a boat and badly injured. Visitors to the Turtle Hospital can hear this and many other stories in a 90-minute tour of the facility. Afterwards, they can feed the permanent residents. Visit www.TurtleHospital.org.

 

Buses in a jam

Authorities in Vienna have put in place plans to ban tourist buses from the city centre in an effort to reduce congestion in the Austrian capital. Hop-On-Hop-Off buses will also be banned and exceptions will only be made for coaches that have a special permit and are going to a specific address such as a hotel. The step comes in the wake of complaints by local residents about noise and that the buses are clogging up narrow streets in the city, according to newspaper reports.