Those looking at Copenhagen to take their city breaks this year will be able to see a new attraction. The city, to boost its level of culture and tourism, has just invested in the DR Koncerthuset Symphony Hall which opened this month in the Orestad district of Denmark.
Designed Jean Nouvel, the famous French architect, the new symphony hall comprises of four individual concert halls which boast ‘world-class acoustics’, according to the tourist information guide for the city, ‘Visit Copenhagen’.
Architect, Jean Nouvel, had previously designed a magnificent opera house in Lyon, France which has since become the cultural conference centre in both Lucerne and the Arabian institute in Paris; the hall has been decorated with unusual features which include a semi transparent blue facade.
Nicolai Ouroussoff , journalist at The New York Times’ reported the new attraction DR Koncerthuset, in Copenhagen as ‘one of the most gorgeous buildings I have recently seen: a towering bright blue cube enveloped in seductive images’.
The largest of DR Koncerthuset’s four concert halls has a staggering capacity of 1,800 people, whilst each hall has been created in a different architectural style.
Classical concerts by famous musical institutions such as the Danish National Symphony Orchestra will be held at the DR Koncerthuset and in the future there will be discussions regarding pop and rock music events.
Holidaymakers flying between Copenhagen in Denmark and Birmingham airport can now enjoy their journey on a new ‘next-generation’ aircraft. Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) have just recently deployed their new plane the Bombardier CRJ900 for its service between Copenhagen in Denmark and Birmingham International airport.
The new SAS craft has been reported to be the most efficient for fuel in its class and the added benefit of being nearly 4 times quieter than the previous craft that SAS were providing on the flight journey.
Holidaymakers flying with SAS are expected to enjoy a new design cabin with large seating area and spacious leg room, bigger storage facilities, a new LED lighting system, sound system and larger windows.
The general manager for SAS UK is Lars-Ove Filipson who recently commenting on the new SAS launch said:
‘Birmingham is the ‘premier gateway’ between the Midlands and Scandinavia and a ‘key airport’ for SAS. The introduction of the NextGen CRJ900 shows our commitment to the route and will help us maintain the high standards of punctuality that SAS is known for.’
Paul Kehoe, chief executive at Birmingham airport said:
‘We’re pleased to welcome SAS’ next-generation CRJ900 aircraft, which will further improve the local climate for our neighbours whilst providing better quality for passengers travelling to Copenhagen from Birmingham.’
The Norwegian Air Shuttle is part of the services provided by the largest Scandinavia’s lowest cost airline, whose head offices are situated just outside Oslo. It operates highly competitive low cost flights from Scandinavia to Africa, Europe and the Middle East.
Norwegian is an airline that operates a fleet of 27x planes which include the Boeing 737-300 , 6x Boeing 737-800 and 8x McDonnell Douglas MD82s. The company has also got a further 47x Boeing 737-800’s on back order currently and operates centres in Bergen and Oslo.
News from the airline came this week that travelers were to be offered more options flying from Scandinavia in 2009. The Norwegian Air Shuttle has decided to launch new flights leaving Gatwick, London and flying directly to Copenhagen.
The airline is set to offer 2 regular direct flights leaving from Gatwick and flying into the Danish capital starting from 29th March 2009 and onwards.
During weekdays, Norwegian Air Shuttle flights will leave from Gatwick at both 08:55 and 19:40 and will depart from Copenhagen at both 07:20 and 18:00. During weekends, the departures are set for 10:40 and 19:40 from Gatwick and returning from Copenhagen at 09:05 and 18:00.
Norwegian Airlines claimed that their new flight timetable has been based around the demands from business and leisure travelers needing to fly to the city’s capital.
CEO of Norwegian Airlines, Bjorn Kjos, said:
‘We are pleased to announce this new route to both our business travelers and the leisure market. The timetable will give our customers great flexibility.’
Denmark is particularly popular with holidaymakers for the country’s Christmas markets and fairs.
The festivities begin early in Aalborg where they start the celebrations at the end of November as they prepare for Santa Claus to sail in from his homeland in Greenland to open their traditional Christmas market in the Old Square.
The Christmas fair sells handcrafted ceramics, jewellery, glassware and many other such crafts, whilst nearby galleries provide workshops for visitors, where visitors have the opportunity to pick up other Christmas gifts.
The second largest city in Denmark, Aarhus, offers visitors and tourists the chance to indulge in midnight shopping. Areas like the Latin Quarter will join in the midnight run and boasts a maze of little boutique shops.
Other tourist attractions in Aarhus include the old town area, Den Gamle By, which consists of 75 genuine Danish traditional buildings and plays host to a market every weekend through the month of December.
Another area that holidaymakers may like to visit is Odense, the home of the famous fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen.
Throughout the Christmas period, Odense is host to a fair themed around Hans Christian Andersen, and visitors are able to talk along the old cobbled streets and perhaps even meet a few fairytale characters such as the snow queen or the little match girl.
Earlier this month, bmi regional, a subsidiary of bmi, announced its intention to introduce a third return flights between Edinburgh and Copenhagen.
From the 21st July, the new service will mean there are now 18 return flights between the two cities operated by bmi regional.
This new additional flight will also provide access to transfers from bmi’s Star Alliance partners to other great city destinations such as Helsinki, Finland and Tokyo. Travellers from many other locations, such as as Oslo and Istanbul will be able to travel through Copenhagen to Edinburgh, bring more business and tourism to the Scottish city.
Peter Kenworthy, bmi regional commercial director, said:
“By adding an extra service to our Edinburgh-Copenhagen route we are able to open up connections to many additional international destinations for our Scotland-based business and leisure customers. Together with our all-jet fleet, convenient flight schedules and low fares we have a market leading product.”
Recently, bmi had announced it was trialling paperless boarding procedures on some routes through London Heathrow, which we covered in an earlier article.
