Earlier this month, British Airways started to operate flights with its new long haul air plane to be introduced to the BA fleet in almost eight years.

The new Boeing 777-200ER aircraft was delivered to the airline earlier this year and has been prepared for flight duty at the Cardiff Airport’s British Airways Maintenance Cardiff (BAMC) centre.

The new plane has had new in-flight entertainment systems installed along with BA’s World Traveller and Club World products. This month the Boeing 777-200ER will start running flights to Washington.

Garry Copeland, the airline’s director of engineering, said: ‘Our engineers in Cardiff have done a fantastic job in preparing the new aircraft for service. These were some of the most complex modifications ever carried out at BAMC but once again they have risen to the challenge. Their work will help us to continue to deliver the high levels of customer service our customers expect.’

British Airways is set to receive another three Boeing 777-200 aircraft later this year.

Thanks to this new expansion of the fleet, BA will be able to extend its flights to Las Vegas, Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt and Jamaica amongst other great destinations for holidays.

The Maldives and Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt are just two of the holiday destinations that will be receiving new flights from British Airways this winter as the airway carrier extends its winter flight schedule.

Sharm el Sheikh and the Maldives extra flights will commence on the 25th October and will fly three weekly services from London’s Gatwick airport.

It is the first service British Airways has run to the Maldives and it will be flying to Male, whilst the Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh spells a return for the airline.

According to the British Airways head of UK & Ireland Sales, Richard Tams, these extra services will be ‘a real winner with customers’ who can benefit from direct holidays to these destinations. He stated:

“They are both perfect holiday destinations, known for their great beaches and fantastic diving. We’re particularly pleased to be serving a completely new destination, the Maldives, and returning to Sharm El Sheikh. We expect both routes to perform well.”

Other destinations to receive new flights from British Airways include the Dominic Republic, Jamaica and Las Vegas, also due to start in October.

The airline British Airways have just recently announced that they plan to launch new flights for its holiday and business customers travelling to Las Vegas leaving from London Heathrow later this year.

British Airways are set to operate a Boeing 777 which will offer three types of travel classes; one includes the new British Airways Club World option which offers travellers fully flat beds.

Customers are going to be able to catch daily flights leaving from London to Las Vegas when British Airways launch their new flights on 25th October.

British Airways’ head of UK and Irish sales, Richard Tams said:

“We know how to fly high rollers in style and we will be the only airline to fly non-stop from Terminal 5. It is the ace in our pack and we are going to play it for all it’s worth. Despite the difficult global economic conditions, Las Vegas represents new business and growth opportunities for BA as we continue our commitment to invest in our customers.”

After the launch of the new flight service for BA’s business and holiday customers it will become the 19th US city that is serviced within the airlines network.

Other US cities that can be reached with BA include; New York, Miami, Dallas and Denver.

Holidaymakers who are interested in sports may also be interested to know that this year Las Vegas is to become the official host city of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which is set to be held on Friday 4th December 2009 at the Wynn, Las Vegas.

Since 1981, NASCAR have held their event in the city of New York, however, after they have explored a variety of options, this year they have partnered with Las Vegas Events to change the host city venue.

CEO at NASCAR, Brian France said:

“I can’t say enough about the warm reception from Las Vegas. Las Vegas really made it a priority to get the awards ceremony moved there. We were able to come to an agreement on reasonable room blocks, banquet facilities and approvals to hold fan activities on the famous Las Vegas Strip. I also want to thank New York city and especially the Waldorf-Astoria for being such an important part of NASCAR’s history over the years. We look forward to a continued presence in the Big Apple where we have so many dedicated fans.”

Pat Christenson who is the President of Las Vegas Events said:

“We are certainly proud to be the host city for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Champions Week and Awards Ceremony. The addition of this prestigious event provides another dimension to our December calendar. This is a great way to end the year and highlight the achievements of NASCAR’s best drivers and crews.”

Last year there were large crowds who were drawn to watch this popular competition. Last year’s host city New York welcomed a large number of holidaymakers from all over the world to watch the cup series and this year it is expected to draw even larger crowds due to the amount of entertainment available in the new host venue of Las Vegas.

The huge carrier Continental Airlines have recently extended their in-flight entertainment which is now available to all of its customers who are taking flights from Belfast international airport to New York City.

The entertainment system, which Continental Airways have been offering to their business class customers on their Boeing 757 craft since the early part of 2007, has been extended to include all the airlines holiday and business passengers including those who are flying economy class.

Economy travellers are now able to make use of all the facilities on their trip to New York which means individual seat screens with the large choice of 25 TV shows and films and 50 choices of CDs which cover a variety of various music genres. Additionally, there will be a Berlitz World Traveller programme which teaches foreign languages and a choice of 20 video games to play.

Barry Jackson, Continental’s area sales manager for Northern Ireland, said:

“Passengers will find this new entertainment experience much more user-friendly. Our passengers in Business First really enjoy the new system and we are sure our economy class passengers will too.”

The International airport at Belfast recently announced that the upgraded New York flight was extremely popular with holiday makers making a variety of connections within the United States particularly Orlando Florida, Miami and Las Vegas.

Holiday makers and visitors to Las Vegas may be interested to know that during 9th – 12th April the Blue Sky International Film Festival is taking place at the Regal Village Square.

The film festival this year will feature 150 independent films across all genres from feature to short films and documentaries.

Film enthusiasts everywhere are expected to swamp the hotels of Las Vegas for the occasion.

The annual festival is Las Vegas’ key film event which takes place in the centre of the entertainment capital of the world and showcases some of America’s and international cinema’s finest film selections. The festival manages to bridge the gap between filmmakers and independent film audiences.

This year, there will be a huge variety of Oscar winning films to celebrity tributes, red carpet parties, screenplay competitions, film screenings, world premieres and ceremony awards.

Examples of the vast array of screenings will include documentaries; Man Who Lives with Bears, Heavy Load and feature films; The Tyranny of Paradox, The Map Reader.

Winners from previous year’s include; Best Short Film – ‘Vartan LLP’, Best Documentary – ‘Freedom Fuels’ Best Actor - Juan Riedinger in ‘Zero Hour’ Best Actress - Chrystine Yeh in ‘Her Smile’
Best Children’s Film – ‘Once Upon a Christmas Village.’