Report issued after Newcastle Airport incident


Air investigators have said that changes should be made in the way that pilots land during periods of bad weather, following an incident at Newcastle airport in the UK.

Inspectors from the Air Accident Investigation Branch made the recommendation to the Civil Aviation Authority following an incident at the airport in snow conditions.

One hundred and eighty nine passengers were evacuated from the Thomson Fly jet from Lanzarote in the Canary Islands after it over-shot the safety zone at the airport, but came to a halt on the paved surface.

The report reveals airport staff used approved equipment – the Standard Depth Gauge – and also visually assessed the snow on the runway.

The safety recommendations from investigators are aimed at improving guidelines nationally, and do not criticise staff at Newcastle Airport in particular.

Clearer national guidelines on measuring snow are also called for in the report as the current measuring systems used by the International Civil Aviation Organisation and European Aviation Safety Agency differ.

There were no injuries following the landing on November 25, 2010, but passengers described the plane shuddering as it touched down.

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Carnival time in Las Palmas!


The biggest and best Carnival in the Canary Islands reaches its climax tomorrow, Saturday 18 February.

Las Palmas carnival in Gran Canaria is often regarded as “Second only to Rio”, with Latino music pulsating throughout the city streets as people party throughout the night and into the morning.

Most partygoers will be in costume, which is very liberally interpreted. This year’s theme for Las Palmas is Comic Book Heroes, so there will be plenty of Spiderman and Wonderwomen, as well as the usual collection of angels, priests, nuns and devils.

The Grand Parade takes place on Saturday 18th February with a parade of floats and costumes galore.

The Sun Carnival takes on the last Tuesday of Carnival, where groups dance to music under the sun on Las Canteras Beach.

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The Canary Islander recommends using the FairFX Euro prepaid card for holidays in Spain and the Canary Islands. Prepaid dollar cards are also available. Click below for further details:

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A Museum inside Maspalomas Lighthouse


Popular Maspalomas Lighthouse will be converted into an cultural museum later in 2012, at a cost of about 400,000 euros.

This worthwhile tourism project is part of planning for World Tourism Day, due to be held in Maspalomas later in the year.

The plans include craft exhibitions, information centre and a shop on the bottom floor, with a gallery upstairs. The upper part of the lighthouse will continue as a fully functioning lighthouse.

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The Canary Islander recommends using the FairFX Euro prepaid card for holidays in Spain and the Canary Islands. Prepaid dollar cards are also available. Click below for further details:

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Increased tourism for the Canary Islands


The Canary Islands started 2012 with continued with growth in the tourism sector.

Over 916,000 foreign tourists travelled to the Islands. So far this year there has been an increase of 5.6% (48,000 more visitors).

The numbers of tourists from Russia, Poland, Italy and France have increased since the beginning of the year with increases of 41.21%, 54.58%, 18.10% and 11.28% respectively. This is expected to continue growing throughout the year due to planned joint promotional activities to attract visitors.

Gran Canaria welcomed 291,253 foreign passengers, which represents an increase of 1.92% over January 2011, with 5,475 more foreign passengers.

Fuerteventura saw the arrival of 131,851 foreign passengers, representing an increase of 1.92% over January 2011, with 2,479 foreign passengers more.

Lanzarote welcomed 129,177 tourists, which is 5,495 more than in January 2010, with an increase of 4.44%.

Tenerife 33,344 received more tourists in 2012 than in January 2011, which represents an increase of 10.44%.

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The Canary Islander recommends using the FairFX Euro prepaid card for holidays in Spain and the Canary Islands. Prepaid dollar cards are also available. Click below for further details:

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Arrecife is popular with cruise passengers!


There has been a large increase in the number of cruise passengers arriving at the port of Arrecife in Lanzarote during January 2012, with an increase of 99% when compared to same period in 2011.

Arrecife has seen the largest percentage increase of all three ports that are under the control of the Port Authority of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Las Palmas and Puerto de La Luz saw a rise of almost 43%, while passengers arriving at Puerto del Rosario in Fuerteventura, fell by 24%.

Data provided by the Port Authority in January saw a total of 46,564 cruise passengers arrive at Arrecife, which amounts to an increase of 23,190 more passengers than in same period in 2011.

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