Brightness in the Skies: London’s New Year’s Fireworks

Festivity and celebrations have begun. Where December is a month of family and friends, it also brings one of London’s most awaited events of the year, London’s New Year Fireworks. The spectacular NYE firework display takes place at the Coca Cola London Eye where thousands of people gather and wait for the arrival of New Year. In 2014, the event was ticketed for the first time to avoid overcrowding and ensure safety. This year again, the same will follow.

London’s NYE 2015 In Partnership With Unicef 

The firework display is launched from the foot of the London Eye and the rafts on the Thames. As soon as the Big Ben’s strike is heard at midnight, the sky bursts with colours and lights up with sparks of fire of different shades. Though the 10-minute display is visible from most of Central London, however, there is a rule of thumb: if the Coca Cola eye can be seen, you are likely to see the show. The best locations to view the magnificent fireworks display are Victoria Embankment, Westminster Bridge and Waterloo Bridge and the South Bank. So even if the tickets have been sold out, it is still possible to be a part of the world famous London’s NYE. Not behind the screen, but live in person. 

 

To welcome 2016 with a message, the Mayor of London’s New Year’s Eve fireworks is in partnership with Unicef, a leading global non-profit organization working for the cause of helping children. Following the tradition, the event will take place at River Thames opposite the Houses of Parliament. It is going to be a huge event, one of its kinds in the world with lights and colours spread across the capital’s distinctive skyline, offering a sight to behold.

The Mayor expressed delight in partnering with Unicef to mark the start of 2016 by bringing people together for a moment of excitement and raise awareness about benefiting children around the world. 

Where To Stay

To watch the world famous NYE, people flock from around the world, therefore there are some decent places near the New Year Eve Fireworks where one can stay. Besides, holiday season brings all sorts of discount deals which these hotels offer. Moreover, London taxi companies, through their executive taxi services in London, can provide a convenient journey to and from the hotel.

Matching the style and elegance of a French chateau, the Grade I-listed Royal Horseguards Hotel is worth staying at for its fascinating and incomparable history alone. It is an impressive Victorian residence, built in 1884 and occupies a central location within Westminster. All of its 281 have been upgraded to 5 tsar luxury rooms, with some having an epic river view. It is located at only a four minute walking distance from the NYE Fireworks.

On the other hand there is Corinthia Hotel London, only a five minute walk away from the NYE Fireworks. It is a building restored with £300 million & consisting of 294 bedrooms. It offers multi-level penthouse suites and verandahs offering remarkable views of River Thames, Trafalgar Square and Whitehall. The restoration of the hotel has given it a grand and luxurious look. There are a number of facilities including a choice of restaurants, meeting rooms, luxury spa and renovated ballroom (used for grand estate balls in 1880s). 

At the same distance as the Corinthia Hotel London from the NYE Fireworks is the Park Plaza County Hall Hotel London. It is a 4 star hotel close to Waterloo and right behind County Hall. It is an ideal hotel for family getaways with fully furnished rooms consisting of proper kitchenette, lounge area, television and other facilities.

So plan ahead of time, book your tickets and rooms and view the spectacular and world-famous fireworks with your loved ones!

CityJet: Announcement of Route expansion from Cork to the heart of London- City Airport

Irish airline CityJet is set to light up the skies from Cork to City Airport London with the expansion of that air route. The airline is relatively young (1993), and is ambitiously increasing its aerial footprint. The airline already has a network of 50 short haul routes including destinations in Britain and Continental Europe, which is the biggest of any airport route outside Dublin. The flight is scheduled to operate thrice a day from Monday to Friday. Apart from that, according to the plan, there is going to be one return flight on Saturdays and two on Sundays. In totality, there are going to be 18 flights a week between Cork and London. Everything is set to be operational from October this year.

Currently, CityJet is a company of approximately 500 employees with services provided to the airports in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Avignon, Brive, Dublin, London, Nantes, Paris, Florence, Rotterdam and Toulon.  It operates an all-jet fleet of 95-seater BA146’s, however, it will re-fleet soon with a longer range 93-110 seat aircraft.

Growth prospects

The Executive Chairman CityJet, Pat Byrne was of the view that there is a lot of potential in the routes outside Cork. He also stated that it had become quite obvious that both, business and leisure passengers wanted a “hasslefree” access to London; hence this route would prove to be fruitful. Besides, he suggested that City Airport is the central location with easy access to tourist attractions, financial districts and West End. According to Cork Airport Managing Director Niall MacCarthy, over 800,000 passengers already fly to London in one year through the existing flight service, making London the most popular destination for passengers.  With the announcement of the new route, this number is likely to increase further. What makes the management so confident about the success of this route is the historical data of Dublin-London City, which grew by 50% year on year.  Also, €35 one way tickets of the new route have already been sold yesterday.  Good news for the passengers is that the airline does not only provide free eatables and drinks to its customers onboard but also gives a 23kg free check-in baggage permit.

Trickledown Effects

This is definitely going to affect other industries, like hotel management, car hiring etc.  The Chair of Cork branch of the Irish Hotel Federation was of the view that this flight service will definitely boost the numbers of visitors from the largest tourism market of Ireland. Similarly, transportation facilities provided by car hiring companies will benefit, as more people will be willing to take services like minicab, airport transfers, executive car hire etc.

It would not only increase the competition on london routes but will also help in opening up destinations including Paris (orly, Antwerp, Nantes, Avigno, Florence and Toulon to outbound passenger. However, the challenge is to make sure that not a single chance is missed to increase the number of passengers and promote cork globally as a business travel as well as a holiday destination.

How To Hire An Executive Car Service In London?

Executive cars provide you with a royal way of traveling around in London. This style of travel is effectively used both for personal and business purposes. However, there is one thing that needs to be clarified. A lot of people confuse cab services with executive car hire. The major difference between the two is that a chauffeur driven executive service provides added comfort, greatly adding to your journey pleasures.

The executive car services are a lot cheaper when compared to the black cabs offered for corporate servicing. A corporate black cab can be up to 50% more expensive than an executive car service. Therefore, the next time you think of hiring a black cab or an executive car, you need to hire an executive car service in London.

Here are some of the most important things that you need to take care of when hiring an executive car service in London.

Executive Car Fares

The first and most important thing to compare is the executive car services fares. The fares of one service can be pretty high but you need to delve deep into the reasons. Sometimes they offer the same service as the other executive car services in London yet charge extra without any reason; in that case you need to find competitive fare.

Registered Service

All well-established executive car service providers in London are registered with the PCO (Public Carriage Office). PCO controls entire transport of London and they ensure the services provided by companies registered with them follow certain standards as norms.

Value Added Services

Some companies offer extra services for which they may charge you extra. As business owner who is carefully carrying their brand image when hiring such expensive executive car service must evaluate these add-ons. Therefore, carefully evaluate the add-ons to say Yes or No to them. When you choose to opt out of unneeded value added services, you would be able to materialize significant savings.

Extra Space for Passengers and Luggage

The availability of extra space may or may not be a consideration for a business person. However, if you want the executive car service to provide extra space for more passengers or several luggage items, you need to ask the service provider upfront to avoid confusion or embarrassment later on.

Waiting Time

Airport transfers not always come smooth as the flight delays cannot always be predicted accurately in advance. Ask your executive car service provider in London whether they would wait at the airport or not. And if the cabbie needs to wait what will be the extra charges to be paid for that extra time. This wait time clarification will save you from surprises later on and you would be able to ensure that your corporate guest is received on time.