Carry On: News for business travellers

Cruise the Amalfi Coast
Author and archaeologist Dr Michael Metcalfe is leading an eight-day tour Cruising the Amalfi Coast tour that takes in the most spectacular scenery of the Bay of Naples. You will cruise aboard a traditional gulet (a wooden sailing boat) with no more than 10 guests. The tour visits some of the best-known historical sights, including the isle of Capri, the ruins of Pompeii, the ancient underwater city at Baia and the outstanding Roman frescoes of the Villa Oplontis. The tour departs from Naples on June 9 and again on September 15. The cost is from £3595 ($7075) per person twin share and inclusive of transfers, seven nights’ accommodation, all meals, entrance fees and expert guiding. It does not include travel to Naples.Further information is at Peter Sommer Travels.

Scoot adds Bangkok
Singapore Airlines’ new budget Scoot airline is joining the Singapore-Bangkok market, the 26th largest route in the world based on available seats. The route is already being flown by, among many others, Tiger Airways, another Singapore Airlines subsidiary. Scoot, which makes its inaugural flight on June 26 to Sydney, is offering a promotion fare of $S88 for a return trip, well under the $S200 from Tiger. "It is to provide more connectivity for our guests, so our guests from Australia and China can go to Bangkok as well via Singapore," Scoot's See Lingling says. Scoot will use Boeing 777-200 aircraft on its medium-to-long-haul flights.

Thai to go budget?
Scoot's move into Bangkok could prompt a move from Thai Airways, which is studying its own options for entering the low-cost long-haul market. Using partially-owned subsidiary Nok Air to launch Boeing 777 flights to Australia is the most likely solution. Meanwhile, Thai says its first Airbus A380 will start operating to Hong Kong and Singapore from Bangkok for six weeks from October 28. As others on order arrive, the A380 service will switch to Frankfurt (Dec 15), Tokyo Narita (Jan 16) and Paris Charles de Gaulle (Feb 16). Thai has a total of six A380s on order.

Mooching in Morocco
Guided tour specialist Trafalgar has added a new nine-day Best of Morocco to its 33 itineraries covering 18 countries. The Morocco tour is priced from $1725 per person twin share and features visits to Marrakech, Fez, Casablanca and Ouarzazate. Accommodation is in first class hotels such as the Le Meridien and Le Berbere Palace. Highlights include the Royal Palace in Fez and a trip to Morocco’s biggest souk (Arab bazaar) in Marrakech. More information is at Trafalgar Travel and at its Facebook page.

Three new Dreamliner routes
Japanese carrier JAL has named Delhi, Moscow and Beijing as the next routes for its Boeing 787 Dreamliner services. The Dreamliner will take over four of the five weekly flights between Tokyo Narita and Delhi from May 1. This will be followed by Tokyo Narita-Moscow Domodedovo three times a week from May 7 and the daily Tokyo Haneda-Beijing route, also from May 7.

New route of the week
Brasilia, the federal capital of Brazil, was designed and built from scratch starting in the mid-1950s. It now has a population approaching four million its wider metropolitan area. It is noted for its modern architecture and layout, supervised by Oscar Niemeyer. It is also a World Heritage Site. Though it is Brazil’s third-largest airport, Brasilia receives relatively few international flights. Non-stop flights to Miami started in late 2010 and others go to Atlanta, Lima (Peru), Lisbon (Portugal), Montevideo (Uruguay) and Panama City, From June 1, Lacsa, the national airline of Costa Rica, will launch a new service to Brasilia by extending four of its seven-weekly San Jose-Bogota (Colombia) services using an Airbus A319-100 aircraft.