Travel

15 Aug 2020; AA: The ancient Sumela Monastery in northeastern Turkey is ready to open its doors this Saturday to hold mass for the seventh time since resuming religious services after a pause of 88 years.

Overlooking a lush valley near the Black Sea coast, the monastery was reopened in 2010 for Christian Orthodox services to be held once a year.

However, mass could not be held for the past four years due to ongoing restoration works.

09 Aug 2020; MEMO: EU countries decided to remove Morocco from its free travel list granting entry to non-EU nationals to the bloc’s territory, reports Anadolu Agency. 

The decision came a week after Algeria was removed from the green list.

Residents of Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, New Zealand, Rwanda, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia and Uruguay can travel without restrictions to the EU.

New Delhi, Jul 28 (PTI) Amid speculation that the 44 Vande Bharat trains scheduled to hit the tracks by 2022 will be delayed, the Railways on Tuesday said the train sets will now be manufactured by not one but three railway units and will be on the rail network within the next three years.

Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav on Tuesday said the trains will be simultaneously manufactured in three rail units -- the Railway Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Modern Coach Factory, Rae Bareilly and the Integral Coach Factory, Chennai.

Jammu, Jul 27 (PTI) The much-awaited Jammu ropeway project, aimed at boosting tourism in the winter capital of the Union territory, has been launched by Lieutenant Governor G C Murmu on Monday that has brought a smile on the faces of the people of Jammu.

Planned back in 1995, the project faced dozens of delays in its start, execution and date of completion but the people of Jammu feel are now happy that a prestigious project has seen the light of day after 25 years.

New Delhi, Jul 24 (PTI) Vistara said on Friday it had received its first A321neo aircraft, which has 188 seats in three-class cabin configuration, from Airbus' Hamburg production facility.

The A321neo is a narrow-body aircraft that can be used on short to medium-haul international routes that are within seven hours of flying time.

18 July 2020; MEMO: The opening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque will not change anything for tourists, a Turkish lawmaker said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.

Veysel Eroglu, a lawmaker and the Turkish presidency’s special representative to Iraq, said there has been great excitement among Muslims and Turkish people over opening of Hagia Sophia as a mosque.

He stressed that tourists will continue to be able to visit Hagia Sophia.

13 July 2020; MEMO: The Covid-19 pandemic has led to serious losses in the tourism industry in the Arab world, with more than 50 million jobs lost, Anadolu reported on Sunday.

A report from the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF) said that the country most affected by the coronavirus is Saudi Arabia, followed by the UAE, Egypt, Tunisia, Morocco and Palestine.

Jammu, Jul 12 (PTI) Days after opening parks and gardens to the public, the Jammu and Kashmir administration on Sunday decided to open the tourism sector in a phased manner with effect from Tuesday but limiting it to tourists arriving by air only.

However, it advised the tourists above the age of 65 years to avoid coming to the union territory and also announced compulsory RT-PCR testing of all tourists at the airport on arrival.

11 July 2020; MEMO: After completing all preparations, Turkey will open Hagia Sophia for worship on July 24 at Friday prayer, the Turkish president said on Friday, Anadolu Agency reports.

In an address to the nation, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delivered his remarks on the new status of Hagia Sophia — which was used as a museum for the past decades but will serve as a mosque following a recently adopted decree on Friday.

11 July 2020; MEMO: Hours after a landmark court ruling Friday, the Turkish government confirmed that Istanbul’s Hagia Sophia will be reopened for worship after an 85-year hiatus.

The nearly 1,500-year-old architectural gem will be transferred to the state Religious Affairs Directorate under a presidential decree, according to a Friday announcement in the Official Gazette.