Divers

🏖️ Palma de Mallorca witnessed a protest on Sunday evening with thousands of attendees and over a hundred organizations calling for reduced tourism, despite the local press encouraging participation. The event marked a departure from eight years of silence during the Armengol government and avoided criticizing the Airbnb model, which transferred about 90,000 homes to vacation rentals. Protesters criticized the impact of tourism on immigration and the Catalan language, while also targeting cyclists and promoting 'linguistic sustainability'. Notable figures such as the former vice president and tourism minister Iago Negueruela participated. Ecologist group GOB, independentist movements like Esquerra, Arran, and CUP were involved, while opponents distributed "we love tourism" stickers in response to recent vandalism and harassment of tourists.

✈ Emirates opened its first physical store in Hong Kong as part of a new strategy to establish offices throughout the Far East. The inauguration was attended by the airline's Vice President of Commercial Operations in the Far East and the Consul of the Emirates. The store spans 1,500 square meters, aiming to evoke the grandeur of Paris' Champs Elysees in the '70s or '80s. Emirates operates three daily flights from Dubai to Hong Kong.

🌡 In Greece, authorities closed the Acropolis on Wednesday due to temperatures exceeding 40 degrees. The closure lasted from 12 PM to 5 PM. This is the second instance of closure after a similar event in June, marking nine consecutive days of extreme heat in Athens. The Acropolis, home to the Parthenon, is Athens' top tourist attraction, drawing up to 4 million visitors last year.

🚀 On a recent Friday, an American Airlines flight from Miami landed at San Francisco Airport. Passengers were evacuating an Airbus A321 due to an overheated computer emitting smoke. Chaos ensued as some passengers, disregarding instructions, took their carry-on luggage, delaying the evacuation. This incident on July 13, 2024, highlights the growing risks of electronic devices on flights and passengers prioritizing capturing the event on video over safety protocols.

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💶 In an incident over Spanish airspace, a Ryanair Boeing 737 flying from Milan to Marrakech diverted to Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport due to an onboard fight involving a "highly conflictive passenger." Upon crew request, air traffic controllers facilitated "continuous descent and direct approach with priority to runway 12" while coordinating with the airport for police presence.

✈ Finnair, seeking precise weight data, recently trialed weighing passengers and hand luggage to optimize aircraft balance calculations, crucial for stability during takeoff and landing. Weight distribution affects the center of gravity (COG), impacting thrust and takeoff speed, with adjustments needed for passenger, baggage, and fuel weight. Crew may insist passengers stay in assigned seats, especially during landing, to prevent COG shifts that could complicate operations.

🚀 Latam Brazil's Boeing 777 experienced a severe "tail strike" on July 9 while taking off from Milan airport. Security cameras recorded the tail scraping the runway for several meters, creating dust and smoke and causing serious damage. The aircraft ascended to 5,000 feet post-takeoff, assessed for damage, and returned to Milan over an hour later after burning off fuel; the flight was canceled.

✈ Russian private airline S7 to permanently retire its 28 Airbus A320 due to lack of spare parts, impacting air travel as passenger numbers are expected to drop from 105 million in 2023 to around 98 million in 2024. S7 to also cut flights by 15% this winter. Additionally, state-owned Aeroflot faces a staffing crisis with 1,500 employees leaving due to poor relations and excessive work demands, exacerbating air travel difficulties in Russia.

💰 Booking.com announced the removal of price parity clauses in the EU, causing uncertainty in the hotel industry. On May 13, the EU designated Booking as a "gatekeeper" under the Digital Markets Act (DMA), influencing Booking to eliminate price parity clauses that limited hotels' ability to offer lower prices elsewhere. Booking will not explicitly penalize hotels with price disparities but will reduce their visibility, effectively penalizing them indirectly. In 2023, Booking invested nearly $7 billion in marketing, underscoring their significant financial commitment to attracting customers. The OTA's algorithm rewards hotels that maintain price parity with increased visibility and direct valuable customers to them. This persuasive algorithmic strategy aims to maintain Booking's market dominance without explicit retaliation against hotels with price disparities.