Wow Air To Offer $199 Flights To Europe From SFO, LAX

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Get your passports in order. Travel from the West Coast to Europe is about to get a lot cheaper this summer.

Starting in June, the low-cost, no-frills Icelandic carrier Wow air will offer flights from San Francisco and Los Angeles to various cities in Europe.

Wow air has been offering $99 flights to cities in Europe from the East Coast since last year. The flights connect through Iceland's capital city, Reykjavik.

A couple taking a selfie picture in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. (LUDOVIC MARIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Company founder and CEO Now Mogensen told Forbes Magazine Wow aims to corner the market on low-cost, long-haul flights.

"Low-cost carriers like Southwest in the United States and Ryanair in Europe have been the most successful and profitable in the industry but have generally operated locally," he said. "No one has done it with Transatlantic flights."

Just one caveat: Be prepared to forego all the extras, like legroom, baggage, food and movies. Those things will cost a little extra, but not enough to break the bank. Passengers can purchase upgrades for roomier seats, extra luggage allowances and meals.

Wow will offer 5 flights weekly to Reykjavic from SFO as of June 9, and four from Los Angeles. There are 21 European destinations, including Berlin, Amsterdam, London, and Paris.

CBSSF.com writer, producer Jan Mabry is also executive producer and host of The Bronze Report. She lives in Northern California. Follow her on Twitter @janmabr.

Source: Wow Air To Offer $199 Flights To Europe From SFO, LAX

CN Traveler readers: Austria’s Lech Zurs am Arlberg is Europe’s best ski destination

CN Traveler readers: Austria's Lech Zurs am Arlberg is Europe's best ski destination

Lech Zurs am Arlberg in Austria has been named Europe's best ski destination by CN Traveler readers. ― AFP picLONDON, Jan 12 ― An Austrian ski resort which hosts a cult event dubbed the longest ski race in the world has been named the best in Europe by readers of CN Traveler magazine.

Located in Western Austria, Lech Zurs am Arlberg was given top marks in the magazine's Readers' Choice Awards for being the most "fashionable" resort in Austria.

Recent developments at the site include a new gondola link to Warth, the snowiest slopes in the Alps, which have helped to expand piste and off-piste skiing by 50 per cent, editors note.

The resort is also popular among avid skiers for hosting "The White Ring," a cult event draws about a thousand participants to Rufikopf mountain where the starting block stands at 2,337m for 22km of downhill skiing at altitudes as high as 5,500m.

Overall, the resort features 97 ski lifts and 340km of ski runs along with seven ski schools for skiers of all abilities.

Rounding out the top three spots on the list are St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria, which was ranked the top ski destination in Europe for its nightlife, and Zermatt, Switzerland which lies at the foot of Switzerland's most famous mountain, the Matterhorn.

Overall, readers are most enamored by the French alps, which took half of the top 10 spots, followed by Switzerland (three) and Austria (2).

Here are the top 10 ski resorts in Europe as chosen by readers of CN Traveler magazine:

1. Lech Zürs am Arlberg, Austria

2. St. Anton am Arlberg, Austria (rated #1 for nightlife)

3. Zermatt, Switzerland

4. Klosters, Switzerland (rated #1 for value)

5. St. Moritz, Switzerland

6. Courchevel, France (rated #1 for trails and runs)

7. Les Trois Vallées, France

8. Val d'Isère, France

9. Méribel, France (rated #1 for lifts and short lines)

10. Megève, France (rated #1 for food and hotels) ― AFP-Relaxnews

Source: CN Traveler readers: Austria's Lech Zurs am Arlberg is Europe's best ski destination

European tourists in stable condition after Egypt stabbing

Ahmed Hatem and Nour Youssef, Associated Press 6:39 a.m. EST January 9, 2016

Egyptian security personnel guards the entrance to the Bella Vista Hotel in the Red Sea resort of Hurghada, Egypt.(Photo: EPA)

HURGHADA, Egypt - Two Austrians and a Swede who were stabbed in an attack on a hotel in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Hurghada were only lightly wounded and in stable condition on Saturday, an Egyptian hospital official said.

The official, who requested anonymity in line with regulations, identified the victims as Renata and Wilhelm Weisslein, both 72, and Sammie Olovsson, 27. The official said they suffered shallow wounds.

Two suspected militants attacked the three at a hotel in Hurghada late Friday. Security forces shot both attackers, killing one and wounding the other before arresting him.

It was the second hotel attack in as many days. An Islamic State affiliate claimed an attack Thursday on a hotel in Cairo near the Pyramids that did not wound anyone. An Interior Ministry statement says two Egyptian police officers were also shot and killed on their way to work Saturday in the Giza district. It says police have been deployed to the scene to investigate the shooting and search for suspects.

Egypt has for years been battling a Sinai-based insurgency, which has grown in strength since the 2013 military overthrow of Islamist President Mohammed Morsi.

A Sinai-based Islamic State affiliate has claimed a number of attacks across the country.

The Interior Ministry said that in the Hurghada attack, two men armed with knives and pellet guns attacked the tourists in the restaurant at the front of the seaside, four-star Bella Vista Hotel.

Jan-Eric Olovsson, the 64-year-old father of the Swedish victim, told the Swedish Expressen newspaper that they were having dinner in the restaurant when the attackers stormed in.

"Everything went really fast. We sat there and ate and then they showed up," he said. "I thought they came from outside. I myself had the gun pointed at me three times, and Sammie was stabbed with the knife."

He said his son was stabbed four times in the neck but "did well" because of his physical strength. "I told him to lie still," he said, recalling how his son lay in a pool of blood. "I got up a few times and when I saw it was clear, I ran out on the street and tried to get hold of an ambulance."

He said another woman who was eating in the restaurant was also wounded.

Shortly after the attack, Sammie updated his Facebook profile, saying he was "lucky" to have deflected the knife when the attacker tried to stab him in the chest. He said the knife cut some muscles in his neck but no arteries or nerves, and that he would be able to leave the hospital Saturday.

The other victims were also stable enough to be discharged on Saturday, Nile Hospital Chairman Reda el-Naggar told The Associated Press.

Egypt has been struggling to revive its tourism industry after years of unrest stemming from the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak. The apparent bombing of a Russian passenger plane over Sinai last year, claimed by the IS group, led to widespread flight cancellations, dealing a major blow to the industry, which is one of the country's main earners.

The Olovssons' trip was organized by one of Sweden's largest tour operators, Apollo. The company's head Peter Browall said guests were given the option of relocating after the attack.

"Some have decided to do so. Not all have. This is done based on individual dialogues we have with them," he told the Associated Press.

Hurghada is "a small destination for Apollo Sweden," Browall said. He wasn't able to provide any figures, but said interest in Egypt had dropped following recent attacks.

Police carrying walkie-talkies stood outside the hotel on Saturday as journalists set up cameras on the sidewalk.

Zainab Feili, a young Swede who survived Friday's ordeal unharmed, described a scene of chaos. "Everybody just ran… We hear shoot. Everybody cries. It was awful," she said.

"We saw a dead man on the floor. He was half naked… The other man next to him screamed of pains but nobody did anything. We have been so shocked," said German tourist Barbara Wolf, who was dining in the restaurant at the time of the assault.

"They took their clothes off to make sure they were not hiding explosive belts underneath them," said Mohammed Beram, a retired military officer living nearby, who rushed to the scene to offer help. He said the attacker who was killed was wearing an explosives vest.

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Source: European tourists in stable condition after Egypt stabbing

3 European Tourists Stabbed at Egypt Resort, IS Affiliates Suspected

Photo courtesy of Thinkstock

Egypt's travel industry has received yet another black eye. After a disastrous 2015 that culminated in the crash of a Russian airliner — considered an Islamic State terrorist attack by many — the start of 2016 sees another attack on tourists by suspected IS militants.

According to the Associated Press, two men wielding knives and pellet guns attacked vacationers in the restaurant located at the front of the four-star seaside Bella Vista Hotel in the Egyptian resort town of Hurghada on the Red Sea late Friday, local time.

The victims were identified by an anonymous Egyptian hospital official as Austrians Renata and Wilhelm Weisslein, both 72, and Swedish citizen Sammie Olovsson, 27, the AP said. The official said to the AP that they "were only lightly wounded and in stable condition." Nile Hospital Chairman Reda el-Naggar commented to the AP that the three should be discharged by Saturday.

Both attackers were shot by security forces, with one killed and the other wounded, and then taken into custody, the AP said.

Jan-Eric Olovsson, the 64-year-old father of the Swedish victim, said to the Swedish Expressen newspaper, via the AP, that they were eating dinner in the restaurant when the attackers entered.

"Everything went really fast. We sat there and ate and then they showed up," he said. "I thought they came from outside. I myself had the gun pointed at me three times, and Sammie was stabbed with the knife."

He said Sammie was stabbed four times in the neck but "did well" because he is physically strong, per the newspaper. "I told him to lie still," he said, recalling the sight of his son in a pool of blood. "I got up a few times and when I saw it was clear, I ran out on the street and tried to get hold of an ambulance."

"They don't say give me your wallet. They don't say give me your money," Sammie commented to the newspaper about his assailants. He then concluded they were "crazy guys."

Young Swede Zainab Feili, who survived the attack unharmed, described the scene to the AP, stating, "Everybody just ran... We hear shoot (shots). Everybody cries. It was awful."

German tourist Barbara Wolf, who was dining in the restaurant, commented about the attackers after they were shot by security forces, saying to the AP, "We saw a dead man on the floor. He was half naked... The other man next to him screamed of pains but nobody did anything. We have been so shocked."

Mohammed Beram, a retired military officer who offered help at the scene and lives nearby said to the AP, "They took their clothes off to make sure they were not hiding explosive belts underneath them," adding that the attacker who was killed by security forces was wearing an explosive vest.

Apollo, one of Sweden's biggest tour operators, organized the Olovssons' trip, the AP said, and company head Peter Browall told the news service that guests were allowed to relocate after the attack.

"Some have decided to do so. Not all have. This is done based on individual dialogues we have with them," he told the AP. Hurghada is "a small destination for Apollo Sweden," Browall said. He didn't have any figures on hand, but said interest in Egypt had "dropped" following recent attacks.

Commenting to reporters in English on the way to the hospital, Egypt's Tourism Minister Hisham Zaazou said, per the AP, "The good part that I can mention to you today or now is that these attackers, these agitators, are not a part of an organization," he emphasized, "it is an individually motivated agitation."

That may not be completely true.

The AP noted that this was the second hotel attack in as many days — an Islamic State-affiliate group took responsibility for an attack on a hotel in Cairo near the Pyramids on Thursday that did not cause injury or death.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack in Hurghada, the AP said, but the BBC cited reports that claimed the Hurghada assailants raised the IS flag. The British news service also said that Hurghada continues to be on high alert, and all roads in and out are closed off.

Source: 3 European Tourists Stabbed at Egypt Resort, IS Affiliates Suspected

Cemeteries: Europe's six best for pilgrimages to the past

January 09, 2016

NIKOLAS GOLSCH

Tourists visiting cities will always be found in the usual places - the castles, palaces, cathedrals and other historic buildings listed in their travel guides. And there's another place many relish as well - cemeteries. These sites are not just a place of quiet contemplation for the friends and relatives of the deceased, but also tourist destinations, especially when famous people are buried there.

"Over the course of the centuries, many cemeteries have evolved into regular city parks and pilgrimage sites," says Rolf Lichtner of the German Undertakers Association.

Once upon a time, cemeteries were mostly located outside the walls of European cities. But as cities grew, they are now very centrally located and integrated into the urban landscape.

In Europe, there are six historically significant or spectacular cemeteries well worth a visit. Here is a guide:

Hamburg: Ohlsdorf Ceme tery is the world's largest garden cemetery and at 391 hectares in area, the fourth-largest necropolis in the world. Since it was opened in 1877, some 1.4 million people have been buried here, with the number rising by about 4,700 per year. Much of it resembles a green park. The physicist Heinrich Hertz, after whom the measure of wave frequency is named, is buried here.

Given its sheer size, the Ohlsdorf cemetery needs a road network totalling 17 kilometres, as well as a regular bus line running through it. There is a museum as well as a counselling centre offering guided tours.

Paris: the P're Lachaise is the largest as well as the best-known cemetery in the French capital. It was set up at the outset of the 19th century as a replacement for the numerous small cemeteries which then had to be closed down.

During the day, it is, by Parisian standards, very quiet. Broad streets criss-cross the park-like setting. On the roads' edges stand the grave sites of granite an d marble. About 2 million visitors come here, searching for the graves - now virtually pilgrimage sites - of such people as Edith Piaf, Frederic Chopin and Jim Morrison.

Vienna: The Austrian capital's Central Cemetery was opened in 1874. With its nearly 2.5 square kilometres and 330,000 graves, it is one of the largest cemeteries in all Europe.

It was in 1863 that the Vienna city council voted to set up a cemetery outside the city, one where its capacity limit should never be reached and where every Viennese could be given a final resting place. Among the most prominent persons buried here is Ludwig van Beethoven. With its Art Nouveau architecture, the cemetery is one of Vienna's special attractions.

Prague: The crowded old Jewish cemetery in the historic city centre of Prague is relatively small with an area of 1 hectare. But nonetheless, the remains of some 100,000 people are interred here - in some places, due to the shortage of space, with 12 graves stacked up atop each other. The grave markers, some dating back to the 15th century, are crowded closely together.

German undertaker Lichtner explains why: "Since in the Jewish ghetto there was no opportunity for expansion, the cemetery today very much corresponds to its historical dimensions."

England: In the Whitby Cemetery in Yorkshire, England, the ghost of Count Dracula is said to be at home - or at least this is the claim of author Bram Stoker in his Gothic horror novel Dracula from 1897. Ever since, countless fans have made the Whitby Cemetery a pilgrimage destination.

It's in a breathtaking location high atop a seaside cliff. The site also includes the 11th-century St. Mary's Church. For more than a century now no more burials have taken place, chiefly out of concern that the church's foundations could be imperilled by any further graves being dug on the site.

Venice: French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte ordered by decree in 1804 that a cemetery be set up on the is land of San Cristoforo della Pace. Walls were built up all around the island, and a huge entrance gate erected.

But fairly soon, the cemetery was too small, and so came the decision to connect the island with the nearby island of San Michele. The channel between the two was simply filled in. Ever since, the cemetery has been incrementally expanded as the need arose. Today, it measures 17.6 hectares in area. "There is no other example of an entire island being declared a cemetery," Lichtner notes.

Source: Cemeteries: Europe's six best for pilgrimages to the past

Sorry NASA, Europe says it’s going to the Moon instead of Mars

A screen capture from the new ESA video shows a concept of a human lunar settlement. ESA

NASA has made it clear for the last half decade that it considers Mars the next destination for its astronauts. Nevertheless, since President Obama took the Moon off the table during a 2010 space policy speech, potential partners for NASA's "Journey to Mars" have fallen by the wayside.

Earlier this decade, both China and Russia, the two nations now capable of launching humans into space, signaled their intentions to first explore the Moon. Now they have been joined by arguably NASA's most important partner in the coming years, the European Space Agency (ESA). In a new video titled "The Moon Awakens," the agency says it will take lessons learned from the International Space Station and team with other interested partners to return humans to Earth's natural satellite by the end of the next decade.

Further Reading Why we're going back to the Moon—with or without NASA

The discovery of lunar water has changed everything for human exploration.

"This new exploration will be achieved not in competition, as in the past, but through peaceful, international cooperation," the narrator says. "Eventually we will see a sustained infrastructure for research and exploration where humans will live and work for prolonged periods. Here we will put into practice the lessons of the International Space Station, to establish a facility akin to those we see in Antarctica today. In the future the moon can become a place where the nations of the world work together."

The only nod the video makes to exploring Mars is in characterizing the lunar surface as "a place where we can learn to move onward into the Solar System."

The video comes at a critical time for NASA with the United States entering into a presidential election year. Although space has played almost no role in the political discourse during the primaries, a new president will bring a new NASA administrator, one who is perhaps not as committed to President Obama's avoid-the-Moon strategy. Several of the leading Republican contenders, Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, both played an important role in passing a recent law that allowed US companies to mine lunar resources, including water ice that could be converted into fuel.

NASA officials, including Bill Gerstenmaier, chief of the agency's human space flight operations, have indicated they will work with their international partners to facilitate their human landings on the Moon but that this is not an objective for NASA. This is largely because Obama so clearly took the Moon off the table during his 2010 speech, declaring, "We've been there before."

Enlarge / NASA says it will use the Orion spacecraft to come back from Mars. But in its press materials, shown in this image, ESA has other ideas. ESA

Europe's space agency appears to have joined the chorus of other international space groups that have set their sights on the Moon because it is close, has many potential resources from water to rare minerals, and because it offers an attainable goal. A number of independent groups, such as NASA's own advisory council and the National Research Council, have questioned whether NASA's aim to land humans on Mars in the 2030s is realistic given the agency's budget and Apollo-like strategy of building expensive, expendable rockets.

The new ESA video comes after a year in which its new director general, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, has spoken extensively about his ideas for a "Moon Village." This concept would allow nations to collaborate to develop resources, such as water ice or rare metals. Moreover, they could also work toward becoming more self-sufficient in space by growing crops and harvesting other resources on the lunar surface.

Like US commercial companies, ESA appears to be interested in the polar regions of the Moon, where there are cratered areas of perpetual darkness that harbor water ice, as well as nearby areas that receive nearly continual sunshine and would provide a reliable source of solar energy. Recently the US Federal Aviation Administration endorsed the concept of a "Moon Village" and encouraged cooperation between US companies and Europe in future exploration.

Source: Sorry NASA, Europe says it's going to the Moon instead of Mars

Malaysia Airlines temporarily bans luggage on Europe-bound flights

But few have ever been told prior to boarding that their checked luggage simply wouldn't be joining them on the same flight.

That's what happened to Malaysia Airlines passengers flying to Europe from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this week when the airline announced it was temporarily banning checked luggage from flights on January 5 and 6 due to "unreasonably strong headwinds" limiting the airlines' ability to safely carry baggage in cargo.

Passengers who did wish to check luggage at the airport were told it'd be shipped to them on a later flight.

On Wednesday morning the airline updated its travel advisory saying checked-in baggage would again be allowed on all flights as per the normal allowance.

"The headwinds over the last four days were in excess of 200 knots, which can add up to 15% fuel burn on a B777-200 aircraft," said the airline in a statement.

"Based on its current risk assessment, done on a daily basis, the airline is now able to take a shorter route on European flights."

Expert: Unusual response to headwinds

Why ban luggage?

Strong headwinds cause flights to burn more fuel than normal and lightening the load reduces the speed of the burn.

What makes the Malaysia Airlines situation unique is how the airline responded.

Aviation expert Tom Ballantyne, chief correspondent for "Orient Aviation" magazine, told CNN he's never heard of an airline taking such measures.

"Normally, if there's an issue with range because of headwinds, a carrier would reduce the passenger load overall," said Ballantyne.

"Obviously that would also reduce the revenue an airline is making from that particular flight, but it's not as if a headwind issue is a permanent situation.

"It probably arises only a handful of days over a year. And clearly, no other carriers flying nonstop from Asia to Europe are taking similar measures."

Mohsin Aziz, an aviation analyst at Maybank, based in Kuala Lumpur, told CNN that Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777-200ER, which the company uses for its Paris and Amsterdam routes, is an old aircraft that's been around for 17 years and can fly only 14 hours on a full tank.

Newer engines can last up to 17 hours.

Flights from Kuala Lumpur to Paris and Amsterdam take about 12 hours -- so there's little leeway with the older jet, he said.

Malaysia Airlines uses an Airbus A380 on its Kuala Lumpur to London route.

On Twitter, responses to the airline's January 4 announcement of the temporary restrictions ranged from bafflement to anger, with many questioning why other airlines weren't imposing similar bans despite facing the same weather conditions.

Malaysia Airlines responded that each airline conducts its own risk assessments and the safety of their passengers is of the utmost importance.

What are the world's safest airlines for 2016?

CNN's Felicia Wong contributed to this report.

Source: Malaysia Airlines temporarily bans luggage on Europe-bound flights