Rugby: British & Irish Lions plan for tour to go ahead in South Africa!

The British & Irish Lions, a rugby union team selected from players eligible to play for the national teams of England, Scotland, Wales or Ireland, and the South African Rugby Union (also known as SA Rugby), the governing body for rugby union in South Africa, have announced that they are aligned on delivering the Castle Lager Lions Series in South Africa in the scheduled playing window (03 July - 07 August 2021). According to Jason Leonard, Chairman of The British & Irish Lions Board, the Bord acknowledges that there is a significant amount of work still to be undertaken to deliver a robust Covid-19 countermeasure plan to ensure a successful, safe and uninterrupted Tour and that SA Rugby will have the Board's full support to help implement this plan. As a matter of fact, it is currently unclear whether spectators will be permitted into stadia during the Lions Tour in South Africa. According to Mark Alexander, President of the South African Rugby Union, the original Tour schedule could be changed if spectators will not be allowed in the stadia. We'll keep you posted! 

Photo by Captureson Photography on Unsplash 

The British & Irish Lions have toured South Africa on 13 previous occasions, with the first Tour taking place in 1891. In that time, the Lions have won four Test series, lost eight and drew one. Their overall record against the Springboks is played 46, won 17, lost 23 and drawn six.

British & Irish Lions 2021 Tour of South Africa (03 July - 07 August 2021):

• Saturday 03 July 2021: British & Irish Lions v DHL Stormers – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
• Wednesday 07 July 2021: British & Irish Lions v South Africa Invitational – Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth
• Saturday 10 July 2021: British & Irish Lions v Cell C Sharks – Jonsson Kings Park, Durban
• Wednesday 14 July 2021: British & Irish Lions v South Africa "A" – Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
• Saturday 17 July 2021: British & Irish Lions v Vodacom Bulls – Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
• Saturday 24 July 2021 (First Test): Springboks v British & Irish Lions – FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
• Saturday 31 July 2021 (Second Test): Springboks v British & Irish Lions – Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town
• Saturday 7 August 2021 (Third Test): Springboks v British & Irish Lions – Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg

South Africa Airways expands codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways!

According to aviation specialists airlineroute.net, South African Airways (SAA) is set to expand its codeshare agreement with Etihad Airways. South Africa's flag carrier will add its code "SA" to nine new routes operated by Etihad Airways from 01 Feb 2015 (7 routes) and from 06 Feb 2015 (2 routes). Earlier in January 2015 (21 Jan 2015), the SAA already started to display its code on Etihad Airways' flights between Abu Dhabi's Abu Dhabi International Airport and Incheon International Airport in Seoul, South Korea. 

from 01 Feb 2015:

• Abu Dhabi – Dublin (Ireland)
• Abu Dhabi – Bangalore (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Chennai (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Delhi (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Hyderabad (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Mumbai (India)
• Abu Dhabi – Thiruvananthapuram (India)

from 06 Feb 2015:

• Abu Dhabi – Beijing (China) – Nagoya (Japan)
• Abu Dhabi – Tokyo Narita (Japan)

online flight booking on TravelComments.com >>

St. Patrick's day: Cape Town's Table Mountain will be illuminated in Irish green!

Every year on 17 March, Ireland celebrates St. Patrick’s Day, a cultural and religious holiday named after Saint Patrick (c. AD 385–461), the patron saint of Ireland. But it is not only the Irish in Ireland celebrating the day, it got globally adopted and St. Patrick's Day partys and events are held all over world, including, of course, South Africa. There will be partys in almost every Irish Pub in the country, but one of the most spectacular events will take place in Cape Town. As part of Tourism Ireland's "Global Greening" campaign, the iconic Table Mountain will, for the third consecutive year, be illuminated in Irish green from 20hrs00 until midnight on 17 March 2013. If you are in Cape Town on St. Patrick's day, make sure that you don't miss it out! Enjoy!

Source: Uploaded by user via Seb on Pinterest [© Sky Grove]

Cape Town: Table Mountain will be lit in green on St. Patrick's Day

For the second year running, Cape Town's Table Mountain will be going green in celebration of St. Patrick's Day on 17 March 2012. The mountain will be lit in green from 20:00 to midnight using renewable energy Celebrations will also be held at the V&A Waterfront, where the Wheel of Excellence will be lit with green lights for the day.

Some of the most popular landmarks from around the World will be going green on St. Patrick's Day, including the London Eye in London, the Burj Al Arab in Dubai, the Empire State Building in New York, the Sky Tower in Auckland, the Niagara Falls as well as the TV tower on Berlin’s Alexanderplatz.

St. Paddy's Day: Table Mountain will turn green

Cape Town's Table Mountain – a World Heritage Site and one of the city's most iconic landmarks and visitor attractions – will turn the floodlights to green on St Patrick’s Day on 17 March 2011.

The green floodlights will be on from 20h00 until 12 midnight. The energy beeing used to illuminate the Berg in green will be green renewable energy. Happy St. Paddy's Day Capetonians!

Eurocontrol: Update on European air traffic situation on 17 May 2010

The ashcloud is back again. Some aiports in The Netherlands, namely Amsterdam's Schiphol, Rotterdam and Groningen airports, and in England, Northern Ireland and much of Scotland and Wales are currently closed. Dubin in the Rep. of Ireland is also closed.
EUROCONTROL, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, just published a press release saying: "The areas of ash concentration are mainly at low levels. During the course of the day, the current cloud is expected to disperse somewhat. By 14.00CET, the cloud is expected to mainly affect Northern Ireland, parts of Scotland and parts of south-west UK." [src.]
The dutch airports and Dublin are closed till 14.00CET, the London airports Gatwick & Heathrow, as well as Manchester, Liverpool und Leeds, are already open again.

Hostelworld: Party with St. Patrick in Dublin - NO BOOKING FEES for all entrants for the next 4 WEEKS!

Hostelworld.com is celebrating St. Patrick's Day with the Ultimate Prize worth €3000 that you could see you and 3 lucky friends flying to Dublin this St. Patrick's Day - the Real Home of the St. Patrick's Day Celebrations! Click here to enter the competition!

Your Prize:

• 4 return flights to Dublin from anywhere in the world
• 2 nights accommodation in a TOP Dublin hostel - Globetrotters Hostel on 16th & 17th March
• "Guest Blogger" slot on Hostelworld.com to share your experience with the world! Blog about your favourite Dublin Pub, your impressions of Dublin or the pot of gold that you found
• A Flip Video Camcorder to document your trip. Shoot videos from the Grandstand at the Parade, film your wild nights in the city or interview a leprechaun.
• 4 Grandstand tickets to St. Patrick's Day Parade - the best viewing point in the city
• 4 limited edition Hostelworld.com North Face Backpacks, incl. Lonely Planet Guides to Dublin and lots of Hostelworld.com top goodies.

NO BOOKING FEES for all entrants for the next 4 WEEKS!
| online accommodation booking |

Competition opens 23rd Feb 2010 and closes at 4.00pm GMT 8th March 2010. Winner will be chosen at random on 9th March 2010 and notified by email. View Terms & Conditions for more information.