Major Airlines of the World Return to Cretan Airports
“Flying back to Crete”
Two
of the largest airlines in the world return this summer to Crete, along with other airline companies, proving that our island is one of the most popular destinations in the world.
British Airways After 30 years of absence, British Airways returns to Crete. The first flight of the new route arrived to Heraklion at 1pm on April 26, bringing 120 BA passengers from Gatwick to the island. Tourists were welcomed with traditional Cretan food and drinks. BA has scheduled four flights a week – every Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday until 23 October but with the option to continue till the middle of November. Britain is the second biggest tourist market for Crete, with Germany first. Heraklion, was added to BA’s other new routes to Mykonos, Santorini and Thessaloniki and is expected to become one of BA’s most popular destinations
in Greece. The new route is the result on several year’s effort by local organisations and the region of Crete who have been trying to encourage BA back. “Heraklion provides easy access to some of the island’s most popular holiday destinations, but the vibrant city center is not to be overlooked. Heraklion ticks all of the shopping, dining
and sightseeing boxes of a city break. While the surrounding resorts will entice you with their stunning coastlines, embrace the glorious beaches by day and vibrant nightlife by night,” British Airways highlighted. Lufthansa The airlines of the Lufthansa Group are the first choice for holidaymakers and
leisure travelers. Lufthansa and Austrian Airlines will be expanding their flight program to attractive tourist destinations this summer. Another new sunny destination is Heraklion on Crete, the largest Greek island. Every Saturday, Lufthansa will be flying to Crete in almost three hours from Munich with an Airbus A320. All the holiday resorts and hotels on the 260 km long and 60 km wide island can be reached quickly from there. Crete offers visitors more than 1,000 km of coastline, with for mor e news click on countless coves and beach- http ://cretepost.gr es. The flight to one of the sunniest islands in the Mediterranean can be booked from EUR 129. “Greece has always been a key market in the region, proving that even in a difficult financial environment, numbers remain strong and show positive signs of even better results,” said Lufthansa in an official announcement.
Wallcliffe Road at the entrance to the township, is a little piece of Greece on the Western Australian coast. It was built by Geoffrey Edwards as a permanent reminder of the debt of gratitude owed to the Cretan people by the Allied soldiers who fought on Crete during the war. The church was completed in 1979. There is a plaque on the building which explains: ‘This symbolic Greek Orthodox chapel was given to the Greek people by Geoff and Beryl Edwards who founded the adjoining village and named it Prevelly as a token of gratitude to the Prevelly Monastry and surrounding villages on Crete, where after the Battle of Crete in 1941 the founder and hundreds of
Australian and New Zealand and British soldiers were sheltered, hidden and helped to escape to the free world.’ In August 1941, Geoffrey Edwards of Armadale, Western Australia, was evacuated from Crete on the HMS Thrasher, and vowed never to forget the Greek people and, in particular, the monks of the Holy Monastery of Preveli for saving his and other Allied troops lives from the 2/11th Infantry Battalion during the Battle of Crete. The monastery was a rallying point at the time for British, New Zealand and Australian soldiers who escaped from prisoner of war camps. After Edwards escaped capture, a shepherd led him to the safety of the Preveli cloisters, which overlooked the Libyan Sea, from where
he was later liberated. Determined to memorialise his experiences in Crete, he began construction on the Saint John the Theologian chapel at Prevelly Park over 35 years after his escape, dedicating it to the Greek people as a token of his gratitude, especially Agathangelos Lagouvardos, the head monk of the Preveli Monastery and the many villagers from surrounding areas who did so much for Allied servicemen during that time. It stands as a permanent monument to remind those who visit, regardless of ethnic background, of the debt and gratitude owed to the Cretan people by the allied soldiers who fought during the Battle of Crete. neoskosmos.com
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St John the Theologian Church, on
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A little piece of Crete on the Western Australian coast