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Post by kevb on Mar 29, 2022 9:21:07 GMT
Report on one of the Skiathos facebopok groups about the possibility of a sea plane running from this June which would do
Volos - Skiathos - Skopelos - Alonissos - Skyros
This might open up the chance for more people to get to Skyros as it takes Athens out of the equation (or a long ferry trip). No idea of prices, might be prohibitive but in theory you could fly from UK to Skiathos, have a few days then fly on to Skyros and have a few days there, fly back to Skiathos for rest of holiday then direct flight home. As its a sea plane you could fly to Skopelos and Alonissos with no need for ferries but the cost would be pretty high per mile for those short journeys I imagine.
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Seaplane?
Mar 29, 2022 10:53:13 GMT
via mobile
Post by yorkshiremouth on Mar 29, 2022 10:53:13 GMT
Not as expensive as a private jet. :-)
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Mar 31, 2022 9:16:23 GMT
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Post by dennisn on Mar 31, 2022 9:24:24 GMT
My Greek isn’t up to that.
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Post by cariad23 on Mar 31, 2022 9:43:40 GMT
when you click on it Dennis at top of the page it says greek english click on English
we have had an hour of snow in Leicestershire this morning, melted now, i was in a t shirt in wales last weekend funny weather
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Post by dennisn on Mar 31, 2022 9:50:40 GMT
Not on mine it doesn’t. And I’m getting into my third day in bed with covid so right now I couldn’t care less. Still at least it’s my own bed, not a hospital ventilator.
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Post by cariad23 on Mar 31, 2022 9:59:43 GMT
hope youre better soon and vera doesnt get it. Just think what immunity you should have after it. Do you know who you got it from
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Post by dennisn on Mar 31, 2022 10:15:11 GMT
After a bad night I was positive Tuesday. Vera was negative then and Wednesday but positive this morning. I have no idea how I got it because we have continued to be careful, wearing masks everywhere and haven’t been anywhere much. Perhaps Toby Carvery last Saturday, perhaps restaurant for Mother’s Day meal last Sunday, but table was well distanced and we wore masks to enter and to toilets in both cases. Presumably it demonstrates how transmissible whatever variant it is, but we’ll never know because we’re not having PCR tests (even if we wanted to, how would we get one without driving somewhere?). it doesn’t seem to be affecting Vera as much as me, but that’s probably down to her attitude towards illness - it’s not allowed to bother her!!!
We’ve had to cancel our Spring Booster jabs for Wednesday. Grrr.
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Mar 31, 2022 11:46:36 GMT
Google translate (so don’t expect the standard expected by a UN diplomat).
Headline:
By speedboat the routes Thessaloniki - Sporades this summer but with a 15% increase in ticket prices compared to last year
Sub-head:
A special summer, which -until the previous forecasts-, estimated that it will significantly exceed that of 2019, was made by the tourism agents and the businessmen involved for the Sporades.
Main article:
The preparations of all were in line with expectations, since the expected world in the wonderful islands of the Sporades would exceed the numbers of 2019. However, everything will now depend on the developments in Ukraine.
This summer, despite the clouds on the international horizon, seems to be great for the three beautiful islands of the Sporades, as apart from the infrastructure, a leading factor - which always determines a lot - was mainly the shipping and secondarily the air, in terms of domestic Tourism.
Imported Tourism is clearly dominant with air flights and their fullness being the A and Z for each place.
However, the Sporades have had a major drawback for years. They did not have easy ferry access from the two major urban centers of the country and the routes were few, the ships small and old, the ports (except Volos) problematic and the fares more expensive proportionally than any other ferry line.
This year things are significantly improved with the addition of new ships, the approach to more ports, many internal connections between the islands and the finally appearance of the famous seaplanes in the area.
The port of Volosremains, of course, the most important of all and with daily services will continue to depart and travel the "Proteas" and "Express Skiathos" ferries of Blue Star Ferries, but the new large ferry "Sporades Star" is added to the line this year. (old "Azores Express") by SeaJets.
"Proteas" and "Sporades Star" will "moor" in Skiathos, Skopelos, Alonissos while they will also approach Mantoudi in Evia, for the convenience of Athenian travelers and the decongestion of Volos.
From Thessaloniki with continuous routes to all the islands, but also to Mantoudi, a large SeaJets speedboat will travel again this year, since last year the line was subsidized and about 30,000 passengers were transported.
From Agios Konstantinosof Lokrida ANES will launch again this year the small, but very helpful vehicle ferry "Symi II" that will approach Glyfa, Skiathos, Glossa and Mantoudi.
Another ferry connection with the ferry "Achilles" from Kymi of Evia will make the route to Skyros, Alonissos and Skopelos.
From Volos the islands will be served with the flying dolphin "Erato" with daily itineraries.
The big question in this tourist season is where the ferry tickets will reach, because especially the Sporades have been for many years, a very expensive destination.
As of March 20, all shipping companies have made significant increases in ticket prices. Typically, a single ticket with the "Express Skiathos" for Skiathos reached 30.5 from 25 last summer, while with the same ship for a single single transport of a private car the cost is 98 euros compared to 89. are the prices for Skopelos and Alonissos with an increase that exceeds 15% compared to last year.
Regarding ANES with "Proteas" for the route Volos-Skiathos, the ticket price will now amount to 24.5 euros, while for Skopelos to 26 euros. As far as "Proteas" is concerned, the transfer price of a car from Volos to Skiathos is now at 69 euros from 57, while for Skopelos and Alonissos at 75 euros.
Then this on seaplanes:
Apart from the ferry , however, seaplanes are entering the "battle" of transport for the first time this year. The effort is a very large undertaking with clearly high goals, since for Greece seaplanes will be an unprecedented through movement.
The managing director of "Hellenic Seaplanes-Seaplanes of Greece SA"Nikolas Charalambous told APE-MPE that "our plan is to start in the Sporades sometime in early June, since after huge difficulties we encountered on our way, the waterways in Volos, Skopelos, Alonissos and Skyros were finally licensed, while in Skiathos we will go to the airport at a higher cost.
It is optimistic that we have reached the point of planning our itineraries. We will fly daily from the port of Volos on the one hand with two circular itineraries Volos-Skiathos-Skopelos-Alonissos-Skyros-Volos and on the other hand with also a daily morning itinerary separately for each island. "
Mr. Charalambous also mentioned to APE-MPE that:
“ In addition to the Sporades, we will have seaplanes in the Ionian islands, since the issue of waterways is managed by OL Corfu, but also in the Cyclades with approaches to leeward areas such as Kalafatis in Mykonos.
The seaplanes in the Sporades will be either the 10-seater Cessna Caravan or the 19-seater Canadian-made Twin Otter, but of course everything will depend on the interest of travelers. At the same time, no one ignores the fact that the amount of the fare will play a leading role, since the circumstances do not facilitate the pricing of tickets from now on.”
The mayor of Skopelos , Stamatis Perissis, speaking to APE-MPE, stressed that "we wish and hope that the war stops and things calm down, so that this summer we are much better than any other year, because the messages show that. Transportation is improving and the arrival of seaplanes in the Sporades, after a "wait" of a decade is a very important element for Skopelos and the other islands, as new and wider horizons open for the place. The seaplanes will shorten the travel times, will bring new air connections and will move tourists who had difficulty with their ships ".
From Skiathos, the president of the Hoteliers Association Alekos Efstathiou expressed to APE-MPE the view that:
“ excellent so far, but the uncertainty and anxiety that exist due to international developments, creates a cloudy landscape and every day we see the cost of services increase in every sector and especially in the aviation market from very high prices. of fuel worldwide.
We can not ignore all this because entrepreneurs invest huge sums. This year in Skiathos two very large hotel units are opening their gates. The "Alkyon Resort" of the Derveni Group that exceeds 800 beds and the Radisson Plaza that adds 250 beds to the potential of the island.
Another great factor is the upgrade in coastal shipping as well as in seagoing. The long-awaited arrival of the seaplanes may change the tourist map in the Sporades for the better. As for the flights, they seem to be multiple and the airport has a high occupancy of aircraft parking.”
Hope that helps.
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Post by dennisn on Mar 31, 2022 11:57:05 GMT
Thank you.
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Post by cariad23 on Apr 2, 2022 9:33:10 GMT
how are you feeling now Dennis, at least if youve had it now youre not likely to get just before your june holiday
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Post by yorkshiremouth on Apr 2, 2022 10:21:58 GMT
how are you feeling now Dennis, at least if youve had it now youre not likely to get just before your june holiday I hate to bring bad (well, mixed) tidings, but I wouldn't be absolutely sure of that, but it is complicated. Since the beginning of the pandemic the UK has seen almost a million registered re-infections - I think the figure is 800,000+, but there are likely to be far more than those registered. Specifically with Omicron, re-infections are currently rare, though it's not been with us very long. The (very) early signs are that, if you've had vanilla Omicron (BA.1) you have some protection from being re-infected with BA.2, and probably a lot, but not quite as much. And it's likely this fades over time. Can you be re-infected with BA.2? Too early to say. To be fair, it's looking promising from the limited data available, but nothing is certain. But just a quick reminder, because time flies by so fast: - We've had the Alpha (London) variant in December 2020. - We've had the Beta (South African) variant, which actually appeared earlier, but wasn't listed as a variant of concern until January 2021. - Immediately followed by Gamma (South African) January 2021. - We've had Delta (Indian) named in May 2021. - Then Omicron (South Africa again) November 2021. - And finally, whilst BA.2 appeared at the same time as Omicron BA.1, it didn't take over until the end of January. That 6 variants or sub-variants in 16 months, or 1 every 2.5 months. Dennis is booked in for the end of June, that's almost 3 months away. So I wouldn't count on 'wot Dennis has had' guaranteeing protection against 'wot's going around' in late June. Okay, okay, here's the good news. Whilst there are no guarantees, in ALL of the above cases, both prior-infection AND vaccination has offered at least some protection against re-infection, and LOTS of protection against severe illness. Dennis, you'll still have plenty of time to get your booster. You need to wait 4 weeks from when symptoms started, or (if no symptoms) when you tested positive. As you had symptoms from Tuesday 29th (or was it earlier?), you can have your booster from Tuesday 26th April. That's plenty of time for the booster to completely kick in before you go. Having had 4 jabs and a prior infection you'll be super-protected. But for now, I just hope you get better soon from this one, speedily, and with the minimum of discomfort. |
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Post by dennisn on Apr 2, 2022 12:12:45 GMT
I may read all that some day when I get better. YM, your signature isn't working on here, use Tickerfactory instead.
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Post by katet on Apr 3, 2022 10:40:30 GMT
Sorry to hear you and Vera have Covid, Dennis - I'm just recovering from it, started about a week and a half ago. I haven't felt poorly though - just had a sinus-y cold. In fact, I thought it was hay fever for the first few days, so didn't bother to test, but then drove for a pcr and it was positive.
Hope you feel much better soon xx
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Post by dennisn on Apr 3, 2022 10:51:40 GMT
Mine was worse than man flu - gentlemen will understand, ladies will not. I took to my bed for three days and didn’t eat, just kept a glass in the bathroom and drank water frequently. Partially rose on the fourth day, whereupon Vera tested positive. I hoped mine would go away by now, but we’ve both tested positive again this morning. At least today I think I might manage to be civil to people, which I wasn’t previously.
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