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Budget airline easyJet may be best known for its no-frills flights but bosses say its luxury arm is doing a roaring trade – and have even taken one booking for nearly £100,000

Budget airline easyJet’s new luxury holiday arm is booming – with one getaway costing a cool £100,000.

The carrier has launched an offshoot for customers who are happy to fly no-frills to their destination, and spend the money saved on a top-end hotel instead.

Garry Wilson, boss of easyJet Holidays, told the Mirror it was taking hundreds of high end bookings a week.

The average booking is £3,000, compared with around £800 for the firm’s other package holidays. But Mr Wilson revealed the most expensive booking it has had so far was worth £97,000 for a group of 13 people.

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EasyJet Holidays, a fast growing arm of the airline, launched a new Luxury Collection in October last year, described as “a market-leading proposition comprising five-star holidays designed for travellers seeking ultra luxury experiences.”

Around 100 “world renowned hotels” are on offer, all with a minimum 4.5 rating on Google and Tripadvisor.

Customers also get 26kg luggage allowance and a dedicated bag drop, fast-track security, speedy boarding and pre-selected seating for a smoother airport experience.

And whereas ordinary easyJet passengers have to make their own way when they arrive at their destination, those booking a luxury break are whisked from the airline to their hotel by premium private transfers.

EasyJet Holidays only launched in 2019 but has already grown to three million customers a year and 10% of the market.

“It is really resonating with customers,” said Mr Wilson, about the new luxury arm. He went on: “If you were to say to a customer on the street describe an easyJet holiday hotel, they will not say five star. Customers are getting really good value in the best hotels.”

Mr Wilson said the launch also made sense because customers were often booking an easyJet flight, especially if flying a regional airport, and then the hotel separately.

The Luxury offering is currently only available to UK customers but will be rolled out to Europe next year.

City’s goalscoring burden has fallen mostly on the broad shoulders of star striker Erling Haaland this season, with the Norway international netting 39 goals in 34 games for club and country.

But the prolific frontman has hit a sticky patch of late, scoring just once in his past six games and last scoring from open play against West Ham on 20 December.

Playing as a wideman mostly from the right, Semenyo’s proficiency in front of goal for Bournemouth has him on 10 Premier League goals so far this season, sitting third on the top-flight scoring charts behind new team-mate Haaland and Brentford’s Igor Thiago.

Haaland can not only expect a new avenue of goalscoring service – as showcased by Semenyo’s assist against Exeter – but that weight of finding the net can now be shared with a player who scored a total of 32 goals for the Cherries.

Semenyo adds a versatility to City by being able to play anywhere in the front three, enhancing the options available to manager Pep Guardiola.

The Ghanaian’s speed, direct running and cool finishing has already been displayed in Manchester this season, with a brilliantly taken goal against United at Old Trafford in the chaotic 4-4 draw.

Guardiola will be hoping his newest recruit can provide that sort of anarchy and unpredictability alongside the craft and vision of Phil Foden and the magic of Rayan Cherki in the final third.

City captain Bernardo Silva said: “He looks not just a very good player but also a very good guy, which fits right in with the team.

“He is a fantastic guy who wants to help us. Hopefully he can keep going.”

Jan. 6 (UPI) — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado praised U.S. President Donald Trump for ousting former President Nicolas Maduro, calling it a giant achievement for humanity, for which Trump should rightly receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

“Jan. 3 will go down in history as the day justice defeated tyranny. It’s a milestone, and it’s not only huge for the Venezuelan people and our future, I think it’s a huge step for humanity, for freedom, and human dignity,” Machado told Fox News on Monday night.

She said Trump’s action to begin dismantling Maduro’s “narco-terrorist regime,” bringing him to justice, and with it, bringing democracy within reach for 30 million Venezuelans, proved beyond doubt that he deserved the Nobel Peace Prize, said Machado, herself the recipient of this year’s peace prize.

However, she issued a warning to the Trump administration that the woman who was sworn in as Maduro’s replacement, interim president Delcy Rodriguez, was not to be trusted, accusing her of being “one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption, narco-trafficking,” in Venezuela.

“She’s a main ally and liaison of Russia, China, Iran, certainly not an individual who could be trusted by international investors and she’s really rejected by the Venezuelan people.”

Trump said Monday night that Rodriguez was cooperating with his administration but insisted there had been no deal with any individuals or group inside Venezuelan to take down Maduro.

He said there was no communication with Rodríguez prior to Friday night’s military operation to capture Maduro, adding that a decision was imminent on whether earlier sanctions imposed on her would remain in place.

He also strongly denied that his preference for Rodriguez had anything to do with the fact he beleived the peace prize should have gone to him, rather than Machado.

The Wall Street Journal repored Monday that Trump determined Rodriguez and other members of Maduro’s inner circle were best placed to head a transition administration and keep stability in Venezuela in the event Maduro lost power, based on a CIA intelligence assessment of various scenarios.

The classified report was, in part, responsible for Trump’s decision to support Maduro’s vice president over Machado.

Publicly, he has said she lacked sufficient “support” and “respect” in her home country, despite the fact that Machado won the presidential primary in December 2023, but was barred from running by Maduro.

Machado was replaced on the ballot by Edmundo Gonzales, who is widely regarded to have won the presidency by most Western countries.

Machado, who is in Norway after being smuggled out of Venezuela in December to travel to Oslo to collect her award, vowed to return to Venezuela as soon as possible and that her opposition movement, which had the 2024 election stolen from it by Maduro, wanted the transition to democracy to move forward.

“We won an election by a landslide under fraudulent conditions. In free and fair elections, we will win over 90% of the votes, I have no doubt about it,” said Machado.

However, Trump quashed speculation that elections could be held as soon as next month, saying Venezuela had to be fixed first.

“You can’t have an election. There’s no way the people could even vote. No, it’s going to take a period of time. We have — we have to nurse the country back to health,” said Trump.

A British travel expert has shared the location of what she believes to be the most beautiful place on Earth, advising others of five things to know before planning a visit to the breathtaking scenery

Following her visit to what she hailed as the “most beautiful place on Earth”, a travel expert has compiled a list of five essential pointers for anyone wanting to experience this breathtaking destination themselves. Emma Ansley Knight turned to TikTok after returning from the Brazil-Argentina border in South America, describing her journey as “such a bucket list moment”.

“Literally felt a tear come down my face when I stood over the Devil’s Throat waterfall for the first time,” she added. “Just amazing how powerful nature can be.” She went on to explain that the Brazilian side of her destination offers roughly a 1.5km walk with “beautiful panoramic views” of the cascades, which she suggests tackling first.

“Someone said that from the Brazilian side you can see the falls, and from the Argentinian side you can feel the falls, which I thought was a great way of describing it,” Emma said. The Argentinian side is quite different, however, featuring multiple walking routes and providing more of a “full day experience”, she added.

Her destination? Iguazu Falls. Also referred to as Iguaçu Falls, it sits on the Iguazu River and forms part of the world’s largest waterfall network.

“If you want to see the falls at their absolute fullest, you are best off going in the rainy season, which is roughly between November and March,” Emma advised.

“We went in December and just before that it had rained so much that the flow of the falls was five times higher than usual.”

She went on to describe the Devil’s Throat, the most impressive cascade at Iguazu Falls. “You can see the water thundering down it from the Brazilian side,” she said.

“And on the Argentinian side, you can head along a walkway and stand pretty much right at the top of it – and wow, what an experience that was.”

Regarding accommodation options, Emma outlined several choices. “On the Brazil side, you have Foz do Iguaçu, which is where we stayed. And on the Argentina side there’s Puerto Iguazu – and if your budget allows, you can even stay in the National Park itself.”

Emma concluded by reminding visitors that crossing from one side of the falls to the other requires passing through border control, meaning you must make sure you have your passport with you.

Iguazu National Park achieved UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1986 due to its exceptional natural splendour. Its website advises: “The semicircular waterfall at the heart of this site is some 80m high and 2,700m in diameter and is situated on a basaltic line spanning the border between Argentina and Brazil.

“Made up of many cascades producing vast sprays of water, it is one of the most spectacular waterfalls in the world. The surrounding subtropical rainforest has over 2,000 species of vascular plants and is home to the typical wildlife of the region: tapirs, giant anteaters, howler monkeys, ocelots, jaguars and caymans.”

To get to the destination from Brazil, you can catch a flight from either Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro to the local airport, Aeropuerto Internacional de Foz do Iguaçu. The journey from Rio takes roughly two hours, while flights from Sao Paulo shave off about 15 minutes.

Alternatively, if you’re travelling from Buenos Aires in Argentina, you can fly directly to the Aeropuerto Internacional de Puerto Iguazu. This flight is slightly quicker, clocking in at around one hour and 50 minutes.