Coonawarra wine brand Koonara closing down

It is farewell to Coonawarra wine brand Koonara, owned and operated by Dru and Nicole Reschke.

"There will be no more wine produced by Koonara Wines," the winery announced on social media.

"We have decided to put everything into SecuriCode, the company we co-founded to stop counterfeits.

"The codes are in test market and we have secured a seed grant, so we are going all in. That means no more vintages, including from our home block in Coonawarra.

"We have sold out of everything except our Golden Orb Piccolos, and they are the last Koonara wines there will ever be."

The Koonara wines have been made first by Peter Douglas, then by Pete Weinberg.

Securiode, the couple's new venture, has been described as "the world’s smallest phone-scannable anti-counterfeit code.”

The Koonara cellar door in Penola was shuttered earlier this year.

Founded in 1992, Koonara was the only organic-certified producer in Coonawarra. 

You can see a a farewell message: https://www.koonara.com/koonara_next_steps/ 

Meet an airport that serves three countries

Ever heard of an airport that serves three countries?

Meet EuroAirport Basel-Mulhouse-Freiburg, which offers links to Switzerland, France and Germany. 

It is a Franco-Swiss international airport located in the Alsace region of France and is the only binational airport in the world.

It is locaed 4.7 km west of the tripoint of the three nations and is 3.5km northwest of the city of Basel in Switzerland, 20km south-east of Mulhouse in France, and 46km south-southwest of Freiburg.

The airport is located completely on French soil but also has a Swiss customs border and is connected to Basel by a 2.5km long customs-free road, allowing air travellers access into Switzerland without undergoing a French customs check

It will offer 89 direct destinations across 31 countries this winter, news hub Travel Mole reports. 

The 2026-27 winter flight schedule took effect this weekend and will run through March 27, 2027. 

A total of 20 airlines will serve the airport, with most routes connecting travellers to European cities and Mediterranean destinations, including Croatia, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, France, the UK, Greece, Italy, Morocco, Portugal, Scotland, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey.

Passengers will also have access to connecting flights through major international hubs served by Air France in Paris, Austrian Airlines in Vienna, British Airways in London, KLM in Amsterdam, and Lufthansa in Frankfurt and Munich. 

Three destinations will be added to the winter network. Poznań in Poland will receive three weekly flights, while Varna in Bulgaria and Yerevan in Armenia will each have three and two weekly flights, respectively.

Wizz Air is expanding its presence by joining easyJet, GP Aviation and Chair Airlines on services to Pristina, Kosovo. It will also introduce Naples, Italy, to its network in March 2027.

Frequencies will increase on several existing routes, including Amsterdam, Bucharest, Lisbon, Marrakesh, Porto, Pristina and Skopje, giving travelers more options during the winter season.

Looking further ahead, Air Canada will introduce a new direct route between EuroAirport and Montreal on June 17, 2027. The service is scheduled to operate four times weekly using an Airbus A321XLR, complementing existing flights by Air Transat.

Montreal will provide passengers with onward connections across Canada and to destinations in the United States, expanding the airport’s transatlantic reach.

Sydney's summer cinema treat returns

One of Sydney's fun summer activities is returning in time for the summer holidays. 

Mov'in Bed Cinema is returning from December 4, but this time at a brand-new waterfront home at Pyrmont Bay Park. 

Organisers are promising "upgraded queen and king-size beds for even greater comfort" and boast that  Mov’in Bed "brings together the feeling of a cosy movie night at home with the excitement of going out". 

Movie nights can feature a giant 4K screen, noise-cancelling headphones, dinner and CASA Spirits cocktails served straight to your bed, all against the backdrop of Sydney Harbour. You can even bring a furry friend. 

The season kicks off with Christmas favourites including Home Alone, Elf and Love Actually, before welcoming Avengers: Doomsday, The Devil Wears Prada 2 and The Odyssey, "alongside cult classics and romantic favourites".

Tickets start from $13 sitting on the grass, with bed experiences from $47 per person. The cinema will run Wednesday to Sunday throughout summer. 

See https://movinbed.com/sydney/

Australia to Europe via Muscat and Helsinki?

There's an intriguing "slow travel" route from Australia to Europe for those who don't fancy direct flights as planned as part of Qantas' Project Sunrise. 

Oman Air and Finnair are expanding travel options between Europe, the Middle East and Australia through a new codeshare agreement that strengthens connections between Finland and Oman.

The two oneworld alliance members will offer travellers additional routes to Helsinki, Muscat and Melbourne, extending connectivity beyond their respective networks, news hub Travel Mole reports.

The agreement marks Oman Air’s first new codeshare partnership since joining oneworld in June 2025, as the Muscat-based carrier seeks to capitalize on its alliance membership and broaden its international reach.

Under the partnership, travellers will be able to connect to Helsinki through London Heathrow, where Oman Air operates 11 weekly flights from its Muscat hub. The agreement also covers Finnair-operated services from Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Munich, Zurich, Milan and Rome to Helsinki, Finnair’s home base.

The codeshare will also open up connections to Melbourne via Bangkok, where Oman Air operates twice-daily flights. 

Members of both airlines’ loyalty programs will benefit from oneworld recognition, including access to eligible tier privileges and service benefits throughout their journeys.

Rohan Patell, Oman Air’s head of partnerships and alliances, said the agreement represented an important step in maximizing the benefits of joining oneworld.

“Our entry into the oneworld alliance was an important milestone in Oman Air’s growth journey, and our partnership with Finnair represents an exciting next step in unlocking the full value of alliance membership,” Patell said.

Fredrik Wildtgrube, Finnair's senior vice president of alliances and airline partnerships, welcomed Oman Air customers on board, highlighting the new connections to Helsinki and opportunities to explore Finland.

The airlines said the agreement represents the first phase of a broader partnership, with both sides exploring further opportunities to expand their cooperation.

For Oman Air, the deal also supports efforts to attract more international visitors to the Sultanate.

Travelers can use Muscat as a stopover destination through the airline’s stopover program or extend their trips to discover Oman’s cultural heritage, varied landscapes and traditional hospitality.

Air Canada makes cuts as Canadians are still not keen on US travel

Canadians are steadfast in their refusal to vacation in the US with Air Canada withdrawing several US routes and suspending others through the winter and into summer 2027, as cross-border travel demand remains firmly below pre-pandemic levels.

Canadians have have declined to travel to their nearest neighbour as US President Donald Trump repeatedly insults and threatens them along with several other previous allies. 

The airline’s latest schedule changes come against amidst continuing weakness in Canadian travel numbers to the United States. 

Statistics Canada recorded 1.89 million return trips by Canadian residents from the US by air and automobile in September 2026, up 6.8% year on year but down about 29% compared with September 2024, news hub Travel Mole reports.

Air Canada will discontinue or suspend services to Detroit, Minneapolis, Indianapolis and New York JFK, while five additional routes have been removed from its summer 2027 schedule.

The winter changes include the suspension of Montreal–Detroit, Montreal–Minneapolis and Toronto–Indianapolis. Flights from Montreal and Toronto to New York JFK, suspended in June, will also not resume this winter. Toronto Billy Bishop–Boston is also scheduled to end on December 1, 2026, after launching in July.

Routes removed for summer 2027 include Montreal–Seattle, Toronto Billy Bishop–Boston, Toronto Pearson–Charleston, Vancouver–Nashville and Vancouver–Raleigh/Durham. 

Three seasonal Florida routes will also start later than originally planned. Ottawa-Fort Lauderdale, Montreal-Palm Beach and Quebec City-Orlando have been pushed back from October to December. 

Air Canada is nevertheless maintaining a substantial US operation. Its November schedule is expected to offer around 160 daily departures to the country, approximately 3% more than a year earlier, highlighting a strategy of reallocating capacity rather than totally abandoning the market.

Airbnb tells hosts to ease up on their demands

Remember how some Airbnb hosts used to demand that guests did a deep clean before they checked out? 

No more. 

Airbnb this week updated its global house rules policy to ban hosts from forcing guests to complete heavy check-out chores and ordered them to reduce surprise requests.

The company told hosts that starting November 20, they can choose from seven standard house rules and are “generally not allowed” to ask guests to wash dishes, strip beds, or take out the garbage, travel newsletter Skift reported.

Hosts who repeatedly violate the policy could face a notice on the listing, lower visibility in search results, or “other actions under our terms of service,” the policy says. Those can include cancelling bookings, removing Superhost or Guest Favorite status, or suspending the host’s account.

Hosts may still ask guests to place used dishes in the sink, put rubbish in designated indoor or animal-proof bins, and lock up. 

Reasonable requests/standard rules can include check-in/check-out times, quiet hours, pet restrictions, smoking rules, and guest limits. And local considerations like limiting shower time due to water restrictions may still apply. 

Guests are still expected to leave properties in a reasonable, tidy condition without excessive mess, stains, or damage.