TIANJIN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Hanfu, the traditional Chinese attire, has seen a strong comeback in recent years, especially among young people. Xinhua correspondents attended a traditional flower festival in Tianjin to talk to some Hanfu enthusiasts. #GLOBALink

Courtesy of the Publicity Department of Hongqiao District in Tianjin,

and China Tianjin Radio and TV Station (TJTV)

Produced by Xinhua Global Service

According to the administration of the Air Astana, company Air Astana has switched to its 2023 spring-summer schedule.

From the summer period, the flights between Tbilisi and Almaty will be operated daily.

As of June starts a seasonal service between Batumi and Almaty 5 times a week and Tbilisi-Astana 3 times a week on a comfortable Airbus A320/A321.

"Air Astana has switched to a spring-summer operating schedule effective from 26th March to 29th October 2023and during this period will steadily increase the number of international flights.

Services from Almaty to Antalya (Turkey) will be increased to ten flights a week, whilst those from Astana will increase to seven services a week. Almaty to Tbilisi (Georgia) services will be increased by seven flights a week, those from Astana to Tbilisi increased by three flights a week. Almaty to Tashkent (Uzbekistan) up to fourteen flights a week and Astana-Tashkent to five flights a week. Almaty to London service will be increased up to five times a week, and Almaty to Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) to nine flights a week. In addition to a weekly flight to Chengdu, Air Astana will serve Beijing daily from Almaty and up to twice a week from Astana. Almaty to Istanbul will be served eleven flights a week, whilst those from Astana up to seven flights a week and from Atyrau three flights a week. Services from Almaty to Baku (Azerbaijan) and Dushanbe (Tajikistan) will be increased to up to four flights per week.

The spring-summer operating schedule also includes the relaunch of seasonal services between Almaty to Bodrum (Turkey) and Heraklion (Greece), as well as those from Almaty and Astana to Podgorica (Montenegro), operating three times a week, and from Almaty to Batumi (Georgia) operating five times a week. Air Astana will also continue operating direct daily flights to Thailand with three times a week flights from Almaty to Bangkok and four times to Phuket.

Detailed flight schedule information and ticket purchase can be undertaken at the Air Astana website, ticketing offices, call-center and IATA accredited travel agencies" - reported in a company press release. 

С летнего периода рейсы будут выполняться ежедневно между Тбилиси и Алматы. Об этом сообщает администрация компании Air Astana.

По данным ведомства, также с июня будут возобновлены сезонные рейсы Батуми-Алматы, и Тбилиси-Астана. Рейсы между Батуми и Алматы будут выполняться 5 раз в неделю, кроме среды и вторника, между Тбилиси и Астана 3 раза в неделю каждую среду, четверг и воскресенье.

Полеты будут выполняться на комфортабельном авиалайнере Airbus А320/A321. 

В 2022 году группа компаний Air Astana перевезла 7,35 млн пассажиров, что на 11% больше, чем в 2021 году. Это самый высокий показатель за всю 20-летнюю историю авиакомпании. По сравнению с допандемийным 2019 годом, общий рост числа пассажиров составил 44%. Пассажиропоток бюджетного подразделения FlyArystan увеличился на 366%, составив 3,25 млн человек.

В период с 2023 по конец 2025 года ожидается поставка 29 самолетов семейства Airbus 320 и Boeing 787».

Eighteen photographers – three each from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine – have been shortlisted for the EU NEIGHBOURS EAST – FOTOFESTIWAL photo contest around the theme of ‘family connections’.

The 18 finalists have been invited to the Georgian capital Tbilisi, where six winners – one from each country – will be announced at a gala awards event on 31 March, taking home a prize of €1,000 each. 

From a total of more than 400 applications, the team of five top international judges eventually drew up the shortlist of three photographers from each country.

The competition invited photographers to submit a set of between 8 and 20 photographs with their personal interpretations around the theme of ‘family connections’: how does family connect us to our roots, culture, traditions, attitudes and future? Which connections define a family and make us belong? How do these connections adapt to changing worlds, technology, conflict, love and loss?

Each shortlisted entry has a special page on the EU NEIGHBOURS EAST website, where you can view the selected photo stories. The 18 shortlisted photographers are:

Armenia

Nazik Armenakyan – My War (Fragmentary Experience)

Mane Hovhannisyan – Fabula

Hrant Khachatryan – New Born

Azerbaijan

Orkhan Azimov – Remote from Education

Aziz Karimov – Azerbaijan Implements Measures to Tackle the Coronavirus Outbreak

Ilkin Yagubov – Interlacement

Belarus

Pasha Kritchko – Belarusian connections

Veranika Maliauka – Memories of home

Tatsiana Tkachova – Motherland

Georgia

Natela Grigalashvili – The Final Days of Georgian Nomads

Ekaterine Kolesnikova – Morning Comes Too Soon

Tako Robakidze – ‘Peacekeepers‘

Moldova

Maria Gutu – Homeland

Ramin Mazur – Left Bank

Katerina Shosheva – Sem’ya

Ukraine

Artem Humilevskyi – Roots

Olena Morozova – Granny

Marysia Myanovska – Oh, brother, where art thou?

The contest is organised by the EU NEIGHBOURS EAST programme, in partnership with Fotofestiwal. EU NEIGHBOURS EAST is an EU-funded regional communication programme that raises awareness of the European Union, its policies and support projects in its Eastern Neighbourhood. Fotofestiwal was established in 2001 as a collective of professionals working with photography, and has since grown into one of the most significant photographic festivals in Europe.