Gscene Magazine Gscene - January 2013 | Page 16

16 DAILY NEWS UPDATES ON WWW.GSCENE.COM M A new airline, Brighton City Airways has been launched to fly twice-daily scheduled flights to Paris from Shoreham in Sussex. Shoreham Airport has been renamed Brighton (Shoreham) Airport to celebrate the new service. Tickets went on sale from December 1, 2012 with the first flights departing on March 6, 2013. The airline will fly into Paris Pontoise airport, which is close to central Paris, allowing passengers to reach the city centre within two hours of parking at Shoreham. Tickets cost from £69 one way, including taxes and charges. Neil Laughton, one of the two Sussex-based aviation experts, who have founded the airline, said: “This has long-term benefits for the local community too as there are many businesses in Sussex who can use this service on a regular basis and holiday makers or Paris day trippers can also make the most of travelling to and from Shoreham’s charming airport, where parking is easy and check in to take off takes just minutes.” Special features of the airline include a 15 minute check-in, no hidden fees, VIP lounge and service, easy local parking and the flight, which is in a 19-seat Let 410 commuter aircraft, takes one hour to reach Paris. Pontoise Airport is also conveniently close to La Défense business district of Paris, which is just 22 miles away. Ric Belfield, airport manager, said: “This is absolutely what we want to see at the airport, scheduled international travel bringing lots of people through our historic airport, which was the first licensed airfield in Britain. This has prompted us to rename the airport Brighton (Shoreham) Airport, to link it properly to our neighbouring city.” Flights to Paris in the spring can be booked straight away with a £20 deposit; the rest of the payment is only required two weeks before the flight date, with the opportunity to change names on the tickets for no charge. Passengers are advised to book early to benefit from the best prices. To book flights, view: www.brightoncityairways.com/cgi-bin/flightbooking MIAMI BEACH REYKJAVÍK M The Rainbow Chorus, the South's only LGBT-mixed choir, is looking for new members to continue to develop their exciting and vibrant sound. This diverse choir sings a range of music from contemporary melodies to choral classics. No matter what your vocal range, there is a place for you within their four sections from soprano to bass. They are an active performing choir and undertake two annual shows as well as participating in a number of community events, such as Trans Memorial Day (November 25), World AIDS Day (December 1) and their successful Christmas show Beaux & Belles. The Rainbow Chorus is a non-auditioning choir, they only ask that their LGBT members are passionate about singing and enjoy having a go! To find out if the choir is the place for you, go along to the new members night on 7.15pm, Monday January 14, a relaxed and informal evening where you can meet choir members, have a go and join in with the music. M Lucy Spraggan, one of last year's finalists in the X Factor has outsold former series winner Alexandra Burke and transatlantic r&b diva Kelis for their appearances at Revenge! Lucy performed a five song acoustic show at Club Revenge in Brighton last month, Thursday December 6, at the award-winning lesbian party, Girls On Top. Interest in her appearance was so high in the lead up to the event, that the Revenge online ticketing agents broke the club's record for pre-sale tickets, making Spraggan more popular than former XFactor winner, Alexandra Burke, who upset her fans by not taking the stage at last year’s Brighton Pride and US pop star Kelis. Speaking backstage after the gig, Spraggan heaped praise on her gay fan base. She said: “I loved every minute of it.” On the subject of who she thought would win the XFactor final? She said: “I just wish Jahmene and James all the best." She declined to offer her support to controversial contestant Christopher Maloney, after hesitating and referring to him instead as “the public's choice”. For backstage interview view: http://youtu.be/jQ4_7uk4P70 RAINBOW CHORUS MIAMI BEACH AND REYKJAVIK COMPLETE TO HOST THE 2017 WORLDOUTGAMES M The Gay & Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA), the governing body of the worldOutgames, have announced that Miami Beach in Florida, and Reykjavík in Iceland have been shortlisted to host the fourth worldOutgames in 2017. Daniel Vaudrin, GLISA co-president, made the announcement during a press conference for the 2013 Antwerp worldOutgames hosted jointly by the Prime Minister of Belgium, Elio Di Rupo and Guy Verhofstadt, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats in the European Parliament and former Prime Minister of Belgium. A spokesperson for GLISA said:“We have two amazing cities for our members to choose between at our selection meeting in Antwerp in February 2013. Both cities are very different from each other and each is equally exciting in its own way.” Unsuccessful bidding cities Denver, Rio de Janeiro and Rome were thanked for expressing interest in staging the event. A site inspection team will now visit both cities and prepare a report that will be presented to the members of GLISA. The final decision will take place in Antwerp, Belgium, in February 2013 when each city will be invited to present its bid to the members at a selection meeting. In order to be as inclusive as possible, members will be able to take part and vote by video and teleconference. The winning city will be announced at the conclusion of the meeting. For more information, view: www.glisa.org SING YOUR WAY INTO 2013 WITH BRIGHTON’S ONLY LGBT CHOIR LESBIAN X-FACTOR FINALIST DRAWS MORE CLUBBERS TO REVENGE THAN KELIS AND ALEXANDRA BURKE LUCY SPRAGGAN BRIGHTON CITY AIRWAYS NEW AIRLINE STARTS TWICE DAILY FLIGHTS TO PARIS FROM BRIGHTON AIRPORT The choir meets every Monday night at St George's Church, Kemptown, Brighton, BN2 1ED. New member, Nick, said: “I joined the choir just in time to prepare for the Christmas show. I've never done anything quite like this before and I'm really looking forward to the thrill of performing live with accompanying musicians. I never saw myself as a singer, but have always wanted to t