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Month: March 2021

Rare car auction set to pull in millions

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/03/2021

Bonhams auction house is organising a sale of rare and exceptional automobiles next month in Monaco, including a 1936 Delahaye 135 with an estimated value of €1 million.
Bonhams is hosting the car lover’s dream sale of unique cars, called Les Grandes Marques á Monaco, on 23rd April.
Some of the highlights are a 1936 Delahaye 135 S Competition Court racing car known as “Blue Buzz II” which participated in endurance races in the 1930’s, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The French-made Delahaye was one of the best racing cars of the pre-war era and notably had the first female motorsport team owner, Irish-American Heiress Lucy Schell, a rarity even today. This particular car, once owned by Schell herself, is estimated at somewhere between €800,000 and €1 million.
Also on the block is a 1949 Simca Barchetta valued between €190,000 and €240,000. Created by racing driver Jean Estager, he transformed a Simca Eight into an elegant race car with a 1086cc engine made by Simca’s Roger Deho and a chassis handcrafted by Milanese coachmaker Motto.
A 1947 Cisitalia D46 Monoposto is also up for sale. Estimated at €150,000 to €200,000, this Italian brand was founded by industrialist Piero Dusio who counted among the pilots of his team big names like Nuvolari, Ascari and Chiron.

Photo of the 1991 Isdera Imperator 108i, estimate €500,000 – €700,000, source: Bonhams

 
For those with slightly more modern tastes, a rare 1991 Isdera Imperator 108i is going under the gavel with an estimated value of between €500,000 and €700,000. The design was considered futuristic when it was first experimentally debuted by Mercedes in the 1970s. Engineer Eberhard Schulz led the design team who built this prototype with its distinctive “butterfly doors”. Only 30 of these cars were ever made.
The Bonhams Monaco sale will be staged as a live and online auction on 23rd April at the Fairmont Monte-Carlo.
 
Top photo of the 1936 Delahaye 135 S Compétition Court racing car, known as ‘Buzz II’, source: Bonhams
 
 

BeMed announces 2021 projects list

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/03/2021

As part of Monaco Ocean Week, Beyond Plastic Med, an initiative created by the Prince Albert II Foundation, has revealed the 12 new projects that it will support in 2021 to reduce plastic pollution in the Mediterranean.
The Beyond Plastic Med (BeMed) programme aims to reduce and find alternatives to plastic use, improve waste collection, raise awareness, engage stakeholders and implement regulations in the Mediterranean, one of the world’s most plastic-polluted seas.
After working hard to reduce the use of single use plastics in recent years, the health crisis reversed much of this good work through the necessity of using disposable gloves and masks. This has clearly been done to slow the spread of a deadly virus, but the impact on an already serious environmental problem has been worsened.
BeMed and their partners, MAVA Foundation, Surfrider Europe Foundation, Tara Océan Foundation and IUCN, work to fight plastic pollution by working with people in the field and those who are affected most.
The 12 new micro-projects will emanate from nine countries. They include an initiative in Tunisia for awareness raising, research and implementation of alternatives to plastic in the agricultural sector. Bakeries in the country will now use alternatives to plastic bags thanks to the Association for Coastal Protection in Bizerte, while environmental clubs will be set up in primary schools in Nabeul to educate children and kickstart recycling practices.
In Montenegro, the project involves an improved waste collection system in the Ulcinj region, support for local businesses in their search for alternatives to plastic, and a mobilisation of local environmental organisations. There is also a new NGO called Green Life that will focus on cleaning and characterising waste found on the seabed in the Ulcinj region to raise awareness and engage the public and municipalities.
Meanwhile in Greece, a low-tech machine is being used to transform plastics collected at sea into recycled everyday objects at the Skopelos Dive Centre. There is also a project to measure the level of marine pollution and share this information among the general public and tourists.
In Malta, Association Tatavaka is looking for support among stakeholders and municipalities to implement a waste management plan on two Croatian islands.
In Albania, Association Doctor Vet in Community is working on awareness raising, research and the implementation of alternatives to plastic in the agricultural sector.
Spain’s Menorca Preservation Fund is tasked with creating an inventory of single use plastic consumption habits in Menorca and the implementation of a ‘Plastic Free Balearics Certification’ in local businesses.
MareVivu in France will share its assessment of the recyclability rate of plastic waste to raise awareness among the public, schools and decision-making bodies on the importance of reducing our consumption of single-use plastics. Meanwhile, UMR MARBEC is undertaking a scientific study to better understand the micro-plastic pollution caused by shellfish farming practices and raise awareness among stakeholders.
 
Photo by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation
 
 

Princess’ foundation backs head injury campaign

by: Cassandra Tanti
25/03/2021

The Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation will be one of the key supporters of the Love of the Game 2021 Hakathon, a new campaign to find solutions to mitigate the risk of head injuries in sports.
Love of the Game is being led by its President Simon Shaw, MBE, a former English rugby player, and will run 26th to 28th March.
It seeks to unite the fields of sport, technology, science, academia and business to identify, invest and implement innovative solutions that will mitigate the health risks arising in sports, whether team or individual, contact or non-contact.
“As an organisation which champions sport in children’s lives, we are delighted to welcome the Princess Charlene of Monaco Foundation as a key supporter in our mission to protect the sports we love for our future athletes,” said Simon Shaw MBE, President of Love of the Game. “Sport has the power to bring people together, across all levels. Together we have an opportunity to make real, positive and long-lasting change that will protect the sports we love and the players of all ages who play them, without the fear of sustaining potentially damaging head injuries. We look forward to working together and developing solutions that will enable everyone to fulfil their sporting dreams.”
The Hakathon aims to bring the brightest minds across the design (both user experience and product), developer and engineering worlds together with amateur and professional sports people, academics and researchers in the sport health fields, to create solutions that prevent, diagnose and treat head injuries and concussion within sports.
During the virtual two and a half day event, Hakathon participants will connect with and form cross-disciplinary teams, combining their knowledge to create innovations that have real-world applications that will improve the lives of those that love and play sports.
Monaco Life with press release. Photo by Quino Al on Unsplash
 
 
 
 

Nice airport turnover halved in pandemic year

by: Stephanie Horsman
25/03/2021

French Riviera airports suffered losses of €132 million in 2020 after accommodating only a quarter of their normal international flights due to the global pandemic.
Airports of the Côte d’Azur, of which Nice Côte d’Azur is the largest, revealed on Thursday a “very significant” 55% decrease in turnover in 2020, totalling €132 million. The dramatic losses came amidst the Covid pandemic and the accompanying travel restrictions which saw a 50.9% drop in domestic passenger flights and a massive 77.7% reduction in international flights.
From March of last year, the airport group responded to the crisis and was able to keep all three airports under its umbrella fully operational – Nice Côte d’Azur, Golfe Saint-Tropez and Cannes Mandelieu. The company was able to do this through some fiscal cuts that included partial furloughs followed by a long-term reduced activity agreement with unions as well as an agreement from shareholders to waive dividends from the 2019 fiscal year.
But despite the cuts, the group suffered significant losses.
“Of course, the group’s financial results are clearly not great, but without the commitment and the sense of responsibility shown by our colleagues, they could have been much worse,” said Franck Goldnadel, Chairman of the Board of Aéroports de la Côte d’Azur. “This feeling of belonging to a group is one of our main markers, and it’s one of the key factors that explains how, despite the stormy circumstances, we have been able to keep up with our investments in infrastructure maintenance, safety and security, and our environment strategy.”
In addition to the revenue losses, the airports incurred several unexpected costs, primarily those involving the implementation of new public health systems to ensure passenger safety, as well as the need to comply with the latest regulations passed down from the government.
This was coupled with investments made in environmental protections as part of the company’s overall plan to reduce carbon emissions to zero by 2030.
“While the group has survived the unprecedented crisis of 2020, and is to continue in its work in 2021, our responsibility towards the region, in our capacity as airport managers, is to do our best to ensure that our commitments to protecting and respecting the environment are not compromised, at any cost. We consider ourselves to be the airport of the future and in this light, we must be role models in our sector and do all we can to delineate and embody this model: that of a high-performance airport, one that is safe and carbon-neutral by 2030,” added the chairman.
 
 
 

Monaco is officially a “sister” of Dolceacqua

by: Stephanie Horsman
25/03/2021

The Municipal Council of Monaco voted unanimously this week to officially twin with the charming Italian mountain village of Dolceacqua.

It solidifies a long-standing and historical relationship between the municipalities and was done according to the wishes of both Monaco Mayor Georges Marsan and Dolceacqua Mayor Fulvio Gazzola.

The plans for twinning date back to 3rd November 2020 when a delegation from the Italian village visited the Principality and a joint letter of intent was sent to Prince Albert II to ask his permission. Two days later, the Prince approved the initiative and plans to make the twinning official were underway.

In recent years, the two municipalities have fostered the bonds that tie them both geographically and historically. Doria Castle in Dolceacqua renamed a reception room as the Doria-Grimaldi Room, for example. There was also an exhibition in the Sainte Dévote Church displaying Antoine Bréa’s 1517 triptych and where the title of “Honorary Citizen” was conferred by the Municipality of Dolceacqua on HSH Prince Albert II.

“The twinning will have the mission of strengthening solidarity, fraternal and privileged links while promoting exchanges in fields as varied as heritage, culture and art, tourism and gastronomy as well as sport through associative support,” said the Mairie in a statement. “Initiatives in the fields of the environment, sustainable development and climate change will be encouraged, as will cooperation in the teaching of vernacular languages.”

After the necessary paperwork to finalise the “sister” cities is completed, a celebration will be held and is currently set for 3rd November 2023. The date is significant in that 3rd November is also the same day as the swearing-in of the trustees of Dolceacqua, Apricale, Isolabona and Perinaldo in Monaco in 1523. The ceremony was held in the Orange Garden of the Grimaldi Palace with Augustin Grimaldi, Bishop of Grasse and Lord of Monaco in attendance.

Monaco is also twinned with two other cities: Lucciana, Corsica since 2009 and Ostend, Belgium since 1958.

 

Airline industry experts to unite in Monaco

by: Stephanie Horsman
25/03/2021

The forceful impact of the global pandemic on airline travel will be a hot topic at this year’s World Connect airline conference, set to be held at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel and Resort later this year.

It was announced this week that the 12th APG’s World Connect airline conference will be held in Monaco this year from 27th to 29th October.

Jean Louis Baroux President of APG World Connect was delighted to share the good news, saying, “It is in a context of an extremely complicated health crisis for the world economy, and in particular for air transport, that we are very happy to announce the next APG World Connect at the end of October 2021 in Monaco.”

World Connect is the premiere airline distribution conference in the industry. Attended by almost 500 senior representatives from the airline industry including around 100 senior airline managers, representatives of global travel groups as well as many other senior representatives from different sectors of the aviation, the conference will take stock of the current global air travel situation.

Speakers will be gathering to talk about the industry in general, but primarily to talk about the impact the global pandemic has had on air travel.

“It will be slow and difficult, but I am sure it will rise from the ashes,” an optimistic Baroux said. “The theme chosen this year is the reconquest of our industry. To restore air transport to its fair value, to explain that the airplane is useful economically, socially, and humanely.”

Speakers will include heavyweights such as Tewolde Gebremariam, President of Ethiopian Airlines and Patrick Ky CEO of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency.