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Day: 17 September 2021

Monaco 'gazelles' racing in desert for children’s charity 

by: Stephanie Horsman
17/09/2021

The all-women rally car race Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc is featuring two local racers driving their electric car in support of Monaco Liver Disorder association, a charity which raises awareness about children with rare, serious medical conditions.

Monaco’s representatives for the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc, Lise Largilliere and Manal Faxelle, are seriously tough cookies. These local ladies are signed up to drive a Zoe electric car in the 30th edition of the all-female off-road desert race through southern Morocco that brings together women aged 18 to 70 in a gruelling contest where winners are determined not by time, but by plotting the shortest route to the finish.  

The women will put themselves to the test for a good cause, the Monaco Liver Disorder (MLD) association, which supports research to help scientists overcome serious, sometimes fatal diseases, raise awareness about organ donation and to improve paediatric hospital services to better support families of sick children.

The drivers will be raising money for the charity, created in 2011 with Princess Charlene as Honorary President, under their e-car team number 500 in order to renovate the three paediatric departments of Archet II Hospital in Nice. The monumental task will improve the facilities for the hospital’s neonatal department, the neonatal resuscitation department and the paediatric oncohematology department.

The primary focus will be the creation of common rooms for the children in hospital, as well as for parents, the construction of a caregiver’s kitchen and the building of two protected units for the most vulnerable. Additionally, the project will equip a dozen rooms with en-suite facilities and space so that parents can comfortably stay overnight with their children with all possible comforts.

After an official send-off in Nice on Saturday, the cars head to the port city of Sète where they embark on a ship bound for Tanger. Once they arrive, they make their way to Morocco and there are several days of briefs and technical verifications before the race begins in earnest on 23rd September. The race is in six brutal steps, with two marathon sessions, culminating in the final day of the race on Thursday 30th September.

During the final evening, the organisers celebrate all the participants with an evening of food, drinks, fireworks and music.

 
 
Photo source: 2016 Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles du Maroc
 
 
 

Blue Air ends decade-long monopoly

by: Cassandra Tanti
17/09/2021

Nice Côte d’Azur airport has celebrated the inaugural flight of new low-cost airline Blue Air, offering a Nice to London-Heathrow direct link from €30 one way.
Blue Air is a Romanian low-cost airline which has been operating a Nice to Bucharest service at the French Riviera airport.
On Thursday 16th September, the airport celebrated the first flight of Blue Air’s new route – Nice to London/Heathrow, onboard a 189-seat 737-800.
Until 29th October, two flights will be offered weekly on Thursday and Sunday, increasing to four weekly flights from 30th October, with fares starting at €30 one way.
With this London route, Blue Air is now in competition for direct flights with British Airways.
“We are thrilled to launch today this highly demanded service between the two of Blue Air core markets – London – Heathrow and Nice Côte d’Azur, ending a nearly decade of monopoly service and adding greater and more affordable travel options to the market,” said Krassimir Tanev, Blue Air Chief Commercial Officer. “We are happy to bring our outstanding service and low fares to the benefit of our Heathrow customers and we are aiming to develop the route to a daily service in maximum six month period.”
 
 
Photo source: Nice Côte d’Azur airport
 
 

Monaco’s clean mobility in the spotlight

by: Cassandra Tanti
17/09/2021

It’s time to celebrate and explore Monaco’s environmentally-friendly forms of travel as part of European Mobility Week, on now until 22nd September.
The aim of European Mobility Week is to encourage the citizens and communities of European countries to opt for more environmentally friendly modes of transport. The theme of the 20th edition is ‘Safe and Healthy with Sustainable Mobility’ and it pays tribute to the hardships felt by Europe – and the world – throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It also reflects on the opportunities for change resulting from this unprecedented health crisis in Europe.
“The health crisis has accelerated our action,” says Frédéric Genta, Monaco’s Interministerial Delegate in charge of the Digital Transition. “Today, digital technology occupies an essential place in user mobility. We have lifted the brakes, simplified the user journey thanks to easy-to-use applications and reinvented the way they travel to create more sustainable mobility in the Principality.”
More than 2,900 towns and cities have registered to take part this year, testing out new forms of clean mobility, taking stock of current transport challenges, and making progress towards a more sustainable mobility for Europe.
Monaco’s advances in clean mobility are designed to achieve the objective set by the Prince’s Government of reducing vehicle traffic by 20% by the year 2030. It aims to do this by steering the population and commuters towards more environmentally-friendly forms of travel through initiatives like carpooling subsidies, streamlined public transport services, cycling paths, and intelligent urban planning. Most projects are deployed by the team behind the Digital Transition, in connection with the Extended Monaco programme.
“Mobility is a priority issue for the Principality,” said Céline Caron-Dagioni, Minister of Equipment, Environment and Urban Planning. “The Government is pursuing a proactive and ambitious policy in favour of soft modes of transport, public transport and even shared mobility. Faced with the issues raised, digital technology offers the user new possibilities, avenues of action to support more virtuous mobility, but also less expensive and more reliable, of which they become the contributor and the organiser.”
In May 2021, the Principality launched MonaPass, an all-in-one mobility application that encourages users to take public transport, offers better accessibility to shared mobility and develops multimodal transport. It makes available all the tickets of various transports and gives access to real-time information on schedules, delays, etc., via the integrated Citymapper application. By the end of the year, Mobee, the Principality’s 100% electric car-sharing service, will join the offering. Almost 7,000 people have already downloaded MonaPass.
Meanwhile, the carpooling app Klaxit has been a huge success in Monaco, with the State fully covering the cost of passenger journeys within a 30-kilometre limit until the end of 2021.
Another initiative is Monaco ON, the free electric charging service which provides nearly 1,000 free charging points for cars and motorbikes in public car parks in the Principality, as well as 11 fast charging points on the roadside, a figure that will increase to 22 by the end of the year.
As part of European Mobility Week, buses are free throughout the Principality on Sunday 19th September.
 
 
Photo source: MonaBike
 
 

MEB strengthens business ties with Russia

by: Cassandra Tanti
17/09/2021

The Monaco Economic Board is preparing an important economic mission to Russia in June 2022 following an official visit earlier this September.
From 5th to 10th September, the Monaco Economic Board (MEB) participated alongside the Embassy of Monaco in Russia in an official trip to Russia in collaboration with the Consulate of Monaco in Moscow and with the Promotion Office of the Principality of Monaco. The project is part of a particularly close economic relationship between the Principality and the Russian Federation.
MEB Executive General Director Guillaume Rose met representatives of all the partner chambers of commerce in both Saint Petersburg and Moscow.
“All of these talks showed a real desire on the part of the Russian interlocutors to collaborate with companies in the Principality,” said the MEB in a press statement. “An objective was therefore set: the organisation of an economic mission involving the member entities of the Monaco Economic Board and all companies in North West Russia. The meeting will take place in Saint Petersburg during the month of June 2022.”
Several areas of development will be focussed upon, including business incubators, the digital transition, renewable energies and energy transition, trading, and the health sector.
“An appointment was made for regular follow-up with all of these actors to complete this mission under the best conditions,” added the MEB.
The official visit included a dinner on 8th September attended by Russian personalities from various economic, political and academic circles, in the presence of Igor Yurgens, Honorary Consul General from Monaco to Moscow. During the evening, Guillaume Rose recognised that the year 2021 marks the 15th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Monaco.
 
 
Photo source: Monaco Economic Board