Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/649887
42 Events maltatoday, SUNDAY, 6 MARCH 2016 Opel Astra voted "Car of the Year 2016" The new Opel Astra is "Car of the Year 2016" and therefore the win- ner of the most renowned award in the industry. The 58-strong ju- ry of automotive journalists from 22 European countries awarded the Astra a total of 309 points ver- sus 294 for the Volvo XC90 and 202 for the Mazda MX-5. The "Car of the Year 2016" tro- phy was presented to Opel CEO Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann by COTY president Hakan Matson on the eve of the first press day at the 86th Geneva International Motor Show. The Astra emerged as the win- ner from a field of seven COTY finalists. More than 40 new cars, from sporty roadsters to premi- um limousines and sports utility vehicles, were among the original contenders. "The new Astra represents the start of a new era at Opel and victory in this year's 'Car of the Year' competition shows that we are on the right track," said Dr Karl-Thomas Neumann. "It is an honour for us to receive such a prestigious award from leading automotive journalists." Three new Opel models have been named "Car of the Year" in its last eight editions. The new As- tra has already won international awards such as SAFETYBEST 2015 and the 2015 Golden Steer- ing Wheel since its launch last fall. It also received the maximum five stars for its performance in the Euro NCAP crash test. Both the five-door and the Sports Tourer variants of the new titleholder are based on a com- pletely new lightweight vehicle architecture. Power is delivered exclusively by the newest-gener- ation diesel and gasoline engines. Smartphone integration and the ground-breaking personal con- nectivity and service assistant Opel OnStar enable ultra-modern connectivity. The Astra also con- tinues Opel's tradition of intro- ducing features previously only known from higher segments into the compact segment, such as In- telliLux LED® matrix light. The European Car of the Year award was founded in 1964. This year's victory takes Opel's total "Car of the Year" tally to five. The Opel Kadett E was the first car from Rüsselsheim to win the award in 1985. Two years later, the Omega A once again took the pan-European accolade. In recent years, Opel has come out on top twice – with the Insignia in 2009 and the Ampera in 2012. Opel is represented in Malta by Cars International, Mdina Road Qormi. For more information or to test-drive on any Opel car, send an email to opelsales@cil.com.mt or call 2269 2122. You can also visit opel.com.mt or the Facebook page Opel Malta. GO doubles fast Internet subscriber base GO has doubled the number of customers subscribed to a 35 Mbps internet service or faster over the past 12 months. This increase in subscribers is also re- flected in the Digital Economy and Society Index 2016 (DESI), published this week by the EU Commission. DESI 2016, which placed Malta in 11th out of 28 EU Member States noted that Malta is particu- larly strong in broadband deploy- ment and take-up. The Index also noted that all Maltese households are covered by fixed broadband and that 58 per cent of broadband subscriptions provide speeds of at least 30 Mbps. The Index also not- ed the significant increase in the use of mobile broadband internet which rose from 53 to 63 per cent, although this is still below the EU average. Kurt Camilleri, Chief Commer- cial Officer at GO, said, "Consum- ers are increasingly aware of the advantages which GO's internet service provides at home, at the office and on the move. Our exist- ing fibre and DSL network, which guarantees that there is no con- gestion or buffering when online, coupled with GO's ongoing roll out of Fibre-To-The-Home and fibre connected 4G network are further strengthening our posi- tion as the provider of the best broadband internet experience in Malta. It is these factors that are the foundation for the dramatic increase we have seen in GO's internet subscriber base, particu- larly customers subscribing to our 35Mbps service." The Digital Economy and Soci- ety Index (DESI) is a composite index developed by the European Commission (DG CNECT) to as- sess the development of EU coun- tries towards a digital economy and society. It aggregates a set of relevant indicators structured around 5 dimensions: Connectiv- ity, Human Capital, Use of Inter- net, Integration of Digital Tech- nology and Digital Public Services. The 2016 Index saw Malta rise one place from 12th to 11th when compared to 2015. Malta's DESI score is above the EU average and the country developed faster than the EU over the last year, placing it in the 'running ahead' cluster of countries. More information is available at http://ec.europa.eu/ digital-agenda/en/digital-agenda- scoreboard Essentials for a healthy body from Fruitland M A I N T A I N I N G a healthy diet im- proves your health by providing the body with the nec- essary nutrients, proteins, vitamins, minerals, and es- sential fatty acids. Healthy eating is not about restrict- ing your diet or about depriving yourself of the food that you love - it is about increasing your energy levels, enhancing your mood, and provid- ing a sense of well- being. One way of fol- lowing a healthier diet is by including fruit and vegeta- bles into your diet, which provide a great source of potassium, vitamins, and di- etary fiber, folic acid and are low in fat. The nutrients found in fruit and vegetables serve as a defense mechanism against dis- eases, lower the chances of both heart diseases and high blood pressure. As such, Fruitland Co. Ltd. is committed to provide its es- teemed customers with a year round supply of top quality fruit and vegetables. With a third gen- eration experience of import- ing and distributing fruit and vegetables to the local market, Fruitland Co. Ltd. has earned its reputation as the local leader in this sector. The wide brand portfolio of Fruitland Co. Ltd includes GIOIA Bananas, Planet Citrus, Goldfinger oranges, Me- la Valentina, Diamond of Cali- fornia Walnuts and Fatina Nuts amongst others. For further information, please visit Fruitland Co. Ltd. in Attard, or call on (+356) 7933 2425, or send an email on info@fruitland.com- pany. Emirates launches milestone Dubai-Auckland non-stop route EMIRATES has launched its first non-stop service between Dubai and Auckland, one of the world's longest scheduled f lights, bring- ing 39 European destinations and another 38 in Africa and the Middle East within just one stop of New Zealand. And to celebrate the milestone, the first service was operated with a double-decker A380 rather than the Boeing 777-200LR that will regularly f ly the route. "This is an important devel- opment for our customers, for Emirates, and for New Zealand. We anticipate high demand for the route, providing a further boost to inbound tourist traffic into New Zealand that now ex- ceeds three million a year. We al- so expect the service to be popu- lar with New Zealanders seeking faster connections to Europe and the Middle East," said Gary Chapman, President Group Services & dnata, Emirates Group. Emirates' new service will bring New Zealand much closer to desti- nations in Europe and the Middle East than at present, with an es- timated f light time of just under 16 hours from Dubai to New Zealand and 17 hours, 15 minutes in the other direction, cut- ting journey times by almost three hours each way. Tourists, in particular, will now have more options – travelling to Auckland with a stopover in Aus- tralia on one of the award-win- ning airline's three daily A380 services, f lying non-stop direct into Auckland on the Boeing 777-200LR, or f lying to the South Is- land on the daily Boeing 777-300ER Christch- urch service. With the introduc- tion of the non-stop service, Emirates will f ly more than 2,000 seats a day in each direction on New Zealand services. The Boeing 777-200LR aircraft that will operate the new, non-stop route are purpose- built for ultra-longhaul f lights, carrying up to 266 passengers. Like Emirates' other New Zea- land f lights, the aircraft will offer three cabin classes: in the case of the Boeing 777, eight First Class suites, 42 lie-f lat Business Class seats and 216 comfortable Econ- omy Class seats. Emirates operates daily sched- uled f lights between Malta and Dubai on an A340-300 aircraft. Emirates f lies twice weekly to Malta, on Mondays and Wednes- days, via Larnaca in Cyprus, and on Sundays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays the airline operates the Dubai - Malta route on a circular routing via Tunis in Tunisia. The return f light f lies direct from Malta to Dubai.