Modern visions

It has been 75 years since the death of the Ostend-born artist James Ensor, and Belgium is marking the occasion with a year of exhibitions. You’ll find museums across the country embracing this pioneer of modern art, but Antwerp and Ostend in particular will be taking the lead. The latter has already begun with its Rose, Rose, Rose à Mes Yeux exhibition at the Mu.zee (until 14 Apr), while the Ensor House’s Self Portraits (until 16 Jun) shines a light on his earlier work. In Antwerp, events only truly kick off on 28 September, when the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA), home to the largest Ensor collection in the world, shows his work alongside the artists that inspired him. ensor2024.be

London Gatwick is going to be busy this year. It welcomes two new services to China in June, with Air China launching daily flights to Beijing, and China Southern starting a new thrice-weekly Guangzhou route. There are also flights to Gothenburg (Sweden) with Norwegian that are due to run four times a week from May, plus a new low-cost easyjet route to Salerno that is set to open up the glories of Italy’s Amalfi Coast from 13 July.

Elsewhere, there are plenty of useful new connections in store, with Ethiopian Airlines now running a service between Addis Ababa and Maun (Botswana) three times a week. Meanwhile, Thai Airways has started a twice-weekly return flight between Bangkok and Perth (Australia).

Speaking of Bangkok, British Airways flights to the Thai capital from Heathrow and to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) from Gatwick are set to return in October.