Martin J Cowling, Author at Wild About Travel

Germanwings 9525 Crashes in France

March 24, 2015 by Martin J Cowling 3 Comments

An Airbus A320 registration D-AIPX, operated by Germanwings, has crashed near Digne les Bains in the mountainous French Alpes-des-Hautes province on Tuesday morning 24th March, 2015, shortly after 10:47am local time. Flight 9525 was carrying a total of 144 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew. A distress signal was issued by the pilot flying at 6800ft. “We do not yet know what has happened to flight 4U 9525. My deepest sympathy goes to the families and friends of our passengers and crew on 4U 9525. If our fears are confirmed, this is a dark…

Ryanair backtracks on US again

March 20, 2015 by Martin J Cowling Leave A Comment

The idea that Ryanair, the Irish budget carrier (and one of my most disliked airlines) would fly to the USA seems to have been raised noisily every other year since 2007. The proposal is always that there will be ultra low cost economy (coach) fares starting at $US15 and a business class service. The transatlantic services would operate under different branding to the main carrier. This same transatlantic idea is then quietly retired each and very time. It almost seems like a free publicity strategy by the carrier to increase its current passneger load (currently 90million per year). On…

J’aime beaucoup- Love Air France’s Safety Demo!

March 18, 2015 by Martin J Cowling 2 Comments

I enjoy watching safety demos. Air New Zealand, traditionally have had some of the best safety films. I think Air France have a winner with their newest one. Its fun, informative, catchy and of course that French accent is irresistible! What do you think? It accompanies the airline’s newest advertisement: France is in the Air Here is the film about the making of the ad: Air France, has been the country’s flag carrier since 1933. Their 245 aeroplanes currently fly to just over 200 airports. I have flown Air France ten times. I rate…

Left & right: 7 tips for Safe Road Crossing

March 9, 2015 by Martin J Cowling Leave A Comment

I measure how successful a pedestrian you are by your ability to handle crossing roads in Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam! Faced with multiple lanes filled with cars, bikes, motorbikes, buses and scooters, weaving in and out of lanes, I have seen people freeze with fear. I have escorted people across these roads while they quietly whimper with fear! In many cities, pedestrian crossings and traffic signals mean nothing when pedestrians are involved! It is a serious issue for travellers, however. A UK study found that one fifth of UK road deaths involved pedestrians. 61 per…

Shaming Passengers

March 4, 2015 by Martin J Cowling 3 Comments

I have met and seen my share of passengers that have made me smile, giggle or cringe. Ironically, I am typing this while a mother across the aisle, ignores her bored, screaming, bouncing, yelling child! Tempted to take pictures of her for a website I discovered this week that aims to shame. Passengershaming.com and its associated Facebook page and Twitter account displays pictures of the half naked, drunk, shoeless passengers one hopes not to be sitting next to (one also hopes that one is not a culprit too!). There are some who see this “resource” as…

Australia’s Cyclone #Marcia landfall and response

February 20, 2015 by Martin J Cowling Leave A Comment

Tropical Cyclone Marcia made landfall along the central Queensland, Australia coast on Friday, near the city of Rockhampton. The storm made landfall as a Category 5 cyclone, but has since weakened to a Category 1 storm over land. Watch Marcia impact as she made landfall: Damage has been reported in Rockhampton, Gladstone and Yeppoon. No deaths or major injuries have been reported. Although the storm is weakening, it still poses flooding risks, as it moves southeast between Gladstone and Bundaberg. This video from Oz Cyclone Chasers shows a roof being torn off a house: NB Language warning. The…

Wow. “Nut Rage” Airline Executive Jailed!

February 12, 2015 by Martin J Cowling 5 Comments

Cho Hyun-ah (Heather Cho), the former Korean Air Head of Cabin Service, who demanded staff kneel before her to ask for forgiveness over how they served macadamia nuts in first class, has been sentenced to one year in jail. I must admit, I am surprised that it got this far! On 5th December, 2014 Cho, the daughter of Korean Air’s Chair, ordered flight 86 back to the gate at New York’s JFK airport and had the chief steward removed from the plane. A South Korean court yesterday found her guilty of: violating aviation law changing flight path and interference of operations.…

American has their first 787

January 24, 2015 by Martin J Cowling 4 Comments

American Airlines received their first Boeing 787 at Dallas Fort Worth Airport on Friday evening. They join United as the two US carriers with this aeroplane type. American has ordered 42 of both versions of the 787. They plan to have the 787 in service in two months time. I have still to get on a 787, although I have many A380 flights under my belt.

Time to reconsider Garuda?

January 23, 2015 by Martin J Cowling 2 Comments

I have been avoiding flying Garuda Indonesia for two decades now! The financially troubled carrier had an appalling safety record, an ageing fleet, European bans, a patchy service culture and massive competition. To turn this around would seem impossible. Yet last month Skytrax announced that the Indonesian airline has been nominated one of the world’s five star airlines. This is an honour reserved for seven other carriers: Asiana Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific, Hainan Airlines Malaysia Airlines (currently under review) Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines. This news surprised me. I have been aware of the changes at Garuda but…

Neglected Newcastle on Tyne

January 22, 2015 by Martin J Cowling 2 Comments

I am not suggesting that Newcastle looks or feel neglected, it is just a place overlooked by tourists and unfairly critiqued by UK citizens. Yet this ancient settlement at the North of England has a lot going for it. It is well worth a day or three to visit. In Roman times, the city was a fort on Hadrian’s wall known as Pons Aelius. William the Conqueror in 1080 commanded his son to construct a “New Castle” on the site of the old Roman fort. For many years, a grim industrial city, the loss of UK manufacturing has transformed the…

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