Another impact of COVID19 is Air France’s early retirement of their ten A380s, just eleven years after the airline first received them. The CEO of the Air France-KLM group Brian Smith indicated that he is absolutely not a fan of the A380 saying in 2019, that while passengers love it, the plane is not suitable for the airline as it is expensive, unreliable and too large. Smith in trying to reduce Air France’s complex fleet structure and confusing product range, indicated their ten A380s (five leased and five owned) would be gone by 2022. The…
Walking 116 miles across Bangkok for MS
Multiple Sclerosis is a disease where the body’s own immune system eats away at the protective covering of nerves. This results in many different symptoms, including vertigo vision loss, pain, fatigue and impaired coordination. We still do not fully know how it starts, and how we can halt its destructive progress. Inspired by colleagues with MS, I have, every year, run or walked across multiple world cities to raise funds for research. This year, I chose to walk and/or run 100 miles (160km) through May in my 2020 home of Bangkok, Thailand. As you…
The USA
Watching the US protests, riots and with frustration, sadness and anxiety. So many places I know and so many people I know are being impacted by a the current events. I have travelled to 46 US states and three of their territories. I know the cities where activity is taking place now. My friends live in the heart of New York City through to rural communities from Vermont to New Mexico. Stay safe people. Please protect each other instead of fighting each other. May the USA find a solution that gives all citizens their democratic…
We Need a Holiday. WizzAir Flashmob Dance
Wizzair staff took advantage of downtime and an empty Budapest airport to remind us “we need a holiday“. Wizz Dance from WATER FILM GROUP on Vimeo. Budapest seems to be running less than half a dozen daily flights currently hence the very empty looking airport. Wizz are flyinga very small number of flights. All passengers must wear a face mask and cabin crew (as demonstrated) will wear masks and gloves throughout the entire flight. As for the song? In the book The Complete Guide to Her Music Madonna, Rikky Rooksby states that “”Holiday’ is as…
Russian Begpackers sent home from Indonesia
I have written previously about the phenomenon of “begpackers” where travelers find ways of earning money in their developing country destination through begging and/or busking. A Russian couple were videoed busking illegally at a market on Lombok island (Indonesia) two weeks ago. They reportedly told officials that they were street musicians who regularly travel around the world, and claimed that they were running out of money. A 29 year old man (MB), a 28-year-old woman (E), and their 2-year-old daughter (S), were taken into custody, as “The activities of the three foreigners disrupted public…
What to do with Virgin Australia
Once upon a time in 2000, Virgin entered the Australian airline market as a low cost carrier challenger. Months after its arrival, it found itself in a unique position as one of the country’s two main airlines (Ansett) collapsed in the wake of 11 September 2001. Qantas expanded to fill the vacuum left by Ansett. Virgin Blue nipped at their heels for over a decade. Qantas even started a new discount airline Jetstar in 2003, to take on Virgin in the low cost market. In 2010, Virgin Blue became Virgin Australia, repositioning itself as a…
What is happening to Your Favourite Airline? [Updated]
Six months ago, the airline industry was facing a bumper year. While a small number of airlines were struggling, it seemed that most would do well. Take away most of the global passengers because of COVID19, and we have already seen some airlines collapse and we face losing more airlines. Governments have taken very different approaches to their airlines with some offering cash injections or loans with a variety of conditions, some offering nothing and some wanting to nationalise. Company by company, this is what is happening across the globe: Aegean- March 26, Aegean Airlines…
An Empty Seattle- evocative video
Incredible drone footage of Seattle devoid of people and cars. It is like a science fiction movie.
Three Million Infections
The next “milestone” has, sadly, been reached. It took from December to April to reach one million official infections. It then took 12 days to reach the grim milestone of two million. The next million has also taken 12 days which suggests that the virus has been slowed down by the intense lockdowns we see globally. Three million people have in total been officially infected with COVD19. Sadly 208,468 have died. The good news is that 889,876 have recovered. The term recovery, for many, is a misnomer, however. It appears to be a long slow process…
I’ve been to 80 countries- Here’s My Top Ten
Having been to so many amazing, wonderful places, whittling down my list to my top ten has taken quite a bit of work and thought. Out of all my 80 countries I have been to, there are just five I would never go back to again. I am sometimes reluctant to share my favourites, because it can lead to a war of words on why I chose one place and not another! My criteria are based around culture, food, ease of travel, safety and peace, great nature and people. So with that caveat, here are…
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