Amman, the capital of Jordan is somewhere I almost never hear about. I was curious to find out what the city was like. I loved it.Home to almost 3 million people, the city straddles a series of hills. Originally it was built on seven hills – now 19.Amman has had an existence for almost 12 000 years. The city is expecting to double in size in the next 15 years straining its natural resources such as waterIts transit system is very frustratingly under developed. There are buses running throughout the city but information is hard to access and it…
AIR NZ VS V AUSTRALIA 777
I use Flight Memory to keep a record of all of my flights- every single one of them since I first flew in 1968. For my 737th flight, I flew a Southwest Airlines Boeing 737 from Portland to Spokane and had a brilliant flight.747th was on a Qantas 747 from Melbourne to Los Angeles. The Qantas team put on a great flight- and Qantas even followed up with a souvenir 747 in the postUnited Airlines turn came next with flight 757 on a B757 from DC to LAX and it was terrible. 767 is fast approaching on an Air NZ Boeing 767 Business…
China Southern A380 Almost flying
Prior to fit out China Southern Airlines has completed initial test flights for its first Airbus A380 aircraft. The airline is buying five.The plane entered the skies for its final test flight during the week at the Airbus facilities in Hamburg. The plane has been painted and had its cabin fully fitted out. More advanced tests will be held in Hamburg before the plane flies on to Toulouse in France for final preparation for delivery to the airline. October? China Southern Airlines will become the seventh operator of the A380 later this year. #1 Singapore…
Qantas Big Changes -Positioning for the Future
We have been waiting for some big changes Qantas will be making for some weeks. I thought it was going to be in a week’s time… Today Qantas had full page ads in most Australian newspapers. The ads promised that a new stronger Qantas was being built. One of the promises was that Qantas “will always be proud that the vast majority of our operations are based in Australia‘. The text of that advertisement is here. Today at 10am Australian EST Qantas Group CEO Alan Joyce held a press conference to launch the “a new spirit” concept that is…
Sleeping from Sydney to Melbourne
ThursdaMy No Fly July has meant I have not been inside a plane for over a month and have sampled a lot of Australian rail travel. My latest trip was from Sydney to Melbourne in a sleeping carriage on the XPT (EXpress Passenger Train). It was such a delightful experience, I would do it again. The train leaves from Platform Number One of the grand Central Station in Sydney, Central never quite looks right. It always seems a bit down at heel and always seems to be under construction. Currently the clock tower is being…
Real 787 delivery
Pic: Seattle Post-Inquirer Boeing rolled out the first 787 on Saturday, August 6, 2011. The plane is meant to be delivered to Japan’s ANA by the end of September. Seeing I am hoping to fly it three weeks later for my 787th flight it had better be on time!! Please, please, please!!
Hotel Club Fails Me — again
It was midnight on a wintery June night in, New Zealand, when I arrived at my hotel. I had flown from Australia which is not a long trip but it sill involves several hours of travel. It was late and I was tired. There was one guest in front of me. The guy said to him: “you are lucky I have one room left“. Hearing that, I was so glad I had my printed confirmed booking. I stepped up to the counter and introduced myself to the pleasant reception guy. He tapped on his computer, frowned, tapped…
Qantas downgrades me
I got downgraded last week in the Qantas Frequent Flyer Scheme from their top tier: Platinum to their next tier: Gold. This was because I have downgraded my travel with Qantas over the last year by 50 per cent. When I have a valid choice when flying I have been choosing Virgin in Australia. Across the ditch it has been Air New Zealand who offer a better product than the NZ domestic Jetstar service. In the USA this has meant reducing my travel with American and increasing it with Delta and United. What am I losing by…
Tiger Australia still downed
Tiger Airways Australia remains grounded having thought they might start flying again soon. The Civil Aviation Safety Authority and Tiger have a Federal Court hearing on August 11 Must be costing them a fortune? Related Posts Flying Tiger Dale Watson sings about Tiger Air Tale of Woe
Riding the Rails- Adelaide to Sydney, Australia
Adelaide and Sydney are about 1400 kilometres apart. Twice a week the famous Indian Pacific train travels across the country from Adelaide Keswick rail terminal to Sydney via Broken Hill. The train departs Adelaide mid morning (10:00am) each Tuesday and Friday, reaches Broken Hill that same evening, then travels through the night across the Blue Mountains and arrives at Sydney Central station at 10:15am Sydney time, almost exactly 24 hours after leaving Adelaide. As part of my No Fly July, I took the train and blogged live from the Lounge car! The train, 28 carriages long on my journey, consists…
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