Not a good week for air travel. It has been reported that up to 51 people have died and seven injured when TransAsia Airways GE222 made an emergency landing in post-typhoon weather conditions, ploughing into two homes in the village of Xixi, not far from Magong Airport on Penghu Island. The twin-engine turboprop ATR 72 was en-route from from Kaohsiung, a city in the south of Tawain to Penghu, an island archipelago off the western coast of Taiwan. There was heavy rain at the airport, the remnants of Typhoon Matmo which had earlier hit the island nation. There were 54 passengers and four crew members on board. Apparently, the pilot…
Dubai Immigrant Workers Dance “Happy”
For those of who have been to Dubai, you will have seen the gleaming towers, spotless streets, stunning shopping malls and clean hotels. Behind all of this are an estimated 7.8 million immigrant workers- 75 percent of whom are from India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. There has been significant criticism of the working conditions of these workers. A charity that works with these workers is Smartlife Foundation, has a mission to “uplift the non privileged members of our community“. I was taken by a video of the people they work with dancing to Pharrell ‘s – Happy. It really humanises the…
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner and A380 at Farnborough
The Farnborugh airshow is held in mid-July in even-numbered years at Farnborough Airport, England. The airport is 35 kilometres (22 miles) from Londom. This year’s show celebrated 100 years of commercial Aviation. One impressive display was the 787-9, shown here practising for its routine: The other show stopper was the acrobatic antics of the 380. In this vidoe, you can catch a glimpse of the new A350 taking off at five minutes 45seconds just before the A380 lands at six minutes 12 seconds Related Posts 110 years today– wright brothers take off Trip Review: Emirates- comparing the…
MH 17 Revised Passenger List
Malaysia Airlines has revised its passengers list after verifying a further 21 of the 41 passengers whose nationality could not initially be verified. These passengers were previously unidentified as they were in transit, and had not entered passport control in Amsterdam. The new breakdown on passengers is: Australia: 27 Belgium: 4 Canada: 1 Germany: 4 Indonesia: 12 Malaysia: 44 Netherlands: 173 New Zealand: 1 Philippines: 3 United Kingdom: 9 Related Posts Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 [updated] Malaysia Airlines Passengers by Nationality
Malaysia Airlines waiving all fees for changes
Malaysia Airlines have announced that they are waiving all fees for changes to travel from today until further notice to all MH destinations. Apparently spooked by the second incident involving a Malaysia Airlines jet in four months, customers are calling travel agents to cancel bookings with the carrier. As I said, earlier today, the airline is already struggling financially. Further cancellations will really put pressure on the carrier and accelerate the need to re-structure the carrier. All MH flights are operating as per normal schedule. Related Posts Future Options for Malaysia Airlines? Malaysia Airlines Flight…
Moved by a post at One Mile at a Time about MH 17.
I was very moved by a post today by Ben Schlappig (aka Lucky) over at One Mile at a Time. He spoke to a guy in a queue at Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. The guy was flying on MH 17 which came down whilst flying over the Ukraine. Its a very powerful post. It made me reflect how close we come sometimes to the edge of life? How many contacts do we have with people who we never know their futures? I was releived to get a text back from one of my friends who is a cabin…
Malaysia Airlines Passengers by Nationality
Malaysia Airlines have released the nationalities of the passengers aboard MH 17, the plane lost over the Ukraine on July 17: Australia: 27 Belgium: 4 Canada: 1 Germany: 4 Indonesia: 12 (including 1 infant) Malaysia: 43 (including 15 crew & 2 infants) Netherlands: 154 Philippines: 3 United Kingdom: 9 Unverified: 41 The company is currently notifying the next-of-kin of the passengers and crew. Families of passengers and crew contact: +603 7884 1234 (Malaysia) or +31 7 0348 7770(Netherlands). For media queries contact: +603 8777 5698/ +603 8787 1276. The airline is providing regular updates at:…
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 [updated]
Shocked to see that a passenger plane has allegedly been shot down. Air traffic controllers lost contact with Malaysia Airlines flight 17 at 1415 GMT ) as it flew over eastern Ukraine towards the Russian border. The Ukrainian Interior Ministry advisor Anton Herashchenko has claimed that Malaysia Airlines MH17 was allegedly shot down from its 10,000 metres (33,000 ft) height cruise altitude. MH17 was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur. The Boeing 777-200 had 283 passengers (early reports said 282) and 15 crew members. Amsterdam airport CEO says the flight had 154 Dutch, 27 Australians, 23 Malaysians and six Britons…
Flying with Electronics- new rule & some tips
If you are planning on carrying your mobile, laptop or ipad onto a plane to the USA or UK, make sure it is charged. Under new rules released last week by the US Transport Security Administration (TSA), passengers travelling from Europe, the Middle East and Africa to the US must be able to turn on their electronics at security in order to prove they are the genuine article and not some kind of bomb. The TSA states: During the security examination, officers may also ask that owners power up some devices, including cell phones. Powerless…
Standing Room Section for Planes? Will it fly?
A paper published this week concludes that a cabin dedicated to standing only passengers “has a potential to be applied by low-cost airlines servicing short-haul flight markets.” Sounds like just the recipe for Ryanair, Spirit Airlines and Air Asia! It brings a whole new meaning to the term “cattle class“! F. I. Romli et al in the International Journal of Engineering and Technology, suggest that by installing a “standing seat“, airlines could fit 21 per cent more passengers into a cabin. The distance between seats could be reduced from the usual 30″ to a mere 23″. By removing…
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