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…
Boutique Bangkok Airways blows me away
Every now and then you get a reminder of what flying used to be like and a glimpse of what it could be like. Porter Airways in Canada is one such “boutique” carrier and Bangkok Airways is another. This was the 90th airline I have ever flown. Bangkok Airways started back in 1968 as Sahakol Air, the first ever private aviation company in Thailand. They have embarked on a fairly aggressive growth strategy in the last three years. They have some of the cutest ads of any airline in the world! Booking: 10/10 There is now a crowded market…
1500th 747 delivered
The 747 has been one of my favourite aircraft from my very first flight with Pam Am on July 2nd 1971 (yes 43 years ago this week!) . The 747 had entered service with Pan Am in January, 1970, some 18 months before I hitched a ride on one. Since then I have flown on the 747 96 times covering 774,769 kilometres (481,419 miles) on the “Jumbo” with 14 airlines. And 1500 of the 747 have been rolled out. 500th 747 went to Scandinavian in 1981: The 1000th went to Singapore in 1993. On June…
Trip Report: Rail Comfort to Chiang Mai
Bangkok to Chiang Mai- Train Number 1. First Class. Dep: 1830. Arr: 0815 There are many ways to travel between Bangkok and Chiang Mai; flying, driving and a frequent bus services. Being a railway geek, I was determined to add another Thai train trip to my collection. There are four main train lines in Thailand: The Northern route to Chiang Mai (today’s trip) The Northeastern route which breaks into two branches The Eastern route to the Cambodian border which we took last December The Southern route into Malaysia Booking: 5/10 For some inexplicable reason,…
App matches hosts & guests for meals
Love the concept of an app called Eatwith. It matches visitors to a city with hosts who open their homes up and cook for those visitors. I am a huge fan of anything that helps me experience the “real” culture of a place. I have enjoyed a five course home cooked meal in France, meats, pastries breads and dumplings in Germany and amazing melt in your mouth pasta dishes in Hungary. I have supped on stews and sweets in Scotland, noshed on lamb roast in New Zealand, tasted tamales in Costa Rica, feasted on rice and chicken in El Salvador and…
The Top Ten views from the air
What would you consider to be the ten best views from the air? British Airways asked their pilots who fly 180 routes globally to nominate their top ten: Northern Lights- I’d love to see them! Central London – Approach into Heathrow (I wonder how much that is about BA pilots coming home?) Mont Blanc – Pisa Sydney Harbour – on departure from Sydney, Australia Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz and bay – San Francisco Greenland – North Atlantic flights Venetian canals – Venice, Italy Cape Town, Table Mountain, South Africa Dubrovnik, Croatia Mount Fuji The survey…
Air Astana delays 787s until 2019
Air Astana, the flag carrier of Kazakhstan will delay the arrival of its three 787s with the first coming in 2019 instead of 2017. The airline revised this year’s 14 percent growth target to zero percent due to deteriorating economic conditions in the country and devaluation of the currency in February. Launched in 2002, Air Astana operates 63 scheduled domestic and international routes from its main hub, Almaty International Airport, and from two secondary hubs. The airline connects Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia. Like all Kazakhstan carriers it had been banned from operating in the European Union but that ban…
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