On Sunday, I spied a visitor arriving in Canberra. Dressed in a white shirt and white trousers, he was only already showing signs of wear! Worse, it was a rather windy day in the capital so he was going to be battling dust and leaves all day. Have you ever looked at a traveller and thought: “what did you pack that for?” I am a very light traveller and almost never check bags in. I have to know my clothes combinations will work. I have a travel wardrobe set aside. I add to it from…
Lao Airlines Flight 301
The news that a Lao Airlines plane crashed a mere six kilomtres (three miles) from its destination has barely been a blip on the international news networks. Yet 49 people from 11 countries perished in the crash. 16 Laotians, seven French, six Australians, five Thais, three South Koreans, three Vietnamese, and one national each from the China, Malaysia, Taiwan and USA. Five were crew and 44 were passengers. The crash highlights the danger of traveling in some parts of the world. Roads in Laos are in a very poor condition and rail service non existent. Tourists, business people, aid workers and locals all…
British Airways Beautiful new A380 has arrived, a visual tour
I have to be honest, I am in love with the A380. After 12 A380 flights with six airlines over 120,000km, I am hanging out to add more airlines to my A380 experience. This week it is British Airways turn as they add a Heathrow to Los Angeles A380 route (operating as BA268 and 269). British Airways Senior First Officer Peter Nye takes you on a tour of British Airways new A380 aircraft. It certainly whets your appetite for the real thing. The BA A380 will have 469 seats in a four class set up: 1. BA First…
Plane hits Roo
A Royal Flying Doctor Service plane, with a hospital transfer patient on board, was coming in for a scheduled 7.50pm landing at Blackwater Airport last Thursday. It hit a kangaroo and shuddered to a halt as it landed. No people were injured but the damage done will cost the service around $AU200 000 to repair. After the accident, another RFDS plane landed to transport the passenger to Rockhampton and an engineer flew in to inspect the aircraft the next day. This is the third kangaroo strike the service has had in the past 12 months…
Track Your Fare
When searching for a good price, I track airfares with Kayak.com. I know Hotwire’s Trip Watcher and Farecompare do the same thing. After searching for a fare, I register the route and dates I want. If the fare drops to the price point i have chosen, an e-mail is sent to me. It saves checking flights every couple of days! Related Posts Subscribe for cheap deals Hotel Clubs Priceline Be Date Flexible
Alitalia-finally doomed?
Alitalia is the airline I love to hate. They are one of my least favourite airlines ever. Flying them has rarely been a treat. I keep expecting to hear of their demise but somehow they seem to claw their way back from the edge of doom. The current Alitalia is almost five years old rising out of the ashes of the “old” Alitalia which went bankrupt in 2008. On September 6, the Italian carrier released their first half year financials. Revenue fell four per cent from 1686 million Euro to 1621 million. Passenger loads improved…
How to irritate Airline Passengers (Monty Python)
I was digging through some old Monty Python skits and discovered how Pilots can entertain themselves whilst irritating passengers. The script if you want to follow along is here. Related Posts Hilarious (and appalling) translator Stop the Plane, I wanna get off Emergency landing caused by song
Buy Attraction Tickets in Advance
Ever stood in line and watched people being shooed to the front of the line with their pre-paid tickets. Always check the websites of attractions you want to visit to find out: How you buy tickets Where you buy tickets What you can buy in advance — you may have to pay a ticket fee of oen to two dollars per ticket but it is better than spending in line- especially if you have kids with you What deals are available- sometimes prepaid tickets are cheaper -note it does mean you are then locked into…
Norwegian’s 787 frustration
Norwegian Air Shuttle have two Boeing 787s, which because of the 787 grounding were delivered in September, five months late. These two planes are being deployed on routes between Oslo and Stockholm to New York and Bangkok. This week, Norwegian grounded one of its 787s and demanded that Boeing fix the plane. The incident follows claims that Norwegian are experiencing an on time performance rate of only 49 per cent after a string of break downs in its first month of service. The incidents have included electrical faults and hydraulic issues. Norwegian have had to…
Fastjet: good and bad news
Fastjet is the new pan African low cost carrier backed by Easyjet’s Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The Good news: 1. their Tanzanian business is profitable, achieving $81 of revenue per passenger in June, 2013 – almost double that in January when it was $46. First quarter losses of $9.1m for the Tanzanian business were cut to $4.2m in the second quarter. 2. Their legal issues seem resolved 3. Permission for their first international flight from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg is close. The bad news is that the airline has burned through almost all of its…
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