The WHO has finally called the COVID19 virus situation a pandemic. Before now, the UN’s health agency described it as an epidemic. Calling it a pandemic, states that it has officially spread around the world and reflects WHO’s concern at what it calls the “alarming levels of the coronavirus spread, severity and inaction”. The reaction has been swift. India invoked section 2 of its Epidemic Diseases Act to deal with #Coronavirus crisis by sealing its borders from Friday 13 March until 15 April. All visas (except for official ones) are suspended. President Donald Trump said…
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And Russia makes 77
I am filling in my globe with all of the countries, territories and regions I have visited. With the addition of Russia this week, I have made it to 77 countries. I only count a country if I have left the airport. So while, I have transited through Doha and Johannesburg airports, I do not include Qatar and South South Africa in my tally. I have been to about two thirds of the countries in both Asia and Europe and exactly half of all the nations in the Oceania region of the planet. African exploration…
Jet Airways suspended- not coming back
On my list of airlines in trouble, Jet was near the top. People hoped that they would find a rescuer. I was more pessimistic. Jet suspended all operations this week after 25 years of operations after teetering on the brink of collapse for almost six months. After the State Bank of India, on behalf of the consortium of refused to offer a cash lifeline, the airline announced its flights were grounded. At the last count, only seven of their planes were still in the air, anyway. The rest were being held by creditors at ports…
Air India calls for nationalistic onboard announcements
As the current Indian-Pakistan tension heats up and with an election looming, India’s national airline has told its crew to conclude every in-flight announcement with the patriotic phrase, “Jai Hind” (Hail the motherland). This does not inspire me to fly Air India. I am sorry I don’t want to hear “God bless America”, or “Aussie Aussie Aussie oi oi oi”, or “Rule Britannia or, “Isten, áldd meg a magyart! (“God bless the Hungarians!”) or “Vive la France”, or “Chi Chi Chi!, Le Le Le! Go Chile!” or any other nationalistic sentiment when I fly. It…
Where the world lives
This mind blowing map illustrates the stark truth that half of the world ‘s population live in just six countries. The other live in the remaining 190 countries…By area, China is the third biggest country by arae and the USA is the fourth. India is the seventh biggest and Indonesia sits at 15th. I have been to four of the six biggest countries by population (Brazil, India, Indonesia and USA)! Related Posts Visiting Myanmar Reflections and Advice My 58th country: Vietnam I visit my 57th country Beautiful Brazil- My 50th Country visited
Exraordinary Etihad deals from Australia
Tempted by this extraordinary deal from Etihad. Hot on their Australian status match promotion, the airline is offering ridiculously cheap fares to Europe and India from all Australian ports. I am trying to work out whether the airline has massive capacity or is trying to flex some muscle? For example, Sydney to Amsterdam or Paris or Rome or Zurich for $A1230 round trip. The next cheapest price from any airline is around $1430 with Vietnam Airlines and China Southern, both of which take much longer to get you to Europe. The extraordinary bargain are the flights from…
MH 370 Map: Two Possible Routes
There are a few maps showing possible flight paths for Malaysia Airlines MH370. This CNN map shows the extent of the search area. One flight path suggests the plane headed toward the Bay of Bengal off the coast of India, and the other had the 777 flying southeast over the Indian Ocean. Related Posts MH370 tampered with Flying one week after MH370
Turbulence in India
The Indian air industry has kept me entertained for the last few years. There has been the saga of the long slow death of Kingfisher which finally vanished last year, the incomprehensible losses at government owned Air India. Profitability for the rest of the sector has continued to elude. Air India and private competitors Jet Airways and Spicejet all announced losses for the fourth quarter of 2013. Air India’s loss for 2013 exceeded the Indian government’s entire higher education budget. It’s outstanding debt stood at 26 billion rupees. The airline’s employees have been facing a…
787 still grounded
It has now been over a week since the 787 flew. For the eight carriers that have the 787 in service, another week of no revenue from the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board investigators have not yet found the reason for the January 7 fire at Boston airport. U.S. safety investigators ruled out last Sunday that the cause came from was excess voltage and expanded their investigation to look at the battery’s charger and the jet’s auxiliary power unit. One of the most chilling learnings for me was that Securaplane, the company that makes the charger suffered millions…
Kingfisher finally klipped
I have been sadly waiting for this moment for some time. Kingfisher Airlines has had its scheduled Operator Permit suspended by India’s aviation regulator: The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) The authority stated that Kingfisher Airlines had failed to come up with a viable plan for its financial and operational revival and had not resolved the impasse with employees over non payment of salaries. News Report here. (Photo from Reuters Media) The airline has been tasked on October 5 to show cause as to why licence should not be suspended on October 20. Kingfisher asked for more time yesterday and said…
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