05.31.2007 | 11:34 am | Flight Comparison
If you’re the kind of person who likes to pay extra for things on the high street because you can’t wait for them to be delivered, then Virgin Atlantic may just have made the flight for you.
First-class passengers flying with Virgin will now have the chance to check in with a personal assistant who will greet flyers from their cars at Heathrow’s Terminal 3.
The assistants will be able to check the passengers’ details and look over their passports before letting them into the airport on foot.
This will mean first-class passengers can effectively drive-thru the check - in system and avoid the need to queue alongside hoards of others in the main terminal.
A spokesperson from Virgin said: “The new upper class drive thru check-in will be like no other business or first class check in, with the creation of a new elegant glass fronted annexe building.”
Of course, considering the size of the car parks at Heathrow, it would help it you had a chauffeur. But then again - if you’re flying first class…?
05.30.2007 | 8:25 am | Flight Comparison
Air France and Czech Air passengers are being tracked down, after a man who travelled with both airlines was quarantined due to his carrying a rare Tuberculosis virus.
The particular strain of TB he was contaminated with is particularly dangerous as it is resistant to a large number of antibiotics.
Martin Cetron, the Centre for Disease control and Prevention (CDC)’s global migration and quarantine director said: “He was told in no uncertain terms not to take a flight back [to the US].”
The man was originally contacted in Italy with the warning that, due to his health risk, he should not fly.
It is advised that passengers flying on the Air France flight 385 on May 12th, or the Czech Air flight 0104 on May 24th should see a doctor immediately.
The man is not facing prosecution, although is being held in respiratory isolation and both airlines are said to be cooperating well with the CDC.
The news comes just a week after a company was reported to have developed the ability to pinpoint the exact origin of any illness set off on an aeroplane.
05.29.2007 | 12:14 pm | Flight Comparison
Managers at Qantas have had their backs against the wall after a recent survey found the airline at the bottom of the pile in terms of customer satisfaction.
After being voted the worst international airline and second-worst national airline in a survey conducted among 4,000 subscribers to consumer magazine Choice, Qantas chiefs went on the defensive.
“I absolutely, categorically deny that [result],” executive general manager John Borghetti said.
He added: “Our cabin crew are the best in the world, there is no doubt about that, they’re doing an exceptionally good job and especially in the last couple of years our service levels have gone even higher, so I absolutely refute that.”
Choice asked its readers to rate airlines on their value for money, booking processes, check-in procedure, in-flight service, seat comfort, leg room, cleanliness and overall convenience.
Qantas scored 63 out of a possible 100 points, 15 points behind top carrier Singapore Airlines.
The results come in the same month the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index was released, showing US airlines had uniformedly dropped in standards, according to passengers.
05.23.2007 | 12:03 pm | Flight Comparison
US Airways has been issued a citation by police in Albuquerque after a passenger on one of its planes was found drink driving.
Mr Ernest Wright was arrested shortly after he touched down at Albuquerque airport, and was reported to have drunk five drinks before entering his vehicle.
Police concluded that the man was served two drinks on his flight, despite already having three alcoholic drinks at Phoenix airport.
As a result the police can charge the airline under a rarely-used law which allows the police to proportion some of the blame for a drunken person’s actions to the shop or service that served the alcohol.
However citations can only be issued if the police can prove the airline knew the man was intoxicated before serving him.
Bernalillo county sheriff Darren White, the arresting officer, said: “He blew a 0.16 [on the breathalyser].
“It’s clear to me that, by the time he was drinking on that airplane, he was already over the legal limit. He shouldn’t have been served.”
05.22.2007 | 11:30 am | Flight Comparison
News rules suggesting the relaxation of loans could mean European citizens will be free to withdraw loans from across Europe in the coming months.
The new measures, suggested by the European Commission, would potentially drive down interest rates by creating higher competition in the banking market.
It would most certainly benefit the consumer, as currently European interest rates vary greatly.
The lowest cost of borrowing currently belongs to Finland, which boasts a six per cent interest rate, while borrowers in Portugal are charged with fees of over 12 per cent.
However while this may be great news for consumers there is concern over the long term effects it will have for various banks.
Currently personal loans make up 18 per cent of European banks’ profits, and a Portuguese bank losing out to foreign competitors - despite the economy being to blame for such interest rates - could signal troubled times ahead.
05.21.2007 | 11:47 am | Flight Comparison
Richard Branson will be pleased to learn that his new US airline venture has been given the go-ahead.
The US Transportation Department recently ruled that Virgin America’s economic fitness was in fact satisfactory, after originally ruling that it was unfit in December.
The decision was made after Virgin America promised to reduce its exposure to foreign interests, meaning its CEO, Fred Reid, has to be replaced because of his experience with foreign companies such as Lufthansa, despite holding posts at American and Delta airlines.
Despite the legal obstacle course, the company aims to sell tickets as soon as possible and plans on flying from San Fransisco to New York by mid-summer this year.
Despite the ruling, Mr Reid was excited by the news: “We’re thrilled,” he said.
“We’ve had people working on this up to four years. We want to get on the playing field and show the American public what we can do.”
05.18.2007 | 11:59 am | Flight Comparison
With the budget airline market continuing to grow rapidly, the option of ‘multi-hopping’ is becoming more popular with flyers.
Multi-hopping is the practice of finding the cheapest fares possible by making two flights to arrive at your journey; the first to arrive at a country where flights are cheaper than the UK - the second to arrive at your final destination.
While the practice may at first seem a little hard to swallow, it makes sense in practice.
As budget airlines often serve many destinations from just one base it is not always easy to take advantage of bmibaby, for instance, if you live in the West Country, as bmibaby fly from Birmingham.
One option would be to fly to Birmingham and then to your destination, although many are now taking this on in a grander scale.
One current favourite is to fly from the UK to Germany to take advantage of their cheap routes to Greece, in time for the Champion’s League Final in Athens.
Gareth Williams, CEO of SkyScanner comments: “The launch of the new multihop flight search is a very exciting addition to Skyscanner.net - we can now give users easy access to hundreds of new global destinations served by low cost airlines in one simple search and deliver the results in less than a second!”
However, it would be worth sparing a thought for the environment in this pursuit of cheap flights as takeoffs and landings, which would be doubled in multi-hop flights, use an incredible amount of energy, even when compared to the amount of energy used in the rest of the flight.
05.17.2007 | 11:42 am | Flight Comparison
Travellers from the south-west of England are set to benefit from greater choice as a leading low-cost airline announced increased services from Bristol Airport.
To meet the increased demand of the summer season, easyJet has confirmed that it will be basing additional aircraft at Bristol, with the frequency of its flights to existing destinations to be increased.
An eleventh plane will join the current Bristol-based fleet until September 7, flying to the popular holiday destinations of Palma, Alicante, Faro, Pisa and La Rochelle.
The news comes just a week after the airline doubled their current service between Bristol and the French capital, with two daily flights available to passengers going to Paris Charles De Gaulle airport.
Earlier this month, easyJet launched a new service from its London Luton base to the Mediterranean island of Ibiza, with 35,000 passengers expected to travel on the route over the summer.
“Ibiza has already proved a popular summer destination from many of our other UK bases and now even more holiday-makers seeking fun in the sun or a relaxing break on the famous White Isle can do so easily from their local airport,” said Paul Cable easyJet’s UK market manager.
05.16.2007 | 12:08 pm | Flight Comparison
Citizens of America have voted themselves bigger fans of the taxman than of the country’s airlines in the latest test of consumer satisfaction.
The annual survey, the University of Michigan’s American Customer Satisfaction Index, found that out of a possible 100 points, only 63 were awarded to US airlines, down two points from last year’s figure.
Among the lowest scoring carriers were United and Delta Airlines, scoring 56 and 59 respectively, after both airlines climbed out of bankruptcy in the past 12 months.
Southwest Airlines led the pack in terms of satisfaction, scoring an impressive 76 points.
The dip in customers’ mood - now at the lowest since 2001 - is blamed on a variety of factors, namely post-9/11 recovery tactics which forced airlines to cut costs anywhere possible to maintain profit margins.
In the last few years there has also been an unsteady but very real uptake of budget airlines, which has again squeezed every dollar out of the industry.
Speaking about the effect of the 9/11 recovery Claes Fornell, director of the survey, said: “The process took so much out of the airlines - they may have cut beyond the bone.”
05.15.2007 | 11:03 am | Flight Comparison
In preparation for the busy summer season, the Irish low-cost flights operator, Aer Arran, has announced that it is increase the frequency of its services in addition to introducing a new route. From today, the airline will fly from its new base at Waterford Airport to Birmingham. This new service will operate every day, apart from Saturday, with one-way fares starting at €39. Also, the existing services from Waterford to Manchester and Luton will be increased, with three services daily to
Luton and six flights a week to the northern city. Aer Arran’s chief executive, Padraic O’Ceidigh, said: “Today’s inaugural flight to Birmingham and the development of our new base here demonstrates Aer Arran’s commitment to further developing our network of routes from Waterford Airport. “We have received huge support from Nicki Fewer and the team here in
Waterford airport since our first flight in June 2003 and we are delighted to be adding a new base and a new route as well as increasing frequency and improving business timings on our current services. The imminent expansion at Waterford will make the airport the operator’s fourth base within Ireland, joining Dublin, Galway and Cork.
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