Travel Update-Weekly Edition
August 30th, 2007
Airline
News
AirTran Airways -
Beginning Nov. 15, AirTran Airways will add seasonal nonstop service
between Boston and West Palm Beach. AirTran will fly one daily round-trip flight
between the cities using 137-seat Boeing 737-700.
Allegiant Airlines -
Allegiant will start service to Stockton, CA. with one round-trip
flight every Monday and Friday, starting Oct. 25. Also on Oct. 25,
Allegiant will add service to Phoenix-Mesa from The Eastern Iowa Airport in
Cedar Rapids, offering one round-trip flight every Thursday and Sunday.
Allegiant continues to announce new
destinations for its new Phoenix-Mesa focus city. Beginning Oct. 26, the carrier
will add two flights a week from both the California cities of Santa Maria and
Stockton. Allegiant will fly one round-trip flight on both routes each
Monday and Friday.
Allegiant Airlines has announced four new
routes to its two newest focus cities of Fort Lauderdale and Phoenix-Mesa.
Allegiant will begin service between Peoria, IL., and
Fort Lauderdale on Dec. 13 with one round-trip flight each Thursday and Sunday.
Peoria will also get Allegiant service to Phoenix-Mesa, which begins Oct. 27
with a flight each Wednesday and Sunday. Flights between
Fargo, ND. and Phoenix-Mesa begin Nov. 15, operating
each Thursday and Sunday. Allegiant will connect Fort Wayne,
IN. to both Phoenix-Mesa and Fort Lauderdale, offering
two weekly flights on each route beginning Nov. 21 and Dec. 14, respectively.
And in one other route announcement, Allegiant says it
will begin service between Huntsville, AL., and Orlando Sanford on Nov. 8 with
one round-trip flight each Tuesday, Thursday and
Sunday.
American Airlines -
American Airlines (AA) continues to grow and enhance its New York
service into Europe. AA will fly two new routes early next year to Milan, Italy
and Barcelona, Spain, from JFK International Airport,
as well as add a second daily roundtrip between JFK and London's Stansted
Airport. Beginning May 1, 2008, American will begin flying to Milan and
Barcelona and on April 7, 2008, American will launch a second daily flight
to Stansted Airport in London.
American Airlines has
announced that it’s the only airline to offer the option of curbside
check in for passengers traveling on international flights from Miami
International Airport (MIA). American also offers the ability for passengers to
check in at airport kiosks as well as online. American Airlines customers enjoy
many additional amenities, including the ability to check up to two pieces of
luggage of 50 pounds or less each at no additional cost, complimentary
non-alcoholic beverages, and food on many flights.
American Airlines (AA) will initiate
two new nonstop routes from Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport (DFW) – four-times weekly
service to Panama City, Panama (PTY), effective December 13, and weekly
Saturday-only service to Providenciales, Turks and Caicos (PLS), effective
December 15. In addition, AA will begin new nonstop Miami-Phoenix service, also
on December 13. All three routes will operate with Boeing 737-800
aircraft.
American Airlines will add five to seven minutes to the time scheduled
for each flight at its largest airports this fall to reduce delays plaguing U.S.
travel. The additional times will be added to "virtually all" flights from
American's largest hubs at Dallas-Fort Worth and Chicago. In addition to
extending flight times, American will increase the time it allocates for planes
to sit on the ground between flights. The airline is also studying whether it
can add efficiency by keeping flight attendants on the same planes, rather than
having them switch throughout the day. American earlier made such a change with
its pilots.
BMI - BMI British Midland
is citing operational problems at Heathrow for the delayed launch of its first
transatlantic flights between London and the United States. Causing the delay is
BMI's belief that Heathrow will still be congested even after the opening of the
airport's new Terminal 5 in March 2008. Instead, BMI will enter a code share
agreement with United Airlines and US Airways and sell seats under its own code
on the U.S. carriers' flights between London and the States, as well as any
connecting flights inside the U.S. The deal is currently waiting approval from
the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Delta Air Lines -
Beginning June 2, Delta will add nonstop flights between its Salt Lake
City hub and Paris.
Delta has announced that it will end
its Delta Connection service to Naples, FL., as of Oct. 1.
Delta will reinstate a buy-on-board meal
program this year, reviving a program that the carrier scrapped in 2005. Delta
will start selling meals again on Sept. 13 on flights between New York JFK and
the West Coast. The fruit-and-cheese plates, chicken sandwiches, dinner salads
and other meal choices are the preface to a wider rollout in November of a
food-for-purchase menu designed by celebrity chef Todd English on domestic
flights of more than 2,000 miles or at least four hours. The program will grow
to all flights of more then 750 miles by next
spring.
Hawaiian Airlines -
Hawaiian Airlines plans to begin nonstop service this March between
Honolulu and the Philippine capital of Manila. Hawaiian says it would start the
route with at least four flights a week using Boeing 767-300ER jets.
JetBlue Airways - JetBlue
will add seasonal nonstop service this winter from Fort Lauderdale to
Charlotte, Raleigh/Durham and Richmond, VA. Richmond service starts Nov. 1 while
the North Carolina routes begin Jan. 10. All three routes will continue through
April 30. The carrier will fly one daily round-trip flight on all three flights
using 100-seat Embraer 190 jets.
Beginning Jan. 10, JetBlue will add
nonstop service between Burlington, VT., and Orlando. The carrier will fly
one daily round-trip flight on 100-seat Embraer 190
jets.
Midwest Airlines -
Travelers flying Midwest Airlines between Milwaukee and both
Philadelphia and Omaha will see increased frequency and aircraft upgrades
beginning October 1. The airline will add a roundtrip flight between Milwaukee
and both Philadelphia and Omaha, bringing service in each market to five
roundtrip flights each weekday. The new service will be offered on Midwest
Connect 50-seat regional jets. Also, one additional roundtrip flight between
Milwaukee and Omaha will be upgraded from 32-seat regional jets to 50-seat
regional jets. The airline's 50-seat regional jet program is
operated on CRJ-200 Canadair regional jets featuring Midwest's brown leather
seats, chef-prepared buy-onboard Best Care Cuisine meals and the airline's
popular baked-onboard chocolate chip cookies.
Southwest Airlines -
Southwest will add nonstop service between Raleigh/Durham and Fort
Lauderdale on Feb. 4. Southwest will offer year-round service with one daily
round-trip flight.
United Airlines -
United Airlines’ first international
aircraft to complete the company’s multi-million dollar product enhancement is
scheduled to take flight on Oct. 29, 2007 from Washington Dulles to Frankfurt.
With its true flat-bed seats, on-demand entertainment and other spruced up
amenities, the Boeing 767 will provide customers with the optimal space to work,
sleep or relax while traveling overseas. The first of the 97 international aircraft that will be modified is a
Boeing 767, which after its inaugural flight is scheduled to alternate flying
between Washington, D.C.-Frankfurt and Washington, D.C.-Zurich. Following the
Boeing 767, will be a Boeing 747 that is scheduled to begin flying in
mid-December and a Boeing 777 that is scheduled to fly in early February. After
these three aircraft are modified, the rollout schedule will accelerate and run
in parallel by aircraft type through fall 2009 with approximately one
reconfigured aircraft per week joining the fleet. As part of United’s international
widebody aircraft investment, United will also refresh its premium cabin
restrooms and in the economy cabin will add new seat cushions, replace the
carpeting and upgrade its inflight entertainment system with digital servers and
new LCD screens.
United Airlines said it would use
part of a USD$1.2 billion capital improvements budget to upgrade in-flight
entertainment on domestic flights and conduct deep cleanings of aircraft more
often. The plan will replace VCRs with digital servers on narrow-body
aircraft. United said it would add the digital video systems to 269 Airbus A320s
and Boeing 757s as well as 20 767's and 777's. United also said it would
increase the number of "deep cleans" of aircraft by about 20 percent over the
course of 2007.
Airport/Destination
News
Brazil
- Guarulhos Airport's main runway shut for repairs. The main
runway at Brazil's biggest international airport will remain closed until Oct.
10 as construction crews rebuild the tarmac for increased safety. Infraero,
which operates Brazil's airports, will repave the runway with grooves to prevent
water from accumulating on the tarmac, the agency said on its website. In the
meantime, planes will use the secondary runway. The airport is located in
Guarulhos, outside Sao Paulo.
Detroit Metro Airport -
Detroit Metro has installed free laptop-charging stations in the
Smith Terminal. Converted from unused phone banks, each charging area has a
seat, a shelf and four electrical outlets. A station is located near Spirit
Airlines' gates in Concourse C. Another station is near the restrooms on the
main level behind the check-in counters. More are planned for Concourses A and
B.
New York City, NY. -
Taxi drivers in New York City have announced a date for a
long-threatened strike by more than 13,000 medallion yellow cabs. Local media
sources reported that the workers plan to strike for 24 hours beginning at 5
a.m. on Sept. 5. The workers are protesting a new requirement to install GPS
equipment in cabs.
Puerto Rico -
Health officials in Puerto Rico warned Tuesday of a potential epidemic of dengue
fever in the U.S. territory, with seven suspected deaths from the disease this
year. More than 3,200 suspected dengue cases have been reported across the
Caribbean island since January, more than double the number for the same period
last year, according to government epidemiologist Enid Garcia Rivera. "We are in
what could be a dengue epidemic," she said. Most of the confirmed cases of the
mosquito-borne illness have occurred in Puerto Rico's urban areas, where health
officials have launched a public education campaign to encourage people to
eliminate pools of stagnant water, potential breeding grounds for mosquitoes.
The island's dengue strain has been mild so far, with the majority of people who
may be infected showing only flu-like symptoms. There is no vaccination or cure
for dengue, which is also known as break-bone fever because of the severe joint
pains it causes. Victims bitten by mosquitoes carrying the disease suffer a high
fever and sometimes nausea and rashes. In rare cases, the ailment can be fatal.
Researchers with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are running
tests to confirm if the seven suspected deaths in Puerto Rico were caused by
dengue.
Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport - Travelers at Seattle-Tacoma airport can
now check in and print their boarding passes when they enter the main parking
garage. The kiosks are located on the fourth floor of the garage. The service is
available for fliers not checking luggage if they're traveling on any of five
airlines: Alaska, Continental, Horizon, Northwest and United. It may be expanded
to other airlines.
Hotel News
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts -
Wyndham Hotels and Resorts has introduced a
new breakfast program called Fields & Sun that emphasizes personalization,
fresh ingredients and outstanding service. The breakfast features Bear Naked
granola, organic hot cereal, made-to-order eggs, freshly baked muffins and
croissants and a regional selection of at least eight fruits and berries,
depending on the season. All Wyndham hotels and resorts are scheduled to offer
the Fields & Sun breakfast by next month.
Miscellaneous
State Dept Travel Warnings and
Public announcements - For the full announcements or
further detail on Travel Warnings and Public Announcements, please see http://travel.state.gov/travel
Australia -
On August 25, the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney issued a Warden
Message, which reads in part: "As Sydney prepares to host the upcoming APEC
events, the Consulate urges American citizens to exercise caution and be aware
of changed traffic, road, and security conditions throughout the city and
surrounding areas. "APEC organizers anticipate there will be road closures and
disruptions to bus and train timetables in the Central Business District
during the forum. "U.S. citizens are encouraged to maintain a high level of
vigilance, to avoid large crowds, and to be aware of their surroundings and
their personal security. "Visitors should be aware that street crime,
burglaries, and car thefts are a daily occurrence in larger Australian cities.
Weapons are increasingly used in such crimes, which also may be associated
with drug trafficking and usage. Foreign visitors are sometimes targets for
pickpockets, purse-snatchers and petty thieves. Appropriate, common sense
precautions should be taken, especially at night, to avoid becoming a target
of opportunity. To call for fire/police/ambulance services throughout
Australia, dial '000' for urgent assistance. "As announced on the Mission
Australia website in April, the consular section at the American Consulate
General Sydney has substantially reduced routine visa, immigration, passport,
and notarial services in support of APEC through September 14. In the event of
the arrest, death, or serious illness of an American citizen, an emergency
duty officer will be on call."
Greece - On August 27 the U.S. Department of
State issued the following Public Announcement: "Greece is currently
experiencing a series of widespread, destructive, fast-moving wild fires. Many
of these are located in the Peloponnese region, but other areas have also been
seriously affected by the fires. Americans contemplating travel to Greece in
the immediate future are advised to remain attentive to news reports
throughout their stay in Greece, avoid the affected areas, and be prepared for
road closures, detours, and strained public services. Greek authorities are
likely to deal severely with persons who cause wild fires, even
unintentionally. Campfires, barbecues, brush-burning, welding and other
activities involving open flames or sparks outdoors are forbidden in many
localities during the dry summer
season."
Sierra Leone -
On August 29, the U.S. Embassy in Freetown issued the following
Warden Message: "During the final days before the national election runoff on
Saturday, 8 September, Americans are advised to stay alert and exercise
caution while traveling in Sierra Leone, particularly in the eastern and
central parts of Freetown. We wish to remind American citizens that even
rallies intended to be peaceful can suddenly and without advanced warning
become confrontational and potentially even violent, and American citizens are
advised to avoid large crowds and political rallies during this
period."
Yemen -
On August 26 the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa issued the following Warden
Message: "For the immediate future, the U.S. Embassy has instructed its
employees to avoid all Sanaa restaurants, shopping areas, hotels, and tourist
attractions. The Embassy continues to approve travel outside of Sanaa on a
case-by-case basis. "As a result of an active Al-Qaeda presence in Yemen and
the ongoing threat that Western interests may be targeted, the Embassy urges
U.S. citizens in Yemen to exercise caution and take prudent measures to
maintain their security: maintain a high level of vigilance, avoid crowds and
demonstrations, keep a low profile, vary times and routes for all travel, and
ensure travel documents are current."
August 23, 2007
August 16, 2007
August 9, 2007
August 2, 2007
July 26, 2007
July 20, 2007
July 12, 2007
May 31, 2007
May 17, 2007
May 10, 2007
May 3, 2007
April 27, 2007
April 26, 2007
April 19, 2007
April 12, 2007
April 9, 2007
