Travel Update-Weekly Edition
March 6th, 2008
Airline
News
AirTran Airways - AirTran plans to
suspend flights out of the Florida city of Daytona Beach. The carrier cites
rising fuel costs, saying it will end service June 12. However, AirTran
spokeswoman Judy Graham-Weaver says the airline intends to return to Daytona
Beach for the winter schedule.
Air Canada - Air Canada will expand
its presence in the New York area when it introduces daily, non-stop
Newark-Calgary service on June 16. The Newark flight will be served by 120-seat
Airbus A319 aircraft with business and economy class seats.
Alaska Airlines - Alaska Airlines says
it has upgraded its first-class food service on its flights between Seattle and
both Los Angeles and San Francisco. The carrier describes its new food offerings
as "more substantial" and "more upscale."
American Airlines - To offer customers
new choices in snacks and beverages, American Airlines announced today changes
to the items available in its Economy Class food-for-sale program. American also
said it will begin testing several new beverages on its flights over the next
three months. Beginning Saturday, March 1, the featured food-for-sale
products on flights departing before 10 a.m. will include GNS Vanilla Honey
Trail Mix and Mega Bite® Chocolate Chunk Cookies for $3 each. On flight
departing after 10 a.m., Lay's Stax® Potato Crisps, also will be available for
$3.
American
will test three specialty beverages on all food-for-sale flights through May 31.
Available for $3, the test will feature Lipton Green Tea with Citrus,
vitaminwater and
smartwater. Each test will
be conducted for one month:
* March
1-31: 20 oz. Lipton Green Tea with Citrus
* April
1-30: 20 oz. vitaminwater
* May
1-31: 20 oz. smartwater
American accepts American
Express® cards and all major credit and debit cards for onboard purchases.
Receipts are provided to passengers upon
request.
Continental Airlines - At Newark Liberty International Airport, Continental is in the process of
relocating all Continental Express flights to Terminal A and consolidating all
Continental domestic mainline flights in Terminal C. During a transition period
that will last until June 2008, Continental Express flights may arrive/depart at
either terminal. Travelers
may be required to transfer between Terminals C and A if they are making a
connection at Liberty. Also, a traveler departing Liberty may need to change
terminals if the flight departure gate is reassigned from one terminal to
another, which can occur in the course of ordinary operations.
Travelers
who have not yet cleared security screening can change terminals using the free
AirTrain. Travelers who are in the secure area should change terminals by using
the free bus that shuttles between gates C-71 and A-28. Both the train and the
bus run every few minutes. If you
are connecting at or departing from Liberty, please re-confirm your departure
gate by referring to "flight information displays" located throughout the
terminal. In addition, by subscribing to TripAlert at continental.com, you will
receive the latest notices of any gate changes affecting your
flights.
Delta Air Lines - Delta this past weekend began issuing
red tags meant "to keep track of approved carry-on luggage." Delta workers
will place the tags on carry-on bags either at the ticket counter or at the
gate. So far, the tags will be issued only for international customers. Delta
spokeswoman Betsy Talton says the purpose is to protect the space available in
the airline's overhead bins. In case you were wondering, the
Journal-Constitution notes Delta "currently allows each passenger to
bring aboard one piece of luggage with total length, width and height dimensions
of no more than 45 inches and a maximum weight of 40 pounds. Passengers may also
bring aboard another small item, such as a briefcase, purse or tote
bag."
Emirates Airlines - Emirates said it will use its first
A380 superjumbos to fly to New York, London Heathrow, Sydney and Auckland.
Emirates, the largest Middle-east airline, has ordered 58 of the Airbus A380
planes, which were delayed by about two years due to wiring problems. It will
take delivery of five of the double-decker planes this year, it said. The 489
seat planes will fly to New York on October 1, London Heathrow on December 1,
and Sydney-Auckland on February 1, the airline
said.
Express Jet - Less than a year after launching six
nonstop routes, ExpressJet Airlines is grounding two of its flights from
Oklahoma City and Tulsa. The Houston-based airline recently announced
demand for nonstop flights to San Antonio and Austin, Texas, failed to takeoff
and both routes will be cancelled April 1. ExpressJet also is
cancelling its nonstop service from Kansas City, Mo., to Austin in the
spring.
Singapore Airlines - Singapore Airlines has
announced it would reconfigure five planes to offer all-business-class nonstop
transpacific service between Newark and Singapore, beginning in mid-May.
Singapore plans to expand the service to Los Angeles in September. Travelers
seeking economy class service between Singapore and Newark or Los Angeles will
be restricted to one-stop flights. Singapore will reconfigure five Airbus
A340-500 planes, currently featuring 181 seats and two service classes, to
include 100 business class seats identical to those offered on its Airbus A380
and Boeing 777 flights, in the same 1-2-1 configuration.
United Airlines - Beginning June 5, United will add
service between Los Angeles and Tulsa and between
Denver and the Montana capital of Helena. United will also begin seasonal summer
service between Denver and Kalispell, Mont. United Express partner SkyWest will
fly two daily round-trips to Helena and one each on the other
routes.
Airport/Destination
News
Bogota, Colombia - Delta, JetBlue, Spirit and
Continental Airlines have been granted preliminary approval to operate one new
daily flight each between the U.S. and Bogota, Colombia. The Transportation
Department said Wednesday it selected those four airlines over US Airways Group,
which had applied for service from Charlotte, N.C., and AMR Corp.'s American
Airlines, which sought to retain a flight it currently holds for additional
service between Miami and Bogota. The proposal would reallocate one daily
U.S.-Colombia flight currently held by American, and have the 21 new weekly
flights be phased-in by the end of the year. Three of the new daily flights were
made available by a September aviation agreement that increased to 91 from 70
the number of weekly flights U.S. carriers may operate between the two
countries. Delta Air Lines' flight will
depart from New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, JetBlue Airways
Corp.'s from Orlando, Spirit Airlines from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and
Continental Airlines from Houston. If the
tentative decision finalized, Delta may begin its new services immediately,
JetBlue and Spirit on April 1, and Continental on Oct. 1.
Denver International Airport - Denver International
Airport is blocking certain websites from its free Wi-Fi network, fearing that
some customers could find the sites offensive. Airport spokesman Chuck
Cannon says the airport decided to begin using a web-filtering system
provided by the Webwasher when the airport switched from fee-based Internet
access to one with free access.
Great Britian - Americans studying in Britain for more
than three months will have to have biometric ID cards starting later this year.
Within three years, Britain's Home Office said, all Americans and other
foreigners from outside the European Union will have to have the cards to work
and live there. U.S. tourists and businessmen and women who visit Britain for
visits under 90 days will not need them. Foreigners' ID cards, which will be
about the size of a credit card, will contain a digital photo and details of the
cardholders' immigration status, whether they are allowed to work, receive
government benefits and how long they can stay. It also will contain a
"biographic footprint" of personal history and "biometric data" such as
fingerprints on the cardholder.
Hong Kong - In an effort to spur tourism, the government
of Hong Kong will eliminate the hotel tax when the 2008-09 fiscal year begins April 1. According to published reports, the
scrapping of the hotel tax is part of a broad-based tax break being implemented
in Hong Kong that will touch property, income and corporate taxes. Most of the
tax cuts are one-time occurrences, but the hotel tax elimination is not. It will
be abolished along with the tax on wine and beer, but not spirits. The
government is hoping that the tax cuts can help protect Hong Kong from a global
slowdown and rising inflation.
Burbank Bob Hope Airport - Passengers with
carry-ons that fit under an airline seat can now whoosh through security at Bob
Hope Airport in Burbank, CA. The Zip Lane is open 6 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 6
p.m. The Transportation Security Administration plans to try the concept at
other airports.
Orlando International Airport - Orlando International
Airport, the nation's largest rental car market, is getting costlier.
Customers will be charged $2.50 per day for up to five days to help cover the
$103 million the airport plans to spend to expand the rental car operations. The
expansion may be complete in 2009.
Philippines - The Centre for Health
Protection warns travelers to the Philippines to observe good personal hygiene
amid reports more than 1,000 typhoid fever cases have occurred in the country
recently. The centre is liaising with the Philippine Consulate General in Hong
Kong and the Philippines Department of Health for more information on the
situation. The Travel Industry Council has informed the travel industry to take
precautions. Four typhoid cases have been reported in Hong Kong this year, of
which three were imported. Forty-six cases were reported last year and in 2006.
It is usually transmitted by consuming contaminated food and water. Symptoms
include fever, tiredness, chills, headache, and muscle and joint aches.
Diarrhoea can also occur.
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
Germany - On March 5 the U.S. Embassy in Berlin issued the
following Warden Message: "We call your attention to the following information
concerning possible strikes across Germany this month that could have a
significant impact on a wide array of public sector and transportation
services: "Public services across Germany could be severely curtailed this
week by possible strikes and major walkouts by the service sector trade union
in protest over wage negotiations. Without specifying which services could be
affected, union representatives have reportedly stated that any strike would
be timed to cause maximum disruption during rush hour and could include
halting services at airports. The large-scale strikes could also affect
day-care centers, hospitals and waste management. Strikes could begin at any
time and are likely to be Germany-wide. "In Berlin, union transportation
workers are also threatening a ten-day strike from Wednesday, 5 March and
lasting until 14 March. This strike could bring much of the public transit
system to a standstill, affecting Berlin’s U-Bahn, bus and tram network.
Separately, the labor dispute between Deutsche Bahn and the train engineers’
union continues and on 3 March the union threatened to strike again if
Deutsche Bahn fails to improve its latest contract proposal by 7 March.
According to a union statement, this strike could begin as early as next week
and could have Germany-wide repercussions for all rail services. "The latest
information available for the greater Frankfurt area indicates there will
likely be a municipal workers strike 6 March. This strike could affect U-Bahn,
bus and tram service, as well as kindergartens, trash collection and other
city services. It appears that the strike might last the entire day. "Finally,
according to management representatives at the Frankfurt airport, strikes that
interrupted services in the air travel sector today ended at 10 a.m. and air
travel is expected to return to normal by tomorrow morning. This strike is
reported to have affected airports in Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Hannover, Hamburg,
Munich, Nürnberg, Köln/Bonn, Saarbrücken, and Stuttgart. "Since the dates of
strikes are always subject to change, American citizens should monitor local
media sources for new developments."
Israel - On March 6 the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem issued the
following Warden Message: "The Israeli National Police are reporting the
possibility of a large gathering on and near the Haram Al-Sharif /Temple Mount
and the Old City this Friday, March 7,
2008 in protest of the ongoing situation in Gaza. There is expected to
be a heavy police presence in and around the Old City which may spark
disturbances at entry points including Damascus, Herod’s and Lion’s Gates.
Protests sometimes lead to violent clashes, and the Consulate General is
recommending its employees avoid the area in and around the Old City all
day. "American citizens are reminded to
practice vigilant security awareness. This includes maintaining a low profile,
varying daily schedules and routines, avoiding crowds and demonstrations and
remaining alert for people and objects that appear suspicious or out of place.
While there is no specific information indicating a threat to Americans or
American interests, there is the potential for heightened tensions. Random
checkpoints and closures of crossings from the West Bank into Israel can be
expected. In addition, planned and spontaneous demonstrations may occur in
Jerusalem, in the vicinity of the Old City and outlying areas."
Travelers
frustrated with delays at airport security checkpoints may soon have a new fast
lane option. The Transportation Security Administration is
experimenting with a new system, dubbed Diamond Lanes, that will allow travelers
to choose one of three lines that best suits their traveling style: expert
traveler, casual traveler, or families and special assistance. The hope of TSA is to make everyone more comfortable.
Seasoned business travelers, the sort that arrive with their laptops out and
loafers off, can choose the fast lane, while families struggling with strollers
and baby bottles can take their time in the slow lane. Diamond Lanes are
currently being tested at airports in Salt Lake City and Denver, where TSA has
tapped into the skiing culture by using a color-coded system similar to that
used on ski slopes. Green circles indicate lines for families and people who
need special assistance, blue squares are for casual travelers and black
diamonds are for experts. So far the program is running on the honor system --
there are no plans at the moment to force travelers into specific lines.
Beginning in April, the Transportation Security Administration plans to launch
the program in at least six new airports. "There's no real cap on the number of
airports," TSA spokesman Christopher White said. "If this is well-received by
the six airports, we'll continue to expand."
February 28, 2008
February 21, 2008
February 14, 2008
February 8, 2008
February 1, 2008
January 24, 2008
January 17, 2008
January 10, 2008
January 3, 2008
December 27, 2007
December 20, 2007
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December 5, 2007
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November 15, 2007
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November 1, 2007
October 25, 2007
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September 27, 2007
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September 6, 2007
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July 26, 2007
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July 12, 2007
