Flight to India : Flight news and information

At the Reuters’ 2010 Travel and Leisure Summit, two U.S. airlines made it clear that they are open to merging with other carriers from the U.S

Read the original post:
Reuters’ 2010 Travel and Leisure Summit brings talks of U.S. mergers

After months of considering how to spend the $1 billion set aside by the Obama Administration to add extra security in airports, a fleet of 150 full-body scanners are finally being installed. Approximately $25 million have gone toward the effort, and next week, the first will be installed in Boston Logan International Airport .  Three machines will be installed in the Massachusetts airport, and in the next two weeks, there will be another implemented in Chicago O’Hare International .  The rest of the devices should be completely set up by June, and are expected to improve airport security by showing objects on the body that other scanners haven’t been able to see. Some privacy advocates are against the machines, stating that they are invasive and unnecessary, but the United States and select countries in Europe have agreed to go through with the fleet of new security methods for the sake of safety.

Read more from the original source:
Full-body scanners come to Boston

Much like the Zagat survey results that were posted in November,  that highlighted small airlines in customer satisfaction, J.D. Power and Associates have polled 12,000 travelers for the best airports.

More here:
J.D. Power ranks top U.S. airports

Excellent Hotel – Much better than I thought. A view from the Executive Lounge at Hilton Frankfurt Staying at Hilton Frankfurt for two nights with my brother who lives in Munich. Frankfurt was one stop at my European tour on november 2009 and I came here from London.

See the original post:
Hilton Frankfurt, Frankfurt Am Main, Germany

There has been a lot of press coverage this week of the fact that the stimulus package became law a year ago.  Anniversaries are always an occasion for taking stock, and this is no exception.  This being Washington, most of the stock taking has depended on politics, ideology and other such factors.  But there is one element of the stimulus about which there need be no debate; because the facts are the facts.  As the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, “You are entitled to your own opinion; you are not entitled to your own facts.”  John Adams once said “facts are stubborn things” meaning you can’t change them to suit an opinion.  And that element of the stimulus, and the facts that accompany it, concern the investments made in airport infrastructure.  There were two essential elements to this.  First was the $1.1 billion dollars in direct investment, using the Airport Improvement Program.  The FAA did a fabulous job getting this money out the door to fund more than 300 projects .  These projects not only put thousands to work, they also enhanced the safety and security of all our passengers.  Money was spent on runways, taxiways and other essential projects.  Kate Lang and her team at the FAA Airports Office are to be commended for the way they carried this out, and its impact can’t be denied.  The second element was the two-year waiver of the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) levy on private purpose bonds.  One-third of the value of the stimulus bill consists of its tax provisions, and I can’t believe any of them had as big an impact as this.  The majority of airport bonds are subject to AMT; even though this defies common sense (can it seriously be argued that airport projects are not public purpose projects?).  It has been a priority of our organization to change this; four years of investment in research and message paid off when the stimulus bill was being considered and a two year waiver was included (some old AMT bonds can also be re-financed under this waiver).   The impact was extraordinary.  Before this provision was signed into law, the market for airport bonds was all but completely frozen.  Once this provision became law, the thaw was almost immediate and now more than $8 billion in airport bonds have been sold, financing projects that are creating or saving tens of thousand of jobs.  Just at Las Vegas and Sacramento – two airports – a total of 2,800 jobs were saved on projects that would have been shut down without this provision.  In addition to thawing the bond market, this provision also has saved airports $700 million (AMT bonds are more costly to airports than non-AMT bonds), money that can be put back into job creating, passenger-serving, projects.  Indeed, this provision has been so successful we are arguing strenuously for it to be made permanent.  So, the facts are plain and simple.  The stimulus provisions related to airports generated jobs by the tens of thousands, perhaps even more than that.  They led to projects that will benefit passengers and enhance safety.   These are the facts.  And, you know what Daniel Patrick Moynihan and John Adams said about facts.

Follow this link:
Fact: Airports Used Stimulus Plan to Create Jobs

It’s been two weeks since I last wrote; we spent most of that time trying to get out of our cul de sac in the D.C. suburbs.  I was able to get out of town just ahead of the most recent foot of snow to travel to Houston to attend our CEO Forum and board meeting. The CEO Forum is open to all member airport directors and several dozen of them were there.  It is a real honor to work with a group that is at the same time among the best business leaders I have ever been around and the best public servants as well (in the U.S., airports are owned mostly by local and state governments, that is not true in Canada).  As I stood up there and welcomed the group, I could turn in any direction and see an airport director who has worked his or her fingers to the bone to bring new air service to their community

See more here:
Meet Every Traveler’s Hero: Airport Directors

This season on ABC’s hit show “The Bachelor,” the women are traveling in style.  Titan has paired with ABC to provide the love interests with durable, hardside luggage that is colorful and fashionable!  The women each carry a 4-wheel trolley from the X2 Flash line and pair it with a matching beauty case.  This season’s Bachelor, Jake Pavelka, is a commercial airline pilot.  He too is sporting Titan luggage from the X2 Special Edition Carbon line.  In addition to the “Bachelor,” Titan has been featured in various magazines and websites such as Oprah’s “O” magazine, Forbes Traveler, Allure, Italian Vogue, National Geographic Traveler, and many more! The Titan X2 4-Wheel Flash has a four wheel system that makes travel a joy, while the daring, high gloss colors allow freedom of expression for travelers of all ages.  The bold design and sophisticated carbon finish make the Titan X2 4-wheel Special Edition Carbon a perfect choice for business or leisure travel.   Wheels rotate 360 degrees, making navigation of crowded airports and small aisles an easy task

Read this article:
Titan Luggage Featured on “The Bachelor”

While most of the European Union is still debating whether or not to implement full-body scanners , the United States now plans to fill half the nation’s airports with the new security systems in 2011. The $215 million project comes at the heels of the Christmas Day bomb scare, and has been the largest security revamp since the country’s reaction to the attacks on September 11, 2001.

Read the rest here:
TSA calls for 500 more full-body scanners

News on the people, airports, airlines, companies and aircraft that make up the day to day elements of the Irish aviation scene. Intending travellers at Dublin Airport should prepare themselves for confusion tomorrow when the departure gate numbering system is changed. As of first departures on

Continued here:
Boarding gate number system at Dublin Airport to be changed from …

Compulsory body scanning was introduced yesterday at Heathrow and Manchester Airports. Although not everyone will have to be scanned – only a small selection of passengers – anyone selected but refusing to be scanned will be prevented from travelling. Currently, the body scanners are only available at Heathrow Terminal 4 and Terminal 2 at Manchester Airport, however,

Read the original here:
Compulsory body scanning introduced at Heathrow and Manchester

Ahmedabad: The Customs department has seized an aircraft LEAR JET-45, belonging to an Alembic India group company, for alleged duty evasion, top officials said here today.The aircraft was seized on January 25 from Vadodara, they said. “Quick Flight Ltd, an Alembic India group company, had obtained

Read the original post:
Customs seizes aircraft for duty evasion at Vadodara airport

Filed 1/30/10: I’m sitting in the Hong Kong Airport Red Carpet Clu waiting for my flight. Security and immigration were very efficient here; even my hip didn’t seem to faze them. I still got wanded, and my bag was opened but everything was done quickly and professionally.   Sonia Liu from ACI Asia-Pacific on the cable car over the mountains

See the original post here:
Winging my way back from Hong Kong

Story from philly.com Basically a TSA officer planted a small sealable plastic bag full of white powder into a young college girls bag as she was going through security. After terrifying this poor girl and reducing her to tears he smiled while explaining that the bag was his and that it was all a joke, and that she was free to move along.

The rest is here:
The TSA goes unpunished yet again

FINANCE Surinam insurance company Self Reliance announced it will take over Clico-Surinam, another local insurance company that was hit hard by the global crisis. The bail-out by Self Reliance was made possible with financial support from the Surinam Ministry of Finance and the Central Bank of Surinam (DWT).

Read the original post:
Surinam news update, January 31st

ECONOMY The government has expressed its satisfaction with the improved raking of Cape Verde on the 2010 Economic Freedom Index released by The Heritage Foundation /Wall Street Journal, and has downplayed the drop in one slot since last year ( A Semana ). European Union Cape Verde’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Communities, José Brito, met in Brussels with European Union diplomatic officials for the first evaluation meeting between Praia and Brussels following the Lisbon Treaty ( A Semana )

See original here:
Cape Verde news update, January 31st

Romans 1:14-17 Apostle Paul I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. (Asleep in the Light– Keith Green) I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Read more from the original source:
Intimacy With Christ– Not Ashamed–Debtor to All

When you are me you are likely to travel internationally two ways  – in economy  (goes without saying) – with children or without.  I should mention the ‘with children’ category can be broken down further into sub-categories ‘with children and husband’ or ‘with children no other adult’ – but those stories are for another time.

Read more:
Inevitabilities of international travel

Dear Travel Karma, Whatever did I do to make you angry? I was on such a good run for a while there, with amazing trips to Portland and New Hope and more, but my last three trips have proved rather taxing. Aruba went smoothly as far as flights go, but the actual trip was spent being stressed and lost and telling myself at least it was warm.

Read the rest here:
Travel Karma

Arik Air posted new route maps on its website. Note that the Kaduna-Abuja route is not drawn, while flights to Enugu, Niamey and Uyo are currently not bookable on Arik Air’s website. Routes operated by Arik Niger are not included either

Continued here:
Arik Air’s New Route Maps

When Monsieur and I travelled through Vietnam some time back, this fascinating country and its people had such a profound effect on me that I haven’t yet blogged about it. Every time I think of our journey, my mind fills with such a kaleidoscope of vistas and tastes and people and experiences that it overwhelms

Follow this link:
Vietnam – Tell me what YOU want to know.