Los Angeles’ mayor, Jim Hahn has revealed plans to make LAX “the safest and most secure airport in America.” This involves knocking down three of the nine terminals and introducing radical transportation ideas.
If approved, the plan to rebuild the airport would be completed over 11 years and allow for an increase in passenger numbers of more than 20 million.
Amongst the proposals are a passenger check-in linked to the terminals by people mover trains.
Police in Bangladesh have announced new measures to combat the organised gangs who are terrorising transport owners, workers and passengers into handing over money at many of the capital, Dhaka’s bus terminals. The Bangladesh Rifles have combined with a newly formed Rapid Action Team in an attempt to bring the practice to an end. 72 people have been arrested so far, accused of terrorising drivers and passengers into handing over money to criminal organisations.
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US citizens will be issued with “smart” passports carrying a digitally signed photograph by late 2004.
The new passports will include an embedded microchip that stores a compressed image of its owner's face. These microchips will be designed to prevent tampering and each digital image will be cryptographically signed to guarantee its authenticity.
Civil liberties groups fear that the introduction of such international identity schemes could permit governments to monitor the activities of citizens in unprecedented detail.
Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on airport codes. See how many you get right! Go on, have a guess!
Which cities are served by airports with the following codes:
For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.
The Beetle recently visited Munich for shell repairing and discovered that it is a really nice, friendly, pretty and interesting city, easy to get around with some surprising touches – beautiful architecture, outdoor markets, fountains and sculptures.
How to get there: the airport at Munich is vast and well served. From London you can take Lufthansa and British Airways. It’s a short hop – around 1 ¾ hours. To get into the city centre, there are two S-Bahns – the slow one, the S1 and the faster S8. Either journey takes less than an hour. Tickets costs 9 euros and can be used on your next journey to complete your destination, e.g. the bus. You can buy tickets on the platform or from the airport information counter. The S-Bahns are excellent, cheap, clean, completely safe and frequent. Both go directly from the airport via many stations around the city to the central train station where you can make your connection with one of the other many S and U-Bahns.
When to go: well, the Octoberfest jumps out as a good time to visit Munich, which takes place over four weekends in September/October. Otherwise, any time, although July is very, very hot! There are good Christmas markets in November and December. There is almost always a large festival taking place in Munich during any given month.
What is there to see and do: lots and lots. You can stay in the city centre and easily spend a weekend prowling around the baroque churches, museums, art galleries, the town hall, theatres, outdoor fresh produce market, the Residenz, botanical gardens, the Olympic stadium and the English Gardens. One of the oddest sights was muscle-bound tanned men surfing on an artificially made wave of the Eisbach, about 5m wide in the English Garden. For major label shopping, all of the posh shops are rather conveniently concentrated on one street, Maximillian Strasse, otherwise, there’s plenty of high street shopping to do around Marienplaz and some wonderful off beat shops in Munich’s back streets.
Is there more to do than just a weekend? If you want! You can take self guided walking tours around the city, or join one of many walking tours, run in many different languages, or alternatively, there are a variety of day trips that you can do, solo or in an organised group, including one to Dachau, one of many Bavarian palaces, or even the Alps.
Food and Drink? Large portions seem to be the norm. If you like pork, you’ll be very happy here. There is a wide range of restaurants from the usual fast food outlets to upmarket French, Italian, Thai and local Bavarian speciality restaurants. The Hofbrauhaus may be a little touristy, but it’s well worth a visit for a beer and some local food if you are strolling around the English Garden.
Prices? Eating out is generally very reasonably priced, but hotels can be a little pricey. Search on the internet first and contact the tourism agency.
Language: don’t worry if you don’t speak German, a few basic words go a long way, but most people you will encounter speak some English, and menus written in English are widely available.
The UK Government is cracking down on air rage by imposing strict sentences on those found guilty of endangering an aircraft with disruptive behaviour.
Serious air rage incidents have increased during the last year with 648 'significant' in-flight incidents reported last year, a rise of around 16 per cent. 40 per cent of incidents were related to smoking and 42 per cent to alcohol.
Under the Aviation Offences Act, air rage passengers will face a five-year jail term if found guilty, three years more than the previous maximum penalty.
The UK Foreign Office has asked British tour operators to stop arranging holidays to Burma because of the ruling regime's record on human rights.
In a letter to ABTA, the Association of British Tour Agents, the UK’s Foreign Office minister, said that there were “compelling reasons” not to holiday in Burma.
He cited the use of forced labour by the Burmese Junta, who have been used to help build some of Burma’s tourism infrastructure and that some communities have been forcibly relocated to make way for tourism-related developments.
Recently, the military regime stepped up its actions against democracy groups in a campaign of violence and intimidation and has arrested the democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the National League for Democracy.
ABTA in its turn said that it left commercial and moral decisions on holiday destinations to its members: “It's up to our members to make that decision,” said an ABTA official. “It would be different if the Foreign Office were advising people not to go to Burma because it was dangerous.”
The Globetrotters e-news recently reported that award winning Kuoni, has withdrawn from Burma following the lobbying of Burma Campaign UK.
Do you have a view? Would you travel to Burma, or would boycott it? Write in and tell the Beetle your views: beetle@globetrotters.co.uk
Bath, well known as being a genteel Georgian spa town has been without its spa since 1978, when it was closed due to an amoebic bug. But now, as from August 28th, you can book a day session for A335 or A317 for 2 hours. The facilities include access to a the Minerva Spa, a restaurant, terraces overlooking the baths and steam rooms. There are also various treatments, and exercise classed available at an extra cost. The five year project has cost A323 million. For more information, see www.thermaebathspa.com or tel: 01225 331234.