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Tag Archives: July 2003
Airline News
Re-launched in July 2002 from British European UK as carrier FlyBe is to launch a new West of England low fares base at Exeter International Airport in March next year. The UK’s third largest low fare airline will offer three daily flights to Alicante, Malaga and Murcia in Spain and three domestic flights to Belfast City, Edinburgh and Glasgow in the UK.
Domestic one-way fares will start at GBP£19 (USD$31) and on the Mediterranean routes at GBP£49.
Good news for air fatalities: Flight International's Airline Safety Review of the first six months of 2003 notes that the number of people who died in airline crashes in the first six months of this year nearly halved in comparison with the same period of 2002.
Between January and June 2003, 362 people around the world lost their lives in 12 fatal accidents. In 2002 there were 712 deaths and 18 fatal accidents.
The biggest cause of accidents is still “controlled flight into terrain” incidents (flying into mountains). The report states that airlines from poorer or more immature economies record most accidents, suggesting that safety standards and aviation safety cultures still need to be looked at.
Qantas have been having a hard time recently, and not just being affected by the recent Iraq war and SARS. Mid July, a Vietnamese passenger en route from Bangkok to Sydney was stabbed in the neck with a fork. In May, a man armed with sharpened wooden staves tried to force his way into the cockpit of a Qantas flight to Tasmania and hi-jack the plane. Despite this, Qantas remain one of the Beetle’s favourite airlines.
UK carrier Virgin Atlantic has announced the Upper Class Suite – reclining leather seats, more space for meals and the longest airline flat bed in the world for sleeping. Virgin says it will charge business class rates for a first class service. The service will be available on all of Virgin's Boeing 747-400 and Airbus A340-600 planes from this summer, and will be on all aircraft based at London Heathrow by spring 2004 and those at Gatwick by autumn 2004.
New UN Heritage Sites
This is the second of three descriptions of the 24 sites of “outstanding universal value”, that have been designated world heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
These are as follows:
· The Jewish Quarter and St Procopius' Basilica in Trebic, Czech Republic: A reminder of the co-existence of Jewish and Christian cultures in the Middle Ages to the 20th Century. The Jewish Quarter provides an insight into a community of a bygone era, while the St Procopius' Basilica, built in the 13th Century, is an example of the influence of Western European architecture on the region.
· James Island and related sites, Gambia: Significant for its relation to the beginning and abolition of the slave trade. An early gateway to the interior of Africa.
· Rock Shelters of Bhimbetka, India: Located in the foothills of the Vindhyan Mountains on the southern edge of the central Indian plateau. Contains five clusters of natural rock shelters, displaying paintings that appear to date from the Mesolithic period right through to the Historical period.
· Takht-e Soleyman, Iran: The archaeological site in north-western Iran includes the principal Zoroastrian sanctuary partly rebuilt in the Ilkhanid (Mongol) period (13th Century) as well as a temple of the Sasanian period (6th and 7th Centuries AD) dedicated to Anahita.
· Ashur (Qala'at at Sherqat), Iraq: The ancient city of Ashur dates back to the 3rd millennium BC. From the 14th to the 9th Centuries BC, it was the first capital of the Assyrian Empire. The city was destroyed by the Babylonians, but revived during the Parthian period in the 1st and 2nd century AD.
· The White City of Tel-Aviv – the Modern Movement, Israel: The White City was constructed from the early 1930s until 1948. The buildings were designed by European-trained architects, who created an outstanding architectural ensemble of the modern movement in a new cultural context.
· Sacri Monti of Piedmont and Lombardy, Italy: The nine Sacri Monti (Sacred Mountains) of northern Italy are groups of chapels and other architectural features created in the late 16th and 17th Centuries and dedicated to different aspects of the Christian faith.
· The Mausoleum of Khoja Ahmed Yasawi, Kazakhstan: The mausoleum, in the town of Yasi, now Turkestan, was built from 1389 to 1405. It is one of the largest and best-preserved constructions of the Timurid period (1370-1507 AD).
Source: BBC News
Being Careful: Bali
The UK government still has a warning out, advising travellers against non essemtial travel to Bali, after last October’s bombings.
However, reports from hoteliers and hostel owners in Bali say that the back packing hostels are almost full now, and the upper end hotels are one third full. Garuda, Indonesia’s state airline resumed flights from the UK to Bali at the end of July 2003.
Currency Conversion
The Globetrotters Club has just teamed up with Oanda.com to provide people with information about currency conversions and cheat sheets. To translate currency or make a cheat sheet, visit:
The Globetrotters Currency Converter — get the exchange rates for 164 currencies The Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet — create and print a currency converter table for your next trip.
Our Friends Ryanair
Oh dear, oh dear, the airline we love to hate, Ryanair has just got itself into trouble in Germany, for saying that it flies to Dussledorf.
A court in Cologne said that it was deceptive advertising to use the description Niederheim (Dussledorf) as the airport is over 40 miles away from the city. (Is that all? Beetle). Ryanair accused Lufthansa and Dussledorf Airport of supporting the action brought against it by an Unfair Competition organisation. Lufthansa has denied the claim.
And still on the subject of court action, a French court has upheld complaints against low-fare carrier Ryanair and stopped the airline from accepting local subsidies (EUR560,000 (USD$644,000) a year from the local Chamber of Commerce) to publicise flights and build up passenger numbers on the London Stansted – Strasbourg route.
It is the first time a ruling has been made barring the airline from making financial deals with local tourist authorities or airports to boost its passenger traffic. Ryanair says it will appeal against the decision.