As discussed in the blog and now formally confirmed, the Taiwanese carrier China Airline will join the SkyTeam Alliance - bringing it up to five members in the Asia region.Skyteam's other members in the area include Korean Air, China Sothern, China Eastern (including Shanghai Airlines), Vietnam Airlines. The intention is to for China Airlines join SkyTeam by mid-2011, with … [Read more...]

Sad news comes from Venezuela with the loss of 14 lives in an accident involving an ATR 42 crashing near Puerto Ordaz, a few kilometres southeast of Ciudad Guayana.The Convisasa Flight 2350 was an ATR42 had been operating on the north cost Venezuela, some 300 miles from Caracas when it came down. Twenty-three of the 47 occupants on board have been taken to hospitals, made up … [Read more...]

Air China is being a busy beaver in the background, with the announcement of the purchase of 4 Boeing 777-300ER's to bolster it's long haul fleet.The aircraft are going to arrive between 2013 and 2014, increasing capacity and matching demand.It may just be another 4 aircraft, but in long haul terms the 777-300ER is pull the crown of "long haul aircraft" from the 747.. … [Read more...]

Yes, indeed it is too late for a free ESTA now, and that in order to process your ESTA, you have to hand your Credit Card details over to the United States Government (but they already have it as it's in the information packet that's transmitted to them when you book your flight). And yes, the ESTA site still looks like it's been designed for a 6th Form (High School) project.Of … [Read more...]

The Consumerist has an interesting story about a pregnant woman who refused initially to go through a Full Body Scanner/Millimetre Wave Scanner/Nude-o-Scope and wished to exercise her right (as it is in the USA) to a full pat down instead.I'm going to paste over the quotes.The two TSA agents asked me, "Why don't you want to go through this?" I said, "I don't trust it." They … [Read more...]

It seems BMI Baby (the low cost arm of British Midland International) is at it again, this time with luggage sizers being.... incorrectly sized.For those of you who don't bother to use them, these are things you're meant to measure your luggage against to see if you're allowed to take your bag on board a plane - or not as the case may be. BBC's Watchdog has discovered cases … [Read more...]

For those who like to cut costs and go via a 3rd party country, you can start to cross Germany off your list, as they will be introducing a varient of Air Passenger Duty called "Luftverkehrssteuer"This kicks off on 1st January 2011. Like APD they've assigned countries into zonal distances, with the radial point being Frankfurt.Details are at … [Read more...]

Trouble brewing across the Pacific ocean with reports that the Department of Transport is denying Virgin Blue Group and Delta Airlines anti-trust immunity for cooperation over Pacific Routes.To quote the DOT:"The weight of the evidence suggests that the primary effect of a grant of anti-trust immunity at this time would be to improve the market share of Delta and V Australia, … [Read more...]