Call me, maybe? Now you can say that to someone that will be taking an Emirates A380 flight. The company recently announced that they are implementing a technology that will allow passengers to use their mobile phones to make and receive calls while in flight. This is another milestone for the airline as they were also the first one to introduce satellite phones for passengers back in 1993.
The first of the super jumbo jets equipped with the technology flew between Munich and Dubai last week with one passenger using the service to contact folks at home. Everything went well and the technology will be rolled out to all A380s of the company and the older members of the fleet.
Flyers will have to shoulder regular roaming charges without having to worry about extra charges even if their mobile service provider does not have a contract with Aeromoble or OnAir that provides the technology.
Big demand. That is how anyone will describe Virgin Atlantic’s flights to Cancun. The carrier kicked off with the route back in June but because of the travel boom, Virgin recently announced that it will be expanding its twice a week flights to thrice a week.
It will take some time though for the changes to take effect. The new flights schedule will start April of next year.
According to an executive of Virgin Atlantic, Cancun s doing very well for the business and the launch of the route to Cancun has been one of their most successful ones. Transatlantic flights have been the core of their bussiness and the company is happy to show its commitment to the consumers and Mexico by adding the extra service.
In 2011, Mexico received 23 million visitors or about 2% more than the international travelers in 2010.
Taking a stand against travel taxes, Virgin Atlantic will not charge APD for their sales this weekend. This will save a family with four members about GBP 324 when visiting a Cancun from the UK.
The founder of Virgin, Sir Richard Branson brands the APD as a disgrace and claims that the government will be able to collect 600 million quids from this travel duties paid by passengers when going thru UK airports between this month and August. This means about 10 million quids are collected on a daily basis.
Branson also sees it obscene to collect this huge amount during an Olympic year. He said that the taxes have suffocated travelers thru the years, and have affected the economy which still struggles to recover from the recession.
Here are the newest airlines routes as announced by companies recently:
Frontier Airlines
If you love the sand and the sun, Frontier Airlines might just have the answer for your wanderlust. It will be flying between Denver and the Dominican republic start August. It will be a seasonal offering that will be flying every Saturday.
American Airlines
If you are planning to go to Paraguay, American Airlines is cooking up something to link it up with the states. The airline is planning to fly between Miami and Asuncion starting 15 November. That sounds as a good excuse if you want to have your Thanksgiving turkey in South America. American Airlines will be using their Boeing 757′s to services the new route four times a week. We are still awaiting the tag price for this and we are sure it will not be cheap.
Allegiant Air
Travelers going thru Melbourne via Virgin Australia will be having a better experience as the airline spruces up their gate. The terminal is a bit old and definitely needs some refresh.
Virgin Airline has started the works on their part of the shiny terminal and is planning to finish all the renovations before the end of 2012. The redesign will give the terminal a more modern space and a better use of the available space. The works just form part and parcel of the overhaul that is being implemented by Virgin Australia in the last few months.
Once the facelift is done, the terminal will have more open spaces, a new lounge, and a premium valet service. The improvements are not limited to the interiors of the airport but the outside will have more parking space for the airplanes. Virgin will make the space more friendly for the big Airbus A330s moving proximate to the terminal.
Virgin Atlantic recently announced that it is set to stop its flights from London to Kenya because of the increasing costs and drop in the number of passengers. The flights bringing passengers between London and Nairobi will cease by September 24.
The management of the airline pointed to increasing cost of fuel and aviation taxes in the United Kingdom. The number of passengers to the said destination has also significantly dropped. Virgin Atlantic has decided to devote their flights where the demand is higher to make it financially sound for the company.
The recent unrest and piracy threats in Kenya have also contributed to the problem as tourists have canceled bookings with tour operators of have opted for other holiday destinations.
The airline company has also threatened to stop their service in Kenya back in 2008 following a series of riots and ethnic violence.
Here are the newest routes that will be serviced by some of the biggest airline companies:
WestJet
If you are planning a Caribbean holiday, WestJet will be adding a new option if you are looking for available flights for your getaway to paradise. If you are flying out of Toronto, WestJet can bring you now to Aruba for some sand, sun, and water fun. The flights have started last week and will be doing so every Sunday until October 21. Tickets start at $229 one-way before taxes.
Hawaiian Airlines
It looks like things are going well for the company as Hawaiian Airlines have been servicing more cities recently. The airline is planning to make Sapporo, Japan closer to Honolulu. Starting November, their Boeing 767s will be flying this new route.
United
British Airways will be bring passengers to Seoul, South Korea as it resumes its service after more than ten years.
The flights to the capital city of South korea will be relaunched on 2 December this year. The airline will be doing six flights between Heathrow and Seoul per week using slots that came from the acquisition of Bmi by the parent company of British Airways, the IAG.
The company stopped flying to Seoul back in 1998 due to economic reasons but they resumed the service for a while in 2011 after the nuclear disaster following the strong earth quake and tsunami in Japan. The staff of British Airways spend a nigh in Seoul while it was Tokyo was considered unsafe to stay in.
Call me, maybe? Now you can say that to someone that will be taking an Emirates A380 flight. The company recently announced that they are implementing a technology that will allow passengers to use their mobile phones to make and receive calls while in flight. This is another milestone for the airline as they were also the first one to introduce satellite phones for passengers back in 1993.
