Archive for December, 2009
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
Passengers heading to America from Holland by air will be subject to full-body scans before they board their aircraft according to Dutch officials. The scanners work by bombarding the body with electromagnetic waves which then bounce back onto sensors allowing the machine to build up a 3-D picture of the subject’s body. This means that operators will be able to tell if a passenger is carrying anything they shouldn’t be onto an aircraft. As well as smuggled goods the scanners can produce pretty accurate depictions of things like breast implants, body piercings and genitalia.
The fact that the machines could be said to breach a person’s privacy is something that manufacturers have been looking into. Latest developments mean that the machines can now blur a person’s face as well as their genitalia. Operators of the machines are stationed away from the actual scanners so that they can make no connection between the image on the screen and an individual passenger. Newer software could do away with the need to blur images altogether. The machines could be told to show the person up as a stick man and simply alert operators to the presence of contraband and its position on the body.
Although manufacturers of the full-body scanners claim that everyday people are not particularly concerned over the privacy issues, over thirty organisations in the U.S. alone beg to differ. At the moment however it looks like peoples privacy will be taking a back seat to any and all measures that can prevent a repeat of what was almost a terrible tragedy in the skies over Detroit on Christmas Day.
Tags: body, body piercings, breast implants, Christmas Day, contraband, full-body scans, genitalia, passenger, privacy, scanners
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Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
Police are still trying to find the person responsible for blowing up a speed camera at around 2.30 in the morning on Christmas Day. The explosion woke up local residents and sent debris across the road. The camera was located in Eastleigh in Hampshire and police are now examining footage from surrounding CCTV cameras for clues as to what happened in the lead up to the explosion. Initially fire fighters and police officers rushed to the scene to extinguish flames fearing that the explosion had come from a nearby petrol station.
Tina McCarthy a resident living nearby said that she had been awoken by a loud bang and looked out of her window to see debris lying in the road. She said that there had been thunder earlier in the evening but that the explosion had been much louder. She went on to say that she was extremely concerned that someone had been able to get their hands on explosives and been able to set them off so close to where people lived.
Acting Chief Inspector Kelly Whiting with the Hampshire Police said that the incident was being treated as extremely serious. She said that it was extremely irresponsible to set of a device which could have harmed passers by and which could have had even more serious repercussions because of the nearby petrol station. She went on to say that the police suspected that the person responsible was probably a member of the public who had a grudge against speed cameras. The investigation continues.
Tags: CCTV, Christmas Day, explosion, explosives, petrol station, police, speed camera
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Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
Severe Alpine weather has claimed the life of a British skier who is thought to have been caught in a small avalanche on Christmas Day. The forty-three-year-old man has been identified as Londoner, Nigel Jackson. He was holidaying in La Tour in Chamonix with his girlfriend and two other friends over the Christmas period. Although there were weather warnings issued for Christmas Day by officials at Chamonix the group decided to risk going out on the slopes. It is thought that Mr. Jackson was trying to ski between two of the pistes at La Tour when he was knocked down by a small avalanche. Officials say there would have been zero visibility on the slopes because of blizzards.
Mr. Jackson’s friends alerted the authorities when he failed to return to the chalet they were renting. A search party was sent out but the search had to be called off because of the weather. Mr. Jackson was not wearing a transceiver. At 3pm on Boxing Day Mr. Jackson’s body was discovered. Mr. Jackson’s parents have flown to France to deal with the police and arrange for the body to be returned to the U.K.
The search still continues for another Brit who has gone missing at a Swiss ski resort. Twenty-three-year-old Myles Robinson disappeared last Tuesday in Wengen. His disappearance occurred in the early hours of the morning after he left the Blue Monkey Bar to walk a friend back to her hotel. Although he was staying at another hotel just a couple of hundred yards away there is no trace of him.
Tags: Alpine weather, avalanche, Blue Monkey Bar, Boxing Day, British skier, chalet, Chamonix, Christmas Day, hotel, La Tour, Myles Robinson, Nigel Jackson, ski
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Monday, December 28th, 2009
Extra security measures imposed by America on all those wishing to fly to the country have resulted in delays on most flights leaving British airports. The new security measures were ordered within hours of the Nigerian man who attempted to set of a bomb on a Northwest Airlines plane travelling from Amsterdam to Detroit was taken into custody. The new measures, imposed indefinitely by the U.S. Transport Security Administration, will now require every America bound passenger to undergo an extra pat down as well as have their hand luggage thoroughly searched just before they board their aircraft.
As well as the extra searches passengers will be told that they must strictly observe the one piece of hand luggage per person rules. Passengers will also be told that they will be unable to leave their seats for the final hour of their flight. The cabins mapping system which shows passengers how far they are from their destination must also be disabled on all flights coming into the U.S. according to officials. This has caused some airlines to have to abandon their whole in flight entertainment systems.
Head of security at BAA until 1996, Norman Shanks points out that the imposed security measures are unlikely to do anything more than delay passengers. He pointed out that people did not need a mapping display to tell them when they are about to land, the careful use of a window could do this, and that being seated was no guarantee that a bomber would not be able to detonate a device. He points out that Richard Reid was seated as he tried to set off his shoe bomb in 2001.
Tags: bomb, British airports, mapping system, Northwest Airlines, Richard Reid, security measures, Transport Security Administration
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Friday, December 25th, 2009
E-Clear, the company which processed Globespan’s credit card payments is currently under investigation for its alleged role in the collapse of the Scottish budget airline last week. E-Clear is also being looked at in connection with Allbury Travel who was also forced to cease trading last week. It is thought that because E-Clear held back around £30 million in payments to Globespan it forced the airline to call in the administrators leaving hundreds of customers stranded abroad. Investigations are now centering around why exactly E-Clear was holding back money that should have been in Globespan’s account. If the money had been made available then it is thought the airline could have continued running for at least another month and its customers would not have been abandoned over Christmas.
It is common for credit card companies to hold back a certain amount of cash so that they can pay for customer money-back claims. However experts say that the amount of money being held back by E-Clear seemed unusually high. E-Clear has been linked to a number of other companies being forced to hand themselves over to administrators. Last week Allbury Travel went bust and last year the same thing happened to the holiday company XL Travel for whom E-Clear was the credit card processor. E-Clear also processed payments for the now defunct airline Zoom.
John Swinney, Scotland’s finance secretary has already said that a full investigation is needed into why passengers were left stranded and hundreds of staff made jobless if the funds were available to prevent the situation.
Tags: Allbury Travel, Christmas, credit card, E-Clear, Globespan, jobless, John Swinney, money-back claims, XL Travel, Zoom
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Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Although weather experts predict that driving conditions are set to improve as the severe weather abates it is now the sheer volume of traffic predicted on the U.K.’s roads which is a cause for concern. The AA predicts that one third of the countries cars will hit the roads and that even though the weather may be improving the threat of black ice is now a real danger. The AA said that the amount of vehicles on the roads is a seasonal problem no matter what the weather conditions.
The Met office has said that it does not expect any more snow for the time being and the RAC has advised drivers to put off travelling for as long as possible as warmer weather will make driving conditions easier as the week goes on. Sadiq Khan, the U.K. transport minister has said that the government was doing everything in its power to make sure that any disruption to those travelling over Christmas would be kept to a minimum.
The airlines are still struggling to cope with easyJet being the biggest casualty of the cold weather. The airline has cancelled hundred’s of flights as its main airports Gatwick and Luton have been forced to close repeatedly over the last few days. A spokesperson for easyJet said that the airline is unable to make any guarantees about getting all passengers home for Christmas and said that although the airline had looked at hiring alternative means of transport it had since ruled them out.
Tags: AA, airlines, Christmas, easyjet, Gatwick, Luton, Met office, RAC, roads, Sadiq Khan, weather conditions
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Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
Car hire comparison site Carrentals.co.uk is advising all customers that the troubles affecting the car rental industry throughout this year are set to continue well into 2010. Carrentals.co.uk managing director Gareth Robinson said that due to the recession many car hire firms have been unable to secure the required funds to increase the size of their fleets in line with customer demand. He said that this has caused a shortage of vehicles as well as price hikes on those vehicles still available.
It had been expected that the recession would produce a reduction in the amount of customers hiring vehicles and that the limited number available would be enough to cater to demand. However the number of people wanting to hire vehicles remained steady and this resulted in some companies selling out completely during peak periods. This trend could get worse in 2010.
easyCar’s Owen Coles said that the industry is bracing itself for chronic shortages of vehicles available to customers. He said that as the recession eases more customers were expected to book car rentals. However there is still an amount of uncertainty as to whether financial institutions are ready to hand over the necessary funds for car hire firms to expand fleets to meet the predicted demand.
Robinson said that his advice to anyone wishing to rent a car next year would be to book it as far in advance of the date of travel as possible. He also advised customers to use a price comparison site to secure the best deals.
Tags: best deals, car hire, Car hire comparison, car rental, carrentals.co.uk, Easycar, hire vehicles, recession, rent a car
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
The Department of Transport has announced that utility firms who fail to complete road work project on schedule could face huge fines. The Street Works Summit report has resulted in Transport Minister Sadiq Khan announcing that gas, water and electricity companies could be fined up to £25,000 every day they run past their deadlines. This figure is ten times the present maximum fine of £2,500 per day.
Khan said that the report illustrated a situation whereby many utility companies were showing absolutely no concern for the country’s road users. He went on to say that his decision to hike fines as well as penalize companies for choosing to undertake work on roads at their busiest times was also a result of the fact that the country could not afford to spend an estimated £4.2 billion every year as the result of road works.
Following the report’s findings it has also been recommended that a good practice guide be sent out to councils so that they can ensure that the people who are most disrupted by road works are given plenty of notice so that they can plan alternative routes.
Drivers’ Alliance spokesman, Peter Roberts said that the announcement was good news for the county’s drivers. However he pointed out that the new system of fines may simply persuade utility companies to extend their deadlines for road works as far into the future as possible so as to avoid being penalized. Roberts said that if this happened then the problem of congestion on British roads due to road works was unlikely to change.
Tags: British roads, congestion, Department of Transport, Drivers' Alliance, electricity, fines, gas, road works, Sadiq Khan, The Street Works Summit, utility companies, water
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Monday, December 21st, 2009
The Al-Tayyar Travel Group has announced plans to raise money through an initial public offering so that it can expand its business. Al-Tayyar is based in Riyadh and has offices around the world offering flight booking services, car hire services and package holidays. The company’s president, Nasser Al-Tayyar said that the company would be offering twenty-four million shares in a bid to raise 1.2 billion riyals. He went on to say that the company was looking into a number of investment opportunities in the travel industry and has hinted at wishing to buy thirty percent of a travel based company in the U.K., although he did not provide any other details.
As well as in the Middle East Al-Tayyar has offices around the world in countries such as the U.S., Canada, Malaysia, Thailand and India. It is also thought that they are considering investing in Australia. Apart from looking at investment opportunities abroad Al-Tayyar said that they are planning to increase their number of offices in Saudi Arabia. They also plan to increase their car hire fleet by doubling the eight hundred vehicles they already have. Al-Tayyar said that the company felt that it was a good time to invest in travel opportunities because of the troubles experienced by the industry during the global economic slump.
Al-Tayyar started out in 1979 as a travel business with 1 million riyals in capital. The company has now grown to own large stakes in a variety of travel based businesses such as Al Saeeda Airlines in Yemen and Kuwaiti travel firm Alshamel International.
Tags: Al Saeeda Airlines, Al-Tayyar, Al-Tayyar Travel Group, Alshamel International, car hire, car hire fleet, flight booking, global economic slump, initial public offering, Nasser Al-Tayyar, package holidays
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Friday, December 18th, 2009
The largest motoring organization in the U.S. has predicted that more people will be travelling over the Christmas period this year than did so in 2008. The AAA predicts that around eighty-eight million people will make a journey of more than fifty miles over the Christmas period between December 23rd and January 3rd. The organization has pointed out that this will be more than double the amount of people who travelled home for Thanksgiving this year.
AAA says that it predicts that those travelling home by car will be 4.4 percent up on last year. It also says that the amount of people travelling by air will be up on the same period last year. However James C. May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Authority is less optimistic and said that he predicts airline capacity to be down by around 2.9 percent when compared with 2008′s figures. To cope with the effects of a devastating recession many airlines will have reduced capacity on their aircraft meaning that flights are likely to be a lot more crowded this Christmas. American Airlines’ spokesman Tim Smith said that aircraft will be fuller this year than they were last year, especially when passengers returning from Christmas run into passengers flying out for the New Year.
Whereas the airlines and car hire firms are predicted to increase their prices slightly over the festive period, the nation’s hotels are expected to lower their room rates in an effort to attract customers.
Tags: aaa, Air Transport Authority, airline, american airlines, Christmas, hotels, New Year, Thanksgiving
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