Archive for July, 2011
Friday, July 29th, 2011
Cruise passengers wishing to visit Antarctica will soon have to pay a high price to do so as a number of large companies strike the destination from their itineraries. The move follows new regulations which will ban the use of heavy fuel oil on ships travelling to the region. Instead, any cruise liners travelling to the Antarctic will have to switch to marine gas oil, which is more expensive, but cleaner.
The International Maritime Organisation has made the decision to ban liners from carrying heavy fuel oil because it wants to reduce the risk to the delicate environment of an oil spill. The new rules will be enforced from 1 August.
Several cruise companies have already announced that they will be pulling Antarctica from their brochures including Regent Seven Seas, Princess, Oceania and Crystal. Tour operators say the rise in the price of fuel will cost them millions of pounds every year.
Travellers will still be able to sail to Antarctica, but they are likely to have to do so onboard smaller craft which are friendlier to the environment and are already powered by the greener marine gas oil.
Carolyn Spencer Brown, CruiseCritic.co.uk’s editor-in-chief, said the smaller ships were able to anchor close to the ice so that passengers could disembark. Some of the larger ships had to anchor further off-shore meaning passengers never actually got to stand on the southern continent. She added that the fuel regulations were bad news for passengers who will be forced to pay more for their trip, but ultimately good news for Antarctica.
Tags: cruise, cruise liners, Crystal, International Maritime Organisation, Oceania, Princess, Regent Seven Seas, tour operators
Posted in Health & Environment | Comments Off
Thursday, July 28th, 2011
Concerns over the safety of the Rolls-Royce manufactured Trent 900 jet engines used to power some Airbus A380 superjumbos are likely to be reignited after a Singapore Airlines jet was forced to return to base after experiencing engine failure. The airliner was 20 minutes into its flight to Hong Kong when the pilot was forced to shut down one of the engines because of vibrations, according to a Singapore Airlines spokesman.
The aircraft had 21 crew and 368 passengers on-board, but no injuries have been reported. The incident occurred just eight months after a Trent 900 exploded on a Qantas flight out of Singapore.
The dramatic failure sent debris ripping into the aircraft wing and forced the pilot to request an emergency landing. Qantas made the decision to ground all six of its A380s until the cause of the problem was discovered. Accident investigators found that a leak in an oil pipe led to a fire and an explosion.
Since then Rolls-Royce has replaced all of the faulty engines and, according to Nick Cunningham from London-based Agency Partners, the problem with the Singapore Airlines engine is unlikely to be related to the problem experienced by Qantas.
Rolls-Royce spokeswoman, Erin Atan, confirmed that the engine manufacturer was aware of the issue and that it would be providing all the necessary technical assistance and support to Singapore Airlines. Sean Lee, a representative of Airbus based in Singapore, said that the European manufacturer would also be supplying all the support needed to discover the cause of the problem.
Tags: A380, airbus, Qantas, Rolls Royce, Singapore Airlines, Trent 900
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Wednesday, July 27th, 2011
The aviation authority in France is due to formally report on the circumstances which led to an Air France passenger jet crashing into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009. The BEA will deliver the report in Paris on Friday. A spokeswoman said the contents would explain the lead up to the crash, but that a later report would deal with exact causes.
The tragedy occurred on 1 June 2009 as the Air France jet was carrying passengers to Paris from Rio de Janeiro. After entering an electrical storm readings sent from the cockpit show that the pilots were having problems with their air speed indicators. They then lost control of the aircraft after it stalled and it fell out of the sky and into the sea. All of the 228 crew and passengers were killed.
Rescue teams at the scene of the crash managed to recover some debris and 50 bodies. A number of seabed searches then took place to locate the rest of the wreckage and nearly two years after the plane went down its remains were discovered.
Accident investigators were able to retrieve the aircraft’s voice and data recorders which were sent to Paris for analysis. They also managed to pull a further 104 bodies to the surface which have also been sent to the French capital for forensic identification.
The BEA has been subject to some criticism by groups representing the victims’ families for not giving out enough information on what caused the tragedy and not allowing families to fully come to terms as to why it happened.
Tags: air france, air speed indicators, aviation authority, BEA, crash, data recorders, pilots
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Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
Budget carrier Ryanair has announced that the rising cost of aviation fuel will mean an average increase in fares of 12 per cent. The airline said that the fare hike will take place between now and March next year. Rising oil costs have also meant that the carrier has decided to cut back on the number of flights it will be offering this winter.
The announcements come as Ryanair reported quarterly pre-tax profits to June of £138 million. The figure is up 50 per cent on the same period in 2010. Passenger numbers were also up 18 per cent to 18 million compared to last year.
Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s boss, said the increase in traffic figures had been distorted by last year’s disruption to airline traffic caused by the volcanic ash cloud which drifted over to Europe from Iceland. He added that the higher revenues would be mostly offset by the price of fuel which is up 49 per cent.
Howard Miller, deputy chief executive at Ryanair, said the company would be passing the increase in operating costs onto its passengers by introducing a small increase in ticket prices. He added that fares are still cheaper than in 2007.
Ryanair’s post-tax profit forecast for the end of the fiscal year remains at around 400 million euros. Rival low-cost airline easyJet said it had recorded a rise in passenger numbers for the quarter of 17.3 per cent. The carrier also said its strategy of targeting more corporate customers was going well.
Tags: ash cloud, budget carrier, easyjet, fuel, low-cost airline, Michael O'Leary, Ryanair, ticket prices
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Monday, July 25th, 2011
The authorities in the Philippines are hoping to attract more foreign disabled visitors to the country by offering discounts on transport and services. The government said that disabled tourism was currently an under-served section of the travel market and has called upon tourism businesses to apply the 20 per cent discount scheme to all visitors.
The discount already applies to all Filipinos under the law. In a statement, Alberto Lim, the country’s Tourism Secretary, said the discount would apply across a range of services including transportation, medical services, amusement centres and accommodation. Lim added that the aim was not to provide separate services for those with disabilities, but to make sure that people with certain needs were able to travel on equal terms with everyone else.
According to President Benigno Aquino, tourism is extremely important to the future economic growth of the Philippines. However, the country still lags behind many of its Asian neighbours in this respect.
Lim blamed poor transport systems as well as a lack of hotel beds. Although last year there were 3.52 million visitors which is a record number of people and a hike of 16.68 per cent on the year before.
Maria Victoria Jasmin, Tourism Undersecretary, said the government was offering tourism establishments incentives to improve their facilities and make more disabled friendly renovations to their properties. These include making access to toilets and bathrooms easier, introducing handrails and better floors and building more ramps for wheelchairs to provide better access. Jasmin said it was now the right time to take action.
Tags: disabled visitors, Philippines, President Benigno Aquino, tourism, transport, travel
Posted in Travel News | Comments Off
Friday, July 22nd, 2011
The go-ahead has been given by the Competition Commission for a tie-up between high street travel operators Thomas Cook, the Co-operative and Midlands. When the deal is completed, it will create the biggest travel retailer in the UK. Thomas Cook is hoping that the merger will reverse its dwindling fortunes. In the last year, the firm has had to issue three profit warnings to share holders.
Manny Fontenla-Novoa, Thomas Cook’s chief executive, said the deal would increase the offering to customers on the high street, a market in which he still has confidence. However, travel industry analysts are remaining cautious about the outcome. Peel Hunt’s Nick Batram said the retail merger could become a distraction at a time when Thomas Cook needed to do more to solve its issues within the UK market.
Numis Securities has questioned whether more exposure on the high street will do anything more than increase profits over the short-term. The Competition Commission said that the merger was unlikely to have a negative impact on pricing because of strong demand for budget travel over the internet.
Laura Carstensen, leader of the enquiry and deputy chairman at the Commission, said the merger was unlikely to affect choice and pricing for the consumer. The watchdog will now ask for feedback on its findings and will publish a full report by the middle of next month.
Thomas Cook currently runs 780 shops, the Co-op has 360 outlets and Midlands owns 100. The travel market in the UK is currently struggling against a drop in consumer spending and the troubles which have been experienced in North Africa and the Middle East.
Tags: budget travel, Co-operative, Competition Commission, Midlands, thomas cook, travel
Posted in Finance and Business | Comments Off
Thursday, July 21st, 2011
Royal newlyweds William and Kate have been told that they will be compensated by British Airways after the TVs in their first class seats failed to work. The pair were returning with BA after an extremely successful visit to Canada and parts of the US when the malfunction occurred. According to a source, the royal couple were good humoured about the situation.
A fellow passenger said that the happy couple changed into comfortable attire for the flight and were also chatty with fellow passengers. A spokesman for BA said the glitch was regrettable and offered an apology on behalf of the airline to all those who were affected. Passengers on the flight from Los Angeles to Heathrow will receive a voucher for duty free worth £200.
Tickets to fly in the front of the Boeing 747 cost around £5,000 per seat, but the royal pair saved many more thousands by deciding to travel with the flag-carrier rather than take a private jet. William and Kate began their royal tour as guests of the Canadian Air Force.
A source said that flying for 10 hours without access to the in-flight channels is always a pain, but that passengers seemed to be placated by BA’s offer of compensation. Unfortunately, the couple and fellow passengers did not get to see films which included Gnomeo and Juliet, The Tourist and The Fighter, which stars Christian Bale.
The duke and duchess are expected to announce the itinerary of their visit to Scotland in September shortly.
Tags: airline, BA, boeing, British Airways, Christian Bale, Gnomeo and Juliet, Kate, royal, The Fighter, The Tourist, voucher, William
Posted in Celebrity News | Comments Off
Wednesday, July 20th, 2011
Parliament has received a petition to prevent a lucrative train-building contract being awarded to Germany rather than Bombardier, a British manufacturer. More than 50,000 people have signed the document which was delivered by Labour MP for Derby North, Chris Williamson. He described the number of signatures received to help save the train-maker as staggering.
Siemens was recently declared the preferred bidder for the contract to build new carriages for Thameslink which is worth £1.5 billion. Bombardier has since announced that the decision would force it to cut 1,400 jobs in Derby where the firm is based.
Mr Williamson said there was a great deal of ill-feeling over the decision to send the contract abroad and that many in Derby were hoping that the government and Prime Minister David Cameron would step-in to save Bombardier. He used Rolls-Royce as an example of a company which nearly went under in 1971. After nationalisation by the Tory government, the firm went on to become one of the world’s most successful companies, he said.
After being awarded the Thameslink contract, Siemens announced it would be creating 2,000 new jobs in the UK. Mr Cameron ruled out a reversal of the decision to give the job to Siemens but said he would be looking to see if any changes to EU regulations could be made in the future.
The government has said that it is bound by regulations laid down by the EU, and the last Labour government, over criteria controlling the bidding process and that it was legally obliged abide by this process.
Tags: Bombardier, David Cameron, EU, Rolls Royce, Siemens, Thameslink, Tory, train, train-maker
Posted in Political News | Comments Off
Tuesday, July 19th, 2011
Car manufacturer BMW intends to spread its Munich based car-sharing programme to cities throughout Europe including the UK. The scheme is a partnership between BMW and car rental firm Sixt. BMW has supplied 300 vehicles, which are positioned in various locations throughout Munich, and Sixt takes care of logistics and the customer database.
Members of the initiative are given keyless access to the vehicles which they can locate via a smartphone application. After typing in a PIN, the car is activated and the driver is free to take it around the city for around 25p per minute. All charges are made to the customer’s credit card.
The vehicles are tracked using satellite technology and a refuelling team makes sure that the cars have full tanks of petrol. Tony Douglas, from BMW’s mobility services, said the initiative had been working well and the scheme would now be introduced to Berlin. He added that BMW was also currently discussing making the service available to customers in other major European cities including Manchester, Birmingham and London.
BMW has also announced that it will be investing in UK-based website ParkatmyHouse.com. The site allows drivers to get in contact with homeowners who have registered their private parking spaces, garages and driveways as places where motorists can securely drop off their vehicles for a fee.
BMW has a fund set aside for investment in mobility services which includes My City Way, a New York based scheme, which uses traffic cameras to work out the ideal route around the city for drivers.
Tags: bmw, car rental, car sharing, mobility services, My City Way, ParkatmyHouse.com, Sixt
Posted in Car Rental News | Comments Off
Monday, July 18th, 2011
Flying cars could soon be seen on the roads and in the skies of the UK as American safety authorities give permission for the Terrafugia Transition to be driven on US highways. The Transition is both a two-seater car and a propeller-powered airplane capable of flying at speeds of 115mph for a distance of around 500 miles.
The machine is powered by petrol from a normal pump and can be driven on the road at up to 65mph once the wings are folded away and power has been transferred from the prop-shaft to the rear axel. The Transition can be turned from plane to car in around 15 seconds and will even fit into a standard garage.
The project was started in 2006 and recently ran into a financial hurdle after the US authorities demanded changes in the design which included the addition of tyres, which were appropriate for both road and runway, and a new stability system.
Because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has approved the Transition on the other side of the Atlantic, aviation experts predict that it will be relatively easy for approval to be gained from the European Safety Agency. If so, flying cars could be a feature of British roads within five years.
The Transition already has 100 orders in the US and is generating significant interest in the UK. Sir Richard Branson is said to be keen and the first flying cars are set to come off the production line at some point next year.
Tags: European Safety Agency, flying car, Richard Branson, runway, Terrafugia Transition
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