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Pet Airways Takes to the Skies

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Journeys, Services, Pets

Pet Airways Takes to the SkiesYou know how awful your luggage sometimes looks after being batted around in a plane's cargo area. As a responsible pet owner, why would you put your pet through that? Not to worry -- Pet Airways has launched and is ready to help your pet travel safely and comfortably in the main cabin. Just launched this month, inaugural cities are New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Denver, and Los Angeles. You needn't (and in fact, can't) fly with your pet. He or she flies with other "pawsengers," all safely ensconced in appropriately-sized Pet Airways-provided carriers and cared for by attendants on one of Pet Airways' five planes. Here's how it works. Fares right now range from $149 - $299; info can be found here.

You may need to do just a bit extra, though -- the airline flies out of smaller, regional airports right now, so an extra trip may be in order for you to drop off your pet, and the Pet Airways flight takes longer than a standard flight due to stops along the way. MSN did a good piece that offers more details.

As a pet owner, I offer my thought that traveling sans the pet and then picking him or her at the airport makes for a happier trip for all.


Tags: airline, cat, cats, dog, dogs, Pet Airways, PetAirways, pets, travel

Alitalia To Put Art Collection Up For Sale

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings, Art


Italian aircraft carrier Alitalia has a resource some other carriers don't in order to help raise funds. Alitalia is currently looking into selling its prized modern art collection to help to reduce debts, as it prepares for a relaunch next month under new ownership. The collection of over 200 pieces includes works by Salvador Dali, Giorgio De Chirico and Giacomo Balla, as well as sculptures by Giacomo Manzu and Mario Ceroli. The airline began its collection in the 1950s and the pieces are now at Alitalia offices in Rome, Milan, Turin and New York, or in storage. Christie's is reportedly making a valuation of 193 of its works of art and is said to be choosing 50 works of the greatest value and interest to be auctioned off. The news comes just after German airline Lufthansa launched "Lufthansa Italia", a new airline based at Milan Malpensa, to serve main European cities, including London.

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Tags: airline, alitalia, art, dali, jets

Gloomy Days Ahead For Russian Airlines

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings


Think the airline industry has it tough in the U.S.? Looks like it's no better in Russia. The Russian news agency ITAR-TASS has reported that the Russian aviation industry is in deep trouble and some airlines are facing potential bankruptcy. The reason is the same one that is plaguing the U.S. airlines, jet fuel prices. The cost of aviation fuel in Russia has risen over 70% and even though Russia has its own vast oil deposits, kerosene prices in Moscow are some 5-6% higher than in Europe. Some are predicting that as many as 50% of Russian airlines could go under if conditions don't improve.

In Russia the heaviest demand for air tickets is during the summer peak, and demand falls considerably in the low season October-February, and so some air carriers may be short of revenues to pay to fuel suppliers. Smaller airlines are more vulnerable. Yevgeny Ostrovsky, the director general of a trade house supplying jet fuel to Russian airports, predicts that only five airlines, Aeroflot, S7, Rossiya, Transaero, and YUTair, are likely to survive due to their strong partnership with the government or with large corporations. Even Aeroflot, the largest carrier, has seen the price of jet fuel cut down its profit margin from the 9% it posted in 2006 and 2007 to 3% this year to 2% in 2009.

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Tags: airline, jets, russia

Continental Unveils New Business Class Seats

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings


New seats have been announced by Continental Airlines for their BusinessFirst cabin on Boeing 787, 777 and 757 aircraft that serve mostly trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific routes. The 180-degree lie-flat seat provides 6 1/2 feet of sleeping space in the extended position. It measures up to 25 inches wide when the the adjustable armrest is positioned flush with the seat cushion. Electronic controls enable customers to move the seats to pre-set upright, cradle and fully extended sleep positions and adjust the seat back, lumbar support and leg and foot rests. The lie-flat seats also offer individual storage space for personal items. Laptop power, headset and USB plugs are tucked above the customer's shoulder and there is additional storage under the ottoman, on a shelf under the monitor and on an amenity storage alcove. BusinessFirst seats on the 787 and 777 aircraft will have a 15.4-inch video monitor while seats on the 757 aircraft will feature 10.6-inch monitors. The seats also have a six-way adjustable head rest and an individual overhead reading light and an adjustable seat light allowing a customer to read in bed without bothering the person next to them. The new seats should start appearing in the fall of 2009.

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Tags: airline, business class, BusinessClass, continental, seats

British Airways Buys L'Avion

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings


The three business-class-only airlines that flew out of the U.K. to New York (MaxJet, Eos and Silverjet) are all now history but the last outlier, Paris-based L'Avion is still around. For now. British Airways has snapped up the French all-business airline l'Avion for 54 million pounds ($107 million). The privately owned airline flies two Boeing 757 aircraft with 90 seats each between Paris and New York.

Once the deal is done, l'Avion will become a subsidiary of British airways and become part of Open Skies, their transatlantic airline. Open Skies operates with its own crew and pilots (there is only one aircraft so far). Open Skies planes have 24 seats that convert into beds, 28 in premium economy and 30 in economy making it closer to the l'Avion model than traditional British Airways flights.

Marketwatch speculates that it may be possible that l'Avion, like the other business-class airlines was hardly a moneymaker and may have never turned a profit.

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Tags: airline, airlne, british airways, BritishAirways, business jet, BusinessJet, lavion, open skies, OpenSkies

Silverjet Permanently Grounded

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

Looks like those reports of Silverjet's resurgence were a false alarm. The Telegraph spoke with chief executive Lawrence Hunt who said the business-class-only airline is permanently grounded. There had been hopes that the company Kingplace would be able to bail out Silverjet but they were not able to raise sufficient cash to meet the capital requirements from the Civil Aviation Authority. After that we heard that Middle East carrier Arabjet might take over but Hunt calls them "timewasters" who were not even able to " raise the £125,000 needed to secure negotiations with the administrators." It looks like Silverjet will not be sold off as a going concern but will likely be dismantled with the assets sold off piece by piece.

Source

Tags: airline, business class, silverjet

Silverjet May Soon Fly Again

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

We thought they were out when they shut down in May but business-class-only airline, Silverjet might be back in the skies soon. Kingplace, an Irish off-the-shelf company backed by Geneva-based Heritage Cie, has inked a deal with Silverjet's administrators, Begbies Traynor. Silverjet plans to relaunch flights to New York and Dubai from London as soon as possible. The company plans to take on all of the existing staff, honor Silverjet's existing customers' tickets and put planes back in service in a few weeks.

Source

Tags: airline, business class flight, BusinessClassFlight, silverjet

The World's Most Luxurious Airlines

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Services, Wings


Flying used to be a fun (or at the very least tolerable) but nowadays it's turned into an outright chore. Lines are long, seats are cramped, there are extra fees for absolutely everything, and forget getting served anything to eat (you're lucky if you get water and a few pretzels). That might be the case for most of us but it's not the case for everybody! There are some airlines (usually those flying overseas) that offer luxuries like champagne, caviar, private cabins, and lie-flat beds. Here's the list of the most luxurious airlines in the world:

Via Gadling

Gallery: The most luxurious airlines in the world

Virgin AtlanticEmiratesSingapore AirlinesBritish AirwaysThai Airways

Source

Tags: air travel, airline, airlines, AirTravel, travel, traveling

Vintage Airline Food Carts

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Dining, Wings

It's not on too many products that you find "authentic small dents and scratches" listed as a selling point and a good thing, but the case of these Vintage Airline Food Carts is one of the few exceptions. Available in several fun exterior finishes, the interiors all feature a retractable serving tray and 14 racks to hold drawers and shelves (which you can buy separately). The doors close with standard latches and each has a magnetic catch to help it stay open while you're using the cart, plus of course all the carts come equipped with the handy pedal-locking wheel brakes flight attendants rely on so dearly. $1450

Via Acquire

Gallery: Vintage Airline Food Carts



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Tags: airline, airline food, AirlineFood, airlines, antique, antiques, cart, carts, flying, food cart, food carts, FoodCart, FoodCarts, vintage, vintage airline food carts, VintageAirlineFoodCarts

Eos Airlines Files For Bankruptcy

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings

When MAXJet, one of the airlines doing the London to New York business class flights folded last December I wondered who might be next. Now it seems that the answer is Eos Airlines. The NY Times reports that the company has stopped flights and filed for bankruptcy protection. When MAXJet stopped operations it was Eos that picked up their stranded passengers. Eos ran their final flights on Sunday.

In February, British Airways announced a new business-class service from London to New York. The airline has two Airbus A318 to service the new route, fitting them with lie flat beds for 31 passengers. They will likely be competing against Silverjet, the remaining small carrier doing business flights from London to New York. Eos had offered flights on Boeing 757s reconfigured with 48 seats that turned into flat beds. The flights offered gourmet foods and wines and individual DVD players at the seats for prices ranging from $3,500 to $9,000 roundtrip. The airline was a success but was simply not making enough money and failed to raise a necessary $50 million additional financing to help pay debts.

Source

Tags: airline, business jet, eos, plane, silverjet

Naomi Campbell Banned From British Airways

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wings, Celebrity Shopping

Well folks, she's at it again. 37 yr old supermodel Naomi Campbell was arrested at the airport last week in London and has been banned from ever again flying British Airways. Apparently she became aggressive and abusive with some of the airline staff and eventually ended up assaulting a police officer -- all before the plane had even taken off. What could have possibly been so wrong as to warrant all that anger? Was somebody sitting in her window seat?

British Airlines wouldn't comment on the specific incident, but they did say that they take all incidents of violence and disruptive behavior "very seriously" and that "it will not be tolerated."

She needs serious help, seriously.

Source

Tags: airline, airlines, banned, british airways, BritishAirways, campbell, celebrities, celebrity, expire-images2009-4-8, flying, naomi campbell, NaomiCampbell

Travel Like A Celebrity (i.e. Better than First Class)

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Services, Wings


For millions of travelers every year who fly coach it's hard to walk past the spacious first class seats and through the little curtain to the cramped rows in the rear, but what do those first class passengers look up to? Those traveling better than first class, of course.

Many airlines offer "extra special" treatment to celebrities and other big names, and although the services vary from airline to airline some things are consistent across the board: little to no waiting in airport lines, extreme efforts to protect privacy, and extra security. Plus, of course, VIP lounges and premium food/drink. Not a celebrity? You can buy the services yourself and feel like one for only about $100.

Most of the airlines who offer special upgrades don't advertise their services, and many don't even post them on websites and flyers. Airport Assistance Worldwide, though, is one that isn't so secretive. On their website you can check out services and even make a reservation. Happy travels!

Source

Tags: air, air travel, airline, airline travel, airlines, AirlineTravel, airport, airport assistance worldwide, AirportAssistanceWorldwide, airports, AirTravel, travel, traveling, VIP

The Ultimate Airline Perk: In-Flight Email Access

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Services, Wings

No matter how rich you are and no matter what kind of perks the airlines may offer you in first class to make your flight more comfortable, there's one thing that they've never offered no matter who you are: mid-flight wi-fi internet access.

JetBlue is changing that. They aren't offering enough bandwidth to surf the net necessarily, but just enough to make checking and sending emails through Blackberries and other devices, even laptops, possible. The new perk is now being offered on select flights only, on a trial basis. But JetBlue expects within about six months to be rolling out internet access company-wide.

Source

Tags: airline, airlines, email, emails, first class, FirstClass, flight, flying, internet, jet blue, JetBlue, wi fi, WiFi

The Best First Class Meals for When You Fly

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining, Wings


There are many people in the world who fly frequently and as such are often subject to airline food, despite it's nasty reputation of being nothing but reheated cardboard. Some airlines, however, are seeking to change that in a major way for their first class passengers -- even to the extent for some of having a chef on board (Gulf Airlines) and serving exotic gourmet dishes.

Among others Singapore Airlines offers a choice of Dom Perignon or Krug champagne, several airlines serve caviar as appetizer, and Malaysia Airlines serves their meals on fine china. Would you (or do you) choose your airline based on the first class meal options?

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Tags: airline, airlines, cathay pacific, CathayPacific, caviar, chef, chefs, dining, dom perignon, DomPerignon, first class, FirstClass, food, gourmet, gulf air, GulfAir, jet airways, JetAirways, Korean Air, KoreanAir, krug, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, MalaysiaAirlines, Qantas Airlines, QantasAirlines, Qatar Airways, QatarAirways, singapore airlines, SingaporeAirlines, Swiss

Luxury Luggage: Style Meets Airlines

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Handbags, Journeys


What kind of luggage you carried used to be a simple choice of personal style and durability, but in the post 9/11 world things are different. Regulations for air travel are not only much stricter than they used to be, but they're also changing all the time. Having a set of luggage that you both love and can use/is in compliance for more than one trip is a valuable thing these days!

But thankfully the luggage market is stepping up the the challenge, especially the brands with upscale globe-trotting clientele bases. They're coming out with bags that are lighter than ever, tougher than ever, and of course, more stylish than ever. Many companies are even providing carry-on essentials like ziplock plastic bags and appropriately sized plastic bottles. And that's helpful, seriously.

Source

Tags: air travel, airline, airlines, airplane, airplanes, AirTravel, bag, bags, luggage, plane, planes, travel

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