flying

If you're traveling long distance, you might prefer to check your luggage than to use a carry-on bag, but the Susannah Hunter Daisy Garden Travel Bag is still a lovely piece to have for short trips. The vintage-looking leather bag has double top handles as well as a detachable shoulder strap, making it versatile when on the go, and a suede lining. At 15"x 22.5"x 9.5", the bag should fit into an overhead bin or underneath the seat in front of you on a flight - provided you leave your liquids at home, of course. The best part is that the floral design carries onto both the front and the back of the bag - a nice touch that so many designers seem to forget about. Price: $2,275.

A passenger on a Cathay Pacific plane in Hong Kong, bound for Tokyo, delayed the flight for more than an hour because she refused to stow her Gucci handbag under her seat for takeoff. The flight attendants tried to convince the woman, who refused even after airport security guards were called in and threatened to arrest her for disrupting the flight. After a long argument, the woman finally agreed to disembark from the plane, Gucci bag in hand, to the applause of the other passengers, who were eager to get the plane off the ground. "'It's not my fault, it was them who were too stubborn,' she shouted as she was leaving."

Smintair is a new luxury airline concept that is being developed by a German entrepreneur. The name is derived from a longer title: Smoker's International Airlines.

On board, not only will smoking be permitted, but the airline promises to "bring back the exclusivity in flying encountered in the 1960s." The plan is to offer two jets, Boeing 747s, and round-trip service from Dusseldorf to Tokyo. There will only be 138 seats on each plane (compared to 347 on a normal commercial 747) and they will not offer coach or economy seating. Business class seats will have 70" of legroom (compared to the standard 55") and First Class will have 80" of leg room.

Alexander Schoppmann, the founder of Smintair, says that the "no smoking" policy of airlines was originally implemented so that companies could cut back on air conditioning systems; Schoppmann says that his airline will restore systems that can handle the smoking without problem.  He is confident that fliers will be willing to pay for the comfort and services his airline will offer.

On a final note, Smintair does state on its employment application that "Allergics against tobacco smoke or militant anti-smokers are asked to not apply."

JetBlue Airways, which offers discounted fares but lots of appealing perks, has just won a 1 megahertz wireless license from the FCC with a bid of $7 million. This means that the company will be able to offer wireless air-ground internet access, which it plans to do shortly, and other on-board communication services to fliers. It has not yet been determined whether cellphone usage will be allowed any time soon, though it is possible under the new service package. In any event, opening up the option to work online will be a huge boon to business travelers.

Surfing the internet will also be a good choice for those traveling for pleasure. For example, instead of watching the in-flight film, you could be reading Luxist!

The Changi Airport in Singapore is scheduled to open the world's first luxury airport terminal in August. The terminal is the equivalent of a first class cabin on the ground. Fliers can pay an additional fee to gain access to the terminal, where they will be treated to the ultimate travel experience, with people to take care of luggage and procure their boarding passes for them, as well as quickly get travelers through security procedures, sans lines. The CIPs (Commercially Important Persons) will be able to lounge in the terminal's comfortable facilities, spared from having to interact with the ordinary travelers, and when it comes time to board their flight, they can even pay to have a limo drive them onto the tarmac and directly up to the plane. Prices have not yet been fixed for the use of the terminal, which cost $10 million to build. It expects to start off with approximately 50 travelers per day.

[Image Channel News Asia]

Better start saving up your frequent flier miles because in the not-too-distant future, you may really need them. It is possible that air travel will no longer be an issue of first class versus coach and how much leg room you'll have, but whether you'll have leg room at all.

Some airlines are toying with the idea of eliminating seats from their economy classes and having the section be standing only. Instead of seats, there will be padded boards for patrons to lean against during takeoff and landing, as FAA regulations only require passengers to be "secure," not seated. Airbus, which is the airplane manufacturer heading this movement, has been pitching the idea to several carriers, mostly those in Asia that they perceive as more likely to accept the sardine-like travel arrangements than Americans. The capacity for a flight on an A380 is 500 passengers, but the standing configuration would boost that number to 853. All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines reported hearing of the plans from Airbus, but said they had "no interest in increasing seat capacity to [that] level."

There is little doubt that first class seats would be unaffected by a move towards this configurations, perhaps even increasing in size, as airlines add chairs than recline into beds and a wider than ever before.