The Department of State reports a heightened risk that extremist groups will conduct terrorist acts within China in the near future. Travelers are advised to be alert at all times, including at hotels, in restaurants, on public transportation and where there are demonstrations and other large-scale public gatherings.
Air Service Berlin (Berlin-Schönefeld Airport, Building G 005, D-12521 Berlin, Germany; phone +49 030 60 91 37 30, fax 60 91 37 31, www.air-service-berlin.de) offers a 35-minute flight on a restored DC-3, the plane the Allies used to supply West Berlin with food, coal and medicine during the East German blockade.
Allowing mo-bility-impaired travelers to stay independent, the company Flying Companions (645 Greystone Park, Atlanta, GA 30324; 888/350-8886, www.flyingcompanions.com) provides experienced and insured companions to accompany them through airports and on national or international flights.
The service includes booking of travel arrangements, transportation from home to the destination, coordinating check-in, carrying luggage, wheelchair assistance and retrieving luggage.
The U.S. Department of Transportation on April 14, 2008, revised the rules (Part 250) regarding the rights of passengers who are “bumped” (involuntarily denied boarding from an oversold flight) from any scheduled-service flight within or leaving the U.S., including those of foreign carriers. (Excluded are charter flights and planes with fewer than 30 seats.) The limits on the amounts that airlines must pay in compensation have increased; other changes are subtle. In this summary, the major changes are highlighted in bold.
• Emirates airline on its Airbus A340-500s now provides SMS (short message service) and e-mail service to passengers’ mobile devices, using a satellite linkup.
Passengers can use their own GSM cell phones for text messages (SMS). Rates for cell-phone text messages are $1 per message. Passengers also can use Emirates’ in-flight WiFi service to send or receive e-mail on their own laptops or WiFi-enabled Blackberries.
The Open Skies Agreement went into effect in March 2008, easing restrictions on which airlines could fly into which airports and opening competition for flights between the U.S. and the European Union.
Travelers should expect more direct flights but also more congestion at airports, as several new airlines will be competing for gates. Ticket prices are NOT expected to go down (because of high fuel prices and the purchases of new planes to fly the added routes).
As of June 1, 2008, the 240 airlines that are members of IATA (International Air Transport Association) will stop issuing paper tickets and switch to electronic tickets only.
Tickets and boarding passes will be issued either at kiosks or check-in counters at airports or can be printed out by anyone anywhere with Internet access. Some airlines now even allow mobile phone check-in and reticketing.
In Singapore, Changi Airport’s new Terminal 3 opened in January 2008. The 7-story building (three below ground and four above) has a roof with 900 skylights, and there is a 5-story-high vertical garden with four waterfalls. Along with an intra-airport train system connecting the three terminals, there are shopping and eating areas and a new hotel.
Historic Tempelhof International Airport (aka Berlin Templehof) is scheduled to close in October 2008 due to reduced use and rising costs.
One of the world’s oldest, still-operating commercial airports it began operation in 1923. It once served international long-haul airliners but in recent years has been handling mostly commuter flights. Its buildings — prominent among examples from the Nazi era — will be preserved.
The Federal Aviation Administration has downgraded the status of Philippine Airlines to Certificate 2, citing a lack of regulations that comply with the International Civil Aviation Organization’s safety standards.
Philippine Airlines can continue its schedule of 33 weekly flights to the USA under increased FAA scrutiny, but it cannot expand or change the types of planes flying its routes.
The Philippine government is working to develop a Civilian Aviation Authority designed to address the issues involved.