A Transportation Security Administration requirement that all airlines operating within the US collect the full name, date of birth and gender of each passenger began to be phased in on May 15. The Secure Flight program was put in place by the TSA to help prevent the misidentification of passengers who have names similar to those of people on the “terrorist watch list.”
Fun and games at ITN!
I took 10 pieces of paper, each 2 inches by 3 inches, and wrote on them, individually, the numbers 0 through 9. Folding them, I put them in a box and, with my eyes closed, drew them out, one at a time.
Out came 8-3-4-1-7. The ZIP code closest to that belonging an ITN subscriber was 83406, home to Stephen Marano in Idaho Falls, ID. Out next came 0-2-5-9-6. The ZIP code of an ITN subscriber closest to that was 02601, held by Joseph Sposta in Hyannis, MA.
The “SAS Crew Guide 2009” is filled with tips from flight attendants and crews of Scandinavian Airlines System, Air Canada, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, TAP, bmi and LOT Polish Airlines. It includes the best places to eat, drink, shop and relax in 32 cities on five continents.
It costs €15 (including postage worldwide) and can be purchased from the SAS Group AB (SE-195 87 Stockholm, Sweden) or online at http://p1qs017.futurize.net.
The last Royal Mail ship — which sails the South Atlantic between St. Helena, Ascension Island, Walvis Bay, Cape Town and Tenerife (and the UK twice a year) — will reach the end of its working life in 2010.
The UK Dept. for Int’l Development had announced plans in 2005 to build an airport on St. Helena, to open in 2010; however, due to government delays and the credit crunch, the project was placed on hold in November 2008. If construction started immediately, the airfield would not be completed until after the date the RMS St. Helena is to be decommissioned.
YAPTA (www.yapta.com) is a flight-search engine that finds options for you based on your flight dates, times and preferences. It tracks airfares on flights you want and notifies you via e-mail if the prices change.
Now YAPTA also notifies you when award seats become available for which you may use your frequent-flyer miles. Frequent-flyer programs currently supported include those of the airlines Alaska, Continental, Delta, United and US Airways. The service is free to use; the site carries advertising.
When people ask me about the scariest situation I’ve ever been in, I think back to a taxi ride I took to the Moscow airport in the early ’90s. A no-neck guy who looked like a classic Russian mafia thug picked me up in a beat-up old car and drove for an hour down puddle-filled alleys and past derelict apartment buildings. All I could think about were those movie scenes where the good guy is taken down to the riverbank to be shot. Instead, the no-neck pulled up to the airport, shook my hand and said, “Have a good fly.”
Mexicana Airlines (including Mexicana, Mexicana Link and MexicanaClick) suspended operations suddenly on Aug. 28, stranding some travelers. Those holding tickets not yet used must book flights with other airlines. Call 888/882-9994 or visit www.mexicana.com.
• Afriqiyah Airways flight 711, flying from Johannesburg, crashed while landing in Tripoli, Libya, on May 12. Of the 104 people aboard the Airbus A330-200, a nine-year-old Dutch boy survived.
• Air India Express flight 812, flying from Dubai to Mangalore, India, crashed at Mangalore airport on May 22. The plane overshot the runway and went down a ravine. Of the 166 aboard the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, eight people survived.
A huge plume of ash thrown out of Eyjafjallajökull Volcano in Iceland on April 14 drifted east and caused airlines all over Europe to ground planes. Cargo shipments piled up in warehouses, and stranded travelers scrambled to find hotel rooms and make alternate arrangements. Flights resumed on April 21.
SunAir (P.O.B. 10250, Jerusalem 91102, Israel; phone +972 54 5818883, fax +972 2 6717775 or e-mail gilaviv@zahav.net.il) offers flights over the Dead Sea and surrounding area.
For up to three people, the flights, out of Masada Airfield at the Dead Sea, range from a 20-minute flight over Masada, the Ein Gedi oasis and the Dead Sea coastline for NIS600 (near $159) to a 75-minute flight along the Dead Sea coast and over the city of Jerusalem for NIS 2,200 ($584).