Author: Shawon Hannan

The Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), a UK-based association for the travel agency industry, has launched new guidelines to improve travel for people with reduced mobility. The guidelines, prepared in collaboration with the UK Civil Aviation Authority, will aim to provide an improved air travel experience for people with reduced mobility, and will offer information and advice to travel agents regarding how to make travelling a more comfortable experience for these people. European law (Regulation 1107/2006) allows all passengers, with reduced mobility to access travel assistance, free of charge, when they fly. Disabled travellers now have to advise airports…

NASA has released a new application that claims to allow users to travel in space, in real time, using 3D-imaging technology. The space agency has considered space enthusiasts by releasing the application for free, and enabling it to be used on the iPhone and iPad platform. It provides a real time 3-D representation of the agency’s robotic spacecraft. Called ‘Spacecraft 3D,’ the application employs animation techniques to demonstrate the manoeuvrability of NASA’s spacecraft. Some outside components of the spacecraft may also be manipulated using the application. NASA said that it was currently offering the 3D representation of two of its…

India-based travel portal and travel conglomerate, MakeMyTrip.com, has announced that it will be offering mobile applications to travellers that are also tech savvy. The firm said that it would be offering new travel planning and management applications that can be run on the customers’ smart phones. The applications, which are free of charge, can be run on Android and iPhone devices. Until now, the company’s application would only run only on the Blackberry format. The firm expects to reach a large percentage of its customers with the release of the new app versions. The firm said that the application allows…

Passengers at London Luton Airport will now have the option of either carrying a free cabin bag of a smaller size, or paying a fee to take a larger bag on to the aircraft, when they travel on Hungary-based airline, Wizzair. From August 1, 2012, passengers on Wizzair’s Luton Airport to Katowice (Poland) route will have to pay a €10 fee for a larger piece of cabin baggage, a step the airline has taken to control the problem of lack of storage space on smaller aircraft. The fee is applicable on all cabin baggage measuring more than a specified size…

Avis Budget UK, the UK-based subsidiary of car rental company, Avis Budget Group, is offering a mobile Internet service to customers that rent their Avis vehicles at Edinburgh Airport, in Scotland. For rental prices commencing from £8.50 per day, the company’s customers can stay connected to their businesses and social circles via the mobile hotspots. The new service may be booked through the rental company’s call centres, and the portable hotspots may connect to as many as five devices at once, including laptops, smart phones, tablets and game consoles. Kaye Ceille, the company managing director, said, ‘Internet access is becoming…

The UK government is planning to implement its special airport plans for the 2012 Olympics games from Sunday, July 15, 2012. The government’s plans include the addition of around 500 extra Border Force staff at airports during the Olympics, to decrease the long queues at immigration desks, which are a source of annoyance to overseas visitors. A government report states that 300 Border Force personnel will be joining their counterparts at London Heathrow Airport, which has suffered some of the worst queues at immigration desks in recent times. The airport authority at Heathrow will be keeping all of the immigration…

The 15th International Citroen Car Clubs Rally, an event that will showcase cars made from 1919 to the present day, by France-based automobile company, Citroen, will be held in the UK this year, for four days in August. The event will be held at the Great Yorkshire Showground, near Harrogate, from August 9 to 12, 2012, and it is being organised by a team of volunteers from the three main British Citroen clubs. Although the International Citroen Car Clubs Rally originated in Britain, it has been to many countries in Europe and America since its inception in 1973. Amicale Citroen…

British Airways, a UK-based airline company, is looking for investors to input around £250 million, by purchasing its secured debt instruments. The airline is offering corporate bonds to raise funds, and the instruments will be secured against some of its London Heathrow Airport slots. International Airlines Group (IAG), the UK-based parent company of British Airways, has previously reported that it is planning to spend €1.6 billion in 2012 on proposed developments, and €4.95 billion on renewing its fleet, including taking delivery of its first Airbus 380 and Boeing Dreamliner B787 aircraft in 2013. In its statement, IAG, said, ‘The final…

Ryanair, an Ireland-based low cost airline, will be opening its newest base at Maastricht, in the Netherlands, in December 2012. The base will be the airline’s 51st, and it will be operating three new routes, to Dublin (Ireland), London (England) and Treviso (Italy). The airline is investing around $70 million to improve facilities at the privately owned Maastricht Airport and, once operational, it will be providing around 450 jobs to the local economy. The airline deputy chief executive, Michael Cawley, said, ‘Ryanair is delighted to announce Maastricht as our 51st base and unveil 3 new routes (14 in total) -…

Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian), which has been the flag carrier for Ethiopia for the past 65 years, has announced that it could take delivery of its first Dreamliner aircraft in August. The airline said that the craft would enhance its business in the region. The Dreamliner has been configured to carry 246 economy-class customers and 24 business-class customers. It is expected that the new aircraft will cement the airline’s position as one of the leading aircraft carriers in Ethiopia. Even though the initial launch of the Dreamliner craft was expected in June, its delivery had been delayed until August. The aircraft…