Flights Direct

Flights to the moon may be available privately to everyone ‘by the end of the 2020s’, a NASA official was heard saying in London yesterday.

Peter Worden, the director of the NASA Ames Research Station in California was yesterday speaking to a group of physics students and faculty at the University of Western Ontario, commented that NASA is reaching its targets to return people to the moon by 2020, which would be the first people up there since 1972.

However, it might not be NASA who are the first ones who reach the moon on a visit. There are around 20 wealthy individuals, as well as companies, from all over the worlds who are expressing an interest in taking their own space flights. “I think (private interests) are going to beat us to the lunar surface,” Worden commented.

These private fliers would not just be astronomy buffs, “it’s NASA’s unstated policy that the moon is available for economic activity,” Worden stated, when answering a question about the legal frontier of space.

It looks quite likely that there will be room for regular people, and not just scientists and astronauts, for trips to the moon. As the ideas of these commercial flights move forward, Worden predicted. “We think we’re at the verge of really interesting private efforts to move forward.”

First class passengers flying to or from London Heathrow airport with Lufthansa can expect first rate treatment. A new personal assistant service has been launched by the German airline to operate on London Heathrow and City airports.

After a successful three month trial period, the airline decided to make the service permanent. Personal assistants will escort passengers from the check-in desk, through the security checks –not waiting in any queues – all the way to the Lufthansa waiting lounge.

When arriving at the airport, a personal assistant will greet passengers at the door of the aircraft and take them through passport checks and customs.

The service is available for all first class passengers as well as the Hon Circle members – who have the highest number of air miles.

“The service offers a new and exclusive benefits for our best and most loyal customers flying out of London, and strengthens our position in the premium segment,” says Marianne Sammann, Lufthansa’s general manager in the UK and Ireland.

Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) has announced its new environmental target to reduce carbon emissions by 20% by 2020.

As the number of air passengers continues to grow every year, the carbon emissions must be cut efficiently to achieve reductions. One way SAS aims to cut the carbon emissions is mixing jet fuels with renewable sources.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has set a target of zero emissions of harmful greenhouse gases by 2050, and SAS is aiming for to achieve this goal.

SAS is taking other steps to show its concern for the environment; for example by making sure employees’ company cars are environmentally friendly.

The long awaited Terminal 5 is due to open on March 27 and relieve the congestion at Heathrow airport.

Having battled against major problems with lost baggage, long queues for check-in and security, Heathrow Airport is more than ready for the opening of the new terminal.

The formal opening of the £4.3 billion wing will be held on March 14 with the opening done by the Queen. Terminal 5, which will be in the exclusive use of the British Airways, has taken more than 18 years to complete.

Heathrow airport has been handling 67 million passengers a year, while it’s only planned to handle 45 million passengers.

Terminal 5 will have 12,000 bags-an-hour handling system, 96 fast-bag drop counters, 96 automated check-in kiosks and 50 normal check-in counters. There are also 20 security channels compared to the 12 at Terminal 4.

The air transport industry continues to grow steadily as the demand for flights grows around the world.

Airports around the world serve 4 billion passengers every year, and it’s expected that by 2025 there will be 9 billion people passing through airports.

A report from the Airports Council International (ACI) shows that in January 2008 there was a 4 % overall increase in air traffic, and a 7% increase in international air traffic, compared to January 2007.

In the UK, new air routes are announced almost weekly, as demand for flights continues to grow. The latest announcement came from Flybe, who will be operating extra flights from Aberdeen to London Gatwick next summer.

The airline reported “unprecedented demand” for increasing the service, and have responded by adding two extra return flights at the weekend for the summer season.

Austrian Airlines has finished most of its preparations for next summer’s European Football Championship, 100 days before the games begin.

The airline will be operating much larger aircrafts on its routes as well as increasing the number of flights to and from major destinations. There are also many negotiations going on with tour operators for charter flights.

The catering onboard Austrian aircrafts will be themed to football, and some aircrafts carry special banners on the exterior.

Among the increased flights services, there are plenty of connections to the co-host country, Switzerland, with five daily connections to Geneva and three daily flights to Basle. 

Budget airline Ryanair has announced the launch of 17 new routes from Edinburgh airport, adding to the two existing routes to Dublin and Shannon.

Ryanair will invest £70 million to the expansion in Edinburgh, saying it will create 1,200 jobs. About 100 people will be employed by Ryanair directly at the airport, and another 100 at airport-based services.

Two aircrafts will be based at Edinburgh Airport, Ryanair’s 27th European base, and 1.2 million extra passengers are expected every year thanks to the new routes.

New destinations include Alicante, Berlin, Warsaw, Marseille, Bratislava, Pisa, Stockholm, Krakow, Malaga, Palma, Poznan, and Wroclaw.

An old terminal which was once known as the symbol of the jet-age glamour is to reopen in the fall as an entrance to a new terminal at John F Kennedy airport.

The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey’s board has decided to go ahead with the $19 million renovations for the 1962 Trans World Airlines terminal, which was closed in 2001.

The terminal was originally designed by renowned architect Eero Saarinen, and the new terminal will be built around the old structure, leaving the old terminal as the entrance to the new one.

The new terminal is being built by JetBlue Airways, who say that passenger will have the option to check in at the new premises or in the old terminal marked by dramatic curves and many wing-like projections. The new terminal is due to open later this year.

Flight routes over southeast England may be changed to reduce delays and cut the disturbance caused by noise by airplanes.

National Air Traffic Services (NATS) has introduced a new plan which it says will reduce the number of people affected by noise from airplanes flying below 4,000ft, by 20%.

Heathrow, Stansted, Luton and London City airports could be affected by the route changes, as well as smaller airports like Southend and RAF Northolt.

The airspace in southeast England is one of the busiest and most complex in the world with so many major airports in the region.

Operations director Ian Hall said: “All these airports have grown considerably in the past 20 years. London City has grown from virtually nothing since the early 1990s - and we have simply accommodated this growth within the existing airspace infrastructure.

“Just like bottlenecks on roads, increased air traffic causes congestion in the airways meaning delay and extra fuel burn - and that has an impact on the environment.”

Mumbai International Airport Pvt. Ltd. (MIAL) will be the first airport in India to start using self-service kiosks. MIAL has signed a new contract with SITA to implement the new technology to the airport over the next five years.

This will make MIAL one of the most modern airports in the world, and make travel from Mumbai easier.

“The agreement has many innovative features which will benefit both airlines and passengers including the first-ever remote deployment of self-service kiosks for an airport in India.

“It will also allow for the first time in India complete integration of the overall airport management system with the check-in platform being used by the airlines,” said Francesco Violante SITA CEO.

The self-service check-in kiosks will have the potential to handle all airlines operating from the international terminal at MIAL.