95-year-old becomes world’s oldest backpacker
With 23 countries and 109 cities under his belt, 95-year-old Keith Wright is the world’s oldest backpacker.
The pensioner from Burleigh Heads on Queensland’s Gold Coast started travelling after his wife passed away 10 years ago.
His first trip alone was at age 85, when he took a four-day bus loop through turkey, taking in Gallipoli for Anzac day as he’d always wanted to go. Read more »
Rio de Janeiro overtakes Sydney as world’s most expensive city for hotels
Rio de Janeiro is the world’s most expensive city for hotels, new research has revealed.
Tourists paid an average £192.88 a night for a room near the Sugarloaf Mountain during the first three months of 2012 – an increase of nearly 50 per cent compared with the same period in 2011.
Government brings forward immigration recruitment to combat queues
The government has decided to bring forward the recruitment of 70 border staff to prevent long queues developing at Heathrow during the Olympics.
Immigration minister Damian Green made the announcement following stern criticism after three hours queues were reported at border control at both Heathrow and Stansted.
Green said the UK Border Force will have 480 temporary guards just for the duration of the Games. Read more »
Bomb threat steward may avoid jail after pleading guilty
A British Airways steward who scrawled a bomb threat on a plane’s toilet door may escape a custodial sentence after pleading guilty.
Matthew Davies, 22, has been released on bail after pleading guilty to communicating false information with intent.
Davies wrote the message on the door of a toilet on a plane travelling between Tokyo and London. Read more »
Plane crash in Nepal kills 15 at treacherous airport
A plane crash at a treacherous airport in Nepal has killed 15 people.
The Agni Air jet was close to the high-altitude Jomsom airport near the Annapurna mountain range when it plunged into a hill. Six people managed to survive the crash.
Police spokesman Binod Singh told AFP: “The plane was about to land at Jomsom airport. It hit a muddy slope and the plane is now buried in the side of the hill. Read more »
Border official claims security checks scaled back to combat queue times
A senior immigration official told the Observer that Heathrow’s border control staff were so stretched that they had to abandon drug and gun screening.
“We have actually ceased doing (anti-smuggling operations) at the moment,” he told the paper, “even though they won’t say they have.
“Word has already got around to criminal enterprises.” Read more »
CIA foil Al-Qaeda plot to bomb US-bound flight
Al-Qaeda planned to use an underwear bomb to bring down a US-bound airline and commemorate the anniversary of Osama Bin Laden’s death, according to the CIA.
American officials said the device was similar to the one that failed to detonate on a Detroit-bound plane on Christmas Day in 2009, but that it was far more sophisticated.
The plot is believed to have originated in Yemen. Read more »
Foreign holiday bookings up 40 per cent on last year due to wet weather
British travel firm, TravelRepublic.co.uk, has seen a 40 per cent increase in foreign holiday bookings since the start of the recent wet weather.
April’s record breaking rainfall may not have just been good the watertable but for tour operators too.
TravelRepublic said sunshine destinations such as Cyprus, Greece, Egypt and Turkey were attracting the most interest.
Chief executive Kane Pirie said: “We usually see a surge in bookings when the weather changes for the worse, but this prolonged spell of rain has meant that we’ve seen a record month in April.
“People are still worried about the economy and job security however it seems that four weeks of virtually non-stop rain has pushed thousands of people to their limit.”
Quantas postpones the delivery to two planes to cut spending
Australian airline Qantas is to delay the delivery of two Airbus A380 planes in a bid to cut costs.
The Australian airline said it would postpone the delivery of two A380s in 2016-17, as opposed to 2013, to combat capital expenditure.
The airline is bidding to claw back some of its strangle hold on Australia’s domestic market by boosting flights in the “Golden Triangle” routes connecting Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Read more »
Thomas Cook wins new bank deal giving it two more years to pay debt
Thomas Cook has secured a deal giving it an extra two years to pay back £1.4 billion.
Sam Weihagen, the firm’s interim boss said: “Today’s announcement highlights the confidence our lenders have in Thomas Cook and we are delighted that they have demonstrated their on-going support.”
The deal will cost Thomas Cook a 1 per cent amendment fee and grants the banks warrants to subscribe for new ordinary shares, amounting to 5 per cent of the business at a 0.10 € rate per share. Read more »
New research reveals the best seats on a plane
New research claims to have found the best seat on a plane – and, unluckily for budget airlines and their legroom surcharges, it isn’t necessarily those over the wings.
Flight comparison site Skyscanner questioned more than 1000 airline passengers to find out which section of the aircraft they preferred, and whether they plumped for middle, aisle or window seats. Read more »
Etihad Airways buys 2 per cent stake in Aer Lingus
Etihad Airways has confirmed it has acquired a 2.987 per cent stake in Irish airline Aer Lingus.
Etihad Airways says their move is an indication of the desire for a broader partnership between the airlines which the UAE carrier believes commercial benefits for both airlines. Read more »
Iceland to offer world’s first tour inside a volcano
Tourists visiting Iceland will get the rare opportunity to see the inside of a volcano for a unique experience.
Read more »
Damian Green blames ‘bad weather’ for passport control queues
Immigration minister Damian Green has blamed ‘bad weather’ for the lengthy passport control queues seen at Heathrow recently.
Following a storm of bad press over long queues at immigration, with the UK’s major airlines predicting chaos at the airport over the Olympics, Green said delays had mainly been caused by severe weather disrupting flights.
Aussie billionaire commissions Titanic 2
Aussie billionaire Clive Palmer has revealed he plans to recreate the fateful and tragic ‘unsinkable’ cruise liner that sank 100 years ago.
The mining boss, who owns the massive west coast operation Mineralology, and former owner of Gold Coast United FC, has announced that he has commissioned a Chinese firm to recreate the sunken liner with the same specifications and dimensions as the original. Read more »
Two pilots sacked after mid-air Flybe fracas
“You finish the flight log – because you’re my bitch”. This comment started an row which led to two pilots being given the boot pilots after having a huge row on board a Flybe plane.
Captain Stephen Bird first referred to senior first officer Stephen Akers as his ‘bitch’ before their jet took off from Exeter to Spain, a tribunal heard. Read more »
Megabus announce £1 coaches to the continent
Budget travel giants Megabus have announced UK to Europe coach trips starting from £1.
The company, owned by Stagecoach, have started selling tickets to destinations including Paris, Boulogne, Brussels and Amsterdam.
The tickets, which include ferry crossing and free on-board wi-fi, cost between £1 and £40, although fares under £4 are elusive. Read more »
US to launch comprehensive advertising campaign in the UK
The United States will launch its first-ever major marketing campaign in the UK next week.
The campaign by Brand USA, a new tourism marketing body which promotes the destination worldwide, will include TV advertising, print ads, outdoor signage and social media strategies.
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