Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Double-decker plane, Airbus A380 lands Manchester, flights to Dubai
It’s a historic moment in the aviation history as Manchester becomes the first regional airport to accommodate the landing of the Airbus A380 from Dubai. The Jumbo usually operates between Heathrow and Dubai, but now onwards Manchester will witness regular flights to Dubai.
The 517-seater double-decker sets the hearts of thousands of spectators fluttering and it was an ecstatic moment for the converging crowd which stood there to witness the world’s largest airplane touch down in a regional airport for the first time.
It indeed matters to be big. The airport authority spent around 10 million pounds to make space for the gigantic aircraft to land comfortably. It took 18 months to upgrade the entire runway system – the taxiways are widened and latest fire safety equipments are in place now. All these have earned Manchester a 'Category 10' certification from the Civil Aviation Authority, and it is one among the 17 airports to achieve this distinction.
Manchester with its upgraded aerodrome is now ready to facilitate flights to Dubai with large airliners. The massive commercial airliner had been operating services with London since 2008 and will fly daily between Dubai and Manchester from this September.
The 517-seater double-decker sets the hearts of thousands of spectators fluttering and it was an ecstatic moment for the converging crowd which stood there to witness the world’s largest airplane touch down in a regional airport for the first time.
It indeed matters to be big. The airport authority spent around 10 million pounds to make space for the gigantic aircraft to land comfortably. It took 18 months to upgrade the entire runway system – the taxiways are widened and latest fire safety equipments are in place now. All these have earned Manchester a 'Category 10' certification from the Civil Aviation Authority, and it is one among the 17 airports to achieve this distinction.
Manchester with its upgraded aerodrome is now ready to facilitate flights to Dubai with large airliners. The massive commercial airliner had been operating services with London since 2008 and will fly daily between Dubai and Manchester from this September.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Kiss Flights Kissed Death Leaving Holidaymakers with little Flight Options
Kiss Flights, a travel firm and an arm of Flight Options, kissed death, after the shocking plunge of burgeoning travel operators - Goldtrail Travel and Sun4U. Travel operators, insurers and custodians in the Aviation Sector, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority), are swiftly back into action to subside the soaring blood pressure of angry customers.
According to CAA, around 13,000 travellers, who have booked their tickets through Kiss Flights, are holidaying in Egypt, Greece, the Canary Islands, Portugal, Spain and Turkey; though the fear of being stranded on the foreign destinations remains high, yet there is a silver lining in the cloud as the CAA assures them of repatriation as per ATOL (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing).
Sources also mention that there are another 60,000 travellers, who have booked their holidays with Kiss Flights, are eagerly waiting to start their much awaited vacation. The news, Kiss Flights stopped trading, have shocked the travellers, who are upset that their holidays are bungled this time not by Airline strike or by volcanic ash but by travel operators.
In the series of travel firms’ downfall, ATOL has surfaced repeatedly and to know whether the traveller is ATOL protected or not the invoice or the receipt should be checked. If the traveller gets flights booked through a company like Flight Options - the parent company of Kiss Flights - which is an ATOL protected company, the person is entitled for protection on particular elements as promised by ATOL. ATOL primarily offers protection on flight element only.
If the traveller had booked accommodation with other tour operators, those will remain unaffected by Kiss Flights’ failure. The CAA announces that those who are supposed to fly before 1800 hrs BST on 18th August should go ahead for a normal departure. For the rest who have their holiday bookings after 1800 BST on Wednesday 18 August 2010 are advised to claim a refund. Since the company busted in the peak summer, CAA is making all arrangements to help customers carry on with their holiday trips.
Temporarily a bit of panic surfaced when the news of the IGI Insurance refused to offer protection to Viking airlines unless it fulfilled the set criteria for receiving insurance. As Kiss Flights bought flights with Viking and if Viking was excluded or denied insurance cover, the clients could be affected too. This presumption had triggered an alarm among Kiss Flights' administrators that it would be denied protection as well. But assurance came from the IGI and Rock Insurance that Kiss Flights remains protected.
Speculators say that most of Kiss’ travellers were clients with Goldtrail which has recently folded its business and it is said that Goldtrail had sold its tickets below the cost price of the tickets. Some sources said that Goldtrail sold return tickets at around GBP 109 to its customers who when got back to claim a refund found that a return flight ticket to Turkey cost around GBP 200, which could have actually risen as high as GBP 275 meaning Goldtrail had sold by almost GBP 80 less than the original price. But the demise of Goldtrail is gladdening news for all as it is primarily responsible for the damage caused in the travel industry.
Experts attribute this crisis to Goldtrail's business strategy, which not only forced it to wind up its own business but also putting other tour operators into difficulty of managing minimum profits. It had created an unrealistic picture of the tourist destination i.e Turkey, where, over the last year, prices have shot up and on reaching Turkey, tourists found accommodation and other necessities to be costly which means Turkey would lose repeat customers.
Kiss Flights also dealt with flights in some of Goldtrail’s routes. With the collapse of Goltrail, sources say, some of Goldtrail's clients turned towards Kiss Flights, which expanded flights to meet customer demands. Unfortunately, with the collapse of Kiss Flights, these clients are disappointed twice in their hope to fly to their dream destinations. The demise of Kiss Flights perhaps is the tip of the iceberg, pointing to the fact that some kind of Government interventions are necessary to support travel companies survive and also to restore people’s faith in travel industry.
CAA has announced that those Kiss-clients, who are already overseas, may complete their holiday trips and need not worry as they would be helped in flying back to UK. And those who are supposed to tie their seat belts after 18th August have been asked to refrain from starting their trip and advised to seek alternative arrangements. With travel firms like Avor getting into full swing to help Kiss Flights’ travellers re-book their holidays, there is still hope that things would not be that bad as one had imagined. Still getting a refund is always time consuming, so many will have little option to plan alternative travel destinations.
Disclaimer: These are observations made by the author on the basis of information available on the internet. The author is not aware of the veracity of the figures and information mentioned in the sources.
According to CAA, around 13,000 travellers, who have booked their tickets through Kiss Flights, are holidaying in Egypt, Greece, the Canary Islands, Portugal, Spain and Turkey; though the fear of being stranded on the foreign destinations remains high, yet there is a silver lining in the cloud as the CAA assures them of repatriation as per ATOL (Air Travel Organisers' Licensing).
Sources also mention that there are another 60,000 travellers, who have booked their holidays with Kiss Flights, are eagerly waiting to start their much awaited vacation. The news, Kiss Flights stopped trading, have shocked the travellers, who are upset that their holidays are bungled this time not by Airline strike or by volcanic ash but by travel operators.
In the series of travel firms’ downfall, ATOL has surfaced repeatedly and to know whether the traveller is ATOL protected or not the invoice or the receipt should be checked. If the traveller gets flights booked through a company like Flight Options - the parent company of Kiss Flights - which is an ATOL protected company, the person is entitled for protection on particular elements as promised by ATOL. ATOL primarily offers protection on flight element only.
If the traveller had booked accommodation with other tour operators, those will remain unaffected by Kiss Flights’ failure. The CAA announces that those who are supposed to fly before 1800 hrs BST on 18th August should go ahead for a normal departure. For the rest who have their holiday bookings after 1800 BST on Wednesday 18 August 2010 are advised to claim a refund. Since the company busted in the peak summer, CAA is making all arrangements to help customers carry on with their holiday trips.
Temporarily a bit of panic surfaced when the news of the IGI Insurance refused to offer protection to Viking airlines unless it fulfilled the set criteria for receiving insurance. As Kiss Flights bought flights with Viking and if Viking was excluded or denied insurance cover, the clients could be affected too. This presumption had triggered an alarm among Kiss Flights' administrators that it would be denied protection as well. But assurance came from the IGI and Rock Insurance that Kiss Flights remains protected.
Speculators say that most of Kiss’ travellers were clients with Goldtrail which has recently folded its business and it is said that Goldtrail had sold its tickets below the cost price of the tickets. Some sources said that Goldtrail sold return tickets at around GBP 109 to its customers who when got back to claim a refund found that a return flight ticket to Turkey cost around GBP 200, which could have actually risen as high as GBP 275 meaning Goldtrail had sold by almost GBP 80 less than the original price. But the demise of Goldtrail is gladdening news for all as it is primarily responsible for the damage caused in the travel industry.
Experts attribute this crisis to Goldtrail's business strategy, which not only forced it to wind up its own business but also putting other tour operators into difficulty of managing minimum profits. It had created an unrealistic picture of the tourist destination i.e Turkey, where, over the last year, prices have shot up and on reaching Turkey, tourists found accommodation and other necessities to be costly which means Turkey would lose repeat customers.
Kiss Flights also dealt with flights in some of Goldtrail’s routes. With the collapse of Goltrail, sources say, some of Goldtrail's clients turned towards Kiss Flights, which expanded flights to meet customer demands. Unfortunately, with the collapse of Kiss Flights, these clients are disappointed twice in their hope to fly to their dream destinations. The demise of Kiss Flights perhaps is the tip of the iceberg, pointing to the fact that some kind of Government interventions are necessary to support travel companies survive and also to restore people’s faith in travel industry.
CAA has announced that those Kiss-clients, who are already overseas, may complete their holiday trips and need not worry as they would be helped in flying back to UK. And those who are supposed to tie their seat belts after 18th August have been asked to refrain from starting their trip and advised to seek alternative arrangements. With travel firms like Avor getting into full swing to help Kiss Flights’ travellers re-book their holidays, there is still hope that things would not be that bad as one had imagined. Still getting a refund is always time consuming, so many will have little option to plan alternative travel destinations.
Disclaimer: These are observations made by the author on the basis of information available on the internet. The author is not aware of the veracity of the figures and information mentioned in the sources.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
My trip to Gurgaon
I stood in the searing sun like a toasted brown bread right from the oven and if I had stood there for another five more minutes I would have turned into a giant piece of charcoal. By the time I could get into a cab for Gurgaon, my throat was dry. The cab driver nodded more and made strange gestures instead of speaking; in other words, he seemed to have some speech-mental problem.
Before getting into the cab, I had asked him if he would go to Gurgaon but he indicated a 'no' by shaking his head. Then, when a blue shirt guy asked if he would go to Shankar Chowk he nodded his muddled head, while he refused the guy who mentioned IFFCO Chowk, which is one stop after Shanker chowk. Overhearing the passenger uttering Shankar Chowk, I tried to get into his cab. Before I could get inside, he started, and I was on the verge of being dragged like a piece of trash bag. As I shouted at him, he slowed down.
He drove the cab recklessly, and the passengers in it fell on their sides with every turn he took and I looked through the glasspane to see the place. Construction of roads and buildings were going on, while the tarred road ripped through the greenery. The cab went via Kapashera, which was a known route for me as I had travelled across that place the day before in a friend's car.
The muddle-headed cab driver dropped me in front of Trident Hotel saying he would not go further and swept by through a lane. I patrolled up and down from Trident except the place where I needed to go. Finally with the help of the traffic police I found my way and reached my destination.
After my interview, I ran like a bull in all wrong directions to find a transport to Dwarka. Wherever I saw people assembling, I headed towards them but after reaching there I got to know that they were waiting for some other bus routes. The traffic police helped me cross the road three times and then he solved my problem by directing me to a particular crowd. I stood with some 40-50 people waiting to catch a cab or a bus.
Then came an over-crowded bus from where I donno but on it was written Dwarka. If I say I got into it, it would be wrong. I stood on the steps and enjoyed the breeze till I reached Dwarka. My legs ached but that was a better place than sitting amidst a crowd where there was not a bit of fresh air.
The bus conductor wore a green T shirt, his fair complexion seemed to be a canvas for the bright green coloured T shirt. I felt something on my shoulder and turned slightly as there was no space at all to move. It felt soft, I strained my neck and I saw the young conductor's bums. He was sitting on my shoulder and supported himself against the long pole that stands upright to hold the roof of the bus in place. It was okay in a over-crowded bus to search for space but to my surprise seating himself comfortably on my shoulder he was collecting fare from other passengers.
I gave him a good piece of my mind, but nobody told him anything. A guy in the bus felt uncomfortable and gave me some space to stand comfortable. His destination was Dwarka too after a small conversation with him came to know that he was from UP.
Story books tell us about how men cared about women but this is Haryana where in real life common women gets no respect. No wonder human beings need training specially when one places a foot in Delhi/Gurgaon. Minimum courtesy is lacking among the common people in the streets.
Before getting into the cab, I had asked him if he would go to Gurgaon but he indicated a 'no' by shaking his head. Then, when a blue shirt guy asked if he would go to Shankar Chowk he nodded his muddled head, while he refused the guy who mentioned IFFCO Chowk, which is one stop after Shanker chowk. Overhearing the passenger uttering Shankar Chowk, I tried to get into his cab. Before I could get inside, he started, and I was on the verge of being dragged like a piece of trash bag. As I shouted at him, he slowed down.
He drove the cab recklessly, and the passengers in it fell on their sides with every turn he took and I looked through the glasspane to see the place. Construction of roads and buildings were going on, while the tarred road ripped through the greenery. The cab went via Kapashera, which was a known route for me as I had travelled across that place the day before in a friend's car.
The muddle-headed cab driver dropped me in front of Trident Hotel saying he would not go further and swept by through a lane. I patrolled up and down from Trident except the place where I needed to go. Finally with the help of the traffic police I found my way and reached my destination.
After my interview, I ran like a bull in all wrong directions to find a transport to Dwarka. Wherever I saw people assembling, I headed towards them but after reaching there I got to know that they were waiting for some other bus routes. The traffic police helped me cross the road three times and then he solved my problem by directing me to a particular crowd. I stood with some 40-50 people waiting to catch a cab or a bus.
Then came an over-crowded bus from where I donno but on it was written Dwarka. If I say I got into it, it would be wrong. I stood on the steps and enjoyed the breeze till I reached Dwarka. My legs ached but that was a better place than sitting amidst a crowd where there was not a bit of fresh air.
The bus conductor wore a green T shirt, his fair complexion seemed to be a canvas for the bright green coloured T shirt. I felt something on my shoulder and turned slightly as there was no space at all to move. It felt soft, I strained my neck and I saw the young conductor's bums. He was sitting on my shoulder and supported himself against the long pole that stands upright to hold the roof of the bus in place. It was okay in a over-crowded bus to search for space but to my surprise seating himself comfortably on my shoulder he was collecting fare from other passengers.
I gave him a good piece of my mind, but nobody told him anything. A guy in the bus felt uncomfortable and gave me some space to stand comfortable. His destination was Dwarka too after a small conversation with him came to know that he was from UP.
Story books tell us about how men cared about women but this is Haryana where in real life common women gets no respect. No wonder human beings need training specially when one places a foot in Delhi/Gurgaon. Minimum courtesy is lacking among the common people in the streets.
Friday, May 14, 2010
16 hrs Hault at New Delhi
In December 2009, I stopped at Delhi for 16 hours with all dust and dirt during my return from my visit to Ajmer. I took the Metro from Chandni Chowk and reached New Delhi station.At the entrance of ND railway station a woman emerged welcoming me with all smiles "I am the Madam here, tell me what you want". I was a bit taken aback and felt cud be an insane woman and she was indeed and tracked me wherever I went...Finally I entered the platform so that she wud stop following me...
I tried to find a rest room but cud not manage one, then I found few foreigners standing in a queue, I noticed it was a cloakroom. I stood behind them and dumped my stuff there in cloakroom. Then I walked within 5 km radius of New Delhi Railway Station...it was 8.30 - 9, I walked down the lanes and bylanes of Paharganj, then I walked back to the station and found more alleys around. In one alley I just walked down out of curiosity and walked a bit more thinking I would get good tea...Further inside I found a clean restaurant and ordered chana batura, gorged upon the stuff, came out and again walked down the other side of the station, Ramganj, and saw nothing except carpentry stuff, came back to the station and then took the main road and walked and walked and finally I saw Park Hotel, I realised then that I was Connaugt Place and that it was a walkable distance from the Railway Station...I walked round and round the area, and realised it was our Esplanade in Kolkata...
None of the ATMs in that area worked that day. I came back to the railway station back and then I took one of the lanes which was left unexplored and there I bumped into Bengalis who told me which lane and bylane had interesting food to offer.
I walked further down and found Bikaner sweets and not Bikanerwala, I tasted the sweets, liked it and packed some for my uncles and then while coming back to the station I realised the street was full of clothes, shoes, chappals, etc. On reaching the station, I went to the toilet, and standing before the toilet mirror I found a weather-beaten crow.
I was feeling a bit cold, so I sat in the ladies waiting room and watched other women. One little girl came up to me and asked my name, she asked me where was my kid. I just gave a smile and the women sitting next to me instructed the child that I was much older to her and that she should address me aunty and not ask my name. The child was least bothered about the social etiquettes and chatted with me as if I was her next door neighbour all the time calling me by my name.
It was 6.30 pm, I collected my bags from the Cloak room and started climbing the stairs until a coolie came up and offered me help, I said I have already come a bit and that it was not that heavy and that I can carry it on my own. But he was very polite, he said "I am poor and if you dont give me work how wud I live", I had to surrender, he steered through the crowd and led me to a point in the platform where compartment B3 wud stop. The train came and B3 stopped in front of me. I got into the train carrying one bag while leaving the other. Suddenly I realised one bag was missing, I flew across the crowd and was surprised to find my bag there - thank God people are scared these days of unattended stuff. I picked my bag and got back into the train, slept well, woke up and chatted with fellow Bengalis and reached home happily.
I tried to find a rest room but cud not manage one, then I found few foreigners standing in a queue, I noticed it was a cloakroom. I stood behind them and dumped my stuff there in cloakroom. Then I walked within 5 km radius of New Delhi Railway Station...it was 8.30 - 9, I walked down the lanes and bylanes of Paharganj, then I walked back to the station and found more alleys around. In one alley I just walked down out of curiosity and walked a bit more thinking I would get good tea...Further inside I found a clean restaurant and ordered chana batura, gorged upon the stuff, came out and again walked down the other side of the station, Ramganj, and saw nothing except carpentry stuff, came back to the station and then took the main road and walked and walked and finally I saw Park Hotel, I realised then that I was Connaugt Place and that it was a walkable distance from the Railway Station...I walked round and round the area, and realised it was our Esplanade in Kolkata...
None of the ATMs in that area worked that day. I came back to the railway station back and then I took one of the lanes which was left unexplored and there I bumped into Bengalis who told me which lane and bylane had interesting food to offer.
I walked further down and found Bikaner sweets and not Bikanerwala, I tasted the sweets, liked it and packed some for my uncles and then while coming back to the station I realised the street was full of clothes, shoes, chappals, etc. On reaching the station, I went to the toilet, and standing before the toilet mirror I found a weather-beaten crow.
I was feeling a bit cold, so I sat in the ladies waiting room and watched other women. One little girl came up to me and asked my name, she asked me where was my kid. I just gave a smile and the women sitting next to me instructed the child that I was much older to her and that she should address me aunty and not ask my name. The child was least bothered about the social etiquettes and chatted with me as if I was her next door neighbour all the time calling me by my name.
It was 6.30 pm, I collected my bags from the Cloak room and started climbing the stairs until a coolie came up and offered me help, I said I have already come a bit and that it was not that heavy and that I can carry it on my own. But he was very polite, he said "I am poor and if you dont give me work how wud I live", I had to surrender, he steered through the crowd and led me to a point in the platform where compartment B3 wud stop. The train came and B3 stopped in front of me. I got into the train carrying one bag while leaving the other. Suddenly I realised one bag was missing, I flew across the crowd and was surprised to find my bag there - thank God people are scared these days of unattended stuff. I picked my bag and got back into the train, slept well, woke up and chatted with fellow Bengalis and reached home happily.
At Ajmer after 11 years
after getting into the train at Delhi I hit the berth and slept like a log of wood...I opened my eyes just 10 minutes before the train entered Ajmer...Khwajaji woke me up. I jumped off my upper berth, pulled down my bag and jumped off the train...
I checked into a sharing room in Ajmer station and as usual was adopted by one of the pilgrim families, this time a Muslim family, who took me along with them.
It was fun, this family has a pretty married daughter, Asra, with whom I chatted all morning until I took permission from her parents and stayed back in the Dargah for 3 hrs with a huge crowd of women, who read namaz while I said my prayers...
Asra and I did a bit of shopping...walked till the lake and sat there...
I checked into a sharing room in Ajmer station and as usual was adopted by one of the pilgrim families, this time a Muslim family, who took me along with them.
It was fun, this family has a pretty married daughter, Asra, with whom I chatted all morning until I took permission from her parents and stayed back in the Dargah for 3 hrs with a huge crowd of women, who read namaz while I said my prayers...
Asra and I did a bit of shopping...walked till the lake and sat there...
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