Andrea Crisp: February 2008 Archives

We just have to direct you to the Airspace forum, where we're getting fast-breaking news of Southwest allegedly victimising two 18-year-old women because they're young and pretty.
Southwest responded with a clip on youtube (it's a modern world), which appears to be read by one of their own young and pretty employees - perhaps an air steward?
Our sympathies go out to this often-overlooked minority group.

At last: a blog on Ryanair that doesn’t involve scantily clad swimsuit models or a cheap publicity stunt, or indeed both.
Ryanair has been feeling the heat as it scrambles to upgrade its New Skies reservations system. The airline that makes an astounding 99% of its bookings online had to shut down its reservations system between 22:00 on 22 February and 23:00 on 25 February to make the changeover.
Yesterday Ryanair released a statement apologising “to any passengers who have suffered inconvenience in attempting to access Ryanair.com over the last 24 hours”.
And despite “significant progress” with the cut over, Ryanair expects “further bedding down problems over the next day or two”.

SkyEurope might have set their standards high when they set out to break the world record for the number of airborne kisses on Valentine’s Day.
But the cynics have been silenced, as yesterday more than 2,200 kisses were recorded onboard 14 of SkyEurope’s aircraft and 84 flights.
Check out these pictures, especially the shot of the couple who weren’t even allocated adjoining seats and had to crane over to the next row to cop a snog. Now that’s romance.

In an event that defines the term "publicity stunt", SkyEurope will be attempting to set a world record for kissing 10km above the ground on Valentines Day.
Passengers flying on 14 February are invited to kiss their partner in exchange for a certificate and a free air ticket. Not bad going.
SkyEurope does add the proviso that kissing records will be allowed on "all the flights on which the safety procedures and sector length will allow". Good to hear that safety regulations won't be broached for the smooch-off.
“Nobody has ever attempted to create a world record in kissing in the skies in European airspace," says Steven Greenway, chief commercial officer of SkyEurope. "We will be the first, and for this year I want to say also world champions in this discipline,” he says rather confidently.

Virgin Atlantic will be starring in the next James Bond film as global partner for the dubiously titled Quantum of Solace.
Full details of the tie up are yet to be revealed, but let’s hope there will be another amusing cameo from Sir Richard Branson, like the one seen in 2006’s Casino Royale, where he plays a passenger passing through security at Miami airport. (Interestingly British Airways took the step of editing Branson from their in-flight screenings of Casino Royale.)
Virgin Atlantic aircraft were also featured in the Miami airport scene.
Branson claims Virgin and James Bond “make a great partnership – slick, smooth and renowned the world over”.
Quantum of Solace will be released on 7 November and is the 22nd Bond movie to be released.

India’s rail tradition could soon be overshadowed by India’s growing regional air network.
The Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation has painted an interesting picture of India’s aviation future.
Apparently India’s Civil Aviation Ministry has aggressive plans for expansion, aiming for 500 operational airports by 2020, compared with the 80 airports that currently handle scheduled flights.