The Indian Pacific railway has followed the lead of Qantas and slashed its ticket prices to reflect plummeting diesel costs.Great Southern Rail today announced it had reduced its fuel ticket price surcharge on its Indian Pacific, Ghan and Overland routes.The company said it would pass on the benefits of reduced world oil prices by reducing the price of all bookings made on or after January 1.From that date, the surcharge on the Indian Pacific’s platinum service will drop from $67.50 to $36.
Monthly Archives: December 2008
Air New Zealand has successfully flown a test flight powered by second-generation biofuel, hailing it as a “significant milestone” in the development of sustainable fuels for aircraft.The airline used a 50-50 blend of standard jet fuel and synthetic fuel made from the oil of jatropha plant seeds to power one of the engines on a Boeing 747 during a two-hour test flight from Auckland International Airport on Tuesday.It was the world’s first test flight using jatropha biofuel and followed a Virgin Atlantic test flight earlier in the year using a blend including coconut oil and babassu nut oil.
A distinguished-looking Japanese tourist lingered more than three months at Mexico City’s airport, sleeping on the ground and eating in pricey restaurants, until he left with a woman in a taxi, witnesses said.Nobody knows why the tall, bearded Hiroshi Nohara decided to stay at Benito Juarez airport after missing his connecting flight to Brazil — he apparently has a return ticket to Tokyo, but for 117 days he became a tourist attraction in his own right.
Jet-setting German dog owners who can’t bear to be separated from their pets a moment longer than necessary can now use a luxury pet lodging near Munich airport.Sabine Gerteis, a managing director of the “Canis-Resort” that charges 80 euros (A$164) a night, said the facility is intended to cater to well-heeled business people who are close to their pets.A special touch – at extra cost – is a gate-to-gate service which takes dogs to the airport to greet their owners upon their return.”There’s nothing better than when I come back from Hamburg in the evening and my dog is there, waiting for me at the gate with his tail wagging,” Gerteis, a dog owner herself, said.
It’s a smashing sort of therapy for the stressed: a Japanese entrepreneur is offering those strained by the financial crisis a chance to vent by hurling crockery against a wall, and then paying for it.In a corner of Tokyo’s bustling electronic gadget shopping district, a group of chiropractors, led by Katsuya Hara, dish out plate-smashing therapy from a truck named “The Venting Place.”And the cost depends on how much you need to destroy — small cups can be smashed for 200 yen (A$3.20) each, while bigger dishes go for 1000 yen (A$16).”To break something, as all of us know from experience, is something extremely exhilarating and it helps bring down pent-up anger,” Hara said, adding that the majority of his customers are professionals stressed out due to work and the financial crisis.
A record 47 million visitors came to New York City in 2008 to generate another record of US$30 billion (A$42.8 billion) in spending, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said on Monday.That exceeded the 46 million visitors and US$28.9 billion worth of spending the city attracted in 2007, the mayor said in a joint statement with NYC & Co, the city’s marketing, tourism and partnership organization.”To be sure, the ongoing downturn will weigh on New York City’s hospitality industry as people all over the world cut back on travel, but the investments we’ve made to promote New York City will continue to pay dividends, now more than ever,” said Bloomberg.
Swiss rescue officials say they have found two missing skiers after spotting the light from their MP3 music player.The Swiss air rescue association Rega says it received a distress call from the French tourists late on Friday but the skiers’ phone battery went dead before they could be reached.Rega spokesman Gery Baumann says the two men were eventually found after midnight in steep, wooded terrain by a helicopter crew that spotted the light from their digital music player.
Virgin Atlantic has removed its bid for London Gatwick Airport, leaving just two consortia left that are expected to table an offer.That is according to The Times, which reported that the British airline has pulled out of the running to purchase the BAA owned airport having failed to attract a sufficient number of financial backers.Early offers for the UK’s second busiest airport are expected to be posted in January, with BAA looking to raise as much as £2.5 billion.
Magaliesburg – Gone are the days when a spa was a preserve of the seriously moneyed hidden away in exotic places and dominated by a female clientele. Rapid economic growth in recent years has fuelled increasing wealth among South Africa’s middle class raising demand for luxury services including spa treatments. According to Marisa Dimitriadis, Managing Director, The Spa Consultants, growing awareness about the therapeutic benefits of spas coupled with the demand for grooming services amongst males has spawned an excess of 40 percent annually over the past three years.
A GROUP of Canberra students were stranded in Darwin when they arrived to catch their Tiger Airways flight to Bangkok – only to be told the airline had not operated from the Top End since October.Briohny Gillespie, 21, Katherine Govey, 23, Adrienne Tawagi, 24 and Sophie Lane, 22, were ready to embark on their six-week backpacking venture around South-East Asia on Friday, the Northern Territory News reported .They were expecting to catch a flight to Bangkok yesterday, and then a connecting flight to Krabi, where they had already booked and paid for a room at a resort.
