Japan has decided that from January 2019 onward a ‘Sayonara Tax’ of 1000 Yen will be charged to each international departure in order to fund tourism related expenses such as advertisement.
The departure tax will apply to both foreigners and Japanese travelers and incorporated in the ticket charges collected by the airlines similar to the already existing taxes and fees.
The Musée de l’air et de l’espace is one of the oldest aviation museums in the world. Inaugurated in 1919, the museum occupies over 150,000 square meters of land and hangars in Le Bourget airport (IATA: LBG, ICAO: LFPB), 11 km northeast of Paris. The museum holds a vast collection of objects, including about 150 aircrafts, satellites, rockets and aviation-related objects. #AvGeek paradise!
Their collection includes several early 20th century prototypes and a great World War II hall. But the jewels of the crown are the B747-100 on the tarmac and the two Concords (the experimental F-WTSS prototype and Air France F-BTSD) in one of their hangars (named, evidently, the Concorde Hall). I had the opportunity to visit it not so long ago and it was a great experience.
On November last year, Air France published a press release announcing the new destinations (both short and long haul) that would be served by their new brand Joon, their take on a low cost carrier marketed for millenials. Among the new destinations and dates announced, the press release included Cairo and Teheran as first medium-haul destinations, and added Cape Town as the first long haul destination with “3 weekly flights from April 1st 2018 starting at €279 including tax”. On December 12, 2017 the airline updated their schedule, filing additional routes to be operated by Joon, inclunding CDG-CPT, starting April 1st, 2018.
Last week, based on this information (which had not been updated since), John and I decided I should try their new economy class product on their first CPT-CDG flight, scheduled for April 1st. I went all the way there and not really to my surprise, this flight never happened.
The only small food court of Kansas City KCI Airport has been shut down temporarily due due a bed bug sighting on chairs at the facility.
Airport authorities have taken action and sanitized the F&B area during the shutdown of the site and customers were able to return to the outlets.
Whenever there is a vote casting for an upcoming travel award the email of airlines and hotel companies come flooding in just like this week when travel providers are once again lobbying for votes.
This time around it’s for the upcoming Freddie Awards, an annual travel industry award given to travel providers and loyalty programs in different categories.
Travelers who are used to having a quick drink or two during morning departures from the U.K. might soon have to go dry as lawmakers are putting the current 24h alcohol serving permit for airports to the test.
It’s possible that in the near future both restaurants, bars and possibly even lounges won’t be able to serve alcohol anymore during certain hours of the day.
Popular holiday destination Jamaica has declared a state of emergency due to a rise of violence crime in various parts of the country, especially the area of Montego Bay.
Various countries have since issued travel alerts to warn their citizens about possible danger and travelers might want to consider cancellations for already purchased travel.
A range of airlines has started to impose restrictions on so called ‘smart baggage’ and will from now on refuse to transport all luggage equipped with lithium batteries to support it’s ‘smart’ capabilities.
The airlines that already announced the ban and updated their Conditions of Carriage include American Airlines, Delta, United and Hawaiian Airlines as well as Korean Air (possibly more).
The new Terminal 2 at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport has opened on January 18th and will from now on handle all flights operated by Korean Air, Air France, Delta Airlines and KLM.
Codeshare flights not actually operated by the listed airlines as well as all other carriers continue to operate from Terminal 1 and passengers are advised to double check their flight information.b
Yesterday the U.S. Department of State launched improvements to how they share information with U.S. travelers which sees countries ranked by threat level.
The system has already been announced last month and ranks countries into four security tiers based on a number of factors, including the risk of crime, terrorism, natural disaster, and civil unrest.
South Korea has gradually reduced the practice to stamp passports of foreigners arriving or departing the country and how now moved entirely to stamp-less processing for both arrival and departure.
Reducing stamps makes life easier for frequent travelers as a large amount of stamps mean to renew the passport more quickly but it also takes away another novelty factor of traveling.
As Thai Authorities have put new security screening mechanisms in place that affect Visa On Arrival applicants visiting the country, Immigration officials warned that waiting periods could exceed 4 hours.
Citizens of 19 countries including China, India, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan ROC are required to get a visa prior to visiting Thailand but can do so through the Visa on Arrival (VOA) facility.
Traveling can be challenging or expensive without an adequate mobile roaming option in order to stay connecting when traveling, especially in China where social media, messengers and Skype are blocked.
We have covered prepaid data roaming options several times before and now found a new product from TRUE Mobile Thailand that includes not only different countries but also a generous amount of data.
Visitors to Egypt are used to purchasing a visa label at the currency exchange booths upon each arrival as part of the visa on arrival process but now Egypt has finally rolled out their e-Visa system.
Those who wish to circumvent the visa on arrival process can now process and pay for their visa online ahead of their trip at the same cost.
