We’ve done all the hard work, so you don’t have to! Read on for the top ten travel stories you need to know today.
1. Travel from Sydney to Europe in four hours
The European Space Agency is working a new plane that will travel so fast it makes the Concorde look like the Belphegor – the world’s slowest aircraft.
The jet project called LAPCAT or Long Term Advanced Propulsion Concepts and Technologies is to develop a high-speed aircraft that can fly up to five times the speed of sound.
At that speed, it will be able to take travellers anywhere in the world in just four hours. So just to be clear from Sydney to London – four hours; Perth to Argentina – four hours; and the Northern Territory to Dubai – four hours.
2. AirAsia update: jet rose too quickly and stalled
The AirAsia’s A320-200 aircraft that crash into the Java Sea last month was climbing at a faster speed than normal and stalled, according to Indonesia’s transport minister.
Flight QZ8501 was 42 minutes into a flight between Surabaya to Singapore when it lost contact with ground control on 28 December.
Indonesia’s Transport Minister Ignasius Jonan said in the final minutes before losing contact, the plane had climbed at a ‘beyond normal’ speed before it shut down.
3. Royal Caribbean’s ESPRESSO for agents
Royal Caribbean Cruises will launch a new reservation system designed for travel agents to make selling the cruise group’s products faster.
Available from March 2015, ESPRESSO is described as an advanced booking system because it features a modern user interface that reduces the number of clicks to make a reservation from seven to five.
It also assembles the most important and frequently used functions up front. All inventory is centralised and travel agents can select up to four stateroom categories at once for quick and easy comparison.
Once selections for comparison are submitted, the new reservation system’s search engine zeroes-in on the best available price and applicable promotional offers to deliver the best cruise options for travel agents to present to their clients.
ESPRESSO will also be able to provide a side-by-side view of groups and individual inventory at point of sale, or single view.
There’s also a new predictive search function that can help travel agents find an existing reservation from a single identifier, saving valuable time when servicing a client’s booking. ESPRESSO will also identify past guests and display a customer’s history, such as recent promotions sent to them, last cruise taken, destination and accommodation preferences, and any other interests that have been shared and automatically populates their information and preferences when making a new reservation.
Travel agents and partners in Australia and New Zealand will receive updates in the coming weeks regarding training and support for the new ESPRESSO reservation system.
4. Badgerys Creek airport analysis underway
Geotechnical analysis of land at Badgerys Creek has commenced to assist in construction plans and cost estimates of the proposed Western Sydney airport.
A team of engineers were at the northern side of the site yesterday taking soil samples from boreholes up to 20 metres deep and pits of up to five metres deep.
The samples will be analysed over the coming weeks.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said the geotechnical drilling is a crucial step in planning process.
“At the end of last year the Government commenced its new environmental assessment, which we aim to have concluded by the end of this year.”
Minister Warren Tuss
In April last year the Australian Government ended decades of uncertainty with a decision that Badgerys Creek would be the site of an airport for Western Sydney. Work is currently underway to develop a commercial proposal for an airport which is expected to open 2020.
5. Magellan chooses Captain’s Choice
Captain’s Choice will become the preferred product of Magellan Travel Group, which will integrate Captain’s Choice ‘remote, exotic and inspired’ travel with Magellan’s spirit of high-end leisure travel.
Magellan Travel Group’s chief executive Andrew Macfarlene said the company is ‘delighted’ with the new partnership.
“[It is] such an iconic brand steeped in both tradition and modern-day innovation.”
Andrew Macfarlene, Magellan Travel Group chief executive
Captain’s Choice’s Dan Kotzmann shared the sentiment and expects the arrangement to allow the company to expand its brands and build ‘on the superior travel experience delivered by both parties’.
6. Japan tourism rebounds to record breaking levels
Japan’s tourism numbers have not only bounced back, but they’ve exceeded all previous records to reach nearly 13.4 million arrivals – that’s three million more than the prior year.
According to the government the increase was driven by the weaker yen and relaxed visa requirements.
The number of foreign arrivals last year surpassed the 10.36 million in 2013. The biggest international markets were China and elsewhere in Asia. Visitors from the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam also hit record highs.
Spending by foreigners jumped by 43,3 percent compared to 2013 to a record 2.03 trillion yen.
Japan’s tourism leaders hope to increase its international arrivals figures to 20 million by the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.
7. Travel brochures of the week
New tours, new destinations and early bird savings. The internet may have changed the way travellers do their research, but travel brochures are still a popular way of obtaining travel information.
This week we travel along the rivers of Europe with Travelmarvel, explore Tasmania’s beauty with Infinity Holidays and take six new short breaks around Australia and New Zealand with AAT Kings.
8. Only in Macau – a Ferris wheel built into the resort
Macau’s new Batman Gotham City-like resort will not only have a 5,000 seat stadium and a 30,000 square foot mall, but also a a Ferris wheel built into the building’s tower facade.
Called the Golden Eye, it will be Asia’s highest Ferris wheel spinning at 130 metres.
According to the developers, the design was inspired by ‘two asteroids shooting through a Gotham City building’.
The 1,600-room resort will also have a virtual reality Batman ride and Wonder Woman go-karts as well as a 5,000 multi-purpose entertainment centre for live concerts.
This could quite possibly be every comic book fans’ dream come true.
9. Disgruntled employee pockets 115 Jetstar iPads
We’ve heard to taking a ‘souvenir’ when you leave a company, but this guy may have gone a little overboard.
A former airline employee reportedly stole around $170,000 worth of iPads because he believes he was overworked and underpaid.
But that’s not the only reason, the 44-year-old man’s defence counsel said he was unhappy because airline bosses wouldn’t promote him, The Herald Sun reported.
“He was disgruntled, he resented the position he found himself in … and he went out to rectify that position.”
The man quit his job as the acting branch manager of Melbourne Airport Qantas Courier warehouse in December 2012. He then returned two days later to take the load of Jetstar iPads.
What did he do when they realised the devices were missing?
He lied and said they may have been delivered to another customer – a story he stuck to throughout the Australian Federal Police Investigation
However, this week he pleaded guilty to one count of theft in court and could be facing up to 10 years in prison.
10. ‘I’ll chop you into pieces’: air pax arrested over threats
Somebody get this guy a chill pill [I’m still a little 90s].
A 40-year-old British man will soon be sent to a Dubai prison for six months after he threatened to dismember air staff aboard an Emirates flight last year.
According to Gulf News, the man verbally and physically assaulted a flight attendant when she refused to serve him more alcohol on the London- to- Dubai flight.
He threatened to ‘chop her into pieces’ and at one point even grabbed her by the shirt. He caused further disruption to the flight when he set off a bathroom smoke alarm by lighting up a cigarette in the loo.
The man was arrested upon touch down in Dubai and was found ‘mentally sane’ by a committee of psychiatrists in the city.
He will now serve six months in jail and then be deported back to England.