From the monthly archives: March 2010
Air New Zealand passengers travelling from Heathrow to Los Angeles were treated to an Oscar-themed flight as the airline promoted the route,which is regularly used by celebrities such as the Beckhams and Katie Price.
The airline issued celebrity face masks in the image of Hollywood stars such as Colin Firth and Helen Mirren, plus Oscar style chocolates. Travellers also had the opportunity to watch nominated films including Up in the Air, An Education and The Lovely Bones. The entertainment continued onboard with a special Academy Awards quiz giving passengers the chance to win Air New Zealand Airpoints. Air New Zealand flies daily to Los Angeles from London Heathrow.
Sixty Virgin Atlanic staff have set off to Nairobi in a bid to climb Mount Kenya for charity.
The group,which includes pilots, cabin crew and ground staff, is aiming to climb the 5000 meter summit and raise over £34,000 for a Kenyan village school fund. The building of classrooms and provision of textbooks, school kits, desks and blackboards will come directly from this event.
“I am very proud to see so many staff rising to the challenge and giving so much more than just monetary donations. There is no doubt that the challenge will be gruelling at times but it also promises to be a memorable experience for all of them. The proceeds of their efforts will affect long-term change in the Kenyan village of Sikirar and I wish them the very best of luck” said Steve Ridgway, Virgin Atlantic’s chief executive.
The proceeds of the fundraising will help support the airline’s charity partner, Free the Children. In addition to the building of classrooms, the charity will fund the construction of clean piped water for the whole community along with new latrines, handwashing stations and education on water and sanitation.
A mobile health clinic, health workshops and the construction of community gardens and tree planting are also planned.
Sikirar has a population of 2,200 but has been badly ravaged by famine and suffers from inadequate infrastructure.
Continental Airlines has announced the introduction of its mobile boarding pass service to Heathrow and says it is the first carrier to offer paperless boarding passes on nonstop flights from the United Kingdom to the U.S.
The service allows customers to receive boarding passes electronically on their mobile phones or PDAs and eliminates the need for paper boarding passes.
“We are pleased to add Heathrow to the growing list of airports we serve with mobile boarding passes,” said Martin Hand, Continental’s vice president of reservations and eCommerce.
”Customers have told us this is the type of product improvement they want, and we will continue to expand the self-service technology to more of our domestic and international destinations”.
Mobile boarding passes display a two-dimensional bar code along with passenger and flight information, which scanners at the security checkpoint and boarding gate validate. The technology prevents manipulation or duplication of the boarding passes and heightens security.In addition to boarding passes.
Continentalalso provides access to enhanced flight information through mobile devices. Customers may view onboard amenities and standby lists, as well as track the status of their flights.
Continental was the first carrier to offer paperless boarding passes in the U.S. in a pilot program that began in December 2007
The airline currently offers mobile boarding passes at 42 airports, including its hubs in New York, Houston and Cleveland. Continental was the first U.S. carrier to offer mobile boarding passes from an international destination when it launched the service at Frankfurt Airport late last year.
Continental operates five flights per day to Heathrow – three from its New York hub at Newark Liberty International Airport and two from Houston. The airline announced recently that it will add a fourth daily service to the New York – Heathrow route in March and a fifth daily service in October, bringing the total number of Continental daily departures to Heathrow to seven. Continental also announced that effective June 2, 2010, all aircraft scheduled for its Heathrow flights will feature new, flat bed seats in BusinessFirst.
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