Travel News – US Airways Flight 1549, Travel to Cuba?, No Smoking in Taiwan, Pay by the Minute Flights

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The most interesting travel story of this week was definitely that more people will be paying attention from now on to that part of the safety demonstration where the flight attendant says “in the unlikely event of a water landing…” Kudos to the crew of US Airways Flight 1549.

US Airways Plane Lands in Hudson River

US Airways Flight 1549 descends on its way to an emergency landing on the Hudson River in New York Jan. 15, 2009. The Airbus A320 bound for Charlotte, N.C., had reportedly struck a flock of birds immediately after takeoff minutes earlier at LaGuardia Airport. The birds apparently disabled the engines. The pilot maneuvered the crippled jetliner over New York City and ditched it in the frigid Hudson River. All 155 onboard were pulled to safety as the plane slowly sank.)

This story caught my attention because on this week’s Amateur Traveler episode on Cuba (Travel to Cuba) I made the prediction that the restrictions on travel to Cuba would be lifted within the year. The next day I saw this story which is a step in that direction.

Clinton Says Obama Wants to Lift Travel Ban on Cuba

Sen. Hillary Clinton said on Tuesday the incoming Obama administration wanted to lift travel restrictions on families wishing to visit relatives in Cuba and urged Havana to make its own concessions.

Non-smoking travelers will rejoice that one more country has gone smoke free. In this case the country is Taiwan which is surprising given the smokey nature of countries in that area.

Taiwan bans smoking in hotels, restaurants, airports

Taiwanese authorities on Sunday banned smoking in all indoor public places in what anti-smoking activists say is a ‘milestone’ in turning Taiwan into a smoke-free island.

Smoking had previously been banned in public areas including hospitals, schools, theaters, libraries, office buildings and elevators.

Is this a new model for airlines? It is certainly an unusual one and it would be interesting to see if it catches on but I would bet against that.

Pay-As-You-Go Airline Charges by the Minute

Taking a cue from the cellphone industry, an upstart South African airline is selling flights by the minute and allowing customers to buy tickets and book flights via text message.

Airtime Airlines takes to the sky later this month, offering three flights a day from its base in Durban to Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth. Passengers purchase minutes much like they would for a prepaid cell phone and redeem them for a ticket. Fees are assessed according to the length of the flight — say, 75 minutes for the run from Durban to Johannesburg — and could save as much as half of what competing airlines charge.

If you stop the average man on the street and asked whether birts or yanks were more polite you would probably be told that the brits are more polite. Apparently if you take that poll on a sinking ship you would get the same results.

‘Polite’ Britons died on Titanic

More British passengers died on the Titanic because they queued politely for lifeboats, researchers believe.

A behavioural economist says data suggests Britons in that era were more inclined to be “gentlemanly” while Americans were more “individualist”.

Other Stories that caught my eye this week:

• Castro Praises Obama In Blog, Alludes To Waning Health
• Seven affordable, under-the-radar beach destinations
• Amazing US Air pilot saved 155 lives