Aviation with Style

In-flight Internet is virtually ubiquitous these days with most major airlines offering some form of sky-high WiFi – and while this has traditionally attracted sky-high prices to match, the cost of connecting mid-flight is on the decline, with some airlines now even offering the service for free. Among them: Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Finnair, Qantas and Virgin Australia: and if the trend continues, the prospect of   paying   for in-flight Internet could soon mirror the same concept at hotels, where Internet access once cost a small fortune but now comes at no charge for most guests. Australian Business Traveller   highlights five airlines that provide some form of free inflight Internet, including how you can take advantage on your next domestic or international flight. Emirates: free Airbus A380, Boeing 777 in-flight Internet: A business or first class ticket with Emirates now buys   unlimited free Wi-Fi   with the Gulf carrier . Passengers book...

Residents reportedly stockpiling goods from supermarkets amid fears over food imports after land, sea and air routes closed. The tiny Gulf state of Qatar has been literally and figuratively isolated by the escalating row with its Arab neighbours, with   land, sea and air routes closed off   in an unprecedented crisis in the Arabian peninsula that threatens longstanding trade deals. The closure of the only land route into Qatar as well as the airspaces of   Saudi Arabia , the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain in effect established a blockade on Doha, which relies almost entirely on imports to feed its population. It will damage the prospects of a recovery for Doha’s national carrier,   Qatar   Airways, amid a slowdown caused by the US administration’s ban on electronic devices in the cabins of aircraft flying from the Middle East, and will raise questions about the future of al-Jazeera, the flagship television network established by the Gulf kingdom an...

 The Civil Aviation Authority is the body that regulates civil aviation activities in Sri Lanka. From 27 December 2002 to date, respective governments changed its chairmen, but the only person who remains in his job all this while is its Director General H.M. Chandrasena Nimalsiri. For 15 years, he is running an authoritarian rule to establish his power. Those who are close and near him get all the privileges, while a majority of employees of the institution remain trampled by his iron shoes. To say the least, the Authority does not have a second string. The DG thinks of flying in the air until the day he dies. The ages of officials in its hierarchy are as follows: · Director General – 59 Years · Additional Director General – 59 Years · Three Deputy Director Generals – 60 years, 58 years, 57 yr Taking a look at this group nearing 60 years of age, it is not difficult to understand the mentality of the DG, who is surrounded by his friends of his own age, while t...

OVER-regulation of Australia’s aviation industry has created a situation whereby pilots spend more time ticking boxes and filling out paperwork than flying planes, operators say. Chief Executive of the   Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association , Benjamin Morgan, spoke out about an “ industry in decline ” following another fatal crash in Australia. Rossair   chief pilot Martin Scott and pilot inductee Paul Daw were killed, along with Civil Aviation Safety Authority officer Stephen Guerin, when a Cessna Conquest crashed shortly after takeoff from Renmark Airport in South Australia on Tuesday. The crash was the worst in the state this century, and came just a few months after the Essendon crash in Victoria in which five lives were lost. Both incidents are now under investigation by the   Australian Transport Safety Bureau . BUREAUCRATIC BURDEN Mr. Morgan said it was difficult to draw a connection between the tragic crashes and t...