2013 › June

Airline Creates An ‘XL Class’ For Overweight Passengers

by Libby Zay on


Tiny Samoa Air was the first airline to charge passengers based on weight, and now, the company is creating a special “XL class” for larger passengers.

The controversial “pay what you weigh” airline is now creating a wider row on its aircrafts to comfortably seat passengers who weigh more than 130 kilograms (286 pounds). The new row gives larger passengers an extra 12 to 14 inches of space, alleviating the discomfort large people often face when sitting in small airline seats.

“Quite often the access is difficult, and even the space between the seats is enough that even when you’ve squeezed into the seats there’s no room for your legs. That’s where the XL has come in – we do it with shirts and clothing and other things where we have different standard sizes,” Chris Langton, the airline’s head, tells Business Insider.

Samoa Airline’s efforts to accommodate larger passengers make sense in Samoa, a country with one of the world’s highest rates of obesity. When flying on the airline, passengers pay a fixed price per kilogram for themselves and their luggage that varies anywhere from about $1 to $4 per kilogram, depending on the length of the route. Samoa Airlines seems to believe other carriers will follow suit and soon develop similar methods of calculating rates for passengers.

Middle East Battles For Rights To Angry Birds Theme Park

by Libby Zay on

Angry Birds theme parks have already taken off in Finland, Singapore and the United Kingdom, and now three cities in the Middle East are competing for the rights to build another video game-themed park in the region.

According to CNN, Abu Dhabi, Al Ain and Doha are each trying to stake a claim on what is expected to be the biggest Angry Birds-themed park in the world. With more than 1.7 billion downloads, the video game is one of the most popular smartphone apps of all time – and a theme park like this would be particularly marketable in the Middle East, where a fifth of all downloads are made.

Of course, Angry Birds Land is just one project proposed in the Middle East, a region that is ripe for theme park development projects. CCN reports that Abu Dhabi has expressed interest in a Michael Jackson-themed resort that would be adjacent to Ferrari World, the largest indoor amusement park in the world that is home to the world’s fastest roller coaster.

What Will Twitter Do With The Local Discovery App It Just Acquired?

by Libby Zay on

Twitter just acquired Spindle, a mobile app billed as a “news feed for your neighborhood” that aggregates social media updates from nearby restaurants, stores, event venues, museums and more, the Boston Globe reports.

Founded by three former employees of Microsoft, Spindle is a favorite tool for travelers looking for on-the-ground information on what’s happening nearby, particularly in cities they are just getting to know. After acquiring Spindle on Wednesday, Twitter has already shut down the service – a tactic the social media giant has previously employed as it absorbs start-up companies.

Although Twitter has yet to release an official statement on its intent, it looks like the company will use Spindle’s technology and talent to launch some sort of local discovery function of its own. We’ll just have to sit tight and see whether that will be an added function within Twitter, or a completely new platform.

[via Skift]

Miami Airport To Test Passenger Self-Boarding

by Libby Zay on

Miami International Airport has plans to test a self-boarding system that would cut out airline gate agents and, hopefully, make the boarding process flow better, Skift reports.

Maurice Jenkins, the airport’s director of information services and telecommunications, tells the news outlet the airport already has the equipment it needs to get the process started, and will soon roll out tests with several airlines. He also mentioned the airport is looking at testing self-service kiosks in customs, but that would be further down the pipeline.

According to the Star Tribune, at least 17 airlines across Europe and Asia already use self-boarding machines, and several U.S. carriers are testing the devices. The process is simple: an automated turnstile allows fliers to scan their own boarding passes at the gate before passing onto the plane. Although this essentially means travelers can bypass all interaction with airline employees until the point they step onto an aircraft, it doesn’t mean passengers will get to skip any form of security, so everyone who uses the system will have already passed inspection.

We all know how bad people can be at forming a line at the airport, so we’re curious to see this implemented. My only question is, who will police the size of our carry-on bags now?

Ever Wonder What It’s Like To Ride The Subway With Doors Open? (VIDEO)

by Libby Zay on

If you think subway shutdowns due to malfunctions are bothersome, this video might make you reconsider. When the doors on a train in St. Petersburg, Russia, were stuck open, the conductor decided to just keep chugging along to the next station.

At first passengers look scared, but soon they get curious and start sticking their heads out the doors to have a look. The cameraman does it, too, placing his camera dangerously close to the side of the tunnel. Luckily, this happened when the train was nearly empty, and it appears nobody was hurt (in fact, it looks like the open doors created a nice breeze along the way). Should it have gone down during rush hour, however, this might have been a completely different story.

[via Grist]