Iceland volcano cancels flights

by Sean McLachlan on


Here we go again.

After last year’s misery from the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, now another Icelandic volcano, Grimsvötn, is causing a new round of worries.

More than 250 flights have already been canceled as a cloud of volcanic ash blows over Scotland. Most of Ireland, northern Wales, and northern England will see the ash later today.

Several Scottish airports have been affected, including major ones such as Edinburgh and Glasgow. Other airports that will likely have problems today include Londonderry, Prestwick, Durham Tees Valley, Newcastle, and Carlisle. Officials say the cloud should move on and flights from Edinburgh and Glasgow will resume this afternoon. Airports in the far north of Scotland should get the all-clear tomorrow. Of course, that’s assuming there are no more eruptions or changes in the wind.

Luckily the wind has taken much of the ash away from populated areas, over the far north Atlantic, eastern Greenland, and north of Scandinavia.

Several airlines are not flying through Scottish airspace. You can see a full list here. Since the northerly route between Europe and North America passes through the ash cloud, transatlantic flights may have to be diverted, causing delays. Check ahead before going to the airport.

So far this doesn’t look like another Eyjafjallajökull. The Grimsvötn eruption is smaller and the ash particles are bigger, meaning they fall to earth more quickly instead of hanging in the atmosphere for days.

Have your travel plans been affected by the Grimsvötn eruption? Tell us about it in the comments section!

[Photo courtesy Roger McLassus]

Nine groovy retro flight attendant uniforms

by Laurel Miller on

Good looks never go out of style, but (thankfully, in some instances) “air hostess” uniforms do. The Los Angeles Times travel section has published this great photo gallery of swinging stews from the “Style in the Aisle” exhibit at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

The exhibit, which runs through May 30th, features flight attendant uniforms from the 1930’s through the ’70’s. Couture designers of the day, including Emilio Pucci, helped put fashion forward in the airline industry. Because no one should ever have to serve pretzels without the sartorial security of Go-go boots and a cape.

[Photo credit: The Museum of Flight Collection]

Virgin Galactic releases first “feathered flight” video

by Stephen Greenwood on

Historical implications aside, one of the most impressive and important aspects of Richard Branson’s upcoming private space line is its distinct mode of atmospheric re-entry.

Thanks to a breakthrough design by legendary aerospace engineer Burt Rutan, Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo is one of the first craft to utilize a technique known as “feathered flight” to acheive a safer, more stable method of passing through the various layers of Earth’s atmosphere. After rocketing to the lower reaches of the thermosphere, SpaceShipTwo is designed to rotate its wings by 65

°, so that the body of the craft creates a very large amount of drag while the wings remain upright to guide the ship and provide a type of fail-proof stability. The high drag combined with the low weight of the craft ensures that surface temperatures remain low, preventing any risk of burning up upon re-entry.

On May 4th, the Virgin Galactic & Scaled Composites team performed the first test flight in which the VSS Enterprise deployed the feathered configuration; proving that the design is stable and ready for testing at higher velocity. Today, Virgin Galactic released the official video of the test flight, which provides a stunning look at the feathering in action.

The VSS Enterprise has flown solo seven times since it’s public debut in December of 2009, and will likely begin powered test flights in the second half of 2011. Finally convinced it’ll be safe? Then head on over to the Virgin Galactic website and reserve your spot for only $20,000.

MasterCard PriceAssure offers travelers new airfare-tracking service

by Jeremy Kressmann on

Buying an airline ticket is easily one of the most confusing and costly purchases a traveler can make. There are many questions: Is the price found online the best price? Could the price go down? What does it cost to re-book the ticket if things change?

MasterCard cardholders now have a new airfare tracking tool, called PriceAssure, that may provide some assistance. What is it and should you give it a try? We investigate below.

Eligibility
Anyone with a MasterCard and a existing flight registration on any of big domestic carriers (American, Delta, United, US Airways and JetBlue were all listed when we checked) are all eligible to use the service. At this point, PriceAssure doesn’t cover international airfares.

How it Works
To start, new users need to enroll in the program by providing their basic MasterCard card details, name and an account login. After login, users have a couple options: The first is to input an existing flight itinerary and the price paid for the ticket. Gadling Labs tried out an upcoming flight that we’re taking on American Airlines from LaGuardia to O’Hare.

Once the flights are in the system, PriceAssure goes to work. It constantly monitors the current fare on your airline for the chosen dates. Should that price fall below the price you originally paid for your ticket, PriceAssure sends out an email, letting you know that you may be eligible for a refund. Interestingly enough, PriceAssure also incorporates any potential change fee you might have pay as part of the new re-booking price.

All of this, mind you, is based on the type of ticket that you have booked and what the rules are for changing that ticket (and the fees therein). If one is booked on a heavily discounted ticket with high change fees, for example, a $20 fare drop won’t account for the $150 in change fees so a refund is moot. But for a more flexible ticket or a larger price drop, the service is particularly handy.

Once you discover you’re eligible for a refund, MasterCard also offers to call up the airline for you to negotiate your refund for $19.95. You can make the call yourself for no additional charge (though the hold time and haggling with the customer service rep is up to you).
Our Take
With all the variables involved in booking airfare these days, any solution that claims to simplify the process is already a thumbs up in our book. That said, PriceAssure is likely to work best for certain certain types of travelers more than others.

If you’re a budget traveler, chances are you’re already buying heavily discounted airfares and the likelihood your fare will fall enough to save you more money is slim. Even if the price on your flight does fall, it’s not likely to be enough to offset the often hefty airline change fees attached to most deep discount tickets.

Business travelers, however, play a different game. Many of these passengers book more flexible, high-cost airfares, and for these itineraries, PriceAssure will prove quite useful. Take a test drive of the application over at priceassure.mastercard.com

New SFO terminal brings romance back to air travel

by Chris Owen on

It was 1954 when San Francisco International Airport (SFO) welcomed it’s first flights. At the time, air travel was a luxurious experience and would-be classic airliners ruled the sky. This weekend, SFO reopens Terminal 2, thought to be the most modern and sustainable terminal in the United States, ushering in a new era of travel by air.

“An airport terminal designed to bring back the romance of travel,” airport director John Martin told KGO-TV.

The new $383 million SFO terminal will be home to American and Virgin America airlines. Airport supporters hope to recapture the golden age of air travel with local restaurant stars, artwork, a classic American Airlines DC-3 and even the ability to fill an empty water bottle and take it on board.

“We immediately felt we walked into a five-star hotel lobby that was just declared LEED gold standard in its environmental design,” said San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.

On the flip side, the new terminal welcomes the future of aviation with open arms too. Sir Richard Branson was on hand this week with Virgin Galactica’s White Knight 2 which will take passengers into space, a venture California legislators hope to see reality soon.

“This is a big part of economic growth and economic development in the region and it is a big part of keeping down the costs for passengers to fly,” said California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

That’s great news for San Francisco, not so great news for nearby San Jose where their airport has struggled, trailing behind San Francisco then Oakland, losing lucrative routes to Paris and Taiwan. The economic slump that started in 2008 pretty much drove a stake through the beleaguered airport’s heart causing a loss of a third of its scheduled flights and a quarter of it’s passengers. This probably won’t help them either.

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