Thanks to Mrs. LufthansaFlyer for finding this in her reading of the internet today (she’s almost read the whole thing).

This DailyMail.co.uk article talks about Paro Airport in Bhutan. Apparently only 8 pilots on the planet are allowed to land at this airport. If you click on the article, there are 2 video clips that demonstrate why so few are allowed to actually land an aircraft there. Not sure if I’d want to be in the cabin for these flights!!!

Here are updates to Lufthansa’s timetable that have been recently announced:

Dusseldorf-Athens service is being terminated effective Jan 21, 2012. The last flights on this route will operate on Jan 20. This route was previously flown 5x/week.

Munich-Beijing for Winter 2012/13 (effective Oct 28, 2012) is moving to daily service from its current 5x/week service.

Munich-Seoul (Incheon) for Winter 2012/13 (effective Oct 28, 2012) is moving to daily service from its current 6x/week service.

Munich-Mexico City inaugural service has been adjusted to begin October 28, 2012. Service will be daily.

Frankfurt-Rio de Janiero is adding a 6th flight/week effective on March 25, 2012 when the Summer timetable comes online.

Frankfurt-Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) – current 3x/week service is being terminated effective March 25, 2012

This is a must for NFL fans!

Winner of the sweepstakes gets to go to all of their favorite Team’s road games for 2012. In addition, you can win instant prizes including:

Trip for 4 to Super Bowl XLVI
Trip for 2 to the 2012 Pro Bowl in Hawaii
Trip for 2 to the 2012 NFL Draft in New York City
$100 Courtyard Gift Cards
$50 NFLShop.com Gift Cards
47” LCD High-Def TVs
and much more.

You can enter daily between now and February 5, 2012.

By the way, this is not a social media based promotion!

Entry To Sweepstakes Here!

For those of you who travel with your trusty Bose QC’s, Sennheiser, Sony or any other noise canceling headphone, try this the next time you’re flying. This idea creates about as much noise elimination as you will ever have on a flight (yes, including the teething baby sitting in the first row of economy while you are in the last row of First….ask me how I know). It almost gives you a sense of vertigo with the silence while still travelling at 350-400mph!

What I have discovered is by combining the strengths of 2 technologies, I’ve virtually eliminated background noise and dramatically improved the sound quality that I get from my iPad. What I have been doing is using my earbuds (Bose Mie2i’s) and my noise canceling headphones (Bose QC15) in tandem. It wont matter what brand of earbuds or noise canceling headset you use but the difference will amaze you. I basically insert my earbuds as I normally would, and then cover them with the Noise Canceling Headphones. I then gently squeeze the headphones against my head to create a bit of suction.

In the case of the Bose Headphones, I remove the cable from the headset since I don’t need it and just turn them on for their noise canceling ability while using the earbuds for the music input. If you can’t detach your wire for the the headphone, simply coil it up and attach it to the side of your headset with a zip tie.

This accomplished a few things for me. It dramatically improved the sound quality by improving both bass and treble and it also eliminated what I would say is about 95% of the background noise.

Yesterday was a perfect example. My wife and I were traveling home from SNA to GRR and during our SNA-ORD leg I was seated in the last row of 1st (3B on a CO 737), and behind me was a baby having trouble with teething. She cried for about 70% of the flight. I only ever noticed the screaming when I took off my headset to speak to my wife (who I couldn’t hear at all with the headset/headphone combo on) or the flight attendant during meal service.

The drawback is that you need to carry another piece of equipment on board, but since earbuds are such a small item that fits into the headphone case anyway, it seems like a small inconvenience for what amounts to almost total elimination of ambient noise when you are on an airplane. You’ll also gain more battery life from your noise canceling headphones since you’re not using them for the music. Try it next time you’re on board……

Looks like the world’s busiest Airport for cargo is about to receive approval to add a much needed 3rd runway to help with growing traffic and congestion. According to Airport Authority Hong Kong, who operates the airport, approval may be received as early as the first 1 quarter of 2012 to begin work on the USD $17 billion project.

Forecasts suggest the 13 year old airport will reach operational capacity by 2020, making the need for a 3rd runway a very necessary one.

After a few months of public hearings and debate it looks like the proposal should have little resistance in gaining government approval.

I was there recently on a mileage run and just based on my 48 hours in HKG, with only a few hours in the airport, it was obvious that the airport is already EXTREMELY busy. Airplanes were coming and going faster than I had ever seen at any other airport and this coming from someone who regularly transits Chicago and New York.

I’m sure that the busiest airline at Hong Kong, Cathay Pacific, is going to be pleased with the potential to expand operations as well!

A quick FYI in case you have travel planned that will take you through the region.

Reuters has been reporting that a fairly active volcano in Alaska, named Cleveland (yes, Cleveland), situated on an uninhabited island about 940 miles southwest of Anchorage has erupted, with plumes reaching 15,000 feet. Not high enough to really impact most routes, but if the volcano continues to erupt, the plumes could be sent higher wreaking havoc on airways that span the region. According to Reuters, the Alaska Volcano Observatory stated that additional eruptions can happen with no warning.

The last time “Cleveland” erupted was in 2001 when it sent ash all the way up to 39,000 ft.

Found this today in the Toledo Blade today. The article goes into the criteria behind awarding the award to the US airport with the healthiest food options for passengers. Suffice to say I was surprised when it came up with Detroit. Congrats to the Motor City!

Here’s the Toledo Blade Article From December 29th…….

Dec. 29–For the third year in a row, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has named the Detroit airport the best in the country for healthful food options.

The group bases its ranking on the percentage of an airport’s restaurants that offer at least one low-fat, cholesterol-free meal. All 59 eating establishments at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport offer such a dish, the report said.

Overall, 83 percent of the restaurants in 15 of the nation’s busiest airports met the committee’s standards. That compares with 57 percent when the group did its first review in 2001.

Detroit ranked at the bottom of the list in 2001, with only 33 percent of its restaurants offering a wholesome option.

“Healthy airport food has taken off over the past decade, but there is still room for improvement,” said Susan Levin, a registered dietitian who is the committee’s nutrition education director. “The good news is that healthy vegetarian choices are available now at most airports. But some terminals are still clogged with high-fat, high-cholesterol offerings like pizza and cheeseburgers.”

Charlotte-Douglas Airport in Charlotte had the biggest improvement since last year, with a 9 point increase in the number of restaurants offering a healthful option. Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport had an 8-point improvement, but still ranks 14th of the 15 airports in the survey, ahead of only Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson, the world’s busiest airport.

Copyright 2011 – The Blade, Toledo, Ohio

Star Alliance member ANA released news indicating that future 787′s will carry a different livery on the fuselage.

Here is the official Press Release from ANA

And here are the renderings of what the new look is (all courtesy of ANA):

Compared to the “Old” which is really only a couple of months old!:

Personally I liked the original 787 livery. Much bolder and more agressive than the traditional ANA. But for fleet consitency and recongnition, I can understand why they are switching the livery to look more like the original ANA design that we’re all accustomed to.

Sorry that I found this one late in the sweepstakes, but better late than never!

Thanks to Pat @ Milepoint for bringing this to my attention.

Here are the highlights for the Sweepstakes:

This holiday season, spread the joy by helping your fellow travelers find the perfect gift at SFO!
From local favorites to international icons, SFO’s shops and restaurants offers something for even the hardest-to-please person. You may have checked your holiday shopping off the “to-do” list while traveling through SFO.

What great gift did you purchase or see in our terminals?

Or even better yet, have you received a great gift from SFO?

From November 28 through December 30, simply tweet us your favorite gift that can be found at SFO. It can be anything— a cool travel gadget for the globetrotter, a local product that captures the essence of San Francisco, even the to-go version of a tasty dish from one of our eateries!

And, by sharing your ideas you’ll be entered into a drawing to win yourself a wonderful gift—an iPad 2!

Click here to be taken to the contest’s webpage and for information on entering

For the past 20 to 30 years, it seemed that Airlines, Hotels and Car Rental companies had a monopoly on loyalty programs for travelers. After seeing the success that these programs can bring, Airports themselves are getting in on the opportunity to reward their frequent visitors.

Its becoming evident that not only are airlines competing for the flyer’s dollar, but airports themselves are starting to compete against one another. With perks like lounges, point systems and discounts, Airports are competing for travelers too.

In this great article I read today from the USAToday.com Travel Page, it goes into some great strategies and examples that are currently in place. Nice to see that airports are starting to care about their best customers too!

Here are recently announced new routes for significant carriers that are not in one of the “Big 3″:

jetBlue on December 15th started service to St. Thomas from Boston (SJU) AND San Jose (SJU). Flights from Boston will operate 5x/week using A320′s. Flights from San Juan will operate 14x/week using E-190 aircraft.

AirTran on December 17th, started 2x/weekly service from Baltimore/Washington DC (BWI) to Aruba (AUA). The route will be flown with 737-700′s.

Frontier Airlines on December 15 launched service 3x/week between Denver (DEN) and Rockford, IL (RFD). The A319 will be used on the route.

Etihad initiated new routes from Abu Dhabi (AUH). On December 15 4x/week service began to Chengdu (CRU), China and on December 16th, 4x/week service began to Dusseldorf (DUS), Germany. Chengdu will be served by A330-200′s and Dusseldorf will see the A330-300.

easyJet launched 6x/week service from Paris (CDG) to Bologna (BLQ), Italy.

WestJet on December 15 began 2x/week service between Winnipeg (YWG) and Palm Springs (PSP)e to Palm Springs (PSP) in California.

Allegiant Air on 15 December began 2x/week service between St. Petersburg (PIE) to Niagara Falls (IAG). The MD-80 will be used on this route.