In a bid to step up flight security, China plans to
use policemen disguised as crew members. The undercover police, who may
be armed, are undergoing training and are likely to be deployed in October
this year.
British Airways has suspended all flights to
Saudi Arabia after receiving evidence of a planned attack on a UK jet
at Riyadh airport.
Expect to get some good fares between New Zealand and
Tasmania: Air New Zealand (ANZ) is to launch a low cost service
Tasman Express on October 29th on its trans Tasman route. There is already
an Emirates service across the Tasman Sea and Virgin Blue has said
it intends to start flights between the two countries later this year.
ANZ also plans to cut the price of fares from
Auckland to Sydney by 45 percent to NZD$189 (USD$111) one way, while the
total reductions would average about 20 percent.
India's first budget airline, Air Deccan
has just started with flights from the southern city of Bangalore. Air
Deccan aims to undercut other carriers' fares by 50 percent, will
start with one daily service to Hubli and Mangalore, but plans to expand
quickly to 20 flights per day to destinations in the south of the country.
India's civil aviation minister, Rajav Prat Rudy said: “The days
of flying being a symbol of only maharajas or the rich are over.”
Pilots in the US are pressing the government to train
more cockpit crews in the use of guns after new warnings about possible
terrorist hijack attempts.
The US government has put out a worldwide alert that
terrorists may be plotting more hijack attempts on commercial airliners
this summer. According to a report from CNN the targets could include
Australia, Italy, the UK or the eastern United States. However, the intelligence
is still being evaluated and some doubts have been cast on its reliability.
