Warsaw Airport introduced luggage wrapping

To provide passengers' luggage with additional security and prevent it from being damaged Warsaw airport introduced an extra service of wrapping checked-in luggage in foil.
A-500camp service by SI.BA is able to wrap not only standard bags, but also oversized luggage, such as golf equipment or surfing boards. The price is 25 zł per piece of luggage and is provided in two wrapping stations - in Terminals 1 and 2. SI.BA is providing its services at 19 airports in Europe.

WAW 40% increase in charter passengers

Warsaw airport had a 41.7% increase in charter passenger traffic last year. For the first time the number of passengers on charter flights exceeded 1 million in a single year, reaching 1,175,382 compared to 828,401 in 2007.

The total passenger turnover on Warsaw airport in 2008 amounted to 9,482,608 (of chartered and scheduled flights).

The number of all passenger operations in 2008 was 129,728. It is a 2.6% decrease y/y. "Increased number of served passengers with decrased number of operations means that there are more bigger and filled to capacity planes arriving in Warsaw", said Jakub Mielniczuk, a spokesperson for Warsaw's Chopin Airport.

Wrocław airport paralyzed by fog

Only four flights from all the scheduled ones operating from the Wrocław airport took place on Wednesday due to bad weather conditions. Flights to Warsaw, Frankfurt, London, Brussels and Munich were called delayed and were finally cancelled as the heavy fog didn't lift up. 14 planes were directed to Kraków, Poznań or Katowice. Passengers awaiting departures of these planes had to travel to other airports. Some 1,000 passengers were affected.

Wodowanie na Hudsonie

Kamera zarejestrowała moment uderzenia samolotu w wodę:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/01/17/usair.splash.video/index.html

Poniżej linki do artykułów z najciekawszymi zdjęciami...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/16/nyregion/16crash.html

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/01/16/hudson.plane.crash/?iref=mpstoryview

Wpis w Wikipedii poświęcony przypadkom wodowania samolotów.

Świetna multimedialna symulacja:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/01/15/nyregion/20090115-plane-crash-970.html

Farewell to Centralwings

Centralwings, a four-year-old subsidiary of LOT POlish Airlines, that used to be a LCC, and switched to charter flights in September 2008, will be gone from the skies for good. In four months time it will be absorbed by the parent company. The move was advised by the Polish state through the Ministry of Treasury, which is LOT's major shareholder (67.9%). Centralwings brand will be a history.

In other news about LOT, supervisory board decided to fire Konrad Tyrajski. He was responsible for unfavorable fuel hedging contracts.

$240,000 odszkodowania za arabską koszulkę

Mieszkający w USA Irakijczyk Raed Jarrar dostanie $240,000 w ramach ugody z liniami lotniczymi JetBlue oraz Administracją Bezpieczeństwa Trasportu (TSA), agencją nadzorującą bezpieczeństwo pasażerów.

W sierpniu 2006 r. Jarrar miał lecieć z JFK do Oakland. Podczas kontroli pasażerów nakazano mu zakrycie czarnego T-shirtu z napisem "Nie damy się uciszyć" w języku arabskim i angielskim. Pracownik TSA nakazał mu zdjąc lub zakryć koszulkę. Według Jarrara powiedział mu: "Wchodzenie w koszulce z arabskim napisem na pokład samolotu to jak wchodzenie do banku w koszulce z napisem 'Jestem rabusiem'".

Ostatecznie pracownicy JetBlue dali pasażerowi koszulkę na zmianę i posadzili go na tylnych fotelach. Sprawa trafiła do sądu. Ostatecznie JetBlue i TSA przystali na ugodę.

Budapest airport switches to oil heating

Hungary's main international airport switched to oil from gas heating on Wednesday after Russian gas imports via Ukraine stopped, and the normal running of the airport was not affected, the airport operator said.

Local news agency MTI reported that the airport, owned by Germany's Hochtief AG (HOTG.DE), was among industrial users whose gas consumption had been limited.

"Heating from Wednesday morning is provided using the airport's strategic oil reserves," Budapest Airport spokesman Domokos Szollar told MTI. The airport has about 70,000-80,000 liters of oil reserves.

Source: Reuters