financial excesses

CARRIER NEWS
Abu Dhabi from a bird’s eye view
Visitors to Abu Dhabi booking an exclusive helicopter ride are
in for a real airborne adrenaline rush. A local helicopter operator
named Falcon Aviation had a private helicopter pad and a
terminal built for these flights. On the scenic island flight,
passengers will be able to get a bird’s eye view on many
spectacular contemporary and historic highlights of the emirate’s
capital city. One outstanding attraction is certainly Saadiyat
Island, which will be home to a Guggenheim and a Louvre
museum. Some other destinations are Yas Island with the
world’s largest indoor theme park Ferrari World scheduled to
open this year; the Yas Marina Circuit, which will host the F1
Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 14; the
luxurious Emirates Palace Hotel, and the imposing Sheikh
Zayed Mosque. The Eurocopter EC130 can carry up to six
passengers. Tickets are available from EUR 100 to EUR 255
per person for helicopter rides lasting between 10 and 30
minutes.
United Airlines starts mobile check-in
Passengers flying United Airlines and United Express can
now use their mobile phones to check in for flights inside
the US and to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. All they
need to contact mobile.united.com is a web-enabled portable
phone. This new time-saving service is activated 24
hours prior to departure and provides passengers with
maximum flexibility. This service encompasses the mobile
boarding ticket and informs passengers about any current
changes to departure gate number or upgrade confirma-
tions. On top of that, mobile.united.com also lists information
about frequent flyers’ miles account. This new United
Airlines service is now available at the five United hubs in
Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington
DC and also in Dallas-Fort Worth, Las Vegas, New
York La Guardia, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland
(Oregon) and Seattle. More airports are to follow in the near
future.
TAM Airlines now officially Star Alliance member
On May 13, 2010, Brazil’s TAM Airlines will officially join the
world’s largest airline coalition Star Alliance with a total of 26
member carriers all over the world. As member of this Star
Alliance, TAM Airlines will be able to market its products and
services at more than 1,000 destinations in 175 countries in
which the airline network is active today. And to sweeten the
official accession to Star Alliance for its passengers as well,
TAM has announced that its frequent flyer bonus program
Fidelidade from May 13 of this year will be linked to the other
member airlines’ bonus programs. TAM Airlines
(www.tam.com.br) was founded in 1976 and has been market
leader in Brazil since July 2003; in late February of this year, the
airline’s domestic market share was at 42.4 percent. TAM
operates own services to 43 destinations in Brazil, and in
cooperation with regional airlines flies to a total of 83 Brazilian
cities. In December of last year, TAM operated 82 percent of all
international flights offered by Brazilian airlines; the carrier
offers direct flights to altogether 18 destinations in the US,
Europe, and South America.
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