Stretch those legs

Stretch those legs

Singapore Airlines is joining other airlines in introducing a Premium Economy Class that will come into action from August 9 onwards on the Singapore-Sydney Route. Located in a small, separate section of the plane, the new class has seats of a width ranging between 18.5 and 19.5 inches and an eight-inch recline for more ease and comfort. Complementing this is a sleek 13.3-inch full HD monitor, the largest in its class. Active noise-cancelling headphones will be provided to enhance the in-flight audio experience. The service will also be rolled out on other destinations served by the airline’s A380 and B777-300ERs. 

 

Service with an actroid

A robot-staffed hotel is set to open in Japan in July and guests checking into the futuristic facility will be greeted and served by remarkably human-like robots. Located in Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu, Japan’s South, the futuristic hotel will be called, Henn-na Hotel, which translates as, of course, “Strange Hotel”. The hotel will be partially staffed by what are termed “actroid” androids who will carry luggage to rooms, make cups of coffee and even smile. The robots will be able to speak Japanese, Chinese, Korean and English – perhaps Thai too with updated firm ware.) It’s not even all that as expensive: A single room will cost around 7,000 Japanese yen (B1,920) and a twin will go for $98 (9,000 Japanese yen).

 

History from the air

Hot-air balloon trips in Myanmar have proved such a big success with tourists that they have been expanded to include flights over historic Mandalay and Pindaya as well as the Inle Lake, Myanmar's tourism-promotion missions in Europe say. In the past, the balloons only flew over the royal city of Bagan with its sacred buildings, which stretch out 150 kilometres southwest of Mandalay. Due to unreliable weather at other times of the year, hot-air balloon trips are only possible between October or November and March. The new season for flights over Mandalay, Pindaya and Inle Lake runs until March 31. Tourists can fly over Bagan until April 10.

 

Travel with a personal touch

Airbnb, a popular website for people to rent out accommodation, set out to lure travellers to its service by inviting people to turn unused rooms in homes into de facto hotel space. The website announced new tools that include letting business travellers book lodging and have expense reports automatically generated using TripLink software from “spend management solutions” speciality firm Concur. The new service will be available this year. A 'Business Travel on Airbnb' website design to help people find and book lodging for work trips has already been launched. Airbnb said that 30 companies including Facebook, Salesforce.com and Eventbrite were already using its business travel lodgings program. – afp

 

ISIL barbarity scares off Japanese

Trips to the Middle East have lost a great deal of their popularity with the Japanese following the deadly hostage incident perpetrated by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants. The cold-blooded execution of two Japanese victims is creating great deal of anxiety for those planning trips to the Middle East. With ISIL threatening further terrorist attacks targeting Japanese, travel companies and the Foreign Ministry are seeing a surging number of inquiries. Some travellers have already cancelled their reservations or changed their destinations. Jordanian travel company Enjoy Petra received three cancellations of trips to Jordan since the hostage crisis came to light on January 20. - The Yomiuri Shimbun/ANN