Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines allows phone calls and internet access during flights

Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines today said it would allow passengers to use mobile phones and laptops to make calls and access the Internet during flights.

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Civil aviation director general William Hotchkiss said the order covered "transmitting portable electronic devices".

With immediate effect, the move will allow "people on board the aircraft conditional use of laptops, cellular phones, Internet or short-based-messaging service, voice communications and other broadband services during flights", he said in a directive.

However, devices should still be turned off pre-flight, when the aircraft is refuelling, and be switched to silent mode.

"The use of MP3s should always be with earphones and not with additional or separate speaker or amplifiers," Hotchkiss added.

The United States and the European Union have also said they will relax restrictions on the use of mobile devices on planes. However there have been concerns that allowing voice calls would cause disturbance to other passengers.

Philippine Airlines appoints APG Group as its sales and marketing representative

Philippine Airlines has appointed American Power Group as its sales and marketing representative in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Czech Republic, Slovenia, Finland, Switzerland, Lebanon, Jordan, Cyprus, Turkey, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, and Israel.

Under the agreement, APG will provide full sales and marketing services as well as customer support, ticketing and administrative facilities.

Philippine Airlines has also chosen APG to provide IBCS services in several countries which will open up ticketing on Philippine Airlines in a further 20 BSPs globally.

Philippine Airlines, Asia’s first and oldest commercial airline recently regained its right to fly to the European Union which will spur tourism and business links. The airline also resumed its services between the UAE and Philippines after several years of absence, with 5 times a week direct services to Abu Dhabi from Manila as of 01 October using its new Airbus A330-300 aircraft. Four other routes to cities in the Gulf will be opened in the coming months – Dubai, Doha, Riyadh and Dammam.

The scheduled carrier started non-stop flights to London Heathrow on the 04th November.

Philippine Airlines operates a fleet of 67 aircraft to 39 destinations worldwide and has a further 62 aircraft on order. The airline has significant expansion plans over the next five years.

Abbott hints at Qantas foreign ownership change

Australian prime minister Tony Abbott, has suggested he could support lifting foreign-ownership restrictions on the national airline, Qantas. The airline earlier this month announced plans to axe about 1000 jobs over the next 12 months and says strict foreign ownership rules are making it hard to compete with Virgin Airlines. Mr Abbott has previously ruled out providing subsidies to Qantas, and says his government will not guarantee its debt, but says it's not unreasonable of the airline to seek legislative change. The Qantas Sale Act limits foreign ownership of the airline to 49%, the ABC reports. Shares in the airline hit a record low last week, shortly after the airline's credit rating was downgraded to junk status by Standard and Poor's following a $A300 million half-year loss. The global ratings agency noted that Qantas had embarked on a $2 billion cost-cutting programme but said the benefits would take time to realise and the strategy was unlikely to offset the cyclical and structural headwinds facing the airline.

Air Travelers Bracing For Spike In Airline 'Security' Fee

Perth, Etihad Airways is ready for take-off

It’s all systems go at Etihad Airways as the Abu Dhabi-based carrier adds Perth, Australia to its ever-increasing destination paths.

The non-stop services between the airline’s hub and its fourth Australian gateway bring the number of Etihad Airways flights to Australia from Abu Dhabi to 35.

Other destinations include flights to Sydney twice daily in conjunction with Virgin Australia (one of its many codeshare partners), and daily flights to Brisbane and flights to Melbourne.

The announcement of the new flights to Perth follows the naming of Etihad Airways as Airline of the Year by leading US magazine, Global Traveler.

Etihad Airways also won the awards for Best Airline for First Class and Best Airport Lounges, voted for by Global Traveler readers. And if that wasn’t enough applause for one year, the carrier was also voted World’s Leading Airline at the World Travel Awards for the fifth consecutive year, as well as World’s Leading Airline First Class and World’s Leading Airline Cabin Crew.

This is only the beginning for Etihad Airways, though. As the airline marks its young tenth year of operations, I’m sure the best is only yet to come.

Etihad Airways to add Dallas to its flight network in 2014

It’s an exciting time at Etihad Airways as the Abu Dhabi-based carrier announces the latest addition to its ever-increasing destination paths - Dallas Fort Worth, Texas.

Following Etihad Airways’ pledge to continue to expand its US flight network to cater to the growing demand, the carrier will offer the ultra-long haul direct flights three times a week starting from 3 December 2014.

Etihad Airways will deploy a three cabin ultra-long range Boeing 777-200LR on the Dallas operation, with 189 Coral Economy Class seats, 40 Pearl Business Class flatbed seats and 8 Diamond First Class suites.

The new flights to Dallas mark the United Arab Emirates’ national airline’s fifth destination in the United States and will join Etihad’s existing offering of flights to Chicago, flights to New York City, flights to Washington D.C., and flights to Los Angeles. The addition means Etihad Airways will provide 31 return flights each week between the UAE and US by December 2014.

Overall, it has been a fantastic year for Etihad Airways. The announcement of the new flights to Dallas follows the naming of Etihad Airways as Airline of the Year by leading US magazine, Global Traveler.

Etihad Airways also won the awards for Best Airline for First Class and Best Airport Lounges, voted for by Global Traveler readers. And if that wasn’t enough applause for one year, the carrier was also voted World’s Leading Airline at the World Travel Awards for the fifth consecutive year, as well as World’s Leading Airline First Class and World’s Leading Airline Cabin Crew - not bad at all for an airline that has only just turned 10 years old.