Virgin Group: Space tourism is just starting up
Long-haul trips could be made in spaceships instead of planes in 20 years’ time if Virgin’s efforts to commercialize space travel succeed, the president of Virgin Galactic told Reuters in an interview. Will Whitehorn said Virgin’s plans to take tourists into space were just a first stage that could open up a range of possibilities for the company including space science, computer server farms in space and replacing long-haul flights. Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, has collected $40 million in deposits from would-be space tourists including physicist Stephen Hawking and ex-racing driver Niki Lauda, and hopes to start commercial trips within two years. Whitehorn said the bookings from 300 people willing to pay $200,000 each for a space flight had convinced Virgin the venture was viable. It is currently running test flights and hopes soon to win a license from the Federal Aviation Authority.

Virgin claims that its technology, which releases a spaceship into sub-orbit in the air using a jet carrier aircraft, is more environmentally friendly than traditional ground-launched rocket technology. The non-metallic materials from which the spaceship is built are also lighter and require less power than, for example, NASA’s space shuttles, Whitehorn argues. Asked about the environmental impact, he points out that they could be completely solar-powered, and says that in any case the hostile vacuum in space makes it hard to do damage beyond leaving debris behind. “Polluting space is extremely difficult,” he said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE54639Q20090507

Opinion, FlyerTalk: Is SeatGuru on the decline?
Take, for example, Asiana’s 747s. There’s no indication on the website that Asiana offers both an old-style first and business class, and a refitted version. (The refitted 747 is handling most of the New York-JFK - Seoul flying these days.) All they show is the passenger and combi old-style.My personal pet peeve, though, is that SeatGuru says there are power ports onboard the old 747s. This is just wrong. I’ve emailed them twice about it, and I never heard back. No ‘thanks’ or ‘we’re looking into it’ or ‘we just don’t believe you even though you’ve flown on it and we haven’t’. And the wrong information persists. Or check out the Thai Airways 747s. SeatGuru thinks that the older configuration 747 has power ports. But it does not.

These are just very limited data points, of course, but when coupled with the fact that SeatGuru — originally a one person startup — was sold last year to TripAdvisor, which is in turn owned by Expedia, one wonders whether there are some transition pains, or if the folks in charge know what they’re doing. Meanwhile, SeatExpert has gotten much more reliable in its advice, and extensive in its coverage. So far it lacks the detailed commentary on individual seats that SeatGuru has, it just says which ones are good and which are bad (though more commentary is supposedly coming soon). But at least it seems to get the seat power issue right!
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/viewfromthewing/2008/02/10/is-seatguru-on-the-decline/

OAG: 3% drop in global airline seats for April’09
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/30730-OAG-reports-a-3%25-drop-in-global-airline-of-9m-seats-for-April-2009

Swine flu sparks 300% increase in travel insurance bookings
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/30812-Swine-Flu-sparks-300%25-rise-in-travel-insurance-bookings

Research: US carriers traffic data for April’09
Airline ASMs RPMs Load Factor
AirTran (7.9%) 0.3% +6.5 pts
Alaska* (8.3%) (5.9%) +2.0 pts
Allegiant 29.8% 34.0% +2.8 pts
American* (6.1%) (4.7%) +1.2 pts
Continental (6.8%) (3.4%) +2.9 pts
Delta (7.1%) (7.7%) -0.5 pts
Frontier* (16.1%) (17.5%) -1.4 pts
JetBlue (4.0%) (2.7%) +1.1 pts
Southwest (1.9%) 4.1% +4.4 pts
United (8.7%) (8.7%) N/C
US Airways# (4.8%) (3.0%) +1.5 pts
http://industry.bnet.com/travel/10001777/april-2009-airline-traffic-numbers/

Opinion: “Unbundling fees could hurt hotels”
“Unbundling fees would hurt hotels,” said Alice McQuade, director of Travel Agency and Government Sales at InterContinental Hotels Group. “Buyers believe they are buying an experience with services included. Giving a lower rate and then start charging for other services or amenities would make it difficult for travel managers to benchmark pricing.”
http://www.eyefortravel.com/news/business-travel/%E2%80%9Cunbundling-fees-would-hurt-hotels%E2%80%9Dv