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| Air Travel News: Dominica Flights; United Cocktails |
After Tropical Storm Erika shuttered the main airport on the island of Dominica in late August, the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority has approved its reopening to commercial flights. Liat has resumed flights to the island’s Douglas-Charles Airport from Antigua, Barbados and Guadeloupe. Seaborne Airlines has restarted flights from San Juan. Winair, which established service to Dominica’s smaller Canefield Airport after the storm, will continue to fly there until Oct. 25. As of Oct. 3, it will resume flights to the main airport from Guadeloupe and St. Maarten. The L’Express Des lles ferry service, which operates between Guadeloupe, Martinique and St. Lucia, was largely unaffected by the storm.
A CRAFT-STYLE COCKTAIL ON UNITED FLIGHTS
Can the death of mini Smirnoff vodka and Beefeater gin bottles be looming? On Oct. 1, United Airlines will begin carrying Crafthouse Cocktails, a bottled cocktail brand from the respected bartender Charles Joly, aboard most of its flights in North and Central America (United Express flights excepted). The drink is part of an ongoing program to raise the bar at the carrier, which last year expanded the sale of half-bottle premium wines to European flights, and added prosecco and Goose Island beers to the beverage carts. The carrier will sell only Crafthouse’s Moscow Mule, priced at $12.99, so the mix-it-yourself Bloody Mary with the tiny booze bottle is safe for now.
NEW BOOKING FEE AT LUFTHANSA
Earlier this month, Lufthansa Group airlines, which includes Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines and Swiss, implemented a new booking fee of 16 euros (about $17.40) for any flight sold indirectly. Fliers will avoid the fee by purchasing tickets from the airlines’ websites, service centers or airport ticket counters. Lufthansa Group has set up a dedicated website booking channel for independent travel agencies, but the fees will affect bookings at online travel agencies, often a first stop for travelers seeking fare comparisons. A recent search for flights from New York to Frankfurt on Expedia returned results that included Lufthansa, which offers a direct flight between the two cities, but without a price immediately attached to it, as it did for most other airlines.
On Friday, Lufthansa started new nonstop service between Frankfurt and Tampa, its 18th U.S. destination. Direct fares start at 739 euros ($805). Lufthansa is a member of the Star Alliance along with United Airlines.
SLEEPING PODS COME TO BERGAMO AIRPORT
Next time you’re stuck at the airport in the northern Italian city of Bergamo, gateway to the Italian Alps, you can sleep off the wait in private via one of its new sleeping pods. Orio al Serio Airport has just installed three self-cleaning, soundproof cubicles called ZZZleepandGo. Each features a mattress and colored mood lighting known as chromotherapy. For insomniacs, there’s a video screen with preprogrammed entertainment, a work desk and free Wi-Fi. Fliers can book and check out of a unit using the company’s free app, which supplies a check-in code and Wi-Fi password after you make a reservation. Access costs 8 euros ($8.70) for the first hour, and 7 euros ($6.55) for each hour after that, with a minimum stay of two hours.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/travel/air-travel-news-dominica-flights-united-cocktails.html?_r=0
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