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Cyprus opens new airport to attract tourism, trade

by Patrick Baz LARNACA, Cyprus (AFP) --

Cyprus opened an ultra-modern airport on Saturday that it hopes will boost flagging tourism and boost prospects of it becoming a regional transport hub.

Cypriot President Demetris Christofias opened the new Larnaca terminal, built by a consortium of French and Cypriot companies, at a ceremony attended by 2,000 guests including French European Affairs Minister Pierre Lellouche.

"Today serves as a landmark in the history of tourism development and the island's infrastructure in general," Christofias said.

"This work plays a significant role in upgrading Cyprus as a main transit hub in the coming decades."

The 100,000 square metre (1.1 million square foot) high-tech terminal is four times larger than its predecessor, just a couple of kilometres away on the island's south coast.

The old terminal had originally been built as a makeshift facility in February 1975 after the island's only airport, in the capital Nicosia, got caught up in no-man's land following the Turkish invasion eight months earlier.

Larnaca airport now has double the capacity to handle passenger traffic of up to 7.5 million people annually with a provision to extend this to nearly 10 million when the need arises.

Key features include 67 check-in counters, 16 air bridges, departure and arrivals situated on different levels and parking for 2,650 vehicles.

It took three years to build at a cost 656 million euros (973 million dollars) in what is one the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Cyprus.

Officials hope the new airport will also attract foreign investment to Cyprus.

Flight operations from the new airport will begin on Tuesday, with Cyprus Airways and easyjet flights only and become fully operational from November 17.

In a bid to attract more tourists and promote Cyprus as a regional service centre an upgraded airport in Paphos, on the west coast opened last year at a cost of 127 million euros and is able to manage 2.7 million passengers a year.

The Mediterranean island attracts around 2.5 million tourists a year from mainly EU countries, but the global financial crisis has seen arrivals decline by 10.7 percent and revenue slide 16.1 percent in the first nine months.

On the back of lower tourism revenue, Cyprus expects negative GDP growth this year of 0.5 percent -- the first time the economy has contracted in three decades.

The Hermes Airports consortium was awarded the contract in 2005 to rebuild, expand and operate the island's two airports in an 800 million euro investment.

The work was financed under the build-operate-transfer scheme that allows private business to run the airports on a 25-year lease from the government.

It is financed exclusively by Hermes, with 33 percent of gross revenue paid to the state while the government also collects a fix annual fee of 3.5 million euros.

Life is Good travel mugs recalled

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 (UPI) --

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of Newbury Travel Mugs due to a burn hazard.

The mugs, imported from China by The S. Group of Portland, Ore., can become excessively hot when filled with hot liquids, the commission said in a statement.

The company has received one report of minor burns resulting from handling an overly hot mug.

The recall involves 7 1/2-inch tall mugs sold in blue, green, and orange with a navy blue lid. Each mug has a print of a daisy, a peace sign or a heart on the side.

Consumers were advised to stop using the travel mugs and return them for a credit or gift certificate.

Consumers can call 888-339-2987 for information.

Rare giraffe travels to find mate

BOSTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) --

A 2-year-old Masai giraffe has been moved from Boston's zoo to a Pittsburgh zoo in an effort to populate the rare subspecies, officials said.

The 12-foot-tall female, born during the 2007 World Series and named Sox after the Boston baseball team, will be paired with another animal, the Boston Globe reported.

She leaves behind in Boston her parents and a younger brother, born in July. An older sister went to a South Carolina zoo in 2007 as part of the species-survival program that is sending Sox away.

The 1200-pound giraffe was placed in a special tall trailer Tuesday.

The loading went remarkably smoothly. You always get nervous shipping animals, but especially giraffes, said John Linehan, chief executive of Zoo New England. With those long legs, we worry about breaking an appendage. But she went on like a dream.

She takes a part of Boston with her, Linehan said. She's not only a Red Sox fan, but I don't think she cares for the (Pittsburgh) Pirates at all, he said.

Florida sues online travel firms

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 4 (UPI) --

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has accused two Internet travel firms with failure to pay millions of dollars in sales taxes, court papers said.

McCollum filed a lawsuit against Expedia and Orbitz, claiming, they're pocketing the difference as a profit, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

The online travel companies are taking the money that's really owed to the state of Florida, he said.

The suit accuses the companies of paying sales tax on the wholesale price, rather than the retail price of a room.

In Florida, the difference could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars, the newspaper said.

A spokesman for the Interactive Travel Services Association Andrew Weinstein said, we're very disappointed that the attorney general would align himself with the plaintiff's attorneys making these false claims.

Florida sues on line travel firms

TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Nov. 4 (UPI) --

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has accused two Internet travel firms with failure to pay millions of dollars in sales taxes, court papers said.

McCollum filed a lawsuit against Expedia and Orbitz, claiming, they're pocketing the difference as a profit, The Miami Herald reported Wednesday.

The online travel companies are taking the money that's really owed to the state of Florida, he said.

The suit accuses the companies of paying sales tax on the wholesale price, rather than the retail price of a room.

In Florida, the difference could add up to hundreds of millions of dollars, the newspaper said.

Study: Bacteria may limit space travel

LORRAINE, France, Nov. 2 (UPI) --

French scientists say the prolific virulence and growth of bacteria in space, coupled with reduced production of antibodies, might limit future space travel.

The researchers from Nancy-University in Lorraine, France, said long-term space flights might compromised by microbial hitchhikers, such as bacteria. That's because space travel appears to weaken the human immune system, while increasing the virulence and growth of microbes, they said.

When people think of space travel, often the vast distances are what come to mind first, said Jean-Pol Frippiat, one of the report's co-authors. But even after we figure out a way to cover these distances in a reasonable amount of time, we still need to figure out how astronauts are going to overcome disease and sickness.

Frippiat and colleagues said they based their conclusions on studies showing that immune systems of both people and animals in space flight conditions are significantly weaker than their grounded counterparts. They also reviewed studies that examined the effects of space flight conditions and altered gravity on virulence and growth of common pathogens such as Salmonella, E.coli and Staphylococcus. Those studies, they said, show such bacteria reproduce more rapidly in space flight conditions, leading to increased risk of contamination, colonization and serious infection.

The research appears in The Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

Teens urged to avoid traveling sales crews

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (UPI) --

The National Consumers League said the recent news of an 18-year-old's death while working in a traveling sales crew should serve as a warning to U.S. teens.

NCL Executive Director Sally Greenberg said in a NCL release Monday the discovery of the remains of Jennifer M. Hammond, who disappeared in August 2003 in Milton, N.Y., shows how potentially dangerous the traveling crews can be for teen workers.

Jennifer Hammond's death should serve as a tragic warning. We urge parents not to allow their children to join traveling sales crews, Greenberg said.

Hammond's body was found last week in a forest in Saratoga County, N.Y., mere miles from where another young woman's body was found in 2005. The second woman, whose identity was not reported, also went missing from Milton, N.Y.

Greenberg said Hammond's case, which is being treated as a homicide, highlights why traveling sales positions routinely make the league's list of the Five Worst Jobs for Teens.

Frequent crime reports involving traveling sales crews suggests that the environment they present is not a safe one for teen workers, she said. Working in unknown neighborhoods poses risks, especially if you are carrying money from sales or goods to sell.

Airline apologizes for booting kid, mom

SAN JOSE, Calif., Oct. 31 (UPI) --

Southwest Airlines says it has apologized to a California woman who, along with her cranky 2-year-old son, was kicked off a plane.

Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis, however, did not apologize for the reason they were booted off the jet as it was preparing to take off from Amarillo, Texas, the San Jose, Calif., Mercury-News reported Saturday.

McInnis said Pamela Root's son Adam was raising such a fuss that airline attendants could not deliver their pre-flight safety instructions over the din.

We have to abide by FAA policies and be able to deliver safety announcements, she told the Mercury-News. Our flight attendants gave the child juice and coloring books, and we're sorry she was inconvenienced.

Root, of San Jose, told the newspaper that she accepts Southwest's apology, but added in the future we just hope that children are not separated from their luggage.

Obama to lift HIV/AIDS travel ban

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 (UPI) --

The ban on HIV/AIDS-infected visitors and immigrants entering the United States will be repealed after the New Year, President Barack Obama announced Friday.

We lead the world when it comes to helping stem the AIDS pandemic -- yet we are one of only a dozen countries that still bars people from HIV from entering our own country, Obama said during a signing ceremony for the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act of 2009.

Obama said a final rule would be published in the Federal Register that eliminates the travel ban effective just after Jan. 1.

If we want to be the global leader in combating HIV/AIDS, we need to act like it, he said. Congress and President (George W.) Bush began this process last year ... . We are finishing the job.

The re-authorization bill is named for Ryan White, the Indiana teen who became the poster child of the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus and AIDS in the United States. White was expelled from school when news of his infection became public, eventually having to move elsewhere.

Ryan showed the courage and strength, Obama said. And because he did, we didn't just become more informed about HIV/AIDS, we began to take action to fight it.

Obama noted that the legislation has evolved from an emergency response to a comprehensive national program since it was enacted nearly 20 years ago.

We can't give Ryan White back to his mother, Jeanne White-Ginder, who attended the ceremony, Obama said.

But what we can do, he said, is honor the courage that he and his family showed. What we can do is to take more action and educate more people. What we can do is keep fighting each and every day until we eliminate this disease from the face of the Earth.

Airliner with sick pilot lands safely

PERTH, Australia, Oct. 30 (UPI) --

A Qantas airliner with an ill pilot and 110 passengers landed safely in Perth, Australia, Friday, airline officials said.

The plane, flight QF593 from Adelaide, was landed without incident by the first officer, who took over after the pilot became ill about an hour before landing, Qantas said.

The pilot was met at the airport by paramedics and taken to a hospital, the Australian reported. Cause of his illness was not revealed but officials said it was not life-threatening.

US Airways, American Airlines cut 1,700 jobs

NEW YORK (AFP) --

US Airways and American Airlines said Wednesday they were cutting a total of 1,700 jobs as they face turbulence amid prolonged recession.

US Airways said it would cut about 1,000 jobs during the first half of 2010 and reduce service to Europe as it hunkers down to battle weak demand.

The airline will focus on the key network strengths at its three hubs in Charlotte, North Carolina; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and Phoenix, Arizona; as well as in Washington and its shuttle service, the company said in a statement.

"By concentrating on our strengths we will be better-positioned to return US Airways to profitability," said Doug Parker, chairman and chief executive.

The Tempe, Arizona-based airline said it would suspend five European destinations served from Philadelphia, "given the weakness in trans-Atlantic revenue": Birmingham, England; London Gatwick; Milan, Italy; Shannon, Ireland; and Stockholm, Sweden.

Among other realignment moves, the company said it would give back its Philadelphia-Beijing flight authority to the government and slash flights to Las Vegas from 64 to 36 daily departures by February.

The announcement came after the airline reported last week a net loss of 80 million dollars in the third quarter as air travel slumps amid the recession and fuel prices rise.

Separately, AMR, the parent of American Airlines, said it was slashing up to 700 management and union jobs in its maintenance and engineering operations to respond to restructuring changes undertaken to cope with the market turbulence.

Azerbaijan Airlines orders four Boeing jets

BAKU (AFP) --

Ex-Soviet Azerbaijan's flagship carrier AZAL said Wednesday it had ordered four new Boeing airplanes for its growing fleet, including two of the US company's 787 Dreamliner long-haul jets.

"Two Boeing 767s will be delivered to Azerbaijan in 2011-12. The date for the arrival of the two more Boeing 787s is not yet known," Azerbaijan Airlines spokesman Maharram Safarli told AFP.

He refused to disclose any financial conditions of the deal.

"These airplanes have proven their quality internationally. Most importantly, Boeing's conditions are more acceptable to us," he said.

AZAL has expanded in recent years amid a major economic boom in energy-rich Azerbaijan. The company's last big purchase was of four Airbus A-319 passenger airliners in 2005.

Boeing launched the Dreamliner program in April 2004 and the highly anticipated long-haul aircraft is seen as key to the US aerospace giant's future. But the project has been plagued by repeated delays, with Boeing announcing the fifth postponement earlier this year.

Boeing is facing stiff competition in the aviation market from Airbus, a unit of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company.

Lufthansa reports nine-month loss as it integrates two new airlines

by William Ickes FRANKFURT (AFP) --

Germany's top airline, Lufthansa, plunged to a nine-month loss and warned of "very considerable risks" ahead on Wednesday as it worked to integrate Austrian Airlines and British Midland into its business.

Lufthansa reported a net loss of 32 million euros (47 million dollars) from a profit of 529 million euros over the same period last year, a result that was better than expected but still sent the airline's shares plunging.

Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a much larger nine-month net loss of 231 million euros.

Lufthansa's "positive outlook for the year remains subject to very considerable risks," a statement from the airline said.

It added that it expected "negative earnings contributions from the new companies in the airline group over the months ahead."

Lufthansa's sales in the first nine months of the year fell by 13.2 percent to 16.2 billion euros, while operating profit plummeted by 76.3 percent to 226 million euros, it said in a brief statement to the financial markets.

Full third-quarter results from the airline are to be released on Thursday.

The carrier said it was operating "against the background of a persistently difficult environment characterised by continuing demand and price weakness."

An additional risk was posed by a renewed increase in oil prices.

"A sharp drop in revenue and continued pressure on earnings is therefore expected for the full year," the statement said.

With the possibility that Austrian Airlines and British Midland would weigh on the results in the fourth quarter, Lufthansa said its business performance would be a decisive factor in whether "the goal of a positive operating result for the now expanded group can still be achieved."

UniCredit analyst Uwe Weinreich commented that "the fourth quarter would have to be very bad indeed if the 226 million euros operating profit after nine months were to be eaten up completely."

The warning from Lufthansa spooked investors and shares in the airline fell by 4.69 percent to 10.45 euros in afternoon trading, while the Frankfurt DAX index of leading shares was 1.98 percent lower overall.

The German carrier has struggled to deal with effects from a global slowdown in airline travel, even though the summer holidays boosted its numbers in recent months.

In mid July it announced additional cost cuts, in part by shedding office staff, to save one billion euros per year from 2011.

Seeking passengers, airlines turn to sales

NEW YORK, Oct. 28 (UPI) --

Discount airlines have launched time-limited sales with one-way fares as low as $25 to get U.S. customers back into the traveling mood.

Southwest Airlines said one-way tickets on routes up to 375 miles would cost $25 for flights on specific dates -- Dec 2-16 and Jan. 5-Feb. 20, USA Today reported Tuesday.

Sale prices go up incrementally: $50 for one-way tickets on trips of less than 550 miles and $75 on routes of less than 1,000 miles. For routes 1,000 or more miles the sale price, which ends Thursday, is $100.

AirTran has one-way sale prices of $39 on short routes in an offer that ends Nov. 10.

JetBlue and Frontier Airlines are matching sale prices on competitive routes.

In general, however, fares are expected to rise, Tom Parsons at BestFares.com said.

With oil prices rising, airlines can't just keep on losing money forever, he said.

But I still expect there to be significant fare sales like these periodically, at least through next May, he said.

Travel insurance helps against quarantine

WARWICK, R.I., Oct. 27 (UPI) --

Travel alerts by the U.S. government warn of quarantining arriving passengers in China or Cuba who exhibit fever or flu-like symptoms, a travel expert said.

Jim Grace, president and chief executive officer of InsureMyTrip.com, says most insurance companies provide quarantine coverage because of H1N1 flu but details vary by company and plan.

Some companies provide quarantine benefits only if you are sick while others provide benefits if you are not sick but singled out because you were traveling with or near to someone who is ill.

Quarantined travelers stand to lose a lot unless they're properly insured, Grace says in a statement. The time you spend in quarantine means time lost enjoying your trip, unused hotel reservations, missed pre-paid planned activities and possibly a future one-way ticket home. Travel insurance protects your financial investment so you don't pay for an itinerary you can't follow as planned.

Trip cancellation package policies offer the broadest protection, including coverage for trip cancellation, interruption, baggage and travel delay, as well as medical and emergency evacuation.

In a quarantine situation, the first coverage activated in such policies is usually travel delay, which provides reimbursement for overnight hotel stays and meals during the quarantine, Grace says.

EC warns three airlines over tie-up plans: report

LONDON (AFP) --

The European Commission has told British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia that they may have to give up take-off and landing slots to be allowed to press ahead with a transatlantic tie-up, the FT reported on Monday.

The Financial Times, which cited documents relating to the matter, reported that the EC said an agreement between the three groups was "likely to result in appreciable competitive harm" on seven Europe-US transatlantic routes.

The EU's competition regulator "envisages issuing a decision finding that the series of agreements signed have been in breach" of competition laws and would order that the "infringements" are ended, the financial daily added.

"Remedies may include ... the transfer of airport slots" to rival airlines, the EC added, according to the documents obtained by the FT.

The three airlines revealed on August 14 last year that they had signed an agreement to cooperate on flights between North America and Europe to help them to overcome soaring fuel costs and falling demand.

British Airways said on Monday that the group looked forward to addressing the European regulator's concerns.

"We look forward to the opportunity to address and overcome the EU's concerns, especially given the substantial benefits for consumers that would result from our transatlantic joint business," BA said in a statement.

At the start of October, the European Commission had warned BA, AA and Iberia over the deal which it said could breach anti-trust rules.

The regulator sent a "statement of objections" to the three companies, which are all members of the Oneworld airline alliance.

Russian lesbians travel to Toronto to wed

TORONTO, Oct. 23 (UPI) --

Two lesbians denied the right to marry in their native Russia were set to circumvent national laws Friday by getting married in Toronto.

Irina Shipitko, 32, and Irina Fedotova-Fet, 30, told the Toronto Star through an interpreter two requests for a marriage license in Moscow were denied in May.

Russia's Family Code only allows for male-female marriages, so the pair decided to have a city hall wedding in Toronto and then use other Russian laws to validate their union, the report said.

The women said Russian law does recognize international marriages regardless of genders, and when they return home Tuesday will seek official recognition.

They said if they are denied recognition, they will file a complaint with the European Human Rights Commission.

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov banned gay pride parades in 2006, the Star said.

'Worst over' for airlines: industry chief

NEW DELHI (AFP) --

The head of the airline industry body IATA said on Friday that the tough conditions suffered by carriers hit by the global economic crisis were improving.

"The worst is over but the recovery will be a long story," Giovanni Bisignani, head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), told reporters in New Delhi.

He said the aviation industry had forecast a worldwide drop in revenues of 80 billion dollars, from 535 billion dollars in 2008 to 455 billions dollars in 2009.

"A drop of this dimension will not be easy to address. It will take three or four years to return to the old levels," he said.

Bisignani said a similar crisis faced by the sector after the September 11 attacks had been tempered by relatively positive market conditions.

"Now we have an economy that is having a difficult moment," he said.

Cuban-Americans: Permit Cuba travel to all

CORAL GABLES, Fla., Oct. 22 (UPI) --

Cuban-Americans favor allowing all to travel to Cuba, echoing support for a such a policy change in bills pending in Congress, a Florida poll indicated.

The poll, conducted Sept. 24-26, showed a significant shift from a 2002 survey that suggested only a minority supported such a measure, El Nuevo Herald reported Thursday.

The swing from 46 percent in favor of allowing all Americans travel access to Cuba in 2002 to 59 percent in the new poll was surprising, said Fernand Amandi, executive vice-president of Bendixen & Associates, a Coral Gables, Florida, firm specializing in multi-ethnic research, which conducted the poll.

Currently, only Cuban-Americans are permitted virtually unrestricted access to Cuba, the newspaper said.

There are at least three bills -- one in the Senate and two in the House -- hat would eliminate all restrictions on travel to Cuba, El Nuevo Herald reported.

The new survey shows Cuban-Americans favor a more open approach to travel to Havana, said Rep. William Delahunt, D-Mass., a co-sponsor of one of the House bills.

The bills face opposition, though, the newspaper said.

The majority of Cuban-Americans (in south Florida) want the Cuban people to have free elections, guaranteed human rights and freedom for political prisoners, U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Miami, the ranking Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee and a Cuban-American, said adding that she believed the ban would not be lifted.

Iberia to create new airline for short, medium haul flights

MADRID (AFP) --

Spain's national carrier Iberia will create a new airline to handle its short- and medium- haul routes in a bid to confront declining revenues amid the economic crisis, it announced Thursday.

Iberia, which is in merger talks with British Airways, will concentrate on long-haul flights, "where Iberia is market leader, on those that connect Europe and Latin America, in order to maintain and increase this lead," it said.

The short- and medium-haul routes, where competition is fierce, would be handled by "a new airline based in Madrid which will feed and distribute traffic to Iberia?s growing long-haul network," Iberia said in a statement.

The new airline is to be set up by 2011.

The move was part of a plan "to address the dramatic situation now faced by the airline, with declining revenues, weak demand and mounting losses."

The board also approved other measures to improve its financial situation.

These include a hiring freeze for the duration of the plan, a company-wide wage freeze in 2010 and 2011, lay-offs of all cabin attendants older than 55, an expansion of the current lay-off plan to cover about 200 ground employees and additional savings of up to 37 million euros a year in overhead costs.

"The airline industry has never experienced such a dramatic situation," the statement quoted Iberia CEO Rafael Sanchez-Lozano as saying.

"It is essential for us to use imaginative means to transform Iberia into a sound and viable project. The measures prescribed in Plan 2012 are aimed at bringing Iberia back to profitability."

The company announced in August it had plunged into the red in the second quarter as the global economic crisis battered the industry, recording a net loss of 72.8 million euros (109.2 million dollars).

It made a net profit of 21.2 million euros in the same period in 2008.

The Spanish national carrier and BA announced in July 2008 they intended to merge in a planned all-share transaction that would create one of the biggest airlines in the world.

But since then the global economic downturn has hit both airlines, complicating the talks which have also been hampered by Iberia's concerns over BA's huge employee pension plan deficit.