Carry on: Boeing unveils new spacecraft

Boeing unveils new space travel capsule
Boeing's plans to unveil its first commercial crew spacecraft, a crew capsule so far labelled CST-100, short for Crew Space Transportation-100, at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in Florida. The CST-100 is being developed to fly astronauts to the International Space Station.

The naming is part of Boeing’s opening of a former shuttle hangar and engine shop where the capsules will be assembled for a first test flight as soon as 2017. The opening comes nearly four years after Boeing first announced plans to build the CST-100 in Florida.

Emirates lands in Orlando
Emirates has rebuffed attempts by US-based airlines to cap flights between the Gulf and the US with an inaugural flight from Dubai to Orlando, Florida.  This week’s first flight of nearly 16 hours using an Airbus A380 generated huge media coverage and emphasised Orlando’s potential as a departure point for flights from the US to India and Southeast Asia.

The Greater Orlando Aviation Authority says the link, which has been five years in the making, will combine two of the world's busiest airports. Dubai will handle 82 million passengers this year, while Orlando had 62 million visitors last year.

Orlando will be Emirates' 10th gateway in the US and fourth on the eastern seaboard. Emirates began flying to the US in 2004. Its other US destinations are Boston, Chicago O'Hare, Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston, Los Angeles, New York JFK, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington Dulles.

Emirates launches new Iran destination
Emirates is now flying direct from Dubai to Mashhad, Iran. The five weekly flights, operated by A330-200 aircraft, opens a second gateway after the capital, Tehran. Emirates started services to Iran in 1990 with two flights a week to Tehran. It now operates four daily flights.

Crowne Plaza offers PressReader
Auckland’s Crowne Plaza hotel is doing away with newspapers in favour of PressReader, which enables guests to download their preferred newspaper or magazine on to their smartphones or other devices. PressReader has full access to more than 2000 newspapers and magazines as they appear in print worldwide.

Aeroflot takes over rival
Russian government-owned flag carrier Aeroflot is taking over its privately-owned rival Transaero. Aeroflot will purchase a 75% controlling stake in the struggling airline for one rouble. The deal will ensure that Transaero, Russia's second largest carrier, can continue to fly and "safeguards the tickets held by tens of thousands of passengers.” Last month, Airbus said Transaero was delaying the delivery of the A380s it had ordered.

Qatar adds an eighth route to Saudi
Qatar Airways has launched a new service to its eighth destination in Saudi Arabia with four flights a week to Abha, the capital and a tourist city in the south-western province of Asir. Qatar already flies to Riyadh, Dammam, Madinah, Gassim, Ta’if and Al Hofuf from Doha. The new service will bring the total weekly flights to Saudi Arabia to 88. The new route will be operated by an Airbus A320 with an average flight time of just over two hours.

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