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US airport checks tighten
The US is moving ahead with stringent checks on foreign passengers, according to US Secretary of State for Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff.
Currently, passengers entering the US have their iris scanned and both index fingers recorded. The new measures include taking all 10 fingerprints of passengers on their arrival and before take-off, plus airlines flying to the US must now transmit the passports details of all on board, plus their addresses, phone numbers and credit card details to the American security services.
This allows the Secret Service computers to cross-check records of anyone on board, to assess whether they are known to have visited countries that are considered a high risk, for example, Pakistan or Afghanistan.
The EU reluctantly agreed to the new measures on a temporary basis, but that agreement runs out in July. However, it appears certain, according to reports in the UK, that the US will insist on obtaining the information even after July, despite some countries and privacy advocates complaining that handing over passenger details may infringe their rights and contravene data protection legislation.
Hotelier’s horror
Have you ever wondered which nationality of tourists the staff in restaurants and hotels dread the most?
According to the Best Tourist League survey, the French are now considered the worst tourists, due to their unwillingness to speak local languages, meanness and impoliteness.
However, the British were noted for their bad behaviour, poor dress sense, untidiness, and noisy nature. Based on responses from 15,000 European hoteliers, the survey showed that the worst tourist nation was France, followed by India, China, Russia and Britain. Japanese tourists were the guests that most of the 15,000 hoteliers polled in the survey would like to entertain most, followed by Americans and Swiss.
Dubai land theme park
A Universal Studios theme park will be a centrepiece attraction in the huge ‘Dubailand’ holiday resort rapidly rising in the United Arab Emirates.
The park, to be called Universal Studios Dubailand, will be comparable in size to Universal Studios, in Orlando, and should open by 2010. It is projected to eventually draw up to five million visitors a year.
The region already features well-known landmark hotels, a gigantic Mall of Arabia, stadiums, museums, golf courses and beaches, and plans also have been discussed for a water park and other parks.
Universal Parks & Resorts will not own or run the theme park but will license the company’s name, expertise, training, operational methods, products and, of course, top attractions, such as Revenge of the Mummy.
bmibaby bonus
All passengers flying on bmibaby can now join the airline’s frequent flyer programme – bmi diamond club. As a member, passengers can earn destinations miles on all bmibaby flights, bmi flights, Star Alliance member airlines and other partners.
David Hodge, marketing director of bmibaby, said, “bmibaby is very pleased to join the UK’s most generous frequent flyer programme – bmi diamond club. The loyalty scheme is great news for bmibaby’s frequent flyers as they can now earn destinations miles on every bmibaby flight that they buy.”
Destinations miles can be spent on over 850 destinations worldwide, through bmi diamond club’s membership of the Star Alliance network and, unlike other airline loyalty schemes, destinations miles do not expire.
Amsterdam airport X-Ray
Passengers travelling through Amsterdam airport are being scanned by a new machine that allows guards to peer beneath their clothes.
The system, under trial at Schiphol Airport, uses low energy radio waves to create a dim outline of a passenger’s body and allows guards to see any hard object, such as a gun, that passengers may have concealed under their clothes.
