Category: Travel

Monitoring Desk

DUBAI: Emirates passengers can soon check in for their flight, complete immigration formalities, enter the Emirates Lounge, and board their flights, simply by strolling through the airport.

Emirates is gearing up to launch the world’s first “biometric path” which will offer its customers a seamless airport journey at Dubai International airport.

Utilizing the latest biometric technology – a mix of facial and iris recognition – Emirates passengers can soon check in for their flight, complete immigration formalities, enter the Emirates Lounge, and board their flights, simply by strolling through the airport.

The latest biometric equipment has already been installed at Emirates Terminal 3 and can be found at select check-in counters, at the Emirates Lounge in Concourse B for premium passengers, and at select boarding gates.

Areas where biometric equipment are installed will be clearly marked.

Once its internal tests are completed, Emirates will shortly launch trials for biometric processing at the other key customer points at the airport – check-in, lounge, and boarding gate – and subsequently at transit counters/gates, and for its chauffeur drive services.

Initially focused on First and Business class travellers, Emirates intends to extend the “biometric path” to Economy class travellers in Dubai, and in the future potentially to other airports outside of Dubai, and also for its own dedicated crew check in facility.

Adel Al Redha, Emirates’ Executive vice president and chief operations officer said: “Emirates continuously innovates and strives to improve our day-to-day business. After extensive research and evaluation of numerous technologies and new approaches to enhance our passenger journey, we are now satisfied with the preliminary work we have carried out and are ready to commence live trials of the world’s first biometric path at Emirates Terminal 3.”

Major General Mohammed Ahmed Almarri, Dubai General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners Affairs (GDRFA) said: “We are pleased to roll-out these new initiatives at Terminal 3 in collaboration with Emirates and our airport stakeholders. The Smart Tunnel tests are running smoothly, and we are now preparing to mobilise the other biometric systems at the other areas in T3.”

Emirates said that eventually, the “live” passenger tracking capability will also improve security and enable the airline to locate and assist ‘late’ customers who would otherwise miss their flights.

The move follows trials for the Smart Tunnel, a project by the General Directorate of Residence and Foreigners Affairs in Dubai (GDRFA) in collaboration with Emirates, was launched earlier in October.

It is a world-first for passport control, where passengers simply walk through a tunnel and are “cleared” by immigration authorities without human intervention or the need for a physical passport stamp.

 

LONDON: British Airways passengers hit by the hack earlier this year were forced to cancel their credit cards after their information was compromised.

In September, 380,000 payments were targetted, with thousands of customers urged to contact their banks. This has since been changed with just 64 per cent (244,000) of those payments affected.

BA owner IAG announced today in a statement: “While British Airways does not have conclusive evidence that the data was removed from its systems, it is taking a prudent approach in notifying potentially affected customers, advising them to contact their bank or card provider as a precaution.

“Since the announcement on September 6, 2018, British Airways can confirm that it has had no verified cases of fraud.”

British Airways HACKED as 380,000 customers’ details are stolen

The incident was investigated by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

It found that personal data of 77,000 payment cards which had not previously been notified have also been affected, which included their card details and CVV.

Another 108,000 British Airways passengers were affected without their CVV being hacked.

Those affected have been contacted by the airline, with customers who made reward bookings between 21 April and 28 July affected.

Thankfully, of the 380,000 card details hacked earlier this year, only 244,000 have been affected, according to the statement.

British Airways could be fined millions of pounds due to the data breach which affects passengers, up to £500,000 according to the Independent.

What should you do if you have been affected?

The airline said any passengers affected should contact their bank provider.

Passwords should also be changed and accounts should be checked for any suspicious activity.

Any emails asking to help with the breach could also be fraudulent so avoid clicking on any of the links.

British Airways is to reimburse anyone affected with all bookings still to be valid.

Another airline recently experienced by a cyber attack which left passengers passport details compromised.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific was hit by a data breach that affected 9.4 million passengers.

The airline previously said: “Upon discovery, we took immediate action to contain the event, to commence a thorough investigation with the assistance of a leading cybersecurity firm, and to further strengthen our IT security measures.

“Unauthorised access to certain personal data was confirmed in early May.

“Since that time, analysis of the data has continued in order to identify affected individuals and to determine whether the data at issue could be reconstructed.” (express.co.uk)

 

 

 

CANADA: A plane was forced to make a dramatic descent and emergency landing when a cockpit window “shattered” mid-flight.

Icelandair has called the damage a “crack” but shocking photos show the extent of the smashed window that appeared.

The incident occurred as the Boeing 757 aircraft was flying from Orlando, Florida, to Keflavik, Iceland. The plane then diverted over Canada and landed in Quebec.

One passenger narrated the shocking incident on Twitter and explained the plane had to make a “rapid” landing.

“Captain says his left window shattered and had to bring us down rapidly. We had to go down immediately,” passenger Harrison Hove tweeted.

“‘This plane is not going anywhere.” Airport police told us we cannot deplane because there is no passport control at this airport (sic).”

The flight diverted to Bagotville, Quebec, with the airline initially saying it was due to a “technical issue.”

Hove said the incident was “traumatic” and left people “upset.” He also claimed passengers weren’t told what was happing until after the aircraft landed.

He added an airline employee had allegedly estimated the crack to be about 20 centimetres.

An Icelandair spokesman told Express.co.uk: “Flight FI688 from Orlando to Iceland was on route over Canada on Friday night, 19 October, when pilots noticed a crack in one of the cockpit windows.

“Following standard procedures they diverted to a nearby airport in Bagotville.

“The passengers were taken to a hotel overnight and another aircraft picked them up on Saturday 20 October to continue their journey.”

Another emergency landing also took place on Friday in California when a young pilot perfectly landed his light aircraft on a busy motorway after its engine failed.

He carried out the emergency landing on the westbound lanes of Interstate 8 in El Cajon on Friday morning.

The single-engine Piper was piloted by a 25-year-old and carried a 36-year-old student on board, according to ABC News. It was en route to the nearby Gillespie Field airfield.

The incredible clip was filmed from a car driving along the Californian freeway behind the plane by amazed motorists.

“It just landed on the freeway and he’s got it under control,” said the man driving in the video, “You don’t see this every day.” The female passenger exclaims, “That is the craziest f*****g thing I’ve ever seen.”

The small white plane can be seen taxiing along the road, its wings spanning two lanes, while cars drive around it.

“He pulled it off perfect (sic),” says the driver, while a small boy pipes up: “Watch out for the aeroplane,” as the car prepares to overtake the aircraft.

The pilot eventually moved the plane onto the freeway shoulder to avoid blocking traffic.

No one was hurt in the incident although the incident resulted in severe traffic jams.

A local news reporter tweeted a photo of the pilot after the plane landed, praising him for his actions.

She posted: “The guy in black is the #herooftheday. He’s the #instructor who landed the plane. Again, not a scratch on the plane and no one was hurt! Just a bit of traffic on the 8 and Mollison exit is shut down where plane came to stop (sic).” (Express.co.uk)

 

 

Monitoring Desk

BARCELONA: A piece of maritime history was made last week when more than 26,000 tons of steel slid down the slipway of a Spanish shipyard – marking hotel giant Ritz-Carlton’s entry into the world of cruising. The launch marked the first of up to eight luxury “mega-yachts” for The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.

With yachts number two and three planned for 2021, and more in the pipeline, Ritz-Carlton is clearly committed to this venture.

Work on the luxe interiors for the 149-suite ship, due for launch in February 2020, will now begin. Interiors, overseen by Swedish firm Tillberg Design, will incorporate the hallmark bespoke furnishings associated with Ritz-Carlton’s hotel properties – but with a maritime twist reminiscent of a private club.

“We wanted to build a game-changing design that was true to the Ritz-Carlton brand,” said chief executive Doug Prothero, speaking at last week’s launch ceremony.

“The quality of what we have put in the water today is as good as you can get anywhere.”

Prothero said that since the first sailings went on sale in May demand has been 300 per cent higher than expected, with cruise newcomers accounting for at least half of the bookings. More than a third have come from existing Ritz-Carlton customers, with the majority of these falling into the early-50s age bracket.

“We know that there are more than 400,000 cruisers on the Ritz-Carlton database,” Prothero explained. “However, the response from new cruisers is bigger than we thought. Between the brand and the design, it is bringing people into cruise, which is great for the business, great for the industry and great for us.”

Carrying 298 passengers in 149 suites, Ritz-Carlton’s ship will offer more space per passenger than anything else afloat. All the suites have a private balcony and come with a “personal assistant.”

There will be five dining venues, a spa and fitness centre and a water-sports marina with the requisite water toys. There is also plenty of deck space for lounging, and an infinity pool, aft.

The shore excursions offered during voyages will tap into the expertise of concierge teams at Marriott hotels in port, in order to provide more personalised options for cruise guests.

LONDON (BBC): Ryanair has been criticised for apparently failing to remove a passenger from a flight after racial abuse of a woman in her 70s. The incident, on a flight from Barcelona to Stansted on Friday, was recorded by a fellow passenger and shared on social media.

Many people said Ryanair should have removed the man from the flight and threatened to boycott the airline. Ryanair said it “will not tolerate unruly behaviour like this”. It has referred the matter to Essex Police. In the film – viewed on Facebook more than 1.8 million times – the man can be heard being racially abusive to the woman and threatening to “push” her to another seat.