CheshireTom

Airport Passenger Duty and Airport Departure "tax" are not one and the the same thing. The duty part is a fixed amount of 20 quid for economy pax and 40 quid for biz class pax and has been for years. Airport departure tax (or more correctly airport passenger handling charges) is a separate variable charge levied by the airports, hence the disparity in taxes and charges when flying from, for example, Gatwick as opposed to Heathrow. If you have a list of airlines that don't impose a fuel charge then it would be useful for other boardies to share that info. In the meantime here is a selection of the airlines that impose fuel charges.. Tom

The "airport departure tax" isn't really a tax at all, and certainly has nothing to do with Tony Blair and stealth taxes. It is a passenger handling charge levied by airports in the UK for all departing passengers. It's mistakenly called a tax because the "taxes" box on the old paper flight coupons was the only place where it could be shown separately from the actual flight cost. The additional tax and charges will also include any fuel surcharges levied by the airline; again nothing to do with the government.

nick, ebookers' Irish site has SAS for 924 Euros departing on 13 Dec. Opodo has the same flight for 672 UKP. Both prices include all taxes/surcharges. !0 Mar was used as the return date in both cases. Flights are one stop via Copenhagen and are on new aircraft. All seats on the main leg have individual seatback TV and wireless internet access if you haul along your laptop. Tom

I'd book the 850 quid flight before that disappears as well.

echster, Sometimes I think that the airline industry marketing people have lost the plot, where a postponement becomes a delay and an option becomes an order etc ..... I live about 20 minutes from Broughton where we make the wings for the A380 and the guys reckon that a significant factor in the overall six month production delay was that airlines ordered the plane and then thought about how they wanted it set up. There is obviously no preferred fit for the aircraft and no airline wants to be seen as the first to be going much over the 550 pax configuration but want to retain the option built into the aircraft. I'll probably treat myself to a seat in Raffles with SQ from LHR when the aircraft does enter service just to see if it lives up to the hype and before they start increasing the pax loads on the thing. Tom

Or plunder their employees' pension funds.

Some good financial advice and thanks for that but I would go along with Lancashirelad's opinion to ensure that you have a bolt-hole of some description that you can return to if things go tits-up.......... or at least the cash set-aside to allow you to return. Tom

Bill, Well done on the Emirates price. Let's hope it is a sign of things to come for the rest of the year. I fly out with Qatar on 6 Feb and am staying in BKK (Suk Soi 2) until 9 Feb. My tentative plan is then to go to Hanaoi/Haiphong for a couple of days before hitting Pattaya for a couple of weeks. Who have you booked your parking with? Ringway? Tom

ferocious, I have fond memories of visiting the Warsteiner brewery many years ago ...... one of Germany's best kept secrets! FWIW, the JW Marriott on Suk Soi 2 has it on draught in their lobby bar. Tom

jacko, Lufthansa, Swiss, Air France, SAS, KLM, China Airlines, Austrian, Turkish ..........

It's not really my thing but for guys who might want internet services on their trips to/from LOS the link below shows all the flights that Connexion (Boeing's internet service) is available on ............. Connexion by Boeing Some other airlines offer limited e-mail and/or SMS and others, such as Qatar, will start offering live TV in the next month or so but I believe the list shows all those that offer a full internet service. Tom

Samsonite, Probably more to do with a spoiling tactic in response to the current, highly successful Asian tour of the A380. Tom

Suite 4, 73-75 Mortimer Street, London W1W 7SQ, Tel : Reservation 0207 436 9001

He, he. It seems like it was only last week that all these Boeing fans were saying that the A380 would fail, that it was too big, couldn't be evacuated, check-in/baggage claim would take forever etc, etc. So what do they do? Enlarge the 747. Don't worry, the same applies equally to Airbus and the decision to launch the A350 v the 787. It just proves that most of the talk on some of the airline forums is bullshit and the remainder is wishful thinking. Tom p.s. Can't we just start the one thread called Boeing news?

Etihad will be commencing daily services from Manchester via Abu Dhabi from spring 2006. Not many details yet but their presence should keep the prices down through next year with both Qatar and Emirates. Good news all round and sure to be some bargains on the way. Etihad from Manchester Tom

Row 10. With China Airlines you can pre-allocate your seats 90 days prior to the date of travel. Tom

Bill, I spoke to Qatar in Manchester today on another matter and mentioned your situation to them. If, when you call, you ask to speak to a guy called Sajee he will do what he can to sort you out with what dates are available for booking. I'm going to their offices tomorrow and will remind him again then. Tom

Bill, I've never had a problem with Qatar ........ touch wood. I got my Feb upgrade back within 48 hours and will pop into their offices at MAN this week to pick up the upgrade vouchers and pay the extra tax (20 quid if I recall rightly). It may be worth giving their guys in MAN a call. I've always found them very helpful and at least they should be able to tell you on what dates the particular class that they book miles flights in is available. I booked the 480 quid flight with THG in Swansea (0870 055 0342). Don't tell the booking clerk you are going to Pattaya and you might be lucky and get a couple of nights accommodation from them thrown in. Tom

Matty, EVA's prices will be higher in the first couple of weeks in April because of the Easter school holidays, exactly the same reason that they are higher during summer and Xmas. Most of EVA's one-off deals are in direct response to Thai's offers since they are perceived to be the direct competition on the route so maybe something will come up, maybe not. Personally, I feel that anything up to around 550 quid is good value for a non-stop flight, especially a Fri or Sat departure. If there is a good deal on at the time I have my travel dates sorted, so much the better but I wouldn't hold back hoping to maybe save 40-50 quid only to find the flights full on the dates I was after. I have already paid 480 quid to travel with Qatar from MAN in Feb but looking at the dates for my June flights they are available for 406 quid incl tax through Thomas Cook so I'll also book them later this week. That takes care of the notion that prices are cheaper the later you book. The seating in economy on the 777s is 3-3-3 as opposed to 3-4-3 on the old 747. I've not travelled with EVA on their new aircraft but have done so with Singapore on their 777ER non-stop from MAN and it was extremely comfortable with a similar seat pitch to that offered by EVA. It seems that EVA have had to do a bit of a balancing act with the guys in economy and premium laurel being the winners and those in the new Elite class being the losers. Tom

BigD, Jeez, you're the co-owner of a jet engine business now! Tom

It takes an A380 around 13 hours to fly from HKG to LHR ...... the same journey for a 777-200LR takes nigh on 23 hours .......... 10 hours difference in my book! Tom

I think a fair summary would be that both the A380 and the 777-200LR can fly from HKG to LHR non-stop. It's just that the A380 uses around 10 hours less flying time and can carry 500 more passengers. As long as they both use Rolls Royce engines, that's all that matters! Seriously, all these new aircraft (A340/350/380 and Boeing 777-300ER/777-200LR/747Adv) must be good news for all of us as travellers. At the end of the day, most of us will relate our experience to the cabin layout and the performance of the cabin crew rather than the badge on the aircraft. Tom

jambo, Now why don't they have that pic in the online store? And I thought I was going to be the first to do a photo shoot with a TG in in a Jam Tarts top. Oh well, back to the Singapore Girl plan! Looks like a vacancy is shaping up at Ibrox for Burley ............ Tom

BigD, Overflight isn't such a big issue .......... fifth-freedom is a bilateral agreement for an airline to fly passengers into one country from another which is not the airlines home base i.e. United would need fifth-freedom rights for passengers travelling only on the BKK-DEL legs and v.v. If United was competing directly with the Thai non-stops then it would appear difficult to see those rights being given without something in return. I'm sure I read somewhere recently (Investors presentation?) that Thailand's current policy was not to grant any more than fourth-freedoms. Maybe Samsonite or echster could shed a bit more light on it. Tom

I would have thought that United would have to exit Chap. 11, order some aircraft and get fifth-freedom rights for pax between Thailand and India before thinking about flying to India via a non-stop through BKK. However, it was nice to note that Bangkok Airways intends placing orders for either the 787 or A350 and starting up European routes........ From today's Nation ........... Bt24 bn for aircraft to serve new routes. Bangkok Airways plans to spend Bt25 billion over five years to buy new aircraft and build hangars, as the company expands the number of destinations it flies to. The airline will use Bt24 billion to buy six aircraft. It is considering mainly the newest models from both French aircraft-maker Airbus and American manufacturer Boeing – the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787.............. Prasert said the airline also plans to extend its network to cover the Bangkok-London route in five years, as well as the London-Siem Reap route. Tom