Etihad voted the World's Best Airline

ETIHAD Airways, the national airline of the UAE, has taken the top award at this year's World Travel Awards (WTA), being voted World's Leading Airline by more than 180,000 travel industry pro­fessionals from over 175 coun­tries.

The World Travel Awards recognize the very best airline, hos­pitality and tourism brands in the world, with industry experts vetting nominations for their cus­tomer relations, creativity, and quality of service, product innovation and business acumen.

Etihad, the first Middle East­ern airline to win this prestigious award, was recognized for the excellence of its onboard prod­uct, luxurious airport lounges and strong service ethic during a pe­riod of phenomenal growth.

James Hogan, Etihad Airways' chief executive, said: "Three years ago, Etihad set itself one clear and simple goal - to be the best airline in the world. I am proud of the way Etihad peo­ple all over the world have em­braced that vision, supporting our investment in state-of-the-art products by delivering superb customer service.

"Etihad is honored to be recognized as the World's Leading Airline by travel agents and oth­er industry professionals - the people who really know what travelers are looking for in an airline."

In addition to being named World's Leading Airline, Etihad also picked up the award for Leading First Class for the second year in a row.

Mr Hogan said: "Winning the Leading First Class category two years in a row tells us that our commitment to continuous invest­ment in our product and service is the right strategy for us and for our customers.

"Only two months ago we rein­forced this commitment with the launch of our new first class pri­vate suite, which is currently avail­able on our London services and being rolled out to Australia, Eu­rope, the USA and the rest of our three-class fleet next year.

"Our intention with this new suite was to raise the bar in premium air travel and based on the incredible feedback we are already receiv­ing, we have achieved that."

Mr Hogan said Etihad would not be resting on its laurels. Advanced Business and Economy Class seats and a leading edge in-flight entertainment systems are due on board by the end of the year and a new service style in Economy Class are being rolled out progres­sively on all Etihad routes.” The new economy service is an extension of the inspired service philosophy already embedded in our premium cabins. It delivers a level of personal attention and touches of luxury that will make the economy travel experience the best in the sky," Mr Hogan said.

Etihad's new economy class service offers much greater choice and flexibility for individual travelers.

By: Progress On 07:02

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Iraq Militants Intercepted Unencrypted U.S. Drone Video Feeds

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. military has learned that Iraqi insurgents have used cheap, off-the-self software to intercept the live, unencrypted video feeds from some U.S. Predator drones flying missions over Iraq.
While the ability to intercept the downlinked video feeds is bad enough the fact the communications were unencrypted is baffling. And according to the WSJ article, the Pentagon has known about the flaw since the Bosnia conflict in the early 1990's.
After the WSJ article broke, an anonymous U.S. defense official told reporters, "This is an old issue that's been addressed."

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By Planet Data

By: Progress On 06:26

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NAVAIR Gets New Commander

From NavyTimes.com:
"Vice Adm. David Architzel has been appointed to head Naval Air Systems Command at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md."

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By Planet Data

By: Progress On 06:25

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Boeing Dreamliner Finally Flies

On Tuesday (12/15), Boeing's long-delayed first test flight of its new 787 Dreamliner took place in Everett, Wash. According to a Boeing statement after the flight, "[the event] marks the beginning of a flight test program that will see six airplanes flying nearly around the clock and around the globe, with the airplane's first delivery scheduled for fourth quarter 2010."
Originally, the first Dreamliners were to be delivered to Chinese airlines in time for the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics.

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By Planet Data

By: Progress On 06:24

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Iran Test Fires Long-Range Missile

Iran announced on Wednesday that it has successfully test fired an upgraded missile capable of hitting targets 1,200 miles away. This puts Israeli and US targets in the Gulf in striking distance of the solid-fuel Sejil-2 missile.

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By Planet Data

By: Progress On 06:23

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Greenland, in the footsteps of Smilla

Not just in the imaginations of poets and in the tales of explorers. The aurora borealis, a curtain of coloured lights seemingly blown by the wind that is visible all year round, the immense tundra, the glaciers and icebergs, the sleds pulled by dogs and the igloos.

In recent years the country has caught the imagination thanks to Peter Hoeg’s book Smilla’s Sense of Snow, and its big screen adaptation starring Julia Ormond, which underlined the vastness of the Great North, but also its mystery, its lights and the different ways of describing the snow in kalaalisut, the language of the Inuit Eskimos. Seven times bigger than Italy and located between Iceland and Canada, today Greenland is basking in a limelight that contrasts totally with its famous Polar night: on 21 June 2009, after three hundred years the largest island in the world officially dissolved its ties with motherland Denmark and is now recognised as a sovereign state. Which is waiting to be discovered now having enthusiastically welcomed its new independent status.

Aside from the fishing industry, hunting and crafts, the island of icebergs aims to focus fully on tourism. A straightforward task given its intense and almost surreal landscapes. Traditional destinations include the capital Nuuk which, founded by a Danish monk that christened it “Good Hope” (Godthàb), is today a cosmopolitan town with two souls, one modern and the other - particularly interesting - older with a delightful fishing port and colourful wooden houses that evoke the colonial charm of yesteryear.

Not to be missed is a visit to the National Museum, located in historic warehouses from the early 20th century, for a journey into the culture of Greenland, which here we discover to be one of the oldest rock formations in the world (dating to 3.8 billion years ago). Interestingly, the Museum houses three female mummies that date to 1400, with clothes and decorations of the period, that have been superbly conserved by the action of the icebergs. Nearby, situated on a rock is the immense granite statue the Mother of the Sea, a long-haired goddess that represents the power of nature and which, according to legend, protects the local population.

Other popular destinations include the archipelago of Disko Bay, a land filled with mountains of ice, with huge blocks that come away from the ice fjord at a rate of up to 40 metres a day. Ilulissat, one of the villages in the bay and the most important centre on the west coast, owes its name to the icebergs. Here, between May and July, the sun never goes down, while from November the Polar night begins. A spectacular landscape, distinctive for the Kangerlua fjord, which is home to the biggest glacier in the Northern Hemisphere, the Sermeq Kujalleq: 40 Kilometres long, it produces 20 million tonnes of ice a day (the equivalent of the amount of water consumed in New York in an entire year!). The sunset is particularly impressive at its late hour, when the rays of the midnight sun colour the sky with vibrant fiery red tones. The silence of nature accompanies you, broken only by the sound of the icebergs crashing into each other.

Trekking enthusiasts should get prepared and make sure they don’t miss a visit to the slopes of the glacier nearby, or the icebergs in the archaeological site of Sermermiut, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, connected to Ilussitat by a relatively undemanding path. Ilulissat was the birthplace, in 1879, of one of the most famous explorers in the world Knud Rasmussen, who left in his home, now a museum, a trove of Inuit memories and objects relating to his expeditions. “Give me the winter, give me dogs, and you can have the rest”, he loved to repeat. All we need do is heed his words: yesterday, as today, its mythical charm remains intact.
by Mariangela Rossi

Useful information

• Population: 56,542 inhabitants, 88% of whom Greenlandic, and 12% Danish and other

• Currency: Danish krone

• Shopping: Inuit craft souvenirs, such as leather goods, bijoux, little sculptures and masks carved from wood, ivory or steatite, a pliant stone commonly found in Arctic countries. Recently they have also started selling tupilak, mythological figurines carved from bone, horn or ivory designed to evoke ancestral spirits.

• Language: since June the official language is Kalaallisut

• Climate: arctic (cold and dry), with strong variations. In the north it is rigid (-35°C in January and -4°C in July) while the fjords in the south-west and the area around Disko Bay enjoy warmer temperatures thanks to the Gulf currents (-6°C in January and 7°C in July).

• What to eat: Eskimo countries are always full of delicacies linked to hunting. Such as boiled seal meat (suaasat), which has become the national dish, and whale (arvic), which is often served with browned onions. You’ll also often find reindeer (caribù) and musk ox meat, as well as wide selection of fish, particularly prawns and halibut (typical in seas of the North and similar to sole).

• What to do: apart from a couple of museums in Ilulissat (the former home of explorer Knud Rasmussen and the Cold Museum, which has ancient utensils), Greenland’s attractions are mainly naturalistic. Trekking and organised excursions are a must, as well as boat trips when the weather permits them. The most important events on the Greenlandic calendar are the celebrations surrounding the end of the Polar night. Such as 13 January 2010 in Ilulissat, where the entire town will gather at the ruins of Sermermiut. For fans of golf on ice, Uummannaq is the location for the World Ice Golf Championship from 1 to 31 March 2010, a truly spectacular tournament on the icebergs.

By: Progress On 04:36

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TSA Issues Guidance for Checked Baggage Inspection Systems

Last week TSA issued version 3.0 of its Planning Guidelines and Design Standards for Checked Baggage Inspection Systems (PGDS).
TSA says "the PGDS is intended to assist planners and designers in developing cost-effective solutions and to convey TSA requirements for checked baggage inspection systems."

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By Planet Data

By: Progress On 01:08

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