Melbourne tops it again as being the most “livable” city in the world according to 2015 Global Livability Ranking issued by The Economist Intelligence Unit. Almost 30 factors are put into consideration for the ranking such as healthcare, safety, education, infrastructure and environment in 140 cities around the world. The research shows that since 2010 the average livability has fallen by 1% around the world whereas stability and safety was observed to have dropped by 2.2%.

The wars taking place in the middle-eastern countries and Ukraine has had a spill over affect on France and Tunisia where the terrorist activities were seen to be creating unrest in the respective countries. On the other hand, fragile economy of Athens rather than the civil unrest lead to the decrease spending on the public service sector of the country whereas Kiev was noted to have fallen drastically and is now in the 10 least livable cities. As reported by the Economist Intelligence Unit, the countries that are ranked on the top 10 most livable cities by the Economist Intelligence Unit are inclined to be “mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density”. The notion well explains as to why the mega cities like New York and London are rated low in rank compared to Melbourne.

A yearly review of the world’s biggest airlines has unveiled the worst safety records.

Reported on Independent UK, reviews from airlines’ governing bodies and associations, and in addition government reviews and casualty records for every airline. It likewise took a survey of airlines’ operational histories, occurrence records and operational magnificence.

The site gave security evaluations to 407 carriers, honoring them up to seven stars. Of those, 148 were given the top rating, while around 50 had only three stars or less.

A sum of 10 airlines, all from Nepal, Indonesia or Surinam, met all requirements for only one or zero stars for 2016:

1) Batik Air

2) Bluewing Airlines

3) Citilink

4) Kal-Star Aviation

5) Lion Air

6) Sriwijaya Air

7) TransNusa

8) Trigana Air Service

9) Wings Air

10) Xpress Air

The declaration takes after an alarming year for aviation industry that included two prominent disasters, both of which reignited talks about encompassing issues of security and worries over pilot’s mental wellbeing.

On 3 January it was uncovered that for the second year running, the primary driver of aviation deaths in 2015 was “unlawful obstruction” – in other words, murder – as indicated by a report by driving air security firm To70. The consultancy refered to the still-unsolved vanishing of MH370 and MH17 which was shot down over Ukraine in 2015, and in addition the Germanwings and Metrojet crashes in the Alps and Sinai separately.

224 individuals were killed when the Russian Metrojet Airbus A321-231 broke  not long after its takeoff from Sharm el-Sheik International Airport in Egypt.

In March 2015, a Germanwings Airbus A320-211 collided with the French Alps, klling every one of the 150 individuals on board. It was later uncovered that pilot Andreas Lubitz, who had self-destructive tendancies, had brought on the accident purposely.

AirlineRatings.com proofreader Geoffrey Thomas clarified that Germanwings has held its seven star security rating for 2016 on the grounds that the occurrence was brought on by pilot suicide.

“In our rating framework, which is supported by avionics’ overseeing body the International Civil Aviation Organization, if deaths happened through demonstrations of terrorism, high jacking or pilot suicide, they are excluded in the accident record,” he said

Some avionics wellbeing experts have scrutinized the premise for the AirlineRatings review, in light of the fact that it doesn’t seem to organize what numerous travelers view as the most critical security thought: an aircraft’s reputation of flying a great many missions with no death toll.

By such a measure, the US bearer Southwest is path in front of every single other aircraft. It has worked more than 22 million flights and conveyed 1.5 billion travelers since its establishment in 1971, without a solitary lethal mischance.

The two driving European spending plan aircrafts, easyJet and Ryanair, likewise have casualty free records, and a year ago securely flew around 180m travelers between them. The three transporters from the British Isles incorporated into the AirlineRatings “main ten most secure minimal effort aircrafts” – Aer Lingus, Flybe and Thomas Cook Airlines – conveyed just around 22m between them.

Malaysia Airlines, struck by two episodes that left all travelers on board dead or missing in 2014, was given five stars out of a conceivable seven in the appraisals: the same as Ryanair and Thomson Airways.

In the event that a carrier has an accident that includes the demise of a traveler and/or team individuals it will naturally lose a star from its security rating rankings.

Iraqi Airways was a month ago banned from working in EU airspace, because of “unaddressed security concerns”, and has been given two-star wellbeing rating via AirlineRatings.com.

Thailand’s aeronautics industry was set under “exceptional measures” in 2015 after issues were hailed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO). Bearers including Thai Airways, which was recompensed four out of seven stars for wellbeing, were saved being put on the EU boycott.

Authorities said they would “nearly screen future improvements” and would consider bans if air traveler security was esteemed to be at danger.

The UAE has renounced the condition of a one-month gap for renewing visit visas. Individuals on such visas will no more need to leave the UAE to get an expansion of their stay here. They can now do it by paying AED 570 and stay for a month more, the powers have said.

Brigadier Dr Rashid Sultan, a representative for the UAE Ministry of Interior, said the service was re-actualizing the decision No 337 of the year 2004 to empower each one of the individuals who have visit visas to get an expansion.

“All organizations and guests ought to submit applications and exchanges before the expiry date of the visa period to keep away from infringement. The movement administrations will be given at all UAE port of sections and migration workplaces,” he included.

The authority said the new manage is pertinent for all section grants. These licenses would incorporate travel visas, short-term (one month) and long haul visit (90 days) visas, understudy visas, visas for restorative treatment and living arrangement visas.

In the past visa necessities, visit visa holders expected to leave the nation after the expiry of the visa term and needed to stay out of the nation for no less than a month prior having the capacity to re-enter on another visit visa.

He said that altering of visa status will be done electronically and without difficulties as a component of the new technique. Individuals don’t have to the leave the UAE, yet they can revise their visa status and pay the required charges with a specific end goal to encourage the exchanges for guests and occupants and to spare cash and time.

Obaid canister Suroor, Deputy Director of General Directorate of Residency and Foreigners’ Affairs in Dubai, said that all the choice issued by the Minstry of Interior will be actualized by all migration divisions.

A cross segment of inhabitants communicated their bliss with the reexamined standard.

Hoyam Kamal said that this choice would spare time of numerous individuals as they had come back to their nation of origin for visa change. “It is great that this choice will allow individuals to change their visa status or broaden it from here itself.”

UlA Suliman said that she went ahead a visit visa and she found a vocation. “I was wanting to return home for changing the visa. Presently, I don’t have to purchase a ticket. This will offer me some assistance with saving cash. I will simply pay this charge and change the visit visa into a living arrangement visa.”

Savio said that the UAE is sharp that each one maintains laws and in the meantime overhauls and reconsiders the laws to guarantee solace of the general population here and encourage strategies for guests and occupants. She said that a few individuals they used to go to neighboring nations incorporating Kish Island in Iran and some used to be stranded there if there was a postponement in the visa. The individuals who landed a position or need to develop their visa, now just need to pay the charges for changing the visas.

Indonesian government has decided to forgo requirements for visa of 84 countries from this week on wards. The decision was taken in light to encourage foreign tourists to visit the country. Mr. Rizal Ramli, a coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister was quoted as saying after a meeting, “we decided to apply the visa-free policy to 84 more countries starting this week.” 

He further added that the nationals of the following countries will no longer require visa to enter Indonesia: Australia, Brazil, Ukraine, Kenya, Uzbekistan, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Palestine, Honduras, Pakistan, Mongolia, Sierra Leone, Uruguay, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Costa Rica, Israel, Albania, Mozambique, Macedonia, El Salvador, Zambia, Moldova, Madagascar, Georgia, Namibia, Kiribati, Armenia, Bolivia, Bhutan, Guatemala, Mauritius and Paraguay.

He also said, “The total number of countries so far [that fall under the visa-free entry policy] since October is 174.” The free visa policy will hopefully add more tourist arrivals to the country which is expected to reach 20 million by 2019. Previously in October when such policy was announced to 47 countries, the country experienced 19 percent year-on-year increase in the tourist arrivals. Rizal was reported as saying, “the [19 percent] figure is much higher than the normal growth [rate], which is usually only 6 to 8 percent.”

From the plan of 2015-2019, the government seeks to earn around US$20 million in foreign exchange and expects to have employed 7 million workers in the tourism sector which at present stands at 3 million.

Japan’s first passenger airplane kicked off its maiden flight last month, sending across a message to the aviation world about Japan’s determination to position itself as an emerging major player in the industry. The first commercial flight of Mitsubishi Regional Jet (MRJ) took off from Nagoya Airport in central Japan. The flight duration for the reportedly smooth flight was 90 minutes.

The Mitsubishi built jet, that comes in two versions, 78 and 82 seats, consumes 20% less fuel compared to other air crafts in its category due to its aerodynamic design. The plane is brought in competition with Brazilian plane maker Embraer SA and Canada’s Bombardier, which lead the market for passenger jets with fewer than 100 seats.

More test flights are scheduled to be conducted and the delivery of the jet will not be made before mid 2017. The airliner that has placed order of 15 Mitsubishi Regional Jet is Japan’s largest carrier All Nippon Airways (ANA).

Overview of World’s top passenger airplane manufacturers

When it comes to passenger airplane manufacturers, every one has heard of Airbus and Boeing. But these two companies mainly manufacturer the wide-body and narrow-body jet airliners. Mitsubishi’s entry into the market means that it is in direct competition with regional Passenger Airplane manufacturers, Bombardier and Embraer.

There are five major manufacturers of civil transport aircraft these include:

• Airbus
• Boeing
• Bombardier
• Embraer
• Tupoloev

[/column]

 

If you’ve ever been stuck in a middle seat in coach, you’ve probably been envious of how the other half flies. Now a company called Windspeed is announcing the development of Skydeck seats, which will offer a 360-degree view from the top of the plane.

Early morning on Friday (5 Dec 2015) , national carrier of Pakistan was forced to make an emergency landing due to a bomb hoax. Pakistan International Airline (PIA) spokesman, Danial Gilani told Dawn.com that, ‘After taking off from Beijing, flight PK-852 was en route Tokyo when it made the emergency landing in China’s Tianjin Airport amid a speculations of a bomb being on the plane.’

The rumors about the bomb scare originated from China and the Chinese authorities are probing the source of this news.

The passengers were evacuated from the plane before a thorough check was carried out. After no threats were found on the carrier, it was given clearance to continue to it final destination. Pakistan International Airline’s flight No 852, which took off from Islamabad was scheduled to land in Tokyo after transiting through Beijing.

Rich people while travelling to the luxury skiing areas, the thing they are least bothered about is “money”, hence the usual requests they make upon their  stay at the venues. As Daily Mail reports it, wealthy people and families are fond of spending their holidays in private chalets which are well equipped with Chauffer and chef services at a price of £60,000 per week.

The luxurious purpose built chalets for super rich becomes home to people from all over the world and they are mainly from Middle East, Australia, Brazil, Britain and Russia. A sales representative of Peli-Ski, Hamesh Godron was quoted as saying; “We have a motto: Nothing is impossible, the impossible just takes a little longer to organise. There’s no food you can’t deliver, there are no extra activities you cannot organise. As long as someone is willing to pay for it, there isn’t anything you can’t do.”

The rule “Nothing is impossible” once had to be molded when one of the guests residing at the chalet requested for arrangement of an elephant ride for his daughter on her birthday. The request could not be entertained as the arrangement was costing around £1million and there were concerns on this by the animal welfare department. Another request by some other guest was made which was to turn 60 inch TV screen to 100 inch screen as the screen was too tiny for them.

Managing Director and co-founder of Consensio, Ceri Tinley was reported to have said, “once had to completely strip a room to change it into a dog bedroom, filling it with AstroTurf, a white picket fence and even dog bowls with Evian water.“ In a similar dog related incident, a car driven by chauffeur took the dog to a high end restaurant where it met its owners for lunch. After the lunch was over, the dog was driven back to home and the owners set out for skiing.

One of the guests along with his group made a request which the management could not refuse when the group was not interested in having the brand of vodka that the bar had in stock and instead requested for another one at 2:30 am in the morning. The arrangement of the particular vodka was made from another hotel and it was purchased for shot by shot terms costing them around £3,500.

Few of the guests have also flown in caviar from Italy where every utensil, crockery was filled with it. In a romantic and one of the memorable way to show love was when one of the guests asked for an arrangement of fireworks particularly with guest’s partner name to be shown was done at a cost of £35,000.

Dubai International Airport has recorded 7.2 million traffic for the month of August, highest volume to be noted in 55 year history. Dubai Airport authorities issued a traffic report stating that world’s number one hub for international passengers recorded an increase of 9.5 percent (7,282,256) passengers from 6,648,058 passengers in the same month of 2014.

In the current year, the recorded traffic of eight months has been 52,264,256. There was a 12.4 percent increase in traffic in comparison to the last year’s eight months traffic which was 46,479,919. The reason behind such increase was due to the seasonal rush of travelers and due to the residents returning to country for start of the seasonal academic year.  In addition to this, local airlines like Emirates, fly Dubai etc. increased their flight frequency and new services which pull the travelers to visit the country.

The country that made it to the top destination was India whose capital Mumbai was reported as the busiest destination (855,550 passengers), followed by UK (543,213 passengers) and Saudi Arabia making it to the third in the category (480,051 passengers).

It was also notified that passenger per movement was 217, highest for international hubs in the world. Similarly, in the month of August, the moment of Aircraft totaled was 34,773 in comparison with the same month of last year which was 31214, an increase of 18.1 percent was observed.

The chief executive of Dubai International Airport was reported to have said; “We are very pleased with the traffic so far this year, particularly the record-breaking numbers in August.

“As we mark the 55th anniversary of DXB this week we cannot help but look back at our humble beginnings, and how, thanks to the vision of the leadership, a tiny airport rose rapidly to become the world’s number one hub for international passengers.

“DXB has welcomed over 700 million passengers in its five-and-a-half decade history, clocking an unparalleled average growth rate of over 15 per cent.

“Our mission is to ensure that the success story of Dubai’s aviation sector continues over the coming decades.”

The Shaheen Air flight NL-142 which was travelling from Karachi to Lahore made an emergency landing which caused the tire to burst and injured 10 passengers. All the injured passengers were given an immediate medical treatment and none were reported to be in serious condition.

As soon as the incident happened, it was reported that the tire burst happened due to the faulty landing gear. The airport authorities were informed of this problem by the pilot that he had observed some problem in the landing gear of the aircraft. Passengers were seen to be frightened by the emergency landing incident and to rescue the passengers, aviation authorities and fire brigade had reached the place on time.

Following the incident, Civil Aviation Authority of Pakistan (CAA) was reported as tweeting:

“Due to runway incident at #Iqbal Int’l Airport of #Lahore following domestic flights are delayed until further notice #NL143 #PK303 #PK652.”

Another tweet by CAA was reported as:

“Despite of runway incident at #Iqbal Int’l Airport of #Lahore, main runway 18L/36R is active for wide body aircraft handling. Stay safe!”

In the current year, Shaheen airline’s four aircrafts were grounded because of the safety reasons and Mr. Pervez George, spokesman of CAA was reported as saying that these aircrafts were grounded because they did not meet the safety standards and their movement could lead to a disastrous incident.