We hear that China Southern Airlines has calculated that it takes a litre of fuel to fl ush the toilet at 30,000 feet so it now is urging passengers to go to the toilet before they board. China Southern’s latest strategy is to encourage passengers “to spend their pennies before boarding the aircraft”, a report by Xinhua news agency said. “The energy used in one fl ush is enough for an economical car to run at least 10 kilometres,” Captain Liu Zhiyuan was quoted as … [Read more...] about FLUSH BEFORE YOU GO

Still on contentious issues, we hear that the European Aviation Safety Agency has approved the use of mobile phones on board commercial aircraft, just months after the FAA in the US announced that it would continue its ban on cellphones. Previous condemnations of the use of cell phones on board aircraft by yours truly have apparently not reached the desks of the EASA folks, or perhaps the bureaucrats are too dumb to listen to ordinary long-distance travellers, who are already agonising over the … [Read more...] about DUMB BUREAUCRATS

Someone who only wanted to be known as "a regular Payload Asia reader for ages", reacted to an article in our Express pages last month, which reported that UPS was facing a law suit over the use of inaccurate measurement systems for packages. The Regular Reader claimed that the article missed the critical point and basis of the suit, and alleged that "UPS was using optical technology measurement hardware that is not certifi ed as accurate by local weights and measures … [Read more...] about UPSOVERCHARGEDME.COM

Who says those guys at Boeing don’t have a sense of humour? The UK’s Financial Times reported that when Virgin Atlantic recently signed a deal for 43 787 Dreamliners, wags at the US aircraft manufacturer inserted a secret clause in the contract stipulating that Virgin chairman Richard Branson and his Boeing counterpart Jim McNerney both had to lose a stone (14 pounds, or 6.4 kilos) by the time the fi rst aicraft was delivered in four years time. The idea is that this would reduce … [Read more...] about WEIGHTWATCHERS

Following a hard-hitting keynote address in Mumbai earlier this year, where he lamented India's lack of infrastructure and suggested that most cargo volumes to and from India should be handled at Dubai and Singapore, Emirates' senior vice president cargo, Ram Menen must have been delighted to hear that his ideas apparently did not fall on deaf ears. During a recent visit to Washington, Praful Patel, India's minister of civil aviation, was quoted as saying that:"Our primary focus is to … [Read more...] about COPYCATS