The Globetrotters eNewsletter
eNewsletter Archive

Low-cost Indian airline SpiceJet said it would launch
cut-rate domestic flights in May 2005 to lure travellers from popular
train services.

“The fares will be slightly higher than AC
(air conditioned) train fares,” chief executive Mark Winders
said. “We believe there is a tremendous opportunity in the
low cost model in India. The air market is dramatically under served
here.”

SpiceJet said its most expensive fares were 55-60
percent cheaper than regular full economy fares of competitors such as
Jet Airways, India’s largest domestic airline. SpiceJet will also offer
more than 9,000 seats for as low as 99 rupees (USD$2.30) each for the
first 99 days of operations.

Rock bottom fares by SpiceJet and rival Air Deccan are
helping to fuel the supply of low cost carriers and stimulating demand.

If you have a travellers tale that your aching to tell.
Then why not visit the “Travel Sized Bites” section
of the Website and share it with the world. Travel Sized
Bites

Here’s a little Beetle quiz based on currencies. See
how many you get right! Go on, have a guess!

Where would you find the following currencies?

1. Lek
2. Loti
3. Pula
4. Ruble
5. Cedi

For the answers, see at the end of the e-newsletter.

Do not drink home made alcohol – anywhere,
not just Kenya. Over 50 people have died after drinking home made
alcohol laced with a substance believed to have been methanol in
Machakos, south east of Nairobi. Local newspaper, The People Daily,
identifies its own culprit. “The provincial administration
and the police are squarely to blame. They have failed to arrest and
charge individuals involved in the brewing and distribution of illegal
liquors.” This is not the first time that such a tragedy has
occurred. Just don’t do it!

Need help? Want a travelling buddy or advice about a
place or country – want to share something with us – why not visit our
Mutual Aid section of the Website: Mutual Aid

Need to convert currency?

Take a look at The
Globetrotters Currency Converter – get the exchange rates for
164 currencies The
Globetrotters Currency Cheat Sheet – create and print a
currency converter table for your next trip.

A Chinese boy died after falling from the landing gear
of a passenger jet on take-off in north China. The stowaway, believed
to be aged around 10, fell from a China Eastern Airbus A320 at the
airport in Dunhuang, a popular tourist spot for Buddhist grottoes in
Gansu province, Xinhua news agency said without elaborating. The jet,
en route from Dunhuang to the provincial capital of Lanzhou, landed
safely.

Last November, a 14 year old homeless boy who stowed
away in the landing gear of a plane survived a 700 km (430 miles)
flight across southwest China. A friend riding with him fell from the
plane and died.

Two former America West pilots Christopher Hughes and
Thomas Cloyd were removed from an Airbus A319 in Miami on July 1, 2002,
and charged with operating a plane under the influence of alcohol.

They were in the cockpit as the aircraft was being
towed to the runway for takeoff from Miami International Airport on a
flight to Phoenix, Arizona. But after a security screener reported the
pilots were red-eyed, flushed and reeking of alcohol, air traffic
controllers ordered the plane back to the gate.

The jury were told that the pair had played pool at a
bar until 5 a.m. before the 10:30 a.m. flight and consumed 350 ounces
of beer between them, the equivalent of nearly 22 pint glasses (10
litres), after earlier sharing a bottle of wine with two flight
attendants.

A completely new family of rodents, a kind of rat has
been found in Laos. The animal has long whiskers, stubby legs and a
tail covered in dense hair and was on sale in a hunters’ market. Dr
Robert Timmins working with the Wildlife Conservation Society in
Thailand saw that it was probably unknown to science and brought it to
the attention of his colleagues. “It was for sale on a table
next to some vegetables,” said Dr Timmins. “I knew
immediately it was something I had never seen before.”
“To find something so distinct in this day and age is just
extraordinary. For all we know, this could be the last remaining mammal
family left to be discovered,” Dr Timmins said.

Spanish travel group Marsans, which owns Aerolineas
Argentinas, plans to create a new unit in Peru and begin flights there
within five months.

An Aerolineas spokesman said they expected the debut of
the new Peruvian company, called Aerolineas del Peru, to take no longer
than five months because of the Peruvian government’s warm welcome.

As we previously reported, one of the key competitors
in Peru, Chilean airline LAN, has become unpopular with the Peruvian
government due to a scandal over an in-flight video depicting images of
Lima considered offensive.