Jaunted

In-Flight Dining / Etihad Airways / UAE / First Class Travel / Middle East Travel / Airplane Food / In-Flight Meals / Food Travel / → All Tags

First Class Food from a Five-Star, Onboard Chef? It's Coming to Etihad.

This is some next level stuff. First Class in-flight meals on Etihad—the Abu Dhabi-based airline—are now being prepared by a qualified chef. No, really; one person is dedicated to cooking, preparing and plating the meals served in the front of the plane. Yes, you read correctly: cook!

Etihad announced the hiring of 110 restaurant-caliber chefs to fly back and forth from Abu Dhabi to a handful of cities while preparing the menu for the Diamond Class cabin. The chefs will also be responsible for contributing to the evolution of the menu and meal choices both in-flight and on the ground in the each of the airline's lounges. Each chef will need at least 6 years experience in a 5-star restaurant to be welcomed aboard, and there are even some Michelin-starred restaurants that have lost their chef to the airline.

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HotelChatter / VegasChatter / → All Tags

Sneaking a Peek at Abu Dhabi's Shiny New Park Hyatt

Our sis site HotelChatter does a bang-up job of covering the latest news and trends in the hotel world. We're also including a few links from VegasChatter, the newest member to the family. So check in and stay awhile.

HotelChatter:
· Sneak peeks inside the Park Hyatt Abu Dhabi
· Three Euro resorts for skiing (including Branson' Swiss chateau)
· Inside a room at the Swissotel Chicago
· Hotel-shaped jewelry. Yep, it's a thing.

VegasChatter:
· Tourist helicopter crashes into Lake Mead
· Which hotel has their own tennis courts?
· One fun thing at Encore, Wynn and Fashion Show Mall
· Things we learned during Cirque Week

Videos / DXB / Dubai Travel / Flight Attendants / Flash Mobs / → All Tags

Whoa. Dubai Airport Pulled Off a Shockingly Excellent Flashmob (Video)

Usually we're pretty critical when it comes to staged flash mobs, but trust us that this one is pure awesome.

It happened recently at Dubai International Airport, and the performers are meant to represent flight attendants, Dubai airport employees and passengers passing through. We're pretty sure they're all hired for the purpose, however.

Okay. No more talking. Just dancing.

Celeb Travel / Joe Jonas / Ashley Greene / Airports / Airport Security / → All Tags

Joe Jonas and Ashley Greene Caught with a Cheese Knife at Airport Security

Lovebirds Joe Jonas and Ashley Greene had some explaining to do when the singer was stopped by airport security after forgetting he packed a cheese knife in his carry-on. The young couple was flying from Abu Dhabi to New York City when Jonas was flagged before making it to the gate for their flight.

“We had too many bags to check so we took one as a carry-on instead of checking it through security. We were going from the Middle East to New York - to JFK, so tons of security, tons of screening," Ashley explained to George Lopez on a recent "Lopez Tonight" appearance. "We got through one actually, surprisingly enough, but at the second one, they all of a sudden stopped and kind of looked at us with these really stern faces and they were like, 'what is in your bag.' And I look at [Joe] and then [had] flashbacks of this knife set that we got."

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Tourists / Crime / Know the Law / Dubai Travel / Rules / Airport News / → All Tags

Man Serves Jail Time for Flipping the Bird at Dubai Airport

There’s nothing Dubai wants more than to succeed as a global vacation destination, and that’s especially true when it comes to luring western visitors out into the desert sun. Unfortunately every now and again there are reports of some extreme behavior when it comes to punishment for those that don’t live up to all the rules and standards within the Emirate.

The latest news involves a man getting sent to the slammer for doing something that several passengers probably do each day in especially aggravating airports like JFK and O’Hare. Apparently a British gentleman decided to flip the bird to an airport worker, after the airline employee refused to let him use some kind of customer service telephone.

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Movie Set Travel / Landmarks / Tom Cruise / Dubai Travel / Movie Travel / Celeb Travel / → All Tags

From Prague's Old Town to Dubai's Burj Khalifa, Tom Cruise Gets Around for 'Mission: Impossible 4'

Last week, a few tourists in Dubai got the surprise of a lifetime when they peered over the observation deck of the world’s tallest building and saw Tom Cruise dangling from only a wire, with no safety nets.

Cruise, who is notorious for doing all of his own stunt work, was shooting a scene for the upcoming movie, Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, in which he chased another man around the outside of the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa Tower in Dubai.

At a press conference held after the stunt was completed, Cruise said:

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FlyDubai / Travel Hell / Travel News / Airline News / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / → All Tags

FlyDubai Apparently Not Too Friendly Towards Blind Passengers

We were pretty eager to learn about FlyDubai and their low-fare options to and from Dubai last summer, but since then there hasn’t been too much news from the low cost carrier. There have been some new routes and plans for the future, but now the big news has to do with the airline not being a big fan of travelers with disabilities.

An American flyer was stopped from taking to the skies above Dubai last week, for the sole reason he was blind. The passenger was planning to head off to Amman, but the airline said they wouldn’t be able to take him there because he was blind and flying alone. Despite pleading his case, this guy was out of luck, as apparently the policy is that blind travelers can’t fly if they aren’t utilizing the buddy system.

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Theme Parks / Abu Dhabi Travel / Sports Travel / Travel News / Amusement Parks / → All Tags

Ferrari World and The World's Fastest Roller Coaster to Open October 27

It's happening, and soon! The theme park we never thought would happen, or at least this quickly, has announced it's official opening date. Abu Dhabi's Ferrari World debuts to the public on October 27 of this year. It's only the soft-opening period until the big grand opening in December, but still. It'll exist and hopefully it won't be long before YouTube is full of point-of-view videos of the world's fastest roller coaster, the park's Formula 1-inspired "Formula Rossa."

But of course, that's not all. The thing has a 21-acre roof, painted in Ferrari red. It's under here where the crowds will find most of the action. Six days a week from October 27 through December, the park will open at 12 noon. Adult ticket prices start at AED 225 ($61.25), but AED 375 ($102) will get you a Premium Ticket, which will give priority ride access and entrance to a lounge with refreshments.

Now a preview of the Big Three rides at the Ferrari Theme Park:

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Etihad Airways / Pilots / Women / Airline News / → All Tags

Etihad Airways Welcomes Its First Female Captain

The United Arab Emirates isn't exactly known as the land of opportunity for women, but its skies may be. The country's national airline, Etihad Airways, just admitted its first female captain to the all-boys club.

This is not to say that the seven-year-old airline has equality among its ranks. But this is a good step in the right direction. Plus, Etihad employs 10 female pilots and four female cadet pilots, so hopefully that means the airline will be turning out more lady captains.

The top Etihad female pilot is Captain Sophie Blanchard. She took the controls for the first time September 8 during a flight from Abu Dhabi to Heathrow. Blanchard, a French national, joined Etihad in 2007 as a first officer. Let's hope more female pilots rise up through the ranks and help Blanchard form a girls club soon.

Related Stories:
· Etihad Pilot Qualifies to Become Airline’s First Female Captain [Asia Travel Tips]
· Yes, There Are Regular Flights to Iraq Now [Jaunted]
· Etihad Now Comes Complete With Women Pilots [Jaunted]

[Photo: sainz]

Travel Contests / Emirates / Airline News / Frequent Flyer Programs / Emirates Skywards / Art Travel / → All Tags

So You Think You Can Draw? Emirates Wants to Fly Artists for Free

Want a free trip to Dubai on Emirates plus $5,000, plus the chance to exhibit your artwork at an international art fair? You're in luck because Emirates wants to make it happen for a promising talent, so long as they think you're as good as Damien Hirst.

You see, Emirates is searching for emerging artists to enter their contest to replace the Damien Hirst artwork on their Skywards loyalty program cards. If you win, you'll be flown to Dubai for the unveil, get a place for your portfolio to be shown in the Art Dubai Fair in March 2011, and be handed the $5,000 (think Dubai shopping spree).

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Chocolate Travel / Dubai Travel / Shopping Travel / Hershey's Chocolate World / → All Tags

Replace Your Craving for Alcohol in Dubai with Loads of Chocolate

As if Dubai needed another altar to excess, the city just debuted the region's first Hershey's Chocolate World.

Not only is this the first Middle East location, but it's also the largest Hershey's store after the flagship in Hershey, Pensylvania. Yep—it even beats the Hershey's Chocolate World in Times Square, New York City. And even though it can't be the largest, the Dubai Mall location makes up for this by displaying some other superlatives:

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Luxury Travel / Abu Dhabi Travel / Hotels / → All Tags

Where to Find One of the World's First Gold Bar ATM Machines

Even though it sounds like something out of a James Bond movie, there is now an ATM that dispenses pure gold, and it happens to be in the one place we'd absolutely expect it to be: Abu Dhabi. Dubai ain't got nothing on them now, huh?

Sitting inside the Kempinski Emirates Palace Hotel on the West End Corniche, this machine will draw tourists and locals just to gawk at it, and who knows if security will be needed for people who actually want to use it to grab a gold bar to go. It's actually called Gold To Go, developed by a German, and it monitors the daily gold price ($1,245 an ounce yesterday!) and "offers small bars up to 10 grams or coins with customized designs." The first machines appeared in Frankfurt Airport a year ago, and now they're gaining steam.

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