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Tags: Prime-Plane-Spotting-Map / Plane Spotting / Alitalia / Venice Travel / Italy Travel / → All Tags

'Marco?' 'Polo!' Hop A Boat To Plane-Spot In Venice

If you know anything about Venice, you know that it is a city built on water, so it's quite fitting that the perfect location for plane spotting is onboard a boat. But not just any boat, we're talking about the water taxis between Venice's Marco Polo Airport and Venice proper. The airport sits on marsh land right on the coast, while the tourist-filled portion is out in the middle of the lagoon.

Going between the airport and the city of Venice therefore means taking either a private boat or the Alilaguna Waterbus right underneath the paths of arriving and departing flights. While you rock on the waves of other speeding water taxis passing by, you can look up at airplanes from carriers like Alitalia and other major carriers. Smaller LCC airlines like Jaunted personal favorite Germanwings sadly won't be found here, but at Treviso Airport.

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Tags: Travel News Briefs / Barack Obama / Virgin America / Airlines / Alitalia / → All Tags

Obama Can Has Cheezburger On Air Force One, Now in Video

· Remember when President Barack Obama first flew on Air Force One (elect) and ate a cheeseburger? Well, The National Geographic Channel has a clip of that and will be showing it in their "On Board Air Force One" special which airs on Sunday, January 25 at 8pm EST/PST. [National Geographic Channel]

· Virgin America Has New Food Menu: More munchies, more wraps and salads and don't forget the made-to-order shaken Margaritas, Cosmos or Mojitos await you on Virgin America [Official Site]

· Spank Your Children on Plane, Get Arrested Under Patriot Act: Are airlines abusing the Patriot Act? This woman spanked her misbehaving children, then hurled profanities at a flight attendant as well as a glass of tomato juice. Now she's pissed she got arrested for a terrorist act. Bad children? Yes. Mother with a nasty temper? Yes. Terrorist? Hmmm....[LA Times]

· Alitalia Still Striking: Despite being privatized, Alitalia workers can't seem to give up their penchant for striking. This latest batch only caused moderate impact on flights and flight delays. [Forbes]

Tags: Alitalia / Art / Airline News / → All Tags

Alitalia Says Bye Bye Pretty Pictures

Our favorite on-again, off-again airline Alitalia might be selling cheap airfares this week, but they're obviously still trying hard to scrape together a few more euros to keep fuel in the tank.

The latest news out of the Alitalia camp is that they're holding an auction to sell off 163 paintings that used to hang in their aircraft, apparently so that passengers would have "beautiful things" to look at.

Nobody's sure how much cash the paintings will bring in but some of them are from well-known modern Italian artists and are thought to be valuable. (Sounds like Alitalia's decadent spending starting way back in the 1960s.) We're less worried about Alitalia's obvious money problems than the fact that no other airline we know ever made such an effort to pretty up the cabin for us. Are we missing out on something beautiful?

Related Stories:
· Alitalia-Owned Artwork to Go Under the Hammer [Reuters]
· Our Top Five International Airfare Sales of the Moment [Jaunted]
· Alitalia Coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: courgettelawn]

Tags: Airfare Sales / Five Airfare Sales / Alaska Airlines / Alitalia / Open Skies / Cathay Pacific / Air New Zealand / → All Tags

Our Top Five International Airfare Sales Of The Moment

Since winter is only half over, we've decided that what everyone needs right now is a hardcore international escape. If your desire for the tropics has been replaced with a desperation to just get far, far away, then have we got the deals for you.

Taking a cue from some of our stories in the last few days, we've rounded up our Five Favorite Airfare Sales with a focus on globetrotting. There will be no mentions of commuter flights to Ypsilanti or Sulfur Springs this week, so sit back and book a serious sojourn already. Any tips on what you want to see more of or less of? Let us know.

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Tags: Travel Hell / Alitalia / Airline Bankruptcy / → All Tags

Is It Safe To Fly Alitalia Again?

Short answer: Probably not. While the European Union said Wednesday that a group of new investors could take over the money-hemorrhaging airline, Alitalia will also have to pay back a €300 million ($377 million) rescue loan it received from the Italian government. No one's quite sure where that money's going to come from.

Meanwhile, some staff are organizing impromptu (i.e. wildcat) strikes at airports, delaying departures and forcing flight cancellations. Italian newspaper La Repubblica says even the corpse of a woman headed to Albania can't get where its going, languishing instead at Fiumicino. While Italy's labor minister has suggested the strikes are illegal, that's of little consolation to stranded fliers.

The new Alitalia is supposed to debut on December 1. Will it be ready to fly by then? And will Ryanair's allegation that this takeover is against EU rules further stall the much-needed makeover? We're not planning to find out.

Related Stories:
· EU Backs Proposed Alitalia Takeover [AP, via Google]
· Alitalia Protests Continue, Government Eyes Options [Reuters]
· Ryanair to Appeal EU's "Corrupt" Support [AFP, via Google]
· Fiumicino: Even a Corpse, Delayed for Days [La Repubblica, in Italian]

[Photo: Alessio85]

Tags: Flight Reviews / Alitalia / Airline Bankruptcy / → All Tags

First-Person Flight Reviews: How's Alitalia Doing?

As we mentioned less than a month ago, Alitalia is still holding on--and somehow has found enough money to fill the fuel tanks. Though the airline is still flying, not many reviews have been trickling in. But on ReviewCentre, one user doesn't have anything nice to say:

We flew Alitalia from AMS-MIL-AMS. It was one of the worst airlines I've ever flown and I will avoid Alitalia from now on. The service was terrible, the plane was ancient. Never again. I don't understand how KLM can partner with such a terrible company!

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Tags: Alitalia / Airline Bankruptcy / Silvio Berlusconi / → All Tags

Adventures of Link: Alitalia *Still* Exists

Maybe we were a little early with this lolspeak macro for Alitalia?

After weeks of financial dealings that make the congressional bailout package look like third grade math, the carrier announced a deal with unions to keep it alive. Now that flight attendants have signed off on the rescue plan, it's time to (attempt to) sell Alitalia off piece-by-piece to investors.

At the very least, the airline has earned a re-up for its license by bringing all its unions on board: Alitalia has permission to fly until at least March 2009--as long as it can come up with the cash to buy fuel.

Related Stories:
· ENAC Confirms Provisional License [AGI]
· Alitalia Investor Board Meeting Thursday [Reuters]
· Unions Clear Way for Relaunch [Guardian]
· Alitalia Rescue Hits Next Stage [FT]
· Flight Attendants Sign Rescue Plan [CNN]

Tags: Alitalia / Airline Bankruptcy / Silvio Berlusconi / → All Tags

Your Daily Alitalia Soap Opera Update

Alitalia apparently still has some hope of staying alive, after a couple of key unions signed on for a rescue plan that might also include selling a small stake of the carrier to Air France-KLM. The Italian airline could lose its license to fly if a plan to pull it out of bankruptcy doesn't come together by the end of today.

Little problem though: Pilots and flight attendants still haven't agreed to the latest deal. And that interest from Air France is--at this point--not guaranteed. (That carrier actually tried to take over Alitalia earlier this year but gave up because of trouble with unions, among other things.)

So while there's a glimmer of hope today, we're not rushing out to buy tickets on Alitalia. Then again, we never were. Maybe that was part of the problem?

Related Stories:
· Italy PM Aide Seeks to Revive Deal [Reuters]
· Last-Minute Hope to Save Alitalia [IHT]
· Alitalia coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: Wikimedia]

Tags: Alitalia / Airline Bankruptcy / Silvio Berlusconi / → All Tags

Adventures of Link: Alitalia Not Quite Finished... But Close!

The Alitalia saga continues today, though so far the airline hasn't been grounded by Italy's civil aviation authority.

When we checked the carrier's website on Friday, it was still offering trips around the country and even internationally. Today, though, you'll also find a last-ditch effort from the airline asking for buyers. (It'll be published in some European newspapers tomorrow.)

You've got to admire the tenacity of Alitalia's "special administrator," who's been charged with finding any way possible to keep the airline aloft. But Silvio Berlusconi's spokesman said it best:

Buyers are not queueing up for Alitalia.

Related Stories:
· Alitalia's Days Numbered [Reuters]
· Alitalia Sends up SOS for Bids [AFP, via Google]
· Alitalia Could Be Grounded in Three Days [Telegraph]
· What if Alitalia Fails? [TIME]
· Alitalia's Not Quite Dead [TCF]

Tags: Airlines / Airline Hell / Airline Bankruptcy / Alitalia / Silvio Berlusconi / → All Tags

Alitalia Situation Somehow Getting Worse

Things for Alitalia somehow look worse than they did earlier this week, with passengers wondering if the carrier has enough cash to cover the fuel for its flights. (Alitalia says it does.) Meanwhile, Italy's National Civil Aviation Authority says Silvio Berlusconi has until Monday to fix the crisis--or it'll ground the carrier.

Berlusconi--who made fixing Alitalia a major campaign promise--is blaming airline unions for refusing to OK his most recent rescue plan. Fliers are already abandoning the airports for safer travel options; the state railway company is adding trains between Milan and Rome to accommodate the extra traffic.

Meanwhile, there are still lots of deals being advertised on alitalia.com: Want to flee Rome for the Sicilian town of Catania? That's just €92 each way! But, uh, book with a credit card!

Related Stories:
· Berlusconi Given Deadline for Alitalia Rescue [UK Times]
· Alitalia Flies into Uncharted Territory [FT]
· Alitalia Officially Italy's Most Ridiculous Airline [Jaunted]

[Photo: andreagraziadio]

Tags: Airlines / Airline Hell / Airline Bankruptcy / Alitalia / Silvio Berlusconi / → All Tags

Alitalia Officially Italy's Most Ridiculous Airline

We always thought of Eurofly as Italy's worst airline, but you can't deny it offers up killer deals. But Alitalia has just surged into first place among unbelievably horrible Italian carriers.

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Tags: Airlines / Alitalia / Italy Travel / Silvio Berlusconi / → All Tags

Bankrupt Airline Buzz: Is Alitalia Next?

Last week's billion-dollar Air France-KLM bid for our struggling amici at Alitalia was going once, going twice... and frustratedly yanked off the table. The generally-awful Italian carrier is now a strong contender for the title of "Newest Bankrupt Airline in April," and we're only 10 days in.

Alitalia's fate has been hanging in the balance of Italy's recent--and trademark--political turmoil. The drama could reach a climax this weekend when Italians head to the polls to elect a new leader, the majority of whom support media mogul Silvio Berlusconi --whose nationlistic stance doesn't gel with the Air France-KLM deal.

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