Airline Industry: In-Flight Amenities That Make Us Hope for Tarmac Delays

There's been some chatter about whether first class suites are overkill, but we still think this is pretty fabulous. Couples in Singapore Airlines’ suites cabins (exclusively on the airline's 16 A380 planes) can get cozy by booking two middle-aisle rooms and transforming them into a double bed—the first such service in the industry.

The benefit of Virgin America’s free, Chromebook lending system is twofold. Skip the hassle of schlepping a laptop through security, and spend travel time zipping through work thanks to free in-flight Wi-Fi (only for Chromebook users). Through January 15, pick up Chromebooks on a first-come first-served basis at the gate for flights from San Francisco, Dallas–Fort Worth, Boston, Chicago, and New York (JFK); return the computers at your destination.

Fresh towels, Bulgari cologne, and the world’s only in-flight shower await first class passengers on Emirates A380 planes. The planes carry an extra 500 kg of water, enough for each flyer to refresh with a hot, five-minute shower. Emirates' A380s currently fly from Dubai to Auckland, Bangkok, Beijing, Hong Kong, Jeddah, Kuala Lampur, London Heathrow, Manchester, New York, Paris Charles de Gaulle, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, and Toronto.

For more: In-Flight Amenities That Make Us Hope for Tarmac Delays - Yahoo! Travel

Ukraine's Sex Trade: Now More Voluntary, Harder to Fight - by Mauro Bottaro

It took less than a decade after the collapse of the Soviet Union for Odessa to become a hub for the international sex trade. The conditions were just about perfect. The bustling port on the Black Sea was an easy gateway from the poorest parts of Ukraine, Romania and Moldova to Western Europe and the Arab states.

"The real action is in the Emirates, Dubai or Antalya in Turkey," says Masha, a stick-thin 19-year-old who teeters a little on her heels. "Don't be confused," she says. "Nobody takes us by the hair and drags us onto the ships." She gestures toward the mouth of the port. "Those are like the gates to freedom for a lot of us," she says.

For more: Ukraine's Sex Trade: Now More Voluntary, Harder to Fight - TIME

Emirates Now Largest Airbus A380 Operator

Airbus is close to setting a new record for A380s delivered in one year, and Emirates Airlines, its largest customer for the aircraft, has now also become the largest operator.

After struggling to meet its output targets in prior years because of production bottlenecks, the airframer handed over 12 A380s this year, equaling the full-year high achieved in 2008. The latest two deliveries were the fourth A380 to go to Air France (MSN49) and the 12th for Emirates (MSN46). Both were delivered from Airbus’s Hamburg site.

The Emirates delivery means the carrier now operates one more A380 than Singapore Airlines, the first operator of the aircraft type. Emirates has firm orders for 90 of the aircraft on the books.

For more: Emirates Now Largest Airbus A380 Operator | AVIATION WEEK: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

SMH.com.au: Naked at 43,000 feet: showering on the Emirates A380 superjumbo

For the complete report from the Sydney Morning Herald click on this link

Naked at 43,000 feet: showering on the Emirates A380 superjumbo

Flying above the Tasman Sea, somewhere between Australia and New Zealand, I have a dilemma: as one of a select few to have a shower at 43,000 feet on an Emirates A380, should I add high-flying streaker to my list of firsts? Emirates is the first commercial airline in the world to have showers on board, in two spacious bathrooms with under-floor heating that it has dubbed "shower spas". The showers are available only to passengers in the 14-berth first class. Yet this is where Emirates also stands out in the A380 club: on the short-haul flight to Auckland, first class, at about $2000 return, is suddenly within reach of the punters. You, too, can sip on Dom Perignon and Grange while reclining, electronic doors closed, in your glossy walnut-paneled private suite, smelling of Bulgari perfume and creams.

Arkansas Dem Gazette: Oil Rich Nations Investing In Future - by Elisabeth Rosenthal

For the complete report from the NWAnews.com click on this link

Oil Rich Nations Investing In Future - by Elisabeth Rosenthal

Arab Emirates - With one of the highest per-capita carbon footprints in the world, these oil-rich emirates would seem an unlikely place for a clean energy revolution. Still, the region's leaders know energy and money, having built their wealth on oil. They understand that oil is a finite resource, vulnerable to competition from new energy sources. So even as President-elect Barack Obama talks about an energy revolution as America's route out of recession, Persian Gulf nations - including the seven states that make up the emirates, plus Qatar and Saudi Arabia - are already making a concerted push to become the Silicon Valley of alternative energy.

They are aggressively pouring billions of dollars made in the oil fields into new technologies. They are establishing billion-dollar clean-technology investment funds. And they are putting millions of dollars behind research projects at universities from California to Boston to London, and setting up "green" research parks at home - green referring to the movement to reduce waste and clean up the earth.