17 Apr 10 Frankfurt Airport completely closed due to Icelandic Volcanic Ash issue
So, here I am in Germany to visit my grandmother (who passed away four days before we were to leave from Montreal)… my mom & I made it fine to the small town in the Southern Saxony province in Germany after our flight to Prague (via Heathrow in London) on British Airways.
Of course, two days after we arrive, Mother Nature strikes again! That Icelandic Volcanic Ash has reaped havoc on many of the airports across much of Western Europe. I’ve noticed a spike in visitor to my family blog for an article I wrote a while back when Frankfurt Airport was closed for another issue.
Well, as of today (April 17) Frankfurt Airport (FRA) is at ATC Zero, which is flight industry speak for no takeoffs or landings… the Frankfurt Airport has set up 1400 cots (with 500 more on the way) along with 8000 blankets to comfort passengers stuck in transit. They’ve also set up a pharmacy in the terminals for PAX who may have prescription medication needs that are tucked away in the cargo hold of a plane that’s grounded.
We’re not leaving for at least several more days, so hopefully that ash cloud will have moved on – or settled….
Source: Official Frankfurt Airport Icelandic Ash News Release
Tags: Eyjafjallajökull, FRA, Frankfurt, Frankfurt Airport is closed, Iceland Volcano Ash, Travel, Weather
24 Sep 09 Future trip with Zachary & Tristan : Kuroshio Sea Tank at Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
Well, yet another place where I hope to one day visit myself and introduce Zachary and Tristan to the wonders of our world.
Credit to Jon Rawlinson for this superb production on his Canon 5DMKII camera. It’s nothing about the camera but more about the talent of capturing the awesome scene. The song by Barcelona is perfect too.
It’s the Kuroshio Sea Tank at the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa, Japan.
Pretty magical place to be with the people you love, no?
Tags: animals, Kids, Kuroshio Sea, Love, Travel
23 Feb 09 Tarifs pours vols et urgences familiales Air Canada bereavement sympathy airfares for family emergency
English further down
Je discutais l’autre jour avec une amie / collègue concernant les tarifs spéciaux offerts par les lignes aériennes pour des cas de voyages reliés à des urgences familiales. Ces tarifs sont généralement seulement disponibles pour des voyages internationaux et dans le cas d’un décès ou “décès imminent” …. J’ai réalisé par la suite que je pourrais, sous peu, avoir besoin d’utiliser ces tarifs… 
Selon la page officielle d’Air Canada:
personnes qui doivent prendre l’avion en raison du décès ou du décès imminent (soins intensifs, crise cardiaque, phase terminale de cancer, accident grave) d’un membre de leur famille immédiate.
Veuillez noter que ces tarifs spéciaux représentent une réduction fixe sur certains pleins tarifs sans restrictions, pour certaines liaisons internationales seulement. Aucune autre réduction n’est applicable. Les tarifs pour urgence familiale sont offerts uniquement pour des vols aller-retour assurés par Air Canada et Jazz.
Dans bien des cas, il est possible d’obtenir de meilleurs tarifs en magasinant en ligne à aircanada.com. Les tarifs pour urgence familiale visent à offrir le maximum de souplesse pour les passagers qui doivent voyager à l’occasion d’une urgence familiale, mais ils ne représentent pas nécessairement les meilleurs tarifs du marché.
Pour bénéficier de ces tarifs réduits, il faut réserver directement avec Air Canada en mentionnant le code de référence CIC*160/33 ou ACP #671717. Comme Air Canada mentionne que ces tarifs sont pas nécessairement les plus bas disponibles, je suggère de vérifier es autres tarifs disponibles via un engin de recherche de tarifs comme Kayak.
Voir l’information détaillé sur le site d’Air Canada.
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I was discussing the other day with a friend é colleague about special fares offered by airlines for travel related to bereavement or family emergencies. These fares are generally only available for international flights and in the case of death or “imminent death” … I realized afterwards that I may, shortly, find the need to use these fares…
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Tags: airfares, bereavement, deuil, français, special fares, Travel
13 Feb 09 Continental CO3407 plane crash in upstate New York – dozens dead
Well, it is 00:40 EST and I just finished cleaning up a silly mess of broken glass from the floor while walking from the bedroom back to the kitchen to refill my water glass.
As I was muttering about the mess, putting a little bandaid over the miniscule little scratch on my foot and trying to keep Lady Grey (cat, not resident Princess) I thought to myself.. it could be worse.
Naturally, I twittered my mishap.
Then I saw a tweet about a Continental Express plane crashing in Upstate New York.
Continental CO 3407 in flames (David Dupre, AP)
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Tags: Airplane crash, CO3407, Colgan Air 3407, Continental 3407, Travel
22 Jan 09 Frankfurt airport closed! Air Canada AC9132 / Lufthansa LH1051 diverted back to Dresden and back again…
UPDATE APRIL 17, 2010 – Frankfurt Airport is still completely closed to takeoff and landings because of the Iceland Volcano Ash – click here for my other article.
Sigh… network problems at Frankfurt airport which caused the loss of the weather network data connection to the air traffic control tower had FRA closed for almost an hour this morning between 6:35 and 7:25 (Germany time).
… which had my moms flight AC9132 (codeshare with Lufthansa LH1051) returned back to Dresden from Frankfurt since the latter was closed.
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Tags: AC875, AC9105, AC9132, Air Canada, FRA, Frankfurt, LH1051, LH470, Lufthansa, Travel
