News and notes from around the interweb:
- Tokyo Narita airport will offer 2 hour PCR Covid testing $380 with an appointment, $430 without one.
- Doug shares his attempt to get to Lagos, Nigeria for work – foiled by the current unpleasantness on the ground there (I have verified only the delay, but pass along the interesting experience):
On Monday I attempted to fly with a client to Lagos, Nigeria. We were booked ORD-ATL-DSS-LOS on DL (Senegal is only a technical stop). Everything was going well until we landed in DSS (DL248). We took on fuel, changed crew, but then we sat there well past take-off time. I knew there was a problem when my wife texted asking why our flight was canceled. It turned out that due to riots in Lagos, a curfew had been imposed and the airport had been closed.
This left Delta with a 767 full of people sitting on the ground in Dakar with no place to go. Senegal wouldn’t allow anyone to deplane, and Nigeria wouldn’t give clearance to fly into Lagos. Finally, the decision was made to fly to JFK (the closest Delta hub) so back across the Atlantic we flew.
This was bad news not only for the passengers, but also for the crew, who had arrived at the airport planning to work a DSS-LOS-DSS turn thus leaving all of their stuff at their hotel. One FA I talked to said her apartment and car keys were at the hotel in Dakar and she had no idea what she would do when she arrived at JFK. When all was said and done the passengers spent 22 hours on the plane before getting off in NYC with no real plan for getting to Nigeria. Delta’s business-class on the 767 is dated and worn, but it was well worth the money on this trip!
- JSX will operate Embraer 145s in 1×1 configuration between private terminals at Houston Hobby and Dallas Love Field
- Some Covid-19 spread happens during air travel with a billion people flying so far this year it would almost be impossible for it not to. It’s never clear whether infections happened in the gate area, during boarding, or on the plane. But it’s striking how few instances have been found. Here’s a systematic look that takes advantage of testing regimes to identify instances of spread. I don’t think there’s actually enough to support masks as the reason why spread is limited though.
- Racoons broke into a Chase bank and the ‘masked bandits’ wreaked havoc inside.
- Fox News Host Laura Ingraham Tries To Blame An Empty Dulles Airport On “Liberals” Hint: travel is certainly down, but the United check-in counters are busier than Lufthansa’s shown here.
Dulles Airport midday. Think of all the lives and livelihoods liberal governors have destroyed with needless shutdowns and 24/7 panic pushing. Insane. pic.twitter.com/IIWJ7zXFnn
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) October 22, 2020
- Barclays will become the issuer of the AARP card and buy Chase’s back book.
- Doug shares his attempt to get to Lagos, Nigeria for work – foiled by the current unpleasantness on the ground there (I have verified only the delay, but pass along the interesting experience):
That info is not accurate. Lagos airport remained open throughout the curfew period and some international airlines continued to operate there (notably British Airways and Emirates) every day despite most passengers being unable to get to/from the airport. Other airlines operated to Abuja (which was unaffected) instead of Lagos. Delta made their own unilateral decision to terminate the flight in Dakar and return to JFK – it was not because “Nigeria wouldn’t give clearance”.
@ Gary — It is great to see Laura Ingraham showing how stupid she is.
Laura Ingraham is just an idiot.
Thanks Sean for clarification.
Most blogs are quick to dismiss africa and make US airlines into angels. Clueless passengers like the OP in the story will hawk false narratives…smh
The curfew was for the city only and not airports. My client also travelled to Nigeria yesterday.
Laura Ingraham is a partisan hack in the worst way possible.
The COVID canaries in the coal mine for airlines are the flight crew unions.
They’ve been remarkably silent about the bringing up examples of crew infections via work / asking the airlines for symbolic but unproven gestures. Crew rest space aside. Which means the infections are few and far between or they are much more oriented toward saving jobs than I give them credit for.
Laura and your BS! First are any of those airlines even flying to the US yet? I would buy it more if she was by domestic ticket counters that were empty. ♂️
When did airline reporters become hacks for the left? Bashing Laura Ingram? You people have TDS and don’t even know it.
When did airline reporters become hacks for the left? Bashing Laura Ingram? You people have TDS.