Heathrow CEO Says Strike Threatens Olympic Travel on Busiest Day
San Francisco Chronicle
London Heathrow airport owner BAA Ltd. said it’s impossible to guarantee disruption-free travel at Europe’s largest hub tomorrow as immigration officials strike on the busiest day for arrivals before the 2012 Olympics.
While BAA’s staffing will be at maximum levels, assisted by volunteers drafted in to aid arriving athletes and officials, the length of queues for people entering Britain will be determined by how many Border Agency officials turn up for work, Chief Executive Officer Colin Matthews said in an interview.
What airline fees are coming next?
USA TODAY
By now you probably know that the airlines call it ancillary revenue, but by any name it’s become a critical source of funding for an industry that perpetually bleeds red ink. These days no analysts speak of rolling back or rescinding fees. Instead the only question is, what’s next?
Nickels + dimes = big business
You may view all those fees for everything from checking a bag to speaking to a reservations agent as nickel-and-diming, but nickels and dimes can really add up. This week, the IdeaWorksCompany released the Amadeus Review of Ancillary Revenue Results for 2011, which indicates such revenue rose to $22.6 billion in 2011 among 50 international airlines that disclose their fees. That’s an incredible leap of 66% from the $13.5 billion posted in 2009.
US tourist to pay $6500 fine for unauthorized 1998 Cuba trip
msnbc.com
A New York man agreed Tuesday to pay a $6,500 fine to settle a long-running dispute with the U.S. Treasury Department over a trip he made to Cuba as an unauthorized tourist 14 years ago.
Zachary Sanders, now 38, said he was 23 and had been living and teaching English in Mexico when he decided to go to Cuba for a couple of weeks in 1998.
“I wanted to learn about how a socialist country worked in practice,” Sanders said in an interview. “I had no illusions. … I’m not like some diehard supporter of the (Cuban) government or anything like that.”
Hotel key cards open to hacking, developer says
BBC News
A hacker has developed a device he says can act as a universal hotel key card to access millions of rooms around the world.
Using a home-made gadget, security researcher Cody Brocious said he had mimicked a master key card to gain access to any room with an Onity lock.
Details will be revealed at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas this week.
Onity said it would look at Mr Brocious’s work and address “any potential issues”.
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