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Phornsiri to attend
Skål luncheon in July
Tourism Authority of
Thailand Governor, Phornsiri Manoharn,
will be the guest speaker at the Skål luncheon on July 19.
Skål International Bangkok is inviting all
Skålleagues and guests to attend a ‘special’ luncheon meeting on July 19
at the Saladaeng Room, 2nd Floor of the Dusit Thani Hotel, 974 Rama 4
Road, Silom, Bangkok.
The Guest Speaker at the event will be Tourism Authority of Thailand
(TAT) Governor, Phornsiri Manoharn, who will be hosting a talk on
“Tourism Trends and Opportunities 2007-2008”.
The welcome drink will start at 12.00 noon followed by the lunch from
12.30 p.m. and the presentation by Governor Phornsiri.
The cost to attend the luncheon is 500 baht and advance bookings should
be made to Malai Sakolviphak at E-mail address [email protected].
Europe opens the door
to in-flight phoning
European regulators have cleared use of mobile phones and BlackBerry devices
for passengers while flying, Airbus announced last week at the Paris Air
Show.
Approval by the European Aviation Safety Agency means that, from September,
passengers aboard Airbus aircraft outfitted with the OnAir system will be
able to send and receive phone calls, SMS messages and e-mail messages while
flying at altitudes above 3,000 meters, or 9,840 feet.
Cabin staff members will be able to turn off the system or restrict usage to
text services like SMS, as they see fit.
The first aircraft to go into operation with the system will probably be a
short-haul Airbus A318 operated by Air France. The British airline BMI, the
Portuguese airline TAP and the budget airline Ryanair have also signed up to
offer the services, said Graham Lake, chief commercial officer of OnAir, a
joint venture between Airbus and communications services company SITA.
“We are absolutely delighted by this news,” Lake said. “Passengers will soon
be able to use their own phones while in a flying aircraft.”
The cost of a call, however, might make for short conversations.
While OnAir does not set the fees, Lake said the expected cost would be
around US$2.50 per minute for calls and 50 cents per SMS message.
Approval to use mobile phones in aircraft contradicts draconian
anti-telephone procedures often undertaken by cabin staff before takeoff. In
studying the use of mobile phones on aircraft, OnAir determined that
somewhere between 10 percent and 25 percent of passengers and crew onboard
aircraft leave their telephones turned on despite explicit warnings.
“If mobile telephones were unsafe on aircraft, we would have already had
many incidents,” Lake said. “Just listen to all the beeps of people
receiving SMS messages as any aircraft approaches landing.”
One of the biggest issues regarding the use of mobile phones on aircraft
will be changing the habits of airline staff.
“The use of mobile phones is more a cultural than a safety issue,” Lake
said. “In some countries that are very opposed to the use of mobile phones
in flight, I think we will have trouble changing the habits of airline
crew.” (eTN)
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