Ben Sandilands
Editor of Plane Talking @PlaneTalking
Ben Sandilands has reported and analysed the mechanical mobility of humanity since late 1960 - the end of the age of great scheduled ocean liners and coastal steamers and the start of the jet age. He’s worked in newspapers, radio and TV in a wide range of roles as a journalist at home and abroad for 56 years, the last 18 freelance.
If Melbourne and Sydney had similar-sized populations and city-linked economies as Paris and London, there would not be a debate in Australia about building a high-speed rail link between them.
How does Virgin Blue rate in the continuing, if gradually clearing, crisis computer crisis that started yesterday morning and wrecked travel plans right across Australia?
Another intensively flown city pair, London-Frankfurt, could gain frequent high speed rail links in the near future, says Ben Sandilands. London could have a rail link to Frankfurt that is superior to air services for most potential travellers at least a year sooner, in 2013, than Paris.
On YouTube there is a 14-minute warning -- about the air superiority crisis facing Australia as a US ally -- that new defence minister Stephen Smith and every member of the new parliament needs to review.
Tonight Jupiter will also be a "little" closer than at most oppositions, which come around about once every 13 months. That is, 75 million kilometres closer than it was last August.
Concerns about Qantaslink safety standards and ATSB and CASA secrecy are landing on the desk of independent SA Senator Nick Xenophon.
Tension is rising in the most unlikely of discounted flights market -- rocket rides into space.
There are clear signs in today’s media that Melbourne is getting closer to playing its airport-rail corridor cards. It needs to plan wisely from the start, warns Ben Sandilands.
The vertically stretched torture tube for economy class flight gets its public debut this coming week, although that is not how its designer describes it, notes Ben Sandilands.
It’s backs to the wall time for Virgin Blue, with the ACCC today making a draft rejection of its proposed trans-Tasman route-sharing deal with Air New Zealand.
