#Hong Kong airlines

[flymeandtiememaam2]

Derek’s POV

Sometimes Derek really hated East Asian women. Not only were they utterly unforgiving, but they were completely smug and supercilious too. All he had done was feel the pert little backsides of one or two of the Hong Kong Airlines cabin crew on his boring flight home to Australia. The minxes should have been flattered! Did he really deserve to be tied up, guarded, threatened with arrest and mocked by the smirking little witch who had bound him (she knew she had made it too tight!) Harridans!!

Source: Pinterest

[pourablecat]

Lancre airlines - the AU we all were deprived of.

[head-post]

Largest global IT outage in history did not affect Russia

A global technology outage caused by a software update from US cybersecurity company Crowdstrike caused chaos around the world on Friday, with flights suspended and healthcare, banking and ground transport systems facing major disruptions.

George Kurtz, president and CEO of Crowdstrike, said Friday morning that the company is “actively working with customers affected by a flaw discovered in one content update for Windows hosts” – a glitch that affected Microsoft users around the world. He also added:

“This is not a security incident or cyberattack. The issue has been identified, isolated, and a fix has been deployed. We refer customers to the support portal for the latest updates and will continue to provide complete and continuous updates on our website. We further recommend organisations ensure they’re communicating with CrowdStrike representatives through official channels. Our team is fully mobilised to ensure the security and stability of CrowdStrike customers.”

The Financial Times explained that Crowdstrike is “one of the world’s largest providers of “endpoint” security software, used by companies to monitor for security problems across a huge range of devices, from desktop PCs to checkout payment terminals.”

Troy Hunt, a security consultant, wrote on social media that “this will be the largest IT outage in history.” He also added:

“This is basically what we were all worried about with Y2K, except it’s actually happened this time.”

The impacts of the outage cascaded rapidly. Wired noted that “in the early hours of Friday, companies in Australia running Microsoft’s Windows operating system started reporting devices showing Blue Screens of Death (BSODs).” It continued:

“Shortly after, reports of disruptions started flooding in from around the world, including from the UK, India, Germany, the Netherlands, and the US: TV station Sky News went offline, and US airlines United, Delta, and American Airlines issued a “global ground stop” on all flights.”

The UK has been hit by a glitch

As The New York Times observed, the National Health Service in the United Kingdom “was crippled throughout the morning on Friday, as a number of hospitals and doctors offices lost access to their computer systems.”

Whitehall crisis officials were coordinating the response through the Cobra committee that deals with matters of national emergency or major disruption. Ministers were in touch with their sectors to tackle the fallout from the IT failure, and the transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said she was working “at pace with industry” after trains and flights were affected, The Guardian reported.

In the US, flights were grounded owing to communications problems that appear to be linked to the outage. American Airlines, Delta and United Airlines were among the carriers affected. Berlin airport temporarily halted all flights on Friday, while in Australia, Melbourne airport advised customers it was “experiencing a global technology issue which is impacting check-in procedures for some airlines.”

Global flight cancellations

There had been more than 1,000 flight cancellations worldwide so far due to the IT failure, according to the aviation analysis firm Cirium.

Long lines formed at airports in Asia as airlines lost access to check-in and booking services at a time when many travelers are heading away on summer vacations. News outlets in Australia — where telecommunications were severely affected — were pushed off air for hours. Hospitals and doctor’s offices had problems with their appointment systems, while banks in South Africa and New Zealand reported outages to their payment system or websites and apps.

At Hong Kong’s airport, Yvonne Lee, 24, said she only found out her flight to Phuket in Thailand was postponed to Saturday when she arrived at the airport, saying the way it was handled would “affect the image of Hong Kong’s airport very much.” Her already short five-day trip would now have to be further shortened, she said.

In India, Hong Kong and Thailand, many airlines were forced to manually check in passengers. An airline in Kenya was also reporting disruption.

Some athletes and spectators descending on Paris ahead of the Olympics were delayed as was the arrival of their uniforms and accreditations, but Games organisers said disruptions were limited and didn’t affect ticketing or the torch relay.

In Germany, Berlin-Brandenburg Airport halted flights for several hours due to difficulties in checking in passengers, while landings at Zurich airport were suspended and flights in Hungary, Italy and Turkey disrupted.

The Dutch carrier KLM said it had been “forced to suspend most” of its operations.

Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport warned that the outage was having a “major impact on flights” to and from the busy European hub. The chaotic morning coincided with one of the busiest days of the year for Schiphol.

Israel said its hospitals and post office operations were disrupted.

In South Africa, at least one major bank said it was experiencing nationwide service disruptions as customers reported they were unable to make payments using their bank cards in stores. The New Zealand banks ASB and Kiwibank said their services were down as well.

Shipping was disrupted too: A major container hub in the Baltic port of Gdansk, Poland, the Baltic Hub, said it was battling problems resulting from the global system outage.

Russia was unaffected by the outage

Meanwhile, Russia was less affected by this outage, mainly due to sanctions, import substitution strategy and technological sovereignty.

The global IT failure of devices running the Windows 10 operating system did not affect the operation of Russian airports and airlines, with flights running as scheduled. There are no problems with the information systems of Russian Railways.

“Rosatom” reported that the systems of the concern “Rosenergoatom” work on “import-independent software,” so there are no problems in operation. The disruption in Microsoft’s work will not affect the operation of Russia’s energy system in any way, the agency said.

Read more HERE

[theartisticendeavor]

Vintage Travel Poster - Fly TWA: Hong Kong

Art by David Klein

Trans World Airlines (c.1960's)

[haberolacom]

[sustainabilitytravel]

Paving the Way for a Greener Future: Cathay Supports Hong Kong’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plan

Cathay backs Hong Kong’s push for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), embracing policy recommendations to strengthen the city as a global green aviation hub. Continue reading Paving the Way for a Greener Future: Cathay Supports Hong Kong’s Sustainable Aviation Fuel Plan

[kazifatagar]

New: Malaysia Airlines flight diverted to Vietnam due to technical issue

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Airlines has confirmed that flight MH79, traveling from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur, was diverted to Vietnam’s Tan Son Nhat International Airport due to a technical issue encountered mid-flight. Flight diverted In a statement, the airline explained that the diversion was a precautionary measure to ensure the issue was resolved before continuing to Kuala Lumpur, emphasizing…

[rockstarsbookings]

Hong Kong Airlines pursues international transformation with strengthening route network 

From left： Christopher Lai, Executive Director of Lucullus Group,  Leo Ko, Director of Beverage of  Cordis Hong Kong, Li Yuet Faat, Chinese Cuisine Executive Chef of Ming Court, Purple Yao, Deputy  Director of Branding, Communications & Live Streaming, HKA, YAN Bo, Chairman of HKA, Charles  Zhao, Deputy Director, Service Delivery of HKA,  Edmond Lam, Executive Chef of Man Yuen, Homer Yu, CEO of…

[treehouse-horizon]

A new cover for ebook "Skybound Shadows" by Joseph Nordmann

[skyboundshadows]

What is the mission behind Howan Air from Hong Kong? Find the answer in the thrilling ebook "SKYBOUND SHADOWS" BY JOSEPH NORDMANN ON KOBO WRITING LIFE!

[dwellsinparadise]

Pretend, for example, that you were born in Chicago and have never had the remotest desire to visit Hong Kong, which is only a name on a map for you; pretend that some convulsion, sometimes called accident, throws you into connection with a man or a woman who lives in Hong Kong; and that you fall in love. Hong Kong will immediately cease to be a name and become the center of your life. And you may never know how many people live in Hong Kong. But you will know that one man or one woman lives there without whom you cannot live. And this is how our lives are changed, and this is how we are redeemed.

What a journey this life is! Dependent, entirely, on things unseen. If your lover lives in Hong Kong and cannot get to Chicago, it will be necessary for you to go to Hong Kong. Perhaps you will spend your life there, and never see Chicago again. And you will, I assure you, as long as space and time divide you from anyone you love, discover a great deal about shipping routes, airlines, earth quake, famine, disease, and war. And you will always know what time it is in Hong Kong, for you love someone who lives there. And love will simply have no choice but to go into battle with space and time and, furthermore, to win.

—James Baldwin, The Price of the Ticket

[thedesignair]

Cathay reveals more details regarding Aria Suite, hinting now towards Collins Elements product

Today saw Cathay add its new Aria suite product to its website, promoting the new product that will take to the skies later in the year. This is one of the most anticipated seat launches of the year, as Cathay vies for the most lucrative of passengers through the Asia region. While the airline revealed some very cryptic and hard to decipher images last year, the airline has clearly revealed the…

[greenbagjosh]

Day 1 - 9 November 2003 - Flight to Hong Kong from SFO terminal "A"

Sunday 9 November 2003

Konnichiwa, Ni Hao and Ola!

Today marks fifteen years since my visit to East Asia, particularly the Hong Kong and Macau special administrative regions of China, plus a partial day at Tokyo Narita airport. Actually I would not stop at Narita until Thursday 13th November 2003. This would be the first time in my adult life, and so far it is the only time, that I would cross the international date line. You may have heard in the news about the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau bridge that was opened recently. When I visited in November 2003, this was not even an idea (at least to most US citizens) that this could be built. Without crossing into the PRC, the only way to go between Hong Kong and Macau, was by boat.

I would like to break up my visit into four parts as there is so much to tell.

- 9th to 10th SFO to HKG nonstop, coach from Chek Lap Kok airport to hotel via Kowloon, 7 Eleven at Queen's Road West near Hill Road (Shek Tong Tsui district).

- 11th Breakfast at hotel, Hong Kong to Macau ferry, lunch on Coloane, St Paul cathedral, and ferry back to Hong Kong, with a journey on the MTR subway and tramway back to the hotel.

- 12th Breakfast at McDonald's, bus to Central, Repulse Bay, Stanley Market and Aberdeen, MTR to Sheung Kwan O, Tung Chung and Kowloon

- 13th Minibus to HKG airport, flight to Narita, afternoon and "beef bowl udon", flight to SFO, arrival the "same day"

Let's start with why I went to Hong Kong and Macau and back via Narita. Instead of my usual journey to Europe as I did in August of that year, I was suggested to give Hong Kong a try, and not worry that I speak very little Mandarin or Cantonese. United Airlines at the time, had a special package of roundtrip airfare to Hong Kong, three day's accommodations and offers of touristic interest for a good price. I had to renew my passport from 1994 as it would expire in any case.

Sunday 9th November was my flight, nonstop from San Francisco Terminal A to Hong Kong. It was in a Boeing 747 and in the economy class when economy class at least had decent legroom. Before the flight, I wanted to try some "congee" with shrimp. Congee is a savory rice porridge, about the same consistency as an average bowl of Quaker Oats. A little soy sauce can give it a nice flavor.

I think the flight departed around 1:10 PM Pacific. It would not arrive in Hong Kong until at least 8 PM the next day (Monday 10th November), so that makes the flight about 15 hours long, not quite as long as a flight from the US west coast to Auckland, New Zealand. On the plane, you cannot automatically perceive crossing the international date line. At the time, the 747 did not have individually controlled entertainment in economy class as a 777 would, it was all centralized, I have no idea about the situation in business or the still-existent first class. I remember watching four films in total, including "Whale Rider" from New Zealand, I remember distinctly that traditional Chinese subtitles were on-screen for that film. During the flight there was a snack and then supper. At some times, the flight attendants would serve Chinese tea, where you would not add sugar or anything else, just tea leaves and hot water.

It seemed like for the most part, the day went on "forever", until the plane approached Japanese airspace - and then the 9th turned into the 10th, kind of like it's 4:30 PM on the 9th, and then suddenly it's 4:31 PM on the 10th, that's what crossing the international date line westward sort of feels like. The sun was getting low, and the plane made a southwest turn, to just touch the eastern Chinese coastline for the next two hours. As the plane approached Hong Kong, the sun set and the sky was getting dimmer. The plane touched down about 7:30 PM. Everyone alighted the plane to be processed by Hong Kong SAR customs.

If you remember Autumn 2003, you might remember the SARS epidemic. SARS was defined as "severe acute respiratory syndrome". The epicenter was Hong Kong, and Macau also was taking precautions to minize the effects. At passport control, you had to make a declaration that you had to state your health condition, namely stating any health symptoms if any, in addition, there were body temperature sensors, to make sure that travellers did not have a fever. The Hong Kong entry passport stamp allowed US Citizens a visa-free stay of 90 days, I think Macau it was down to 30 days. After passport control, I had to go to the baggage claim and meet the tour bus that was booked in addition to my hotel stay. While the tour bus had not yet arrived, I went to the MTR sales booth to buy a subway pass. It was called the "Octopus Card", and allowed three days of unlimited subway travel, plus a HK $200 stored value for bus and trolley rides. It even could be recharged at the local 7 Eleven stores for cash. I withdrew about US $ 100.00 to start, and I think the rate was around US 1= 8.20 HK. The Macau Pataca, I would find out, would be at par with the Hong Kong dollar, and local banks would be reluctant to exchange Hong Kong dollars for Patacas. More on that in the following chapter.

The bus came around 8:30 PM and the bus dispatcher had to tally up who was staying in Kowloon and who was staying in Hong Kong Island. The bus drove along Route 8 which passed through Tsing Yi, Disneyland Hong Kong, Tsing Yi and ended up in Kowloon. The bus dropped a few people off somewhere along Nathan Road or some side street closeby. Then the bus went under Kowloon Bay in tunnel to Queen's Road West, though the bus made a stop after leaving the tunnel. I did not arrive at my hotel until at least 9:30 PM. I was staying at the Novotel in the Sai Wan district, which currently now is the Hotel Jen. There was a McDonald's and a 7 Eleven store close by. For maybe $ 6 US, I bought a couple of curry buns (pulled chicken or pork) and a can of Sprite and a bottle of Lucozade. And I topped up my Octopus Card for bus fare if needed later.

My room was on the 22nd floor, and I think the outdoor pool was on the 25th floor. My room did not have the best view but it was okay. I had a room looking at the ramp of Hill Road, leading to Connaught Road. The room had a remote control to control the radio, TV, alarm clock, and many things imaginable. The bathroom was pretty much similar to those I knew in the US, Canada and Europe. Electricity was the same as in the UK, namely the "G" type plug. I found the next day that Macau also uses the "G" plug. I did not watch TV but I had my Aiwa HS JS 479 and could listen to and record the local stations, most of them were in Cantonese, there was also the BBC World Service in English.

I think I went to bed about 11 PM after enjoying my curry bun and Sprite. The bed was firmer than most that I remembered, was not too bad. Somehow or other, I thought, if the hotel has a free shuttle to the Hong Kong-Macau ferry terminal, why not go? I did not plan to visit Macau but thought, as long as I am in that part of the world, there was no better time to go. Looking back 15 years on, I am glad I did.

So that was all for the 9th and the 10th November 2003. Next chapter, ferry ride to Macau, and views of its Portuguese past.

Thank you and good night!

謝謝，晚安！! (Xièxiè, wan'an!)

Obrigado e boa noite!

ありがとう、おやすみなさい! (Arigato, oyasuminasai!)

[wellconstructedsentences]

Pretend, for example, that you were born in Chicago and have never had the remotest desire to visit Hong Kong, which is only a name on a map for you; pretend that some convulsion, sometimes called accident, throws you into connection with a man or a woman who lives in Hong Kong; and that you fall in love. Hong Kong will immediately cease to be a name and become the center of your life. And you may never know how many people live in Hong Kong. But you will know that one man or one woman lives there without whom you cannot live. And this is how our lives are changed, and this is how we are redeemed.

What a journey this life is! Dependent, entirely, on things unseen. If your lover lives in Hong Kong and cannot get to Chicago, it will be necessary for you to go to Hong Kong. Perhaps you will spend your life there, and never see Chicago again. And you will, I assure you, as long as space and time divide you from anyone you love, discover a great deal about shipping routes, airlines, earth quake, famine, disease, and war. And you will always know what time it is in Hong Kong, for you love someone who lives there. And love will simply have no choice but to go into battle with space and time and, furthermore, to win.

Nothing Personal by James Baldwin

[rpfofficial]

What a journey this life is! Dependent, entirely, on things unseen. If your lover lives in Hong Kong and cannot get to Chicago, it will be necessary for you to go to Hong Kong. Perhaps you will spend your life there, and never see Chicago again. And you will, I assure you, as long as space and time divide you from anyone you love, discover a great deal about shipping routes, airlines, earth quake, famine, disease, and war. And you will always know what time it is in Hong Kong, for you love someone who lives there. And love will simply have no choice but to go into battle with space and time and, furthermore, to win.

— James Baldwin, "Nothing Personal"