Back where it all began and a Flying Kiwi again

My only fear is that all these Nasopharyngeal Swabs will play havoc with my wine nosing ability.

Any day now I shall be released

I’m going to focus on the soon-to-be-opened rather than the temporarily shuttered here as I think the real story is now one of future renaissance not bleak recent past.

Collinson joins the dots as I return to the skies

The closest I have come to an overseas trip in ten months is via my regular ferry rides between Discovery Bay and Central. Now I can experience the real thing again at last.

How Hong Kong Airport is getting all dressed up and ready for take-off

Better times are coming at this magnificent gateway and the Airport Authority Hong Kong team is more than prepared for them.

Lifeguards, drag queens and Dave Dobbyn all say welcome home

I would just about concede the Wallabies the Bledisloe Cup if all of us could start to travel freely again and sing our own equivalent of Nau Mai Rā.

Pondering a post-batch 210102 visit to Mauritius

Today, my eye has alighted on Mauritius, all 2,040 sq kilometres of its loveliness perched out there alone in the Indian Ocean. I reckon I could be there in around 9 hours and 45 minutes.

No shot in the arm but a stab in the heart

Now, as with so many others around the globe, my plans are – unlike me – up in the air. It sucks but to stay with that not particularly attractive verb, one just has to suck it up.

Marking a grim anniversary and rediscovering the industry of beautiful memories

Life has changed so very much for every travel retail company on the planet since precisely one year ago today when the first death from a then-unnamed coronavirus was recorded in Wuhan, China.

Your flight time will be 8,760 hours… you may experience some turbulence

In cities such as Seoul and Taipei we’ve seen plenty of flights to ‘nowhere’ in recent months. Is the Essence Corp Airlines destination more tangible?

How Changi Airport turned itself into the ultimate destination

The whole concept is the best example I have seen yet of an airport adapting to crisis and one that has the added benefit of permanently underlining the allure of Changi as a destination in its own right.

Miscellaneous

August 25, 2020

Keeping the (masked) ball rolling in Hong Kong

Who will be the first travel retailer to launch an own label mask? Qatar Duty Free perhaps? Dubai Duty Free through its in-house Akaru brand? How about destination-specific masks, surely a winner in the travel sector?

Airports

July 30, 2020

High ambition at Hamad International, high anxiety in Hong Kong

Thabet is in especially upbeat mood at present thanks to his beloved Liverpool recently being crowned Premiership champions in the UK, their first title in 30 years. I swear I could still see the smile on his face through the face mask he donned during our meeting.

Travel

July 27, 2020

Bravo Heathrow, bravo Qatar Airways, but work required Travelex

This is where we go so wrong so often in the west. A mask is there for a reason. You don’t wear half an oven mitt to protect yourself from burns.

Travel