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An aviation first: the Emirates A380 offers an invigorating shower at 43,000 feet!
Michelle Snaddon
4 August 2008

Photographs courtesy of Emirates

First Class Shower Spas, now located on the upper deck of the new Emirates A380, allow passengers to enjoy a relaxing shower to enhance sleep in their private suites, or to freshen up and arrive revitalised and ready for the business day ahead. The First Class private suites are each equipped with an electrically operated sliding door and every seat has a built-in massage system with adjustable speed and intensity for maximum comfort during the flight. The seat converts to a fully flat bed with a mattress, and if preferred, the privacy divider separating adjoining suites in the centre row can be lowered to allow passengers to share the experience with their travel companion. If sleep doesn’t come easily, there’s a personal mini-bar in each suite and a dine-on-demand service, or an award winning ice? Digital Widescreen entertainment system to keep you company. First Class passengers are also invited to enjoy an exclusive social area at the front of the upper deck for a drink and delicious snack, or to stretch their legs and socialise with fellow passengers from Business Class in the Onboard Lounge behind the upper deck. First and Business Class passengers may book a complimentary airport transfer in a chauffeur-driven car in many of the cities served by Emirates. All arrangements can be made online during the booking process. The Emirates A380 inaugural flights took place on 1st and 3rd August between New York JFK and Dubai. A380 flights will be operational from 8th August 2008 on Emirates flight EK 201 from Dubai to New York JFK International Airport (Sunday/Wednesday/Friday) and on Emirates flight EK 202 from New York JFK International Airport to Dubai (Sunday/Wednesday/Friday) For more information visit www.emirates.com

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New York State enacts air passenger Bill of Rights
Denise Hummel
18 September 2007

Although you may take it for granted that a city as great as New York would have enacted long ago legislation to protect the basic rights of passengers, New York just this week signed into law a passenger bill of rights, claiming to be the first state to require airlines to provide passengers with ‘food, water, fresh air, power and working restrooms on any flight that has left the gate and been on the tarmac for more than three hours.’

Governor Eliot Spitzer proudly declared on 3 August that he signed into legislation aimed to ‘ensure airline passengers on severely delayed flights operating out of New York airports are provided with basic customer protections.'

The Office of the Airline Consumer Advocate within New York’s Consumer Protection Board shall be in charge of assuring carrier compliance and obligated to field passenger complaints. Violating airlines face fines of up to $1,000 per passenger. The new legislation is intended to go into effect in January 2008.

The legislation was instigated by ‘several incidents of severe delays’ at John F Kennedy International Airport earlier this year, including the recent storm-induced delays and cancellations affecting more than 100,000 Jet Blue customers, some of whom were grounded for hours at the airport. The carrier already has implemented its own bill of rights, which guarantees compensation for passengers facing extended delays and other provisions.

The US House and Senate are in the process of creating a national passenger bill of rights. The Senate's version, which remains in committee, contains language similar to the New York law, including provisions for food and water and ‘adequate restroom facilities’ when passengers are grounded. That bill also gives passengers the right to deplane after three hours, which is not included in the New York version.

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