31/10/2008 – The Weekly Round Up : Heathrow-on-Sea? : Perfect Travel Light Stand : Delta & Northwest Become One : Lufthansa & BMI : Lufty's Expansion

Web: www.thetravelstrategist.com.com -- E-Mail: fish@flyingwithfish.com

31/10/2008 – The Weekly Round Up : Heathrow-on-Sea? : Perfect Travel Light Stand : Delta & Northwest Become One : Lufthansa & BMI : Lufty's Expansion

This has been a busy week on Flying With Fish. Wednesday provided no shortage of news for those who travel by air. Wednesday saw two major airline mergers/stock takeovers, and an airline cease to exist.

Before I move onto the whole weekly round up, I'd like to start off with the last post of this past week. Adorama has invited me host a workshop for educating photographers who travel, in conjunction with their Workshops @Adorama and I accepted. While some details are still being worked out, the first workshop is scheduled for the 29th of January 2009, so mark your calendars! You can read more about this evening workshop here:
30/10/2008 – Adorama To Host Flying With Fish Workshop Jan 29th

This week kicked off with the announcement that AeroChannel has started up an update info stream on Twitter AeroChannel is an excellent growing source of info for anyone traveling, primarily in the United States, and you should check them out at www.twitter.com/aerochannel . Find out more info here: 27/10/2008 - AeroChannel On Twitter

London Heathrow is one of the world's busiest airports. The airport is so busy it must operate on 'slot allotments' as the airport cannot easily handle all the traffic and seeks to use Heathrow, and London Mayor Boris Johnson has no proposed building a new Heathrow on a man-made island in the Thames Estuary. Is this idea a good idea? Is this idea possible? Find out more at this link: 27/10/2008 - Can Heathrow Be Replaced By A Man Made Island Airport?

As a traveling photographer, flying with lights can be challenging. With checked baggage fees and the potential for lost or delayed bags, I have opted to use the Manfrotto 3373 compact light stands for the past few years. Find out why I think the Manfrotto 3373 is the perfect traveling light stand here: 28/10/2008 - The Manfrotto 3373 : The Perfect Traveling Light Stand

With the global airline industry becoming increasingly volatile it is become less shocking to hear of airlines shutting down operations with little to no notice. Iceland's Sterling Airways has been teetering on failure for sometime due to Iceland's financial crisis. This week its finances ran out and the airline was forced to cancel all its flight standing thousands of flyers. To find out more about the airline's closure check here: 29/10/2008 - Iceland's Sterling Airways Shuts Down Stranding Thousands

This week I wrote a two part series on Lufthansa's growth. The first of these two parts addresses taking over 80% of BMI/British Midland's controlling stock. This purchase of 50.1% of BMI's stock does little for Lufthansa's routes, but it does make them the owner of second largest allotment of slots at London Heathrow Airport. To find out how this might affect the 70 year old, and profitable, BMI, read this: 29/10/2008 - LH Pt 1: Lufthansa To Control BMI & Become 2nd Largest At Heathrow While Also Trimming Expansion

The second part of entries on Lufthansa this week addressed the airline's announcement they would be trimming routes and reducing spending. The reduction of routes and expenses comes with the airline taking a 45% stake in one airline, an 80% stake in another airline, all while trying to take significant stakes in two other European airlines, and setting up Lufthansa Italy SpA. You can find out more about this interesting, and potentially hazardous, business plan in this entry: 29/10/2008 - LH Pt 2 : Lufthansa Trimming Expansion While Taking Over 2 Airlines & Making A Play For 2 More

This big news this week came as no surprise. The U.S. Department of Justice approved the merger of Delta Airlines and Northwest Airlines, creating the world's largest airline. Find out where we go from here in this entry: 29/10/2008 – Northwest & Delta Are One Airline……well sort of…….

After a week off, the iPhone 'App' Of The Week series returns. This week I discuss the new Google Earth iPhone 'App.' This 'App' is fantastic, and an incredibly useful tool for not only photographers working on the road, but for any traveler on the road. Learn more about Google Earth for the iPhone by clicking here: 30/10/2008 – iPhone 'App' Of The Week : Google Earth


It has been a long week of posts on Flying With Fish and I plan to kick off next week with some fun exciting news. I've been working hard to help photographers, and all travelers, on the road, and in one area, these efforts have been recognized by a company I used and support.

For those of who get Flying With Fish's updates on Twitter, at www.twitter.com/flyingwithfish , some of this exciting news has already been mentioned........

That's it for this week HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Happy Haunting!