A British Airways flight attendant has been suspended after putting a video of herself sniffing her tights and unbuttoning her shirt online. The female member of cabin crew filmed herself in her uniform after a flight, asking viewers to ignore how “rough” she looks after the journey. “You want me to smell my shoes and…
Glinting under the midday sun, the River Wye looked enticing as it surged over boulders and rippled through reeds. Why then, as I stepped cautiously into its gentle swirls, could I not take my mind off my mother? There she was, one hand on her hip, the other jabbing a ferocious finger towards my chest.…
The best place to celebrate Halloween in the world. It must be Transylvania, the home of Dracula, right? Or Salem, Massachusetts, for its history of witches, right. Maybe even New York, for its celebrity-led annual Village Parade. One place you almost certainly wouldn’t think of is Derry – the second city of Northern Ireland. But that’s…
The juxtaposition on the concourse at Manchester Piccadilly station was unfortunate. Beside a poster warning of three weekends of rail chaos was the message: “Please walk.” The intention is to persuade passengers not to run for trains. But surveying the strike action and staff shortages that have accompanied the predicted shutdowns on a busy summer…
The world’s most exciting hikes have been revealed in a new book from Lonely Planet. In Epic Hikes of the World, the publisher has listed 50 of the best walks as selected by travel experts, from urban trails to month-long treks. The guide includes practical information on the best time of year to attempt each…
Judging from one of the big aviation stories this week, airlines really must take a look at the size of the glasses they use to serve wine onboard their flights. Last time I flew between the UK and Dubai, they were normal sized. But the terrifying ordeal of Dr Ellie Holman and her daughter, who were detained…
The check in area of Terminal 1 of Milan Malpensa airport offers a magnificent prospect. Travellers can gaze through a widescreen wall of glass and beyond the apron to a silhouette of Alpine corrugations. Every few minutes, the slow motion choreography of manoeuvring aircraft is pierced by a takeoff or landing. Aviation as a work of art…
The Government has promised the European Health Insurance Card (EHIC) won’t be a casualty of Brexit. But how does the card work – and what pitfalls await the unwary and unprepared? What is an EHIC? The European Health Insurance Card replaced the old E111 certificate in 2005. This free card gives you the right to…
The weirdest and most wonderful private jet requests have been revealed by NetJets, a private aviation company serving ultra-high net worth customers. Many of the high-flying requests have involved animals, supporting the theory that a man’s best friend really is his dog. One passenger flying intercontinentally from Europe to America with his furry companion requested…
If your A-Levels weren’t as you expected this morning – why not consider taking a gap year? More than 230,000 people take one every year, according to statistics from Year Out Group. And if you need some inspiration for where to go and what to do, here’s how Independent journalists spent their gap years – from travelling around the Middle…
Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport was forced to suspend all flights for around an hour due to an air traffic control problem. A message posted on the airport’s official Twitter page on Wednesday afternoon said there was “no incoming and outgoing flight traffic at our airport”. “Air traffic control is investigating this matter,” the statement added: “We will keep you updated.…
North Korea has frozen all visa applications until 9 September. Koryo Tours, a travel company that arranges a variety of tours to the Democratic People’s Republic Korea (DPRK), announced the news on 13 August. A post on its website said: “Koryo Tours were informed on 13 August by our partners in Pyongyang that they had…
Rail commuters and leisure passengers are about to learn how much more their tickets will cost from next year. The annual train fare rise, which takes effect at the beginning of each January, is based on the Retail Price Index of the previous July. The figure for July 2018 is expected to be between 3.5…
An estimated 70,000 British holidaymakers are in Turkey right now, with hundreds of thousands more booked to travel there over the rest of the summer season. But what does the nation’s currency crisis mean for them? And if you are planning to go to Turkey, how should you organise your finances? What’s the situation for…
The UK Border Force achieved its queuing time target at Heathrow airport on just one day in July, according to data sourced by Virgin Atlantic. The airline has called on the government to improve wait times at immigration after it revealed that some passengers from outside the European Economic Area (EEA) had to queue for…