Saudi national charged in plane threat
Saudi national charged in plane threat — A Saudi national faces charges he threatened to blow up a Delta Air Lines flight because he was upset he was denied a job as an interpreter for U.S. military operations in Iraq. (AP)
Paper airline tickets to disappear by 2007 — Nearly one out of two airline tickets issued to travellers is currently in electronic form and paper tickets are on track to disappear completely by 2007, International Air Transport Association (IATA) said this week. (AFP)
United ending Midway service — United Airlines is pulling out of Midway International Airport, following a similar move announced last month by American Airlines. United restarted commercial service from Midway last year, but a lack of business prompted the withdrawal, Robin Urbanski, spokeswoman for the carrier, said Tuesday. (The Chicago Tribune)
Steve Case’s luxury travel club grows — A company chaired by former America Online co-founder Steve Case is growing rapidly by offering a menu of luxury vacation options as part of a club that requires members to pony up $200,000 or more to access its $750 million portfolio of vacation properties. (AP)
Man ends up in the wrong Manchester — Before this week, Jim Hourihan of Liverpool, England, had never heard of Manchester, N.H. But thanks to a mix-up, he ended up there this week while trying to fly to another Manchester — the one on the other side of the Atlantic. (AP)
Devil’s Tower gears up for centennial — Devils Tower, which was America’s first national monument, marks its 100th anniversary this summer, and tourism officials hope that more accidental tourists — along with area residents and the merely curious — will come to see it. (AP)
Tourism fizzles in troubled East Timor — East Timor had big hopes for tourism after it became independent in 2002, buoyed by a service industry that catered to thousands of U.N. troops and advisers. But tourism is a hard sell now, East Timor, has become one of the world’s poorest and most unstable countries. (AP)
Yosemite route closed indefinitely — A main route into Yosemite National Park has been closed indefinitely by a rock slide. The portion of California Route 140 was closed indefinitely June 1. Motorists were advised to use alternate routes into the park. (AP)
BlackBerry addict? Hotel offers detox — BlackBerry addicts have a crack at freedom when they check into one Chicago hotel: the manager will put the communications devices and others like them under lock and key for guests who want a break. (Reuters)
Carrie Charney, Christopher Elliott, John Frenaye, Charles Leocha, Marge Purnell, Valerie Schneider, Mary Staley, Stephanus Surjaputra, Richard Wong.