Bismut.net

I am starting a new category for informations on travel destinations and I am going to name the category as What is this place. Normally when I read about new destinations which I have not heard before, I will do some research to get more informations. Instead of just me knowing it, I will post a summary of the informations into this website under What Is This Place.

As a start, while browsing AirArabia.com, I found a news of AirArabia will start flying from Sharjah to Coimbatore, India starting this October 1st. The twice weekly flights on every Monday and Friday will be increased to thrice weekly in November. Coimbatore, also known as Koneyammanputhhur, is Air Arabia’s eighth destination in India.

Pardon me for my ignorance because I have not heard about this destination name before. Coimbatore, India? This is what Mr Wikipedia has said on Coimbatore, India,

Coimbatore, also known as Kovai, is a major industrial city in India. According to the 2001 census, it is the second largest city in the state of Tamil Nadu.It is the administrative headquarters of Coimbatore District.

Coimbatore is known for its textile factories, engineering firms, automobile parts manufacturers, health care facilities, educational institutions, pleasant weather, friendly culture and hospitality. Situated on the banks of the Noyyal river, Coimbatore is also known as Koneyammanputhhur, which means “birth-place of the Goddess” (Koni Amman).

The fact for Coimbatore, India:

After going through the fact sheets and reading the history, I found that Coimbatore, India is one of such a great place to visit. With the facts that many Indians who are working or residing in UAE, the flight services by AirArabia should be a good news for travelers to travel in between Middle East and India for business and holidays.

I felt sad when I read the news about what happened at Langkawi Underwater World where almost 600 species of fish died from poisoning. The 600 fishes died en masse just before closing time at 6.40pm on Monday. Among the valuable fish that died were sharks including the white tip, black tip, leopard and nurse, and variety of stingrays including the rare cownose ray. I went there once back in 2004 and the place is one of the must visit attraction in Langkawi. This incident will definitely affected Langkawi’s highly-valued tourism product.

Police said they did not rule out sabotage as the main motive of the incident. But why sabotage? Do Langkawi Underwater World has any competitor over there? It will remain as mystery until the police resolve this case. I hope the culprits will be brought forward and be charged for their unnecessary action which caused Langkawi Underwater World to close for a few days.

600 deaths still a fishy case

LANGKAWI: The fish poisoning case at the Underwater World Langkawi still remains a mystery.

Langkawi OCPD Supt Mohd Ali Jamaludin said the poisoning that killed 600 fishes on Monday was executed in a well-planned manner.

Despite the RM10,000 reward for information, people are still keeping mum.

“We hope those with information will help us out so that we can gather evidence,” he said.

“Those involved in the poisoning have obviously made the preparation for some time before finally executing their plan on Monday,” he said in an interview.

Life goes on as usual for more than 3,000 marine and terrestrial creatures at UWL.

Some of the Rockhopper penguins were busy nursing their recently hatched chicks.

The marine creatures continue their antics as visitors peer through the aquaria to watch them.

UWL had engaged taxidermist Joseph Tan to preserve the carcasses of 10 big-sized fish, including nurse shark and leopard shark.

UWL senior curator Tan Ean Kok said the more than 80 tonnes of water in the aquariums where the fish were found dead had yet to be drained.

“The DOE (Department of Environment) will advice us on how and when to dispose the affected water.

By SIRA HABIBU – TheStar Online

Etihad Airways has successfully launched it’s thrice weekly flights from Abu Dhabi to Singapore and Brisbane, Australia on Friday morning. The flight EY470 successfully took-off from Abu Dhabi headed to Singapore first and subsequently to Queensland, the capital city of Brisbane, Australia. Singapore is the Etihad’s fifth destination in the Far East and Brisbane is the second destination in Australia following after the successful of Sydney’s flight which was launched in March 2007.

Another major success for Etihad Airways is the demand for seats for the new flights service to Singapore and Brisbane where near to 70 percents has been taken up for the month of October. Etihad Airways operates a two cabin Airbus A330-200 for this route.

Another great news for Middle Easts tourists when the Gulf Air announced that they are offering cut priced air tickets for Bahrain – Kuala Lumpur – Bahrain route starting this October until the end of the year. The promotion air ticket price is set at BD149 (RM1355.00) which by far is the cheapest air fares among all airlines flying Middle East – Kuala Lumpur sector. This cheap air fares is offered by Gulf Air as part of the airline effort to support “Visit Malaysia 2007” campaign. Currently Gulf Air operates daily flights to Kuala Lumpur.

Malaysia is an extremely popular destination among Middle Easts tourists with more than 100,000 tourists from that region alone has been recorded visited Malaysia from January to July 2007. It is an increase of 42 percents comparing to the same period last year. Only two Middle Easts airlines, Emirates and Qatar Airways found to have been aggressive in this market. Qatar Airways has recently announced that they will increase flights for Doha – Kuala Lumpur due to the higher demand.

Good news if British Airways reinstate flights to Malaysia? I think it’s great for Malaysia because more and more British can come over to Malaysia or using Malaysia as a stop over to other ASEAN countries. From budget travelers’ point of view, it will not be among the chosen airlines because of it’s higher air tickets. Furthermore AirAsiaX with cheaper air tickets will be flying to London soon. I have met with many travelers who prefer to be on-board with Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates or Qatar Airways which can offer cheaper air tickets comparing to European airlines.

British Airways to discuss reinstating flights to Malaysia

STOCKHOLM: Officials of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) and British Airways (BA) will meet in a couple of months to continue discussions on BA reinstating flights to Malaysia.

MAHB managing director Datuk Seri Bashir Ahmad, who met with BA CEO Willie Walsh at the 13th World Route Development Forum here, said: “There is certainly an interest to return but right now, they are looking at figures and forecasts to ensure that when they do operate, the service will be viable and sustainable for the long term.”

“No date (to commence flights) has been fixed as it depends on the viability of the operations and the availability of aircraft,” he said, adding that it was purely a business decision.

“Every time we talk, the picture becomes clearer. We appreciate their willingness to talk to us openly and to share their views on this matter,” he said.

BA was being cautious because it did not want to have to pull out again. “Once they come in, they want to stay,” Bashir said.

The idea of coming back to Malaysia is still in study process. If the price is right, off course British Airways will be chosen by travelers to fly to Malaysia.