The Coronavirus Thread

[laklak]

Can I get in on this? Do I need to call Bill or will he just use the invisible drones to read my mind?

[Scot Dutchy]

Nice to go on holiday:

France 'on the cliff-edge' of removal from UK safe travel list

Hundreds of thousands of British tourists face possible quarantine, industry figure suggests

British arrogance knows no bounds.

[Brian Peacock]

Yeah, the air travel and holiday industry are having a meltdown. £80bn from the chancellor to boost their dividends, 90% of the workforce having 80% of their wages covered by the taxpayer, and their still not happy.

[Scot Dutchy]

One of the positives. Air travel will never return to its past levels. Better for everyone and the environment eventually but it is going to be painful.

[Brian Peacock]

I agree. Air travel is going to become a luxury for the well off - along with meat, a well-rounded education, and access to healthcare.

[Scot Dutchy]

I agree. Air travel is going to become a luxury for the well off - along with meat, a well-rounded education, and access to healthcare.

I agree the UK and the US are heading that way but that process has been going on for years and was the main driving force behind Brexit. The proles just never realised it.



Looks very familiar?

[laklak]

I don't know about that, domestic airfares here are at rock bottom prices and planes are full. You can get directly from Sarasota to Asheville, North Carolina, for $40 one way, buy the ticket the same day. It's about 600 miles, driving takes 10 hours and would cost probably $100 in fuel. My sister flew down on Sunday and said the plane was chockablock. I think some carriers will go out of business, but where there's a demand there will be someone will fill it.

[Scot Dutchy]

I don't know about that, domestic airfares here are at rock bottom prices and planes are full. You can get directly from Sarasota to Asheville, North Carolina, for $40 one way, buy the ticket the same day. It's about 600 miles, driving takes 10 hours and would cost probably $100 in fuel. My sister flew down on Sunday and said the plane was chockablock. I think some carriers will go out of business, but where there's a demand there will be someone will fill it.

Well of course the US misses an integrated transit system and will probably never have one. Here the international sleeper trains are being reintroduced. That and the improvements to the network is proving very challenging for air travel.

[laklak]

I'd love to see trains come back, but nobody wants to spend the money. I don't mind taking a bit more time to get there, particularly on a sleeper.

[Scot Dutchy]

I'd love to see trains come back, but nobody wants to spend the money. I don't mind taking a bit more time to get there, particularly on a sleeper.

Come to Europe. Maybe next year we will be back on the rails. Sleepers are so exotic. I can still dream.

[JimC]

Bron and I have travelled on both our Indian-Pacific (Perth - Adelaide) and the Ghan (Adelaide - Darwin) in sleeper cars, with a dedicated bar carriage. Perfect.

[Scot Dutchy]

Bron and I have travelled on both our Indian-Pacific (Perth - Adelaide) and the Ghan (Adelaide - Darwin) in sleeper cars, with a dedicated bar carriage. Perfect.

I know Jim. It has that certain something that air travel misses. I went by sleeper to Lisboa. An amazing experience. Well Portugal is an amazing experience.

[laklak]

I remember sleepers from our trips through Europe when I was a kid, we lived in Thailand and would come home every 18 months and make a long trip of it. The Italian trains were never, ever, EVER on time, and broke down a lot. German trains were very efficient. British trains were a bit grimy, to be honest. I love trains, Aircraft suck balls.

I'd love to see ocean liners make a come back. If I ran things we'd have gigantic intercontinental Zeppelins. You'd have to dress for dinner, and there'd be a smoking room with fine cigars and cognacs. Gentlemen would wear smoking jackets.

[JimC]

We can't get rid of this bloody virus here in Victoria, after a couple of days of new cases hovering in the 300's, we just had 410 new cases and a record number of deaths, 21...

There's no way that the current strict lockdown will end when scheduled in another 4 weeks...

[Sean Hayden]

Christ Jim, I'm tired of it. Virtual schooling starts tomorrow here. They anticipate opening school September 8th. I don't see how we hit that target... if the conditions --today-- make it impossible...