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E L L I O T T' S TRAVEL NOTES
Travel news, opinion and analysis

May 25, 2004

Virgin USA to Take Off Next Year
British entrepreneur Richard Branson said on Monday the Virgin USA startup airline, which is tentatively set to launch sometime next year, has narrowed its choices for a home city to San Francisco or New York. Speaking at an entrepreneurs' summit, Branson said the carrier, which does not yet have a name, route structure or airplanes, was considering buying aircraft from Boeing or Airbus. "I can't at this stage confirm whether it's going to be Airbus or Boeing ... I think the airline is going to need about 50 planes," he said. The United States currently restricts foreign ownership of U.S. airlines, allowing a maximum 25 percent voting stake and 49 percent total equity. Reuters | Posted 6:30 a.m.
-- Globe: Boston off the list of potential headquarters
-- Mail: Virgin USA caught in tide of US protectionism

• Virgin USA was once considered one of the leading contenders to save moribund US Airways. Now, it seems, the two have gone their separate ways. Let's hope, like other low-fare startups, that this new carrier brings new ideas to an industry plagued by old thinking. Send us your comments.

New Cracks Found in Paris Terminal
New cracking sounds forced the evacuation yesterday of the futuristic terminal at Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport a day after a roof collapse killed four travelers. The scare came as officials said they were considering scrapping the entire Air France Terminal 2E after a 98-foot section of the steel, concrete and glass roof caved in Sunday. The terminal is closed indefinitely. More than 30 people in airport offices and a nearby restaurant were evacuated when the new cracking sounds were heard and fissures appeared, airport director René Brun said. Airport staff will not be allowed back in until an investigation is completed, Brun said. LA Times/AP | Posted 6:45 a.m.
-- NPR: Terminal may need to be demolished

Travel Leads E-Tailers to First Profits
Online retailers collectively made a profit last year for the first time as sales jumped a better-than-expected 51 percent in a sign of continued resilience in e-commerce, an industry survey found. Online sales surged to $114 billion last year, surpassing forecasts of $96 billion, fueled by the travel category, according to an annual survey of 150 retailers conducted by Shop.org, the online arm of the National Retail Federation, and Forrester Research, an Internet research company. Advertisement The online retailers broke even in 2002 as sales, which include those from bricks-and-mortar and catalog companies as well as strictly Web-based companies, totaled $76 billion, according to the survey, being released today. "This positions online retailing as a real profit engine for retailers," said Scott Silverman, executive director of Shop.org. AP | Posted 7 a.m.

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• And finally ... today's blog is brought to you by the Hampton Inn. As many of you know, our move didn't go as smoothly as expected. Basically, we're "homeless" until the contract on our house closes (maybe today, maybe tomorrow). Good thing our friends at the Hampton Inn at the Orlando Convention Center have a nice high-speed dial-up connection, plus Wi-Fi. That means you don't miss a day of Travel Notes - and I get to check e-mail. Posted 7:10 a.m. | Send us your comments.

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