Glasgow Airport in giant snail drama
Monday, 24 September 2012
All the weird and wonderful tales from the world of travel this week.
A cat resorts to desperate measures to get to Disney World, fake pilots and all the oddball news from the world of travel this week.
Giant snails land in Glasgow
A Nigerian man travelling from Amsterdam arrived in Glasgow last week with 36 ‘gourmet’ snails in his suitcase. UK Border Force officers at Glasgow Airport confiscated these giant slimers, whose shells are the size of a human fist, because the man did not have a license to import live goods. He claimed the 15cm-long land snails were to be used for food. Coming to a fast food outlet near you!
Stowaway cat survives 10-hour flight
This high-flying feline, known as ‘Bob-bob’, snuck into Ethel Maze’s luggage and hitched a 930-mile ride all the way to Disney World. The 14-month old kitten survived the 10-hour flight from Ohio to Florida and managed to get through luggage x-rays undetected. Bob-bob must have known where Mrs. Maze was heading to and just couldn’t resist the chance to catch the most famous mouse in the world.
Fake pilot hitches free ride
A 32 year-old Italian man was arrested for posing as an airline pilot and hitching over 250 free flights. He even managed to wangle his way into the cockpit of one jet using his fake ID and homemade pilot’s uniform. Going by the name of Andrea Sirlo, the unemployed conman said that he was inspired by Steven Spielberg’s 2002 film, ‘Catch Me If You Can’. We’ve checked out his Twitter profile, he’s no Leo Di Caprio.
Five star food for Qatar Airways
Forget the Fat Duck, apparently the best place to experience Michelin star fine dining is now at 35,000 feet. Qatar Airways have partnered with world-famous culinary supremos, including UK chef Tom Aikens, to cook up some five star in-flight fare. The airline has brought in these chefs, who each specialise in a different cuisine, to create a range of signature dishes with international flavour. Hopefully other airlines will take note and this will mean an end to those rock-hard microwaved bread rolls!
Crikey mate! Croc escapes cargo hold
A crocodile made a dash for freedom on board a Qantas flight from Brisbane last week. The small reptile was discovered roaming around the cargo hold by baggage handlers unloading passengers’ luggage once the plane landed in Melbourne, but was safely recaptured. Qantas have launched an investigation in to how the cunning croc managed to escape.
Follow every flight in the world 24/7
From the rich tycoon in his private jet, to the first-time backpacker sat in economy, everyone is heading sky high, and now you can track every single flight. Flightradar24 have designed a flight map which allows you to follow every flight, mark its route and tell you which planes are expected to land at particular airports at certain times. It’s updated every couple of minutes and you can even monitor a plane’s altitude. Sad? No way!
