Afdal Airlines on "Sex and the City 2": A Copy of the Emirates A380

This is one of a series of posts about the Emirates A380:

The 2010 sequel "Sex and the City 2" should have been called either "Sex and the Desert" or "Sex and the Excess". It was a film that totally lost touch with what made it popular and suffered in extreme lavishness of consumerism. One of these excesses included the four main characters (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon) flying first class to Abu Dhabi.

Sarah Jessica Parker and Kim Cattrall (above images: New Line Cinema)

Of course they had to travel in style flying on the fictional airline Afdal Air. It was obvious their flight accommodations were designed after the Emirates A380 manufactured by Airbus. The first class cabin was replicated exactly to include the suites with sliding privacy doors and social lounge where the gang enjoy a round of Cosmos.

(note: This post was originally published on March 5, 2011. This post separates the portion of the article dealing with the A380 featured in the "Sex and City 2" movie. The original post now only features the portion about the film "Flightplan" which featured an airplane similar to the A380.)

The airplane suite set featured in "Sex and the City 2".
(photo: PropNSpoon)

World's Longest Flights Ranked by Hours

It's 9,500 miles between Los Angeles (left) and Singapore (right).
See below for the number of hours it takes to fly this route.
(photo credit: John Sullivan/Wikimedia Commons/and the Singapore
Toursim Board for U.S. News)

My achilles heel when I travel is it's at least 2,500 miles to the nearest continent from Honolulu, Hawaii. At its shortest the flight to the west coast of the United States is about five hours. That duration is considered a mere fraction of the time to fly some of the longest flights in the world ranked by hours. Now it would be amazing if anyone on these flights doesn't at least get up once to go to the restroom unless they're unconscious for the entire duration or seeking deep vein thrombosis as a goal.

Probably the best thing about these very long-haul flights is there's no layover and it helps to earn elite level on each airline that much easier.

The ranking is determined by U.S. News & World Report. Notice that the miles between destinations does not necessarily determine the longest flights.

16 Hours
New York to Hong Kong on Cathay Pacific (8,059 miles)
Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas to Brisbane, Australia on Qantas (8,584 miles)
Johannesburg, South Africa to New York on South African Airways (7,970 miles)
Newark, New Jersey to Hong Kong on United Airlines (8,065 miles)

16 Hours 15 Minutes
Atlanta, Georgia to Johannesburg, South Africa on Delta Airlines (8,433 miles)
Doha, Qatar to Houston, Texas on Qatar Airways (8,047 miles)

16 Hours 20 Minutes
Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Houston, Texas on Emirates Airlines (8,164 miles)

16 Hours 30 Minutes
Dubai, United Arab Emirates to Los Angeles, California on Emirates Airlines (8,335 miles)

17 Hours 30 Minutes
Los Angeles, California to Bangkok, Thailand on Thai Airways (8,260 miles)

18 Hours
Newark, New Jersey to Singapore on Singapore Airlines (10,371 miles)

18 Hours 30 Minutes
Los Angeles, California to Singapore on Singapore Airlines (9,500 miles)

It should be noted that Singapore Airlines operates a business-class only airplane for 100 passengers on this Los Angeles to Singapore route. The reason this flight is shorter than the Newark to Singapore flight is the route taken by the airline's jets. The Newark flight path across the North Pole subjects the aircraft to less wind resistance, allowing it travel faster than the flight from Los Angeles, which crosses the Pacific Ocean.

Click HERE to read the full article from U.S. News & World Report and learn more about these flights.

Limiting Weight of Carry-On Bags for Safety

(photo credit: USA Today)

One of the effects of the common practice of charging for checked-bags by the airlines are heavier and an increased number of carry-on bags. These bags can be dangerous if they fall out of bins and most passengers are unaware that these bins have specific weight limits. If you damage the overhead bin, you'll receive the ire other passengers who can no longer use the bin either.

So far Hawaiian Airlines is the first among domestic carriers in enforcing a 25-pound weight limit for carry-on bags. Among other airlines, US Airways personnel may insist a bag be checked if it exceeds 40 pounds. Don't be surprised if Hawaiian personnel asks you to weigh carry-on bags at check-in or ask you to use the the luggage sizer (or portable luggage scales, if available) at the gate. One time on flight from Hilo, Hawaii to Honolulu, I noticed gate agents walking around the waiting area looking at passenger carry-on bags. They did have the courtesy to announce they would be doing so. However I have not seen this practice recently.

Foreign airlines are not immune either to the practice of limiting the weight of bags brought into the cabin. Some in fact have even more stricter carry-on limits:

• Emirates, 15 pounds
• Lufthansa, 17.5 pounds
• Qantas, 15 pounds
• Virgin Atlantic, 13 pounds

Click HERE to view each airline's carry-on weight limit from AirfareWatchDog.

Heavy carry-on bags presents a liability for the airline, the owner of the bag or the passenger who opens a bin should they be at fault for causing injury to another passenger. Also remember the flight crew is there for your safety and many flight attendants will not stow your bags for you. But on one American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Philadelphia, the flight attendants played what I would call the carry-on bag shuffle as they walked up and down the cabin trying to fit bags or moving them from bin to bin to accommodate the abundance of carry-on bags. Finally for your well-being, no passenger should attempt to bring a bag on board they cannot lift themselves and risk getting injured.

For myself, I try to pack light for short trips so I don't have to check any bags. For longer trips, my carry-on will hold only the valuables and some basic necessities just in case (such as an extra change of clothes) and travel size of some toiletries (toothpaste, toothbrush) for long layovers. But with the rising cost of checked-bag fees I don't blame passengers trying to save money especially in these days of rising airfares, fees and fuel.