Pregnant New Zealand minister cycles to delivery ward

Yahoo – AFP, 20 August 2018

New Zealand's Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter cycled to hospital for
the birth of her first child in Auckland

New Zealand's Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter has taken the cycle of life to a whole new level, biking her way to hospital for the birth of her first child.

Genter, a Green MP and keen cyclist, chose pedal power for Sunday's one kilometre (0.6 mile) journey from her home to Auckland City Hospital for the delivery.

"My partner and I cycled because there wasn't enough room in the car for the support crew... but it also put me in the best possible mood!" she posted on social media alongside a picture of her with her bike.

Genter is 42 weeks pregnant, and said in the post that she was going in to hospital for an induction.

She is not only Women's Minister but Associate Transport Minister in New Zealand's centre-left government, advocating for sustainable travel.

Her Green Party colleagues tweeted that the bicycle trip to the delivery ward was "the most #onbrand thing ever".

A party spokeswoman said the baby had still not arrived by late afternoon Monday.

The impending birth comes just weeks after New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern returned to work after having her first child, daughter Neve, in June.

Ardern, who was elected last year, became only the second world leader to give birth while in office after Pakistan's Benazir Bhutto in 1990.

Nine dead in New Zealand skydive plane crash

BBC News, 4 September 2010 Last updated at 05:21 GMT

Ninepeople, including four foreigners, have been killed in a light aircraft crashin New Zealand, say reports.

Theplane, owned by a skydiving company, burst into flames shortly after taking offat the tourist spot of Fox Glacier on the South Island.

The deadtourists were from Britain, Ireland, Australia and Germany, said police. Thepilot and the other four passengers were all local.

None ofthe passengers has yet been identified.

Theplane was reported to be a Fletcher fixed-wing aircraft, commonly used in thearea.

Officialssaid it crashed shortly after leaving the Fox Glacier airstrip at about 1330local time (0130GMT).

Aneyewitness told the New Zealand Herald: "It was like a fireball and thenthere was big puffs of smoke going up. [The plane] was engulfed inflames immediately."

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Strong earthquake rocks New Zealand's South Island

Plane makes emergency landing

nzherald.co.nz, by Anna Rushworth, 4:00 AM Sunday May 23, 2010

A passenger plane owned by a troubled airline was forced to make an emergency landing after power loss in one of its engines.

The twin-engine Partenavia P68B, belonging to Great Barrier Airlines, got into trouble about three minutes after taking off from the Island's Claris Airfield on November 4.

A Civil Aviation Authority report says the right-hand engine "suddenly lost power, then surged back up again" before another loss 10 to 15 seconds later.

As the power continued to surge, extra power was selected for the left engine, while the right idled.

The aircraft returned to the airfield for an "uneventful landing", the report says.

A maintenance investigation discovered the fuel line to the engine pump was in contact with heat from the engine exhaust. The heating may have caused vapour to develop in the fuel line.

The report says this was the second time the aircraft had experienced such a problem.

The incident is the latest in a string of troubles suffered by the airline dating back to 1998 when the entire fleet was grounded by former CAA director Kevin Ward for "critical deficiencies", including flying aircraft with known defects.

Last July, terrified passengers watched as a propeller came off their aircraft mid-air.

And in September, a Piper Cherokee 6 crashed into a swamp moments after take-off from Claris.

The CAA and Transport Accident Investigation Commission are still investigating.

The airline did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

KLM upbeat on Indonesian market, brings in new aircraft

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Wed, 04/01/2009 2:56 PM

KLM, the Royal Dutch Airline is upbeat about the Indonesian passenger market, describing it as a strong one, despite the current global economic downturn.

"Indonesia is withstanding the global crisis quite well while Singapore, Australia and New Zealand are hit much harder," Air France KLM general manager for the region (comprising Singapore, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand), Paul Rombeek, told reporters Monday.

"However, we do see worldwide that all economies are in trouble."

Rombeek, appointed in February, quoted IATA suggesting airlines worldwide might suffer losses of up to US$4.6 billion this year.

Meanwhile, Air France KLM country manager Axel Theo Colen said the airline was experiencing a fall of 10 to 20 percent in bookings.

Colen emphasized however that Indonesia reached its budgeted target for the year ending March 31.

"This means that there was growth in Indonesia compared to the 2007/2009 fiscal year," he said.

"Indonesia has big potential despite negative trends in bookings."

Colen, however, declined to reveal any load factor figures from Jakarta saying this was confidential.

KLM serves daily the Jakarta-Amsterdam route via Kuala Lumpur.

Both Rombeek and Colen were speaking before a ceremony to welcome the new Boeing 777 at the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Cengkareng, Banten.

Previously the route was served by the 428-seat Boeing 747-400 aircraft which flew the route four times a week. The 280-seat 747-400 Combi (combined with freight) flew the other three times a week.

KLM currently has 15 Boeing 777-200s in its fleet, with two more expected later this year.

The airline also has two Boeing 777-300s with two more expected to arrive in May and August.

The 200 series has 327 seats while the 300 series has 425 seats. Both series have 35 business class seats while the rest are economy seats.

The 300 series will fly every Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday with the 200 series flying on Tuesday, Friday and Sunday.

The use of the Boeing 777 provides an additional 150 seats per week or an increase of 6 percent.

"Not only is the new airplane a reward for the route for good performance but it also offers a better product to passengers," Colen said.

With better technological advances Colen said the Boeing 777 burned less fuel than the 747.

A round trip with a 747 needs 300 tons of fuel while the 777 only needs some 230 tons," he said.