Soon, air travelers to France will be making a donation toward health care in the developing world. The cost will depend on the distance flown, as well as the class of service:

The French tax, which won’t apply to transit passengers staying in France for fewer than 12 hours, will reach 40 euros on first- and business-class tickets for flights outside Europe, and 10 euros per ticket for flights in Europe. For economy-class tickets, the levy will be 4 euros outside Europe and 1 euro within Europe.

Much like a Tobin tax, the plan potentially has two simultaneous goals: funnel money to health care in the developing world, and discourage frivolous travel.

Addressing representatives of 95 countries gathered at the conference, Chirac called the French tax on air flights a simple and neutral experiment. He said the tax revenues, estimated to be about $240 million this year, would be spent on programs to fight malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV/AIDS in the developing world.

Airlines are, unsurprisingly, opposed to anything that raises the price of tickets without sending more money to their own accounts.

So far, Algeria, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom have adopted similar measures. An as-yet unspecified international institution such as the World Health Organization or the World Bank would administer the fund.

The churning sea! The salty air! The whiff of petrochemicals!

All this, in a cozy but luxurious setting, can soon be yours, at top dollar!

Mohamed Al Fayed’s plans to open a hotel on an oil rig in the North Sea received a boost after two oil companies signed up for the project.
The Harrods owner wants to create a 50-bedroom country-house style hotel on a platform in the Cromarty Firth, off Scotland’s east coast, by 2008.

Echoes of James Bond supervillain Stromberg? If there is a supervillain watch list, it’s time put Mr. Al Fayed on it.

Perhaps there will even be room for a Krustyburger franchise?

The founders of Ryanair (the Ryan family, of course) inked a deal with the Mexican bus company IAMSA to start a new discount airline. The Ryans took a 49% stake in the new company, allegedly named… (wait for it…)

AeroBus.

With that name, they’re ironically not using Airbus planes. Rather, they’re starting off with two Boeing 737-300s.

Besides intra-Mexican flights, AeroBus is considering flights to San Diego, LA, Las Vegas, Houston, and Chicago.

We can assume that the airline will be aggressive on price, certainly to start. Let’s just hope they offer more legroom than Ryanair. Windowshades and seats that recline even just a smidgen would be nice, too.

“Open Skies” agreements are in the news again. How these disputes are resolved may determine the price of future international air travel.

The term “open skies” refers to agreements between governments, allowing international airlines to fly freely to/from the countries in question. Without an open skies agreement, an airline’s decision to fly to/from a given city must be approved by the governments at either end.

In many cases, countries sign bilateral agreements which limit the number of flights between countries, and limiting the companies which are permitted to make the journey. Traffic to and from London’s Heathrow Airport is most famously regulated in this way, allowing for two British and two American carriers only (British Airways, Virgin Atlantic, American, and United).

Open skies presumably bring greater competition and better point-to-point service, thereby lowering costs for travelers. On the other side, airlines that hold exclusive rights to a destination tend to want to keep it that way. (For example, the island of Guam recently petitioned the U.S. Department of Transportation to open the skies, a move which Continental, which operates a hub there, is fighting vigorously.)

Right now, the US and various European Union member states have bilateral agreements in place, but these are technically illegal under EU rules, which require such deals to be made with the EU itself, not with member states. So last November, the US and EU struck a bargain: Open skies between the EU and the US, if the US revises its legal restrictions on foreign ownership of airlines.

This is where the problems arise. The WSJ explains (subscription necessary):

[...] foreigners are banned from owning more than 25% of the voting stock in a U.S. carrier, or 49% of the total stock. The Bush administration and the Europeans would like to raise those caps, but Congress has refused. To get around that, the administration wants to reinterpret a regulation that requires foreigners exercise “no semblance” of control over a U.S. airline. The change would let non-U.S. citizens influence an array of operations, including marketing, routes and types of equipment used. Decisions on safety, security and use of craft to aid the military would remain in U.S. citizens’ hands. The caps on stock ownership wouldn’t change.

With the current political climate opposed to foreign ownership of security-sensitive American assets (such as Dubai’s entry into the seaport management business in the U.S.), protectionist sentiment could break the deal. This would hinder the liberalization of flight routes, potentially propping up prices.

Without open skies, it sounds like we’ll be opening our walllets.

A “classic” trick for attempting to circumvent high last-minute “walkup” fares has been to buy a package. Discounters like Site59.com (a subsidiary of Travelocity) are particularly good at this within the U.S. market, though airlines’ own websites increasingly offer good last-minute packages. These air+hotel or air+car packages are often (though not always) cheaper than buying the flight alone.

And, unlike the “opaque” flights offered by Hotwire and Priceline as part of their rock-bottom packages, Site59 and its ilk offer flights that actually earn miles.

Gary Leff recently posted a discount code that makes the last-minute option even cheaper:

$59 off on packages of $700 or more through April 30 with discount code SITE59GETAWAY.

On MSNBC.com, Adam Hunter sounds the alarm again that cellphone use may soon be permitted in flight within the United States. It’s still up to two separate federal agencies — the FAA and the FCC — to come to agreement before cellphone users can burn through their minutes.

Phones have been on board for years, most commonly the Verizon Airfones that are installed in the backs of seats. The cost of making a call has been a deterrent, even when subscribers to a company cellphone plan get a discount.

I certainly sympathize with Hunter’s fear that we’ll soon be hearing more annoying chatter in the cabin. The poll associated with his article, while unscientific, shows that most people agree that cellphones are unwelcome inside aluminum tubes that hurtle through the air at over 500 mph.

But even if normal land-based cellphones are not approved (which I bet WILL happen), wi-fi in flight IS increasingly a reality. Several international carriers have installed Connexion by Boeing on their planes, which allows passengers to purchase high-speed wireless internet access for the duration of their flight. The planes are equipped with a wireless hub and a satellite connection.

Already today, a passenger flying, say, Asiana Airlines from Seoul to Seattle could buy a day pass for “Asiana Airnet,” then plug in a headset, fire up Skype or Net2Phone or any other VoIP service, and start making calls. Perfectly legally.

The next logical step is wi-fi enabled phones on board. In fact, they’re already being tested.

Granted, these are both currently more cumbersome than just dialing your existing cellphone, but the technology is here. Cellphones may be prohibited, but VoIP in the sky is coming.