Border Horse Travel

Archive for the ‘Frankfurt Airport’ Category

For a country like Iran under sanctions of US and most industrial countries, the first question you are going to ask is “Is it safe to travel Iran now?” It is the question that most of millions of travelers to Iran have already answered and the answer is: it is safe as anywhere else in the world.

Many airlines have direct flights to Tehran. It includes British Airways, Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines, , Aeroflot, Alitalia, Swiss, Turkish Airlines, Air India, and a large number of middle east carriers like Iran air, Mahan air, Emirates, Etihad Airways, Air Arabia, Gulf Air provide fast and easy access to Iran with their really low cost airfares to and from Tehran.

Direct flights to Iran are possible from London, Paris, Frankfurt, Milan, Madrid, Hamburg, Geneva, Vienna, Tokyo, Seoul, Beijing, Mumbai, Kuala Lumpor, Dubai, Doha and lots of other major cities in Europe, Asia, and Middle East.

IranAir is the national airline of Iran and offers flights to Iran from 17 European airports. German flights to Iran operate from Cologne, Frankfurt and Hamburg whilst English and French flights to Iran operate only from the two capital cities, London and Paris respectively. Flights to Iran also operate from Moscow, Geneva, Amsterdam, Istanbul, Ankara, Vienna, Stockholm, Moscow, Copenhagen and Larnaca.

Mahan Air is the largest private airline in Tehran. Mahan Air has flights to and from Tehran to Baghdad, Istanbul, Dubai, India, Dusseldorf, Birmingham and a couple of other european cities.

Most flights to Iran land in Iran Khomeini Airport (IKA). IKA is a large and modern Airport that has been opened in 2004 and all international flights have been transferred to it from the older Mehrabad International Airport.

It’s considered wise to look compare the price slots of airlines and then accordingly get lowest airfares. Best way is to compare, compare and compare before picking your best airfare deal.

For individual or group travelers, three options exists to choose best travel package. The most comfortable and at the same time the most expensive one is to book a full travel package online or through a travel agency. Your international and domestic flights, journey, accommodation, meals and transfers are pre-booked and a qualified tour guide from the chosen travel agency is available in each city to help with arranging a sightseeing program.

The next option way is booking a mini-package tour. The travel agency is just responsible for booking flights, accommodation and transfers while the travelers have to plan the sightseeing program themselves. Normally, the traveler is met at the airport or Bus Terminal of each city and is taken to the hotel. Traveler could discuss their plans for sightseeing there and have them arranged for a fee.

The last option is a completely independent travel. You get a chance to contact Iranian people yourself and practice your ability to deal with various unexpected events. Travelling in Iran is an exciting, fun and warm experience; this is due mainly to the people of the country who are extremely friendly and helpful.

This form of traveling in Iran has increased in recent years since it seems to be more flexible and freely. The travelers of this kind have to arrange everything, the flights, accommodation, meals, transfers and sightseeing program themselves. Your first step is to find a your air ticket to Iran.

It’s considered wise to look compare the price slots of airlines and then accordingly get lowest airfares. Best way is to compare, compare and compare before picking your best airfare deal. In order to make the travel smooth, you are recommended to book your air tickets and accommodation as soon as you arrive.

Carbon Footprint for Dummies

Carbon Neutrality and What it means for Your Business

There is a lot of talk about Carbon Footprint and being Carbon Neutral, but do you actually know what it means, what impact it has to your business and whether or not you should bother?

Every household and every business, in fact every individual is causing Co2 emission, whether we like it or not and whether we are aware of it or not. If you drive a car, heat a room or consume anything that has been produced consuming energy, you are – directly or indirectly – causing Co2 emission. The amount of Co2 emission you are causing is called your carbon footprint. It’s as individual as a fingerprint (or footprint), as every person and every organisation has different consumption patterns entailing different Co2 consumption, leading to different carbon footprints.

You can calculate your carbon footprint quite easily, using a carbon footprint calculator as available on the internet, e.g. http://www.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.html

The fact that you are causing Co2 emission as such is nothing you need to be ashamed of, it’s quite normal and as a matter of fact it’s unavoidable. The problem is that there is too much Co2 released into the atmosphere, causing the infamous greenhouse effect and global warming.

So what’s wrong if the climate get warmer?

Too much Co2 damages the ozone layer that protects us from ultraviolet radiation, which is causing skin cancer. If the planet’s climate is getting warmer, the ice at the poles will be melting, the sea levels will rise, devouring settlements near the waterline. With other words: Your property by the sea-front will be worth zilch, and if you plan to holiday on some Caribbean or Mediterranean islands, do it quick as they are likely to disappear.

When would this happen?

It all depends on the speed by which we manage to deteriorate our environment. Where I grew up as a child, we used to go cross-country skiing; today palm trees grow on the main street. It’s a threat that is likely to affect you during your lifetime but definitely the life of your children.

Ok, so what can I do?

When public enemy no. 1 “Co2” had been identified, pundits started to search for solutions. Since there is no easy way to actually reduce the emission of Co2 or to even stop it dead, it seemed like a great idea to at least freeze Co2 emission levels and not to allow them to increase.

This led to idea of promoting “carbon neutrality”. For every amount of Co2 you are releasing –or causing to be released- someone else has to reduce its emission by the same amount, so the grand total remains the same.

How does it work?

Every company has been given the right to emission a certain amount of Co2, according to its status quo at the time when the concept was put into effect. Those rights are called “carbon credits”.

In order to incentivise companies to reduce their Co2 emissions, their where given the right to sell their credits. So if they manage to reduce their Co2 emission, they can sell the right to release the difference between their actual emission and the amount they are allowed to release, to another company.

This is a congenial idea because at once companies recognised the profit they can make by reducing their own Co2 emissions and selling their rights on to less developed or less capable companies that can’t reduce their Co2 emissions yet.

This maintains an even balance of Co2 emissions, which is carbon neutrality on a global scale and promotes the reduction of Co2.

But there are things we all can do on a micro scale to be carbon neutral, by acting, consuming and working in a sensible way that does not derange the Co2 balance.

Imagine instead of driving by car you could take the bicycle. Consuming green energy only is another example, as is achieving a very high degree of recycling.

Although it might sound like mission impossible, it is actually achievable to be 100% carbon neutral. If you buy products or services where parts of the profits are going to projects that help to reduce Co2 emissions or to plant trees, you are collecting brownie points for your carbon neutrality.

Such products can be found on the web, but to choose a green utility provider is already an option available to everyone.

For those you missed the biology lesson at school: Trees convert Co2 into oxygen and hence are great Co2 killers.

So when you contribute to planting trees or to sustainable forestry management, you are doing something to achieve carbon neutrality.

So by a combination of buying carbon credits and reducing the amount of new Co2 released into the atmosphere by sensible consumption and operational behaviour, one can indeed achieve carbon neutrality. This means in fact that the amount of unavoidable Co2 caused by your existence as a person or a business is offset by your carbon reducing activities.

Why bother?

There is no law telling you to be carbon neutral and there is no punishment if you are not. It’s still hardly controllable and your clients and customers will probably never notice if you aren’t.

But even if you don’t care about skin cancer, don’t live near the water and don’t holiday on an island, there are good reasons why bother. As with so many things, it’s a matter of conscience, and more and more people appreciate suppliers who are carbon neutral, because it makes them feel good buying green products or services, is the right thing to do and keeps the idea and the momentum of environmental responsibility going.

So just as ISO certification, adhering to good business practice and being ethical, being carbon neutral will not buy you new business, but it will become a badge of distinction helping you to brand your business as responsible, ethical and a good partner to do business with. If a supplier has the choice between two otherwise identical suppliers, it’ll be more than likely that those being carbon neutral will win the tender because of the extra feel-good factor they are offering to the client.

And if you are real great, you might want to do just that little bit extra and become actually carbon positive, which simply means you are helping to reduce more Co2 than you are actually causing yourself.

And this is where the ideas becomes real great and starts making a difference, because from this point forward we will reverse the process and make the planet a place better than it is now.

By the way, this article was brought to you by Rembor & Partners strategic consultants, carbon positive since 2007.

Rembor & Partners Ltd. – www.remborpartners.com

 

 

If you are an infrequent traveler you may need some tips to keep the wife happy while you are jet setting around the globe. Many individuals do not realize the tolls that traveling can have on married life. Occasionally your travels are going to take you to a location that your spouse would love to attend. You may be servicing customers near your or your wifes childhood homes, you may be visiting a destination that she has always desired to be at, she may simply want to spend some time with you.

After you make the decision that the spouse will be going on the next business trip, you need to review your corporate travel policies. Many companies have fairly lax rules on spousal travel. However it could be possible that you have to pick up the differences in hotel room costs for the second person. Most companies however wave this fee if you are in good standings with them.

So the accommodation’s are settled what is left to meet the wifes expectations well you will more than likely have to make some adjustments in your travel plans. Unless you work for a company that is far more progressive than any that I have seen before, you will be picking up the tab for your wifes travel. So start looking at sites such as http://www.travelblogger.info and reviewing the travel prices that they provide. By researching early you have the opportunity to cut some significant costs from your bill.

This early research will also allow you to properly plan out your visits and time them with travel concerns. Always research all arrival locations for the cheapest airfare. A great example of this was my co-worker who was asked to go to Germany for some problem analysis. His spouse made the executive decision that she was going to also be going to Germany. After looking at tickets from the local airport to Frankfurt (typical landing point) he found the tickets to cost no less than $1395.00. He talked with me and I suggested he look at Berlin International Airport. The total for the ticket dropped to $611.00.

Now he had to clear this change of plans with our boss because it increased his driving time on the ground by 1 hr. But the $600 dollars that he saved on airfare travel more than made up for the increased car ride time.

Speaking of the car. Make sure that the spouse is on the car rental agreement and insured. If your wife is like mine she is not going to be happy cooped up in a hotel while you are in facilities all day. She is going to want to get out and about during the day. Checking this minor point will save you loads of time and aggravation.

The final item of concern is your dining tab. Be exceedingly careful and research your corporate policy closely on this one. Typically you will be allowed to pick-up the room breakfast on the corporate account for the wife. However it is highly unlikely that you will be able to expense out her lunch and dinner meals. As a matter of fact I have seen one gentlemen dismissed on this account. Now he had other issues, but this is the corporate policy that he broke that achieved the pink slip.

So in short you need to research where you are traveling too, you need to research when you are going to be traveling, and you need to look in depth at your corporate travel policies and don’t assume anything. Corporations have been in business for many years and most of the expense details are spelled out clearly in their guidelines. Where there is headway ask your supervisor and they should be able to inform you of exactly what will and will not be allowed to pass on your expense report.

Charles Cater