Latest news with #charterflights
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
White Elephant offers Nantucket, Palm Beach travel deal with Slate Aviation
The Palm Beach boutique hotel White Elephant on Sunset Avenue and a locally based shared-charter aviation company are engaged in a collaboration aimed at offering travelers enticing perks. It's part of a new partnership between the hotel's parent, Boston-based White Elephant Resorts — which also owns hotels in Nantucket, Massachusetts — and West Palm Beach-based Slate Aviation. Through October, guests of the 32-room-and-suites White Elephant in Palm Beach and its Nantucket sister hotels can receive $250 off one-way fares on Slate's semi-private charter flights between Palm Beach and Nantucket. They also are entitled to a gratis six-month four-person membership ($395 value) to Slate Aviation, whose aircraft offer private-terminal departures — bypassing TSA security-check lines — and 18 business-class seats in all. Meanwhile, flyers with Slate Aviation, the new marketing name of Tri State Aviation, receive 15% off room rates at White Elephant Palm Beach, 180 Sunset Ave., and its Nantucket sisters. The Nantucket properties include the White Elephant Nantucket, The Wauwinet, Jared Coffin House, and Cottages & Lofts at the Boat Basin. 'Many of our guests already divide their time between the two islands (Palm Beach and Nantucket) and this collaboration makes that journey more effortless than ever,' Ashish Verma, executive vice president of White Elephant Resorts, told the Daily News. 'It's about extending the signature White Elephant experience of service, style and hospitality from one beloved setting to the next.' Slate Aviation officials agree: 'The White Elephant and Slate share a similar clientele interested in superior hospitality, convenience and sophistication,' company co-owner Heather Maguire told the Daily News. 'And with a presence in both Nantucket and Palm Beach, we saw that they were a natural route-launch partner for an all-business class airline offering nonstop service between the two destinations.' Slate's planes fly non-stop to and from the Northeast from Palm Beach International and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airports. Slate serves Westchester County Airport in New York and Nantucket Memorial Airport in Massachusetts, among others. This isn't the first partnership Slate has forged with a Palm Beach-connected business. This past spring, Slate partnered with popular Palm Beach restaurant Buccan, 350 S. County Road, led by seven-times James Beard Warad chef-nominee Clay Conley. Buccan signed on in May to provide Slate's custom inflight menu for flyers, a 'fun new challenge,' Conley said at the time. Such partnerships provide a 'special, personalized experience for our guests,' Slate's Maguire said. For more information, visit or To book a room or flight connected with the White Elephant/Slate partnership, visit the the Slate x White Elephant partner portal at This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: White Elephant partnership with Slate Aviation offers Nantucket deal Solve the daily Crossword
News.com.au
24-06-2025
- Politics
- News.com.au
Children in remote communities denied seats on near-empty ‘Indigenous-only' charter flights
The Albanese government will review charter flight arrangements for students living in remote outback communities after claims non-Indigenous students were prevented from boarding planes because they were not ABSTUDY recipients. Derek Lord, a father of two boys living in the far north west Queensland town of Normanton about five hours north of Mt Isa and eight hours west of Cairns in the Gulf of Carpentaria, said his sons faced a 'six-day ordeal' to get home after they were not allowed to purchase seats on a nearly empty, taxpayer-funded flight. Mr Lord, who is the Air Traffic Services Reporting Officer at the tiny Normanton Airport, said he regularly sees 20-seat planes arriving with fewer than half the seats occupied. But he claims his two sons, who board at school in Charters Towers, 90 minutes southwest of Townsville, have been turned away from those same flights because they're not ABSTUDY recipients. 'My boys have been left sitting at the airport, bags packed, because they weren't allowed on a plane with empty seats,' Mr Lord said in a statement via Katter's Australian Party (KAP) Leader and Member for Traeger, Robbie Katter. 'We'd gladly pay for those seats — anything to avoid the six-day ordeal we have to go through with commercial flights to get them home for the holidays when roads were cut off due to flooding.' ABSTUDY, introduced in 1969, is a federal government scheme for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that offers education-related financial assistance, including course fees and travel costs for students who study away from home. Mr Katter has slammed the new school charter flight arrangement as fundamentally flawed and unfair, describing it as a system that fosters division and fails to meet the needs of remote communities. 'This is not an Indigenous problem. It's a remote living problem,' Mr Katter said. 'When you've got families living in the same town, sending their kids to the same school, but being treated differently — that's wrong. It risks creating division in communities where it doesn't exist.' Mr Katter said the situation had been made worse by the government's decision to hand the contract to a UK-based operator with no local experience, replacing long-time provider Volantair. 'We had a capable, locally based operator with 20 years' experience and regional knowledge,' he said. 'Now we've got a foreign company charging up to $1781 per ABSTUDY seat — almost triple what a regular flight costs — and delivering a shambolic service.' The new operator, Air Charter Services, was appointed last year by Corporate Travel Management (CTM), which is responsible for the ABSTUDY charter contract. Air Charter Services and CTM have been contacted for comment. Since the change, according to Mr Katter, planes had shown up without passengers to collect, flights had gone unused, and single-engine aircraft without weather radar had been deployed into some of Queensland's toughest flying conditions. 'Kids are being left stranded, rural and remote families are being ignored,' Mr Katter said. 'It's time these services were made available to any child living remotely — not just those eligible under a narrow government program — and returned to experienced local operators who know the land, know the people, and care about the outcomes.' Speaking to 2GB's Ben Fordham on Tuesday, Mr Lord said he had even tried paying for seats on the planes but his sons were denied 'because they don't fall under ABSTUDY'. 'The carrier even agreed to take our money but the booking company that now does it, which is overseas, refused to allow our children to get on because they don't meet the criteria,' he said. 'We don't understand it either. It's taxpayer-funded. Even if we weren't willing to pay, the plane is coming here, it's being paid for by everyone's taxes whether you're Indigenous or non-Indigenous, the kids are from the same town.' Mr Lord noted 'we're in the middle of a flood crisis and we couldn't get in our out', recounting the tortuous journey home for his sons. 'So there was no way to get our kids home unless it's on a private charter ourselves, or through Rex, and Rex can be up to two, three weeks waiting for a seat,' he said. 'We would have to bus them down to Townsville and then either bus them or plane them up to Cairns, and then they'd have to sit in Cairns over the weekend because there's no Rex flights, and then they'd have to fly home on Rex if we could get a Monday or Tuesday flight, and that's a big if.' He said 'even Indigenous leaders here don't understand it'. 'I don't think it's about reconciliation, I think it's more about that the system is broken,' he said. 'The gap is not a gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous per se, it's regional versus non-regional. If you actually compared the two I think you'd find many of the non-Indigenous kids and families have the same disadvantages as Indigenous people in rural or remote communities.' Mr Lord added that son's girlfriend was Indigenous and 'the first time this happened, she got on one flight and he had to get on the other'. Fordham said it was 'absolutely mad'. 'Just put the kids on the same damn plane,' he said. A spokeswoman for Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek told the matter was being reviewed. 'The ABSTUDY program was introduced in 1969 by Liberal National Prime Minister John Gorton to help Indigenous students from very remote communities get access to education,' she said. 'Charter flights are only used where it is the cheapest or most cost effective alternative, from very remote communities. The allocation of spare seats is a matter for the charter company. The government agrees that empty seats should be made available for other students or community members to purchase where safe and practical to do so. The Minister will request updated advice from her department on this issue to ensure charter fees reflect value for money.' The Department of Finance, which manages all the whole of Australian government travel contract, has previously clarified that CTM has no exclusive agreements with charter companies and will choose charter providers for the ABSTUDY program based on the needs of ABSTUDY travellers. 'CTM has encouraged competition through the expansion of charters available to be booked for the government, including the ABSTUDY program,' a spokeswoman for the department told Cairns Post last year. 'They have also recently included an additional 12 new charter service providers to the program, including two Indigenous businesses.'
Daily Mail
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Aussie taxpayers slugged for Indigenous only flights which are taking off 'half empty'
Primary school students in remote areas are being turned away from taxpayer-funded charter flights with empty seats because they are not Indigenous. Derek Lord, air traffic services reporting officer at Normanton Airport in north-west Queensland, said he regularly sees 20-seat government-chartered planes arriving with fewer than half the seats occupied. Mr Lord said his two sons, who board at a school in Charters Towers, near Townsville, were not allowed to board the planes because they were only available to Indigenous recipients of the ABSTUDY scheme. Without access to the planes, it takes them up to six days to get home for the holiday period, taking buses and planes via Townsville and Cairns. Mr Lord had tried paying for seats on the planes but the 'booking company that now does it, which is overseas, refused to allow our children to get on because they don't meet the criteria', he told 2GB's Ben Fordham. 'It's taxpayer funded and even if we were willing to pay, the plane is coming here – it's been paid for by everyone's taxes whether you're Indigenous or non-Indigenous, the kids are from the same town. 'And by the way, we're in the middle of a flood crisis and we couldn't get in or out. 'So there was no way to get our kids home unless it's on a private charter ourselves, or through Rex, and Rex can be up to two to three weeks waiting for a seat.' Mr Lord said the half-empty flights were a sign that the 'system is broken'. '...The gap is not a gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous per se, it's regional versus non-regional. 'If you actually compared the two, I think you'd find that many of the non-Indigenous kids and families have the same disadvantages as Indigenous people in rural and remote communities.' Robbie Katter, a Queensland state MP and the leader of Katter's Australian Party (KAP), described the plane policy as 'crazy'. Katter said taxpayers were being 'gouged' while empty seats on the charter planes went to waste. 'We've got taxpayer-funded school charter planes flying into towns like Normanton half empty - and still, local kids are being left behind at the airport because they don't qualify for ABSTUDY,' he wrote online. 'It's not about race - it's about fairness. 'If the plane's already coming in, and there are spare seats, let kids get home. 'We'll be pushing hard to fix this and holding both levels of government to account.'
Yahoo
22-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
British nationals who want to leave Israel to be offered flights to UK, says David Lammy
British nationals who want to leave Israel will be offered charter flights from Tel Aviv as soon as airspace reopens, the government has said. With the conflict with Iran continuing, Whitehall officials have been working to organise escape routes for the thousands of British and dual nationals in Israel. Those who are holidaymakers, on business trips, visiting relatives or are otherwise temporary residents are most likely to be prioritised, but the Foreign Office said flights would be provided based on demand and the safety of all British nationals was its top priority. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said: 'The UK will provide charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv when airspace reopens. Register your presence to receive further guidance.' The Foreign Office has now pulled its embassy staff out of Iran, which continues to be hit by Israeli strikes. 'We have taken the precautionary measure to temporarily withdraw UK staff from Iran. Our embassy continues to operate remotely,' it said. Government advice in relation to Israel remains that British nationals should follow local guidance and take decisions on whether to leave based on their individual circumstances. Thousands of people currently in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories are understood to have registered their presence with the Foreign Office, but the government has not moved to advise a general departure or relocation to Tel Aviv. Many of those registered are thought to be dual British-Israeli nationals who may not seek UK consular assistance, but a smaller number of people have made active requests for support. Related: The Guardian view on Trump and Iran: Netanyahu's war has no visible exit | Editorial A No 10 spokesperson said: 'We are advising British nationals to continue to register their presence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, to be contactable with further guidance on these flights.' People in Israel have been heading for bomb shelters since the Israeli government started bombing Iran and faced a counterattack. At least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know. If you have something to share on this subject you can contact us confidentially using the following methods. Secure Messaging in the Guardian app The Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories. Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs. This prevents an observer from knowing that you are communicating with us at all, let alone what is being said. If you don't already have the Guardian app, download it (iOS/Android) and go to the menu. Select 'Secure Messaging'. SecureDrop, instant messengers, email, telephone and post See our guide at for alternative methods and the pros and cons of each. Israel launched airstrikes that it said were aimed at preventing Iran developing a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials insist the country's nuclear programme is peaceful. Land routes are available out of Israel and some UK nationals have already left. The Foreign Office's response has come in for criticism after it emerged that families of UK officials had been removed from Israel, while other British nationals have so far only been advised to remain and to follow local guidance. The dependants of diplomatic staff have left as a 'precautionary measure', with staff remaining at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem.
The Guardian
20-06-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
British nationals who want to leave Israel to be offered flights to UK, says David Lammy
British nationals who want to leave Israel will be offered charter flights from Tel Aviv as soon as airspace reopens, the government has said. With the conflict with Iran continuing, Whitehall officials have been working to organise escape routes for the thousands of British and dual nationals in Israel. Those who are holidaymakers, on business trips, visiting relatives or are otherwise temporary residents are most likely to be prioritised, but the Foreign Office said flights would be provided based on demand and the safety of all British nationals was its top priority. David Lammy, the foreign secretary, said: 'The UK will provide charter flights for British nationals from Tel Aviv when airspace reopens. Register your presence to receive further guidance.' Government advice remains that British nationals should follow local guidance on movements within Israel and take decisions on whether to leave based on their individual circumstances. Thousands of people currently in Israel or the occupied Palestinian territories are understood to have registered their presence with the Foreign Office, but the government has not moved to advise a general departure or relocation to Tel Aviv. Many of those registered are thought to be dual British-Israeli nationals who may not seek UK consular assistance, but a smaller number of people have made active requests for support. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion A No 10 spokesperson said: 'We are advising British nationals to continue to register their presence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, to be contactable with further guidance on these flights.' People in Israel have been heading for bomb shelters since the Israeli government started bombing Iran and faced a counterattack. At least 24 people in Israel have been killed and hundreds wounded. At least 657 people, including 263 civilians, have been killed in Iran and more than 2,000 wounded, according to a Washington-based Iranian human rights group. Israel launched airstrikes that it said were aimed at preventing Iran developing a nuclear weapon. Iranian officials insist the country's nuclear programme is peaceful. Land routes are available out of Israel and some UK nationals have already left. The Foreign Office's response has come in for criticism after it emerged that families of UK officials had been removed from Israel, while other British nationals have so far only been advised to remain and to follow local guidance. The dependants of diplomatic staff have left as a 'precautionary measure', with staff remaining at the embassy in Tel Aviv and the consulate in Jerusalem.
