Real grass on a cruise ship deck?

That’s right! There's a new job opening at Celebrity Cruises: groundskeeper. When Celebrity Solstice debuts in December 2008, it will present an industry first on the top deck of the ship: real, growing grass, set in an innovative new country club area called “The Lawn Club”.

Spanning over half an acre, The Lawn Club on Celebrity Solstice will invite passengers to enjoy bocce ball and croquet, practice their putting, or even go for a picnic on the deck, while sailing the open seas. The area also will feature the Hot Glass Show, another first in the industry, developed in collaboration with The Corning Museum of Glass; the Patio on the Lawn; the Lawn Club Shop, and the Sunset Bar.

The 118,000-ton, 2,850-passenger Celebrity Solstice will be the cruise line's biggest ship ever. She is a sister ship to the Celebrity Equinox and the Celebrity Eclipse, which are expected to enter service in summer 2009 and summer 2010 respectively.

Virgin Galactic unveils SpaceShipTwo

Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic announced on Wednesday a model of SpaceShipTwo, the world’s first commercial passenger spacecraft. SpaceShipTwo (SS2) is designed to carry 6 paying passengers and 2 pilots 68 miles (110 km) above the surface of the earth, where they’ll have a few precious minutes in weightlessness, before descending back to the ground.

Trips will initially cost about $200,000 and will eventually go down in price. That's far less than the $20 million trip of businessman Dennis Tito on a Russian spacecraft in 2001, considered the first space tourist.

Get a taste for what space tourism will be like – watch Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo animation video:

American Airlines begins inflight Internet access installation

American Airlines has completed the first aircraft installation of the Aircell’s Internet broadband connectivity solution. AA, which will be the first U.S. airline to offer the Aircell's service, plans to install and test the technology in 2008 on all of its Boeing 767-200 aircraft that primarily fly transcontinental routes.

The unique air-to-ground broadband system will provide customers with a wireless Internet connection, VPN (virtual private network) access, and e-mail capabilities through all 802.11 Wi-Fi enabled devices. Customers will experience speeds similar to wireless services on the ground.

After testing and certification is completed, American will offer the inflight wireless service to customers in all classes on the Boeing 767-200 aircraft for a fee. Cell phone and Voice Over IP (Internet Protocol) services will not be available.

British Airways to launch US carrier

British flag carrier British Airways (BA) announced plans to create subsidiary airline to operate direct services between the US and mainland Europe. The new airline, called ‘OpenSkies’, will fly daily between New York and either Brussels or Paris from June, subject to regulatory approval.

A Boeing 757 will be used to service the first of these European routes, and a second will be added later in the year to operate the other. BA plans to allocate six Boeing 757 aircraft to the new operation by the end of 2009, and says it will consider routes to other major European cities such as Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Madrid and Milan.

The new airline will be a full-service carrier and will offer business class, premium economy and economy cabins. The routes that ‘OpenSkies’ intends to fly is only possible because of the recent Open Skies Agreement between the EU and the United States which permits any US or European airline to operate services to and from any European or American location. Until now, British Airways has only been allowed to fly to the US directly from the UK.

Top 10 air passenger trends and issues for 2008

Airline mergers and more low-fare regional jets, predicts the Air Travelers Association in its assessment of the top ten airline passenger trends and issues for the new year. Here’s the list:

1. The battle with the government over delayed flights versus high fares will continue.

2. The airline system will continue to operate at or near capacity.

3. The start of the next generation air traffic control system (NextGen) will continue to be delayed.

4. There will be more reports of near collisions in the air and on the ground.

5. The battle over the “Passengers’ bill of rights” versus passengers’ rights to get to their destination will continue.

6. Watch for domestic airlines to merge or accept foreign carrier investments.

7. Expect more low fare regional jets in the near future.

8. There will be continued service problems with airlines with labor disputes.

9. The competition between the super-jumbo Airbus A380 versus super-nonstop Boeing 787 will begin in 2009.

10. The battle between residents on the ground over noise and airline passengers in the air will continue.

The Air Travelers Association, founded in 1997, advocates for airline passengers on airline safety, security, savings, and service.