Great News!  South African Airways is now flying non-stop from Johannesburg to JFK.  The airline had always flown from JFK to Johannesburg non-stop, but there is a refueling stop in Dakar on the return.  In the old days, the flight (747) stopped in Cape Verde for refueling.  As an interesting side note, SAA had conducted a feasibility study about Cape Verde and thought about making it more than a refueling stop but eventually backed away from the idea. This will make the return journey much shorter and allow for real sleep on SAA flat-bed business-class seats.  The non-stop service will begin on May 1, 2011. I recently spoke to an SAA flyer about this development who said, “That is really great! Now you can fall asleep whenever you want and not have to get up like I did when I stopped in Senegal. That really does make a big difference!” Another interesting flight update is Emirates‘ launch to Basra, Iraq, on February 2, 2011. “The city’s recent growth has paved the way for numerous multinational companies and industries to invest in infrastructure. We have seen strong potential from a number of our markets,”  said Chairman and Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al-Maktoum of Emirates. The oil-rich southern region of Iraq has seemed relatively calm compared to other areas in the country.   Emirates believes the traffic will be made up of Iraqis who are expected to travel more as the economy recovers and those involved in the oil industry. After the stepping-up of the military response in 2008, the area has returned to a more normal state where Iraqis are able to get back to their daily routines and return to work. — Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO