Ferry service to resume after repairs to pontoon
The Jubilee Pontoon on Saltash Waterside has been closed on health and safety grounds after suffering weather damage, including during Storm Darragh in December 2024.
Saltash Town Council, which runs the pontoon, said immediate repairs had been necessary to ensure the pontoon's structural integrity.
The work is due to be completed in time for the return of the ferry from Saltash to Royal William Yard, Plymouth, on 24 May.
Saltash Town Council appointed Voyager Boatyard to carry out the repairs to ensure the pontoon remained "safe, functional, and accessible for many years to come".
Town councillor Julia Peggs said the refurbishment marked an important step in enhancing the town's waterside infrastructure.
"It is a valued asset that serves both residents and visitors and I am pleased to see it nearing completion," she said.
"I look forward to the reinstatement of our partnership with Plymouth Boat Trips and to welcoming both returning and new users as the pontoon returns to service."
Plymouth Boat Trips will be operating the ferry service from Saltash to Plymouth for a second year.
Owner Ben Squire said: "We're thrilled to be able to safely resume the Royal William Yard to Saltash ferry service, thanks to the swift and thorough works commissioned by Saltash Town Council.
"The new route, introduced last year, has been a really successful addition to our ferry network."
The Jubilee Green Pontoon was installed by the former Caradon District Council (CDC) as part of a Millennium project around 20 years ago to provide all-tides access to Saltash.
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CNN
29 minutes ago
- CNN
Their five minute airplane chat led to lasting love
You can listen to this story on CNN's Chance Encounters podcast. On a recent transatlantic flight from Florida to London Heathrow, married flight attendants Hunter Smith-Lihas and John Lihas locked eyes across the aisle. The two men smiled at each other, before swiftly returning to serving champagne to first class travelers. This shared smile was fleeting, but spoke volumes. And later, when Hunter and John were on break at the same time, the couple found themselves sitting in the onboard crew lounge, reflecting on the shared life and careers they've built together. 'I met you for five minutes on the airplane when I wasn't even supposed to, and now we're living in the city together, and you're sitting across from me on the plane and we're working together,' Hunter recalls saying to John. 'You never think when you meet someone for the first time like that, that it'd go this far. So it's kind of surreal. And it honestly just makes you so happy, because you're like, how did I get here?' Prev Next How Hunter and John got here was via a series of unexpected moments and decisions starting six years ago, in 2017. Back then, Hunter was just known as Hunter Smith. He was in his early 20s and working as a gate agent for Spirit Airlines. He'd aspired to work in aviation since he'd starting watching a flight attendant who chronicled her job on YouTube. 'I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, this is the best job ever. I definitely want to do something like this,'' Hunter tells CNN Travel today. After he graduated college, Hunter secured a gate staff position in his home city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The role was the perfect foot in the aviation door. Working the airport gate, Hunter interacted with hundreds, if not thousands, of people each day. As a sociable person, he always enjoyed the conversations — however brief — with travelers and airline staff. But Spirit Airlines' employment pool was so big he rarely met the same flight attendants twice. One morning, one of Hunter's gate attendant coworkers asked if he could pass on some papers to the captain of a soon-to-depart Spirit flight, which was heading to Orlando, Florida. This kind of task, says Hunter, was 'typically not my job, I did not normally do that.' But off he went, walking down the gangway and onto the aircraft. He passed on the paperwork to the captain and then waited for the all-clear to disembark. It didn't come right away, so Hunter stood by the door, biding his time. 'There was some sort of delay in him processing the paperwork,' he recalls. Also standing at the front of the aircraft was another guy, the flight attendant looking after the front half of the plane. This, of course, was John. Back then, John was a total stranger to Hunter. Sure, they both worked for the same airline — but so did thousands of other people scattered across the United States. 'We had never seen each other prior to that day,' says John, who was in his late 20s at the time. As they waited, Hunter and John met eyes for the first time, and they smiled at each other. Hunter spotted a pin on John's lanyard. Intriguingly, it looked like the insignia of another airline. 'I'm like, 'Oh, I love the pin on your lanyard. Where'd you get it?' Because it was from another airline – I think it was a Delta Airlines pin,' recalls Hunter. 'I'm like, 'Did you work for Delta before? Where did you get it from? And that's how I started the conversation with him.' The two men chatted back and forth, talking about their respective careers so far, with John explaining he'd never actually worked for Delta. Then John asked Hunter his name, and what his schedule looked like for the rest of the day. They introduced each other properly. Still it was mostly 'just small talk,' as Hunter puts it: 'We never thought this small conversation was going to go anywhere after.' 'It was very short,' echoes John. 'The plane had to leave.' After about five minutes, the paperwork was processed and the aircraft got the go ahead to depart. Hunter said a quick goodbye to John and got off the plane. John watched Hunter head back down the gangway. 'I never thought I would see him again,' says John. Over the rest of his shift that day, as he ushered passengers on and off airplanes, checked hand luggage and made boarding announcements, Hunter kept replaying the short airplane interaction with John in his head. 'There's so many faces and people you meet every single day at the airport. But I don't know. I just had a weird feeling about this guy — a good feeling,' says Hunter That evening, he got out his laptop and Googled 'John Lihas.' A Facebook account with that name popped up right away, and there was John, smiling widely in the profile picture. 'There's so many faces and people you meet every single day at the airport. But I don't know. I just had a weird feeling about this guy — a good feeling.' Hunter Smith-Lihas 'I just wanted to Facebook stalk him,' says Hunter, laughing. 'I didn't even think to add him at the time. But then once I started scrolling through his profile, I'm like, 'I'm just going to do it. I'm going to send a friend request. I'm going to see what happens. If anything, we'll just be friends, coworkers, distant coworkers.' But I didn't really think anything was going to happen.' Hunter hit 'add friend.' The notification popped up on John's cell phone just as he reached his hotel room in Houston, Texas. He'd worked two flights that day, and was looking forward to putting his feet up. Then he saw the friend request. John wouldn't usually accept an invite from someone he didn't really know. But he'd really enjoyed meeting Hunter, even if their interaction was short and sweet. 'So I accepted, just because I was like, 'Hmm, it could be something you never know,'' says John. Then he sent a message to his new Facebook friend. 'Do you always stalk your flight attendants?' he wrote. 'It just started from there,' recalls John. 'One sentence became pages and pages of just talking back and forth.' Over the next few days, John and Hunter messaged regularly. They talked about their families, their ambitions and their shared love of travel. 'The craziest part about it was once we started talking, we realized how many coincidences there were in our life. Things were so similar,' says Hunter. They both had divorced parents, and coincidentally both had one parent who lived in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and one who lived in Tampa, Florida. And they shared similar hobbies and a positive outlook on life — not to mention a shared profession and passion for traveling. After about a week of messaging, John sent Hunter an unexpected question. 'Hey, I know this is kind of forward — you can totally tell me if you're not comfortable with this idea,' he said. 'But I have a layover in Myrtle Beach. I think you should fly down here. I'd love to fly you down here to have dinner with you and get to know you more.' Beachside Myrtle Beach, in South Carolina, is a 1 hour 30 minute flight from Pittsburgh. It's a short flight, in the grand scheme of things, but a long way for a first date. Hunter debated whether or not to go. Would it be crazy? Was it safe? He barely knew John. But he couldn't shake that 'good feeling' he'd had when he first met John on the airplane. Hunter decided to go for it. He figured he should tell someone about his plans — just in case. He ruled out his parents ('I thought they would think I was a little bit crazy') but filled in his roommate. Then he headed to the airport. John was nervous, too. He'd put himself out there, and wasn't sure how it would pan out ('I really don't do that,' he says of the spontaneous invite). And he didn't tell anyone, except the flight crew he was working with en route to Myrtle Beach, who were all excited for him. But any anxiety melted away when John and Hunter met at the airport, and went out to dinner together. Their connection was just as exciting as that first moment on the airplane. The conversation just as good as the messages online. Later, the two walked hand-in-hand on the boardwalk. As first dates go, it was 'magical,' says Hunter. After all the nerves, everything worked 'perfectly,' says John. Still, as the 36 hours wound to a close, the glow dampened a little bit. 'I was kind of sad, actually,' recalls Hunter. 'Because we were living in two different cities. I didn't know the next time I was going to see him.' But soon a pattern developed — whenever John's flight schedule found him in Pittsburgh, he'd hang out with Hunter. And whenever John had longer layovers in other cities, Hunter would come and meet him. 'Even though it was long distance, we still made it work,' says John. Hunter thinks the distance actually helped the relationship blossom. 'We actually had time to miss each other. We had time to plan more special things together. It wasn't like we were just going to each other's house every day,' he says. 'I actually liked the long distance part at the time, because it gave us time to really appreciate our time with each other.' Over the next several months, Hunter and John shared some fantastic moments together — from a trip to Los Angeles where they spent two days exploring the city, to Hunter's birthday, when John surprised him with a trip to Disney World in Florida. There were tougher moments too. At one point, Hunter and John stopped communicating for a few weeks. They were both stressed and overwhelmed by work and some other issues in their personal lives. They weren't mad at each other, but keeping up the connection from afar felt tricky for the first time. But they worked through it. 'Then, everything kind of just went back to how it was and I think it was better than ever after that,' says Hunter. About a year after he'd first met John, Hunter was hired by Spirit Airlines to work as a flight attendant. He was excited to leave the gate behind, delighted that his aviation dream had finally come true. And with this exciting opportunity came another big step — Hunter and John decided to move in together. Now that they were both traveling for work, the couple figured they could live pretty much anywhere. They decided to move to a new city together: Detroit, Michigan. 'That's kind of when things really stepped it up to the next level,' says Hunter. 'And even then I still couldn't believe, 'Wow, this is crazy how this all happened and everything fell into place perfectly. We're working at the same job now. We're working in the same base. Our families are in the same place.' It just all felt like everything fell perfectly into place.' Moving to a new city, and moving in together, was a big change. But the couple knew they had to 'take a chance,' as Hunter puts it, if they wanted their relationship to progress. 'It was an adjustment,' says Hunter. 'But I think overall, it was more of an adventure.' On their days off, Hunter and John explored Detroit together, discovering new restaurants together, decorating their apartment and making new friends. Sometimes it was tough to align their schedules. Hunter, as a new hire, was on call, so any day could end up on any flight. Then, one morning, Hunter got notified that he'd booked a trip, and was sent the crew manifest. He scanned through the names and then stopped short. 'I saw John's name on there,' Hunter recalls. 'And I ran into the living room from the bedroom. I was like, 'John, you're never going to believe it. Guess what trip I got today?' And he was thinking I'd got something international or something really great — I was like, 'No, I'm on the trip with you!'' That first shared workday was very special. The couple savored the time together. 'It felt nice going to work together and actually spending three full days together. And spending time at the layover hotel together, eating dinner together,' recalls John. 'When you work together, it's almost like you're on vacation,' says Hunter. 'Yeah, you are working through the day. But once you're done with the day, you're at the hotel, you can go to the pool.' Flying together for the first time also felt like a momentous step. Here they were, working a Spirit Airlines flight together, where a year previously they'd been strangers on another Spirit aircraft. 'You go back to that first time you met,' says Hunter. Months passed and the couple settled into life in Michigan. Conversations about marriage started to take place 'a little bit here and there,' as Hunter recalls. The two had a trip to Puerto Rico coming up — John was working and Hunter was coming along for a vacation. As they mapped out the trip, Hunter started to think this could be the perfect opportunity to ask John to marry him. He spoke to John's mother about his plans to propose. 'I really love your son. I really think I want to spend the rest of my life with him,' Hunter told her. He also spoke with one of the couple's mutual friends, a fellow Spirit Airlines flight attendant who'd be on the trip too — he wanted to have a friend on side who could document the proposal when it came. As for John, he had no idea what was coming. On the second day of the trip, John and Hunter were walking along a sandy beach together in San Juan. The other crew member was armed with her camera phone, ready to capture the moment. 'We were just walking around doing the touristy stuff. And I remember I had a coffee in my hand, I was looking out in the water, and then I turned around and he's on one knee,' says John. 'I was just completely shocked, and of course I said yes.' 'We were both so happy,' says Hunter. Straight away, John called his mother, he was crying happy tears and so was she. That's when John realized that she'd known what was coming. 'I'm like, 'Oh my god, this is actually happening.' It all clicked, like the rest of my life is coming together perfectly.' Hunter and John planned a small wedding, putting the money they would have spent on larger celebrations towards a honeymoon. 'So we did a super small wedding on the West Coast. We brought our parents, two friends,' says Hunter, who changed his name following the wedding, becoming Hunter Smith-Lihas. 'It was beautiful,' says John. Hunter and John's families get on really well, and always enjoy spending time together and with their respective sons-in-law. 'John's mom and my mom are great together. John's dad and my dad are great together. I love all his cousins, his nieces,' says Hunter. 'My dad loves you,' John tells Hunter. 'My grandmother, who recently passed in October, she was an old-school Greek person and she came to America when she was just 18. And when she met Hunter, she fell in love with him.' 'It's very nice that we all get along, our families just love each other.' After the wedding, John and Hunter headed off on what Hunter calls 'a lavish European vacation.' The trip also coincided with John's 30th birthday, so there was plenty to celebrate. En route, Hunter and John were upgraded to first class. They enjoyed flying in style — and the fact they were the ones being served, for once. 'It was the middle of winter. And when we landed in Paris, it was snowing. We saw all the snow and we went to the Eiffel Tower and there was snow everywhere. It was so magical,' says John. Today, John and Hunter still work together, although they're no longer at Spirit Airlines and now live in Florida. A few years ago, the couple both applied for jobs with another major US airline. They were keen for new career opportunities and more opportunities to travel internationally. It was a risky decision to make just as aviation was getting back on its feet in the wake of the pandemic. For a long stretch in 2020, both John and Hunter were grounded and unsure when — or if — they'd ever return to the skies. 'Not only was it a global health pandemic, but now you're out of a job for the time being, too. So it was just a lot. It was really scary at the time,' says Hunter. 'But we grew together, we made work,' says John. It was John who first suggested moving to a new airline. When he voiced the thought aloud, Hunter echoed it back to him. 'We both just wanted more, because Spirit only flew to the US, a little bit of South America and the Caribbean. Whereas where we're at now services all the continents except Antarctica,' says Hunter. 'So that was another huge step we took together.' Before they applied, Hunter and John talked about what might happen if one of them got the job, and the other didn't. 'We decided, if one of us gets it, that's great. We'll be fine. We'll make it work,' says Hunter. 'We believe in each other, that's the thing,' says John. The couple applied on the same day. They interviewed on the same day. And in the end, they both got hired on the same day and began training together. At their current airline, John and Hunter have the same level of seniority, so they can bid for the same flights. This makes it easy for them to coordinate their schedules and work the same flights. Nowadays they often work on large, wide body aircraft, so they don't always see each other much during the flight. 'If one of us is in economy, and the other is first class, we definitely see each other a lot less as opposed to when you're working in the same cabin,' says Hunter. 'But I mean, there's always like a time where I can just pop up there and say hi, or vice versa, John can come back and say hi.' And, of course, there are those moments — like on the recent flight to London — where they're both working in the same cabin, and can watch one another at work, excelling at their jobs, and share the odd secret smile. 'It just goes to show you never know who you're going to meet, when and where, you just never know who that one person is going to be.' Hunter Smith-Lihas Hunter's also followed in the footsteps of the flight attendant vlogger who first introduced him to the aviation profession and started documenting his job on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. He hopes his content might inspire or help others keen to work in the industry. Both Hunter and John plan to work up in the air for as long as they can. 'This is what I've dreamt about since I was six years old,' says John. 'I don't see myself doing anything else. I will be a flight attendant forever until I decide to retire.' 'I think for both of us, this is our career. This is our lifelong career,' says Hunter. 'Because what other job can you say, 'Oh, well on Monday, I'm going to New York and Tuesday I'm going to Africa.' There's always the element of surprise and adventure with this job.' Whatever the future brings, for Hunter and John, one of the most memorable on-the-job surprises will always be meeting each other. 'I saw so many different faces every day, it's hard to see the same face twice. And then suddenly, he comes along. And now it's been six years later, and I'm still seeing him,' says Hunter. 'I never thought this would happen to me, to be honest, never — even coming across so many people day to day, coworkers, passengers,' says John. 'I always believe it was always meant to be.' 'It almost makes me teary-eyed,' adds Hunter. 'When I look back, I just never in a million years thought that this is where we together would be after that chance encounter. It just makes me almost emotional, it makes me want to cry. It's just an overwhelming happiness. It just goes to show you never know who you're going to meet, when and where, you just never know who that one person is going to be.' EDITOR'S NOTE: This article was originally published in May 2023. It was republished in July 2025 to include a new episode of CNN's Chance Encounters podcast focused on Hunter and John's love story
Yahoo
40 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Thousands of passengers are abandoning British Airways. These are the best alternative carriers
A few weeks ago Telegraph Travel asked readers for their verdict on changes to the British Airways loyalty programme, the BA Club, which make it harder and more expensive to earn coveted silver and gold status. Many of you said you felt that the near £7,500 spend required to earn silver status or the near £20,000 spend to make gold was so far out of reach that you would no longer prioritise BA when booking flights. Michael Crooks, 60, a translator from Oxford, told us: 'Travelling with BA used to be a 'must' to earn status but now, like many, I'll be on Skyscanner to do a general search for all airlines.' Mr Crooks certainly isn't alone. Thousands of previously loyal customers will be turning their backs on BA. So how should these refuseniks use their new-found freedom? Which carriers should they choose, for which routes? I've flown on almost all of the airlines that operate to and from the UK over the past 20 years and here are my recommendations. Short-haul to Europe and North Africa Air France and KLM will suit those who will in future choose Virgin Atlantic for long-haul routes, since those three carriers are members of the Skyteam airline alliance. You earn Virgin Atlantic Flying Club air miles and tier points when you fly Air France or KLM. Sir Richard Branson's airline is tempting disgruntled BA Club members to shift to its Flying Club by offering to match their BA status, giving them the chance to advance up the membership tiers more swiftly than at BA, and making more reward seats available on all flights at lower redemption rates. Air France has the advantage that it flies from Terminal Four at Heathrow which is the smallest and easiest terminal to use. Air France also flies from Manchester, Edinburgh, Birmingham and Newcastle. To that list, KLM adds London City, Inverness, Belfast, Teesside, Humberside, Leeds, Norwich, Bristol, Exeter, Southampton, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Cardiff. But be aware that flying Air France and KLM to destinations outside France and the Netherlands means changing planes in Paris Charles de Gaulle or Amsterdam Schiphol. If you want to fly direct and/or don't care about earning loyalty points in an airline alliance, it's best to choose whatever airline offers you the best fare on a non-stop service from an airport near you. For those living in London or the south-east, this may well be easyJet at Gatwick. It offers 419 flights a day to and from the Sussex airport during summer to 113 destinations. Pay to choose a premium seat and for speedy boarding, and the service is on par with British Airways economy class. I've found Jet2's service from all major airports across the country to be consistently solid and reliable. Cabin bags are included and families are almost always seated together, without having to pay for seat selection. Long haul to the Americas and the Caribbean When it comes to ditching BA on long-haul flights heading west, there is a clear winner: Virgin Atlantic. If you are on a budget but can't face cattle class, it has created up to 14 rows of Economy Delight at the front of the economy cabin on its new jets. The 28 seats on its A330s have a 34-inch pitch, the most generous legroom of any carrier in economy. All are window and aisle pairs, which makes them great for couples. There are 45 Economy Delight seats on Virgin's Airbus A350s, arranged in sets of three across the cabin. I always choose the window seat in the second row of Economy Delight in the rear cabin because it has no seat in front of it. By contrast, BA just has a single bog standard economy seat on all its long-haul jets with meagre legroom of just 31 inches. Virgin Atlantic Premium (premium economy) is broadly on par with BA's World Traveller Plus. But I find Upper Class (Virgin's business class) better than BA's Club World because Virgin's Clubhouses are more exclusive and luxurious than BA's lounges and have better food and service and the suite and service on board are superior – even without the trademark bar which Virgin announced earlier this month is being phased out. Virgin's code share alliance with America's leading carrier, Delta, ensures easy onward connections to destinations across North America. I should note, however, that BA does offer more direct flights from the UK to US destinations – 25 – and BA is the only carrier to offer first class across the Atlantic. Upper Class is half way between business and first class. American Airlines, which codeshares with BA on US routes, has improved some of its services but, overall, is outgunned by the Virgin/Delta combo. United is upgrading its cabins but does not codeshare with a UK airline which makes it unattractive. If you are on a budget, Norse from Gatwick to New York, Orlando, Los Angeles, and Miami has rock-bottom fares, especially in premium economy. When flying to Latin America, I often find the best route networks and timings are with Iberia, via Madrid. Long-haul to Asia, Australia and Africa Flying long-haul east or south, I recommend Emirates and Qatar in economy class, largely because there are a lot of extra legroom seats on their A380s which you can snag / pay extra for. Qatar also has a small – 48-seat – economy-class section on the upper deck of the A380 with two bathrooms. I've flown it on day flights to and from Doha and it is more akin to a premium economy experience than economy. (Perhaps one reason why Qatar Airways does not offer premium economy). Emirates and Cathay Pacific lead by miles in premium economy largely because the seats are so comfortable and on Cathay the headrests guarantee a little more privacy than rivals. Emirates food and wine is best in class. If you are going to Australia, Qantas is worth considering since it flies nonstop from London to Perth and has a well-designed premium economy cabin. I've done the 17 hours in premium economy and, with the aid of melatonin (and red wine), I managed to get some good kip. Qatar Airways is the clear winner in business class with its vast Q Suite, which is better than first class on some carriers. Cathay, Singapore, and Emirates also offer excellent suites, lounges and service. I flew Cathay Pacific's new Aria business-class suite to Hong Kong last month and it is way ahead of BA's Club Suite both in terms of the suite and the service and lounges. (Side note for BA refuseniks: my tier point reward for my flight from Heathrow to Hong Kong was only one third of what it was under BA's old rules). Iberia via Madrid or Turkish Airlines via Istanbul are also worth a look, especially for cheap business-class fares. Those who fancy a bit of old-school nostalgia should choose Lufthansa and transfer on to an iconic Boeing 747 at its Frankfurt hub. The German flag carrier still operates 27 jumbo jets, many of which fly to Asia. The Abu Dhabi-based Etihad should be your first choice if you only make one trip a year east or south in any class. Its combination of new aircraft, new airport – Abu Dhabi Zayed International is the best-designed, most hi-tech and comfortable hub in the world – plus free hotel during layover so you can visit the Louvre, is unbeatable. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Popular takeaway spot in Old Town closed
A popular takeaway joint in Old Town, Swindon, has closed for a few weeks. 'Best Fish and Chips' will be closed for three weeks due to the staff going on holiday until August. The shop, located on Victoria Road, is a go-to for Old Town residents. Best Fish and Chips is a five-star hygiene rated food spot and has a 3.9 star rating on Google. The store offers in-store takeaway and they delivery up to a four-mile radius. with a large menu to select from. The menu consists of kebabs, Turkish pizzas, pies and a bundle of desserts to choose from. When the shop reopens, the opening times are 11am until 10pm, Monday to Sunday. The closure began on July 22 and they will reopen on Wednesday, August 13.
