Just the ticket for flying hacks

Date: 03/09/1998

For the journalists who went to Vienna courtesy of the Austrian presidency at the beginning of July, things have just got better and better.

Regular readers of this column will recall that three-quarters of the invited hacks were stranded at Zaventem airport for up to six hours after Austrian Airlines overbooked the morning flight.

Heads rolled and every member of the invited press recently received a grovelling letter from the airline plus an offer of a free return trip to Austria.

Considering that the original flight itself was gratis, this seems a somewhat generous offer.