This Is London

LOCATION: Over Manila

I usually fly with Cathay Pacific when I travel for work. After some bad experiences with BA (motto: "we don't care."), I'll stick with flying with the local lads and lassies, thanks.

One thing which seems to be new on Cathay flights is live radio. On Channel 47/48 — the screens normally showing the aircraft's speed and position — you can now listen to the BBC World Service, if shortwave reception conditions permit.

It's noisy, comes and goes a lot and reception seems to vary depending on what you're flying over, but, hey, you can get live news from the BBC while you're inthe air!

LOCATION: Over the South China Sea

For a news junky like me, this is great. I used to listen to the World Service under the blankets as a lad and the strains of Lillibullero creaking out from a tinny radio followed by the news is very reassuring.

We're half an hour from Manila now, over the South China sea, and the quality of the signal is very good. There's still the characteristic coming and going effect, but we're at 41,000 feet, travelling at 563 mph, so it's pretty good, considering.