It's not just any bus...

This is a limousine bus





Need I say much more?

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Greetings from Seoul!

And from Inchon international

Basic trip report for Asiana F....


Wow.



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Still on the Ground...

... As slot control is in full effect.

The joy of BHX and FRA

Meanwhile outside....




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Looks like a walk to the apron...

Just as well I love the smell of Jet 1A in the morning....








- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone - apologies for the spelling!

Morning from BHX

And from the disappointment that is the Servisair lounge


















More later on - if the Lufthansa hotspots are working...

UA/CO: US Justice department says yes...

The merger of Continental and United continues apace, with the US Justice Department not raising any objections or memos to the merger.

Of course, there was a small price to pay - the leasing of 18 slot pairs at Newark International to Southwest airlines

With clearance from the EU, the DoJ, only State Department and the Department of Transport have the final chances to stop the merger.

And both companies are positive they'll say yes.

The big votes are due from both Continental and United are scheduled on 17 September, and aiming to complete the transactional merger by 1 October.

Then the hard slog begins to merge the carriers from the individual certificates to a single operating certificate from the US FAA by mid-2012.

Well, the short introductory dance will be over soon enough, and then the pain of merging two certificates into one, the union fun, schedule consolidation and crew cuts.

And maybe - just maybe - painting the fleet.

Remember, the second person to check in...

... is ALWAYS the looser ;)

Airplane p0rn - Asiana Boeing 747-400

It's Sunday again, so it must be time for some more airplane p0rn.

This week, and somehow relevant considering the traveling that will be taking place shortly is an Asiana Boeing 747-400 at the gate at Chicago O'Hare International

More next week - and hopefully a lot more new content!

KQ: 787 Fallout - Kenyan considering switch to A330

Well things are slowly going from bad to worse for Boeing with the latest delay to the first commercial flight of the 787 platform.

To the point where Kenyan Airlines are seriously considering a switch from their 787 order Airbus A330's - and the discussions are open according to a Kenyan Airways represetivitive talking to ATW.

Or if at Boeing HQ these words could be the ones I don't want to hear:

"Yes, I would dare canceling the [787] order," he said. "If [Boeing] can't deliver, we will cancel. We will take a decision [on whether to] go with Airbus or stay with Boeing before the end of the year."

That's gotta smart.

The 9 aircraft that are on order are now in the balance due to the delay in the first deliveries of the 787 to ANA. This was orignally an order for 6 aircraft with 6 options, with 3 of the options converted into orders.

Boeing so far has declined to assist in 767 refits to tide Kenyan over or provide other compensation, forcing Kenyan to start looking elsewhere.

All it needs for one of the Gulf state carriers to have a paddy over the 787 delays, and everything could hit the fan again for Boeing and the 787 project.

http://atwonline.com/aircraft-engines-components/news/kenya-airways-considers-canceling-787s-claims-first-delivery-delaye

Airplane p0rn EXTRA - BA A320 and The Battle of Britain Flight

And time for a very special Airplane p0rn extra picture, celebrating The Battle of Britain, with a British Airways A320 carrying veterans of the Battle of Britain, flanked by a Spitfire and Hurricane

Image - BBC News, British Airways. - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11120357

The flight was organised by The Battle of Britain Society, Flown with British Airways in cooperation with John Lewis, findmypast.co.uk and Serco.

Normal airplane p0rn resumes tommorow ;)

New Section! Safety Video Saturday! Thomsom Airways

In an attempt to get some different content on the blog, I've decided have a bit of fun, and post safety videos.

Why you may ask?

It's darn important. When flying in any plane you need to know how to get out, what features are unique to an aircraft and what rules there are to follow.

Last week (unintentionally) it was the new Air New Zealand Rugby video.

This week, something a bit cuter - Thomson Holidays/Airlines Safety Demo. With Kidlets.



Well done kids!

Another video next week - might have *some* relevance to who I'm flying with ;)

MX: Adios!

Well Mexicana is heading to oblivion, with the entire airline being grounded (inculding all subsiduaries) from Midday Saturday local time

This action includes Mexicana main line, Click and Link.

The airline flew 220 routes to 65 destinations including London, Madrid, Montreal, Chicago and cities in Central and South America.

To quote the Mexicana front page

Mexicana Airlines (Grupo Mexicana) suspends its operations indefinitely

The current administration received the company seven days
ago under Business Reorganization (Concurso Mercantil) and
technically bankrupt.

Financial deterioration and lack of agreements force Grupo Mexicana to stop flying.

Grupo Mexicana deeply regrets all inconveniences caused to
its passengers.

Further information about how to get money back is at http://mexicanainforma.com/cma-informs/

However, that's it for Mexicana it seems. Volaris and AeroMexico will have to fill in the holes. And it's a blow for OneWorld in that region too with the loss of their carrier there.

Will Mexicana restart? It's really impossible to say. A lot of discussion and dealing will have to be done, and I don't know if it can be done.  For 8000 people, it's serious worry time now.

NH: ANA and Boeing Announce delays to 787 entry into service

In a not totally unexpected announcement, Boeing and ANA have announced that 787 entry into service had been pushed back to March 2011, with international use put back to June 2011.

These dates are subject to the aircraft arriving in February 2011.

ANA says the delayed entry into service is "regrettable".

Issues have emerged with both the horizontal stabilisers and with the Rolls Royce Trent 1000 engines which have pushed back this entry into service, forcing Boeing and Rolls Royce to step back and fix the outstanding issues.

Currently, plans are afoot to use the 787 to replace 767 routes, so Beijing and Shanghai could be the first routes to see the 787 in action. Meanwhile there is serious consideration to operating long haul services out of Tokyo Haneda Airport.

Meanwhile Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Air India are getting to the point where they are demanding compensation from Boeing over the delays.

The continuing setbacks for the project should be another warning to Airbus, who have started work on their A350XWB which itself is slipping into 2014.

DL: Makes more moves on LHR thanks to OneWorld....

From the airline that brought you a flight attendent who wags her finger at you, Delta are hell bent on increasing their capaicty at Heathrow by bidding for the slots that have come up due to the OneWorld Joint Venture.

Their proposals are to increase LHR-BOS to 2 flights a day, and LHR-MIA to one flight a day.

Delta bleats that it'll benefit SkyTeam as it's the smallest alliance at Heathrow (Oneworld carriers hold 47% of Heathrow slots,  followed by Star Alliance at 25% of Heathrow's slots. SkyTeam, however, only has a 5%)  - which is true, however, if you just care to cross the channel, there are two major SkyTeam hubs there - Paris Charles De Gaulle (and Air France hub) and Amsterdam Schipol (a KLM/Delta hub) - so that argument doesn't wash with me alas...

If Delta succeeds in gaining necessary approvals for the proposed service, flights would begin on 27 March 2011.

Is there room for another entrant in the market or will Delta gain from OneWorlds loss? We'll know soon enough....

Confuseoploies: The UK Rail System - or "When is peak time?"

The consumer magazine "Which?" have been accused of being masters of the art of confusion with each operator deciding "what is peak time travel". The dfact is every operator in the UK has their own definition of "peak time" (both in the morning and the evening)


For example, peak time on the core trunks of the West Coast and East Coast Mainlines (Operated by Virgin Trains and East Coast Trains) start about 15:30, and last for the next four hours - or more), whilst in some regions, it's defined after 16:30 to 18:00, and some lines don't have peak evening times

Throw in the quite frankly amazing amount of variations of tickets, restrictions and everything else that makes some of the UK network a nonsesne, and it's confusing.

The Assiociation of Train Operators say "Most people are happy and 4 out of 5 are doing fine", and that "You can't compare operators side by side due to local demands".

Which doesn't help when you're trying to buy a train ticket - For example, off the top of my head (not counting all permutations) there are at least 10 different types of standard class tickets between Birmingham and London.

By resdesignating trains as peak trains, operators can also get away with charging lunatic fares without asking permission from the regulator. In other words - an easy way for an operator to print money, charge penalty fares and moan "we need more trains to provide a service" whilst squeezing the cheaper end of the market.

Yes there is more demand out there. Because people are sick of traveling in cars to cities. However if you price them off the rails and don't invest you're stuck in a bit of a black hole

And to me - it doesn't wash. Least of all with trains trying to merge to a Yield pricing model akin to airlines, they are NOT the same service or offer the same standards of service.

Which brings us to interesting questions - when was the last time members working high on the rail industry 1) travel on a train and 2) paid out of their own pocket without a PA to help them plan the trip?

I wouldn't lay money on them being recent.

So sorry ATOC, this doesn't wash with me. Prehaps you should be buying emergency tickets from London to Birmingham out of your own pockets before understanding how much it hurts the consumer eh?

BD: A321 Refurbishment, Paint work, Domestic cuts ahead and the long haul dream

Heer Prock-Schauer has announced a revamp of the A321 fleet and a few other titbits as part of the restructuring of BMI.

Speaking to Flight, some announcements have been made which could make for interesting times in BMI land..

So whats up for work?

• A321 going for refurbishment works, with new business class seats and IFE being installed. In addition, they will finally be getting round the painting the aircraft they inherited from BMED and the ones still in old British Midland colours into the White/Blue colour scheme that I still think is very fetching (what he refers to as "The Whale Colour Scheme").
• UK Domestic - BMI is basically rolling over to it's competitors, by reducing frequency to the regions, but running bigger aircraft. Expect the spare slots to be utilised for more European and Middle Eastern routes
• Long Haul - Attempt Number 2? I'll leave you with this food for thought:

"We are evaluating certain projects on the North Atlantic. That could be a complementary offering because of the huge traffic flow from the Middle East, via London, to North America."

It's common knowledge that a mixture of market environments and poor leasing costs for the A330's contributed to the closure of the Manchester <> USA routes, combined with BMI's revenue management unable to manage... well anything if I'm blunt.

If BMI is going to mount an offensive to the USA, it's got to be planned carefully with United, Continental and even US Airways, and it's got to put big paying passengers on seats. And have the aircraft to match.

Unless BMI really doesn't have the fight in it thanks to Mutti Lufthansa, and will just roll over and instigate more code shares that don't make sense.

And of course - no further announcement about the Diamond Club to Miles and More oncoming merger.

Flight international - http://www.flightglobal.com/articles/2010/08/26/346686/restructuring-bmi-plans-a321-revamp.html

Pre Trip Planning: Seoul and Hong Kong

Well in a few short days I'll be undertaking one of my most intresting runs that I have attempted to do - and that's to Seoul and then onto Hong Kong.

I'll be explaining a lot more in my trip report that I'll be knocking together, over the next few weeks, but here's a quick overview - and some of this can be laid at the doors of BMI.

Why?

With the uncertainty of BMI's Diamond Club growing every day, I decided to take my own advice for once - and burn through a pile of my miles.  But to be honest, there are not many places on the limited BMI network that appeals to me. Thankfully, BMI is part of the Star Alliance, opening up a "few" options where to go to in the world. There for I've selected Asiana Airlines and Thai for this trip.

As well as Lufthansa for a positioning flight ;)

Keeping up: Of course, visiting this tag will help http://www.ghettoife.com/search/label/SELHKG as it will filter out the rest of GhettoIFE.com whilst I talk about this. You might want to also hit the Photoblog for the latest photos of the trip (which as usual will take a few weeks to push out fully).

And all this kicks off... soon!

An alternative take on Lakmé's Flower Duet....

I'll let the video do the rest...

It's new passport time according to IPS...

Well the Identity and Passport Service has rolled out it's new Passport design.

Now we'll do the spin from IPS then we'll rip it apart...

The new 10 year passport will be issued from October,

• The paages of the passport containing well-known UK scenes, including the White Cliffs of Dover, the Gower Peninsula, Ben Nevis and the Giant's Causeway - well lets face it - it's got to be better than the birds in the current design.
• The use of these images, recreated through special printing techniques, is just one of a number of enhanced security features contained in the passport, which will give UK citizens added protection from identity theft and fraud and ensure speedier travel across borders - that explains why the paper looks so messed up when you see odd stray fibres.

Moving onto the "security" features:

• moving the chip which stores the holder's details to the inside of the passport cover where it will no longer be visible. This gives additional physical protection as well as making it much harder to replace the chip without damage to the passport cover being spotted - We'll see as they say - considering the chip only has a 2 year warranty (and a passport is issued for 10 years - I have issues with this) 
• Secondary image of the holder printed onto the observations page - so people can see you mug twice now! How lovely!
• New designs now stretching across two pages - which is madder than the current design but at least the birds have gone (and the bird is NOT the word in this case)
• a new transparent covering which includes several holograms to protect the holder's personal details - more security again

The fact that you should really consider an RFID Passport holder so it isn't scanned isn't mentioned for some bizare reason by IPS - as has been proved it is possible to scan passports from a short distance and extract the content in them - and theorecticly clone them.

There is some spin about lower costs, but this is IPS - the one branch of the goverment when emptying your wallet and them not happy is common.

Or to put it graphicly - here is the cost of passport prices in the past 20 years.

Data: Wikipedia.

The BBC has an excellent history of passport images - personally I still remember the old blue passports. Now that does date me ;)

OFF TOPIC: A Message to all A-Level and GCSE Result people

Dear Successful Exam Student.

On this results day, you've got a mixture of feelings - be it joy, happiness, anger or despair depending how your results have gone today.

From someone who has been all four at once (and at 16, I was pretty much written off by my old school), some words of advice:

Joy - You've got the result at last.
Celebrate - And seriously, I mean that. 2+ years of hard work on any subject is enough to drive anyone bonkers. And well done
Don't be angry - At the end of the day, you did the best you could on a set of conditions on a day.
Despair - of what to do next. 

FINALLY - I PLEAD WITH YOU -

• IGNORE THE ARROGANT PEOPLE IN THE PRESS
• IGNORE THE PUNDITS WHO SAY EXAMS ARE GETTING EASIER 
• IGNORE THE POLITICIANS WHO HAVEN'T SAT A PAPER IN YEARS
• IGNORE THOSE WHO HAVE FORGOTTEN WHAT IT'S LIKE TO STUDY HARD
• IGNORE THOSE WHO ACTUALLY HAVE GROWN THE YEARS AND FORGET THEY LEARN AS THEY GROW UP
• AND IGNORE THOSE WHO SAY "THAT WASN'T HARD"

Because I remember how hard it was.

Remember, Even if you got an F, You still passed the exam. And more than that. You've given your all and done your best.

Congratulations.

* Update * Henan Airlines crash in China

More detail are emerging on the Henan Airlines incident

The Henan Airlines E-190 Flight 8387 (VD8387) aircraft burst into flames after overshooting the runway at Yichun City's airport at 2210 local time, with at least 91 passengers aboard.

The flight was operating from Harbin, Heilongjiang to Yichun, Heilongjiang.

The plane has broken up after crashing. The fire that ensued has now been extinguished.

At least 53 have been rescued so far - with 20 taken to hospital and 3 in a critical condition. Another 43 people have alas been reported dead at the scene.

The story is constantly moving, with coverage on BBC and the usual feeds.

* BREAKING * Henan Airlines aircraft reportedly crashes in northern China

Both CNN and FlightGlobal are reporting that a Henan Airlines aircraft has crashed innortheastern China.

Reports indicate that the aircraft had 96 people aboard and camer down Yichun City at around 22:10 local time. Early indications say this was an Embaer E190 was involved.

More on this sad story as it breaks.

AI: Star Alliance entry delayed again.

It seems that the entry of Air India into Star Alliance continues to drag along at a snails pace, and has been put back again to 2011.

This is due to the merging of Air India and Indian Airlines, with all system taking their own sweet time to merge.

Originally invited into Star Alliance in 2007, this now drags the process into a four year integration into the alliance,

Whilst unfortunate, Air India needs to to look around itself as it's rivals are starting to pair up and buddy off with other alliances - Kingfisher is heading to OneWorld and Jet Airways is very pro-OneWorld too.

For Star Alliance who a desperate to get into the Indian subcontinent, this represents yet another long term blow for them in the region who had hoped to have agreements and services running by now.

VS: Trouble on the horizon

Apologies for the delay into today's post - I've been busy reviewing my photographic portfolio and it is quite frankly swallowing every minute when I should be beginning to pack....

It seems all is not well in Virgin Atlantic land. BALPA ( British Airline Pilots' Association) dropped a minor little shell on VS , requesting a meeting with managemnt on Tuesday for talks to avoid confrontation between the airline and its pilots.

BALPA describe this as "last ditch attempt"

The dispute is over entitlement of rostered fays off, and an alleged denying of the company to grand these days off - 120 days a year (which is akin to an normal deskjockey working Monday to Friday only)

BALPA is unimpressed, and calls on Virgin to work on a solution - before BALPA takes action.

Which won't be pleasant if you're a passenger stuck at LHR T3 and finding your plane is cancelled....

Hopefully both sides can work out an agreement - the last thing we all need is more strikes....

Airplane p0rn - Condor 767-300ER and Vietname Airlines 777-200ER

It's Sunday again, and that means it must be time for some more airplane p0rn.

This week, it's a two-for-one - A Condor 767-300ER with winglets fitted in the forwground, and a Vietnam Airlines 777-200ER taking off in the background at Frankfurt Airport

More next week!

Those Kiwi's are at it again - New Air New Zealand Safety Video.

Last year they did bodypaint. This year, it's Rugby!



Again unique. Excellent work Air New Zealand!

A Darn good reason to keep your system secure - Malware ridden computer fingered in the Spaniair crash...

In the real world, I'm an Systems Administrator. And I hate it when people don't want to update computer, or not look after their computers downloading crap by the bucketload.

Well here's a good enough reason that comes via Graham Cluley's Blog at Sophos (an Enterprise System Protection company), with a report that central computer system than was monitoring aircraft (though not on the aircraft itself) was riddled with Trojan horses.

It should be emphasised there was no virus or malware installed on the aircraft itself.

The Spanair Madrid air crash claimed the lives of 154 people and only 18 survivors aboard the MD-82,


According to El Pais and the blog, an internal report by the airline has revealed that a computer located at the airline's headquarters in Palma, Mallorca, should have identified three similar technical problems with the airplane, but was suffering from a malware infection.

More worryingly, it seems that the plane should not have been allowed to take-off if the technical problems had been identified.

No comment has been made to which virus/malware package was on the computer, but it's an extreme example of what malware can do - both to people and to damage to computers.

So when you surf online - be protected, get a decent virus checker (there are lots of good free ones out there - AVG and Avast are two that spring to mind). Enterprise users can't go far wrong with Sophos. And Mac users don't be complacent either - you're moving into the firing line too.

Source: http://www.sophos.com/blogs/gc/g/2010/08/20/trojan-horse-suspected-contributing-2008-madrid-aircrash/

AA: American to charge for "Premium" Seats, follows UA, US, CO, etc...

Late to the game American Airlines has decided to open up the first few rows of coach/econmomy seating to "anyone who pays extra" for it.

Bundled in is the right to be the first to board a plane - a good thing in the USA considering the state of the overhead bins and how loaded they are.

They are being sold under the Your Choice" product, avalible to American Airlines customers , which can be purchased from the self service machines only 24 hours to 50 minutes before scheduled departure. This inculdes bulkhead seating too.

The service is available within the USA, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands. The Express Seats upgrades range in price from $19 to $39.

This isn't uncommon these days as airlines of all nations are trying to squeeze every penny out of the consumer. Shame it just looks like penny pinching to some of us...

The Long Road to Miles and More: German press annouces possible date, more questions than answers

Globalflight reports that

"bmi will terminate its Frequent Flyer Program Diamond Club towards June 2011 and merge it into the program of its new owner Lufthansa, Miles & More."

Well we know about that BMI is on the verge of terminating it thanks to the investor speech Herr Prock-Schauer gave a few weeks ago.

There is some analysis on the cost of an EU redemption - however and perhaps more importantly, there is no reported source to this story.

This has stirred some debate in the running thread on Flyertalk with more questions being answered - an alas, none being answered.

Even the BMI Facebook thread has gone silent on the matter

So what should you do?  My advice remains constant:

• Burn your miles now. 
• Only buy miles if you need them.
• If you have family members with small pots of miles, merge them into family accounts
• If you're qualifying for Star Alliance Gold or Silver, you need get it done and dusted for early next year latest.

More on this continuing mess as it breaks.


Source: http://www.globalflight.net/index.php?id=2&lang=e

So I haven't said a word about the JetBlue flight attendant incident.

Instead - it's just an image.

With thanks to PostSecret.

LAN/TAM/LATAM - Don't expect an alliance decision for some time to come

It seems there is still a lot of work to be done at LATAM (the combine LAN and TAM entity), with the big question of "Which airline alliance will they dance with" LATAM is saying "Come back in 2012 when we've got closer to merging".

For now, LAN members can redeem away on OneWorld, whilst TAM members will have fun with Star Alliance

For TAM, it's been an extra US$60m in additional revenues in joining Star - something it won't want to loose.

Or in their own words

"in our view it's too early to think about" potentially selecting one alliance for both carriers.

"First of all we have six to nine months on the integration period and during that we have to look for the external third-party authorisation - meaning regulatory, stock exchange offer and so on. Beyond that as we integrate and decide on the comprehensive network for the joint combined companies will be time for us to discuss if we will maintain two independent alliances - meaning Star for TAM and oneworld for LAN - or if we discuss in future a single alliance for LATAM."

Once LATAM is up and running, they'll consider their positions. There is a possibility for LAN and TAM to remain individual members of each alliance - or they could go either way (or if they feel really odd - go to SkyTeam)

If I was considering a redemption or using frequent flyer miles to head to South America on TAM or LAN, I wouldn't hang around and would consider making that redemption before December 2011.

BAA in possible climbdown - strike action at British Airports suspended.

It seems that BAA has no fight in it, and has rolled over to Unite with an improved pay offer made it it's members after a day of talks on Monday to attempt to solve the dispute.

The impacted strike would had hit all BAA Airports including Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, London Heathrow, London Stansted and Southampton

After 9 hours of talks, an agreement was reached, but no news of the actual offer has been given out.

Both BAA and Unite are "confident" that a strike could be avoided with the new offer. Unite will ballot it's members (of which last time there was a measly 50% turn out to force this dispute) with results due in three weeks.

So yes, the strike is off. If you're planning to travel, you can now book with a bit more confidence.

Until Unite show their faces with the British Airways dispute. Expect that to flare up again in September.

** Update ** Aires Airline Flight 8250

More is now becoming clear about the air crash today.

Aries Flight 8250 operating from Bogotá to San Andreas crashed and broke up as it came in to land in the island of San Andres.

The Boeing 737-700 with 131 and crew aboard.  It is reported that the aircraft was hit by lighting before crashed. On contact with the ground, the aircraft split in three with the nose part of the fuselage separating some distance from the rest of the aircraft. 

Figures have been updated to indicate 114 injuries and a single fatality, however According to Colonel David Barrero of the Colombian Air Force, "the skill of the pilot kept the plane from colliding with the airport".

Whilst not a perfect ending (with everyone surviving), it is good to see people walk away from an accident such as this.  

An American contingent from the National Transport Safety Board has been dispatched to assist in the investigation. 

Coverage continues at:

CNN (Original breakers)

BBC News

Flight

*UPDATE* 737-700 Hit By lightening, Crashed, 1 Fatality

An update of the earlier story, a Aires airline 737-700 was hit by lightnening, with 1 passenger was killed and 34 were injured, causing it to split into at least two parts when landing early Monday on the island of San Andres, Colombia,

There were a reported131 people on-board the 737-700 which crashed  around 1:50 a.m. (2:50 a.m. ET),

More updates later

*BREAKING* 737 splits in 3 on landing - at least 1 dead.

Hot off the CNN wire is this exact statement;

Boeing 737 splits into three while landing on San Andres island, Colombia, killing at least one passenger, police say. 

Not so good. More later on.

TAM and LAN to merge

Now here's anohter one that's appeared from nowhere.

Brasil's TAM and Chile's LAN Group have announced the intention to merge together into a new group airline.

LATAM Airlines Group would combine a bevy of Latin America carriers including all of LAN's and TAM's passenger and cargo activities, whilst still maintaining all the individual brands

The merger is subject to both parties agreeing terms, getting shareholder agreement and regulatory approvals.


Combined they will be providing passenger routes to more than 115 destinations in 23 countries while providing cargo services throughout Latin America and across much of the globe.

Now for frequent flyers, there will be an increase of flights, destinations, and connections, however, there will a slight impase - LAN is OneWorld, whilst TAM is in Star Alliance. The big question is what the combined group is going to do - go towards OneWorld or Star Alliance - or straddle in the middle?  It's going to be very hard for either alliance to let go for the combined organasiation - if it's allowed to merge.

No doubt - expect overtures from either side soon as whoever gets LATAM will simply get a major lump of South America without trying....

Airplane p0rn - Helvetic Airways F100

It's Sunday again, so it's time for some Airplane p0rn.

This week it's a Helvetic Fokker F100 taxing at Birmingham International operating a flight for Swiss to Zurich.

More of course next week!

Facinating Aida on "Cheap Flights"

I'll let the video do the talking. No guesses which carrier they could be talking about....

How to deal with Nude-o-scopes...

Thanks to xkcd

BAA vs Unite: 3-1 in favour of Striking

Here we go with Unite muscling in, and its BAA staff choosing to strike by a factor of 3 to 1 for strike after the rejection of the 1% pay rise offer.

Scarily, this also means that BAA will have to close on any strike days as essential staff are due to take part in the walkouts. These include fire fighters, security officers, engineers and support roles on the airport.

The hit list includes:

• Aberdeen Airport
• Edinburgh Airport
• London Heathrow Airport
• London Stansted Airport
• Glasgow Airport
• Southampton Airport

Unite say that 74.1% of the 3,054 staff who voted (and from that 50% of it's membership) turned out to vote for the action.

BAA Quotes:

"We regret the uncertainty this vote has already caused our passengers and airline customers.

"Fewer than half of those people eligible to vote have done so and we do not believe this result provides a clear mandate for strike action."

 No dates have been given yet for the strike, however there are mumerings of various dates - the first being 23rd August, the August Bank Holiday (28th August), but Unite are denying everything until a meeting on Monday to decide a plan of action.

Unite quote:

"If strike action goes ahead, BAA faces total shutdown of six airports"

"It was not their intention to ruin people's summer holidays."

"The advice we would give to passengers is to put pressure on the company to come to reach a negotiated settlement

The strike is related to 1% increase, with a 0.5% extra if they agree to sick leave changes which Unite describe it as measly. They are also calling for a £450 bonus to be paid (even though the target was missed), and the summer bonus to be instated (valued at £700)

With  220 airlines using the six airports, 300,000 passengers and 2,561 flights per day, one hell of a lot is riding on this.

Myself? I'm not in a sympathy mood with the strikers. My sector is under equal attack (if not moreso), with my terms and conditions sinking like a ship.

The line from Unite stating " It was not their intention to ruin people's summer holidays." is in my humble opinion

 A bunch of complete and utter cods-wallop.  

The option to strike is taken at the most advantageous moment to the striker, not the company. Thus taking it at the Bank Holiday Weekend will cause the most publicity and harm.


And some days, I swear Unite lives in the past, and forgets the current pressures of today. 


More on this as and if strike action approaches.

United-Continental Merger: Graphic designers get crayons out again, EU Approval Granted.

Time to go back to the mega-merger of United and Continental Airlines.

With these two giants, it's been confirmed that the merger has been approved by EU Competition authorities, which just leaves the US Authorities to do their job to approve it - or investigate it.

Meanwhile, in honour of this, the graphic designers have their digital crayons out again and have been mocking up up how the merged airline planes will look (if they ever paint them that is - some of United's Aircraft are still in the Grey/Blue/Orange red scheme...)

So lets play "Spot the Difference"

Merger announcement image mock-up

and the new image

So what have they done? That's right. Popped a variation of the current United font on the title of the bird, and that's about it. Or in simple terms "Changed the font"


United-Continental of course spin this out to high heaven. To quote:

"The new visual identity builds upon the significant value of each airline’s current brand, while advancing the combined airline’s future brand image."

How can I put this nicely?  What a load of Marketing claptrap...

MX: Routes reactivated, confusion reigns

It seems confusion is the order of the day at Mexicana, with the following flights and routes now reactivated and will continue serving until further notice.

1586 Mexico City - Madrid
1587 Madrid - Mexico City

1594 Mexico City - London
1595 London - Mexico City

What is exactly going on is now a state of confusion - and more importantly, tickets still cannot be purchased for Mexicana Airines. Mexicana Click and Mexicana Link however are still bookable.

See: http://www.mexicana.com/cs/Satellite?Level=1&pagename=MexicanaG5_US_EN%2FPage%2FPrincipalPageComposition_US_EN&assetId=1143494208252&URLTemplate=/cs/Satellite?pagename=MexicanaG5/MexContainer_C/LandingBank_News&idContainer=1243462914943&ChannelID=1201111972289&siteID=1143494205438&IdNews=1280334500672 and http://cmainforma.com/cma-informs/ for the latest confusion from Mexicana.

Fake EHIC Sites shut down... but more are probably abound.

Like the Fake ESTA sites that are around (which will confuse people even more now the fee is coming in), there's also a market on Fake European Heath Insurance Cards (EHIC) as well.

The EHIC is a free benefit across the European Economic Area and thus not charged for. 

The Office of Fair Trading has got in on the act, and has clamped down on 5 providers who now either have given up selling, or have gone "offline"


Their investigation which was launched in March, has discovered that consumers believed they were paying for an EHIC via the official site, and were unaware that EHICs are available free from the NHS.

More importantly, these  traders breached the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 and, in some cases, the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002.
 
Heather Clayton, from the Office of Fair Trading states:

While it is not unlawful to charge money for a reviewing and forwarding service, traders must be clear about the product or service they are offering, and not trick consumers into parting with money for services they don't want.

People seeking to obtain government-funded services such as an EHIC should check carefully that they are using an official government website."

For British Citizens, you can get your EHIC cards from https://www.ehic.org.uk/Internet/home.do.  Other European national, please consult your local/national health providers.

From the coloumist of the New York Times...

... comes this little gem of a red eye flight in ink.

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/03/red-eye/

For economy class flyers like myself - so on the money.  Highly recommended

Ein Pillowfight of LH687

I'll let the video do the talking:



And who says the Germans don't know how to do fun?

Hattip: http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/runway-girl/2010/08/pillow-fight-in-flight.htm

MX: The inevitable happens - flights starting to be cancelled.

Sadly it seems Mexicana cannot hold its head above water, and is now beginning to cancel flights.

13 flights from Monday are suspended with two more routes halted beginning Tuesday and Wednesday.

The flights sliced off involves services to and from:
London
Madrid
Montreal
Chicago
San José
Costa Rica
Caracas
Bogotá
Fresno

See http://www.mexicana.com/cs/Satellite?Level=1&pagename=MexicanaG5_US_EN%2FPage%2FPrincipalPageComposition_US_EN&assetId=1143494208252&URLTemplate=/cs/Satellite?pagename=MexicanaG5/MexContainer_C/LandingBank_News&idContainer=1243462914943&ChannelID=1201111972289&siteID=1143494205438&IdNews=1280334500672 for the full breakdown and flight numbers.

Flights that are still operating are active, however, Mexciana "mainline" service ticketing is still blocked. Mexicana have attempted in their words "optimize available resources and ensure that priority is given to homebound passengers".

Translation - If you have Mexicana tickets, better get a refund on them fast, or check your travel insurance is up-to-date. For those who have been cancelled, get in contact for a refund or rerouting.

Good luck if you're affected!

Airplane p0rn - PIA Boeing 777-300ER

It's Sunday again! Therefore it's time for some more airplane p0rn!

This week, it's a PIA Boeing 777-300ER landing at Birmingham International Airport

More of course next week!

ESTA: $14 is the price to visit the Land of the Free

Disapointingly, the ESTA fee will become live after 8th September to apply for permission (not guarentee permission, but merely ask for it) for travel to the United States of America under the Visa Waiver system.

The Visa Waiver system is valid for 36 countries, and will allegedly dump the old I-94W's. 

For UK viewers, that's £9 every two years.  The fee is $10, but of course there is an "administration fee" of $4 to handle it.

So what to do?

• Don't try and avoid it. Whilst in theory you could get it at an airport, it's not a good idea to risk that you will get it. British Airways and American Airlines recommend 72 hours to process.  If you attempt to travel without an ESTA, you will be denied boarding and off-loaded.
• Thinking of travelling to the USA in the next two years? Apply NOW at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta. It costs nothing at the moment
• Got an ESTA Number already? GO AND RENEW IT. NOW. You can apply again at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta and a replacement number will cover you for another 2 years. It might take 24-72 hours to process. 
• Got a new passport, and yet to register for ESTA?  Apply NOW at https://esta.cbp.dhs.gov/esta.
• If you're unsure, consult Money Saving Expert for advice - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/esta-usa-visa

The US Government and it's associated departments continue to spout out the junk that this is to boost tourism attract foreign spending. Although how ripping people off to fill in a form is going to attract spending is way beyond me. 

Prehaps some US Senetor who voted for this or the CBP Press relations officer who is reading this might like to explain it to me in dollar benefits how this will

1. Benifit visitors,
2. Other than line the pockets of the US Goverment promote local cities and 
3. How long this program will go for
4. The net benefits of to all concerned.
5. Explain if it looks like a visa and smells like a visa, it isn't a visa, but a "wavier"

Personally, I am looking forward to ESTA affected countries to apply a reciprocal fee to US Citizens, as a reminder that the US cannot act unilaterally like this, and expect to not face the consequences.


Links:

• US CBP - http://cbp.dhs.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/national/08062010_2.xml
• BBC News http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10899968
• Money Saving Expert - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2010/08/esta-applications-to-cost-from-september
• Money Saving Expert Guide to ESTA Fees - http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/esta-usa-visa

PD: Even little airlines have money Porter splashes the cash for Q400's...

Well it seems the money is still abound - this time Porter Airlines of Canada have been shopping for some more Bombardier Dash 8-Q400 Next Gens for its fleet with orders for four aircraft direct , and options for 6 more if needed.

Deliveries are set to begin in the second quarter 2011,  and will be delivered up to third quarter 2012.

Porter currently operates a fleet of eighteen Q400s 18 Q400's and two Q400 Next Gen's.

So why the fuss? If you were to compare Porter Airlines to a European equivelent, the nearest thing (what was)  VLM airlines before they got took over by Air France-KLM group - in other words - a full service airline with all the perks that go with it (inducing luggage allowances, food and beverages).

Based out of Toronto City Airport,. it's suffered its fair share of issues (Planes landing late after the airport has "closed"), but this is a positive move for the airline, offering a high quality regional service. Something that is lacking in the North American/Canadian markets.....

MX: Mexicana - From bad to worse - Stops selling tickets.

Things are heading into tailspin with Mexicana alas, with the announcement via Reuters that they have suspended selling tickets from Wednesday.

Flights will continue to operate and existing tickets honoured.

The unions are being called in today in a attempt to reach an agreement with management, although judging by the previous actions of the union, I would not be surprised if this comes to nothing.

This compounded with 2 aircraft seized in Canada, and 1 seized in Chicago spells very bad news for the airline as it will impede the services that can be run.

Regional services operated by Click and Link will continue to run normally, and tickets sold for flights on these will continue "as normal".

This is indeed a turn for the worse for the airline, and could spell very bad news. If you've booked long haul on redemption, I'd change your ticket NOW. For those Otherwise I'd be looking to reroute elsewhere if you need to travel on OneWorld flights to Mexico.

Good luck to all.

• Business Traveller
• Reuters

CX: Cathay flashes the cash - orders A350's and 777's....

Well there seems to be some money floating around - this time in Asia with Cathay Pacific in the mood to buy.

Cathay has signed a letter of intent to purchase 30 A350-900 aircraft from Airbus, whilst at the same time to exercise existing purchase rights for six Boeing 777-300ERs.

Cathay expects the A350s to be delivered between 2016 and 2019, which Cathay say will form its backbone of the mid-sized wide-body fleet, with plans to operate these aircraft across its network, focusing on routes to Europe and North America.

Meanwhile, the 777-300ER's will be on top of the 30 existing, taking it to 36 aircraft. 18 of which have been received, and the rest to be deployed by 2013.

Yep. It's defiantly the time to buy it seems...

Flambe! Engine Fire on a Monarch A320

Drama over the skies of Birmingham this evening a Monarch A321 suffering an engine fire after take off (and for Birmingham Airport - that's high drama).

A Monarch Airlines Airbus A321-200, on flight ZB932 from Birmingham to Tenerife with 213 passengers, departed Birmingham's yesterday, and during the initial climb, when the left engine emitted a loud bang,streaks of flames and black smoke.

The crew performed an engine shutdown, and returned to Birmingham safely 15 minutes after initial departure.

Thankfully, all 213 passengers disembarked safely. A credit to pilots and crew for getting everyone down safely.

There is of course some human interest part to the story on the BBC News site, and a more dry fact account at AVHearld

Mexicana: Trouble ahead.....

Mexicana has fallen, and has filed for bankruptcy protection both in Mexico and the USA after failing to reach a deal with trade unions on cost cutting.

To stave of bankruptcy, the airline had proposed deep pay cuts for the crews, pilots and a 40% slash on staff. To which the unions disagreed too.

Mexicana has said flights would continue while it restructured its finances.
Reasons cited for this were the recession, and the outbreak of swine flu, which has made their numbers so bad, causing a drop in tourism throughout the country

Staff feel they shouldn't give up anything more after a major round of benefit cuts in 2006, whilst refusing to take the 40% cut, are not heading to strike.

However, lessors are getting twitchy, aircraft having been seized in Canada, and attempts have been made to seize other aircraft at JFK and Chicago O'Hare.

GDS's are noticing major cuts in capacity from Europe from September. If you've got concerns, raise them directly with Mexicana.

However, according to the FAQ on their website
- Changes may occur in terms of routes and timetables.
- Mexiana Click and Link seem to be in the clear of the problems.
- Bookings are still being taken
- Miles and Status currently unaffected

If you're affected - good luck to all.

Mexicana information: http://cmainforma.com/cma-informs/

BA vs Unite: Back to the table, away from the table, make signs at the table that mean nothing at all...

It's been some weeks or days since I've talked about BA and Unite. So lets waste some pixel space seeing what both sides are at.

BA and Unite have had a round of talks this week in an attempt to hold off any industrial action - and whilst no fruit is bearing at the moment, they will be meeting again next week.

Both parties met at Acas, and discussed what they wanted under their supervision. Whilst the minimal staff who voted in the last strike voted against the new pay deal, BA has stated this will form the basis of any new deal.

With Unite's threat of more strikes after in September, the need to sort this out is becoming more pressing. BA is preparing contingency plans, and like it or not - to some extent they worked in every strike.

Like an old couple in a divorce case, both sides are at it, catting themselves to bits. Rather embarrassing really - and also possibly costly if the uncertainty of strikes hits business pockets....

FR: Don't forget to book an extra seat if you're taking a muscial instrument....

The Daily Hate Mail once again publishes another scare story about Ryanair, with this time Three musicians were left stunned when they were forced to buy additional seats for their instruments.

Flying from Frankfurt-Hann to Stansted, the believed they could take their instruments as hand luggage, but discovered before they could fly they couldn't with a cost of extra seats at a cool £1340.

Ouch.

Whats more it seems they couldn't be bothered to read the luggage size regulations as the the cases were beyond the permitted size of 55cms by 40cms by 20cms.

Like a lot of precious instruments, it's not a wise idea to check them (as we all know how gently rampers treat luggage). Due to the value and age of the 18th century violins worth up to £800,000 each - the musicians had to pay for extra seats.

Of course, there is belief of breach of contract as the organisers claim Ryanair would allow these items onboard as hand luggage.

Mr Gowan the organiser said:

'Obviously you cannot put a fragile Stradivarius or Guarnerius in the hold due to the cold, let alone risk of damage.


'Ryanair want to get the message out that they don't want hand luggage in the cabins and they simply don't give a damn if a few musicians have a problem. It is so anti-cultural.


'We are saying that we had a contract and they have changed the rules - and our lawyers think we have a good case.


'When you buy a cello seat, you know you have to do it because the instrument is too big to go into the overhead rack. But a violin case is very slim and will go in easily, even if it is a little bit over the limit.'

"So Darn Anti-Cultural?" OH GIVE ME A BREAK!

Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said:

'The policy has been the same for two years and the terms and conditions clearly explain that musical instruments need to have a second seat.


'It is the responsibility of individual passengers to research the conditions before they book their flights.


'There can be no allowances made for anyone, whether its the next superstar in cricket, tennis or music. The terms and conditions are the same for everyone.'

Whilst I feel sorry for the musicians, I'm going to do something odd for once - and side with Ryanair. Why? If you want to fly Ryanair, you play their game. And if the game says buy another seat, you buy another seat for your stuff.

Of course, the easier way would had been to fly a different carrier (for example, Air Berlin, Lufthansa, BA) who would had understood your needs and supported.

Just another price to flying with Ryanair....

Airplane p0rn - United 777-200

Another week passes, and it therefore time for some more airplane p0rn.

This week, it's an United Airlines Boeing 777-200 in it's old colour scheme and with odd engine access cowling's, at Frankfurt-am-Main, readying for the long journey across the pond to somewhere in the USA.

More airplane p0rn of course, next week!