FR: Confuses "Popularity" with "Volume" and makes a PR of it.

Ryanair has released a press release saying loud and proud that "IATA CONFIRMS RYANAIR IS THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE AIRLINE"

Page - Ryanair.com

Oooooooooook.

They go on to mention the Volumes of passengers they carry.

Hold up on second there Friends of The Odious Little Man. What is the definition of the word "Favourite"?

According to dictionary.com....

Definition: dictionary.com

Unless Ryanair have a different dictionary, volume of customers carrier does not equal to favouritism. Rather it is an indication how many people are carried.

And I notice Satisfaction is not listed in this IATA survey. Funny that.

SQ: More A330's on the way

It seems Singapore Airlines are liking the A330's it operates. So much so, they're leasing another 15 of them, due for delivery between 2013 and 2015.

The new aircraft will replace some of the existing Boeing 777's that are used for regional and mid-haul services - covering Asia, Australia and Middle East.

They currently operate 19 on the type on 5 year short leases (and extendable), which if they all are operated will take the fleet to 34 aircraft.

Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong say that:

"Together with the additional [Airbus] A380s that we are taking delivery of this year, as well as A350s and 787s on order for the years ahead, the lease of the A330s is consistent with our longstanding policy of operating a young and modern fleet."

No plans have been announced for what is to be done with the older 777-200 fleet. With the long haul Low Cost Carrier Singapore Airlines have announced, they could go to them... or they can sell them on like they did to Royal Brunei....

From a passenger viewpoint, the A330's whilst smaller than a 777-200, tend to be more comfortable as they are normally arranged in a 2-4-2 arrangement down the back and a 2-2-2 arrangement in the front of the aircraft (thus the maximum people you have to ask to go to leave your seat is 1 no matter where you are sat in the aircraft).

UA/CO: The new name of the combined airlines frequent flyer's programme will be....

... wait for it...

... wait for it...

The name is Mileage Plus, which will fold in the existing Mileage Plus and Continental OnePass programmes.

More details of the announcement over at MilePoint

UK Public Service Strike (PCS/Teaching Unions/Others) - Expect long immigration queues

Tommorow could be a very long day if you're coming into the United Kingdom as the Public Services Unions are going out of strike.

UKBA's Border staff are members of the PCS Union, who are taking their members on strike, as well as Schools, Universities, Courts and probation services, Jobcentres and tax and benefit offices, Driving test centres Some Council Services, and more importantly for travellers - Customs and passports services

BAA is already warning arriving passengers should expect delays at the UK border on Thursday as a result of industrial action by immigration officers, and for those inbound into the London Heathrow hub, UK Border Agency has advised advised that "passengers who can do so may wish to travel on other dates"

E-Border and IRIS may be unavailable depending on staff supervision levels.

Departing passengers are unaffected.

So if you're coming into the UK tomorrow, expect long immigration times.

Office of Fair Trading: Hidden Card Fees to be banned.

Well it seems the Office of Fair Trading may have some teeth after all, in todays announcement that Travel companies have been ordered to end the use of hidden surcharges for passengers paying by card.

For those who are pained with the filling in booking forms, we all know at the page before "buy", some airlines will decide to levy a fee for the use of a credit card or Debit Card.

This is not reflected in the Headline price, but the final price.

The Office of Fair Trading thinks this is a shame, and has ordered companies (that's airlines, travel agents, ferries, and anyone else who levys a fee for using a card) to make charges clear from the outset.

More importantly, the Office for Fair Trading wants the law changed so that fees are not levied when paying with a Debit Card, representing a saving for the consumer.

This comes with a threat from the OFT:

"We will take enforcement action against any businesses that do not respond to today's announcement and instead continue to use misleading surcharging practices,"

Whilst this enforcement to display cost from the outset, it does nothing to address the stupidity of the cost of credit card fees, of which the OFT is not doing anything about at this time.

Expect the Low Cost Carriers to throw their toys out of the pram, and in six months time for prices to go up so the fees are covered.....

TG: To Brussles

Good news for those of us who like to save some money on taxes and like redeeming long haul.

Thai Airways International is starting a route from Brussels to Bangkok from 17th November 2011.

The route will operate 3 times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, using a Boeing 777-200ER at the following times:

TG934    DEP BKK 00:30      ARR BRU 07:00

TG935    DEP BRU 13:30      ARR BKK 06:20+1

This is a bit important as the 777-200ER's have no First Class seating, but have Business and Economy Class only. It's not a bad product per say (it's not a 180 degree flat bed), but "could be better".

For those remotely interested, see Kevin Gets a Little Seoul for my impressions of Thai Business Class in a similar Boeing 777-200.

Tickets for this route go on sale soon.

For those connecting, Brussels is served as a Star Alliance hub of sorts, with Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and other members connecting here for European hops (or Eurostar/Thalys for those who don't want the hassle of another flight onwards). Similarly at the other end you have the vast expanse of options that Bangkok offers.

It'll be interesting to see how this plays, as this could work really well - providing it's priced right.

National Express East Angila: Yes, the curse of heat is back.

It's the same every time we have a bit of extreme weather - cancellations ahoy.

National Express Anglia lead the pack with the hot weather causing trouble on the orders of Network Rail, with the heat affecting the overhead power lines.

London to Ipswich, Braintree, Southend are all hit in different ways.

National Express East Anglia says:

"Due to high temperature on Monday 27 June, speed restrictions have been imposed due to the design of the overhead line equipment.

"This equipment is subject to major renewal which will prevent the need for speed restrictions in the long term.

"We intend to operate a full AM and PM peak service."

Speeds on the Great Eastern Mainline, connecting Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford, Southend, Shenfield and London are being reduced from up to 90 down to 80 - or in some cases 60.

It could be a long day if you're travelling. Stock up on water and watch for delays at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/today.html

VS: Branson to Pilots - "Extremely Sad" over threat of strikes

dIn a bid to head off the strike action which BALPA and the Virgin Atlantic pilots are threatening, Sir Richard Branson has sent a letter to the pilots, stating he was "extremely sad" about the threat of strikes, and that he would be happy to meet them for private talks.

There also was a tag-on of the line "it will leave an indelible scar on the company, impact customers' trust in us and damage the unique and friendly culture at Virgin Atlantic".

Ooh. Disrupting the cool image of Virgin. Such is life.

BALPA is fighting for a higher rise than the 4% national average offered by Virgin, pilots have not had a rise for some time.

BALPA has yet to formally respond.

If Virgin Pilots do intend to strike, action will be announced this week. Hang tight - this could be interesting.

Airplan p0rn - BMI Airbus A319

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

This week, it's British Midland (BMI) Airbus A319 pushing back at London Heathrow T1

More next week!

Safety Video Saturday - Retro - American Airlines MD-11

Time to do the Timewarp as we look at American Airlines, and safety onboard their then MD-11's...



More next week!

Paris 2011: Thursday Lunchtime Update

Well it's Thursday lunchtime, and here's the news from Paris.

And we open with Air Asia's massive order for 200 A320neo's. Yes - 200 frames. With none of the frames they have on order currently being cancelled this takes Air Asia to 375 frames due from Airbus.

That's a LOT of frames!

Meanwhile Airbus has disclosed an agreement for 10 A380's has been tentatively agreed with an undisclosed customer. Not that this sniffs of a company who has ordered.. ooh 15 747-8I's....

Speaking of A380's, Skymark Airlines have firmed up it's options for an extra 2 Airbus A380's - taking it to 6 frames to order

Meanwhile, talk is abound of the A350-800... and it's status - with Qatar airways receiving no further updates on release of the first aircraft. It seems that Airbus are concentrating on the A350-900 (the larger variant) than the -800 in the first instance...


More thing evening....

Paris 2011: Wednesday Evening Update

Well it's Wednesday evening, and with a lot of the deals done, lets see who else has opened their wallets in the past few hours...

Indigo Airlines are the big news today, confirming their mass order for 180 Airbus A320 class aircraft made up 30 A320's and 150 Airbus A320neo's. No matter how you colour it, that's a lot of aircraft.

LAN is also in the market for the A320neo, and has signed for 20 frames.

Alafco of Kuwait has tentatively signed for 30 Airbus A320neo

There's a lot of orders this week for the A320Neo, and next week GhettoIFE.com will be taking a cursory look at what you can expect from the passenger viewpoint.

Your next update from Paris will be tomorrow lunchtime.

Strike Action: Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect - Cancelled.

It seems to be the day to settle, with Heathrow Express Management settling with the RMT over the pay dispute.

It seems an improve pay offer has been made, which the RMT is urging it's members to accept. Which is nice.

In addition, the overtime ban has been lifted too, allowing for a full Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect service to operate.

A final resolution to the dispute is expected in a few weeks.

It seems peace is breaking out everywhere... but very slowly.

BA: BA vs Unite - It's all over.

With a vote of 92% to accept and a turnout of 72%, the industrial action of British Airways vs Unite has come to an end.

And that's that. No further comment needed really.

NH: Reveals the internals of it's 787's...

ANA have had the paitence of angels, but have released a video of what to expect onboard their new Boeing 787's.



Taking a cue from their recently rolled out 777-300ER programme (Inspiration of Japan), expect to see two configurations of the birds - a Long Haul and a Short Haul variant - the difference being the seats at the front of the plane (A Cradle seat in short haul business and a staggered flat-bed in the long haul variant).

For those of us who know life down the back it's the new style "shell" seats where the seat cushion shifts forward, rather than reclining into the person behind you. Like all good modern aircraft, expect IFE screens, Power Sockets and USB Ports. Long haul variations will have an iPod port too (which means this is a Panasonic EX2 type IFE system)

And yes, expect scary toilets and bidets aboard too.

So far we've got a computer rendering (as shown above). How it will look in the flesh is another matter completely... .

Paris 2011: Wednesday Lunchtime Update

It's Wednesday Lunchtime, and it's time for who's brought what.

Kuwait's ALAFCO has opened it chequebook, ordering a further six Airbus A350-900's, taking its orders for the class up to 18 aircraft.

Russian carrier UTAir has signed with Boeing for 40 737NG aircraft, made up of 33 737-800's and 7 737-900ERs.

Meanwhile it seems Hong Kong Airlines has come forward as the owner of the 15 Boeing 747-8I's that have been ordered. In addition, it's being mumbled that they're also ordering six Airbus A380-800's too.

The owning company of Hong Kong Airlines - HNA Group is also ordering 30 787-9s, six 777 Freighters, and two 787-8s in VIP configuration as well. So they have a fair bit of cash to play with from the sounds of it.

In Airbus A320Neo news, Avianca-TACA has signed a MOU for 51 frames, 33 of which will be A320neo's.

Meanwhile, Republic Airways (owner of Frontier as well as a variety of Regional carriers) has has tentatively signed to take 40 Airbus A319neos and 40 A320neos, making them the launch customer of the A319neo series.

As usual, things are fast moving in Paris. In the late evening update, a clearer picture should emerge of what Hong Kong Airlines is actually doing.....

Paris 2011: Tuesday Evening Update

Apologies for the delay - I've spent most of the evening crashed out - which has cost me in more ways than one (which is a post subject in the next couple of days...)

So It's Tuesday Evening. Who's done what?

Garuda Indonesia has signed for 25 Airbus A320 aircraft (10 of these will be the A320Neo aircraft for it's LCC - Citilink. These will be used to replace the exisiting Boeing 737 Classics that are in the their fleet.

GECAS has opened up the cheque book and has ordered two 747-8Fs and eight 777-300ERs - all yet to be placed with carriers.

But the rumour of the day goes to Boeing who are seriously considering a response to the Airbus A350-1000... and it's a 777 based derivative initially numbered the 777-8X and the 777-9X. However before then, Boeing is considering the 777+ project "refreshing" the frame, and adding new wings to the design with other incremental updates. Which is fine if you're a long haul carrier. Short Haul Carriers on the other hand are still waiting for the next 737 design...

More tomorrow lunchtime.

VS: Virgin Atlantic vs BALPA. Vote - It's Strike Actions - Dates Not Set

Well now the British Airways industrial dispute is out of the way, it's time for the Virgin Atlantic pilots to go on strike.

The dispute is over pay (oh surprise) and the lack of rises since 2008, but it seems to be a high turnout of 94% with 97% of voters going for strike action.

BALPA has yet to announce strike dates at this time, but are using the turnout as a battering ram against Virgin Atlantic.

Virgin Atlantic is preparing contingency plans in case a strike date is called, wit the offer of more talks.

However, there is at the end of the day one lot of people who will suffer over this - and alas, it'll be the person who buys the ticket and realises on that day, they're going to be delayed, rerouted or have to rebook for another time.

GhettoIFE.com will keep abreast of the situation and if dates are announced, they will be posted.

And as usual, begin your contingency travel planning... now.

BD: New tag on to Amritsar

British Midland International is slowly expanding it's wings now it has it's full compliment of two Airbus A330-200's back.

Today, a new tag-on flight has been announced, with service to Amritsar - BMI's second attempt at heading to India.

Service commences October 13th, operating 3 times a week (subject to governmental approval)


The Northern Indian city will be served three times a week by BMI starting on October 13 with an Airbus A330-200.

The proposed schedule is:

Outbound - Operates Monday, Thursday and Saturday
BD991 - Depart LHR 09:55, Arrive ALA 23:20, Depart ALA 00:10, Arrive ATQ 02:45

Inbound - Tuesday, Friday and Sunday
BD992 - Depart ATQ 04:10, Arrive ALA 07:45, Depart ALA 0845, Arrive LHR 10:50

For those who think BMI is playing risk here, this could be an interesting play as there is no current direct link from London to Amritsar. 3 times a week is enough of "communications link" to make it worth while, whilst BMI are risking nothing other than having a plane on the ground at ALA for 6 hours. Might as well try and make them earn some money.

That or BMI wants to incite more regime change (after all, look what happened to the Tripoli service - they managed to operate 1 rotation before all hell broke loose there...)

Paris 2011: Tuesday Lunchtime Update

Well we're into Day Two of the Paris Air Show, so let's see who's opened up their Chequebooks this morning

Firstly, SAS Group have decided to do a partial fleet renewal and addtion, with the purchase of 30 Airbus A320Neo's

Malaysian Airlines have taken up an option for ten Boeing 737-800s - an addition of aircraft to their fleet

Aeroflot has been busy and has signed a deal for an additional eight Boeing 777-300ER aircraft.

CIT Group has signed memorandum of understanding with Airbus for 50 A320neo aircraft form the A320neo Family.

TransAsia (a Taiwanese Airline) have signed for six A321neos as an expansion for it's current fleet. Interestingly, it will operate a mix of Airbus shorthaul aircraft with A320's, A321's, the Sharklet A320 (when they enter service) and at the end point - A321neo.

Norwegian have ordered another 15 Boeing 737-800s (and interestingly have the 1000th ever 737 constructed in their fleet), whilst firming up the 787 order first made in May. However Norwegian are piling on the pressure along with other short haul carriers about the 737 replacement. With Airbus stealing orders with the A320neo/A321neo, this is surely playing on the minds of Boeing Execs...

The surprise of the morning so far goes to Korean Air who as well as providing backup support for Airbus, has signed a letter of intent with Bombardier for up to 10 initial CSeries Jets, with options for 10 more, and purchase rights for an other 10 - a possible 30 jets.

The next top up from Paris will be sometime this evening. Lots of time for more deals to be signed...

Paris 2011: Monday Evening Update

Well I go and turn my back away, and it's been annoucement city. So lets get on with them in no particular order.

Korean Air's A380 comes to save the day for a load of free publicity after Airbus prang their own A380. One less blush to worry about. Now... park the aircraft safely this time please?

Steven Udvar-Hazy's "Air Lease" has been busy signing away today, with firm orders for 11 A330 aircraft, and signing a MOU for 50 Airbus A320neo aircaft.

During the morning, orders were announced for 5 Boeing 777-300ER and 4 787-9 widebodies, as well as 20 firm orders and four options for 737-800.

Meanwhile GECAS also placed an order for 60 A320neo's - a popular airframe this is turning into.

Saudi Arabian Airlines (soon to be SkyTeam member) is ordering four Airbus A330-300s - a follow-on for the eight frames it has placed before.

Bombardier has secured what it calls a "a top-tier carrier" as a launch operator CSeries twinjet. The unnamed carrier is ordering 10 CS100's with options for six more. Bombardier states the customer wishes to remain unidentified for the present time.

And more secrets are about over at Boeing, who have announced that some airline has brought 17 Boeing 747-8i's (15 from one carrier, 2 from another). The actual names of the airlines have not been disclosed at this time, but an order for 15 is a small fleet, where an order for 2 is a tag on to an order. But whom?

Interesting times.

More from Paris and the lunchtime update tomorrow!

Paris 2011: Monday Lunchtime Update

Well as the Paris Air show has kicked off, this is your lunchtime update to who's buying what.. and other fun points.

Airbus who managed to ding one of their test A380's in a ground incident at Paris Le Borget yesterday are flying in a Korean Air Airbus A380 to do it's display programme. How much of the display it will run is of course, besides the point.

GE Capital have been opening their wallets, signing for 15 ATR 72-600s with an order option for 15 more. These are being marketed onto airlines, of which one has expressed interested, but has not been disclosed at time of publication.

Air Astana and Embraer have announced a deal for purchase of two Embraer E-190s, with options for another pair. They plan to to use them to increase services in the Central Asia region, as well as for expansion purposes.

Subject to them taking on just the purchased aircraft, this will bring them to a total of 6 E-190s - 4 leased and 2 purchased.

Sriwijaya have also been shopping for E-190's, with them signing for 20 purchases and options for another 10 on top. Again, for expansion purposes, they will be run in single class mode with 100 seats in them.

And the big order of the lunchtime goes to Qatar Airways who are ponying up more cash for six Boeing 777-300ER's, taking it's ordered commitments to 40 frames. This incudles the 2 777-300ER's and 777F's ordered in April.

This is the opening of what looks like to be a very busy show! More later on this evening.

VN: Off to Gatwick

Vietnam Airlines has confirmed it will be commencing flights to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from London Gatwick.

Whilst exact timings of the flights have not been confirmed, the frequency will be twice weekly to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from a commencement date of 9th December.

If you choose to fly Vietnam Airlines, you'll be on a Boeing 777-200ER configured in Business, Deluxe Economy and Economy Class.

And for those of you who are desperate for miles in the deal, Vietnam Airlines is a SkyTeam member too.

An interesting expansion move as Vietnam Airlines already server Frankfurt and Paris.

It's time for the Paris Air Show...

Well if you're a big airline or airframe manfacturer, it's your lucky week as you're decamping from your homes to Paris Le Bourget for five days of fun, games, and the harsh game of negotiation and buying.

Already aircraft have arrived, with Airbus dinging an A380 already, Boeing bringing over their 747-8I over, and Sukhoi bringing it's little SuperJet 100 over too.

GhettoIFE.com will have it's daily roundup of Paris in the afternoon with the updates on who has ordered what, and anything interesting from their airlines on the show.

Now if only I had a ticket to get there....

Airplan p0rn - Cayman Airways 737

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

This week it a Cayman Airways 737-300 taxing at Chicago O'Hare International

More of course next week!

Safety Video Saturday - Kenya Airways

It's Saturday again, so it's time to put your seat into the upright position as Kenya Airways give a demo of their 767's...



More next week!

KL: Airplane p0rn Extra - Rolls out the Delft Blue 777...

KLM have been busy with a social media project, inviting users to submit Delft Blue tile designs.

Well it seems KLM have been busy with the tiles, and have wrapped a plane full of them.

Pictures (c) KLM.

Well it does look very different - and I quite like it. Which is nice.

More piccies can be found at http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150177468640773.309805.273795515772

Pam Ann: Sells her soul to SkyTeam...

After selling her soul to British Airways, Pam Ann has sold her soul to SkyTeam.

The results... can be seen below (and at Skyteam.com)



To be honest, I can never remember being LHR T4 that nice.....

U2: To open a new base at... London.. Southend?

For starters, Southend is nowhere near London - it's about 50 minutes to an hour away - then again how Seoul Inchon and Toyko Narita can claim the same is beyond me...

But EasyJet sees some value in this little outpost in the heartlands of White Stilettos, by opening a base there in April 2012.

Three Airbus A319's are to be based at the site, operating 70 flights on 10 routes. Barcelona, Faro and Ibiza show up in the first wave of flights, with tickets and other destinations to be announced at the end of July.

EasyJet are estimating up to 800,000 passengers to flow through in the first year. And it seems EasyJet are there for a period, with a 10 year agreement signed with the owners of the airport.

Southend Airport is also served by Aer Arren (semi-regular) and FlyBe (seasonally).

Strike Action: Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect - Here we go again.

Well it seems the RMT is still in a paddy with the operators of the Heathrow Express, and have called their workers out to action again.

The strike is scheduled to begin at 09:15 on 26 June, and will last for 24 hours.

In addition, the workers will also ban overtime and will work to rule for 24 hours from 25 June and again from 27 June.

Plan your journeys accordingly, especially as an London Underground strike is due to hit shortly after the Heathrow Express strike finishes.

AA: Introduces Premium GhettoIFE - or Samsung Galaxy Tablets...

It seems GhettoIFE is now all the rage, with American Airlines deploying tablets to First and Business Class passengers on certain routes.

American will be using Samsung Galaxy's (bucking a trend with everyone using Apple iPad's), and rolling out 6000 of these devices on certain routes operated with Boeing 757 and Boeing 767 equipment

The first batch of routes have been announced - some Transcontinental and some and International Routes

• International flights to and from Europe and South America served with 767-300 aircraft;
• New York JFK and Los Angeles,
• New York JFK and San Francisco
• New York JFK and Miami
• Boston to Los Angeles

International Services that are operated by Boeing 777 Aircraft will not have the option loaded.


American Airlines say that “the innovative Galaxy Tab will give our premium customers a modern and innovative inflight entertainment experience”.

Samsung will be customising the devices for inflight entertainment needs, including the addition of expanded memory installed inside them.

These devices (like all GhettoIFE type devices) have a place in delivering you your own IFE experience. But I would sure be annoyed as heck to have it resting on my lap or on a table all flight, taking away precious inches from the Business Class experience.

An interesting move as news of Android GhettoIFE systems are few and far between....

KE: Makes an A380 Advert... but SPOT THE ERROR!

Ok all - it's time for that wonderful game called "Spot the error in the advert"



Is someone using Airbus Corporate footage and adding their own titles on? ;)

Well the answer is ... roll forward to 7 seconds in and you'll see... a Trent Engine being mounted.

What's so important about that you might ask? Well... Korean Air are using... Engine Alliance Engines... Not Rolls Royce Trent 900's...

Horrendously geeky ;) 

KE: Up's frequencies on CDG-ICN in advance of A380 rollout...

With the oncomming storm that is the Airbus A380, Korean Air will be upping it's frequencies from 7 times a week to:

From 11th June - 6 times a week with a second service 7 (a Double frequency to Seoul on a Saturday)

Dept ICN 09:10      Arrive CDG 13:50

Dept CDG 16:30      Arrive ICN 10:20+1

Equipment rostered for this additional service is a Boeing 747-400

From 22nd July this is bumped up to 10 services a week with extra services on Monday and Friday.

Dept ICN 16:20      Arrive CDG 21:15

Dept CDG 23:00      Arrive ICN 17:05+1

For these flights, the equipment rostered will be a Boeing 777-200ER, with the upgraded product aboard.

Now, for those of you who are A380 Fans, the big date for your calendar is the 26th September, when deployment begins. At this point, frequencies go back to daily single flights, with A380 serivces operating on Monday, Wednesday and Friday - so if you want the A380 product, time your travel carefully.

TG: A350's and B787's on the way....

It's getting to that time of year again where we head off to Paris (well not me - some of us have to pay for mileage runs still), as the build-up to the Paris Airshow 2011 build up.

Thai Airways has been busy pre-show, announcing leases and purchases.

In pre-show news Thai Airways have announced plans for 12 Airbus A350's and 8 Boeing 787's to be acquired.

The brought frames will be 6 Boeing 777-300ER's, 4 Airbus A350-900's and 5 A320's are being brought.

The leased frames will be 6 Boeing 787-8's and 2 Boeing 787-9's, 6 Airbus A320's and 8 Airbus A350-900s

Ghettoife.com will be monitoring the Paris Airshow like a hawk as we move into one of the biggest ordering seasons of the year. The question of course will be - who's going to buy what?

Airplan p0rn - Delta 767-400ER

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

This week, it's one of Delta's 767-400ER's taxing at Heathrow Airport on it's way to Terminal 4.

More next week!

Safety Video Saturday - Airblue A321

It's time to put your seat into the upright poisition as Air Blue demonstrate the safety features of their Airbus A321's



More safety next week!

BA: New First, New Video.

Well British Airways are showing off their new First product now the rollout is in full progress, with an experience video.



Cute.

SEN RUN: So, what's in the matching kit then?

So all you cheap SENs (Lufthansa Senator's) to be... or wanna be SEN's, what's in the kit?

Well after being matched electronically online , my kit arrived in the post....

Ooh. Luftpost. For me?

Welcome letter - and T&C's.

Ahh. The kit!

The card - no it doesn't look like that - I've photoshoped my details out. Nice I maybe. Sharing my personal info - I don't.... ;)

Oooh. Luggage tags! And a guide (Info again suppressed. Because I'm evil).

Red Leather Luggage tags... cute!!

... and that's the kit!

Job Done!

LUL: New Strike Dates released.

You can always trust the RMT to mess up a good thing.

Whilst they're still closing on negotiations with London Underground over a sacked worker, they've also added to the pressure by calling their members out on strike

The magic dates and times are:

0901 on 19 June and 0300 BST on 20 June
0901 on 27 June and 1159 BST on 28 June
1200 on 29 June and 1159 BST on 30 June
1200 and 2100 BST on 1 July.

Nothing like holding a threat to the people and visitors of London eh Bob Crow?

This is subject to a resolution of the current dispute.

BA: The rise of the Ghetto IFE system contiunes - BA to use iPads on some of the 777 Fleet...

Well it seems maybe I should lobby BA for some money and copyright. But I'm not an evil person (damn my love of the open source movement).

British Airways is to introduce iPads in British Airways First on a trial with aircraft with the GMIS systems installed. These aircraft have no AVOD (rather a rolling video system with small screens).

These frames are due in the shop during the next two years for an upgrade to the new Thales based IFE system. However until then, they need something to tide them over as DVD's aren't cutting it.

Trials commenced on the 18th May on a 4 week run (so they're in the final weeks of it now), and initial feedback is positive which should lead to an infleet introduction.

Whilst the iPads have been loaded up with content,there is only so much you can load on the systems - which is why the long term solution of a Thales IFE system is needed - remember kids 16GB, 32GB or 64GB can only go so far - and is charged at-seat (which means if you want to use your laptop at the same time, one device must be on power, the other has to suffer).

And don't think of heading off or trying to rip the data off them - the devices are locked down.

But it's interesting to see these devices on a plane. To be honest, I'm wondering why these haven't made it onboard the premium BA1/2/3/4 LCY-JFK service yet.....

SQ/DJ : Annoucne tie up.... explains why MH was rushed into OneWorld...

It seems there is more than meets the eye, with Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia announcing a Strategic Alliance today.

They're planning to:

• Codeshare on each other’s international and domestic flights;
• Offer reciprocal frequent flyer programme benefits and lounge access;
• Co-ordinate schedules between Singapore and Australia and beyond to provide seamless connections; and
• Engage in joint sales, marketing and distribution activities.

Members of Singapore Airlines’ KrisFlyer frequent flyer programme will be able to earn and redeem miles on Virgin Australia flights, while Virgin Australia’s Velocity members will be able to earn and redeem miles on Singapore Airlines-operated flights.


In practical terms for you and me, there are some things to note:

From 01/08/2011....

• Recepical lounge access for Virgin Australia Velocity Gold members and Singapore Airlines KrisFlyer Gold.
• SQ Passengers will be able to interline directly with DJ's network

From Late 2011

• Both Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia will lodge an application with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to push through the alliance.

Now we can see why Oneworld rushed to announce MH's entry into the organisation. Rather than ordered, it seems to be more of a reaction to this.

Whilst Virgin Australia are unaligned, they have existing parterships with Delta, Etihad Airways and Air New Zealand.  Singapore Airlines is a Star Alliance member (although sometimes they need to be reminded of this fact when trying to obtain premium redemption seats...).

And where does this leave SkyTeam? SkyTeam have increased their local membership with Gaurda Indonesia and China Airlines, but have no direct presence in Australia.

MH: To Join... Oneworld!

Well this is a turn-up for the books. Malaysian Airlines who have been buddying up with KLM recently have decided to join OneWorld instead as announced at a meeting off the current IATA Conference.

The announcement with the CEO of MAS - Tengku Azmil and the co-sponsor - Alan Joyce of Qantas, say that the airline will be ready to join within 12-18 months.

Using Kuala Lumpur as it's hub, it makes a new hub in South East Asia - a sore point missed by OneWorld up till now (although Singapore is down the world with it's world class Changi Hub)

For Frequent Flyers and Mileage run nuts, this can be some good news - as well as increasing Round the World Routings, MH's own mileage programme will be shifted to OneWorld equivalents, as well as the all important lounge access rights.

What this means for the recent tie-ups with KLM is unknown - but interesting times ahead for those who wish to connect or visit places north of Singapore....

Airplan p0rn - Swiss A320

It's Sunday, so it must be time for some more Airplane p0rn!

This week, it's a Swiss Airbus A320 taxing at Zurich Airport.

More next week!

Safety Video Saturday - US Airways 737-400

It's Saturday, so it's time for US Airways to do something rare - and show a video.

This is the safety video for their Boeing 737-400's



More next week!

Blog Admin: Trip Report pictures are a bit broken....

Bit of minor blog admin, but it seems the hosts of my photos (Photoblog.com) have once again fiddled with the hosting arrangements of some of my older photos.

Which means most of the photos in the older trip reports (2008-2009) are broken at this moment in time.

I'll be fixing them over the weekend - again as it seems more of my times is spent fixing at the moment. Almost worth shifting over to Picasa for some stuff and be done with it...

EDIT: Fixed, but someone at Photoblog needs taking out for shooting. Again. 2010 and 2011 trip reports will be rebuilt in a couple of days. 

KE: A380 off to... Paris!

Korean Air has umm'd and ahh'd over where it's going to deploy it's first A380. And it's chosen Paris Charles De Gaul as it's first "Official" destination after the run-in flights

The run-in flights will initially commence on regional routes the 17/06/2011 operating Seoul Inchon to Tokyo Narita, Hong Kong and eventually Bangkok.

Internationally the A380's will be deployed on the Ultra-long haul routes of:
Seoul Inchon - New York - Commencing August
Seoul Inchon - Paris - Commencing September
Seoul Inchon - Los Angeles - Commencing October.

Exact dates to be confirmed - as and when the new Korean Air A380's roll of the production line one suspects.

BA: 100 Airbus's later....

Airbus is making a slight celbration as British Airways takes delivery of it's 100th Airbus aircraft. The aircraft - an A320 pushes British Airways into "a prestigious club" of over 100 Airbus owners.

Here's a pretty picture.

Image - Airbus S.A.R.L.

However, before BA can smile smugly in the background, EasyJet has recently taken delivery of it's 200th Narrowbody Airbus. And yes, whilst EasyJet operate a different model to BA, for some airlines - Size does matter.......

BD: A330 Routes Confirmed.

Well after making a few pennies hiring an A330 to Turkish Airlines, BMI have now got the other frame of it's massive A330 fleet of 2 aircraft, and has decided how to deploy them.

The frame will be operating:
Heathrow-Almaty/Bishkek from 25/06/2011
Heathrow-Freetown from 26/06/2011.

Heathrow-Freetown will be non-stop now, as the previous aircraft that operated the route - an A321 - required a fuel stop along the way.

The other A330 will operate:
London - Riyadh
London - Jeddah
London - Dammam.

Both are configured in Business and Economy Classes - the Premium Economy of old long gone.

The Boeing 757 leased by BMI will be returned to Astreaus - it's task complete..

Well it's good to see the BMI A330 subfleet up to speed at long last (as a semi frequent user of them when they operated MAN-ORD). Hopefully the leasing costs of these birds aren't going to be too much of a millstone round BMI's neck, and that they can make the extra capacity work and pay.

Scary Lunchtime Reading: AF447

Flight has translated the transcript of what happened on the ill fated Air France Flight AF447 which crashed.

Sobering reading over lunch.

http://www.flightglobal.com/blogs/flight-international/2011/05/af447-after-two-long-years-six.html

SEN Run: Job Done.

Not to blow my own trumpet, but my the run I chronicled in SEN for £128.20? has paid off this morning with this in my Miles and More profile:

Ich bin ein Senator.

Job done!