Skytrax

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Trip report: Malaysia “five star”

Of the 5000+ air carriers on the world, There are only six five star airlines: ANA All Nippon Airways Asiana Airlines Cathay Pacific Malaysia Airlines Qatar Airways Singapore Airlines What makes a five star airline? According to Skytrax: The 5-Star Airline rating recognizes airlines at the forefront of product innovation, that set quality benchmarks and trends that are often followed by other carriers. The Airline Rating systems assess the standard of an airline’s Product and Service Delivery Quality, using more than 800 assessment categories, applied across both the Onboard and Airport environments. My experiences with…

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Ten Worst Airlines- 2012 [Updated]

I am often asked which airlines are best avoided.  Having flown for over 3040 hours (0ver 18 weeks of my life!) with 83 airlines, there are some clear differences between the best and the worst! I rate each flight I take for every factor from Booking to Check in to deplaning. and keep a tally of my rating using Flightmemory.com.  The scores averaged out give me the ranking of flights, airlines and airports. I have placed my score for each airline next to the airline name. Here is my list for of the 2012 worst airlines, starting from the…

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2012 Airport Top Twenty

Having been to 203 airports now, I have a fair idea of what I want in a good airport. I want first of all an airport that is easy to get around with good signposting. Short lines come next. Being well connected to public transit is more important than parking for me. I do like the car rental outlets located close by and not a shuttle bus away. Talking of shuttle buses, I hate being bussed to and from a plane, so give me enough gates please. Clean well maintained airports get my attention and I do…

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Shenzhen Air joins Star Alliance -No One World for China?

Following the recent addition of Xiamen Airlines to Skyteam, Shenzhen Airlines China’s fifth largest carrier has joined the Star Alliance after 16 months of planning. Shenzen is based in the city of the same name, 1,940km from Beijing. The airline links 70 cities domestically and internationally.  In 2010, the airline was involved in a scandal when it was found that about one hundred of its pilots had falsified their flying qualifications and experience. There is much speculation, as to whether all of these false pilots were successfully removed from the company. Almost all of China’s largest airlines are now locked into either Skyteam or Star Alliance. In contrast with the…

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Air Koryo Goes Online

Few people have flown Air Koryo. The North Korean carrier officially has  14 destinations in six countries. It reportedly has a fleet of 30 old mostly Soviet aircraft which are usually grounded due to lack of fuel and or parts. Video of the fleet can be found here. Combined with an erratic schedule and a one star Skytrax rating, the airline has been described as “the world’s worst airline“. Following a visit to the airline’s  headquarters in July, 2012, by the country’s new leader, Kim Jong-un, the airline has reportedly attempted to modernise. The carrier has launched an on line booking service:  www.airkoryo.com.kp giving customers “easier,…

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Malaysia’s A380

Have you flown Malaysia Airlines? I now have four reasons to try them.  I have never flown them even though they connect Asia to almost every major Australian airport. Hope I can fix this soon.  They are rated a five star airline by Skytrax and I am eager to work through all of the five star carriers.  They are on track to  join Oneworld in the last quarter of the year which means I can now start earning Qantas points and Status Credits when flying Malaysian  They are the latest  airline to fly the A380, one…

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Trip Report: Air France A380

This is my sixth A380 trip having flown A380s operated by Singapore, Qantas, Emirates, Korean and Lufthansa. Air France was  one of the launch customers for the A380 in 2001, ordering 12. They got their first A380 in October, 2009. Booking:  10 out of 10 Upon searching for economy airfares from the USA to Europe and back, I found Air France was offering a sale on its Premium Economy product (Premium Voyageur) so I treated myself to that!  Booking, payment and ticketing was very straightforward. Unfortunately the very small premium economy cabin had only two seats left- both  in the middle section of the cabin. I like my window seat!…

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