Korean Air took delivery of its first A380. The only 380 in the world to feature all business class upstairs, a duty free lounge and an in-flight luxury lounge for business and First customers with bar, sofas and TV. Their pilots are getting assessed. The Korean government aviation authority will approve the massive plane and then the sixth airline in the world will start flying between Seoul-Incheon and Tokyo-Narita on June 17. Flights to USA and Europe will follow. I hope to fly Korean’s A380 in October. That will be my fourth airline A380 experience. I have flown Emirates,…
Yearly Archives
Yearly Archives for 2011.
Boggling Brasília- Overview of a planned metropolis
In the TV Sitcom Big Bang theory, the main character, Sheldon, is asked by Rajesh to imagine himself in the one place he feels most at home: He replies: Simcity -or more specifically the Simcity I designed Sheldonopolis.Rajesh: OK you are in SheldonopolisSheldon: Where exactly? Sheldon square, Sheldon Towers, Sheldon Stadium, home of the fighting Sheldons….” I wonder what would happen if we indeed stepped into a Simcity creation? Here you go: For me visiting Brasília, the capital of Brazil a city planned and built in the late 1950s, is akin to visiting a Simcity creation…
My 757th is coming quickly..my very next flight in fact
Just travelled on my 756th plane flight and I can reveal that the 757th flight of my life will be on a United Airlines Boeing 757 from Washington Dulles to Los Angeles Thursday 16th June, 2011. United has 135 of these planes- almost a third of its main line fleet. This follows my 737th on a Southwest 737 and my 747th on a Qantas 747. Who will my 767th be with?
The Slide of Qantas vs The Rise of Virgin
News comes that Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia will code share on each other services and passengers will enjoy reciprocal FF arrangements and lounge access. Virgin Australia also have a relationship with Delta (Skyteam) and Malaysia (about to join One World). Is this a step toward Virgin Australia becoming a Star Alliance partner in Australia? We continue to move back to the days when we had two full service airlines Qantas and Ansett in the One World and Star Alliance networks. I blogged about this in May. The impressive changes at Virgin Australia (albeit not yet…
Understanding Accents and Identity
There were two of us waiting for the lift (elevator) at a hotel in the USA. When the car arrived, the other man got in first, pressed “9” and said to me (with an English accent), what floor do you want?I said “12 please”.He said: “oh you are an Aussie“.From two words, he worked out where I came from. Yet after travelling to the USA for twenty years, I cannot tell you how many times people have assumed I am English or asked me if I am from “over the pond”. How come an Englishman…
Don’t sneak your Business Class drinks out!
Got an upgrade to business class with United Airlines from Houston to New Orleans but my friend Betty didn’t. She asked me to get her a Baileys. So I ordered a Baileys from the cabin attendant and “snuck” it down to Betty in the economy cabin.The flight attendant was not amused. She told my friend Betty off in no uncertain terms and then came to me: “we dont allow our crockery into the coach cabin.” Naughty me! Am I banned from United business class for life?
787 finally here?
I want to fly on it! Three years after their they were promised their 787, ANA may finally get it in August/September, 2011. ANA is the launch customer for the Boeing 787 and has ordered 55 of the Dreamliners. In July, Boeing and All Nippon Airways (ANA) will be using plane ZA002, a test 787 to simulate normal operations including maintenance, towing and refueling. It is anticipated that the plane will fly between Tokyo Haneda Airport and Osaka, Okayama and Hiroshima. ANA has had pilots in a training program run by Boeing Training & Flight Services learning how to fly the plane with “some…
How I got hooked on Flightmemory.com
My friend Tony became very ill and was confined to home. Frustrated out of his mind, because he was unable to work, Tony rested and surfed the internet to satisfy his passion for all things “Boeing”. In fact his slogan was “if its not Boeing I ain’t going“. It was Tony who got me to Seattle when Boeing first unveiled the 787. It was Tony who got me onto Flight memory.com Four years ago, Tony rang me up: “got your frequent flyer statements?” “yes”. I said. “Good. Bring them round to my place” “> “Why”. “>”Don’t…
What happened to the Airbus A330 that went down in 2009?
As a very frequent flyer with 752 take offs and 752 landings now, I am particularly keen to keep the number of my landings the same as the number of take offs. Any investigations, therefore, into plane crashes interest me. Call me morbid or possessing an active self preservation interest? You may remember Air France 447 that was en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris on 31 May 2009 (exactly two years ago). It plunged into the ocean off the coast of Brazil. After an almost two year search, the black boxes belonging to the A330 have been found and investigated by France’s…
No Baggage vindicated again
I flew two international sectors today from Brazil to Miami to Toronto My first flight left almost three hours late getting in 91 minutes before my second flight was due to leave. My long layover has vanished. Even though I was transiting from Brazil to Toronto, the US requires transit passengers to clear immigration and customs and then come through security again. I have blogged about not checking luggage in. Today’s experience vindicated my decision!Arrivals 1859h: Plane touches down at Miami International airport (right) 1907h: Plane reaches gate- I am off quickly with no shoving 1911h: Four minutes run/walk from gate to people mover to…
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