India’s second-largest airline, Jet Airways has appointed Gary Mr Toomey as their new CEO. Commenting on the appointment, Chairman Naresh Goyal said: “We need a dynamic executive with deep knowledge of and experience in the airline industry to lead the next phase of our development. Toomey has extensive experience in domestic and international airline management, and the right credentials and skills to take Jet Airways forward.” The Toomey name won’t mean much to people outside Australia or New Zealand but in those countries he is remembered as the former chief executive of Air New Zealand-Ansett.…
Monthly Archives
Monthly Archives for June 2013.
I am excited about the Airbus 350
I have to admit I am very excited by the Airbus 350. It has been built on the technologies developed for Airbus A380 with a similar cockpit and fly-by-wire systems layout. I am seriously in love with the A380, a plane that just feels like it wants to fly. I expect, therefore, to be wowed by the 350. And I have seen myself up to recently, as a Boeing man! The 350 is designed as a direct competitor to the Boeing 787 for the 250 to 400 seat market. Yesterday the 350 enjoyed it’s first…
Fastjet falters
Africa is a continent crying out for a decent transportation network. The railway systems are largely fragmented and crumbling. The top nine airlines in Africa carry fewer passengers a year than Delta alone does in two months. Trade, tourism and travel are all hampered by an inadequate infrastructure. Enter fastJet with the vision of a series of low cost airlines throughout Africa all using A319s, all sharing brand, marketing and infrastructure. With a pedigree as impressive as Easyjet‘s Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, a chunk of cash and the backing of Lonrho PLcwho already invest in 18…
How bad can you be on a plane?
In what has to be one of the weirdest and most unpleasant travel experiences documented for a while, a man has been arrested in Los Angeles for touching himself inappropriately during a flight from New York. The man was witnessed by a 17 year old female passenger who was sitting across the aisle from him. The passenger positioned his airline blanket so that his activity could not be seen by passengers on the other side of him. This may make you re think using an airline provided blanket on your next flight. She advised the cabin crew of the…
Trip Report: Thai to Bangkok
Sat 8th June, 2013 08:05 Kuala Lumpur (KUL) M 09:15 Suvarnabhumi, Bangkok (BKK) Thai Airways TG 420 Non-stop: 2 hours 10 Airbus A330-300 (333) Booking: 8/10 I found the best fare for this flight on Skycanner. Ironically the cheapest fare on this Thai Airways flight was sold via Malaysian Airlines. So while booked on a Malaysian airlines flight number, I was flying on a Thai Airways plane. The logic of airline fares and rules, I have long given up on. The disadvantage of booking on the Malaysian flight was that I was unable to manage…
All about Renting a Car
Booking My two favourite car rental sites are Priceline and vroomvroomvroom.com. With Priceline you bid for a price and when it is accepted you are “locked into that deal”. Only choose Priceline if your plans are certain and you have ascertained what the cheapest deal is already. The other disadvantage with Priceline, is that if prices drop, you are locked in.Having said that, I have used Priceline to get cars at almost half the price. vroomvroomvroom.com compares all available deals from a location allowing you to choose the price, car type and company that you…
Trouble in Turkey
Had an amazing time last year in Incredible Istanbul. It has been astounding to watch the horrific scenes of citizens being teargassed and water cannoned on the very streets we walked down.
China Southern’s messy A380 situation
The delivery last Sunday of a Boeing 787 to Guangzhou based China Southern airlines makes the carrier the first in the world to fly both the 787 and the Airbus 380. China Southern are now the largest passenger airline in Asia, carrying over 85 million passengers last year. The carrier is rated a four star airline by Skytrax. The status of orders of the two craft by Chinese carriers is: At first, China Southern will use the 787 on the Guangzhou – Shanghai services. By the end of the year the carier plans to have five…
I will have fries with that: Air Baltic
The phrase: “the chicken or the beef” might finally become a relic on all airlines if they follow airBaltic of Latvia’s meal service Customers can pre- order their meal online from the time of booking anytime up to 24 hours before boarding. Cold meals are available on all flights and hot meals are served on most flights of 1.5 hours plus. The online ordering system allows passengers to drag and drop their choices into a “virtual airline tray”. After payment, this pre-ordered meal is linked to the passenger. If a flight is changed or cancelled…
The Most Popular City 2013
Bangkok is now the world’s popular tourist destination with 15.98 million overnight visits expected for the year. Those tourists will spend $14.3 billion dollars in the city. Thailand’s capital has been growing rapidly (18% in 2011 and 2012 and 9.8% this year) and leap frogged over last year’s number one: London which is expected to host 15.96 million. Paris remains in third place but is the only destination city among the top 20 that shows a decline in the estimated number of international visitor arrivals with forecasts of a 0.7 per cent drop. Number 4…
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