The Flag carrier for Argentina joined SkyTeam today. Forty of their 52 destinations are new for the alliance. Aerolíneas is a Skytrax three star airline. Their 265 customer reviews onSkytrax gives them an average rating of 4.2 out of ten. This is a major reason why I have never flown them. No one I know who has flown them has a good word to say for them. But then they are part of an alliance with Aeroflot (3 star: 4.7 out of 10) Alitalia (3 star: 4.7 of 10) CZA: Czech (3 star: 5.2 out of 10)…
ANA 787 to San Jose
On January 11, 2013, ANA will begin a five day a week 787 between San Jose, California and Tokyo, Japan. The flight will depart San Jose at 1145am every day except Tuesday and Thursday. It will arrive in Tokyo at 4:10 p.m. The return flight will leave Tokyo at 5:35 p.m. and arrive at SJC at 10:10 the following morning. This will be the first 787 flight into the Bay Area. It sounds like a very delightful way to fly into the USA. For passnegers flying to Tokyo, ANA will offer great connections to their…
United 787 is up and away
Some good news for United Airlines. On August 19, their first Boeing 787 Dreamliner took off from Boeing’s Everett field in, Washington state for its first test flight. The plane cruised around Seattle for three hours as all aspects of the craft’s backup and safety systems were checked. The plane will be delivered to United in late September and will be followed by 49 others. United will be the fifth airline in the world to get the 787 (after ANA, JAL, Ethiopian, LAN) and the first US carrier to have it. They will be flying Denver to Tokyo…
Does Most Liveable Matter?
Vancouver slipped out of the top spot and Melbourne, Australia became the Economist’s most liveable city in their latest six mothly Liveability Ranking and Overview released August, 2012. Again. In fact, four of the world’s most liveable cities, according to the Economist, are in Australia and one is in New Zealand. Canada has three. Helsinki and Vienna are Europe’s representatives. No US cities made the cut. Living conditions in 140 cities around the world are assessed across 30 indicators in five broad categories including Stability, Healthcare, Culture, Environment, Education and Infrastructure There are a number of these liveability surveys eg the Mercer Quality of living Worldwide City Rankings which places Vienna…
Honey, guess what we lost today?
Normally my whacky Wednesday posts are funny or at least a little amusing. Today’s is far from amusing. United Airlines, who I regularly bag, bash and mock in my blog are apparently in the business of transporting luggage and people around the USA. According to Brett Snyder, they are doing worse since the merger with Continental (vale). For example only 70.1 percent of their flights were on time in June. In addition, United lost bags at twice the rate of Delta which is a bigger airline. Luggage being lost is annoying. On June 30, 2012 United Airlines lost a bag…
Qantas Loses Money and Cancels 35 787-9s
At a Qantas media conference today, the public were informed that the group made a statutory loss after tax of $244 million. Its first loss for 20 years. The group had a $95 million profit before tax. Again, Qantas shareholders will receive no dividend. Record high fuel costs of $4.3 billion, up $645 million made a major dent. We also found out the cost of the industrial action and grounding of the Qantas fleet ($194 million). What we didn’t find out was the actual cost of the industrial action versus the grounding. Of the industrial action, some cost the company nothing (for…
This Week: August 19 to 27
Sigh! I managed two mistakes in one week. I moved an airline to the wrong country and I accidentally published a draft post which was not finished yet. Apologies for both. My travel plans for the week are a little up in the air. Wishing you a good week!
A380 Picture upon Picture
Finally found a use for Pinterest! I have started using Pinterest to collect pictures of Airbus 380s and Boeing 787s. Some on the ground, some in the air and some mid take off or landing! If you would like to check out my images, please visit my Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/martinjcowling/
PLUNA Plunges [updated]
Don’t blog at 4am! Apologies for moving Pluna and its bankruptcy to the wrong country! And with friends from both countries, I should know better. PLUNA Líneas Aéreas Uruguayas S.A., headquartered in Montevideo, Uruguay (not Paraguay) was the country’s 75 year old flag carrier. The company was liquidated by its owner the Government of Uruguay on 5th July 2012, two days after employees went on strike. The airline had a mixed history of ownership and a series of financial losses. Thats the 17th airline to vanish in 2012 and the third flag carrier to go this year (Malev and…
Fish Soup in Baja, Hungarian
Type “Baja” into Google and you get the resort area of Mexico and not this ancient Hungarian city. Baja is approximately 140 Km south of Budapest, sitting at at the confluence of the Danube and one of its tributaries the Sugovica. The town has been settled since the Iron Age and has had town status for over 300 years. It was a major trading centre then manufacturing centre. It has been ruled over by the Turks, Austrians, Serbs and now Hungarians. Yet until a few months ago, I had never heard of it. Baja holds an annual…
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