Air New Zealand have released a new safety video which features members of the New Zealand All Blacks rugby team rapping in a parody of “Men in Black”. Captain Richie McCaw and team member Dan Carter appear as “Men in Black” agents. Team mates Kieran Read, Keven Mealamu and Sam Whitelock can be spotted. Fullback Israel Dagg raps the in-flight briefing with Stan Walker, winner of the 2009 Australian Idol. American actor Rip Torn is the Men in Black chief. Other international rugby stars make appearances including former England Captain Martin Johnson as an alien with horns, David Campese of the Wallabies and…
United’s Very handy US Airports App
If you travel through major US airports, United Airlines have unveiled a feature which makes their iphone app well worth downloading. Under the “Travel Tools” section on their app, the airline has added interactive maps for their seven mainland U.S. hubs airports: Chicago O’Hare Denver Houston Bush Intercontinental Los Angeles Newark Liberty San Francisco Washington Dulles. The maps include all parts of those airports, however, not just the terminals and spaces used by United. They include searchable information about retail stores and available service options at each airport. eg restrooms, restaurant, Burger King etc etc. I discovered for…
Longest Flight in the World
Move over Sydney to Dallas! You have been outdone! If you want to spend 17 hours and 35 minutes in a 777-200LR, Emirates will take you from Dubai to Panama, a distance of 13,821 km (8,588 mi ) from 1st February, 2016. The Panama (PTY) to Dubai (DXB) return trip will be a mere 15 hours 45 minutes. The aforementioned Qantas‘ Dallas service is a touch under 17 hours. The third longest flight in the world is Johannesburg to Atlanta at 16 hours and 40 minutes. My choice would be in Emirates Business Class for this distance! The…
Skymark’s Rescuer is ANA
All Nippon Airlines (ANA) has beaten Delta Air Lines in a race to turn around the fortunes of Japan’s third largest air carrier Skymark Airlines. Skymark have been in bankruptcy since January, 2015. Skymark launched in 1996 after airline deregulation in Japan. The carrier grew rapidly but in recent years has been impacted by significant growth in the number of low cost carriers in Japan and by the falling Japanese currency. Since 2010, Skymark had planned to become an A380 operator. Their aim was to charge fares between Japan and Europe/USA that were less than half of those of…
Call Centre Bingo- tips for better outcomes
Moved house this week. This means lots of call centre experiences. How to have better ones… Investigate complaints boards, frequent flyer forums and Tripadvisor to see if other people have had the same issue. Sometimes, you can get a quick tip or have information for the operator on how to solve the problem or be told who the best contact is. If it is clear that no one else has had success using a particular route, then do not waste your time duplicating fruitless efforts Learn how that company works. ContactHelp can GetHuman have…
Vietnam’s 787 in service
Those watching June’s Paris Air Show saw Vietnam Airlines magnificent 787-9 debut. Now the aircraft is in service after being delivered to the airline on July 6. Vietnam Airlines has will be using the 787-9 operation on their Ho Chi Minh (Saigon) to London Heathrow and Hanoi – London Heathrow routes. Originally the airline ordered 787-8s but switched the order to the larger model back in 2010. The Vietnam Airlines B787-9 Business Class has 28 seats, the airline has configured its business class cabin with a 1-2-1 layout featuring the Zodiac Cirrus seat. Each seat has…
Kenya Airways Falters
I love Africa. The smells, the vibrancy and the people have captured my heart since I lived there as a child. African aviation, therefore definitely absorbs my interest and attention from the days I used to fly Nigeria Airways (now defunct). Back then East African Airways flew to Uganda and Kenya from many of the airports I travelled through and I wondered at this airline’s livery and slogan: “Fly among friends“. Sadly they collapsed in 1977 with debts of $US120million to be replaced by three airlines; one of which is Kenya Airways. These days that loss would…
Cathay Pacific emergency landing video- new trend?
Will it become a new trend for passengers to film or photograph their planes and themselves in emergency situations? What does it say of our voyeuristic tendencies if we watch these events especially if they occur in real time? Last week on July 29, a Cathay Pacific flight 884, a five year old Boeing 777-300ER (registration B-KPQ, travelling from Hong Kong to Los Angeles International Airport with 276 passengers and 18 crew diverted to U.S. Eareckson Air Station in Shemya, in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. Before the emergency landing, passengers had been told to prepare for a ditching…
All about Visas
Just had yet another discussion with an international traveller who was amazed that they needed to get a visa in advance for several of the countries they are planning to visit. “I have a passport“, they said. A passport is a document issued by your home country that identifies you as a citizen of that country. A visa is essentially a permission note from the country you are visiting indicating you can enter and stay there temporally. There are many types of visa including: a tourist visa (the most common type of visa) a work visa (this means…
MH370- Reunion gives news but not answers
The news that part of an aeroplane has washed up on the shore of the Island of Réunion last Wednesday gives little comfort to families and friends of those who were on Malaysia Airlines 370 that disappeared on March 8, 2014. Confirmation by Malaysia on Friday, that the part is a flaperon and is indeed from a Boeing 777 tells us that it is likely that the plane did indeed end up in the sea. It does not tell us how, where or why. (See wsj: What is a flaperon?) Additional information emerged that a suitcase was…
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