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…
300 Boeing 787s delivered
On July 27, Boeing announced they had delivered their 300th Boeing 787. This means the company has delivered 100 in the last nine months. Boeing has orders of 1095 for the plane’s three versions. In the four years since the plane began commercial flight, there have been 294,000 commercial flights using the 787. Almost 55 million passengers have flown 659 million miles for a total of 1.5 million revenue flight hours. 31 airlines are currently using the plane with Vietnam due to be 32nd in the next week. All Nippon Airways Aeroméxico Air Canada Air India Air New…
Cheap tips for any city you visit
While guidebooks, websites and concierges may be useful places to find markets, meals and amusements, there is one place that I find really useful for finding cheap tips – even if you are not staying there and thats the youth hostel or backpackers. They are used to giving tips to bargain markets, less pricier meals, discount deals for amusements. Most usually have boards up with information and deals. Even if you are not staying with them, they are very helpful. I am a Youth hostel member, even though I would stay at one a year-…
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