The news that a Lao Airlines plane crashed a mere six kilomtres (three miles) from its destination has barely been a blip on the international news networks. Yet 49 people from 11 countries perished in the crash. 16 Laotians, seven French, six Australians, five Thais, three South Koreans, three Vietnamese, and one national each from the China, Malaysia, Taiwan and USA. Five were crew and 44 were passengers. The crash highlights the danger of traveling in some parts of the world. Roads in Laos are in a very poor condition and rail service non existent. Tourists, business people, aid workers and locals all…
Airline News (Friday)
Category Archives for Airline News (Friday).
British Airways Beautiful new A380 has arrived, a visual tour
I have to be honest, I am in love with the A380. After 12 A380 flights with six airlines over 120,000km, I am hanging out to add more airlines to my A380 experience. This week it is British Airways turn as they add a Heathrow to Los Angeles A380 route (operating as BA268 and 269). British Airways Senior First Officer Peter Nye takes you on a tour of British Airways new A380 aircraft. It certainly whets your appetite for the real thing. The BA A380 will have 469 seats in a four class set up: 1. BA First…
Alitalia-finally doomed?
Alitalia is the airline I love to hate. They are one of my least favourite airlines ever. Flying them has rarely been a treat. I keep expecting to hear of their demise but somehow they seem to claw their way back from the edge of doom. The current Alitalia is almost five years old rising out of the ashes of the “old” Alitalia which went bankrupt in 2008. On September 6, the Italian carrier released their first half year financials. Revenue fell four per cent from 1686 million Euro to 1621 million. Passenger loads improved…
Norwegian’s 787 frustration
Norwegian Air Shuttle have two Boeing 787s, which because of the 787 grounding were delivered in September, five months late. These two planes are being deployed on routes between Oslo and Stockholm to New York and Bangkok. This week, Norwegian grounded one of its 787s and demanded that Boeing fix the plane. The incident follows claims that Norwegian are experiencing an on time performance rate of only 49 per cent after a string of break downs in its first month of service. The incidents have included electrical faults and hydraulic issues. Norwegian have had to…
Fastjet: good and bad news
Fastjet is the new pan African low cost carrier backed by Easyjet’s Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou. The Good news: 1. their Tanzanian business is profitable, achieving $81 of revenue per passenger in June, 2013 – almost double that in January when it was $46. First quarter losses of $9.1m for the Tanzanian business were cut to $4.2m in the second quarter. 2. Their legal issues seem resolved 3. Permission for their first international flight from Dar es Salaam to Johannesburg is close. The bad news is that the airline has burned through almost all of its…
Lion Air – World’s Fourth Largest Airline?
Lion Air wants lots of planes! It has already placed two the biggest aeroplane orders in aviation history: 234 Airbus A320 and A320neo aircraft valued at US$ 24 billion in 2013 230 Boeing planes in 2012 worth $US22.4-billion 44 ATRs on order– the largest order with that manufacturer Now, the airline is talking to Canada’s Bombardier Inc.’ about their CS300 planes with a possible 100 plane order. With its other orders, the airline will grow their fleet from 120 planes currently to over 820 planes in a decade. This would propel Lion Air…
Aeromexico debuts 787
It is now two years since the first 787 was delievered to ANA. Now, carrier number 14 has their turn. AeroMéxico (airline code AM), the flag carrier of Mexico received their first Boeing 787 on August 16, 2013. It was the 75th Boeing 787 delivered by the company to an airline. Their 787 will initially serve Mexican domestic destinations including Cancun and Monterrey. On October 14th Mexico City to Tokyo, Japan service will commence. That will mean by the end of the year, four airlines will be flying 787s to and from Tokyo (United, ANA,…
Lion Seeks help
Indonesia’s Lion Air is Indonesia’s biggest domestic airline and with two massive orders for jets from Airbus and Boeing aims ot beocme one of the world’s largest carriers. Except for one problem: its safety record. While Lion Air (and other airlines) have big plans, a spate of deadly accidents In Indonesia has raised international concern about the nations’s air-safety standards.. Along with most of the Indonesian carriers, Lion—is under a European Union and US safety ban. While Lion doesn’t fly into either airspace, it loses business as many travel agents are barred from booking tickets with…
LATAM V Argentina
Chile’s LAN has long been my favourite Latin American airline. One year ago, they merged with Brazil’s TAM to become easily the continent’s largest carrier. The second largest carrier in the region, is Avianca/Taca then Brazil’s GOL and Brazil’s Azul (started) by Jet Blue’s founder. Aerolíneas Argentinas , one of my least favourite carriers probably sits at fifth place in the Latin market, by destination and fleet size -but not by service, quality or profitability. Rated as a three star carrier by Skytrax, its customers rate it a 2.0 out of ten. Some of my favourite customer quotes from the…
No kids On Board!
We are getting used to paying for more leg room. Now Scoot (the Singapore based discount off shoot of Singapore Airlines) are offering more leg room with no children. For an extra fee, you can choose one of 41 seats in a special “Scoot in silence” cabin that bans children under 12. The cabin is located behind Business Class. Scoot started flying in 2012. They have five Boeing 777s which fly to eleven destinations through Asia and Australia. They are going to receive 20 Boeing 787s which were ordered by Singapore airlines. Skytrax have not rated Scoot yet but…
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