Was fascinated by this mapping of the Top Ten busiest air routes by Visual Statistix. The article is from Amadeus which noted that 300 of the world’s routes carry 20pc of the world’s passengers. They also state that each of these 300 “super routes” has one million plus passengers per year. It seems seven of the top ten routes are in Asia, one in Australia, one in Africa and one in the Americas. Considering 60 per cent of the world’s population live in Asia, this makes sense. The high use of trains in Europe probably…
Airline News (Friday)
Category Archives for Airline News (Friday).
Lion Air hits Cow
It was holiday time in Indonesia to celebrate Eid, the end of Ramadan. Planes are full of passengers aiming to get home to see family and friends. As a Lion Air flight JT-892 came into land at Gorontalo airport on northern Sulawesi island, on Tuesday 6th August, the Boeing 737-900 crashed into a cow and skidded off the runway into a field with the plane’s tail remaining on the runway. Not one of the 110 passengers and seven crew on board was killed or seriously injured and all passengers disembarked safely. The cow, however, was crushed to death under one of the…
Etihad takes on JAT
The four key middle Eastern carriers have developed very different expansion strategies: 1. Emiraes have largely gone it alone with only one major partnership: Qantas 2. Qatar are joining One World alliance 3. Turkish have used their bridge between Asia and Europe 4. Etihad are expanding via equity stakes in other airlines Now Etihad have taken on the Serbian airline JATAirways which will be renamed Air Serbia on October 1. Etihad have: acquired 49 per cent of JAT-the Serbian government owns 51pc matched a $US40 million cash injection by the government agreed to put another…
Another Stunt: Ryanair v Aer Lingus -Episode 586!
The soap opera that is the Irish airline war continues… On one side is the lean mean low cost carrier Ryanair that has grown since 1991 to be Europe’s biggest low cost airline. Last year it carried more passenger’s than Air France-KLM on its 300 planes flying to 178 destinations in 30 countries. Their plane pictured above right has an Irish harp on the tail. On the other is the 25 per cent Irish government owned Aer Lingus, the country’s flag carrier which has shrunk services, changed its European model to “low cost”, dropped Business…
Ethiopian expands through Malawi
Some good news from Ethiopian after their 787 fire. Ethiopian Airlines is determined to stake its claim as Africa’s most significant airline. It announced last week that it has finalised a 49 percent equity shareholding deal in the new Malawian Airlines. 20 percent will be held by the Malawian Government and 31 percent by Malawian private investors. The Republic of Malawi (known as Nyasaland until 1963) is bordered by Zambia to the northwest, Tanzania to the northeast, and Mozambique on its east, south and west. The country is separated from Tanzania and Mozambique by Lake Malawai. The capital is…
Self serve at home bag tags
In the “old days”, check in would consist of issuing of a Boarding Pass and Luggage Tags. Increasingly boarding passes are printed at home or available on a mobile phone. Air New Zealand have allowed passengers to print their bag tags while checkig in. Qantas do the same. Now Spanish airline Iberia lets customers print their own baggage tags at home. This occurs when checking-in online at iberia.com . Using a single sheet of A4 paper for each tag, you fold it into quarters and place it in a reusable plastic envelopes. These envelopes are…
Asiana crash lands @SFO [updated]
It has been a relatively quiet year for plane crashes. On July 6, 2013, however, the Korean airline Asiana Airlines experienced a crash. Their flight 214 on approach to San Francisco International Airport from Seoul crashed after reportedly clipping a sea wall. The crash landing sheared off the plane’s landing gear and tore the tail off from the rest of the fuselage. It then burst into flames. The Boeing 777 had 307 people on board (291 passengers and 16 crew). The passengers included 141 Chinese nationals, 77 South Koreans, 61 Americans, three Indians, three Canadians, one French,…
Qantas Downgrades Status
I must admit, I am somewhat protective of my “status” with Qantas and Virgin Australia. I like my perks of lounge access, express check in and other bonuses. So any change an airline makes to how status credits are earned, what they mean and what benefits I receive, piques my interest. For example, from tomorrow, Qantas is changing how you get their “Loyalty Bonus” For every 500 status credits earned, Qantas currently will reward passengers with an 8000 point “loyalty bonus”. 500 status credits is equal to 50 flights between Sydney and Melbourne in Discount…
Fiji Airways Flies Again
Fiji Airways started flying under its orignal name yesterday, after forty two years as Air Pacific. Fijian artist, Makereta Matemosi has created three new symbols based on Masi art: The first Symbol is at the centre of the tail and is referred to as the Teteva symbol. It represents the friendliness of the Fijians, their spirituality and consideration of others. The second motif, called Rova, is ringed around the two engines, and represents the warm hospitality Fijians extend to visitors. The last design, the Makare, surrounds the Teteva and evokes the allure of Fiji’s clear…
Ryanair to USA
Michael O’Leary the CEO of Ryanair likes to startle people with announcements. Who can forget his infamous promise to charge to use the lavatory in-flight? Or the news in March that the airline was buying 175 Boeing 737-800s for almost $US16 billion. On one of the takeover attempts of rival Irish airline Aer Lingus, last October, he promised $US150 fares on US to Ireland flights if the deal succeeded. He promised that the Aer Lingus brand would be kept: “We need a two-airline brand strategy,”. The takeover bid was thwarted but Ryanair owns 30 percent…
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