As the world knows, Gatwick airport (the second busiest in the UK) was closed for about 36 hours on 19th and 20th December because of repeated drone sightings near the airfield. The Police said they received 115 reports of sightings with 93 confirmed as “credible” with a pilot, airport staff and police officers amongst the reporters. The risk of collision and damage with an aircraft is a nightmare scenario. The airport has a one kilometre exclusion zone around it, in which it is illegal to fly any unauthorised drones. In addition, drones must be kept…
Ten of My Faves -My Top Airlines
People often ask me what are my favourite airlines? Here is the answer, after 1300 flights on 103 airlines almost 75 times around the world. Of the 103 different airlines I have travelled on, two of them I will never choose to fly on again (Air Asia and Ryanair) and two I regularly avoid (TigerAir and United). Others have merged or gone bust. My top ten currently ranked favourites are: 10. Virgin Australia -in a few short years, they have transformed themselves from a budget carrier to a full service global carrier. I really enjoy…
A few of my Faves: My Top Five Global Fun Runs
I am a runner and one of the most fun things I like doing whilst traveling is running in different cities. I have run as far south as Dunedin, New Zealand and as far north as Reykjavik, Iceland. Even more than just running in a city is participating in a Fun Run in a city, I am visiting. As I staggered up a hill in Sydney, Australia during a “fun” run, I reflected on the runs I have most enjoyed participating in. I managed to work out my six favourites (two tie for third place):…
Stunning AirFrance 787 video
After Air France received their fifth 787, they released this stunning air-to-air footage of a 787 over Southern France. This is video of behind the scenes which is just as fascinating: Air France ‘s 787 has 30 lie flat seats (2 m / 6.5 ft )in the Business cabin, 21 seats in Premium Economy cabin, and 225 seats in the Economy cabin. Every seat has a personal power outlet and a USB port. Business passengers enjoy an adjustable fiber-optic reading lamp, a reading rest integrated into the foldout tray table for books and tablets. All the seats are produced by French equipment supplier…
Welcoming Royal Air Maroc to fracturing OneWorld
Royal Air Maroc has been revealed as One World’s newest member ending days of speculation as to whether it or China Southern were joining. Royal Air Maroc fixes a massive hole for One World: a member airline based in Africa. Star Alliance have Ethiopian and South African as members giving them a massive footprint across the continent, Skyteam has Kenya which currently has a substantial network too. One World only has a handful of routes in Southern Africa through British Airways Comair. Royal Air Maroc serves 94 destinations: The airline flies to several One World…
Air NZ: Santa’s Naughty List brings International Change
I look forward to two Christmas advertisments each year: John Lewis and Air New Zealand’s (even though I had some concerns with last year’s). The NZ one was published last Friday. After Santa Claus has a mix up with his emails, a Kiwi kid accidentally finds himself with one of Santa’s most confidential Christmas secrets. What happens next? Enjoy…. There are two very Kiwi digs at their neighbour Australia and the US President. Typical NZ humour! Related Posts That cute Air NZ Christmas ad could have better sold NZ Air NZ does it yet again!…
Qantas A380 Business to Singapore-sailing to one million km
Today’s flight was special because whilst aboard I reached a “milestone” of one million kilometres flown with Qantas. This has taken me an enjoyable chunk of my life! Normally on the Australia to Singapore segment, I have usually been on A330s. Today was the second time I have traveled on the 380 on this routing. The utilisation by Qantas of the 380 on this routing now occurs when there are periods of high demand from Melbourne to Singapore. Booking: 8/10 I chose to fly in Qantas Business Class which is on the 380’s upper deck…
One Million Kilometres with Qantas
This week, a beautiful Melbourne, Australia to Singapore A380 flight tipped me over one million kilometres flown with Qantas. This is about a third of my total flying. No other airline comes close to the volume of business that I have given Qantas. Qantas have taken me on 421 flights around Australia and the world from as far south as Queenstown at the bottom of New Zealand to their most northern port of London. New York, Southern Africa, Dubai and Hong Kong all feature in there. Altogether I have spent almost fifty seven days inside…
Air Malta, CityJet, LEVEL, Qantas , Wizz CEO and WOW win 2018 Excellence Awards
The CAPA – Centre for Aviation was launched in 1990, to build aviation knowledge. I find them a great go to site for good deep air research. Since 2003, their annual Awards for Excellence have been intended to showcase success and industry leadership. Their 2018 winners were announced this week in Berlin at the 2018 CAPA World Aviation Outlook Summit. I wish I had been there for the buzz, the award announcements and the wonderful city that is Berlin. Being in two places is hard to do! And the winners this year were: Airline of…
Lion Air’s Woeful Safety
Have you seen those rants (usually on Facebook) from passengers fuming because “their” plane has been cancelled or delayed. The tone they use often suggests they believe that airline has single handedly selected them to punish them. There are many reasons for aeroplane delays with weather and technical issues being the most common. An airline with a good safety culture will not fly a plane which has had a technical issue until that fault is properly rectified. This suits me. Likewise, an airline with a good safety culture will empower their pilots not to take…
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