On June 29, Ethiopian Airlines collected its first A350XWB becoming the seventh operator of the type after Cathay Pacific Airways, Finnair, LATAM Airlines, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines and Vietnam Airlines. They are the first African Airline to take delivery of the A50. It’s first 350 is named Simien Mountains, after the world heritage site Ethiopian mountain range. To celebrate, the airlines achieved the world record of creating the largest ever human image of an aircraft with 350 members of staff standing in formation wearing bright yellow uniforms. The Guinness World Records adjudicators verified the record! Ethiopian’s first…
The World’s Best Airlines -My experience vs Skytrax
The annual Skytrax awards reveal last year’s best airlines as voted by passengers. The 2016 results were announced at the Farnborough Airshow this week. (One day I will get to the show!). Looking at the results, their awards are closely aligned to what I have experienced – with some minor exceptions. The Skytrax Top Ten does not dramatically change each year. It just seems to slightly rearrange! The same names have dominated the top 20 airlines continually. Of the Top ten ranked airlines, Skytrax nominated, I have flown eight. The 2016 winners are: Emirates (EK), United Arab…
Booked my first A350 flight with Thai Airways Royal Silk [updated]
UPDATE: December 2016: Sadly, due to issues with Thailand’s air safety authority, Thai has not been given permission to deploy A350s on Australian flights. So I am on a 777 instead. Still looking forward to the flight. I am very excited to have booked a seat on Thai’s new Airbus A350-900 Royal Silk Business Class product from Bangkok, Thailand to Melbourne, Australia later this year! Thanks to the last Avianca deal which gave me a 125% bonus on purchased miles! I was able to use these miles to get a seat at a very good price with Thai…
#Pray for #Istanbul
Another cowardly attack on everyday people at the airport of one of my favourite cities. This does not further our world. This could have been any of us at that airport. I will not start fearing and I will not stop travelling.
Special Meals Decoded- Descriptions and Ticketing Codes
Last week, I covered airline “Special Meals”. If you are ordering a special meal, you may want to know what the code is for one or be ready to read your ticket information for what the airline has scheduled as a meal for you. Just as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) allocates two letter codes for airlines (AA= American Airlines) and three letter codes for airports (JFK = John F Kennedy, NY), they have created four letter standardised codes for meals which should cover every combination you will ever encounter! AVML – Asian Vegetarian Meal…
Seven things I have learnt from flying 2.5 million KM
Two and a half million kilometres is a long way! Just over 1.5 million miles, it represents 62 laps around the earth. 600 times between NYC and Los Angeles! I have spent exactly 21 weeks sitting in aeroplane seats!! I hit this milestone, I believe, 35,000 ft over New Zealand, en route between Auckland and Wellington. Probably somewhere near Mt Taranki. There was no award and unlike in Up in the Air, no one came in with champagne and congratulations. (George Cloony’s character had hit 10 million miles, though). I am in an extremely privileged position.…
My First 787: Latam Business Sydney-Auckland
Finding a way of booking a Business Class ticket for not much more than a regular coach ticket is one of the Holy Grails of Travel! LATAMs flight between Sydney and Auckland offers a very affordable Business Class fare. It often costs not a lot more than Qantas charges for an Economy fare on the same route and is half of the fare Emirates, Air New Zealand and Qantas charge for the sector. There are some downsides of the LATAM option, which will become clear but it is a nice way to cross the Tasman.…
All about Airline Special Meals
Just before the main meal service, the crew will be bustling along the aisle discreetly serving what are known in the industry as “special meals”. There are a bewildering range of special meals (IATA lists over 30 different types). Vegetarians and diabetics are usually covered as are those requiring Kosher, Halal or beef free. These can be split amongst five categories: Baby and Children Meals Dietary meals – e.g. Diabetic, Gluten free, Low cholesterol Occasion meals e.g. Birthday Cake, Champagne Religious meals- Halal, Hindu, Kosher Vegetarian and Vegan meals A few tips on ordering a special meal:…
As I plan my first A350 flight, here’s where they fly.
The 350s have been steadily appearing across the world. There are now 24 Airbus 350s flying 21 routes with six operators: Cathay Pacific, Finnair, LATAM, Qatar, Singapore and Vietnam Airlines. Three more carriers will follow with Thai, China Airways and Ethiopian getting their first 350s in the next few months. The opportunity for me to fly on my first 350 is getting closer. With Thai Airways announcement that they will start their Airbus 350 service between Bangkok and Melbourne in September, it is looking likely I will be aboard a Thai 350 in December. Originally, Thai was looking at…
Dude, Where is my 787?
As we landed in Sydney to connect to our LATAM 787 service to Auckland, we found out via at the LATAM app, that the flight was cancelled. Sure enough, the departure screens at the airport confirmed this. The good news was that we had been re-booked onto an ir New Zealand service leaving Sydney a mere 7 hours later. I love NZ Business Class- its a very solid product but… The bad news was we had specifically booked the LATAM service so we could fly on the 787! They are the only airline offering the 787 between…
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