Twenty carriers disappeared in 2013 compared to twenty-six 2012 . Six of them were based in Eastern Europe/former USSR countries. Most of the carriers were small regional airlines with tiny fleets. Kingfisher of India was only one carrier that could have been considered major, although it has been some time since they were India’s largest airline. Nearly all of the airlinest that vanished are young but a few Evergreen, JAT, OLT Express and Ryan International are old names in the airline game. I thought Air Zimbabwe would finally vanish but they managed to get enough…
A century of commercial airlines
On January 1st, 1914, the first scheduled US commercial airline flight using a fixed wing aircraft occurred. The passenger was Abram C. Pheil, the then Mayor of St. Petersburg. He flew to Tampa, Florida paying 400 dollars for the round trip ticket in a charity auction. Pilot Tony Jannus flew a Benoist flying boat for St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line taking 23 minutes for the journey at a height of five metres (15 feet). There were reported to be over 3,000 spectators at a parade accompanied by an Italian band at the departure point. Kermit Weeks…
2013 Worst Airlines
I upset some people with my 2012 list of the worst airlines. One reader wrote “Sorry you have no idea what you’re talking about.” Another defended Tiger Airways which I would consider to be undefendable: “what is your problem!?! …tiger is alite! [sic – I think meaning elite] u r exhaggerating these airlines! these are not bad. do not listen to this person! they r provided wrong information!” I beg to disagree! Having now flown 985 times on 89 airlines, I have seen the best and worst of customer service, products and safety. My flights…
Unhappy Passenger’s revenge
If you could not get a seat on a plane, what would you do? After begging Merpati Nusantara airlines for five hours to sell him a seat on a sold out flight from Kupang (Timor Island) to Ngada (Flores) on Saturday 21 December, an Indonesian district chief, Marianus Sae, got revenge. Mr Sae sent public order officers to drive cars onto the runway of Turolelo Soa airport to stop the plane landing at its destination. He said “blocking Merpati from landing at the airport would teach the airline a firm lesson.” Airport officials could not stop the…
Free Facebook on 7 US airlines
From January 1 to January 30 passengers on AirTran, American, Alaska Airlines, Delta, Frontier, United, and US Airways flights can use Gogo’s inflight Internet access to log onto Facebook for free. Air Canada passengers can also access the service. According to Gogo, after accessing the Gogo portal on an Internet browser, it is a matter of following a set of simple instructions to connect to Facebook. Related Posts US Airlines switch on PED devices
BA 747 wing slices airport
A British Airways 747-400 with 185 passengers and 17 crew followed the wrong taxiway at Johannesburg’s main airport, prior to take-off for London. The pilots had been instructed to use taxiway B but followed a much narrower taxiway M. As a result, its wing sliced into an office building. Debris from the building injured four people on the ground. No one aboard was hurt. All passengers evacuated via slides. A kerosene spill from the fully fuelled jumbo was contained by the airport fire services. The 747 has been removed from the office block and its…
My 58th country: Vietnam
Crossed the border into Vietnam making this nation the 58th I have been to in my life. The crossing was made smoother, thanks to Mekong Express Limousine Bus. They are easily the best coach operator in Cambodia and I would not use anyone else. It was one of the best land crossings I have ever experienced! My goal is to visit or live in 99 countries by the age of 70! This gives me an average of two new places per year to achieve that. Related posts I visit my 57th country/
Did Pilot Deliberately Crash?
Joao Abreu, chairman of the Mozambican Civil Aviation Institute has indicated that the investigations into a November 29 LAM Mozambique Airlines Flight 470 plane crash suggest the pilot had an intention to crash the plane. The Embraer 190 was flying route 140 from Maputo in Moazambique to Quatro de Fevereiro Airport, Angola. It failed to arrive at its destination and its wreckage was found the next day in northern Namibia. Mr Abreu, said that data shows that the plane began to slow down and it dropped rapidly in altitude from 38,000 to 592 feet. Low and high…
Air Berlin’s Seasons Greetings
Since 2011, Air Berlin have painted an aircraft in a Christmas livery. This year, Boeing 737-800 D-ABMS known by Air Berlin as ““Merry Santa” was painted by a seven person team at Dusseldorf Airport using a design from RAPP Germany in November. The design resembles a string of 24 fairy lights with one candle-like light for each day of Advent. The flame of each light is one of the aeroplane windows. The design is just 80 micrometres (0.003 inches) thick (about the same as a human hair). It is 15.32 metres (50.26 feet) long and…
I visit Cambodia – my 57th country
A slow third class train trip through rural Thailand, followed by a tuk tuk ride and a walk across the Thai-Cambodian border got me into Cambodia. This is the 57th country I have been to. It is also the tenth Asian country I have visited (along with Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand). Over the next two weeks I will be travelling to Siam Reap and Pnom Penh in Cambodia plus Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, Hoi An, Hanoi and Ha Long in Vietnam.
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