The 787 grounding seems a while ago. There will soon be 14 airlines utilising the 787. As of 10th August, LOT Polish will be the first carrier to have Boeing 787 aircraft as its sole long-haul fleet type. By 31st August 2013, Norwegian will be the second carrier to have Boeing 787 aircraft as its sole long-haul fleet type. The carriers are: AeroMexico (from October) Mexico City to Monterrey, Tijuana, JFK Air India Delhi –to Sydney, Melbourne, Birmingham, Bangalore, Chennai, Dubai, Frankfurt, Kolkata, London Heathrow, Paris All Nippon Airlines ANA Tokyo Narita to Beijing,…
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…
Flight from Hell for Qantas Sick Pax
Last Thursday, 26 passengers, high school students and their teachers, spent most of a horror flight from Santiago vomiting and experiencing diarrhoea on a plane with eight available lavatories. The passengers were okay when they boarded QF28 but three hours into the flight, reported symptoms consistent with a highly contagious infection norovirus, the leading cause of gastroenteritis. The group had been on a pilgrimage to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil for World Youth Day to see Pope Francis. The airline believes the students were sick before boarding. A team of paramedics met the 747 when…
How to close an aircraft overhead compartment
I love the sounds of an aeroplane. The roar of the engines, the bang of the wheels retracting, the motors running that extend the wing flaps for take-off and the wind whistling past etc etc Of all the aircraft noises I hate the most, it’s the sound of slamming overhead bin doors! Some passengers, some airlines and some cabin attendants get it right. Others don’t and there is a cacophony of slamming hatches. Its fast and supposedly efficient -but irritating. Slam! Slam! Slam! Slam! To keep me happy: With one hand, hold the latch open.…
What do you think of Chinotto?
Whenever I visit an Italian restaurant, I enjoy drinking Chinotto. Chinotto is a carbonated soft drink made from the juice of the fruit of the myrtle-leaved orange tree This tree is believed to be a mutation from the sour orange. The result is a dark coloured drink which looks similar to Coca Cola but with a completely unique bitter-sweet taste. The main brands of Chintto are • San Pellegrino, who claim to have invented the drink in the 1950s • Bisleri in Australia • Fanta Chinotto in Italy • Fanta Amara in Malta • Kinnie…
Flying Air Asia Soon
In my airline ranking of last year, I placed Air Asia in my worst airline list. This caused some controversy! Air Asia are one of the world’s fastest growing carriers operating to 88 destinations in 26 countries from its base in Kuala Lumpur. Originally started in 1996, they were taken over by current CEO Tony Fernandes in 2001. They have the world’s lowest operating costs of any airline and have been awarded one of the world’s best low fare carriers by Skytrax in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009. I have not flown them this year…
No 787 answers
The investigation led by the U.K’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch into the fire on the Ethiopian Airlines 787 in London is continuing. Initial indications suggesred the fire began in the area of the Emergency Locator Transmitter ( (ELT). Inspections have been made subsequently, on the Honeywell manufactured ELTs across the 787 fleets. The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that Transport Canada, the aviation regulator iin that country inspected one of the Honeywell facilities that manufacture the ELT, near Toronto. Unlike many of the advanced technological features on the 787, the ELT is a standard off…
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…
Cheap Flights, Cheap flights, Cheap flights
Following my post about Ryan Air and Aer Lingus last week, I was reminded of the fun song by Fascinating Aida: Cheap Flights. See if you recognise the situations! Be warned! Some strong language! We recieved an invitation in the post one Monday morn’ To attend our cousins wedding in the town where we were born The do was back in Kerry; so wishing to be frugal We trawled the ‘net to find some decent travel deals on Google Cheap flights, cheap flights, cheap as they can be, Bedad we found an airline selling flights…
Rethinking Hotel Clubs
I have a wallet full of Hotel Loyalty Clubs. I have a philosophy that if the program is free to join and I am going to be staying in the hotel anyway, I join. I then get my bright shiny cards and take them with me on the road. In the USA in 2010, there were almost 2.1 billion Hotel membership cards floating around the wallets, pockets and drawers iof travellers. A study by Deloitte in the US with 4000 travellers found there that only eight per cent of travellers stayed loyal to one hotel brand. Of high frequency travelers, almost 42 percent…
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