I fly from New York to Melbourne via Los Angeles and Sydney (United and Qantas with a sector on my beloved 380!) bringing my flights for the year to 25 from 22 airports in 9 countries on 4 continents with 10 airlines! So much for flying less in 2012! On my Qantas flight to Sydney, my total miles will exceed 1, 200 000 air miles flown in my life (five times between earth and moon) and a scarey 17 weeks inside planes! Check out myFlightmemory for more information. Home briefly before heading to Perth, Western Australia (flight 26 for…
Qantas
Tag Archives for Qantas.
Farewell BA Bangkok – Sydney Trip Report
This is the fourth time I have flown British Airways on this sector- and my last. BA will cease flying this route from this Friday March 3rd. Qantas will terminate its Bangkok to London services on March 26th and its planes will turn around in Bangkok. Instead both airlines will “swap” passengers at Bangkok. The same thing is happening with their Hong Kong flights. Both airlines will maintain their services via Singapore (the “Kangaroo Route”). This shorter “hop” will be where all through Australia-London passengers will be fed. Passengers going via Hong K and Bangkok will be choosing to stop. I have some disquiet about how…
Qantas Shrinking Growth
In response to an 83 per cent fall in its first-half net profit to $A42 million to December 31 and as a part of a half a billion dollar cost cutting measure. Qantas is pulling out of two more routes in May and cutting 500 jobs in catering, engineering and heavy maintenance. The sectors being lost are: Auckland, New Zealand (AKL) to Los Angeles, USA (LAX) QF25 and 26 Singapore (SIN) to Mumbai (India) (BOM) QF 50 and 51 These cuts are in addition to the previously announced withdrawals in March from the Hong Kong-London…
Air Australia Grounded- Shock! Not.
When I blogged about Australia’s newest airline in January, I was not convinced it was a viable proposition. So many start ups have tried in Australia and failed/disappeared (East-West, Compass I, Compass II, Impulse, for example). More recently, we have seen Tiger Airways Australia in trouble. Australia is a tough aviation market in a tough aviation world. Already in 2012, three airlines have collapsed including Malev that I blogged about last week. Air Australia is the world’s fourth airline to be grounded this year. On the morning of February 17, Air Australia, after less than three months of operations, ran…
This Week: 13-19 February, 2012
I am in Bangkok, Wellington, Palmerston North, Auckland and Melbourne this week. 8005 miles (12 808 km) to be flown with four airlines: Air New Zealand, British Airways, Qantas and Virgin Australia. Trivia: I will fly my 820th flight of my life! I will also have my 40th Air New Zealand flight! Where are you this week? Hope its a great one!
Tuesday Trip Report: Air Australia
I blogged on Friday about Air Australia – the newest airline operating in Australia. Today’s Trip Report is about my recent journey on board their only domestic flight: between Brisbane and Melbourne, the two hubs of Air Australia’s international operations. Booking: 6 out of 10 As noted in my blog post, last Friday, the CEO of Air Australia, the newest airline in the country, has promised that the airline will bring “Simplicity”. Well that promise did not extend to fares, the booking process or to the website. There are five types of fares (Sale, Saver, Flex Saver, Flexible and Business). I have already said Air…
Qantas A380 Turbulence
Qantas A380 VH-OQF called Charles Kingsford Smith en route to Singapore as QF 32, encountered severe turbulence over India as a result of storms in the region. A minute after the seatbelt sign came on, the plane began a series of drops and pitches. Some passengers has not made it back to their seats and were tossed up in the air, along with anything else not secured. Passengers screamed as the turbulence hit the plane. There were seven injuries- none serious. Passengers have praised the crew and the captain for the way they handled the situation. Plane, crew and…
Air Australia–Where does a new Carrier fit?
Since the start of aviation , Australia’s domestic airline market has been largely composed of two major national airlines. From time to time the cozy duopoloy is challenged by a new entrant with a blaze of low fares.The latest such carrier is Air Australia. 2011 Background Twelve months is a long time in aviation. Qantas the dominant domestic carrier suffered a series of rolling disputes in 2011 culminating in the dramatic three day grounding of the carrier’s services. Tiger Airlines Australia was also grounded be the safety authorities in mid 2011 for safety breaches. Virgin Blue the nation’s largest discount carrier has made a move to full service airline. Brisbane-based Strategic Airlines Operating…
2011 Flying Highlights
I am Wild about Flying and thanks to my friend Tony (see separate story), I have a very accurate record of my travel. This means I know for a certainty, that as at today’s date I have flown 812 times in my life- 111 times in 2011. Question: Do I need to fly 112 times next year? 111 times in a year is about twice per week. In total a scary 412 hours of my year was spent in aeroplanes- two and a half weeks!! Distance Flown I travelled 304 560 km (189 245 miles). That number is…
Tuesday Trip Report: Korean Airlines A380
I have been systematically working my way through all of the airlines that have A380 products. So far I have flown (in date order) Singapore Airlines, Qantas, Emirates and Lufthansa. Today’s trip report: Korean Airlines A380. Korean was founded in 1962. For a long time it had a very dubious safety record with 16 aircraft involved in serious incidents and accidents in the 1970s to 1990s. Total loss of life: 700. Their safety has improved enormously, with the last incident in 1997. They have also received several awards for their service with Skytrrax rating them four stars. They are a member…
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