Economy Class & Beyond

Archives for April 2012

Nancy Bird returns to the air

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Qantas's Airbus A380 registered VH-OQA or known as "Nancy Bird Walton" finally returned home from Singapore on the 22nd April. The A380 suffered an uncontained engine failure on the 4th November 2010 as it departed Singapore with bits of the engine falling to the ground, forcing an emergency return to Singapore. Since the return of the aircraft to Singapore, the aircraft … [Read more...]

FlyBe to scrap Debit Card fees, reduce Credit Card fees

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Well here's a turn-up for the books. FlyBe - a UK Regional carrier that plays the low cost carrier game is going to scrap a fee. And it's the Debit card fee that is up for the chop. Additionally, the Credit Card fee is also being reduced: Currently a £8 transaction fee is levied for Debit cards. This will be removed Credit Card fees drop from £13 to £9 The aim of … [Read more...]

The Dreamtour comes to the UK – a few more 787 thoughts

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So Boeing have finally dragged their Boeing 787 on tour to the United Kingdom on a few stop tour to Heathrow, Manchester  and London Gatwick (Oh, and thanks for the lack of a press invite Boeing...) Frame ZA003 - the 3rd Test and Demonstration aircraft,  powered by Rolls Royce Trent 1000 Engines arrived at London Heathrow earlier today to a flurry of British Airways and … [Read more...]

IAG doubts it can sell BMI Baby or BMI Regional off

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Things are not looking rosey for BMI Baby and BMI Regional at the moment. The two subdivisions of BMI were meant to be sold off before the IAG takeover by Lufthansa, but they failed to be sold. IAG is not interested in owning the two units who operate to very different markets - BMI Regional operating high value regional routes, whilst BMI Baby operates the low cost model … [Read more...]

JAL Targets more 787 cities, confirms routes and timings

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For those of you who love the 787, good news as JAL today confirms more routes for its 787 network. Beijing, Delhi and Moscow DME are the next visitors for JAL's 787s. Operating on a spread timetable between Tokyo Haneda to Bejing, and Tokyo Narita to Delhi and Moscow Domodedovo. Tokyo Haneda – Beijing JL023 DEPART HND 09:10 ARRIVE PEK 12:05 JL024 DEPART PEK 16:40 … [Read more...]

A 7 Year old complaint.. and still true today….

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I'm not going to write much on this, but http://twentytwowords.com/2012/04/13/amusingly-pissed-off-letter-to-continental-airlines-about-a-seat-by-the-lavatory/ provides some complaints that are still true if you're sat behind or near the small room on the plane. It maybe 7 years old - but it's still true today.... … [Read more...]

Airplane Art Special – A BMI Retrospective

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It's Sunday, and it's time for a very special Airplane Art This week, it's the British Midland International fleet from 2007 to 2012 as photographed by my fair hands and fair cameras. As you probably know,BMI is now part of International Airlines Group and will be merged into the British Airways unit over the next few months. As a result, there's a strong chance that the … [Read more...]

Dates for your diary…

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As BMI is taken over by IAG and becomes part of British Airways, here's a list of dates that are important: As of now: Diamond Club members can earn on BA Flights and vice versa. BMI has formally exited from the Star Alliance Diamond Club Members can access BA lounges at LHR and LGW Big upcoming dates 1st May - Diamond Club to BA Executive Club status matching … [Read more...]

Airplane Repaint Saturday: Qantas A380

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It's Saturday, and time for an aircraft to enter the paint shop As Qantas's Nancy Bird (their first A380) prepares to retake to the skies after it's extended break on the ground after her engine incident over 18 months ago, here's a video of her getting her first paint job in 2008. More airplane repainting next week! … [Read more...]

The Winners of the BMI Purchase

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Earlier today, I looked at the losers of the sale of BMI to IAG. Lets be more congratulative and look at the winners The big winner is of course International Airlines Group and its subsidiary British Airways who have got a total of 42 pairs of slots to play with at London Heathrow.  As well as that they get the staff, facilities and aircraft too. Lufthansa although a … [Read more...]