Economy Class & Beyond

Virgin to Hire, Qantas to Fire…

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It's all kicking off with news that Virgin Atlantic will be hiring up to 500 new cabin crew to support its new Airbus A330 London fleet. The crew (dual based between Heathrow and Gatwick) will be used to support Virgin Atlantic's new routes to Cancun and Vancouver, as well boost its staffing on other long haul fleet. Which is nice. Meanwhile in a land down under, … [Read more...]

Iberia pilots to go on strike. Again.

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IAG's Spanish arm - Iberia - is looking like once again, it is going out on strike. This time, it's four days over two weeks - and below are the dates: 17th February 2012 - List of What's cancelled 20th February 2012 - List of What's cancelled 24th February 2012 29th February 2012 Iberia has been working on a replacement timetable for the first two strike dates, … [Read more...]

Garuda Indonesia orders 18 CRJ-1000’s

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This will sort of please Rene at DeltaPoints as someone has brought some CRJ-1000's. Not Delta sadly, but Garuda Indonesia. The order is one of those mixes that the aviation market seems to like - some leased, some brought, and a pile of options. 6 CRJ-1000's to be purchased outright by Garuda 12 CRJ-1000's  to be leased via Nordic Aviation An additional 18 options … [Read more...]

JAL orders more 787’s, tinkers with its orders with Boeing….

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JAL seem to be slowly getting back on their feet after the financial disaster they had a year or so back. They have announced they are to order 10 Boeing 787-9 series aircraft, whilst converting 10 existing orders for 787-8s into the 787-9 model. In addition, more options to purchase have been secured. The magic number then for JAL for the 787 series is: 25 Firm … [Read more...]

1000th Boeing 777 enters the build shop

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What? 1000 of the things? It seems that way. Boeing is still forging ahead with building 777's even as they start going to production output on the 787, whilst keeping the flow of 737's going. The 1000th 777, a 777-300ER is being built for Emirates, and has entered the final join phase. Images - The Boeing Company - … [Read more...]

Gulf Air takes an axe to some of its services

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Following hot on the heels of Royal Jordanian, Gulf Air is now getting ready to wield the axe on some of its services. Up for the chop are: Athens (Ceases 12th March 2012) Damascus  (Ceases 2nd March 2012) Milan (Ceases 12th March 2012) Kuala Lumpur (Ceases 25th March 2012) Entebbe and Geneva have also been cut too. Gulf Air cites issues with the Bahrain … [Read more...]

Lion Air confirms itself as the 737-9MAX launch customer

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Well it seems Lion Air is on the march, with another order lodged at Boeing's front door at the Singapore Air Show. Lion Air of Indonesia has confirmed with Boeing and placed a firm order for 201 of the re-engineered Boeing 737-9 (MAX) series, with an additional order 29 Boeing 737-900ER's. Lion Air were first to launch the 737-900ER, so it seems fitting they're first to … [Read more...]

British Airways launch a new Ad Campaign.. and I like it…

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Well, here's the new advert from British Airways in the run-up to London 2012, telling the stories of 5 bags and who gets to the luggage collection belt first. Now if we can put aside the luggage issues that Heathrow T5 suffered on opening (and lets hope they don't suffer the same), it's not a bad advert, with the sentimental build-up for the London 2012 Olympics - least … [Read more...]

Emirates to go daily to Lisbon

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That small and retiring carrier - Emirates - is expanding its sphere of influence and flights, this time expanding operations to Lisbon in Portugal. Operating as below: EK191  DEPART DXB  09:15 ARRIVE LIS 14:45 EK192 DEPART LIS 17:55  ARRIVE DXB 04:35+1 Commences 09/07/2012 Equipment Booked: Boeing 777-200ER The interesting thing is the launch of this … [Read more...]