Economy Class & Beyond

TAM dances over to Airbus for more aircraft…

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(oh, it's the Internationale Luft- und Raumfahrtausstellung - ILA Berlin 2010 this week, so expect a few more of these..) TAM it seems has a few pennies in it's back pocket, and it aiming to strenghen itself now its a member of Star Alliance by going to Airbus and buying some more aircaft.In this order, TAM are ordering 20 x A320 series aircraft, and 5 x A350-900's. This in … [Read more...]

Please Airbus? Can we have some more? – Emirates to order 32 new A380’s.

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It seems Emirates still has a lot of money flowing around, with today order at the Berlin airshow for a an extra 32 Airbus A380's, taking the total the carrier will have to 90 units, all to be fitted with Engine Alliance GP7200 engines. With 234 units on the order book, and 90 of them Emirates, it's clear to see who wants the capacity there in when the upturn fully hits. … [Read more...]

IATA: Maybe things aren’t so bad after all…

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IATA is out with the latest numbers, and profits are on the way... up.IATA estimates profits of £1.7bn in 2010, with an upturn from last year. This is in comparison with March when they predicted a $2.8bn loss.Director of IATA Giovanni Bisignani said "The global economy is recovering... much more quickly than could have been anticipated," "We thought that it would take … [Read more...]

BA and Unite – Ding ding.. round.. oh what am I saying? FIX IT!

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Yup. We're off on yet another BA Strike, and yes, it's on the weekend has half-term ends in the United Kingdom, and no there's very little progress - even Tony Woodley (Head of Unite) has decided to dissaper off on holiday to Cypress (Not on British Airways as you can guess)Daily Mail has the feed on this one,  but BA are operating flights, check www.ba.com/strikes for the … [Read more...]

Virgin Blue might have content that is a bit *too* blue…

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A bit of trouble downunder as Virgin Blue appears to be having issues with naughty people.Apparently some Virgin Blue employees thought it would be fun to have pornographic material running around on their work networks.So whilst the baggage handlers thought it would be fun, Management took a much dimmer view. In the first instance a stiff warning was issued to discontinue the … [Read more...]

iPhone/Airline Apps – List updated!

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The list has been few a few revisions, and as more people jump onto the iPhone App bandwagon, the list of airlines supporting apps are growing.Shame a lot of the eat data for breakfast - not good if you're roaming.But still the latest list is at http://www.ghettoife.com/2010/02/iphone-apps-is-there-app-for-your.html (all listed are free)Fill your boots! … [Read more...]

EasyJet tries to find an easy solution to Volcanic Ash detection….

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Well, easyJet have been busy of late, and they've come up with a new technology for Volanic Ash called "AVOID"  (Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector), developed by Dr Fred Prata of the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) - or in real terms - a Radar for Volcanic Ash.By placing infrared tech and sensors on an aircraft, that will send images to  … [Read more...]

More A380’s heading towards LHR … and MAN?

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Both Qantas and Emirates are upping service frequency and swapping Boeing 747's/777's for Airbus A380 aircraft for London services.Emirates will be bringing a second service, which will be EK03/04 (along with EK01/02) with a Dubai service, making it two A380 services a day to London Heathrow.  The remaining services (EK05/06, 07/08) will remain on whatever other equipment … [Read more...]

And so the inevitiable happens – the iPad becomes an IFE Device.

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(Yes, I know - an on-topic post. Be shocked.)Jetstar (the low cost arm of Qantas) will be trialing a new Portable in-flight entertainment (IFE) system that is based on... the iPad, initaly on some domestic routes across Australia.According to Jetstar's CEO Bruce Buchanan, in his own words:"Based on demand for the iPads as part of the trial, we'll be looking to roll out the … [Read more...]