Economy Class & Beyond

Paris Air Show Day 1 – The Rise of the E-Jet E2

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Well the first day of the Paris Air Show has been and gone. Lets look at the news of the day New planes from Embraer The big headline of the day  is Embraer, who are going after Bombardier with the latest refresh of the E-Jets - the E-Jet E2. Rendering - Embraer The Embraer E2 is an evolution of the current Embraer E-Jet series with three new aircraft … [Read more...]

So…. Is the food in the BA Galleries First Lounge at T5 that bad?

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It's something I've touched on on my recent Trip report, but even I noticed there's a little dip in the quality of the British Airways Galleries First Lounge at it's flagship T5 location. And it seems I'm not alone. INVOL-UPGRADE has noticed it too, with his recommendation of "Order off the menu", and not go to the food service area, whilst Head for Points isn't too … [Read more...]

Paris Air Show 2013 – What to look out for….

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It's coming up to that time of the year where the aviation industry will be gathering in Paris Le Bourget for the biannual Paris Air Show. But what to look out for this year? Here's a few predictions The Boeing 787-10 will be formally announced and placed for sale with at least Singapore Airlines and British Airways being launch partners The Airbus A350 will be a star … [Read more...]

Airplane Art – CityJet Avro RJ85

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It's Sunday again, so it must be time for some more airplane art. This week, it's a CityJet Avro RJ-85 resting in the early morning sun at London City Airport The image is clickable if you want to see a larger version – and yes you can keep them for your desktops! More airplane art next week! … [Read more...]

Airbus’s first A350XWB safely on the ground

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Airbus has successfully completed the first A350 XWB test flight today, with frame MSN001 competing a test flight around the south of France. The plane touched down safely at Toulouse airport after completing a 4 hour sortie. Here's some pictures of the plane landing safely. Images - Airbus via their YouTube feed. For Airbus, there is a very long road ahead as they … [Read more...]

First A350 takes to the skies

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Congratulations to Airbus for taking their first Airbus A350XWB into the skies on its first flight. Images - Airbus YouTube feed (there would had been more if I hadn't lost signal). Takeoff image @macgp on twitter The flight is for 4 hours, expected to land back at Toulouse. … [Read more...]

Emirates to upgrade LAX service to A380

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For those of you taking the long flight between Dubai and Los Angeles, some good news for you as Emirates will be switching from a Boeing 777-300ER to an Airbus A380. The timetable looks like this: EK215 DEPART DXB 08:20 ARRIVE LAX 12:50 EK216 DEPART LAX 16:00 ARRIVE DXB 19:50+1 Operates Daily Booked equipment - Boeing 777-300ER to 1st December 2013 - Airbus A380 (489 Seat … [Read more...]

French Air Traffic Control strike being cut by a day

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In what can only be described as good news, the French Air Traffic Controllers who went on strike on Tuesday 06:00 will be finishing their strike a day early - Thursday 13th 05:59. The strike was due to finish on Friday 14 June 05:59. Yesterday, over 1800 flights were canceled, with domestic, European and international services all hit, cutting the flying programmes of most … [Read more...]

A350 to take its first flight on Friday

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This is a bit hot as I've just come in from work, but this should make a few people excited, with multiple sources (WSJ, Reuters Aero) confirming that  Airbus will be taking their first Airbus A350XWB into the air for the first time on FRIDAY 14th JUNE.  A350 out of the paint shop picture - Image - Airbus. First flight is of course subject to weather … [Read more...]