Economy Class & Beyond

China Airlines throws in the towel on London Taipei direct services – retreats to Amsterdam

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China Airlines can't seem to make the London - Taipei services work it seems, and has thrown in the towel on the twice a week service. From 25th March 2012 onwards, it will switch to a codeshare with SkyTeam partner KLM to Amsterdam, to connect with the existing Amsterdam - Bangkok - Taipei service. So if you want to get to Taipei, yes - it's TWO stops to get there with … [Read more...]

Coming to the London 2012 Games? Some dates to AVOID Heathrow

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As we enter countdown for the London 2012 Olympic games, Heathrow Airport has published a few interesting titbits on how it's going to cope. Heathrow predict that 80% of overseas London 2012 visitors will flow through the airport, and are even constructing a temporary "Olympic Terminal" to assist for the games (operating from 13-15 August). More importantly, Heathrow has … [Read more...]

Thames Estuary Airport/Boris Island?

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Or £50billion to start with - and that's before we begin properly. The idea of Boris island - or an airport in the Thames Estuary has been floated again, and this time the government is paying attention. Well a bit to the point where it will form part of the formal consultation plan on UK aviation. The study is due to commence in March, in a vain attempt to hold onto the … [Read more...]

BMI Futures Week: It’s confirmed – NO Miles and More Status Match

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Those of you who were hoping to match to Miles and More from BMI Diamond Club - some very bad news for you (and if truth be told, I've sort of known this after chatting to a few people last week). From http://forum.airliners.de/index.php?showtopic=44637&view=findpost&p=607297 and translated by Google: The sale of bmi IAG (the parent company of BA) - shall be … [Read more...]

Lufthansa Business Class Sale Fares – now loaded

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It seems that Lufthansa is having a bit of a Business Class fare sale. There are fare sales going on ex Germany, but also from the UK too. Those of you who are needing a starting point for Senator status this year could do well to have a look at these: Data - Lufthansa.co.uk With an offer like this, there are of course a bunch of terms and conditions. Purchase … [Read more...]

Iberia pilots to walk out – again. New Strike dates announced

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Once again, Iberia and SELPA are at it like cat and mouse, this time with ground staff and cabin crew joining in too The pilots are walking out over the creation of Iberia Express on the following dates: 25th January 2012 27th January 2012 30th January 2012 Meanwhile the ground workers have voted for action to support demands for the extension of their job … [Read more...]

The Germanwings are coming – on LHR to Cologne route

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Germanwings seem to be - well - spreading their wings further. The Lufthansa owned carrier will be operating the Cologne to London route on behalf of the Lufthansa. Germanwings growth is accelerating in the UK. It has been announced they will Already they will be running to the UK: Stuttgart to Heathrow (Commencing February) Stuttgart to Manchester (Commencing … [Read more...]

BA the first retrofit of a 777-200 – what’s the upside for you?

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British Airways has been busy on the quiet, with the Boeing 777-300ER's being introduced and now the first Boeing 777-200 has been retrofitted with some new things internally. For those in World Traveller (Economy Class) and World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) is where the major improvements are with the seating from the 777-300ER's moved in - these include the dreaded … [Read more...]

A call centre that beats BMI for incompetence. Step forward… ICHG.

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Yes, you read right. I've found a call centre that has managed to mess things up *MORE* than BMI ever could (btw, I'm in FULL rant mood). Who is it today? Step forward InterContinental Hotels Group and your Ambassador programme. Those of you who have hung around GhettoIFE.com a bit will remember I was swayed with a Suite Upgrade when I did Toronto in Multi-Modal Mayhem, … [Read more...]

Guess who’s adding a €0.25 ETS levy?

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And you're correct. Everyone's "favourite" low cost carrier - Ryanair - will be applying another levy on all tickets sold from 17th Janaury 2012. The £0.25/€0.25 levy which will be charged per passenger per segment is to cover costs incurred from the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme. For Ryanair, this has a cost of at least €15 million - which isn't pocket … [Read more...]