Economy Class & Beyond

UK Train Fares go up as of today

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Well the promised train fare rises have finally hit. The rise which was meant to be inflation +3% (near enough 9% rise), which has been capped to 5.9% Regulated fares such as Long Distance Peak Fares and Season Tickets will be regulated to 6% average. However there are some wonderful discrepancies. London to Glasgow goes up 8.1% Crewe to Chester hits a massive … [Read more...]

2011 in Review: Stats and Numbers

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So lets do the end of year stats for my person travel this year in the air. Map - www.gcmap.com Segments Flown: 33 Miles flown: 60,477 Longest Leg: London Heathrow T3 to -Vancouver International Airport, 4708 Miles Shortest Leg: Birmingham Airport UK - Dublin Airport,  200 Miles Airports visited: 20 New Airports: Vancouver International , George Bush … [Read more...]

British Airways 777-200 suffers a Bird Strike at YYZ….

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It seems British Airways is a plane down for bit with one of their Boeing 777-200's suffering a bird strike strike according to The BA Source G-VIIU - A Boeing 777-200ER suffered the strike to the engine nacelle and wing. From the looks of it, the bird itself was not ingested by the engine, but the damage is... enough. Reports indicate the plane made it to the ground … [Read more...]

Brussels Airlines to commence JFK route

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With a hat-tip to Xander who commented about one of my pictures yesterday Airline Route confirm the launch of a Brussels Airport to New York JFK International operated by Brussels Airlines. The route is due to commence on 1st June 2012, operating the following legs SN0501 - DEPART BRU 10:20 ARRIVE JFK 12:35 SN0502 - DEPART JFK 17:15 ARRIVE BRU … [Read more...]

ANA announces more 787 routes

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All Nippon Airlines (ANA) have announced dates when it intends to operate 787 on Japanese Domestic routes. The routes hubbing from Toyko Haneda Airport will serve the following: Commencing 23rd January 2012 Tokyo Haneda - Osaka Itami Tokyo Haneda - Yamaguchi Commencing 1st March 2012 Tokyo Haneda - Matsuyama International services are still restricted to the … [Read more...]

Air Asia abandons counter check-in fee for international flights

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In what seems like a turnaround for a low-cost carrier, Air Asia has announced that it will be abolishing the counter check-in fee for all international flights. The RM10 fee (~$3/£2 or so) will no longer apply for International bookings from 22nd December 2011 onwards, however Domestic flights with Malaysia (which is fairly spread out) will be required to pay the fee - or … [Read more...]

BMI to leave Star Alliance upon sale completion

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Looking through the slide deck from the IAG  have published on their investors relations site, it is now confirmed that BMI's membership of Star Alliance will terminate upon completion of the purchase of BMI by IAG. The transaction is due to be completed by 31st March 2012, subject to regulatory approvals. The slide deck also reveals a few more features: BA will be … [Read more...]

From the horses mouths: Lufthansa and IAG on the BMI sale

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The press releases for today's big announcement today of the sale of British Midland Airways to International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) First up, Lufthansa - http://presse.lufthansa.com/en/news-releases/singleview/archive/2011/december/22/article/2054.html Following the announcement on November 4, 2011, Deutsche Lufthansa AG (Lufthansa) and International Airlines … [Read more...]

Lufthansa sells BMI to… IAG (BA/Iberia)

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Well it seems Virgin was too late to the party with Deutsch Lufthansa AG deciding to sell it's British Midland Airways subsidiary to ... International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG). For IAG, the spoils of war are simple: 56 slots at Heathrow. The cost has been revealed to be  £172.5m, and IAG/Lufthansa aim to have the deal done in the next 3 months. The deal of … [Read more...]

ANA International 787’s delayed

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As I eluded to last week, ANA were having trouble with it's 787 delivery schedule from Boeing (As I was almost hit with the changes to my upcoming 787 flight). Well, more details are emerging. ANA has taken 2 of the 787's into service, but blames Boeing for a "productivtiy" issue over the 3rd plane that was due to be delivered. As such, it's had to trim following … [Read more...]