Economy Class & Beyond

The battle of the 787-9 – ANA and Air New Zealand take forward the fight

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It seems the battle to operate services with the Boeing 787-9 is in full swing, with both launch carriers racing to start services. All Nippon Airways are first out of the trap, with a scenic flight on the 4th August. However, the real fun for passengers will begin on the 7th August 2014 when ANA will deploy the 787-9 on domestic routes, and join the battle of the 787-9. ANA … [Read more...]

Drobrolet suspends services, blames EU sanctions

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Drobrolet - an Aeroflot subsidiarity aiming to compete in the low cost carrier space - seems to have hit a major snag in its operations, with the airline having to suspend its services. Drobrolet front page, 3rd August 2014. http://www.dobrolet.com/en/ The blacklisting was made official by the EU on 30th July 2014 as part of sanctions package against Russia. Drobrolet have … [Read more...]

TravelMagic launches a Belgium Frequent Flyer Forum

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Last year, I went to the TravelMagic conference in Brussels - which was great to see so many frequent flyers and mile collectors from a European and Beglium perspective (and proves that the frequent flying game is truly around the world). Well, the team behind it have gone a step further, by launching the first Frequent Flyer community site, targeting the Belgium community and … [Read more...]

Safety Video Saturday – Northwest Airlines (1993)

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It's Saturday again, so please bring your seat into the upright position, stow your luggage in the overhead locker and ensure your tray table is put away as we go back in time to this weeks video. And we go back in time with a classic Northwest Airlines safety video from the 1990s, complete with no smoking on the flight as well as plenty of red … [Read more...]

ANA prepares to launch the Boeing 787-9 into service

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All Nippon Airways (ANA) scored a coup when they became the first operator of the Boeing 787-8 aircraft. Whilst they didn't get the first delivered Boeing 787-9 aircraft (that honour went to Air New Zealand), it seems the experience of operating the 787-8 is paying off as the airline prepares to ready the aircraft into service. ANA 787-9 taking off, Image - The Boeing … [Read more...]

Anyone want an Airbus A380… Anyone?

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It seems Skymark Airlines is to pull away from the Airbus A380, abandoning its long haul international plans, with Airbus terminating the order from Skymark. The first Skymark Airbus A380 - now not to be delivered  - Image, Airbus. Skymark had six Airbus A380s on their order book, with two already complete and were awaiting cabin-fitout. And this is actually a big problem … [Read more...]

Jetstar reminds passengers to dispose of drugs…

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A fun little story from down under, with Jetstar apologising for the actions of one of it's crew who advised passengers dump their drugs before landing in Sydney according to the The Daily Telegraph (Australia) Jetstar Airbus A321 coming into land at Sydney  - Image GhettoIFE.com The flight from The Gold Coast to Sydney was normal with passengers heading to the "Splendour in … [Read more...]

WestJet continues expanding… with 767s?

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WestJet of Canada seem to be doing well, with two announcements today - both regarding fleet expansions. WestJet 737-700 at Toronto Pearson - Image GhettoIFE 2014 The interesting fleet expansion news is that WestJet are to add Boeing 767-300ER aircraft to its fleet in 2015. The airline will be taking them four of the aircraft. These are to be configured as 767-300ERW … [Read more...]

Delta ups its In Flight Entertainment Game

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In Flight Entertainment is one of the few distractions in the air that I love (apart from looking out of the window of a plane... that in itself is in flight entertainment). IFE is pretty common across carriers - however, in the USA there has been signs of carriers charging for IFE on planes (exContinental LiveTV, JetBlue, Frontier and others come to mind). Delta is seems are … [Read more...]

Flybe fills in a BA gap between Aberdeen and London City

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The regions are a tough fight for carriers - like British Airways finds when it decided to focus its fleet on taking on Dublin, and dropping Aberdeen in the process from London City Airport, and when the low cost carriers go full speed ahead, concentrating on heavier routes,waving thinner/lower earning routes to suffer. Well, there's good news from Flybe who will restore the … [Read more...]