Economy Class & Beyond

EY/DJ: What’s that Skippy? Virgin Blue Group and Eithad alliance approved

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News flies in from Austraila of the proposed alliance with Virgin Blue Group and Eithad has been approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).The upshot of the decision is that the two companies are allowed to cooperate on pricing and scheduling between the two networks, and new services from Sydney-Abu Dhabi and Brisbane-Abu Dhabi in the future. The … [Read more...]

S7: Confirmed to Join OneWorld in 15th November

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It's confirmed that S7 Airlines will be formally joining the OneWorld Alliance on the 15th November and gaining full membership of the alliance. It's been some time since S7 declared their interest, and a slow slog to membership (although faster than Air India joining Star Alliance it seems), but from the go date, OneWorld Code-shares, privileges and benefits will apply. S7 … [Read more...]

AA: They’re trusting grown ups to be AAdults – Complimentry drinks on US Domestic lounges

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It seems that another airline in the USA has finally got a clue and is giving up drink tokens - or the silly "buy a drink" routine. Step forward American Airlines.Visitors to Admirals Club lounges inside the USA will be able to have free alcoholic drinks just like they do when you travel internationally. This goes forward from 1st October. Of course, this is not all alcoholic … [Read more...]

BA: New Routes – HND abound!

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Time for some good BA News. British Airways has announced new routes and frequency upgrades today with:South America:London Heathrow - Buenos Aires - Now a Direct flight as opposed to a stop in San Paulo (with both having direct flights daily)Caribbean:London Gatwick to Barbados will increase from 10 to 12 flights a weekLondon Gatwick to Antigua will increase from five to six … [Read more...]

Eastern Airways to take over Air Southwest

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It seems the UK regionals are starting consolidation moves. Air Southwest (which I've talked about in this blog when it's parent company put it up for sale)It seems that there is a knight in shining armour, and that knight is another UK Regional - Eastern AirwaysSutton Harbour (Air Southwest's parent) put the airline on the market due to the little economic problems that have … [Read more...]

CO/UA: United and Continental Cleared to Merge at Shareholder level

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The shareholders have stood up, and the merger has been approved by both sides, allowing United and Continental to progress with the process. The aim of course is size, and reductions in cost. As stated before the new airline will have the blend of the United and Continental Airlines livery, known as United, and with Jeff Smisek (CEO of Continental) taking the lead. With both … [Read more...]

BA: How do you design a first class suite?

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http://develop3d.com/profiles/come-fly-with-me has an answer with some of the thoughts that were around when the new British Airways First Class Seat was being developed.Whilst all these things are nice - the thing that also distinguishes First Class - is the service both off and on the plane itself.Highly interesting lunch time reading! … [Read more...]

Unite shows it’s teeth in court …. to BMI…

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Unite is getting in the habit of showing it's teeth when it isn't unhappy. This time it's angry at BMI and Lufthansa over an unpaid pay rise which was initially deferred for a year, with BMI is being taken to court by the union Unite over claims it has failed to honour a three-year pay award to its staff.Unite claims that 3,000 members at the company have not had received a … [Read more...]

Airplane p0rn: The Two Faces of Thai – Boeing 777-200’s

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For this week's Airplane p0rn, something slightly different - two of the same airplanes operated by the same company but in different colour schemes.This week it's Thai Airways Boeing 777-200's, both at Seoul Inchon International.The "Old" colour scheme And the "Current" colour schemeMore of course next week! … [Read more...]

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