Economy Class & Beyond

US Airways/American Airlines Merger clears EU Regulators

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The European Commission has finished its examination of the US Airways and American Airlines merger, and has cleared the merger - but not without some changes The Commission examined the competitive effects of the proposed merger on numerous transatlantic routes, and found only one route which would by a monopoly - the London Heathrow to Philadelphia route operated by US … [Read more...]

The only reason the Saturday away rule applies… is to make cash (As Brussels Airlines demonstrates…)

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Yes, I'm stating the obvious again, but once again - European airlines are the masters of the Saturday away rule. Allow me to elaborate. The Saturday night away rule is used by a lot of airlines to separate business and leisure travellers - with business travellers prepared to pay hand over fist, whilst the leisure travellers will put up with the inconvenience of a night … [Read more...]

Air France trims its Paris to Hong Kong Service for Winter

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Air France is reducing it's services to Hong Kong over the winter period - from 14th January 2014 to 29th March 2014. This will reduce the service from 10 rotations weekly to 7 services a week (a daily service) The timetable looks like this: AF188 DEPART CDG 23:20 ARRIVE HKG 18:05+1 AF185 DEPART HKG 23:30 ARRIVE CDG 05:50+1 Booked Equipment: Boeing 777-300ER Operates … [Read more...]

Airplane Art – Austrian Airlines A320

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It's Sunday again, so it must be time for some more airplane art. This week, it's an Austrian Airlines Airbus A320 waking up after a nights sleep at Zurich Airport, awaiting its next duty, in a cold winter's morning. 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...]

Safety Video Saturday – TAM

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It's Saturday again, and after a while (and with good reason not to run this... as there have been two major incidents recently that have demonstrated this better than muggins posting a video), it's time to put your seat into the upright position, stow your tray table and foot rest, ensuring the area by your feet is clear as we go to this week's safety video. This week, it's … [Read more...]

Want to fly the BA A380 to Frankfurt? Be careful!

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British Airways has flown its first Airbus A380 commercially, and is beginning to operate the plane between London Heathrow T5 and Frankfurt am Main Airport T2. For a great review on the new A380, check out ContinentalClub's blog post at http://blog.continentalclub.co.uk/flights/british-airways-airbus-a380-first-commercial-flight-video/ Typically, they will be operating … [Read more...]

Etihad buys into JAT, rebrands it Air Serbia.

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It seems Etihad has pushed a major step into Europe, with the announcement that they are buying a 49% stake in JAT Airways. As part of the sale, JAT Airways will re-brand as Air Serbia. Both the Serbian Etihad will pump in US$40 Million as a loan, converted into equity, and a US$60 million load to help renews the Air Serbia fleet. Air Serbia will match these numbers. … [Read more...]

Turkish Airlines expands its fleet again – more A330’s on the way.

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Turkish Airlines have expanded their Airbus A330 fleet, with three options it holds with Airbus SAS to be converted into aircraft. These planes will be built as the capacity optimised A330-300. When delivered between 2015 and 2016, this will bring the cadre up to 33 A330-300's along with 8 (1 of which is wet leased) Airbus A330-200's (the range optimised version). Turkish … [Read more...]