Economy Class & Beyond

Airplane Art – Qantas A380 at Sunset

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It's Sunday, so it must be time for some airplane art. Rather than raiding though the archive of stuff I've shot, it's one from the end of my Japan trip - a Qantas Airbus A380 sitting pretty in the evening sun at London Heathrow Airport (Yes, it's clickable to view the large version!) More of course next week! … [Read more...]

Safety Video Saturday – ANA 777-300

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It's Saturday again, so it must be time for a last blast of Safety Video Saturday before I revert back to Airplane Repaint Saturday. This week, it's a re-run of ANA demonstrating their 777-300ER Safety Video  (as they didn't have one on their 777-300 last Sunday in Regional Config) There will be some more Safety Video Saturday... in a few months. We'll be heading back … [Read more...]

Japan/Asia 2012 Trip – More pictures and Videos Online!

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As my body hasn't adjusted to any time zone change this trip (and trust me - it's rather annoying), I've been busy uploading content for the trip report. And there's a LOT of it. Preparing for the off - http://www.photoblog.com/kevincm/2012/02/19/preparing-for-the-off.html To Birmingham Airport, Birmingham to Frankfurt with BMI (Lufthansa) … [Read more...]

Peach Aviation takes to the Air

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Well the Japanese Low Cost Carrier war has finally engaged, with Peach Aviation taking to the air yesterday. The first two domestic runs - Osaka's Kansai International Airport  to New Chitose Airport and Osaka-Fukuoka have now commenced, operating 3 times daily services between these cities. Coming soon are the Osaka-Kagoshima service and a twice-daily Osaka-Nagasaki … [Read more...]

Singapore Changi: The LCC’s are coming to T2 as the Budget Terminal is shut for rebuilding

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In plans to expand further, it seems Singapore Changi Airport will be doing a big shuffle over the next few months, with the current "Budget Terminal" closing, and a new Terminal - to be known to all as Terminal 4 to provide Low Cost Carrier Facilities. The current budget terminal was opened in 2006, and expanded in 2008 to handle 4.6 million passengers a year. This alas … [Read more...]

Singapore Airlines to increase fuel surcharges

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Not so good news if you're planning to fly Singapore Airlines in the future, with them announcing that fuel surcharges are on the way up. Like most carriers, it's being stung by the cost of fuel, and has kindly decided to pass that onto the customer. Which isn't nice The surcharge is dependent on Class of Service and Distance from Singapore, applying to all Singapore … [Read more...]

Nothing says welcome home like delays and packed commuter trains

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Well arriving back in London was a mistake at peak time. Firstly it seems the Great Western Mainline was on one today, with a 30 minute delay thanks to delayed freight trains and incorrectly suspected signals... and trouble getting into Paddington itself. The taxi driver wasn't as much as a rip off agent as some of the back cab drivers are, and got me to Marleybone in a … [Read more...]

Last stop in Korea: Back to Incheon

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Well a nice short over has come to an end, and therefore it's time to begin to end this long burn trip. But first, there is a (hopefully) lovely flight coming up with Asiana coming up. I'm just dreading the final bit of the journey - from Heathrow, through London, and finally back to Birmingham. And whilst I could take a coach home... I'm sure you'll understand that I'll … [Read more...]

IAG (BA+Iberia) numbers are out and good…

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The IAG Group has released its latest numbers, and all is going well it seems, making profits of £410 million. £190m in 2010, with revenues up 10.4 per cent. Pre-tax profit was up from £70m in 2010, to £426m However, with all these good numbers, there is a heck of a sting in the tail. And that's in the form of the Air Passenger Duty collected, which comes in at a whopping … [Read more...]