Economy Class & Beyond

Airplane Art – British Midland International A319

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It's Christmas Day, and a Merry Christmas to all. It's Sunday still, so it's time for some airplane art. This week, it's a present International Consolidated Airlines Group brought for it self from Lufthansa - British Midland Airways Limited.. and with that, a BMI Airbus A319 taxing at George Best International Airport More airplane art over the week as it's Christmas … [Read more...]

Aircraft Repaint Saturday – Boeing 747-400

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(Republished as something has gone a bit odd... and I'm at a loss to see what WordPress has done this time) It’s Saturday again, and it seems this series has legs on it as we continue Aircraft Repaint Saturday (currently I’ve got content to last through March – hopefully more than enough time for some new safety videos to come out… ). This week, it’s a Virgin Atlantic … [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...]

Bad news: LOLCats are coming to GhettoIFE

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It seems the Internet is powered and populated by Cats from what I've seen. And it seems this corner of the Interwebs will be invaded by LOLCats too. Quick primer - Take an image of a cat. Add a few funny or appropriate comments (Ideally in IMPACT font). Add childlike language. Boom. You can haz LOLCat! However, LOLCats have a lot to do with frequent flying. And over in … [Read more...]

IAG pledges to “Grab” BMI according to Bloomberg

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The ongoing saga of who is buying British Midland Airways (owner of British Midland International and BMI Baby) continues to rumble on with International Consolidated Airlines Group (owner of British Airways and Iberia) seemingly wanting BMI according to Bloomberg. IAG concedes that whilst the sales process is taking longer thanks to Virgin Atlantic Airways putting it's … [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...]

UK Regulated Rail fares to rise by 5.9% Average – but expect chaos

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Things are not peachy with the UK rail network - itself one of the most expensive networks in Europe, but there is some small relief when in the Autumn statement, the Chancellor capped the rise in fares in regulated fares from 8% to 6%. Average rises amongst the train operating companies have settled down near the top, at 5.9%. However don't read too much into that. Whilst … [Read more...]