Economy Class & Beyond

QF: A380 Engine problems….

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It seems Qantas had a problem with flight QF32 from Singapore to Sydney (from London) where one of the four Trent 900 engine's failed, causing debris from the engine to fall off. No indications yet why the engine failed during take off, or why the damage to the engine has been caused. The main casualty appears to be the engine cowling which has been lost in the incident. The … [Read more...]

BA: BA vs Unite – Unite looses court appeal over crew job cuts.

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Well it's getting entertaining again with British Airways and Unite with Unite loosing its current court appeal to reduce the number of cabin crew staff on its flights.As we're all aware, BA made the changes to working practices, and Unite has been fighting it since, taking it to the High Court, and now to the Court of Appeal.Where they have once again lost. Unite is now … [Read more...]

AK: Tony talks to the BBC….

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The BBC has been talking to Air Asia's Tony Fernandes about how he took a loss making government owned airline brought a one ringgit into $1 Billion turnover/year Low Cost Carrier. It's a reasonable insight into what drives him, and how he's trying to deliver improvements and ideas... as he spends some of the at time on the ground understanding the issues that affect his … [Read more...]

The War Against Toner Cartidges…

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There is a term that states "GIVE ME STRENGTH"... and today the UK Government declared war... on toner cartridges.Yes, that's right. Because some terrorist tried to put a bomb in a toner cartridge, the following advisory has been issued"Suspend the carriage of toner cartridges larger than 500g in passengers' hand baggage on flights departing from UK airports"So even though it … [Read more...]

APD: How to reduce the cost or mitigate it…

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So I've moaned about rise in Air Passenger Duty (APD) today. Lets look at ways of cutting the cost of APD.1) Flying into the UK.APD is not applied flying into the UK. You are liable for airport duties.2) Flying out of the UK. Before getting much further I'd get a calculator out. Or a spreadsheet. Or something you can work your numbers with.  There are good rules to … [Read more...]

FR: Ryanair annouces profilts up, slams APD rises.

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It's earnings reporting seasons, with Ryanair annoucing it's numbers today, with a 17 percent increase in first half net profit with 450millon euros in the bank.  Guidance has been issued that full year profits are yield  from 380 million to 400 million euros. Which not a bad number.However, the Odious Little Man has been on BBC Breakfast today moaning about a … [Read more...]

Happy.. umm.. Happy APD Rise day…

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Air Passenger Duty is formally going up again is going up as of today.If you've been booking ahead of today you would had noticed the rises already. But for those who haven't seen the extra tax that is going to be lumped on your ticket.... here's the magic numbers: Band  Reduced Rate  Standard Rate  2009-10  2010-11       2009-10  … [Read more...]

Airplane p0rn – British Airways 757-200

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It's that time of the week again, and to celebrate the last revenue flight of British Airways venerable 757's yesterday, this week it's a 757-200 in British Airways Chatham Dockyard scheme, taxing past Terminal 1 on a crisp morning earlier this month. Whilst some 757's will remain with the Open Skies subsidiary, nearly all the remaining BA 757's are going to DHL to become … [Read more...]

The weak end of screening: Cargo….

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Yesterdays events at East Midlands Airport (Nottingham/Derby), Philadelphia International and Newark show the one problem with screening and security theatre: the distinct lightness that cargo screening suffers, and only when people talk does it come to light. The packages that were heading to Chicago had packages allegedly originating from the Yemen, and various threat points … [Read more...]