Economy Class & Beyond

EI: Reconsidering an Alliance….

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Well it seems Aer Lingus isn't happy sitting out in the cold any longer as an independent airline, and is going to consider a membership of a major alliance according to ATWOnline.And an admittance that maybe the LCC experiment started by a certain Willie Walsh is probably a bad idea as it tries to reposition itself as a higher value/quality carrier what emphasises better … [Read more...]

BA: Off to Cancun!

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Well, if there's one part of the BA empire that's surviving well throughout everyhting, it's the teams at Gatwick, who have today been rewarded with a new route to Cancun (Mexico), operating twice a week with a 777 in  3 class configurationIn other words, Club World (Business), World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy)  and World Traveller  (Economy) seats Service … [Read more...]

Lunchtime reading: The Economist on Aviation in the Gulf

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Some "light" lunchtime reading for you all - from of all places The Economist.http://www.economist.com/node/16271573?story_id=16271573  is where to head to.It's a very readable article on why Gulf carriers (such as Emirates, Qatar, Eithad) are on the rise, and why European airlines should be very worried.Least of all if you're a certain British carrier that has been … [Read more...]

SQ: Maybe there is money beyond the main cities…

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Singapore Air is a funny old beast of an airline, running A380's across the world and keeping its fleet relatively young.It's also had a link to Manchester for quite some time, that has been recently under strain when the direct service went patchy to 3 days a week, and finally, the service was switched to 5 days a week with a diversion to Munich to pick up more passengers.Well … [Read more...]

Airplane p0rn – Northwest 747-200

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It's that time of the week again, and it's time for some Airplane p0rn.This week - something from my archives - a Northwest Boeing 747-200 at Seattle-Tacoma, shot in 2008.  More airplane p0rn next week! … [Read more...]

Kingfisher passes OneWorld safety audit – on target for joining.

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As airline alliances are start starting to buddy up together, Kingfisher has successfully passed the first stages of membership - a safety audit, the approval approval from India's Ministry of Civil Aviation and completing a formal membership agreement, and moves up to the status of "Member Elect"At this time, Kingfisher is now negotiating all the bi-latteral agreements with … [Read more...]

US Airways offers Star Silver on Trial… but there are more strings attached.

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It seems everyones favourite Star Alliance member (not not BMI for once), is once again offering status for anyone who wants it.US Airways is offering in conjunction with Budget a 90 trial of Silver Preferred Status, on condition that your first buy a non refundable ticket for travel within the USA from them. To maintain Star Silver, you'll need to fly 10 US Airways segments or … [Read more...]

Finnair orders some A321’s… with Sharklets!

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Oh Pam Ann would love this (after all, she'll never fly anything that hasn't got a Winglet on it).Finnair has signed up with Airbus for them to provide Five A321's to replace it's 757 leisure fleet.  Whilst this is "small news", this the second order for Airbus A320 series aircraft with Sharklet winglets instead of the standard Airbus A320 series wingtip fences.Bur who … [Read more...]

Welcome to SkyTeam Vietnam Airlines

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Skyteam has formally accepted Vietnam Airlines as a member of it's alliance.The airline has been through a bit, but has modernised with long haul services, and short haul is slowly gaining respected traction - enough for a major alliance to sit up and pay attention to it.This adds 20 more destinations to SkyTeams  network, which is still smaller than Oneworld or Star … [Read more...]