Economy Class & Beyond

Virgin Atlantic eyes Moscow

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It seems that Virgin Atlantic appears to be dusting itself off after the failed BMI takeover bid, with an announcement today that Virgin Atlantic is intending to build a short-haul and medium hub out of it's London Heathrow base. To do this, Virgin Atlantic is going to need the slots that were surrendered by British Airways/IAG. Traffic between London and Moscow is … [Read more...]

Poll closes soon! Using Mobile Phones in Flight…

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Just a heads up that my poll on using your mobile phone in-flight to talk to people on the ground will be closing  on 26th May at 08:00. So this is your chance to let out what you think about the plans of Virgin Atlantic to introduce full mobile comms in the air (that's Voice calls, SMS and Data)... or if another carrier tries it on. Polling ends: 26/05/2012 … [Read more...]

Poll: In Flight Mobile Phone Use – What’s your view?

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It's time for something different at GhettoIFE - a poll! Earlier this week I wrote about Virgin Atlantic introducing full Mobile Communications on-board their new 3-class Airbus A330's, and the comments were not that favourable. Full in this case is defined as Voice, SMS and Data.  Yes - you will be able to make and receive calls whilst in the air. So my question is … [Read more...]

Viva Las Vegas! British Airways to open 2nd Route to Vegas…

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Bright lights, gambling, fountains, shows, taxi drivers who I swear use the fastest meters in the west - it can only be Las Vegas. British Airways returned to Vegas a couple of years ago, operating a route from London Heathrow. Well it seems BA want more of the leisure market, with services to commence from London Gatwick. The service is schedule to begin on the 29th … [Read more...]

Virgin set to destroy any sense of quiet in the sky with the introduction of mobile phone use inflight

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One of the things I love about flying is that for a set amount of time, you're disconnected from the greater outside world. Well Virgin Atlantic wish to fully smash my desire for quiet with the announcement today that the new Airbus A330 aircraft will have Mobile Phone Call Reception installed. Unlike the service offered on the British Airways Club World City Service which … [Read more...]

Dates for your diary…

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As BMI is taken over by IAG and becomes part of British Airways, here's a list of dates that are important: As of now: Diamond Club members can earn on BA Flights and vice versa. BMI has formally exited from the Star Alliance Diamond Club Members can access BA lounges at LHR and LGW Big upcoming dates 1st May - Diamond Club to BA Executive Club status matching … [Read more...]

The Winners of the BMI Purchase

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Earlier today, I looked at the losers of the sale of BMI to IAG. Lets be more congratulative and look at the winners The big winner is of course International Airlines Group and its subsidiary British Airways who have got a total of 42 pairs of slots to play with at London Heathrow.  As well as that they get the staff, facilities and aircraft too. Lufthansa although a … [Read more...]

The Losers in the BMI Sale

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Whilst Diamond Club members  are probably sitting pretty and IAG has a bunch more slots, there are some big losers in the sale of British Midland International: Lufthansa. Oh dearie me. Lufthansa really bit off more than it can chew when it was forced to buy BMI from Sir Michael Bishop (and that's silly of Lufthansa to agree to the push/pull sale agreement in the first … [Read more...]

Three Virgins get together and link programmes…..

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The three big Virgin Airlines have finally seen a bit of sense, and fully linked their Frequent Flyer Programmes together. This includes: Virgin Atlantic Airways (Flying Club) Virgin America  (Elevate ) Virgin Australia (Velocity) This means if you're a member of one of the above programmes, you can earn and redeem miles - and more importantly earn  status points … [Read more...]