Airbus to extend A380 to accommodate 1,000 passengers

29 08 2008

Airbus SAS, the world’s largest plane maker, is considering an extended 1,000-passenger version of the A380 aircraft, Louis Gallois, chief executive of the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS), has said. Two airlines, Deutsche Lufthansa AG and Air France-KLM SA, were interested in the extended version of the A380, Gallois told the German newspaper Saechsische Zeitung in an interview to be published Friday.  The A380, the world’s largest commercial aircraft even in its current form, can carry 555 passengers. It entered service in October last year after a two-year delay that severely hit Airbus profits and forced a major restructuring of the company.

Gallois said Airbus had planned the extended version right from the start.





Plane crashes in Kyrgyzstan;leaves 68 dead

25 08 2008

A passenger jet carrying 90 people, including a Kyrgyz high school sports team, crashed shortly after takeoff Sunday near the Kyrgyz capital, killing 68.  
The Boeing 737 was headed to Iran when it crashed near Bishkek’s Manas International Airport, said government spokeswoman Roza Daudova. Twenty-two people, including two crew members, survived the accident.

An airport official said the crew reported a technical problem about 10 minutes into the flight and that the plane was returning to the airport when it crashed. The official said she was not authorized to give her name.

Officials said the crash followed the sudden decompression of the jet, which came down in a field near a village.

Daudova said the people on board the plane included 24 Kyrgyz citizens, 52 Iranians, three Kazakhs, two Canadians, one citizen of Turkey and one Chinese.





ATC Jokes

24 08 2008

Tower: “Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o’clock, 6 miles!”
Delta 351: “Give us another hint! We have digital watches!”


Tower: “TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees.”
TWA 2341: “Centre, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?”
Tower: “Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?”


From an unknown aircraft waiting in a very long takeoff queue: “I’m f…ing bored!”
Ground Traffic Control: “Last aircraft transmitting, identify yourself immediately!”
Unknown aircraft: “I said I was f…ing bored, not f…ing stupid!”


O’Hare Approach Control to a 747: “United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o’clock, three miles, Eastbound.”
United 329: “Approach, I’ve always wanted to say this… I’ve got the little Fokker in sight.”


A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked: “What was your last known position?”
Student: “When I was number one for takeoff.”


A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly long roll out after touching down.
San Jose Tower noted: “American 751, make a hard right turn at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not able, take the Guadeloupe exit off Highway 101, make a right at the lights and return to the airport.”


There’s a story about the military pilot calling for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running “a bit peaked”. Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down. “Ah,” the fighter pilot remarked, “The dreaded seven-engine approach.”


A Pan Am 727 flight, waiting for start clearance in Munich, overheard the following:
Lufthansa (in German): “Ground, what is our start clearance time?”
Ground (in English): “If you want an answer you must speak in English.”
Lufthansa (in English): “I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?”
Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): “Because you lost the bloody war!”


Tower: “Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on frequency 124.7″
Eastern 702: “Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By the way, after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway.”
Tower: “Continental 635, cleared for takeoff behind Eastern 702, contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report from Eastern 702?”
BR Continental 635: “Continental 635, cleared for takeoff, roger; and yes, we copied Eastern… we’ve already notified our caterers.”


One day the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to hold short of the active runway while a DC-8 landed. The DC-8 landed, rolled out, turned around, and taxied back past the Cherokee.

Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and said, “What a cute little plane. Did you make it all by yourself?”

The Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by, came back with a real zinger:

“I made it out of DC-8 parts. Another landing like yours and I’ll have enough parts for another one.”


The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They not only expect one to know one’s gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206.

Speedbird 206: “Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway.”
Ground: “Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven.” The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop.
Ground: “Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?”
Speedbird 206: “Stand by, Ground, I’m looking up our gate location now.”
Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): “Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?”
Speedbird 206 (coolly): “Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark, and I didn’t land.”


While taxiing at London’s Gatwick Airport, the crew of a US Air flight departing for Ft. Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727.

An irate female ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew, screaming: “US Air 2771, where the hell are you going?! I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta! Stop right there. I know it’s difficult for you to tell the difference between C and D, but get it right!”

Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically: “God! Now you’ve screwed everything up! It’ll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don’t move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour, and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you! You got that, US Air 2771?”

“Yes, ma’am,” the humbled crew responded.

Naturally, the ground control communications frequency fell terribly silent after the verbal bashing of US Air 2771. Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller in her current state of mind.

Tension in every cockpit out around Gatwick was definitely running high.

Just then an unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone, asking: “Wasn’t I married to you once?”





Swiss plane makes emergency landing after bomb threat

24 08 2008

A Swiss International Airlines plane was forced to make an emergency landing Saturday after a bomb threat, a media report said.

The plane was flying over France when the pilot was informed about the bomb threat. The aircraft was then redirected towards Switzerland.

The plane was on its way from Zurich to Malaga in Spain.

The airbus A321 safely landed at the Geneva airport, the official Swissinfo news website reported.

No one was injured during the landing, an airport spokesman said, Swissinfo reported. The passengers were evacuated from the plane and taken to a waiting room.

Bomb disposal experts conducted a thorough check of the airplane but no explosives were found, the report said.





Pics of the new Mumbai Airport

22 08 2008

Current Airport

Here are some exclusive pics of the new Mumbai airport that will be up and running by 2012





Jet Airways to begin Bangalore-Brussels flight on October 31

22 08 2008

Jet Airways to begin Bangalore-Brussels flight on October 31 with a brand new Airbus A330-200.

The schedules  Starting Oct 31 are as follows:

9W 132 BLR – BRU DEP 0135 ARR 0755
9W 131 BRU – BLR DEP 1005 ARR 0005

Flights to be operated by an A330-200 daily.  This move seems to be a direct competition to Kingfisher’s launch of Banglaore-London from September 3.





Longest runway in India inaugurated

22 08 2008

New Delhi’s Airport successfully carried out its tests yesterday on the 4430m long runway which will be the longest in India. The runway is expected to be thrown open for general operations on August 28th.  Officials carried out “a trial take-off and landing by an Air India aircraft without any passengers,”


The new runway will nearly double the airport’s peak-hour capacity from 35-40 aircraft landings and take-offs to about 75. The two currently operational parallel runways handle nearly 700 flights a day.


“The runway is equipped with a state-of-the art instrument landing system at both ends that will allow landing even when visibility is as low as 50 metres (yards),”


New Delhi, host of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, is also sprucing up infrastructure to allow carriers like Emirates, British Airways and Air France to operate Airbus’s flagship A380 on routes to the Indian capital.





Jet Airways cuts frquencies on Mumbai-San Francisco Route

21 08 2008

Barely 2 months after the launch of the much hyped Mumbai-Shanghai-San Francisco route, Jet airways has reduced the frequncy of this flight from a daily (7x weekly) to 5x weekly. Flights on Tuesdays and Wednesdays have been cut. Jet airways has cut these frequencies on back of light demand on these days. Jet Airways also termed these cutbacks as temporary as Jet said it would reconsider introducing these flights in its winter schedule when loads traditionally pick up.





150 dead as Plane overshoots Madrid runway

20 08 2008

150 people are confirmed dead in one of the worst aviation crashes in Spanish Aviation history as a Spanair MD80 flight JK5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands from the Madrid Barajas airport. The plane is reportedly 15 years old. The plane is reported to be completely destroyed.  The plane crashed on its second attempt for takeoff after its aborted first takeoff attempt.

The plane was taking off on runway 36L on a sunny afternoon. The pilot had passed V1speed and had to abort takeoff on a engine fire on the plane’s left side. The plane then reportedly swerved and landed very roughly resulting in a major fire and crash landed. Black and white smoke are seen everywhere. 45 people are confirmed dead with 19 injuries reported.

More details awaited





Plane swerves at Madrid airport, 150 reported dead -UPDATED

20 08 2008

An airliner bound for the Canary Islands swerved off the runway during takeoff from the Madrid airport Wednesday and caught fire, Spain’s national airport authority said. Local media reported at least 150 people dead.

Thick, white smoke billowed from the scene at Barajas airport.

Spanair flight JK5022 was bound for Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, a popular vacation spot off West Africa, the company said.

The airport authority AENA gave no information about the number of passengers or possible casualties. Earlier, the newspaper El Pais quoted sources at the Spanish Interior Ministry as saying at least 25 people died in the accident and 57 were injured. The paper said 178 people were on the plane.

An official with the Madrid emergency rescue service SAMUR said crews were removing injured people and bodies from the plane.

“It is a certain catastrophe,” a SAMUR official said on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to give his name.

At the airport, helicopters and fire trucks poured water on the plane, which ended up in a lower, wooded area at the end of the runway at Terminal 4.

First photos of the tragedy are in now

 





Foreign carriers cut flights at Los Angeles airport

20 08 2008

Los Angeles International Airport, battered by financially devastated domestic airlines, is now headed for trouble from overseas. Foreign carriers, until now a bright spot for the airport in an increasingly dismal year, are slashing flights at LAX amid high fuel costs and slowing international demand, dealing yet another blow to Southern California’s economy.
For Southern California passengers, the cuts would add to travel woes including fewer nonstop flights to overseas destinations, higher fares and crowded planes.The anticipated cuts surprised analysts, economists and airport officials because overseas flights seemed robust and they were seen as a way for LAX to offset the sharp drop in domestic service.

Earlier this year, several foreign-based airlines announced plans to start new service at LAX, including Emirates Airlines’ first nonstop flights to Dubai in October, Vietnam Airlines Corp.’s service to Ho Chi Minh City in the same month and V Australia — part of the Virgin Blue Group — with flights to Sydney in December.
Air India plans to eliminate its six flights a week between LAX and Frankfurt, with connecting flights to New Delhi and Mumbai. In late October, Thai Airways will no longer offer nonstop flights to Bangkok and Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. said it was suspending one of three daily flights between Hong Kong and LAX.The cuts by foreign carriers will add to sharp reductions for overseas flights being made by U.S. airlines. UAL Corp.’s United Airlines is slashing 31% of its overseas flights from LAX, while Delta Air Lines Inc. is cutting many of its flights to Mexico and Latin America.





AirAsia X launches budget flights out of Melbourne

20 08 2008

Cut-price airline AirAsia X has announced it is to begin new Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur flights.

The Malaysian-based carrier will offer one-way fares to Kuala Lumpur – starting at $199 including taxes and charges – and four return flights a week from November 12.

The airline plans to increase to daily return flights during the peak season from December to mid-January and then daily from March 2009.





AA finalises new Boeing 737 deal

19 08 2008

American Airlines (AA) has announced the completion of an additional order for 26 Boeing next-generation 737 aircraft.

This forms part of the 2009 to 2010 fleet renewal plans revealed by the operator earlier in the year and AA now has 36 737-800s on order with Boeing as well as fast tracking orders made in previous years.
The 737-800 is the most popular version in Boeing’s next-generation series of aircraft, largely due to its strong fuel efficiency, reliability and performances statistics





Kingfisher gets govt nod to fly abroad

19 08 2008

Kingfisher Airlines has secured permission to fly abroad starting with flights to London.

The civil aviation ministry granted the traffic rights to Deccan Aviation in which Kingfisher Airlines merged in 2007, to operate services to London and other global destinations.

The airline, which has already firmed up plans to launch its Bangalore-London (Heathrow) flight from the first week of September, would be starting its international services on the rights granted to Deccan Aviation on the India-UK sector.

The mnistry on Mondayconveyed its approval to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation for granting traffic rights to Deccan Aviation, an official spokesperson said on Tuesday.

Traffic rights of seven services per week have been granted with effect from August 26 between Bangalore and London and the airline permitted to utilise a large aircraft, Airbus A-330 for the long-haul operation.

The ministry has also advised DGCA to grant operating clearance to Deccan Aviation after due diligence of the airline’s ability to operate on the long-haul sector, the spokespersons said.

According to guidelines an Indian carrier can fly abroad only after serving the domestic market for five years and having a fleet of 20 aircraft.





First Kingfisher international flight on Sept 3

18 08 2008

Kingfisher Airlines plans to launch its first international flight on September 3 with a direct Bangalore-London flight. “The countdown has begun. We are all set to fly to London from Bangalore on September 3,’’ a Kingfisher Airlines official said here. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation had last month granted permission to Deccan Aviation to fly to 13 countries from August 26, the day the airline will complete the mandatory five years of domestic operations to become eligible for overseas operations. Kingfisher and Deccan Aviation have now merged. Under normal circumstances, Kingfisher would have to wait for two more years to complete the five-year term mandatory to become eligible for overseas flying. But now the government has let Kingfisher fly overseas under both brands—Deccan and KF.





Brussels airport strike delays Jet’s flights

14 08 2008

International flights of Jet Airways (India) Ltd, India’s largest domestic carrier by passengers, were delayed due to a strike at Belgium’s Brussels airport.

Brussels is the airline’s global hub that routes most of its European flights and those to the US and Canada. “There have been some disruptions,” said Jet’s chief executive officer Wolfgang Prock-Schauer, “but no cancellations so far.”
Jet, whose international code is 9W, flies non-stop from New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai to Brussels daily. Flights to New York 9W226 and Newark 9W228  in the US, and Toronto (9W 230) in Canada departed late. “Three other flights (are waiting) but we don’t know when will they take off,” a Jet official said over phone from Brussels. These included inbound flights to Mumbai (9W 229), Delhi (9W 227) and Chennai (9W 225).




Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways expand cooperation

14 08 2008

Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways announced that they intend to expand their deal, in order to work together more effectively on a larger number of routes. According to the terms of the new agreement, the two airlines would enter into a code-sharing arrangement on the Brussels to Bangkok route.

Passengers interested in flying between these cities should, however, keep in mind that they will be required to catch an onward connection in Delhi, to the Thai capital city. Thanks to this agreement between Brussels Airlines and Jet Airways , catching that connection will be relatively convenient, as the code-share flight from Brussels will arrive in Delhi just in time for passengers to transfer to the Delhi to Bangkok service.

Jet Airways uses Boeing B-737 and Airbus A-330 planes to connect Delhi to Bangkok and now that the code-sharing agreement is in place, each of these flights will bear the “SN” Brussels Airlines code.





Korean Air records 2Q net loss

14 08 2008

Korean Air Lines Co. posted a second-quarter net loss amid soaring fuel costs and a weak South Korean currency.

Korean Air, South Korea’s biggest airline and the world’s largest international cargo carrier, recorded a net loss of 289 billion won ($279 million) in the three months ended June 30, the company said in a statement. It lost 214.4 billion won in the same period a year ago. The most recent loss was the airline’s third straight on a quarterly basis.

Sales during the quarter rose 18 percent to 2.48 trillion won ($2.4 billion), compared with 2.11 trillion won last year.

Korean Air said fuel expenses during the quarter increased 79.4 percent and were exacerbated by weakness in the South Korean won against the U.S. dollar. Fuel expenses are denominated in dollars.

The weak won also hurt Korean Air in terms of its mostly US dollar-denominated foreign currency debt. The airline booked a foreign exchange translation loss of 273.2 billion won ($263.2 million) during the quarter.

Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd. of Hong Kong last week reported its first half-year loss since 2003, while Japan’s All Nippon Airways Co. said last month its most recent quarterly profit fell by over 90 percent due to soaring fuel costs.

Japan Airlines Corp. also last week reported a loss for its most recent quarter, but managed to reduce the flow of red ink compared with the previous year.





Emirates plans global A380 network

14 08 2008

EMIRATES president Tim Clark is imagining a fleet of giant Airbus A380s continuously circling the world as part of a vast global network. It already has 58 A380s in the pipeline as part of an order of 180 aircraft worth $61 billion at list prices and recently added to the mix 30 Airbus A330-330s and 30 A350 XWBs.

Clark is already working with Airbus on making the aircraft lighter and capable of flying further than even the European manufacturer originally believed it could.  His goal is to get the big plane to the point where it can operate non-stop from Dubai to the US west coast.

Despite a two-year delay in deliveries and continuing production problems, airlines that have ordered the plane remain convinced they will reap benefits.  Launch customer Singapore Airlines, another carrier that demanded important improvements to the A380’s specifications, has been flying the jet since last year.  It now has five in service, with 14 more on the way, and recently operated its 1000th A380 flight.

The airline says the big plane has performed remarkably in almost 10 months of commercial service.  It has clocked up 8500 flying hours and carried almost 400,000 customers, 220,000 of those between Sydney and Singapore.

Strong load factors and continuing customer demand have prompted Singapore Airlines to step up crew training.  Clark expects further improvements in the plane to make even those carriers that have been reticent about the big jet sit up and take notice.  Central to Clark’s optimistic outlook are plans by both Airbus and Emirates to cut weight.





Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways fly into global top 10 list

14 08 2008

Three of the biggest Middle Eastern airlines – Emirates, Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways – have made it to the 2008 list of top 10 global airlines, according to the latest survey by Skytrax, a global air transport research organisation specialising in global airline and airport customer surveys.
Singapore Airlines flew away with the title of the world’s top airline for the third time in 10 years.

Of the three Gulf airlines, Etihad Airways made a fresh entry to the list this year – occupying 10th position (ranked 23rd in 2007), while Emirates has maintained the same ranking as last year, placed ninth worldwide. However, the airline did win acclaim for the best inflight entertainment concepts for the fourth year in succession.
Qatar Airways, though it dropped rank to seventh this year from fourth last year, is still the highest ranked among the Gulf carriers. The Doha-based airline also earned the title for Best Middle East Airline 2008 besides being voted the airline with the best cabin staff in the Middle East.
Sharjah’s low-cost carrier Air Arabia, meanwhile, emerged as the best low-cost airline in the Middle East, with easyJet flying away with the top position internationally.