Champion's comments about airlines not buying carbon fibre but performance make sense to me as what no doubt matters in the end to airlines (and passengers) is performance, not whether it is achieved through a carbon fibre or aluminium-lithium fuselage. Let's also remember that Airbus was first in i...
Jump to postI flew last spring with <acronym title="Air France">AF</acronym> in a 772 in economy from <acronym title="Paris - Charles de Gaulle (Roissy) (CDG / LFPG), France">CDG</acronym> to Dulles and back in a brand new 77W: nice, quiet plane, rather good comfort by economy class standards, good service, foo...
Jump to postI wish <acronym title="Emirates (United Arab Emirates)">EK</acronym> would start serving <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acronym>, thus offering travellers out of <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acron...
Jump to postIt would be foolish for <acronym title="Crossair (Switzerland)">LX</acronym> to cut <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acronym>-<acronym title="New York - John F. Kennedy International (Idlewild) (JFK / KJFK), USA - New York">JFK</acronym> as these flig...
Jump to postThe A380 offers 30% more seats (and 50% more floor space) than the 747-400 in a comparable configuration. A number of flights will need to be operated by planes large than the 747, in particular due to slot constraints (see <acronym title="London - Heathrow (LHR / EGLL), United Kingdom">LHR</acronym...
Jump to postThe Acela at least demonstrates an effort, though far from perfect, to provide fast rail transportation in the US. The Northeast corridor between Boston and Washington is an ideal proving ground in terms of population, with several (very) large cities on the way. If the Acela service were faster tha...
Jump to postCXA330300: <acronym title="Frankfurt - Main (Rhein-Main AB) (FRA / FRF / EDDF), Germany">FRA</acronym> is only one of the remarkable gaps in the service provided by SWISS from <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acronym>. Their predecessor Swissair had p...
Jump to postThanks to Sabenapilot and RJ100 for their cogent comments. SWISS Management have just declared they would have no taboos in taking a fresh look at all possible ways to cut costs at SWISS. Well, it seems to me there is a built in taboo at SWISS, namely <acronym title="Zurich (- Kloten) (ZRH / LSZH), ...
Jump to postI can well understand RJ100's frustrations. Basle and Geneva are again feeling the drawbacks of SWISS' Unique focus on <acronym title="Zurich (- Kloten) (ZRH / LSZH), Switzerland">ZRH</acronym>, still dreaming of an intercontinental hub there. In many instances where SWISS discontinued serving a des...
Jump to postAccording to BAA's today's press conference given jointly with Airbus, the investment you refer to should be less than it would cost BAA to develop <acronym title="London - Heathrow (LHR / EGLL), United Kingdom">LHR</acronym> without the A380. It is interesting to contrast this press conference (rep...
Jump to postFoxDelta: why should there be payload restrictions on Spanish destinations out of <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acronym>? Can't the Dash 8 make it with at least a full pax load to <acronym title="Alicante (- El Altet) (ALC / LEAL), Spain">ALC</acro...
Jump to postGVA and <acronym title="Valencia (- Manises) (VLC / LEVC), Spain">VLC</acronym> are indeed going to be soon connected non-stop by FlyBaboo, on Saturdays only. I am unaware of Iberia's plans on this line, however, it would seem to make sense for them to use Air Nostrum, a company based in <acronym ti...
Jump to postPerhaps <acronym title="Cathay Pacific (China-Hong Kong)">CX</acronym> should consider flying to <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acronym> instead (where some of the traffic from <acronym title="Zurich (- Kloten) (ZRH / LSZH), Switzerland">ZRH</acrony...
Jump to postHelvetic have no plans to serve <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acronym>, at least this is what they told me in answer to my e-mailed question. As to <acronym title="Geneva - International (Cointrin) (GVA / LSGG), Switzerland">GVA</acronym>-<acronym ...
Jump to postJustplanes.com reported Virgin leased 2 more A 340-600 for 12 years from ILFC. This suggests to me they have definitely chosen the A 340-600 over the 777ER.
Jump to postI saw a post in this forum several months ago according to which Frontier was experiencing all sorts of technical difficulties with the brand new 318. Their public statement now rectifies the picture.
Jump to postDc863: there is no way Swiss are going to order the A345 any time soon: they indeed cancelled the order that Swissair had placed for about 10 A346 and instead ordered the A343 - now in service (the A346 was too big for their needs). The A345 is too large for their needs as well, in addition they do ...
Jump to postHigh speed trains can successfully compete with planes on trips up to 500 km or more, as demonstrated in France (Paris-Lyon and Marseille in particular), Germany (Frankfurt-Koeln/Duesseldorf in particular) and internationally (Paris-Brussels in particular where <acronym title="Air France">AF</acrony...
Jump to postACB777, the Great Circle Mapper gives me 7.246 miles between <acronym title="Toronto - Lester B. Pearson International (Malton) (YYZ / CYYZ), Canada - Ontario">YYZ</acronym> and DEL, i.e. close to the maximum range of 7.400 miles that the A340-300 reportedly has. Moreover, this distance involves fly...
Jump to postAir Botnia is about to start a daily Helsinki-Geneva flight = 1239 miles
Jump to postAs <acronym title="Air India">AI</acronym> have to replace A310 and 747, why don't they opt for A330-200 (or -300, or a mix thereof) and A340.600HGW? The latter would be a fine replacement for 747, offering more cargo capacity and the ability to open non-stop flights between India and the North Amer...
Jump to postThe best argument for the 747 Advanced is, in my view, the fact that it is a low risk development, unlike the Airbus 380. But it should be difficult, or indeed impossible, for a 747 Advanced built on an old technological basis to meet or even approach the A380 performance and economy just by using n...
Jump to postOn October 26, 2003, Air Canada will introduce daily non-stop service to Delhi from Toronto. The new route, operated with Airbus A340 aircraft, will offer the only non- stop service between North America and India featuring convenient same-day connections for flights to other major cities in India a...
Jump to postI did <acronym title="Madrid - Barajas (MAD / LEMD), Spain">MAD</acronym>-<acronym title="Chicago - O'Hare International (ORD / KORD), USA - Illinois">ORD</acronym> a few years ago on an <acronym title="Iberia (Spain)">IB</acronym> A340 in business class: very comfortable, quiet, uneventful, nothing...
Jump to postYou are right, Jbirdav8r: the 737NG's normal operating speed is Mach .785 agains .745 for the 737Classic. The corresponding starting point for the A330-200 is Mach .82 so .85 does not seem so unrealistic with a new wing.
Jump to postThere were interesting comments on the point-to-point developments and this is certainly a factor that will discourage airlines from operating the A380 on a number of destinations. There are, however, additional considerations that apply: - the A380 should bring some savings by comparison with older...
Jump to postJust double check where you will land: it may well be at an airport far away from your intended destination, for example Hahn instead of Frankfurt, Lubbeck instead of Hamburg, Charleroi instead of Brussels...
Jump to postI'd be very surprised if ELAL were allowed by the Israeli government (under pressure from the US) to buy any A380, whatever the economic justification. This is what happened not too long ago when ELAL wanted to order the A330 and were "discouraged" from placing the order. Given the recent deteriorat...
Jump to postIt looks as if Boeing has learnt something from Airbus: planes family, compatibility, tie-up with suppliers, not to mention the fuselage diameter substantially identical to that of the A 330/340 allowing for the preferred 2-4-2 seating arrangement in economy and for the effective use of cargo contai...
Jump to postI flew the 737-800 some time ago and found it <acronym title="CSA Czech Airlines">OK</acronym> but not much different from older 737, in any case less roomy and comfy than the A319-321. One nice feature of the Airbus fly-by-wire aircraft, in case of poor visibility, is their autoland capability whic...
Jump to postWhy are they going for the Airbus A319CJ (or <acronym title="Lacsa (Costa Rica)">LR</acronym>) rather than the Boeing 737-700/<acronym title="Bitburg (BBJ / EDRB) (closed), Germany">BBJ</acronym> as they already had the latter type in their fleet? Does this choice indicate the A319CJ may have some a...
Jump to postFlysab: how could possibly "not all 767 have the fuel dumping system installed"? The fuel dumping system strikes me as a security item that should absolutely be mandatory. I can't believe the FAA has not made it mandatory.
Jump to post717fan: Air Berlin will not add more flights to ZRH. They have indeed just stopped flying, only ten days after starting their flights.
Jump to postTalking about by-passing the troubles of a stop in Honolulu from Vancouver to Sydney, I wonder whether <acronym title="Air Canada">AC</acronym> may be interested in launching a non-stop connection from Toronto to Sydney. I believe the A345 could probably make it, although it would be close to its ma...
Jump to postI am not sure the A346 could fly Johannesburg-New York non-stop. The A345 could do it for SAA.
Jump to postInterestingly, these flights are operated by Airbus 320 or 321. Some of them must be among the longest legs flown by these planes.
Jump to postIt seems to me that QF should be interested in ultra-long haul as their network offers new development opportunities such as SYD-ORD, YYZ or even JFK. The Airbus 340-500 has the range for such legs although SYD-JFK is about the maximum distance it can fly (depending on total number of seats offered/...
Jump to postLook at the Airbus web site (www.airbus.com) and you will find the story: QUOTE Qantas has made the longest flight ever by an Airbus A330-200 - nonstop from Toulouse, France, to Melbourne, Australia - covering a distance of almost 17,000 km in a flight time of 20 hours and 4 mins. The flight is beli...
Jump to postTheA340 is also my favourite, quieter than the A330 and the 777. The two features I like on it, apart from its quietness, are the 2-4-2 configuration in economy or 2-2-2 in business - more comfortable than the 747 or 777 - and the fact that it is a quad. The reportedly slow climb is not a problem to...
Jump to postLet's remember that the US are not entitled, under WTO rules, to impose tariffs on e.g. Airbus, unless such tariffs were first approved by a WTO dispute settlement body. The US were able, a few years ago, to obtain from WTO such tariffs on various EU products as part of the banana dispute. If the US...
Jump to postTalking about technology: the Airbus 320 fly-by-wire system is obviously more advanced than the Boeing 737NG conventional system, with benefits such as weight saving and higher autoland capability. As to the cabin's look and comfort, it is a fact that the cabin of the Airbus 320 is wider by some 15 ...
Jump to postIt is indeed good news for GVA to have this direct connection to BKK. Interestingly, Swiss (and earlier Swissair ) had indicated they were looking at possible new intercontinental flights out of GVA, however, none have yet materialized. Perhaps this move byThai will show Swiss the way to follow to o...
Jump to postI would also fly TAP non-stop rather than having the hassle of a transit through LHR. My previous experience with TAP, although not on this sector, was pleasant enough and I particularly enjoy the comfort of the A343.
Jump to postHeavymetal, I see you are under the impression, as a US tax payer, that the 767 tankers have been overpaid. I was not aware that any 767 tankers had yet been delivered, thought it is merely a proposal at this stage. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to know what price has been agreed (or is bein...
Jump to postI guess you have in mind a larger version of the A330 using the streched fuselage and the extended wing of the A340-500 and -600, respectively, with two bigger engines? Such a development of the A330 can certainly be imagined, however, is there a market for it? Another consideration is that such pla...
Jump to postBoeing are obviously not satisfied to have already unduly benefited from the Foreign Sales Units scheme that was found in violation the World Trade Organization rules. The increased benefits they are now seeking to obtain from this infamous scheme amount indeed to a disguised additional subsidy. Boe...
Jump to postAlthough I agree it is premature to jump to conclusions, I can't refrain from drawing a parallel with TW800 and PA103 either and I find Dcy's analysis quite interesting. Let's hope the black boxes can be recovered so that they reveal what went so tragically wrong on this flight.
Jump to postAlessandro, are you talking about the second box? the first was already found seveeral days ago.
Jump to postRQ flights from GVA to Bordeaux, Marseille, Toulouse and Stuttgart used to be operated by Crossair before they were assigned to RQ, unlike the flights to Florence and Venice which were developed by RQ. It is another undeserved blow to GVA airport to lose all these flights with RQ's demise. Swiss sho...
Jump to postDoes anyone know what is the cabin altitude on board a Saab 2000 operating a short flight from Geneva to Bordeaux with a stop in Clermond-Ferrand? I had asked Swissair the same question a year ago for transatlantic flights on an Airbus 330-200, due to a heart condition: the answer was between 6,000 ...
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