Thursday 15 November 2007

British Airways new home at Heathrow Airport


British Airways will unveil the new Terminal 5 at Heathrow airport in March which will be the home for BA handling passengers flying in from the Middle East.

"We've moving into a new home at Heathrow and we are confident that is enough for us to remain at the forefront," Paul Starrs, country manager for BA in Dubai, told Gulf News recently.

BA announced in October that the airline is undergoing a $200 million premium class facelift which will include lie-flat seats along with other features.

The airline have also said they will be pumping in $8.2 billion to add 12 A380s and 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners to its existing fleet. This will be the airline's largest aircraft order in nine years.

Sunday 11 November 2007

New Airline Purchases

It seems airlines are having a spending spree at the moment. Emirates are said to be buying 90 aircraft from Airbus and Boeing while Gulf Airlines are also thought to be placing big orders with the two companies.

Meanwhile Qatar Airways have ordered 82 Boeing aircraft during the Dubai Airshow.

Airbus will also profit from an order by Saudi carriers and Cathay Pacific have ordered 10 Boeing 747-8 freighters.

Friday 9 November 2007

Aircraft makes emergency landing after engine comes off

A Boeing 737 had to make an emergency landing at Cape Town International Airport when it lost an engine during take off.

The plane was carrying over 100 people and had to circle the runway to lose fuel and to wait for the runway to be cleared of debris before landing.

It's thought the aircraft's right engine separated from the wing, a passenger said:

"I heard this huge bang, and he said, 'That's our engine that's just fallen off.' I couldn't believe it. He had to repeat it to me," she told SAPA.

"The plane started to shake a bit, but what was amazing was the staff and passengers: everybody was so calm. There was no hysteria, no nothing, it was amazing. The guy next to me seemed to know something about planes. He said, 'Don't worry: the plane will go with one engine.' So I thought, 'that's OK.'"

When the plane came to a standstill the pilot entered the cabin and everyone cheered.

The incident is still being investigated.

Wednesday 7 November 2007

Green Tea to be served on American Airlines flights

A health drinks company Fuze Beverage have announced that American Airlines will start selling Fuze Green Tea onboard their flights.

The CMO of Fuze Beverage Bill Meissner said:

"As consumers search for healthier beverage choices, many companies in the hospitality business are looking to provide better-for-you options. What better outlet for passengers to benefit from the ingredients of Fuze Green Tea than onboard a flight. Our Healthy Green Tea provides refreshment and rejuvenation with every sip."

The drink will be available on flights departing from Dallas Fort Worth to Chicago and LA, and also on flights departing San Francisco to JFK. This will commence from November 12th until November 18th.

Tuesday 6 November 2007

Are more pilots falling asleep during flights?

With the cockpit today being entirely automated it's a wonder pilots are needed at all. However it's something else when the pilots are getting so bored that they're fallnig asleep.

Onboard a flight from Baltimore to Denver in 2004 this is what happened! The pilot and co-pilot had drifted off and only woke up when air traffic control were practically shouting at them as the plane was cruising at twice the required speed on approach. They did however manage to land the plane without mishap. Nobody onboard the flight was none the wiser and the only reason this matter has come to light is because the pilot submitted an anoymous report.

This isn't the first time this has happened as discovered from a Dallas news station, another pilot fell asleep during take off.

"When air traffic control said something on the radio we both woke up," recalled the pilot, "and I was like, oh my gosh, we're already up here."

Does something need to be done to keep all cockpit crew awake?