Aviation Discussion

[atillathehunn]

I see Hi Fly now have an A380!

Gosh, any intentions signalled thus far? Lots of buckets and spades in there

 

[Peter Mugridge]

A shame that it's not the jumbo but it's actually is perhaps an A330 rarer at STN? Freight 747s appear to be fairly common

Yes, 747s are more common that A330s at Stansted, but... Corsair.... that's very rare there in itself isn't it?

 

[nicholaswood]

Yes, 747s are more common that A330s at Stansted, but... Corsair.... that's very rare there in itself isn't it?

There was a Corsair A330 at Edinburgh for the rugby charters in February or March

 

[atillathehunn]

Yes, 747s are more common that A330s at Stansted, but... Corsair.... that's very rare there in itself isn't it?

I don't disagree with you there. Did you go out for it?

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I don't disagree with you there. Did you go out for it?

No - had to be at home as our kids were on it* and we needed to be at our local church for when their coach brought them back from Stansted...

I could theoretically have done it, but I would have got skinned if I'd got held up on the way back... Ironically the aircraft passed a couple of miles away from the house at 19,000ft on the way in, but there was a pulse of low cloud around at the critical time... two hours earlier or one hour later and I'd have been able to easily see it...



*lucky so-and-sos...!!!

 

[fowler9]

Gosh, any intentions signalled thus far? Lots of buckets and spades in there

They are keeping the Singapore 3 class interior I think. I'll try and find the article and link it.

 

[atillathehunn]

No - had to be at home as our kids were on it* and we needed to be at our local church for when their coach brought them back from Stansted...

I could theoretically have done it, but I would have got skinned if I'd got held up on the way back... Ironically the aircraft passed a couple of miles away from the house at 19,000ft on the way in, but there was a pulse of low cloud around at the critical time... two hours earlier or one hour later and I'd have been able to easily see it...



*lucky so-and-sos...!!!

Sounds like you need to get yourself invited as a chaperone on the next pilgrimage! I hope at least the children had a peaceful time at Lourdes, and provided a picture for posterity of the interloper at Stansted.

We've had a beautiful and cloudless weekend here. The sky was so clear you could see the big red Emirates square on the bottom of the A380s passing to the UK at 39,000ft.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Sounds like you need to get yourself invited as a chaperone on the next pilgrimage!

Having seen the schedule of activities and the intensity of effort the helpers need to put in on these things, I think I'll pass on that!!! I'd either go mad or would flake out half way through the week...

My daughter appears to have taken about a dozen photos of the wing of the A330 at altitude but none of it on the ground... *sigh* Kids...

 

[atillathehunn]

Having seen the schedule of activities and the intensity of effort the helpers need to put in on these things, I think I'll pass on that!!! I'd either go mad or would flake out half way through the week...

My daughter appears to have taken about a dozen photos of the wing of the A330 at altitude but none of it on the ground... *sigh* Kids...

Well at least if you did go mad, you're in the right place for some healing.

Sounds like they didn't appreciate the rarity of their plane journey! Out of interest, did (I presume the church) book directly through Corsair? Or is it through another organisation that then charters the plane?

Has anyone had any experience with what a <1 hour domestic >> international connection at Atlanta? I'm heading to South America to speak at a conference, and they are heavily suggesting they want me to take this routing (Europe >> JFK >> Atlanta >> South America) as it's a few hundred $ cheaper than with a connection in either Amsterdam, London, Madrid or Rome. But while transiting is nothing new, that tight a connection in such a vast airport?

 

[stut]

Well at least if you did go mad, you're in the right place for some healing.

Sounds like they didn't appreciate the rarity of their plane journey! Out of interest, did (I presume the church) book directly through Corsair? Or is it through another organisation that then charters the plane?

Has anyone had any experience with what a <1 hour domestic >> international connection at Atlanta? I'm heading to South America to speak at a conference, and they are heavily suggesting they want me to take this routing (Europe >> JFK >> Atlanta >> South America) as it's a few hundred $ cheaper than with a connection in either Amsterdam, London, Madrid or Rome. But while transiting is nothing new, that tight a connection in such a vast airport?

Yeah, ATL's not too bad for dom-int. You've got a bunch of parallel, rectangular piers ("concourses"): T, A-D, then E-F. T is the main domestic terminal (with landside). A-D are infield, domestic piers. E is an infield, mixed pier (mostly long-haul) and F is the main international terminal (with landside). All are connected by the 'plane train' - an underground shuttle service - and a walkway, in a setup very similar to Heathrow T5.

There's no security or immigration clearance on dom-int, so you just need to get from one concourse to the other. The layout means there's not much walking. If you can find out the concourses in advance it can help.

They key thing, of course, is: what's the alternative if you miss the connection? Depending on the time of year, JFK can get bad Wx or congestion delays, and half an hour on a connection that's already less than an hour can mean you miss the flight (or at least your luggage does). How often is your destination served? Is there another, neighbouring, serviceable destination? How busy are the flights on that route?

 

[atillathehunn]

Encyclopedic knowledge like that is why I came to this forum. I would be flying long-haul on the international leg. It's late summer so I would think bar the occasional thunderstorm JFK shouldn't be too bad, and it's a long layover in JFK. If it all looks like it's going Pete Tong I would think there's time to look at alternatives from JFK. No idea what the alternatives are from Atlanta, I'll look into that now. The flight takes off in the late evening so I wouldn't imagine too many other options. I'll see if I can sweet talk them into a better routing.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Out of interest, did (I presume the church) book directly through Corsair? Or is it through another organisation that then charters the plane?

It was the charity HCPT that did all the organisation; it's a large organisation that covers pretty much the entire South East - they ran 4 or 5 charters in total, but only the one was a Corsair. The rest were all 737s from AlbaStar. They probably booked them through a broker and that's all that was available for the required dates.

 

[Bald Rick]

It was the charity HCPT that did all the organisation; it's a large organisation that covers pretty much the entire South East - they ran 4 or 5 charters in total, but only the one was a Corsair. The rest were all 737s from AlbaStar. They probably booked them through a broker and that's all that was available for the required dates.

I know someone who was on one of them (not sure whether the 737 or 330) and frankly the interior was a disgrace.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I know someone who was on one of them (not sure whether the 737 or 330) and frankly the interior was a disgrace.

Probably one of the 737s; the kids seemed very pleased with the A330 as "...it had iPads fitted to the backs of the seats..."

 

[Bald Rick]

Probably one of the 737s; the kids seemed very pleased with the A330 as "...it had iPads fitted to the backs of the seats..."

Most likely then. Apparently this one barely had windows that fitted.

 

[atillathehunn]

Air Belgium have put on sale their flights from Charleroi to Hong Kong. Still absolutely confused about what market this is serving. The only options are Charleroi and Hong Kong - no connections or code shares. Given Cathay are only just launching direct HKG flights from Zaventem, I really struggle to see the market. No alliance, and no frequent flier programme. It does feature business class though. Even the cheapest economy fare includes food and 23kg baggage allowance.

However flights are cheap, with €210 per segment possible as part of a return booking.

 

[atillathehunn]

It was the charity HCPT that did all the organisation; it's a large organisation that covers pretty much the entire South East - they ran 4 or 5 charters in total, but only the one was a Corsair. The rest were all 737s from AlbaStar. They probably booked them through a broker and that's all that was available for the required dates.

Fair enough, thanks for answering. Always been curious about the economics of such flights, as I would imagine it costs a fair chunk of money to charter a flight.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

If you have enough people to fill; the plane, it'll probably be cheaper than buying tickets in the normal way.

 

[AlterEgo]

If you have enough people to fill; the plane, it'll probably be cheaper than buying tickets in the normal way.

And not only that, it'll leave at a time that suits you and you get to have a lot more control over a myriad of things.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Has anyone had any experience with what a <1 hour domestic >> international connection at Atlanta? I'm heading to South America to speak at a conference, and they are heavily suggesting they want me to take this routing (Europe >> JFK >> Atlanta >> South America) as it's a few hundred $ cheaper than with a connection in either Amsterdam, London, Madrid or Rome. But while transiting is nothing new, that tight a connection in such a vast airport?

Another alternative could be to substitute Miami for Atlanta in the apparently preferred routing. I suspect that in the event of unexpected delays there are rather more alternatives going forward from Miami should the need arise.

 

[atillathehunn]

I had assumed, Shaw, that Miami would be thrown up as a routing option, but it wasn't. Miami would be American Airlines. I was offered OW options via London, Madrid or a few options via LATAM, but no Miami. I am out from Dublin and back to Brussels/Amsterdam which may screw things up.
The Euro stop options are BA via LHR, Iberia via MAD, KLM/AF via AMS/CDG, Lufthansa via FRA, Alitalia via FCO (forecasts are showing Alitalia might not be around at that point...)
The US option is only giving Delta via some combination of BOS/JFK and the inevitable ATL connection, no AA/UA.

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

I had assumed, Shaw, that Miami would be thrown up as a routing option, but it wasn't. Miami would be American Airlines. I was offered OW options via London, Madrid or a few options via LATAM, but no Miami. I am out from Dublin and back to Brussels/Amsterdam which may screw things up.
The Euro stop options are BA via LHR, Iberia via MAD, KLM/AF via AMS/CDG, Lufthansa via FRA, Alitalia via FCO (forecasts are showing Alitalia might not be around at that point...)
The US option is only giving Delta via some combination of BOS/JFK and the inevitable ATL connection, no AA/UA.

Looks like Atlanta it is then! Having passed through there a couple of times it left me with the impression of being very busy but very used to being so. In other words it works pretty well and was, IMO, much more user friendly than, say, Dallas/Ft Worth. And based on another experience of having a connection into a trans-Pac flight at LAX whittled down to nothing due to gate congestion it seems that the somewhat maligned US airlines do try to ensure passengers for inter-continental flights do make their connections.

 

[atillathehunn]

Takes me to the old joke: "When I die I don't know whether I'm going to heaven or hell, but I do know I have to change in Atlanta".

Thanks for the advice. I have given all the information and preferences to the booking team, lets see what they come back with.

 

[OwlMan]

Air Belgium are doing "rehersal" flights over Europe to prepare for its Hong Kong service

The new Belgian airline Air Belgium is staging a preparatory flight on Saturday 21 April ahead of the impending launch of its new services. The flight is open to the general public. Those buying a ticket will at the same time be supporting good causes. All the money raised will go to the VRT-backed cancer charity Kom Op Tegen Kanker and the Francophone commercial broadcaster RTL-TVI’s annual telethon Télévie.

After the success of its first preparatory flight Air Belgium announced on Friday evening that a second “dress rehearsal” will be staged a week today.

There is room for more than 250 passengers on board the Airbus A340 that will use. The flight will take off at 11am and the passengers will fly for 3 hours over Europe.

The idea is to show people what facilities will be available when the airline starts its new services to Hong Kong. Tickets will be sold at 30,40 and 50 euros.

All proceeds will go to Kom Op Tegen Kanker and Télévie. On their return, passengers will be invited to donate the contents of their suitcases to Oxfam Solidarity that has a chain of shops selling second hand goods across Belgium.

Air Belgium’s will fly four times a week between Charleroi (Hainaut) Airport and Hong Kong from 30 April.

 

[atillathehunn]

That's quite tempting. 30 € and from just down the road.

 

[flymo]

I live in Hong Kong and I can't remember ever seeing any advertising for the upcoming flights, I would have thought they would have been all out in their advertising campaign. Maybe there has been in the Chinese press.

 

[atillathehunn]

I didn't even see an advert for it last time I was in charleroi... I live in an international city on the Belgian Dutch border and no advert here either. Plenty of KLM and Brussels Airlines adverts though

 

[atillathehunn]

All news sources reporting a SouthWest airlines 737-700 climbing through flight level 325 had an uncontained engine failure which lead to a hull puncture and window breach which has resulted in the death of the woman sat in seat 14a. The flight landed at Philadelphia airport shortly thereafter. Horrible way to go.

 

[YorkshireBear]

All news sources reporting a SouthWest airlines 737-700 climbing through flight level 325 had an uncontained engine failure which lead to a hull puncture and window breach which has resulted in the death of the woman sat in seat 14a. The flight landed at Philadelphia airport shortly thereafter. Horrible way to go.

Partially sucked out and pulled back inaccording to bbc. Horrific way to go.

Can never trust eye witness accounts properly but some claim, the airplane felt out of control, I'd probably put that down to losing an engine rather than actually being out of control.....

 

[gsnedders]

Can never trust eye witness accounts properly but some claim, the airplane felt out of control, I'd probably put that down to losing an engine rather than actually being out of control.....

The standard procedure for decompression is point the aircraft down with spoilers deployed and only start to pull up once the aircraft is approaching the Never Exceed speed, and maintain as close as the Never Exceed speed until you're down to a sufficiently low altitude. It's one of the very few times you'll see airlines doing steep dives, and that's unlikely to be a smooth ride down. (Think of the turbulence when the spoilers are deployed during landing. Now imagine that at several times the speed, descending fast. You can be losing 7000 ft per minute. You're going down *fast*.)