Think it’s too late to book a vacation at a decent price this holiday season? Maybe not.

The Louvre, Paris. I.M Pei's signature glass pyramid serves as the canopy from an underground arcade that includes retail, restaurants, and two Metro stops, not to mention the entrance to the Louvre itself!

Labor Day came, and you waited. Halloween passed, but you waited. Thanksgiving came and went, and still you waited. Now Christmas at hand and you figure it’s too late to book a holiday trip for less than extortionary rates, right? Not necessarily.

Under most circumstances, your best bet is to book sooner rather than later. Sometimes, though, it pays to wait, right up to the last possible moment.

Last-minute travel is a gamble. The stakes are your vacation. Play your cards right and you can come away with a great trip at a great savings.

The key is flexibility, and I mean total flexibility.

VACATION or “STAYCATION?”
Can you leave on short notice? Can you leave and/or return in the middle of the week? Are you willing to use a smaller airport a little farther from home? Can you go a couple of days earlier or later than your original plans called for? Willing to go a long way for a short stay?

If the answer to those questions is yes, you could be in line for some jaw-dropping bargains. On the other hand, if things don’t fall exactly your way, your vacation just became a “staycation.”

That’s the risk you take, and clearly, a gamble of this size is not for everyone.

Many of us are tied to work or class schedules that leave no wiggle room when it comes to travel. The airlines, hotel chains and resorts are fully aware of that, which explains why they jack their rates sky-high during the holiday periods.

Still, when it comes to holiday travel, airlines, hotels and the like aren’t much different from your family during Christmas dinner: Everybody wants to be full. And to get that nice, satisfied “full” feeling, many of them are willing to drop prices on remaining seats, rooms or trip packages.

WEEKEND IN PARIS
This is one of the reasons why you can have three people sitting in the same row in the same class on the same plane on the same day — and no two of them paid the same price for their seat.

Here’s an example from one site, lastminute.com. Leaving from Los Angeles (LAX), a weekend in Paris…this weekend…air, hotel, taxes, everything. When I first clicked on it, it was $996. In the time it took me to click on a different window on my computer and come back to it second later, it had dropped to $956. It could go up again just as fast — and two hours later, it did, to $967 — but that’s not really the point.

So what is the point?

Go to Air France and book an LAX-Paris (CDG) flight for those same days — no hotel, only the flight — and you’ll be paying $4,041. That presumes you’re lucky enough to score the last remaining seats on the cheapest available return flight. If you’re not, the price goes up to $4,606.

CRUISING FOR STEALS
And yes, that’s in Coach. I’d tell you what the Business or First Class fares are for those same days, but I can’t give you CPR through the computer.

Last-minute booking also can yield you a bargain just as big or even bigger on cruises, especially if you live in or close to a port like Miami, New York, New Orleans or Long Beach. If you don’t, there’s a monumental catch that can undo the whole thing.

If you have to fly somewhere to meet your ship, and there are no cheap last-minute airfares left to that destination, any savings on your last-minute cruise booking could be wiped out by the cost of the flights.

The same can hold true with land-based resorts in sun-friendly winter locales like the Caribbean and the Pacific islands. If the last-minute bargain rates doesn’t include airfare, odds are it won’t be a bargain at all.

LOOK AROUND…FAST!
So how do you find the last-minute deals? Same way you find anything else in travel: Shop around. You just may have to do it a little faster this time.

There are Web sites that specialize in this form of vacationing, and their very names will tell you pretty much which ones they are. You’ll find some of them listed on the Cool Travel Sites page.

In addition, airlines, cruise lines, hotels and resorts may offer their own last-minute fare sales, as well as reservation sites that don’t necessarily specialize in last-minute bargains.

As always, ask plenty of questions and know exactly where you stand before you put your money down. One of the disadvantages of last-minute travel is that you’ve got virtually zero time to do damage control if something goes wrong with your reservations, so it’s imperative that you get everything right the first time.

Now that you know some of what to look for, why not prowl the Web a little bit and see what kind of last-minute travel deals you can track down, just for the experience, the practice, the fun? So what if you can’t actually go this time?

Paris — and the rest of the world’s great destinations — will still be there next weekend.

Air France is the first European carrier to introduce the Airbus A380 double-decker Superjumbo in its fleet, with the first scheduled commercial flight taking place between Paris Charles-de-Gaulle and New York JFK airports. Air France has 12 of the type on order and plans to take delivery of the first three in the 2009/2010 winter season. Their first plane is already the 20th of the type in operation and now all three airline alliances operate at least one of the type.

380 tickets for each of the first flights were auctioned off on e-Bay in October, where all proceeds went to charity organizations selected by Air France. The first European owned SuperJumbo seats 538 passengers – compared to just 450 at Qantas, 471 at Singapore Airlines and 489 at Emirates. The so-far most crowded A380 has only 9 seats in First Class, 80 in Business and 449 in Economy. 22 flight attendants will be taking care of the 538 passengers – meaning one steward(ess) for every 25 travellers. Besides being the first European airline to own the A380, Air France will also be the first to operate the aircraft to the African Continent as it plans to introduce the plane to a daily Johannesburg flight later this winter following the Paris-New York route.

At the launch ceremony Air France CEO Pierre-Henri Gourgeon did not only focus on the ”usual” media messaging around the unrivaled luxury of the A380 (as Singapore Airlines, Emirates and Qantas did earlier), but instead pointed out the savings that this aircraft will bring for the company. Each aircraft will allow the carrier to save €12-€15 million ($17.7-$22.1 million) per year based on their calculations. This is mostly due to the size of the plane and that it can replace two other flights, which could be serviced by an Airbus A340-300 (equivalent to the upper deck) and a Boeing 777-200 (equivalent to the main deck of the A380) for example. Flying the same number of passengers in just a single A380 instead means 20% reduction in operating costs as the frequencies on busy routes can be rationalized by replacing two flights which leave at similar times by one flight, while offering the same number of seats. For example, between Paris and New York, an A380 leaving at 1:35pm can replace two flights operated by an A340 and a 777-200, leaving at 10:30am and at 1:35pm respectively. The same connecting morning flights can still service and feed the “big” flight.

On top of all the rationalization of flights, the A380 uses less fuel per passenger. It burns less than three litres per 100 km! Besides the gas emmissions, the A380 creates less noise than its closest rival, the Boeing 747 – half as much at take-off! I had the personal experience of seeing and (not) hearing the A380 land in Frankfurt on one of its test-flights back in 2007 with Lufthansa crew – and we were all shocked by the little noise it generated compared to other aircraft landing on the same approach route before and after it. The Air France A380 is also quieter in the cabin itself, and besides the 220 windows it has special lighting features to reflect the time of the day within a flight and to help synchronizing the body-clock of the passengers. Guests can also meet up during the flight for a drink and a snack in one of the 6 bars onboard. One of these is for Première (First Class) on the main deck, two for Affaires (Business Class) on the upper deck and three for Voyageur (Economy Class), with two at the main deck and one upstairs.

We hope Air France and its passengers will be happy with the first new Airbus A380 flying under European registration and providing the first Transatlantic connection aboard the double-decker superjumbo between Europe and North America. Please leave your comments if you happened to be on one of these flights and would like to share your experiences with our readers!

Download the AirFrance Airbus A380 Factsheet (pdf)

Separately, but conincidentally at the same time as the first Air France A380 flight: Emirates said it will begin serving Paris Charles de Gaulle with a 489-seat A380 from Dubai on Dec. 29 rather than Feb. 1. “An operational review, coupled with demand on the route, has led to an earlier introduction,” it said. The A380 will fly thrice-weekly to start, becoming daily Jan. 17.

by balint01

Ο διαγωνισμος διοργανωνεται απο την Air France.

Το δωρο της κληρωσης ειναι 2 αεροπορικα εισιτηρια μετ’ επιστροφης για Παρισι

Για συμμετοχη στην κληρωση πατηστε εδω

Θα πρεπει να δωσετε τα στοιχεια σας και να παιξετε το παιχνιδι του διαγωνισμου, παιρνει μολις 1 λεπτο.

Ο διαγωνισμος ληγει στις 29-11-2009 23:59. Ο νικητης θα ανακοινωθει στις 30-11-2009 στο site της Air France.

Copyright Photo: Yannick Delamarre. Airbus A318-111 F-GUGC (msn 2071) lands at Toulouse.

Air France (Paris) has now painted its first Airbus A318 in the revised 2009 colors.

Lorsque j’ai réalise mes vols entre Singapour et Bali, j’ai emprunté la compagnie low cost asiatique Air Asia.

Tout d’abord, sur le site lors de la réservation de nombreuses options sont offertes comme le choix de ses repas a bord.

En rentrant dans l’avion, ma surprise fut totale. Un avion quasi neuf, ultra propre, voire haut de gamme du fait du design intérieur.
En effet, j’ai apprécie le contraste du rouge avec le gris du “cuir” des sièges et le blanc du reste de la cabine.
Seul désagrément la musique pourrie tout au long des 2h30 de vol.

Dans le dossier de mon fauteuil, le consumer magazine de la compagnie me présente pas mal d’operation comme le partenariat avec l’équipe de football américain les Raiders.
Mais ce qui retient pleinement mon attention, c’est tout l’article sur l’approche “social média marketing” de la compagnie.

Facebook, twitter, blogs, …. Tout est présent pour rester en contact avec les clients, créer du lien et surtout laisser la possibilité d’informer.

Nous pouvons retrouver tous les liens directement sur une page de leur site.

Quand on y regarde de plus près, cela est assez bien foutu.

Et possède pas mal de gens dans les différents groupes de la marque : 10 472 fans sur la page, 24 160 vues des vidéos sur Youtube, et surtout près de 15 000 followers sur Twitter.

Chez Air France, le groupe Facebook ne compte que 2 329 membres.

Mais au vu de l’opération réalisée pour le vol inaugural de l’A-380, nous allons certainement voir le social media prendre de plus en plus d’ampleur au sein de la compagnie nationale!

Si les grandes entreprises en bonne santé ont connu peu de difficultés à trouver des capitaux auprès des marchés financiers cette année malgré la crise, pour les sociétés très endettées, en revanche, lever des fonds auprès des investisseurs relevait jusqu’à présent de la gageure.

Les “junk bonds” (obligations pourries) ou emprunts “high yield” (haut rendement), effectués sur le marché par des entreprises dont la dette est dite “spéculative”, font depuis deux mois leur grand retour sur la scène financière, après presque deux ans d’absence.

La crise financière ayant éloigné les investisseurs de tout placement un tant soit peu risqué, plus personne ne voulait acheter ce type de titres, craignant que l’argent prêté à l’entreprise ne leur soit pas remboursé. “Or sur ce marché très spécifique où les acheteurs sont très ciblés – la plupart sont des fonds d’investissement spécialisés -, s’il n’y a pas de demande, on ne peut rien vendre”, note un banquier.

Les émissions de dette “high yield” ont repris timidement cette année, mais l’activité a vraiment décollé en septembre. Selon les statistiques fournies par la Société générale, 16,641 milliards d’euros ont été empruntés entre janvier et octobre – davantage qu’en 2004 et en 2005 -, dont plus de 10 milliards depuis septembre.

“Les émissions les plus importantes sont venues de Heidelberg Cement, Rallye, Franz Haniel, Hella, Air France et Evonik. Les carnets d’ordres (où sont consignées les demandes des investisseurs avant le lacement de l’opération) ont en général largement dépassé le montant émis”, relèvent les analystes de la banque suisse Pictet & Cie.

Les signaux de reprise économique ont fait revenir les investisseurs vers des placements un peu plus risqués, au moment où les rendements offerts par les emprunts des sociétés de bonne qualité se sont réduits. De nouveaux investisseurs, les particuliers fortunés, sont également apparus. “Le cimentier Heidelberg, au bord de la faillite il y a un an, a émis, mi-octobre, 2,5 milliards d’euros, une des plus grosses opérations jamais effectuées sur le marché ; émission qui a été très prisée par les gestions privées allemandes”, constate Samuel Bouchet, gérant high yield chez CAAM, la société de gestion du Crédit agricole.

La demande récente de la part des investisseurs pour ce type de dette à forte rémunération est d’ailleurs telle qu’elle a permis de faire baisser les coûts de financement des entreprises. “Le 18 septembre, le groupe de distribution Rallye a émis des obligations à 5 ans avec un taux de financement de 8,5 %, indique Pierre Lebel, banquier à la Société générale. Un mois plus tard, le groupe a levé des fonds, de la même manière mais sur une durée plus longue, de 7 ans, tout en payant moins cher : le taux de financement était de 7,70 %.”

Les primes moyennes que les entreprises doivent offrir pour refléter la différence de risque entre leurs titres et un emprunt d’Etat, qui étaient montées jusqu’à 22 % en début d’année – soit deux fois plus que lors des précédentes récessions de 1991 et 2001 – sont revenues à 9 %. Elles pourraient même redescendre autour de 5 %, selon certains, ce qui correspondrait à un taux de défaut de 4 % à 5 % que prévoit l’agence Moody’s dans un an, contre 12,4 % actuellement.

La reprise des émissions de “junk bonds” ne tient pas uniquement au regain d’intérêt des investisseurs pour le risque, mais aussi au fait que de nouvelles entreprises ont fait leur apparition. “Beaucoup d’entreprises qui se finançaient autrefois sur le marché des prêts syndiqués, auprès des banques et des fonds spéculatifs (hedge funds) qui ne sont plus là, se tournent vers le marché du high yield pour se refinancer”, constate M. Bouchet.

Il y a aussi les entreprises que l’on appelle les “anges déchus”, ces sociétés comme Wendel, Peugeot SA, ou encore Renault SA, dont la crise a dégradé la situation financière et entraîné l’abaissement de la note de crédit, délivrée par les agences de notation. Avec, à la clé, des coûts de financement plus élevés : Renault SA, qui, il y a deux ans, avait émis un emprunt à 5 ans avec une prime de taux de 0,39 %, a emprunté fin septembre sur la même durée avec une prime de 3,5 %.

Cécile Prudhomme

Fonte: Le Monde

Air France Airbus A380-861 F-WWSB (F-HPJA) (msn 033) XFW, originally uploaded by Airliners Gallery.

Air France (Paris) brought the new Airbus A380 to New York (JFK) yesterday (November 20, 2009). Operating as flight AF 380 it carried 380 winning bidders on the auction flight. The proceeds will go to humanitarian projects. Regular CDG-JFK service commences on November 23.

Here is the official AF press release:

This morning (November 20), at 11:39 am, Air France’s A380 took off from Paris-Charles de Gaulle, operating flight AF 380, the first transatlantic flight between Europe and the United States by A380. Among the passengers were the 380 winning bidders for seats on the inaugural Paris-New York – Paris flights. This auction raised proceeds of 300,000 euros which will finance five different humanitarian projects by charities chosen by the Air France Foundation.

The aircraft, registration F-GHJA, landed at New York-Kennedy airport at 1:20 local time, 7:20 Paris time.

The proceeds of this auction of seats on the two inaugural Paris-New York-Paris flights finally reached 300,000 euros, more than expected. The amount will thus finance 5 humanitarian projects for children in need instead of the three initially planned.

The benefits of the auction for the inaugural Paris-New York-Paris flights will go to several projects in aid of humanitarian associations for children in need all over the world. The Air France Foundation supports these projects.

Starting on Monday November 23, the A380 will operate daily scheduled flights:

• AF 006 Paris-New York leaving at 1:30, arriving at 3:45 pm;
• and AF 007 New York-Paris leaving at 7:15 pm, arriving at 8:35 the following day.

From Paris, Air France will operate the A380 on its Johannesburg route as from February 3, 2010 and will therefore be the first airline to operate the A380 to Africa.

News link including a video:

www.euronews.net/2009/11/21/first-transatlantic-flight-for-superjumbo-jet/

Copyright Photo: Gerd Beilfuss.

NYC Aviation (Phil Derner) was also there to record the event:

http://nycaviation.com/2009/11/20/air-france-a380-completes-first-flight/

Air France will reroute its service to Port Harcourt from 7 December 2009. The current non-stop service with an A319LR Dedicate will be replaced by a daily flight via Lagos with a B777-300ER.

Lufthansa also operates four weekly flights Port Harcourt via Abuja. Virgin Atlantic is yet to return to the airport after its closure in 2006-2008.

Paris-based Air France has completed its first revenue flight with the Airbus A380. Flight AF 380 arrived at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport at 1318 hrs, after crossing the Atlantic from Paris (Charles de Gaulle), where it departed at 1119 hrs. The flight marked the A380’s first transatlantic flight by a European airline and the aircraft was met by a customary water cannon salute on arrival in New York.

Onboard the double-decker aircraft are 538 passengers, invited guests and 24 crew, who were treated to complimentary champagne and a 3-member jazz band. 380 passengers who participated in a charity auction in October 2008 also raised 300,000 euros to benefit humanitarian projects supported by the Air France Foundation. Having generated a larger amount than expected, Air France will donate the proceeds from the auction to 2 more charities in Brazil and Madagascar, in addition to 3 previously announced organizations in France, India and South Africa.

The Air France A380 features 538 seats in a 3-class configuration with innovations including improved seating, mood lighting and an onboard meeting area showcasing artwork from various museum collections. The airline has announced Johannesburg as the second destination for its A380 following New York, which will be operated daily. Air France joins Dubai’s Emirates, Sydney-based Qantas and Singapore Airlines as the fourth operator of the type.

For more information, visit www.airfrance.com.

Anche Air France entra nel gotha delle compagnie che vantano in servizio attivo il gigante dei cieli, l’A380.

L’aeromobile con registrazione F-HPJA è infatti decollato oggi alle 11.39 con numero di volo AF380 (che caso) da Parigi Charles De Gaulle, alla volta di New York JFK. Nonostante la configurazione a 3 classi da 538 posti (9F, 80C, 449Y) è confermato che sul volo inaugurale sono stati venduti 380 passaggi-volo, che hanno permesso di raccogliere ben 300000 euro da devolvere ad istituti di beneficienza.

Per le operazioni commerciali bisognerà attendere il 23 Novembre, giorno in cui l’aeromobile inizierà il suo impiego regolare sui servizi transatlantici.Infine dal 3 febbraio prossimo, anche la rotta Parigi-Johannesburg potrà vantare l’utilizzo dell’A380.

AIR FRANCE, che ha ordinato ben 12 esemplari, è il primo vettore europeo ad avere in flotta l’A380 ed anche il primo vettore ad impiegare l’aeromobile in un collegamento transatlantico tra l’Europe e gli Stati Uniti.

A sorpresa (ma non troppo), Air France non ha presentato – come finora successo per gli altri vettori – serie novità per quanto riguarda i prodotti di bordo su questo velivolo: benchè vengano reclamizzati come suites i posti di prima classe sono quelli attualmente in forza a tutta la flotta, così come la poltrona di business class e i posti di economy.

]]> http://samaralife.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/1303/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:30:00 +0000 andyash http://samaralife.wordpress.com/2009/11/21/1303/

Российская авиация

В прошлый раз я писал про рейтинг безопасности российских авиакомпаний. Неделя началась с ряда публикаций по этому поводу. Вот одна из них на gazeta.ru. Понятно, что любой рейтинг несовершенен и не отражает всего, что творится в той или иной авиакомпании. К тому же, ни один рейтинг не сможет предусмотреть нештатные ситуации.

“Аэрофлот-Норд” всё же переименовывают в “Нордавиа – региональные авиалинии” с 1 декабря. Недавно я с удивлением обнаружил, что “Аэрофлот-Норд” больше не обслуживает дневной рейс Самара-Москва-Самара. Получается, что у “Аэрофлота” осталось лишь два рейса – утренний и вечерний. Напомню, что зимнее расписание полётов через “Курумоч” можно посмотреть здесь.

Третий терминал аэропорта “Шереметьево” всё же начал свою работу по графику 15 ноября с рейсов в Сочи и Магадан. В сети появилось ещё несколько публикаций на эту тему. “Ведомости” предлагают небольшое видео и статью. Отмечается, что автостоянка пока бесплатна, городские автобусы уже ходят до нового терминала (что не может не радовать меня лично), а в стерильной зоне Wi-Fi Интернет может быть бесплатным. В ЖЖ есть и пост с подборкой фотографий нового терминала.

Наконец, новому терминалу посвящён и материал сайта “Транспорт сегодня”. Отмечается, что заинтересованность в использовании нового терминала проявляют некоторые российские компании – “Россия”, “Татарстан”. Это помимо того, что кроме SkyTeam и “Аэрофлота” в терминал D переведут некоторые компании-конкуренты, а часть рейсов “Аэрофлота” вынуждена будет остаться в Терминале 2 (позднее в Терминале Е). Я решительно не понимаю, почему в аэрофлотовский терминал над переводить рейсы всех остальных компаний (не входящих в SkyTeam), когда самому “Аэрофлоту” уже не хватает места. Что это за странная логистика? В конце концов, в Терминал Е можно было бы перевести рейсы конкурентов, у которых с “Аэрофлотом” есть код-шеринговые соглашения, а не тащить их в третий терминал.

“Ведомости-пятница” же пишут о ещё одной новинке шереметьевского аэропортового комплекса – новой штаб-квартире “Аэрофлота” по соседству с третьим терминалом. Я летом проезжал мимо и видел это красивое здание. Вот прекрасный пример того, когда современная архитектура в нужном месте может быть украшением. В новой штаб-квартире рождаются и очередные инициативы по пересаживанию российских чиновников на самолёты российских авиакомпаний.

Но и это не всё. 25 ноября в “Шереметьево” откроется первый у нас “капсульный” отель “Воздушный экспресс”, который разместится в терминале “Аэроэкспресс”. В отличие от Японии, номера будут выполнены в более традиционном виде, нежели знаменитые капсулы, но минимализм сохраняется. Минимальное время пребывания в гостинице – 4 часа. За 4 часа в одноместном экономе нужно будет отдать 1312 рублей, за 2-местный эконом без окна 1600 рублей, а 2-местный эконом с окном 1800 рублей. Имеются также 2 и 3-местные номера бизнес класса, а также 3-местный номер первого класса. По истечении 4 часов оплата взимается по часам. В том же 1-местном экономе пребывание в течение 5 часов обойдётся в 1599 рублей. Во всех номерах есть туалет с душем, кровати, телефон и доступ в Интернет. Постояльцы обеспечиваются набором постельного белья и полотенец. Это может стать удобным решением для тех, кто должен рано вылетать из аэропорта, а приезжает в “Москву” накануне вечером. Можно заселиться в полночь, а в 4-5 утра уже отправиться в терминал на регистрацию.

Тем временем, ОАК всё же получит акции самарского “Авиакора”. Актив этот достаточно проблемный. Долги большие, производство минимально. Сохраняется вероятность того, что самарскому заводу отведут роль производителя запчастей и ремонтные функции. Собственно, ОАК не скрывает своих планов перенести производство самолётов Ан-140 в Воронеж.

Пока же некоторые самолёты хотя бы где-то сохраняют. В пригороде Барнаула открылся авиамузей. Каждый раз, когда читаешь подобные сообщения или открываешь в ЖЖ очередной репортаж из авиамузеев Киева или Ульяновска, становится стыдно и обидно за Самару, где самолёты ржавеют на тренировочной базе СГАУ.

Авиация за рубежом

OAG (Лондон) подвела итоги голосования и представила рейтинг гражданской авиации 2009 года. Этот рейтинг считается одним из самых авторитетных.

Авиакомпания года: Singapore Airlines
Лучшая авиакомпания на трансатлантических маршрутах: Virgin Atlantic
Лучшая авиакомпания на транстихоокеанских маршрутах: Singapore Airlines
Лучший салон первого класса на международных линиях: Singapore Airlines
Лучший салон бизнес-класса: Continental Airlines
Лучший салон экономического класса: British Airways
Лучшая североамериканская авиакомпания: Continental
Лучшая авиакомпания Ближнего Востока и Южной Азии: Emirates
Лучшая бюджетная авиакомпания: Southwest Airlines
Лучшая авиакомпания Латинской Америки: LAN
Лучшая авиакомпания Африки: South African Airlines
Лучшая авиакомпания Западной Европы: Virgin Atlantic
Лучшая авиакомпания Центральной и Восточной Европы: CSA Czech Airlines
Лучшая авиакомпания Австралии и Океании: Qantas
Лучший аэропорт: Singapore Changi

“Аэрофлот”, кстати, попал в число финалистов в категории “лучшая авиакомпания Центральной и Восточной Европы”.

В прошлую пятницу Рик Сини вспомнил о том, что число 13 отсутствует в салонах некоторых компаний. Так, 13-го ряда нет у Continental Airlines, Alaska и AirTran. А в салонах Lufthansa, согласно Рику Сини, нет 13 и 17 рядов, так как в Италии и Бразилии несчастливым считается ещё и число 17. Однако надо понимать, что сидящие в “14” ряду, на самом деле оказываются в 13-м.

Любители авиации могут заинтересоваться видео с компьютерной симуляцией полёта А320 компании US Airways, который в начале года удачно приземлился на реку после столкновения со стаей птиц над Нью-Йорком.

Авиапутешествия

Сергей Доля разместил в своём блоге подборку ссылок на материалы о разных ситуациях, которые могут быть восприняты пассажирами как нештатные. Заметки призваны развенчать некоторые аэрофобные мифы.

Если Вы уже не боитесь (или никогда не боялись), Вас может заинтересовать предложение от Air France. До конца ноября можно забронировать перелёт по маршрутам Москва-Париж-Нью-Йорк или Санкт-Петербург-Париж-Нью-Йорк на период с 23 ноября 2009 по 31 марта 2010 года. В чём изюминка предложения? В том, что шесть раз в неделю, кроме среды, перелёт из Парижа в Нью-Йорк и обратно осуществляется на двухпалубном A380. А билет туда-обратно (со всеми сборами) в экономическом классе обойдётся всего в 20500 рублей (при бронировании через сайт компании).

А ещё у Air France и KLM есть предложение для любителей Европы – билет в три европейских города по цене одного. За 15000 рублей (со всеми сборами) можно выбрать любой европейский город из 13 (Ницца, Тулуза, Женева, Мюнхен, Цюрих, Милан, Рим, Лиссабон, Барселона, Эдинбург, Лондон, Берлин, Вена) помимо Парижа и Амстердама. Например, можно забронировать билет по маршруту Москва-Париж-Лондон-Амстердам-Москва за 15000 рублей. Фактически, Вы платите только за билет до Лондона (или другого города по выбору), а остановки в Париже и Амстердаме совершаете бесплатно. Бронирование до 30 ноября, перелёт до конца марта 2010 года.

Ну, а японская ANA решила модернизировать свои салоны. Увеличенное расстояние между креслами в экономе, разделители и двойные подлокотники в премиум-экономе, горизонтально раскладывающиеся кресла в бизнес-классе и полностью приватные места в первом. Бретт Снайдер предлагает взглянуть на всё это великолепие. Новые кабины появятся в 2010 году на самолётах Boeing-777-300ER, летающих между Японией и Северной Америкой или Европой.

Ryanair seeks judicial review

Ryanair sued for allegedly buzzing German granny

Ryanair to begin legal battle on airport charges directive

O’Leary not impressed by ex-highflier’s appointment

Ryanair to seek review of decision on charges

Ryanair denies aircraft flew too low

Chinese airlines fall, as yuan seems unlikely to move soon

Air France A380 set for first transatlantic flight

American Airlines warns JAL of ‘enormous risks’ in switch to SkyTeam

Aer Lingus: Airline faces ‘bleak future’ without restructuring

Air France (Paris) and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines (Amsterdam) reported a net loss of $220 million in the first half of the fiscal year.

News link:

uk.news.yahoo.com/18/20091118/tbs-europe-s-top-airline-air-france-klm-5268574_1.html

If you want a nice trip to Europe for an economical price, take Air France. Well, unless your fat – you won’t fit down the aisle or in your seat, so I’d suggest you stick with an American carrier. But if you can fit down a skinny aisle, book this airline.

The service was fantastic. The food was actually pretty good. And when I ate my chicken with the white wine provided, it was a fantastic combination! All in coach! We each had our own TV screen with several TV shows to choose from, albums of music and about 40 movies.

If you can get past a lay over in the nasty Paris airport, take this airline.

Gefunden bei orf.at:

Air France-KLM tief in Verlustzone: 1.700 Jobs weg

Nach einem tiefen Sturz in die Verlustzone streicht der Luftfahrtkonzern Air France-KLM weitere 1.700 Stellen und senkt seine Kapazitäten. In dem Ende Oktober abgeschlossenen ersten Geschäftshalbjahr sei ein Verlust von 573 Millionen Euro angefallen, teilte Air France-KLM heute in Paris mit.

Der Umsatz sei um ein Fünftel auf 10,775 Milliarden Euro eingebrochen. Ein Jahr zuvor hatte der europäische Branchenprimus noch 176 Millionen Euro verdient.

Neue Billigklassen

Der Konzern passe sich der Lage an und senke die Kapazitäten weiter, heißt es. Im Halbjahr wurden die Kapazitäten im Passagierbereich um 4,6 Prozent und im Frachtbereich um 17,3 Prozent verringert. Für 2010 wird Air France ein Plan zum Abbau von 1.700 Stellen auf freiwilliger Basis vorgeschlagen.

Den Kunden werden neue Billigklassen angeboten. Ein Rationalisierungsprogramm soll den Frachtbereich im Geschäftsjahr 2011/12 wieder rentabel machen. Der Konzern wies darauf hin, dass die unglückliche Hedging-Verträge zur Absicherung gegen höhere Treibstoffkosten das Unternehmen 430 Millionen Euro gekostet haben.

Past 7 weeks have been pure bliss; ups and downs included. Quality sister time, unique relationship insight (how I love my older friends!), a dash of disappointment, blistered feet, emptied bank balances, crazy credit card bills, tons of food, serving portions I can only dream of finishing, jeans feeling a bit too snug, not fretting about the weight, the beach, pride, inspiration and more than anything LOVE.

7 weeks have passed since I left Mumbai, all starry eyed. And now I shuttle out to Miami airport sobbing. Yeah, you heard me right. I am grateful for all the madness of the past 7 weeks. I sobbed because my sister (she never really was a baby sister) is independent and brave, far braver than I could ever be. Here I was leaving for India, why did it feel like I had forgotten something, someone? The truth is I was leaving behind a big chunk of my heart in Miami.
I hate that I am early at the airport (paranoid as I am, I am always early!) Check-in and security checks, all taken care of, I still have another two and a half hours to kill. I could either brood over how much I was going to miss my sister or see pictures and giggle with glee about the lovely times we had exploring her city with her, going to Disney world or while battling bed bugs (bed bugs was not fun but hey, I m trying to see the glass half full here!)
I could sit and smile about the fun times I had in New York with Roger, Baa and Tarlet. I could think about what an adventure it was discovering what I didn’t want from a relationship… There, I started again. So much happened on the past 7 weeks that I *almost* feel like a whole new person. Okay, I’m exaggerating but, I do feel like Shakti Salgaokar version 8.0.

I’ve fallen in love with solitude and lost my heart to a city. I love Paris, London and Barcelona. But New York, I think we are headed for a serious relationship and imagine the mess that’s going to be when Mumbai finds out!
And yet, I am back to the city I call home. Despite its pollution, dufus governance (the Frenchman working on Mumbai waste management project on my flight brought this to my notice) I love it. There’s so much this city can be if she got the right things to work with, and yet, she sits there, making the best of whatever she’s got. New York is like the sexy woman you want to be. She’s that woman who has the perfect life. A perfect career, she looks hot, so perfect that even her problems seem perfect. Someday, I’ll come back…

And yeah, on this trip I also achieved acute spiritual maturity (yeah, right!).  And I finally figured the prophecy of one my gurus, Mr. John Lennon: Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

I’m alright to go where life takes me. No more planning. No more superficial goals. Just one principle- have fun.
Btw, Air France: thank you for being a kill joy airline. The cranky me, agrees to go through the ordeal of 19 hours on a flight for two things. Nonstop movies and eating airline food like Charlie Chaplin (dad, u r genius in discovering that simile. Yes I don’t mind airline food. It helps passtime!). Yeh modern day air travel isn’t so bad because food apparently has gotten better and inflight entertainment is supposed to be awesome. Thanks air France for not having a personal screen on my first flight from Miami to Paris and a little note: Hindu non veg meal means a non-veg meal sans beef or pork. It doesn’t mean you serve me rice, veggies and chicken with garam masala tossed on it!

Anyway, the 8 hour ordeal ended at Charles de Gaulle. And look at me, merrily Bon jour and au revoiring people like I knew French, deliberately struggling to read things in French before giving up and settling for English. Whoa! I miss Nani. The last time I was at this airport, Nani and yours truly had flown in from Barcelona on a delayed flight and missed our connecting flight to London. The lady who reissued our boarding cards, issued a wrong one for Nanchan and I put up a classic performance, being the drama queen I am, and got Nani bumped up to business class.
Such funny incidents happen when me and Nani set off to explore the world. ‘Be nice to your siblings,’ is an underrated line from the Sunscreen Song. Love your siblings, pour your soul into them, because trust me, other than your parents they are the only people who know you, your past, your whims, your fancies, your strengths and weaknesses and yet love you like no one else will. My sibling is a part of me, a part of who I am and what I am. I realise this after years of sibling rivalry, friendship, arguments, fights and much more.

So yeah, Nano, this one’s for you. Love life so much that you can be a 70 year old who can tell tales of her life and amuse people by the sheer presence of life in them!
And in case u want assistance, who u gonna call?

Some milestones are hard to see clearly until many years pass and the verdict is finally in, but as the 2 year milestone of being in service for the Airbus A380 came around, it is still not clear of whether this machine and Airbus are in the clear.

to date  there are 20 A380s in service with three airlines – SIA, Emirates and Qantas -which have accumulated 75,000h, operated 8,000 flights and carried at least 2.5 million passengers, and firm orders for the A380 to 202 aircraft from 17 customers.

Sales have dropped to only 2 orders for 2009, and the many A380’s that have been ordered have been referred or given delayed deliveries, many commentators have said the double-decker is just too big and will lose money constantly and the severely delayed Boeing 787 was still the better way to go.

The two years in service report notes that the aircraft did have issues of reliability which is typical for like Emirates based in Dubai, their technical dispatch reliability benchmark is above 98.5%, and Tim Clark (Emirates CEO) says that while Airbus is guaranteeing 98.5% “we’re not there yet. We’re at 97%, sometimes 96%.

Most faults have been through oversensitive sensors (moisture contamination was another pain) that go off and create a no-go fault warning and a (return to gate), Airbus have worked quickly to rectify the situation and most warnings are now nulled as they adjusted the computer algorithms for failure detection as to not be so sensitive, main gear steering system (MEL) caused some concerns too, the trailing axle of the two six-wheel centre bogies is articulated to avoid tyre scrub on the inside wheels, and the wedge that must lock the steering in place for take-off has proved problematic, again a fix has been sorted and the problems solved, a nose wheel problem on a Qantas service to London stranded the machine on the runway and had to towed to the gate for disembarkation and finally two in-flight shutdown of the Trent 900 engine were “non-basic”, which means the engine’s basic design was not at fault.

It feels like a long bad list but all new aircraft (and remember the A380 is a generational design) have such new operational problems and in fact the list is very small, the real problem is that if the aircraft is not serviceable is then what do you do with nearly 500 passengers!, luckily it hasn’t happened often, but when it does it creates a major logistical problem.

So what of the other factors, in this case the A380 has been a spectacular success, passengers just rave about the space, the quietness of the design and load factors are extremely high, pilots are gushing with praise for its flying characteristics and low turbulence factors (its noted that its like the Queen Mary 2 in the sky, it just plows on through) and the plane is more efficient than promised by the manufacturer (since when has that happened in the past), SIA generally cruises its A380s at M0.83-0.85, and the approach speed – for a landing weight close to the 397t maximum take-off of a 747-400 – is an impressively slow 130-135kt (240-250km/h). they found the faster you flew the more efficient the A380 became so in service the machine has not only delivered but is well above expectations and will get better again with improvements of weight reduction and engine upgrades coming after 2012.

On the ground it again has not proved to be problematic with its size and weight, turnaround times range from 90-110min, depending on route and operator. For example, Emirates does 90min turns at London Heathrow between the inbound EK001 and outbound EK002, which is impressive with such huge numbers (Passengers,Cargo & Catering) to cater for.

2010 will be the year that the Airbus A380 will be declared a success or failure, a major step forward in design and operations, unfortunately the GFC crisis was the worst situation to be faced by a machine designed to carry such high load factors (hence the delayed deliveries and few new orders) and could have, but didn’t turn it into a loss making albatross (a la Concorde), in fact its extremely high load factors bids it well in the future.

The reason that 2010 is significant is in the way Air France intends to introduce its first A380’s into service in December 2009 and Lufthansa in the Late1stQ 2010, unlike the 3 current airlines (Singapore/Qantas/Emirates) these European Carriers are going more for the higher seating configurations of 538-seat Air France and 550 seat Lufthansa, the Aircraft is already known to very efficient and now you have a considerable higher load factors and certainly higher yields and profit, the Boeing 747 was a game changer in price (seats per mile) in the early 70’s and the fares plummeted, that won’t happen here but it will give the two European airlines a significant advantage as with what Qantas is finding with its A380 SYD-LAX services against newcomer VAustralia, in fact Qantas is mulling over the fact of whether to pull back its yield losing 1st Class and Business class sections to go the from the current 450 seats to 500+, its 72 business class seating is a folly and change will certainly and must be forthcoming, but the point is it is doing the busines without the better (higher) configurations, Air France and Lufthansa will be doing so from the start of their operations, if it is a success the A380 will be declared a winner, if it flys with plenty of empty seats it could damage it’s too big for the market image beyond doubt, however if the new services are successful then the Airbus will certainly be declared a success and more orders will follow.

In most cases already the A380 is a spectacular success, but this too large a capacity is still lead weight around its neck and could hurt the design (and Sales), again with 787 still nowhere close to being in service, the A380 over the next 12 months could finally cement its position in the industry.

Another breakthrough is if an American Airline chooses the A380 to fly from the mainland to Asia (japan, China), Americans are very territorial and anything Boeing builds is far better than Airbus can build, but significantly today many Airbus products are flying in the mainland USA (A320/321, A330, A340) and the Americans are liking what they are flying on and with its capacity/yields/profit the A380 can make serious money on the Pacific Routes and if the Americans don’t use them someone else will.

The Airbus A380 is a game changer, hub to hub it has no peers except for the Boeing 777, but from mega city to mega city and fare wise it is a real profit machine, the Boeing 787 will still be a serious competitor but cheap fares and space are winners if you want to attract passengers and over the summer of 2010 with AirFrance/Lufthansa will prove that theory …..as the Airbus A380 has both the space and the case for cheaper airfares in spades.

Air France este companie subsidiara a Air France-KLM.  Inaintea de fuziunea cu KLM a fost linia nationala a Frantei.Nodul principal este pe Aeroportul International Charles de Gaulle.

Transcribed from The Blade, Toledo, OH, June 22, 1962, p. 1:

Plane Hits Hill, Explodes While Landing In Storm

POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe, June 22 (AP)–An Air France Boeing 707 jetliner with 113 persons aboard crashed during a predawn storm while coming in for a landing on this Caribbean island today. All aboard perished: 103 passengers, including 7 children and 4 babies, and 10 crew members.

Search crews who circled the wreckage of the jet by air reported it had exploded on impact with a hill and that the debris, scattered over nearly a mile, had burned.

The $5.5-million plane was on a flight from Paris to Santiago, Chile.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the air traffic control center at Pointe-a-Pitre airport reported the big jet had been cleared for its final approach when its radio went dead.

SPOTTED WRECKAGE

A small local plane later spotted the wreckage 2 1/2 miles inland from the north coast of the Basse Terre section of Guadeloupe, the coast guard said.

The pilot had radioed that he was making a visual approach to the field.

James Welsh, head of the U.S. Information Agency in Guadeloupe, flew over the wreckage in his private plane.

“There’s nothing left of it,” he said. “It was a terrible sight. Wreckage seem to be scattered over the whole mountain.”

Guadeloupe police dispatched rescue crews to the site and French helicopters sped there from Martinique.

DISTRESS MESSAGE

The crash occurred at about 3:25 a.m., the hour the plane was due to land at Guadeloupe on a flight from Santa Maria, the Azores.

First word that the airliner was in trouble came at came at [sic] 6:19 a.m., when the coast guard received this message: “Distress, Air France flight 117, B707, overdue . . .”

An all-ships distress signal was flashed to naval vessels, asking them to proceed to the area. Two coast guard amphibious planes and a patrol boat were dispatched from San Juan.
Guadeloupe is composed of two islands, Basse Terre and Grande Terre. The airfield is on Grande Terre. The plane crashed on Basse Terre.

The plane had 10 crew members and 012 passengers aboard on take-off from Paris last night. It made a stop at Lisbon and several passengers left and other boarded.

The plane was to have flown on to Caracas, Bogota and Lima, terminating its flight at Santiago.

HAD FLOWN DE GAULLE

Capt. Andre Lesieur, one of Air France’s most experienced pilots, who was at the controls, several times had flown President Charles De Gaulle.

It was the fifth crash involving a passenger-carrying Boeing 707 in commercial service. A 707 of the Belgian Airline Sabena crashed Feb. 15, 1961 at Brussels, killing 73. An American Airlines crash at New York last March 1 killed 55. A Continental Airlines 707 with 45 aboard disintegrated and crashed near Unionville, Mo., May 25. An Air France charter, flying a group of Atlantans home, crashed at Paris June 3, killing 130.

Guadeloupe is an overseas department of France in the Leeward Islands, 300 miles southeast of San Juan and 80 miles north of Martinique.

Transcribed from Rome News-Tribune, Rome, GA, June 22, 1962, p 1,2:

112 Die as Jet Crashes In French West Indies Forest

No Survivors Reported as Air France Suffers 2nd Major Tragedy in Month

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (UPI)–An Air France Boeing jetliner with 112 persons aboard crashed and burned in a tropic forest on Gueadeloupe in the French West Indies early today as the pilot attempted to land at Le Raizet airport in a rainstorm.

A local pilot, first to reach the scene of the crash, reported that he saw no survivors in the widely scattered, smoking wreckage 2 1/2 miles inland from the north coast of Basse-Terre island, one of two islands making up the Guadeloupe group. Air France reported 102 passengers and 10 crew members aboard.

It was the second Boeing 707 crash in 19 days. Another Air France 707 crashed at Orly Airport near Paris on June 3, killing 130 persons.

Guadeloupe is 300 miles southeast of Puerto Rico and 600 miles northeast of the Venezuelan coast. The plane, Flight 117 named Chateau de Chantilly, was en route from Paris to Santiago, Chile, when it crashed while attempting to make a scheduled stop.

IN HEAVY RAIN

Air France said the pilot, Capt. Andre Lesieur, reported a low cloud ceiling and heavy rain has the plane approached the airport near Point-a-Pitre on the flat northern coast of Guadeloupe, well away from the rugged mountain peaks. He was reported to have tried to bring the plane in visually rather than relying on radio instrument guidance.

Lesieur was one of Air France’s most experienced commanders. He frequently served as pilot for President Charles de Gaulle.

The crash occurred 19 days after an Air France 707 crashed on takeoff in Paris, killing 130 persons including many prominent Atlanta residents, and exactly a month after a Continental Airlines 707 crashed near Centerville, Iowa with a loss of 45 lives. Two other 707 crashes in the last 16 months took 167 lives.

The plane left Paris’ Orly Airport Thursday at 4:18 p.m. EST, and made scheduled stops at Lisbon and at Santa Maria in the Azores.

It was cleared for a final approach to Guadeloupe’s airport on the island’s north coast when the crash occurred, according to Air France.

The U.S. Coast Guard said the pilot was flying visually when the plane smashed into the lush tropic forest 2 1/2 miles from the beach at Eshayes.

The plane burned and thick smoke clouds were reported billowing from the wreckage. A local pilot said parts of the wrecked plane were scattered over a wide area.

READY TO LAND

The crash occurred around 12:25 a.m. EST, the scheduled arrival time at Le Raizet airport at Pointe-a-Pitre. The wreckage was first sighted about 3 a.m.

The plane had been scheduled for stops at Caracas, Venezuela; Bogota, Colombia; Lima, Peru; and Santiago, Chile, after leaving Guadeloupe.

Guadeloupe is one of the island paradises in the Leeward Island chain that have recently become the playground of American tourists. The western of the two islands forming Guadeloupe is peaked with cloud shrouded mountains and lush growth. The eastern island is flat and has many plantations.

Transcribed from Eugene Register-Guard, Eugene, OR, June 23, 1962, p1:

Experts Probe Plane Disaster

Toll Reaches 113

By HORST BUCHHOLZ
Of the Associated Press
POINTE-A-PITRE, Guadeloupe — French and American aviation experts converged today on a scorched swatch of tropical rain jungle where an Air France Boeing 707 jetliner crashed in a raging thunderstorm after reporting landing gear trouble. All 113 persons aboard were killed.

Police blocked off the crash scene until representatives of the U. S. Civil Aeronautics Board and Federal Aviation Agency teamed with French air experts from Paris to inspect wreckage of the second worst single-plane disaster in commercial aviation history.

The four-engine airliner smashed into a hill and burst into flames on this French Caribbean island early Friday shortly after winging over Pointe-A-Pitre’s Raizet Airfield in the start of a landing approach after a flight from Paris.

Minutes later, the control tower radar lost contact at about the same time explosions in the distance were noted. The explosions were taken by some as thunder.

But after daylight searchers spotted the wreckage on Mule’s Back Hill 18 miles from the field.

The plane slammed into the hill about 500 feet below its 2,000-foot crest, off the usual landing approach pattern. The pilot of another Air France liner here blamed the crash on the thunderstorm, saying, “the ceiling was very low.”

The fiery crash scattered wreckage over more than a mile of the thick undergrowth.

The Air France office in Paris again revised the figure Saturday, to 113 dead. A recheck of the Friday turned up an additional passenger, making the total passenger list 103, an airline spokesman said, along with the 10 crew members.

This toll in a single-plane crash was exceeded only by the crash of another Air France Boeing 707 jet early this month which killed 130 persons, including 121 Americans.

The big Boeing jetliners have been involved in five commercial airline crashes killing a total of 303 persons in the past 17 months.