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Premium flights and volcanic ash

premium flights — Thu, 27 May 2010 12:58:55 +0000

The Eyjafjallajokul eruption and the ash cloud hurt airlines recovery, according to IATA. Flights in various European airports were immediately cancelled last month because the ash cloud was so strong making it impossible for any aircraft to fly.
“The ash crisis affected the global recovery having a negative impact on carriers in all regions,” said Giovanni Bisignani, director general of the International Air Transport Association.

Experts were predicting that this situation would continue even during the summer time but the Met Office in the UK reports as per May 24th that the volcano was no longer emitting ash. However, geologists and volcanologists say it is a quiet and “paused” phase. If the pause lasts for more than 3 months, the volcano will be considered dormant. Nearby the Eyjafjallajoekull glacier there is a bigger volcano that could erupt at any time, so airlines should be cautious this summer.

The losses caused by the closures and delays in April were massive. No less than $2 billion of losses were reported by the airline industry and this could continue because of the behavious of Eyjafjallajokul.

It is estimated that the volcano would continue to rumble for more than a year based on its previous behavior in 1821.

BA experiences low bookings for premium seats

Etihad Airways winner at World Travel Awards 2009

premium flights — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:51:34 +0000

The World Travel Awards (WTA) is the annual event acknowledging excellence in the travel and tourism industry. The 2009 ceremony was held in London last month where it announced category winners that have been voted online by a jury of over 170 thousands worldwide travel experts. The awards’ numerous categories are divided into continents and specific sub-industries going from airline companies to resorts, boutique hotels or car rental companies.

Winning the World’s Leading Airline this year was Etihad Airways, the fairly recent born United Arab Emirates National Airline. Etihad Airways also won the World’s Leading First Class award whereas best Business Class prize went to Qatar Airways. Throughout the year, the Abu Dhabi based flight company has won several other important awards, all recognizing best quality in services offered including on-board catering, lounge treatment for business passengers and loyalty programme.

Eithad was founded in 2003 by sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and has based its rapid expansion strategy on quality and customer satisfaction. In less than 6 years of activity, passengers travelling with Etihad have gone from 500 thousands in 2004 to over 6 millions in 2008. Also, the United Emirates airline company has gained important visibility thanks to its marketing and sponsorship activity. Etihad is official Ferrari sponsor in Formula 1 and also promotes the Yas Marina Circuit.

At present, the company is operating around 55 destinations from Abu Dhabi to the rest of the world, including main gateways destinations such as Paris, Munich, Frankfurt and Brussels

Flying from Heathrow Airport. Checking-in at Paddington.

premium — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 15:11:19 +0000

From last Wednesday 2 December, travellers taking the Heathrow Express train to the main London airport are able to check in at Paddington station using the self-service touchscreen machines which customers are already using within airports. The check-in machines can be found right next to the Heathrow Express ticket office in the station. As well as checking-in, travellers will be able to see information about their flight’s status and eventual delays on the Flight Information Display Screens, before actually leaving central London.

Some airlines companies had already implemented their own automated check-in terminals at Victoria and Paddington station. British Airways, however, had removed this service from Paddington due to insufficient demand justifying the costs incurred.

This new feature instead is provided by Heathrow Express and is a centralised system for flights of several different companies. For the time being, the service is only available to passengers flying with United Airlines, Iberia and Delta Air but others, including British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, are to follow shortly.

Travellers without printed boarding pass will therefore be able to check in without having to rush to the airport and with no hassle on their way to catch their flight. The advantage of the service is especially significant for business flights passengers since it is offering an increasingly seamless travelling experience.

Japan Airlines Introduces more Premium Economy

premium — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 08:40:14 +0000

Since 1^st December, Japan Airlines (JAL), the leading Asian air company, has introduced Premium Economy on the Tokyo-Sydney route with a once-daily flight operated on Boeing 777-200ER air crafts. Premium Economy service with JAL has so fare been available on routes connecting Japan to some main European and US destinations, including London, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam as well as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Passengers with Premium Economy seats have 30kg baggage allowance, priority on their check-in at the Executive Class counters and access to the airport lounge. When travelling on board, they will enjoy the comfort of Shell Flat Seats, an award winning seat design feature, so-called for its shell-shaped figure which ensures privacy for the passengers and avoid space being occupied when the front seats recline. These seats have an extra 20% legroom than normal Economy class and a personal 9-inch TV-screen. They can be reclined up to an angle of 120 degrees, with fitted headrest and footrest.

Introductory prices for Premium Economy seats went on sale starting from 1,500 Dollars.

With the new service, JAL is confirming and expanding the success of Premium Economy cabins that other major airlines such as Air New Zealand, Qantas and British Airways have been experiencing.

Air France A380 inaugural flight

premium flights — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:33:52 +0000

On October the 1st, Air France will hold an auction for the inaugural flights A380. The flights are from Paris to New York (on November 22) and from New York to Paris (November 21st). Customers can auction online for the 380 seats and all the proceeds from the auction will go to charitable organisations supported by Air France.
The auction will take place on Air France’s eBay store starting from October the 1st 2009 until October 21st. The seats in the auction are available in L’Espace Affaires Business Class and Voyageur Economy class. The auction includes a one way ticket to the A380 inaugural flights, a return ticket (same class as the A380 flight) and cultural activities or shopping at the destination (New York or Paris). For the same event Air France teamed up with Accor and Marriott hotels to offer its customers special accommodation prices for a memorable stay in Paris (or New York).

In order to participate to this auction an eBay account is needed. This will allow customer to participate in the bidding. After placing an initial bid customers will be emailed updates to monitor the progress of the auction. After the bidding is closed the winner will be notified via email and will be requested the payment for the ticket.

Flighst for pets

premium flights — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 16:51:28 +0000

Pet Airlines, as the name suggests, is an airline dedicated solely to pet transportation. With a flat rate of $150, the airline will safely transport your pet from key cities around the country. Instead of the usual cargo where pets are placed in regular airlines, Pet Airlines will conveniently place the pets in the cabin where they will be tended by “Pet Attendants.” As an airline solely dedicated to pets, owners are not allowed to travel with their pets.

At least 20 aircrafts will be dedicated for this type of flights as anticipation for the demand is increasing. The announcement of the new airline was made as early as February and the maiden voyage of the airline is set on July 14, 2009. The pet company dedicated to pet travel is based on Florida but its flights will be limited to five cities in the country namely; Denver, Los Angeles, Washington, New York and Chicago. The selection of the cities is based on the number of passengers travelling with pets.

Pet Airways have already set up a website for reservation. It’s a full featured website with online tools for owners such as advance reservation for the July 14 Trip, online tracking and even club members (MyPAWS Club). Blogs, tips and instructions on how to easily board the pet to the airline are added on the website. Certifications on safety for pets have also been obtained by the airline and the logos are conveniently placed on the website.

As of this writing, reservation is only available for cats and dogs but additional animals are set to be added soon.

Premium airlines and security

premium flights — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:37:31 +0000

Security is a very important factor when it comes to travelling. Companies who have staff travelling abroad can benefit of expert advice, assistance and information on security issues.

red24 offers expert security solutions using a variety of sources: security incident advice, security publications and security alerts.

What makes red24 stand out from the crowd are its proactive security services, namely business continuity support which means strategy and help in the event of unforeseen disruption or events. The members of red24 get continuous updates about security issues in a particular area they travel to.

red24 proved they have top expertise in a various of situations. During the terrorist incidents in Mumbai in 2008, red24 alerted via SMS all its clients in the area about the incident. Then their team compiled plans and reports as well as safe havens and provided security advice together with remote assistance for the clients caught in the conflict zone. The TravelTracker enabled red24 to keep track of the individuals in Mumbai and to monitor them in the area. There were assessments involving the road, airports and the airlines flying from/to Mumbai in order to establish the degree of travel safety for the red24 members. Red24 customers caught in the middle of Mumbai events were guided via text and email alerts to a safe place in the city and flights were obtained to smooth the evacuation process.

Due to the troubled times we live in, airlines which offer premium services including high standard comfort should also offer premium security services by teaming up with experts in the field.

Delta Airlines to slash prices

premium flights — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:58:09 +0000

For Delta Airlines’ 80th anniversary, the one-way fares will have attractive offers. For example flights from the Monroe Regional Airport will be sold for $80 to help get the word out about the 80th anniversary. Some of the great cities you will be able to travel to for $80 will be Atlanta, Orlando, and even Memphis.

Not only is Delta Airlines trying to raise awareness of their 80th anniversary, but they are also trying to boost their seat sales. They feel that this new sale should give them a tremendous boots in number of seats filled. They also hope that this will put an end to the bad downward spiral that Monroe Regional Airport has seen. In fact, they have seen a drop of almost 20 percent in number of passengers flying. This means that only about 88,977 people are flying out of that airport.

To travel under the promotional fares, people must make travel plans before July 31. Also, Delta Airlines will be reducing the price of tickets that have been bought over the past 21 days by 30 percent. This is just a nice way to say thanks to the customers who have bought their tickets through Delta Airlines.

The great deal actually comes at a very crucial moment for the city that the airport is located in. A new terminal is set to be built there that will cost $35 million. Thus, it is very important to get the economy in that city moving again, and Delta wants to help.

Biofuel being tested by Air New Zealand

premium flights — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:02:55 +0000

Nowadays all airlines are looking for any way they can to lower their prices. This is good for all premium flight passengers, because the lower the cost of fuel, the lower ticket prices are. Well, if that is indeed the case, then people who fly with Air New Zealand could be heading down the right path. In an attempt for Air New Zealand to lower its fuel bill and, of course, its carbon footprint on the world, they have chosen to test new types of vegetable oil as fuel. A successful test has already been done on a two hour flight.

Of course, the new biofuel is not all made from vegetable oil. In fact, it is more of a 50 – 50 mix. The mixer calls for half of the tank to be filled with regular jet fuel and the other half to be filled with jatropha oil, which is like a plum-sized fruit. Although jatropha is the first oil to be used, the biofuel industry is looking into other things as well. In fact, they have been showing a very strong interest in things like grass and also algae.

Don’t expect to see ticket prices start falling overnight, however. Air New Zealand said that although the flight went flawlessly, they still have a lot of analysis to do. Of course, they do say that it will be done quicker than what most people expect. That is because of how hard airline companies have been hit in 2008 with the economic downturn. The airlines say they do not want to be rocked that hard again, and thus, they are looking for something else to fall back on, and vegetable oil could just be the key.

BA experiences low bookings for premium seats

premium flights — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 17:57:06 +0000

British Airlines, one of the first companies in the world to offer premium seats, has reported a significant loss in the number of passengers in this type of reservation. BA has announced a loss of nearly 11% of the number of passengers in November 2008 compared to same month last year. The economy class even experienced losses but they were only 4.8% lower compared to last year. This is the highest decline of the number of travellers in the premium seats since 2001.

Although this is bad news, it’s not unexpected. Global financial crisis has forced businesses to cut travel expenses and family who often use premium seats for travel during this season opted to go for economy seats or even preferred budget airlines. BA has also assured their investors that the loss maybe significant but the company’s financial goals for the end of the year could still be met.

On the other hand budget airlines are getting all the attention of holiday passengers. Ryanair has reported an increase of 1% in the number of passengers this month compared to last year. But the general agreement in the transport industry is that the number of travellers has reduced. Job losses in almost every continent have been reported as the global financial crisis is starting to have its full effect.

BA is UK’s flag carrier and is also one of the few companies in the world that started to offer premium economy seats as an added seat options besides economy, business and first class seats.