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- Virgin Blue goes green!
Australian airline Virgin Blue has announced several green initiatives, including its aim to cut water usage by eliminating the need to wash its fleet of aircraft. But before you imagine planes with 'I need a wash' scrawled on their dusty exteriors, the carrier has invested in a high-tech, water resistant "Permagard" sealant which it says will save ten of thousands of litres in cleaning water.
Wed, 09 May 2007 15:56:00 -0500 - Air travel in Africa is exhilarating, but often dangerous.
Flying thousands of feet above Africa's sun-baked savannas, emerald forests and primordial deserts is an exhilarating, otherworldly experience. But it also can be perilous — Africa's air safety record is among the worst in the world.
The crash of Kenya Airways Flight 507, which killed all 114 people on board, put a spotlight on air travel in a continent with vast expanses where radar coverage is sparse to non-existent. Flight 507 was missing for more than 40 hours before the wreckage was found late Sunday in a mangrove swamp just 12 miles from the airport it departed from in Douala, Cameroon. While the crash site was not remote, it was hard to access because of the dense forest.
Tue, 08 May 2007 14:34:00 -0500 - Who's paying $200,000 for a few minutes in space?
The next space race is on, and this time it's for the masses.
Well, not exactly the masses. More like the actors, real estate magnates, hedge fund managers and well-off adventurers who can afford $200,000 or so for a quick jaunt beyond the Earth's atmosphere and several minutes of zero-gravity weightlessness. They include actress and skin-care entrepreneur Victoria Principal, 57, who wonders what color her spacesuit will be, and Hollywood director Bryan Singer, 41, who got turned on to the idea while planning a shuttle disaster scene for his movie Superman Returns.
Virgin Galactic, part of flamboyant businessman Richard Branson's Virgin Group, has recruited about 200 people for 2½-hour suborbital flights aboard an eight-seat spacecraft. It hopes to start offering the flights in 2009.
Tue, 08 May 2007 14:30:00 -0500 - Wreckage of missing Kenya Airways jetliner found in Cameroon
The wreckage of a Kenya Airways jetliner missing for nearly two days was found Sunday in a dense mangrove forest on the outskirts of Cameroon's commercial capital, aviation officials said. There was no information on survivors.
"We are actively looking for survivors," he said. Rescue vehicles, including ambulances and fire trucks, sped toward the scene of the crash, sirens blaring.
Kenya Airways is considered one of the safest airlines in Africa. The Douala-Nairobi flight runs several times a week, and is commonly used as an intermediary flight to Europe and the Middle East. The airline said most passengers were to transfer to ongoing flights in Nairobi.
Sun, 06 May 2007 16:32:00 -0500 - Air New Zealand Mulling Low-Cost Domestic Carrier
Air New Zealand is considering launching a low-cost carrier to counter a proposal from an investment group for a no-frills domestic airline.
In a memo seen by Reuters news agency, Nathan Agnew, general manager strategy at the airline, said the idea was one of a number of proposals it was considering. A spokeswoman for the airline declined to comment further.
Fri, 04 May 2007 07:57:00 -0500 - The Boeing 737 stuck in city road!
Residents of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how long it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been abandoned in a busy road. The decommissioned aircraft was being driven through the city at the weekend when the driver got lost and then abandoned the plane. The Boeing used to belong to the private company Air Sahara.
Some locals are angry that no action is being taken to move the plane. Others say it is a tourist attraction. It appears that after taking a wrong turn, the driver found himself facing a flyover that was too low for him to take the plane under. The driver has not been seen since and no-one is assuming responsibility for the 737.
Fri, 04 May 2007 07:45:00 -0500 - Frontier to end LA to San Francisco route
Frontier Airlines has once again admitted defeat in California.
The Denver-based carrier will stop flying its Los Angeles-San Francisco route effective July 10, just over a year after it started flying the route. It is Frontier's second failed attempt in California.
Thu, 03 May 2007 07:29:00 -0500 - Two herons ground holiday flight
The Thomson Fly Boeing 757 had just left Manchester Airport en route to Lanzarote when the herons were sucked into the starboard engine.
The huge birds became caught in the engine minutes after take-off, causing flames to shoot out the back. The pilot sent out a mayday call, dumped fuel and shut down the engine before heading back to Manchester airport.
An airport spokesman said the jet could have flown with one engine and the passengers were not in danger. The 221 holidaymakers on the Boeing 757 flight to Lanzarote all disembarked safely.
Wed, 02 May 2007 17:25:00 -0500 - Virgin orders fuel efficient Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners
Virgin Atlantic is ordering 15 of the 787-9 Dreamliners - with options on ordering another eight 787-9s and purchase rights on a further 20 aircraft. The 787-9 Dreamliner burns around 27% less fuel per passenger than the A340-300, the aircraft it will replace in the Virgin Atlantic fleet. The order will see Virgin Atlantic take delivery of its new planes from 2011 and could be worth up to US$8 billion.
Virgin Atlantic also revealed today that it would hold a joint biofuel demonstration, with Boeing, Virgin Fuels and engine maker GE Aviation, on one of its aircraft during 2008. Further details will be announced later this year.
Wed, 02 May 2007 17:13:00 -0500 - Bmi to increase transatlantic flights
British airline bmi said on Wednesday it would expand its longhaul flights to take advantage of liberalised transatlantic flying, after boosting operating profit by 85 percent in 2006.
Bmi described "open skies" as a "long held and hard fought aspiration" and said it would develop a wider medium and long haul route network.
Wed, 02 May 2007 16:37:00 -0500
