Aviation Discussion

[Crawley Ben]

And in the link below is a list of flights that will be operated by British Airways using leased Titan Airways Airbus A320 aircraft from 25th March 2018. Info again courtesy of airlineroute.net - link below

https://www.routesonline.com/news/3...ates-leased-titan-airways-a320-s18-operation/

Cheers

Ben

 

[atillathehunn]

Here's a position I never thought I would be in: ahead of Crawley_Ben on Gatwick news.

Qatar doing double daily to Doha from Gatters.

https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2018/03/07/qatar-airways-return-london-gatwick/

Possibly to do with IAG getting ex-Monarch slots?

 

[Crawley Ben]

Here's a position I never thought I would be in: ahead of Crawley_Ben on Gatwick news.

Qatar doing double daily to Doha from Gatters.

https://www.businesstraveller.com/business-travel/2018/03/07/qatar-airways-return-london-gatwick/

Possibly to do with IAG getting ex-Monarch slots?

Hello Atillathehunn I've only just seen the above article myself as have been at work without anytime for the internet today.

Nice to see Qatar Airways return with the Dreamliners for this new service. Hopefully the route works well for them this time around.

I shall try and beat you to the next Gatwick news related story haha.

 

[atillathehunn]

Challenge accepted

Good news indeed for the airport, and I assume that the BA flights to Gatwick will connect with the Doha flight to offer a decent connection base for the new flights.

Another news story claimed that Virgin are looking for an eastbound flight out of Manchester, probably India. Some indication that it will be a JV with Jet Airways providing connections from America over Manchester to India, as well as O&D from Manchester, which is apparently very strong. I believe I read somewhere that either Mumbai or New Delhi was the second biggest unserved market from Manchester after Bangkok.

https://blueswandaily.com/virgin-at...hester-to-support-its-international-partners/

 

[Butts]

Have Easyjet got Hitachi to design the seats on their latest Airbus Aircraft ?

I only ask because the "Ironing Boards" seem to have transferred from the rails to the air. Experienced the new seating coming back from Geneva to Birmingham this evening. Compared to the BA Airbus from Gatwick to Geneva in the morning it was noticeably more uncomfortable.

Or have I missed something ?

 

[dcsprior]

Have Easyjet got Hitachi to design the seats on their latest Airbus Aircraft ?

I only ask because the "Ironing Boards" seem to have transferred from the rails to the air. Experienced the new seating coming back from Geneva to Birmingham this evening. Compared to the BA Airbus from Gatwick to Geneva in the morning it was noticeably more uncomfortable.

Or have I missed something ?

Personally I find them surprisingly comfortable, at least the ones in front half of the plane (at the same time as the seats changed, an extra row was squeezed in between the overwing exits and the rear) - in fact I prefer them to their old seats .even though they look like they should be less comfortable. Having said that, I've never gone further than Edinburgh-Gatwick or vice versa in them.

 

[Crawley Ben]

Challenge accepted

Good news indeed for the airport, and I assume that the BA flights to Gatwick will connect with the Doha flight to offer a decent connection base for the new flights.

Another news story claimed that Virgin are looking for an eastbound flight out of Manchester, probably India. Some indication that it will be a JV with Jet Airways providing connections from America over Manchester to India, as well as O&D from Manchester, which is apparently very strong. I believe I read somewhere that either Mumbai or New Delhi was the second biggest unserved market from Manchester after Bangkok.

https://blueswandaily.com/virgin-at...hester-to-support-its-international-partners/

Norwegian are now looking to Canada for their next new set of flights. No destinations announced as yet although some have been mooted (Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax etc). Believe the permission required to operate these flights has been granted by the relevant authorities. Will post a further update once something concrete is confirmed.

Cheers

Ben

 

[Shaw S Hunter]

Norwegian are now looking to Canada for their next new set of flights. No destinations announced as yet although some have been mooted (Hamilton, Ottawa, Toronto, Halifax etc). Believe the permission required to operate these flights has been granted by the relevant authorities. Will post a further update once something concrete is confirmed.

Cheers

Ben

Will be interesting to see which aircraft they use: rumours on another forum that A321LRs may be used though close to their limit on range.

 

[Bald Rick]

Personally I find them surprisingly comfortable, at least the ones in front half of the plane (at the same time as the seats changed, an extra row was squeezed in between the overwing exits and the rear) - in fact I prefer them to their old seats .even though they look like they should be less comfortable. Having said that, I've never gone further than Edinburgh-Gatwick or vice versa in them.

Agreed. Had them to Geneva twice, and find them more comfortable. Still prefer the 700s though

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Specially for Crawley Ben...

VR-HIA at Gatwick at 11.12 on 25th January 1986, photographed from G-LINK.

Sorry it's a bit fuzzy; it's been scanned from a matt print.

 

[Crawley Ben]

Specially for Crawley Ben...

VR-HIA at Gatwick at 11.12 on 25th January 1986, photographed from G-LINK.

Sorry it's a bit fuzzy; it's been scanned from a matt print.

View attachment 43740

Thank you Peter!

Ben

 

[Crawley Ben]

Tianjin Airlines to start a new route from Tianjin-Xian-London Heathrow from May 2018.

Flight was previously planned to operate to/from London Gatwick however this has now been changed to reflect the above. Flight will operate twice weekly using Airbus A330-200 aircraft.

The Chongqing-Tianjin route with Tianjin Airlines still operates to/from Gatwick at the current time, however unsure if this will remain at Gatwick or whether the route will also transfer to Heathrow at some point or other.

Cheers

Ben

 

[fowler9]

Agreed. Had them to Geneva twice, and find them more comfortable. Still prefer the 700s though

Had them from Split to Manchester and found them fine. If I recall correctly they very thin but have a lot of give if that makes sense. They aren't like a bit of foam on a solid back.

 

[sarahj]

My flight with BA the other week from LHR to Hamburg got canx and they re-booked me on an earlier flight. This turned out to be a Aer Lingus plane, and ok, we left over an hour late (de-icing took sooo long), but we got a free drink and a sandwich. Better leg room as well. The flight back was 2 hours late. I chat to the staff and from a conversation on a BA flight from Gtw to TFS and return in Jan, was that M&S are not happy with the food arrangements and may pull out.
Me, I'm just not happy with the leg room. I used to travel Monarch to TFS and pay for the extra leg room. With BA, even business class is still the same stingy leg room, and by being carefull with where I sit, I've managed to at least have 3 seats to myself on two flights, middle free on one, ..
Pic, the one with the i-pad showing is a BA TFS-GTW. Other is Aer Lingus LHR-HAM I do like the upper seat storage on the BA seat tho'

 

[atillathehunn]

Poor performance must have something to do with the price and the inability to pay in cash.

I find both the new BA seats and the new easyJet seats quite comfortable, though I'm aware it's all subjective. Leg room is pokey, true, but of course that's my fault for having legs.

Incidentally, I just booked a flight on Vueling back from Barcelona in 2 weeks time. $40 cash, entirely discounted by Avios earned flying BA. No cash component at all (cash is required if you want baggage, but I don't). Likely a terrible redemption rate, but I don't care - combining Ryanair out from Zaventem and Vueling back I got a return to Barcelona for $39.

 

[Crawley Ben]

Informed today that Med-view Airlines have suspended ops at Gatwick for the foreseeable future. No specific reason given at this time.

Cheers

Ben

 

[atillathehunn]

Oh dear, Arik air gone and now Med-View. BA and Virgin ready to pick up the extra money printing on direct Nigeria flights.

 

[Crawley Ben]

Cypriot carrier Cobalt Air is to start flying to Athens from Gatwick this month.

A twice-weekly Airbus A320 service is scheduled to start on March 31 with fares leading in at £49 one-way.

Departures on Tuesdays and Saturday will complement the airline’s six flights a week between Gatwick and Larnaca.

The Gatwick-Athens route will feature a new business class, with bespoke seats in a two-by-two configuration with a 40-inch pitch.

Cobalt claims it will become the only airline offering a business class cabin between Gatwick and Athens.

Chief executive Andrew Madar said: “We are delighted to have this opportunity to widen our footprint in European aviation and commence direct London to Athens services at the end of this month.

“The travelling public has taken the relatively young Cobalt brand and its ethos to its heart.

“Our presence in Athens is already strong due to our existing services to Larnaca and Paphos from the Greek capital.

“We are very excited to bring additional competition and attractive fares to the London to Athens route''

Cheers

Ben

 

[hibtastic]

Hainan Airlines (HU) starting a 4x weekly service between EDI and PKG in June (2 of which will go via DUB) using an A330-300

Qatar Airways (QR) will covert the EDI-DOH route from being operated by a 787-8 to the A350-900XWB year round from July 18.

 

[fowler9]

Apparently Red 3 from the Red Arrows has crashed at RAF Valley. Two crew on board. No news as to if both ejected as far as I know.

 

[GW43125]

Just come across this thread, so please tell me if this isn't the sort of thing we post in here.

BA57 has just departed Heathrow 20 and a half hours late with G-XLEJ, rescheduled from last night's flight with G-XLEC which had a tech issue over Northern France and had to return to Heathrow (safely) after holding at Ockham for half an hour to burn fuel. Well done to BA for rescheduling rather than cancelling.

Out of interest, does anyone here have the emergency notifications on for the flightradar app?

 

[gsnedders]

Apparently Red 3 from the Red Arrows has crashed at RAF Valley. Two crew on board. No news as to if both ejected as far as I know.

Both ejected, though I haven't heard anything about their well-being. (And given forces incurred in ejecting, etc., them being okay is far from a given.)

 

[Dhassell]

Both ejected, though I haven't heard anything about their well-being. (And given forces incurred in ejecting, etc., them being okay is far from a given.)

Very tragic news breaking that the engineer in the plane has died. RIP.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-west-wales-43476222

 

[Domh245]

Both ejected, though I haven't heard anything about their well-being. (And given forces incurred in ejecting, etc., them being okay is far from a given.)

It's been reported that the pilot survived and is in hospital, but the engineer has sadly passed away. Also reported by witnesses that only one person ejected - presumably the pilot.

 

[gsnedders]

It's been reported that the pilot survived and is in hospital, but the engineer has sadly passed away. Also reported by witnesses that only one person ejected - presumably the pilot.

Yeah, seems the eyewitness report I saw reported earlier was wrong.

 

[atillathehunn]

Very sad to see the reports that the engineer died. The news reported this morning that the pilot is still in a serious condition in hospital. I've had the pleasure of seeing their shows a couple of times, always a marvelous sight to behold.

Just come across this thread, so please tell me if this isn't the sort of thing we post in here.

BA57 has just departed Heathrow 20 and a half hours late with G-XLEJ, rescheduled from last night's flight with G-XLEC which had a tech issue over Northern France and had to return to Heathrow (safely) after holding at Ockham for half an hour to burn fuel. Well done to BA for rescheduling rather than cancelling.

Out of interest, does anyone here have the emergency notifications on for the flightradar app?

No I don't have the emergency notifications - does that mean you get alerted to every Squawk 7700 - that could get tiresome.

The Johannesburg route has a bit of a reputation unfortunately for delays. But they do so well on the route they usually do their best to get the plane down there at some point. And yes, sort of thing which gets reported, so please continue to participate.

 

[fowler9]

It's been reported that the pilot survived and is in hospital, but the engineer has sadly passed away. Also reported by witnesses that only one person ejected - presumably the pilot.

Yeah, terribly sad.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Just out of interest does anyone have any comments on Loganair, got a Manchester to Inverness Flight next week and I have never flown with them.

Indeed I have never flown on an aircraft smaller than Boeing 737/ Airbus A319 so will be a bit of an experience for me.

 

[AlterEgo]

Just out of interest does anyone have any comments on Loganair, got a Manchester to Inverness Flight next week and I have never flown with them.

Indeed I have never flown on an aircraft smaller than Boeing 737/ Airbus A319 so will be a bit of an experience for me.

Never flown Loganair but I have flown small aircraft before - assume it's a Saab 340?

They're fun and sprightly aircraft, with the bonus of having single seats down one side of the aisle. Obviously they're louder than jets on the inside, but on a short flight that doesn't matter too much.

 

[YorkshireBear]

Never flown Loganair but I have flown small aircraft before - assume it's a Saab 340?

They're fun and sprightly aircraft, with the bonus of having single seats down one side of the aisle. Obviously they're louder than jets on the inside, but on a short flight that doesn't matter too much.

Flight aware seems to suggest embraer ERJ 145 which if i am correct they use on lease from bmi regional. I has originally assumed itd be a saab.