Jaunted - Tag: Airbus

Will You Bid For A Seat On Air France's Shiny New A380 From JFK?

Omri — 2009-10-01T14:48:13-05:00

Details are finally here for that Air France auction we gave you the heads up on in August. Starting today and going through October 21, Air France will be auctioning off tickets for the maiden voyage of their new A380.

The flights will go from NYC to Paris on November 20th and then back on November 21st, but of course the auctions are starting well in advance. Each round of bidding will last 3, 5, 7, or 10 days and all proceeds will go to Air France Foundation charities. You can go to the main auction site for more details.

Ticket winners will be eligible for an array of perks collectively described as an "itinerary of cultural activities and shopping." For the NYC-Paris flight that basically means they'll take you to all kinds of small stores where you can drop your devalued USD's, the upshot being you can tell people their Christmas presents came from "Parisian boutiques." The Paris-NYC flight will also have three "key figures in the world of art and culture," the presence of which will presumably be a boon to star-struck passengers.

Airline Industry Is Probably Hosed All The Way Through 2011

Omri — 2009-09-14T17:33:52-05:00

Summer has already been a bloodbath for the airline industry, and now new projections are showing a grim situation all the way through 2011. These figures are coming from Boeing and Airbus, two companies who agree on nothing except the very high probability that they're in trouble:

International air travel, whacked by the economic downturn, is starting to stabilize but may not recover until 2011 as companies and passengers continue to scale back.... Airlines have racked up massive losses since the global economic crisis led companies to curb travel and shipping and consumers cut back on trips. Carriers, their losses already $6 billion in first six months of the year, are set to lose a total of $9 billion for all of 2009, according to the International Air Transport Association.

HI: Hawaiian Airlines One Of The Few Airlines Hiring, Not Firing

kjb — 2009-08-26T12:09:41-05:00

If we had to work for an airline, we’d probably select Hawaiian Airlines as our number one pick. After all, the likelihood of scoring a freebie flight to somewhere good and tropical is pretty high with these guys. Well, if you’re like us, now is your chance to join the team as they are looking to add some new worker bees. They’ve already added 100, and are looking to add about 170 more employees.

They need all the new employees to work the bells and whistles on the new Airbus A330-200 jets that they’ve already ordered. The 100 workers that just joined the crew are primarily mechanics, ramp agents, and service representatives in preparation for all this new growth. Their first fancy new jet is set to arrive in April 2010, so get your resume ready.

Air France Will Auction Seats On A380 First Flights

JetSetCD — 2009-08-03T12:29:28-05:00

What's the reason to buy and fly one of the giant Airbus A380s? Well, profit of course; more seats jammed into one flight means more paying passengers. Alas, this won't be the case when Air France becomes the third airline to trot out their A380.

Just like Singapore Airlines before them, Air France is using their first flight—from Paris-CDG to New York-JFK on November 21—to mainly get publicity by auctioning off 380 of the 538 seats on the flight and the return for charity. We can expect the rest of those seats to probably be press and airline officials.

Tianjin: Airbus A320s Get The Gold 'Made in China' Sticker

amandak — 2009-05-20T09:31:57-05:00

Can a country which uses people to push planes around be relied upon to manufacture an airplane from scratch? We're not too comfortable with the concept, but China has just sent its first homemade A320 on a test flight, and all went well.

It comes from the new Airbus assembly line in Tianjin, north of Beijing, which opened last year. We presume assembly line workers in Tianjin are a whole lot cheaper than in Toulouse, France; we just hope they know just as much about sticking airplane bits together as do the French who've been at it since Airbus began in the 1970s.

This first A320 is destined to fly the local skies for Sichuan Airlines, and Airbus' China branch is due to pump out another ten planes by the end of the year; by 2011, the factory's due to be producing four planes per month. Now, in addition to our toothpastes and "Italian leather" shoes, we've got to start checking our airplanes for that ubiquitous "Made in China" sticker.

Related Stories:
· China's First Airbus A320 Completes Maiden Flight [The Age]
· Chinese Airport Travel: New Solutions for Hydraulic Problems [Jaunted]
· The Modern Birds' Nest: Take the Airbus Tour [Jaunted]

[Photo: Vidiot]

Blagnac: The Modern Birds' Nest: Take the Airbus Tour

egw — 2009-05-06T12:52:11-05:00

Become an informed consumer while still on vacation! Check out Jaunted's newest series of the best factory tours the world over. This week, go international!

Missed Airbus' periodic tours of its newest planes? Visit the birthplace—or as the natives say, cr�che—of the A380 and other magnificent flying machines in Toulouse, France.

Aerophile visitors are taken in a bus around the Airbus compound, named for French air entrepreneur Jean Luc Lagard�re, and shown the testing sites and runways where both parts and finished planes get the full quality assurance treatment.

Then, joy of joys, you get to play plane voyeur and watch the actual assembly process of one of these megaplanes from high above the assembly floor—acrophobics need not apply!

Tours are offered Monday through Saturday from 9am to 6pm, at €14 a head for the A380 tour (€11 for ages 6 to 18, free for kids under 6). You must however call them (+33 (0)5 34 39 42 00) and specifically request a schedule for tours in English, normally offered during the summer only; make sure to call at least 2 days before you plan to visit and be ready to offer up your full name, birthdate and nationality. Bring your passport, but leave the camera at home as photography while on the tour is not allowed—quelle merde.

Related Stories:
· Jean Luc Lagarde Tour: A380 Site [Taxiway.fr]
· Tour an Airbus A30 at JFK [Jaunted]
· Airbus A380 Flight To Nowhere: Peter Greenberg Addicted To Hot Tail Cam Action [Jaunted]

[Photo: flavio_ferrari]

A380 Continues To Conquer The World, But Still Has Leaky Sink

kjb — 2009-03-17T12:22:00-05:00

When we last left the biggest bird in the sky, The A380, she was looking to welcome her one-millionth passenger aboard Singapore Airlines. Now she’s looking to continue her world dominance, by initiating service from Toronto to Dubai three times a week starting in June thanks to Emirates. Hopefully the citizens of Canada can provide some life into the Middle East party zone, because all we here about it lately is more and more bad news.

To handle the big beast, Toronto Pearson International Airport had to fix up some of its infrastructure. Over the last 10 years the airport had been sprucing things up, including strengthening and widening the runway. They’ve also got two new double-decker gates that can handle the unloading of almost 500 passengers and their 1,000 pieces of carry on luggage.