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Will You Bid For A Seat On Air France's Shiny New A380 From JFK?
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.
Tags: Airline News / Airlines / Boeing / Airbus / → All Tags
Airline Industry Is Probably Hosed All The Way Through 2011
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.
Tags: Airline News / Hawaiian Airlines / Airbus / Airplane News / → All Tags
Hawaiian Airlines One Of The Few Airlines Hiring, Not Firing
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.
Tags: A380 / Air France / Travel Auctions / Airline News / Airplane News / Airbus / → All Tags
Air France Will Auction Seats On A380 First Flights
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.
Tags: Airplanes / A320 / Airbus / China Travel / → All Tags
Airbus A320s Get The Gold 'Made in China' Sticker
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]
Tags: Best Factory Tours / Best-Factory-Tours-Map / Airbus / → All Tags
The Modern Birds' Nest: Take the Airbus Tour
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, crèche—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 Lagardère, 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]
Tags: New Routes / A380 / Emirates / Airbus / Toronto / → All Tags
A380 Continues To Conquer The World, But Still Has Leaky Sink
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.
Tags: Airline Bankruptcy / Airbus / → All Tags
Airline Bankruptcy: Airbus Avoiding Cash-Strapped Carriers
Airbus, whose jets are super-popular among the start-up airline set, has put together a list of companies that may not have the money to afford planes. Probably a good idea in the wake of the Skybus fiasco, which left dozens of A319s undelivered.
Among the airlines on the watch list are some Indian carriers, as well as some in the United States. Officials at Airbus parent EADS weren't more specific about which carriers they're following. The CEO, while concerned, is hoping his company can pull through:
The [order] cancellations have been very limited in the past six months. For the future, we have to be vigilant, but I don't want to panic.
What might make an aircraft manufacturer worried, especially when its competition can't seem to finish the 787? How 'bout the new world of Chinese aviation?
Related Stories:
· Airbus Cautious of Struggling Carriers [FT]
· Airbus coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: B a m s h a d]
Tags: Airbus / Nicolas Sarkozy / → All Tags
Sarkozy Gets a Used "Air Force Un"
French President Nicolas Sarkozy had an embarrassing plane related mishap last year, and now, he's getting a new ride--sort of. France is upgrading its thirty year-old Presidential fleet, but according to the newspaper Liberation, Sarko's new plane, an Airbus A330, will be bought used.
Sarkozy might be ashamed flying around in a pre-owned plane, but it'll definitely be better than his old jet. Up until now, Sarkozy's been doing his traveling in a short-haul Airbus A319.
On his first official trip to China last year, Sarkozy's Airbus had to stop for refueling in Siberia while journalists covering his voyage enjoyed a non-stop journey. Quel dommage!
Related Stories:
· France Upgrades Presidential Aircraft [NYT]
· Nicolas Sarkozy coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo of A330: caribb]
Tags: Airbus / A380 / CrankyFlier / Flight Reviews / → All Tags
Cranky Flier Falls for the Airbus A380
The thought of a two-hour "flightseeing" trip over southern California doesn't seem too pleasant: Santa Ana and Malibu wildfires and struggling to squint through LA's layer cake-like layers of pollution. But when it's a trip taken on the Airbus A380, even a gray view might be enjoyable.
Blogger CrankyFlier certainly thought so and posted a review of his recent trip on the super-jumbo. Offered to 150 people, the trip--which was reportedly "true dork bliss"--began at LAX, looped around southern California, went out over the Pacific and returned to LA. The planes, designed for a quieter, greener and more-comfortable experience, lived up to expectations, according to CF.
The upstairs cabin is a more humane 2-4-2 in coach. The slope in the walls is noticeable, and like on the 747's upper deck, there is a nice little compartment between the window seat and the window...That's a great feature, and I think it's clear that unless you're traveling in a group of three, upper deck seating if the way to go, if you have the choice.
Other bonus features include a super-sized lavatory on the lower level, a sizable crew cabin and, as CF notes, a "massive, heaving wing." Are we jealous that he got the tour? Uh, that'd be a 380-sized yes.
Related Stories:
· Trip Report: Flying on the A380 [The Cranky Flier]
· Airbus coverage [Jaunted]
[Photo: The Cranky Flier]
Tags: Airbus / A380 / MSP / MCO / YUL / → All Tags
Where To Spot the Airbus A380
Airbus is tooling around North America in another of its publicity-loving A380s. And everyone from die-hard plane-spotter to curious soccer dad is out to catch a glimpse of the bird.
After flying into MCO--an airport that won't likely see another A380 anytime soon--the super-jumbo is headed back to France after a stop in Montreal. But don't despair, Minnesota! Your date with the Airbus starts the night of October 26 and goes until the next morning. Just remember: No fooling around!
Related Stories:
· Airbus A380 Visits Orlando [Orlando Sentinel]
· Plane-spotters Jetstruck as Big Bird Flies into Town [The Gazette]
· World's Largest Passenger Jet Lands in Montreal [CTV]
· Airbus to Show Off Jet at MSP [Pioneer Press]
· A380 coverage [Jaunted]
Tags: Airbus / Boeing / A380 / Dreamliner / → All Tags
Adventures of Link: Countdown to the A380
We should all fit on board, right?
Singapore Airlines' first flight of the superjumbo A380 takes off in a little over two weeks, and Airbus must be chilling the champagne. After years of delays, controversy and throwing money down what seemed to be a bottomless pit, the aerospace company can now focus on selling these planes rather than building them.
In the meantime, Boeing is still struggling to get its 787 off the ground. After taking more than 800 orders, the firm has pushed the first deliveries back to late 2008. That said, airlines are still on board to use Boeing's new, high-tech jet, which has a range of over 10,000 miles and, perhaps more importantly, gets great gas mileage.
Related Stories:
· The Giant on the Runway [Economist]
· Boeing Delays Dreamliner [WSJ]
· Delta Adding New Seats and TVs to its Transcons [Official Site]
· iPhones Don't Fly with ATA [Consumerist]
· Steve Fossett and his Plane Still Missing [AP, via Google]
[Photo: af.wikipedia.org]
