Airbus Archives : Plane Sailing

Are Aussies giving the Middle East the miss?

Friendly crew are part of the Emirates experience. (Emirates.com)

Some bad news for Australians hoping to experience flying in an Airbus A380: Emirates, the biggest operator of these planes, is scaling back its services from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, replacing the superjumbos with Boeing 777 aircraft.

As reported by Australian Business Traveller, this will effect people at the pointy end (or, in the case of the A380, the top deck) who won’t get the latest first-class seating or the use of a bar.

How ultra long-haul flights will change the way we travel

Qantas says it wants to be able to fly from the east coast of Australia (Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne) non-stop to London. It’s just waiting for aircraft manufacturers to build a plane that can do it.

Given that a Boeing 777 LR plane can already fly non-stop for 17 hours, a 20-plus-hour flight may not be far away. Airbus’s A350 apparently also has potential.

But it will come with consequences — Continue reading How ultra long-haul flights will change the way we travel

Fancy your own Airbus?

Want to own an airline? Well you may be disappointed, but not surprised, to discover that Airbus has increased the price of its fleet from January 1 this year.

According to manufacturer’s website, after an adjustment, the entry level model, the A318, is now US$75.9 million.

Continue reading Fancy your own Airbus?

Boeing, Boeing, gone

The classic Little Golden Book Gordon’s Jet Flight, by Naomi Glasson and Mel Crawford, was first published in 1961. I read it when I was old enough to read Little Golden Books.

In my memory, it was about a little boy’s first flight on a Boeing 747 Jumbo, but as the cover shows, it was about the B707, which was still a mighty plane in its day.

Continue reading Boeing, Boeing, gone

Review: Oman Air to Singapore

Oman Air A330-300* business class
Abu Dhabi-Muscat-Kuala Lumpur-Singapore-KL-Muscat-Abu Dhabi
June, 2016

Yes, it’s the long way around to get from Abu Dhabi to Singapore and back, but with Oman Air it was a pleasure.

As I discovered when I flew to Bangkok recently, Oman Air has a very good business-class product. Continue reading Review: Oman Air to Singapore