Ryanair has released a press release saying loud and proud that “IATA CONFIRMS RYANAIR IS THE WORLD’S FAVOURITE AIRLINE”

Page – Ryanair.com

Oooooooooook.

They go on to mention the Volumes of passengers they carry.

Hold up on second there Friends of The Odious Little Man. What is the definition of the word “Favourite”?

According to dictionary.com….

Definition: dictionary.com

Unless Ryanair have a different dictionary, volume of customers carrier does not equal to favouritism. Rather it is an indication how many people are carried.

And I notice Satisfaction is not listed in this IATA survey. Funny that.

It seems Singapore Airlines are liking the A330′s it operates. So much so, they’re leasing another 15 of them, due for delivery between 2013 and 2015.

The new aircraft will replace some of the existing Boeing 777′s that are used for regional and mid-haul services – covering Asia, Australia and Middle East.

They currently operate 19 on the type on 5 year short leases (and extendable), which if they all are operated will take the fleet to 34 aircraft.

Singapore Airlines CEO Goh Choon Phong say that:

“Together with the additional [Airbus] A380s that we are taking delivery of this year, as well as A350s and 787s on order for the years ahead, the lease of the A330s is consistent with our longstanding policy of operating a young and modern fleet.”

No plans have been announced for what is to be done with the older 777-200 fleet. With the long haul Low Cost Carrier Singapore Airlines have announced, they could go to them… or they can sell them on like they did to Royal Brunei….

From a passenger viewpoint, the A330′s whilst smaller than a 777-200, tend to be more comfortable as they are normally arranged in a 2-4-2 arrangement down the back and a 2-2-2 arrangement in the front of the aircraft (thus the maximum people you have to ask to go to leave your seat is 1 no matter where you are sat in the aircraft).

… wait for it…

… wait for it…

The name is Mileage Plus, which will fold in the existing Mileage Plus and Continental OnePass programmes.

More details of the announcement over at MilePoint

Tommorow could be a very long day if you’re coming into the United Kingdom as the Public Services Unions are going out of strike.

UKBA’s Border staff are members of the PCS Union, who are taking their members on strike, as well as Schools, Universities, Courts and probation services, Jobcentres and tax and benefit offices, Driving test centres Some Council Services, and more importantly for travellers – Customs and passports services

BAA is already warning arriving passengers should expect delays at the UK border on Thursday as a result of industrial action by immigration officers, and for those inbound into the London Heathrow hub, UK Border Agency has advised advised that “passengers who can do so may wish to travel on other dates”

E-Border and IRIS may be unavailable depending on staff supervision levels.

Departing passengers are unaffected.

So if you’re coming into the UK tomorrow, expect long immigration times.

Well it seems the Office of Fair Trading may have some teeth after all, in todays announcement that Travel companies have been ordered to end the use of hidden surcharges for passengers paying by card.

For those who are pained with the filling in booking forms, we all know at the page before “buy”, some airlines will decide to levy a fee for the use of a credit card or Debit Card.

This is not reflected in the Headline price, but the final price.

The Office of Fair Trading thinks this is a shame, and has ordered companies (that’s airlines, travel agents, ferries, and anyone else who levys a fee for using a card) to make charges clear from the outset.

More importantly, the Office for Fair Trading wants the law changed so that fees are not levied when paying with a Debit Card, representing a saving for the consumer.

This comes with a threat from the OFT:

“We will take enforcement action against any businesses that do not respond to today’s announcement and instead continue to use misleading surcharging practices,”

Whilst this enforcement to display cost from the outset, it does nothing to address the stupidity of the cost of credit card fees, of which the OFT is not doing anything about at this time.

Expect the Low Cost Carriers to throw their toys out of the pram, and in six months time for prices to go up so the fees are covered…..

Good news for those of us who like to save some money on taxes and like redeeming long haul.

Thai Airways International is starting a route from Brussels to Bangkok from 17th November 2011.

The route will operate 3 times a week on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, using a Boeing 777-200ER at the following times:

TG934    DEP BKK 00:30      ARR BRU 07:00

TG935    DEP BRU 13:30      ARR BKK 06:20+1

This is a bit important as the 777-200ER’s have no First Class seating, but have Business and Economy Class only. It’s not a bad product per say (it’s not a 180 degree flat bed), but “could be better”.

For those remotely interested, see Kevin Gets a Little Seoul for my impressions of Thai Business Class in a similar Boeing 777-200.

Tickets for this route go on sale soon.

For those connecting, Brussels is served as a Star Alliance hub of sorts, with Brussels Airlines, Lufthansa and other members connecting here for European hops (or Eurostar/Thalys for those who don’t want the hassle of another flight onwards). Similarly at the other end you have the vast expanse of options that Bangkok offers.

It’ll be interesting to see how this plays, as this could work really well – providing it’s priced right.

It’s the same every time we have a bit of extreme weather – cancellations ahoy.

National Express Anglia lead the pack with the hot weather causing trouble on the orders of Network Rail, with the heat affecting the overhead power lines.

London to Ipswich, Braintree, Southend are all hit in different ways.

National Express East Anglia says:

“Due to high temperature on Monday 27 June, speed restrictions have been imposed due to the design of the overhead line equipment.

“This equipment is subject to major renewal which will prevent the need for speed restrictions in the long term.

“We intend to operate a full AM and PM peak service.”

Speeds on the Great Eastern Mainline, connecting Norwich, Ipswich, Colchester, Chelmsford, Southend, Shenfield and London are being reduced from up to 90 down to 80 – or in some cases 60.

It could be a long day if you’re travelling. Stock up on water and watch for delays at http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/service_disruptions/today.html

dIn a bid to head off the strike action which BALPA and the Virgin Atlantic pilots are threatening, Sir Richard Branson has sent a letter to the pilots, stating he was “extremely sad” about the threat of strikes, and that he would be happy to meet them for private talks.

There also was a tag-on of the line “it will leave an indelible scar on the company, impact customers’ trust in us and damage the unique and friendly culture at Virgin Atlantic”.

Ooh. Disrupting the cool image of Virgin. Such is life.

BALPA is fighting for a higher rise than the 4% national average offered by Virgin, pilots have not had a rise for some time.

BALPA has yet to formally respond.

If Virgin Pilots do intend to strike, action will be announced this week. Hang tight – this could be interesting.

It’s Sunday again, so it must be time for some more airplane p0rn.

This week, it’s British Midland (BMI) Airbus A319 pushing back at London Heathrow T1

More next week!

Time to do the Timewarp as we look at American Airlines, and safety onboard their then MD-11′s…

More next week!

Well it’s Thursday lunchtime, and here’s the news from Paris.

And we open with Air Asia’s massive order for 200 A320neo’s. Yes – 200 frames. With none of the frames they have on order currently being cancelled this takes Air Asia to 375 frames due from Airbus.

That’s a LOT of frames!

Meanwhile Airbus has disclosed an agreement for 10 A380′s has been tentatively agreed with an undisclosed customer. Not that this sniffs of a company who has ordered.. ooh 15 747-8I’s….

Speaking of A380′s, Skymark Airlines have firmed up it’s options for an extra 2 Airbus A380′s – taking it to 6 frames to order

Meanwhile, talk is abound of the A350-800… and it’s status – with Qatar airways receiving no further updates on release of the first aircraft. It seems that Airbus are concentrating on the A350-900 (the larger variant) than the -800 in the first instance…

More thing evening….