Posted by Seth on May 1, 2012 under News | 
Believe it or not, Boeing has agreed to purchase a handful of Airbus A340-600 aircraft. Even more surprising? This actually isn’t a particularly uncommon move in general, though it is less common in the aviation world. The story comes out of China, where China Eastern has indicated that they are going to purchase 20 Boeing 777 aircraft. At the same time, Boeing will purchase five A346s that China Eastern is currently operating, allowing the carrier to shift their operations to the Boeing aircraft.
So, is this really all that shocking? Actually not. It isn’t particularly uncommon for one vendor to buy out the legacy equipment of another vendor to close a deal. I used to be involved in such negotiations on a somewhat frequent basis. Whether the legacy gear is scrapped or re-sold varies from vendor to vendor and industry to industry, but the general premise is pretty sound.
So, yes, the headline makes for very entertaining reading, but the actual news behind it isn’t all that crazy.
Posted by Seth on March 24, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
In many ways calling it the short route is silly. After all, it is the longest scheduled commercial flight in the world, clocking in at more than 18 hours. Singapore Airlines flight 21, Newark to Singapore, is simply ridiculously far. But it is the fastest way to get from the New York City area to Singapore and it is a pretty stylish way to do it, too.
The route is flown on an Airbus A340-500 with only 100 seats, all business class. Booking one of those seats used to require a large chunk of cash (or getting lucky with a couple routings out of the Pacific Islands) but recently they started showing up in limited quantities for award bookings. Needless to say, I jumped at the opportunity and even though I don’t really have any pressing reason to be in Singapore I’m on my way. It seems like a reasonable enough place to spend a couple days. And the flights to and from seem pretty fun, too.
The Seat
With such a low density seat map there is plenty of room on board for each seat and Singapore Airlines takes advantage of that fact. The layout is 1-2-1 across the A340 body, the same spacing as First Class on Lufthansa. The seats are about 30″ wide; it is quite spacious.
When the time came to convert the seat to a bed it actually flips forward rather than reclining all the way back. This is good and bad, as it somewhat limits the reclining positions available, but it also means that the full width is usable for bed mode. I chose the bulkhead seat so the footwell was full width as I don’t really lie my feet going in to a cubby hole. That part worked out well, though there is a gap between the seat and the well, basically forcing you to sleep at a slight angle.
Also, the bed is quite firm. Not a problem for me but I could see how some might not enjoy it too much. With a few pillows and sufficient booze in my system from the lounge and from dinner I had no problem sleeping for a solid 8 or 9 hours. Or again for another few hours after my mid-flight snack.
Checking in for the flight at the counter the agent was somewhat surprised that I had selected the seat I had. He mentioned the proximity to the lavs and the potential noise and smell issues there. That turned out to not be an issue for me, though I can see how it could be annoying.
Food & Beverage
There are three meals served during the flight. The first is a dinner served shortly after takeoff. Next is a lunch mid-flight and finally breakfast shortly prior to arrival. I very much prefer this sequence of service over the option from Thai on their soon-to-be-retired LAX-Bangkok flight. It just makes more sense. Also, the food was much better.
My first meal started with a salad and bread. Fresh veggies and a couple strips of seared fish on top, with a nice balsamic dressing.
For the main course I had the braised pork served over egg noodles in a broth. Excellent presentation and the food was quite tasty, too.
Finally, for dessert, I had both the chocolate ice cream and the chocolate mousse, though I did pass on the petit fours.
Somewhere over Uzbekistan, I was hungry again. Having been asleep for the past eight hours that seemed to make sense and I wandered back towards the galley to see what my options were. Set up in the galley was a nice spread of chips, fruit, cookies and other snacks; I grabbed a couple for later. But I was thinking of something more substantive. The flight attendant greeted me by name (little things like that really make me happy) and offered up a few lunch options. I went with the chicken over udon noodles. About 10 minutes later she brought it out to my seat.
The flavors were great; no real surprise there. But it wasn’t heated all the way through. I actually didn’t mind that too much, but it was somewhat surprising. My seatmate ordered the same a few minutes after I did and his was heated evenly. Go figure.
Oh, and they had Dunkin Donuts on board. They spelled it wrong in the menu, but they had an actual box of Dunkin – the variety pack – and gladly served up donuts upon request.
For breakfast I had another noodle option, sliced beef in broth with noodles. The omelet looked fine, too, but I like the flavors of the soups. This also may have been the first time I’ve had a 4-course breakfast, with fruit, pastries and yogurt all preceding the actual meal. The bagel was actually quite good, too.
In-flight Entertainment
The IFE system on Singapore routinely gets high marks and it is easy to see why. The screen is large – 15.4″ – and the range of titles available is rather extensive. Whether you want TV, movies, audio or games, there are plenty of options to choose from. Me? I just watched the moving map when I wasn’t sleeping. But I like that there were lots of other options available.
Also, there is a universal plug, a couple USB plugs, iPhone/iPad interface and RCA jacks for hooking in to the system. Even if you don’t like what they’re showing, there are still plenty of options.
Lounge/Ground Services
The lounge used in Newark is the SAS lounge. It is pretty nice and for the late departure of the Singapore Air flight there are no other passengers in the lounge. They up the catering a notch to offer a more substantial meal option around 9:15pm, tiding folks over until the dinner served on board. I enjoyed the self-serve alcohol and a bit of a snack and then headed out to the plane.
As I mentioned before, the first agent I dealt with suggested that the seat I had wasn’t so great. I told him I was flying with a friend so I didn’t want to change anything until I could speak with my friend. Turns out the same guy also handled that check-in and remembered that I had mentioned we were flying together. Again, a little thing, but one that was quite nice.
No arrivals facilities in Singapore upon landing at 6am is a bit rough, but that’s how they roll.
Other bits
A couple other things of note related to the trip. First, it is not at all common to see numbers like these on the flight map data page. More than 18 hours and more than 15,000 km left to fly is insane. The flight actually ended up being nearly 19 hours in the air due to headwinds.
Next up, it is somewhat strange that there is no amenity kit on the flight. All the goodies are stocked in the lavs and it certainly reduces waste, but I was still a bit surprised. They do distribute eye masks and socks to all passengers.
Finally, the pilot put the plane down so hard on arrival in Singapore that we actually bounced off the runway. And when we pulled in to the gate the APU was inoperable. Dunno that the two are definitely related, but it was one of the hardest landings I’ve ever experienced. Of course, the FAs played it down suggesting that it just felt hard because we had been flying 19 hours. But the look on their faces when it actually happened belied that smoothness.
Overall there is very little bad to say about the experience, other than that 19 hours in a plane is a really long time. I’m quite happy I got the opportunity to make the trip and look forward to having this as an option for future award travels.
Tags: Airbus, award, Dining, Flying, Lufthansa, New York City, Newark, review, Singapore, Singapore Air, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on March 12, 2012 under News |
Remember back when the Airbus A380 had some delays and an executive from Boeing tossed a cheap shot at them about how well their 787 Dreamliner program was going? Yeah, not so classy and clearly angering to the gods of fate. But apparently that’s the way these two like to play.
Airbus has a comment out today on their Twitter stream that roughly matches the previous Boeing comment for not being particularly classy:
And there have been more since then…
Sure, the facts are generally accurate, but the editorializing in there just seems tacky to me.
And lest this be perceived as as one-sided "fight" there are the Boeing tweets to contend with:
Oy. Is this really how major corporations behave now? So sad. Grow up, kids.
Posted by Seth on January 30, 2012 under Flying, News |
Thai Airways has announced the end of their non-stop service between Thailand and the United States. The flights will be reduced from the current daily service to 5x weekly on February 1 and will shift to one-stop service via Seoul starting in May. At that time the route will also shift from the gas-guzzling Airbus A345, the only plane flying today with the range to make the non-stop trip (Update: I forgot the 772LR can make it, but TG doesn’t have any), to a Boeing 777-200ER, which has lower fuel burn rates but also a much more limited range. This new flight schedule will only operate 4x weekly. Additionally, the change means no more premium economy product on the route as the carrier’s Boeing aircraft are not configured with that seating. The connection will also increase the travel time between Los Angeles and Bangkok by approximately 2 hours each direction.
This move doesn’t come as too much of a surprise given the trend in jet fuel prices, but it is still somewhat disappointing to see the option disappear. Then again, when I flew it last July I wasn’t particularly impressed with either the hard or soft products on board. And that was in business class. So maybe it is for the best that it is going away.
If you’ve got a ticket booked on TG 794/795 now would be a pretty good time to call the carrier and get that straightened out.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on January 26, 2012 under Flying, frequent flyer, News |
Today’s quarterly earnings conference call from JetBlue had a few interesting bits of information that was unveiled, giving insight into future developments that can be expected from the carrier. The company reported a profit for both Q4 2011 and the full year, but there are also some very real challenges that the company is facing in 2012. As one person said on the call, "The honeymoon we enjoyed prior to this period is over."
A lot of the news which I found most interesting was around the "Even More" products that the company sells. What started with Even More Legroom seats offering additional pitch in the cabin has expanded to Even More Space (offering pre-boarding to ensure overhead bin space) and Even More Speed for access to priority security lines in many airports. This service started in 15 airports and recently expanded to 9 more. And selling the service resulted in $120MM of incremental revenue for the company in 2011. That’s a huge number, more than 20% of the total incremental that the company saw in the year.
Given the high revenue realized from the offering, it is not surprising that the company is expanding the number of seats for which it can be purchased. Specifically, the company confirmed that they will be adding 8 more seats to their Embraer E90 planes in the Q2/Q3 timeframe this year. Full details aren’t yet available on the announcement (seems to be a bit of a pattern there lately) but a quick review of the seat map suggests that they can get away with sliding a couple rows behind the exit row around and not really have to change too much else around, so long as they’re willing to keep the 34" pitch that the E90 has. If they go for the 38" that the A320s have they could also do that behind the exit row with minimal impact to customers, changing the other seats in that section from 33" to 32" pitch. Either way, it looks to be a positive change for the company to make more EML seats available.
Beyond the Even More bits, the honeymoon comment piqued my curiosity. The company had a huge growth spurt a few years back, taking on a bunch of new airplanes in a very short timeframe. Those acquisitions are now hitting the magic point in the life of an airplane known as a "C-Check." The maintenance costs for the C-Check and engine restorations on the aircraft are significant and the number of planes the company has going through that process in the next couple years is quite high. The result is a spike in maintenance costs. JetBlue has worked with their maintenance suppliers to mitigate the costs somewhat, but it will still be a challenge for the company in the coming years. And that’s all with a fleet that is still only 6.1 years old on average with a maximum age of 12 years.
There was mention of the new Hawaiian Airlines partnership, but no additional details shared there. And it was suggested that 5-7 new partners will be coming online in 2012, with links at Boston and Orlando likely rather than just at New York City. I’m betting on JAL being a partner via Boston with their new service there starting soon, but who knows.
Other than those bits, not a whole lot of interest. Plenty of accounting mumbo jumbo but nothing that seems especially significant at this point. And there are still a number of open questions, like where the company stands on rolling out additional benefits for their most frequent customers or many of the partnership details with Hawaiian. I guess patience will have to suffice.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on January 23, 2012 under frequent flyer, News, points |
The partnership with Hawaiian Airlines marks a number of firsts for JetBlue. While all the details are still not yet available there is enough information in the press release about the partnership to identify these developments, all of which seem to be quite positive.
For starters, Hawaiian will be, subject to government approval, adding their code to some JetBlue flights. None of the previously established interline agreements have included such a marketing offer. This is not particularly significant from an operational perspective but for pricing reasons this should allow fares to be sold that are not necessarily additive via the connecting city. That’s a big step for JetBlue and a great benefit for the customers in terms of pricing.
The other major first is that the deal will permit not only accrual of points in both programs – on all flights, unlike the limited partnership with American Airlines – but it will also permit redemption on all flights:
Hawaiian and JetBlue have reached a preliminary agreement to allow members of each carrier’s frequent flyer program to earn and redeem loyalty points or miles for travel on either carrier. Under this agreement JetBlue’s TrueBlue members will soon be able to accrue points on any Hawaiian-operated flight, while HawaiianMiles members will be able to earn miles on any JetBlue-operated flights. Similarly, frequent fliers will be able to redeem their points or miles for travel on either carrier’s network, bringing new, much-requested destinations to each program’s loyal members.
The details on earning and redemption rates are scarce at this point. And the two programs are quite different, with Hawaiian operating a more traditional model (points earnt by distance flown; redemption calculated by zones) while both earning and redemption rates in the JetBlue TrueBlue program are more tightly tied to the fare on the flight. Obviously there will need to be some reconciliation between these two schemes along the way.
The arrangement also marks the first time that a JetBlue partner will operate from the JetBlue terminal at JFK airport. There is at least one gate in T5 which can support the Airbus A330 aircraft that Hawaiian will be flying in to New York City, though it remains to be seen what the impact is on the waiting areas with a 294-passenger aircraft using the space; the JetBlue A320s max out at 150 passengers.
Still a number of questions to be answered, but lots of positive developments so far.
Related Posts:
Posted by Seth on January 18, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
By the time we got to London we had been on the go roughly 34 hours. Sure, a decent amount of that time was spent in the glorious confines of Emirates‘ A380 First Class Suites but we were still pretty beat. The last flight of our vacation was all that remained – British Airways from Heathrow to JFK – in first class on the 747-400. When booking the flights I did my best to ensure that we would have the new first class product so as to hopefully experience the best that BA has to offer. When we got home I actually had to go back and double check to make sure that the product we saw was the new one; the experience itself wasn’t defining enough that I knew.
Yes, I had just come off of Emirates and their Suite so I’m sure that my point of reference is somewhat skewed. And I’m a bit disappointed that we couldn’t get a spa treatment in the Concorde Room lounge, though that is in part due to our short connection and my not pre-booking because of uncertainty with the connection times. But the seat itself was not particularly impressive, especially not for a first class product.
There is no doubt that the seat is good on privacy, but it isn’t particularly large. And, unlike other first class seats I’ve flown in, the British Airways seat tapers somewhat dramatically at the foot. Not enough to be uncomfortable to fly in, but I’m also not nearly the tallest or widest passenger they’re going to be dealing with; I’m actually probably smaller than average for the F cabin.
On the plus side, the soft product on board was incredibly good. I slept nearly the entire flight in the quite comfy PJs I was offered so I didn’t really eat or drink much, but the bits I had were very tasty. At the top of my list was one of the appetizers, a seafood dish that was delicious and also quite nicely presented.
I’ll give a bit of a pass on the lounge bit as missing the spa treatment was at least partially my fault. That said, the quality of the food served was, well, British. Not bad, but also not particularly awesome or inspired. And the soft product was very, very nice, definitely first class. But the hard product on board – the seat – really was a bit of a let down. I understand that the new seat – particularly the iFE options are better than the old one. To me that’s more a comment on how bad the old one was than an endorsement of the new product.
At this point I’d say that there are a number of business class products that I’d probably take over the BA first option, unless BA is pricing first at the business class price. In this case it was more or less free as an add-on to the Emirates fare home from Sri Lanka so I’m not really upset about it, but I was definitely expecting better from BA. I literally had to check after the flight to figure out if I really was on the new product. That’s probably not the impression they’re trying to leave with customers.
On the plus side, snagging seat 1K and getting to look out the front of the plane was pretty awesome.
Tags: A380, Airbus, Boeing, British Airways, Dining, Emirates, in flight, London, NYE2011, Photos, review, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on January 17, 2012 under Dining, Flying, Review, Trip Reports |
It took a long time before I managed to get myself into a proper first class cabin on a long-haul flight. I still haven’t actually done it all that often. And now I believe myself wholly spoiled from enjoying it in the future. I’ve had the great pleasure of flying in the Emirates A380 First Class Suite.
Coming home from Sri Lanka actually involved two flights in Emirates First, one on a 777-300 which is a proper F cabin and pretty impressive on its own. The seat is huge and offers a decent amount of privacy, though the 2-2-2 configuration does mean that the outside pairs involve climbing over someone or having someone climb over you for window/aisle access. As we were a couple traveling together it wasn’t a huge deal.
The other amenities on the 773 are comparable in many ways to the A380. Each seat has a private bar, though the good stuff comes from the flight attendants, not pre-stocked at the seat. And the ICE entertainment system is awesome in so many ways. Huge screens and options for both movies and music.
My only minor complaint on the first flight is that there was no meal service at departure. It is only a 3:30 flight and it leaves around 3am local time from Colombo. Still, the food options in the airport sucked and I was hungry. I chose to sleep through breakfast to try to actually get a couple hours of sleep so I basically had no food on the flight. Other than that, lots of fun.
Our layover in Dubai was just long enough to get lost in the lounge (I’ll post about that later) and then it was time for the crown jewel of the trip: A380 Suites.
The 773 provided a lot of space and privacy. The A380 bested it by far. The closing doors on the suites, in particular, was a nice touch for privacy. Also the 1-2-1 layout allows for isolation quite well, Sitting in the middle we were unable to actually see out the windows at all which was slightly annoying, but that’s how much privacy it afforded passengers. The photo below shows just how much space there is; my 22" TravelPro fit nicely under the desk at my seat, with plenty of room for the seat to still recline into bed mode.
The service started with the purser presenting our menus for the day and offering up some quite lovely advice, "The champagne today is, of course, Dom 2002." Suffice it to say, a bottle or two of that ended up in my belly. There’s a 21 year Single Malt and an 8 year rum, too, if that’s your thing. And the wine list was pretty impressive as well.
The food service was also at the top of my experiences, with a couple minor caveats. I liked the meals better than those I had in Lufthansa First last year. There were more choices, we were served more of them, and I thought that the quality of the food was slightly better.
My wife did remind me that the Lufthansa options are a bit more of a stretch in terms of providing a fine dining experience – fancier preparations and presentations – but I think that Emirates is nearly at the same level there and delivered on the attempt much better. Even the caviar service appeared better to me on Emirates.
You can eat anything you want off the menu whenever you want to. I understand that there is some flexibility to that effect on Lufty but they weren’t nearly as happy about providing it. And when I couldn’t make up my mind between the lobster and the lamb, the flight attendant solved that problem quite quickly, serving up both. They were delicious, though the lobster truly shined.
Oh, and then there was the shower. At roughly 35,000 feet over Ankara I stepped into my "spa experience" and enjoyed a quick rinse. We had been on the go for about 30 hours at that point and the shower was quite refreshing. I was somewhat concerned about the 5 minute limit on water but I ultimately found that by turning it off when soaping it was more than enough for me. There are a full set of shower amenities provided and the flight attendants are happy to explain the process to you, including the instructions to sit down on the bench should the plane encounter turbulence.
The flight attendant also made sure to ask what beverage I’d like to have when I finished my shower, and I came out to not only the aged rum that I had requested but also a fruit plate to have as a snack. She was top notch.
While she was great I cannot really say the same for her colleague across the aisle. My wife and I received notably different levels of service. Even when we specifically requested to dine at the same time we had issues with the timing of the food. Not the end of the world by any stretch, but it was a bit annoying. She was good, but not effusively so like the FA on my side.
There are some other things that are a little different with Emirates. There isn’t a proper amenity kit, per se, in that there is no little bag to take home with you.That said, everything you need – and then some – is provided either at your seat or in the lav.
And then, all too quickly, we were on final approach into London. The flight was only 7.5 hours. They were 7.5 hours of aerophillic bliss, but it was done. And now I am spoiled rotten. Flying in First will never be the same (though I’m more than willing to try just to confirm that concern).
Tags: A380, Airbus, Colombo, Dining, Dubai, Emirates, in flight, London, Lufthansa, NYE2011, Photos, review, Trip Report
Posted by Seth on December 31, 2011 under frequent flyer, points, Trip Reports |
As 2011 comes to a close it is time once again to look back at all the crazy I’ve managed to experience in such a short period of time. This was once again a banner year for me, with plenty of new experiences. It also had a number of repeats, however, and those were mostly good, too. And so, without further ado, some of the highlights of my 2011 travel numbers.
It was a personal best for me in terms of total miles flown at 217,781. That is more than eight times around the globe (though I only did that as an actual trip once) or 87% of the way to the moon. The miles were spread across 103 segments for an average of over 2100 miles/flight; apparently this was the year of long-haul for me. That said, I also managed to grab some really short flights, like a 93 mile hop from Carlsbad, CA to Los Angeles. Awesome views of sunrise on that one.
It was also the year of one million actual flight miles. I actually know there are many more from other trips as a kid that I cannot properly document so I’m not counting them, but I definitely became a millionaire this year.
Of the 104 segments there were 54 routes I had previously not flown. There were also 54 in coach. That’s right, more than half the flights (though only 47% of the total miles flown) were in coach. It isn’t always champagne and caviar for me, though there is plenty of that, too. Oh, and only 5 of those segments were work-related, making up less than 1% of the total mileage flown. Only 19 of the flights were on regional planes of fewer than 90 seats.
Speaking of airplanes, I flew on 33 different aircraft types, including 7 I had not previously flown on. I finally got to fly on an A380 (though I had been on one a few times prior) and I got to fly the 787 in its first week of commercial service. I also got the A345 and A342, a Dash8-100 and an E35, completing my collection of all the Embraer RJs. That’s something of an ignominious accomplishment, but there it is.
I flew on 17 different carriers, of which 5 were new to me. SriLankan, AirOne, South African, ANA, Austrian and Alaska Airlines were the new ones and all but AirOne were quite pleasant.
As for where I traveled, there weren’t as many new countries for me this year – only 7 – as last. Austria, South Africa, Mauritius, China, Brazil, Argentina and Sri Lanka are the new entries in that collection, bringing my total number over 50. I managed to enter a foreign country 20 times through the year, plus all the returns to the USA. No wonder I needed extra pages in my passport. Again. Two of the trips had 3 countries in them; I’ll best that mark early in 2012 with a six-crossing week in January.
Perhaps the most surprising number to me, however, was the total spend I had in consular fees. I paid for new pages for my passport and for my wife. There were also the visas required for India, China, Brazil and Argentina (though I ended up getting out of that last one). Overall I spent nearly $1,000 on consular fees alone. No regrets there at all, but the numbers can add up in a hurry.
I didn’t count how many nights were in hotels or on airplanes (something to add to my list next year, I suppose) but my best guess count based on my TripIt records is nearly 100 nights spent not at home.
There was a trip derailed by an earthquake (I ended up in Guam/Hong Kong instead of Tokyo) and then two more trips later in the year to Tokyo to make up for it. I had an airline try to charge me more while at the gate and I managed to take a VDB in a foreign language. I got to drive a jet bridge, load baggage, make boarding announcements and walk a plane out on pushback (all appropriately supervised, of course).
I got to join three different couples in celebrating their weddings all over the world and narrowly missed out on crashing a couple more wedding parties here in India towards the end. I got to relive a bit of history with TWA and a ride in a helicopter over the tip of South Africa.
I saw penguins, went diving in the Pacific and pet an elephant in India. There were also giraffes, cheetahs and antelopes. Plenty of wild in my life.
Indeed, it was a good year, maybe even a great year. And 2012 shows no signs of that letting up. Happy new year to all; may your upgrades clear and your flights on time.
Tags: 787, A380, Airbus, Alaska Airlines, ANA, Argentina, Austria, Boeing, Brazil, China, Dreamliner, Embraer, India, Mauritius, South Africa, South African Airways, Sri Lanka, SriLankan
Posted by Seth on December 19, 2011 under Flying, News |
Millions of dollars have been spent to learn the answer to this question. Thus far, all indications are that it is not possible. But that doesn’t stop folks from trying. Apparently there is another billionaire out there looking to become a millionaire, because someone is apparently going to give it a another shot.
Odyssey Airlines is the supposed name of the upstart which is expected to launch operations between London‘s City Airport and New York City‘s JFK with a Bombardier CSeries jet in an all business class configuration. This service would compete directly with the twice daily service offered by British Airways on Airbus A318 jets, with the added advantage of not requiring the fuel stop in Ireland on the west-bound leg.
The operation would launch in 2014 or 2015, assuming the timeline for the aircraft deliveries doesn’t slip. Oh, and there is apparently no one out there who actually works for Odyssey Airlines, so none of these details can actually be confirmed, but that hasn’t stopped many from reporting on the potential.
Breaking into the aviation market is horribly difficult and expensive. Doing it on one of the most heavily trafficked routes – NYC-LON – where there are something like 30 daily frequencies split between at least 5 carriers is even more challenging. And doing it in an uncertain market where fuel costs are significantly higher than they were last time a couple upstarts tried to break in is almost certifiably crazy. On the plus side, the new aircraft will have lower operating costs, but that doesn’t come anywhere close to guaranteeing success.
Also of interest is that the company involved has supposedly ordered 10 aircraft. That’s way too many to operate only on the NYC route so it can be presumed that there might be other routes considered as well. I can think of a few others in the same range that would be likely candidates, but they are also heavily contested and there isn’t a whole lot of room on the margins to make it work.
Don’t get me wrong – I hope it actually launches and that I get a chance to fly on Odyssey. But, much like Maxjet, SilverJet and eos before them, I don’t expect that opportunity to last long.
Related posts:
Posted by Seth on December 12, 2011 under Flying, Internet, News |
Emirates has announced the activation of the OnAir in-flight internet service on their Airbus A380 fleet. The service, available today on 11 of 19 and installed from the factory on new deliveries starting in mid-2012, will allow for WiFi data service as well as GSM voice and data services for mobile phones.
The price-point for the service ranges from ~$7.50-$15, depending on the device type and amount of data consumed. They expect that the plans will more than meet the needs of their users based on testing they have performed over the past several months. The prices are lower than what Lufthansa charges for their services across the Atlantic so that should help with customer adoption.
Hopefully the A380 I’m flying in January is one of the 11 with the service active. I’d love to give it a try at that price point.
More from Emirates on the announcement here.
