Under The Radar

Aer Lingus Keeping the Celtic Tiger on Life Support

2010-04-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

This would be ideal for lowering the fares in May...

When people expected Christoph Mueller to bring a Germanic influence to Aer Lingus when he was appointed CEO last year they probably weren't expecting him to bring something akin to the German hyperinflation of 1923.

I was looking at taking day trip to Manchester from Dublin and almost choked when I saw the fare quoted by Aer Lingus. €370.99 for the flights I wanted to take! That’s equal to €0.70 per kilometre. Applying this rate would mean a fare of €23,822 for Heathrow to Sydney. Unrealistic comparison? Yes, but hey this one of those pointless blogs where the author rambles on about anything!

The piece de resistance of this booking is the good people at Aer Lingus have put a star beside the €194.99 fare on the return leg from Manchester to tell you that there are just three seats remaining at that fare - as if you are supposed to feel luckier than when Charlie Bucket unwrapped a chocolate bar to discover he had won a golden ticket. Oh and the figure shown above doesn’t include the spurious €10 “handling fee” that comes with the booking.

So what is the reason for this madness? Well, it’s the last day of the English Premier League and Manchester United are playing a home game. It’s unbelievable that there are people out there willing to pay that sort of fare but there’s obviously life in the comatose Celtic Tiger yet. As for me I would rather fly to Liverpool on Ryanair for a third of the price or go retro and take the ferry for even less still. Or for just an additional €51 you could fly with Delta to JFK.

Spirit Airlines - Graduates of the Ryanair Nickel and Dime College

2010-04-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

LCC typically stands for low cost carrier but it seems let's cripple customers has become more appropriate.

Spirit Airlines is an airline I have never flown and one I am now less likely than ever to fly. This is an airline that has decided to introduce charges of up to $45 for putting carry-on baggage in the overhead bins. It looks like Spirit are out-Ryanairing Ryanair.

It is possible to avoid the carry-on charge by placing the item of baggage underneath the seat in front. However, as someone who is relatively tall this is not something I would normally do due to the lack of legroom. I can understand why some baggage should be checked in rather than carried on (e.g. liquids, size, weight, etc) but I fail to see what stowing a bag under the seat in front instead of in the overhead bin achieves. Yes, the overhead bins can be crammed like crazy on some flights but if this is an effort to police that then the most practical way to tackle the problem is to just take oversized bags off passengers at the boarding gate. But sadly it's just another $cheme dreamed up at HQ to nickel and dime passengers - if they have any nickels or dimes left after all the other charges.

Meanwhile in Europe, Ryanair are hiking up checked baggage fees from €15 to €20 for July and August. That should nicely rip off families and other folks heading off on their summer holidays. As if the "per person" credit card fee wasn't ridiculous enough. Of course the attitude of most Ryanair supporters is "if you don't like it then fly someone else". Obviously the charm of Mr O'Leary inspires the faithful!

Everybody to their cars, boats and trains!

Putting the Amateur in Amateur Photography

2010-03-05T14:04:00.000-08:00

Inspired by the experts on sites like airliners.net I recently decided to take the plunge and purchase a Canon EOS 50D. Buying such a camera and expecting to achieve similar results to the pros is foolish. It would be akin to buying a set of middle-to-top-of-the-range golf clubs and expecting to be able to compete with Tiger Woods (pre-Thanksgiving shenanigans at least).

I have only had four cameras in my lifetime and one of those was a Fisher Price contraption that my sister passed on to the me in the late 80s. Of course, I thought it was the bee's knees at the time! The best quality camera I had up until now was a Canon EOS 5000 but being relatively basic 90s equipment it has obviously become beyond obsolete and indeed I have not used it since 2004. My basic point-and-shoot camera is good for day-to-day (hmm I seem to be using lots of dashes in this blog) photography but not quite good enough when it comes to decent aviation photography. In conclusion, it was time to invest in something better.

So in December, while in the US, I parted with several notes featuring an assortment of presidents and purchased the 50D and a couple of decent lenses (28-135mm and 70-300mm). Since then I've only been on three photography 'missions'. I have had mixed results but I am enjoying learning all the time through trial and error and also by reading all sorts of advice. A small sample of the photos taken are shown below. In the spirit of the Winter Olympics (yes, I know it's over) I have been very global with this sample.

Yes, I probably need to invest in Photoshop.

Finally, I thought I had found the perfect book online until I saw the date of publication - 1988! In the meantime the learning continues and any advice is welcome.

Dublin to LA...For The Weekend (Part 2)

2010-02-28T07:18:00.000-08:00

Normally a 6.09am departure would be a major pain in the rear but when your body clock is located in a time zone somewhere between Reykjavik and Labrador things are a bit easier. We were up bright and breezy at 2.45am and after a shower (and obligatory fight with the shower curtain – I hate those things!) we left the hotel and arrived at LAX’s Terminal 7 at 4am.

There were three flights ahead of us:

Los Angeles (LAX)-Denver (DEN)

Denver (DEN)-Newark (EWR)

Newark (EWR)-Dublin (DUB)

As mentioned in my previous blog the flights were booked through continental.com but as the first two flights were operated by United I could not check in on the Continental website. However, I could check-in on united.com but not for the final sector. Slightly annoying but them’s the breaks. The LAX-DEN segment was very full with no two seats together available so I ended up upgrading to Economy Plus. There were also very few seats available on the DEN-EWR flight but there was one set of two together – aisle and centre. Normally I prefer a window but again them’s the breaks.

Due to the lack of access to a printer at the hotel we decided to just pick up our boarding passes at the airport. We had no luggage to check-in but the self-service kiosk told us we needed to contact an agent nonetheless, presumably because we were travelling international on the final sector. We bided our time and eventually got ‘processed’ but we got boarding passes for the EWR-DUB so all’s well that ends well. There seemed to be an over-reliance on the self-service technology, i.e. not enough staff. A lot of people that had to check in luggage were losing their patience. But isn’t that easy at 4am?

We breezed through security and headed for a caffeine stop. We found a quaint little place called Starbucks – they must be up and coming…. Once we got the beverages I made a beeline for a bakery type place called La Brea. Two croissants cost over $8. “These better be good” I muttered to myself. They weren’t. Ironically La Brea is Irish for “bright day”. The place did play some pretty appropriate music though – “Welcome to the Jungle” by Guns N’ Roses and “No More Mr Nice Guy” by Alice Cooper.

The B757-200 to DEN boarded and departed on time. There seemed to be quite a few passengers transferring from Hawaiian flights. I wonder how long their tans lasted in Colorado! The flight was uneventful but the extra legroom in Economy Plus was nice even if it was a relatively short flight.

Thanks to the winds blowing off the Rockies flying in and out of Denver was a bit like a mini rollercoaster - the sort of rollercoasters that wimps go on, the sort of rollercoasters I prefer. This was my first time at Denver Airport and it intrigued me. It is massive in land size and, with 51.2 million passengers, it was the tenth busiest airport in the world in 2008. However, there appeared to be no buildings or any sign of civilisation near the airport – landing, departing or when on the ground.

We were in Denver for just over an hour - enough time for my wife to insist that we upgrade to Economy Plus for the next flight at the United desk. After a few minutes of looking at a computer with a furrowed brow the United agent informed us there were seats in an Emergency Exit row. I'm not sure if this is Economy Plus but the legroom would be appreciated. That amounted to $54 each. $108 to potentially save people's lives. Nice.

Yet again our flight was on time. While the LAX-DEN flight was operated by a B757-200 in the ‘new’ United colours this flight was operated by a B757-200 in the old colours. It was overcast in Denver so the aircraft didn’t exactly brighten the place up!

I forgot about Channel 9 on United flights until my wife handed over her headphones and said "listen to this". Thumbs up to United for offering such a service. It was good to know what was going on especially with a weather system heading towards the East Coast from the west. Indeed 90 minutes out from Newark we experienced continuous light chop for about 45 minutes or more. As we approached Newark ATC informed our crew that due to the weather aircraft going into Newark were going to have to enter a holding pattern, starting with us. "I think you should start with the next guy" quipped our flight deck to ATC. In the end we held for about 15 minutes before being cleared to Newark and we descended through the murk. The cloud base was very low and we landed on a damp runway.

There was plenty of confusion for the passengers (including us) connecting from Terminal A to Terminal C. Firstly, people were escorted down something akin to an emergency exit and boarded on to a minibus that whisked them off to another part of Terminal A where people had to get off and get on a slightly larger bus to Terminal C. Then we were ushered up another emergency exit to the terminal. I was expecting to have to go through security but no we were straight into the airside part of the terminal. So from LA to Dublin we would only have our ID checked and bags x-rayed once despite taking three flights. As a passenger it's great but from a security point of view I'm not so sure.

Before taking the fifth and final flight of the trip there was time to have some pizza at Famous Famiglia Pizza. It was famously mediocre and boasted being the official pizza of the New York Yankees. “Figures” my Red Sox supporting wife said.

I found the terminal at Newark to be nice or am I just too used to Dublin Airport? We boarded and departed on time for “Dublin, Ireland”. It was re-assuring we weren’t going to Dublin, Ohio I suppose. The people that sat in front of us were the same people that sat in front of us on the outward DUB-EWR flight. Good to see we weren’t the only people that went to the US for the weekend!

I took some Tylenol PM shortly after boarding and passed out shortly after take off. It really speeds a transatlantic flight! I woke up a few times due to turbulence but quickly fell asleep on each occasion. We landed in “Dublin, Ireland” around 7am.

Overall, I enjoyed the Continental experience. In my experience they are streets ahead of the other US legacy carriers. Over the weekend we spent about 32 hours travelling, 16 hours sleeping and 22 hours out and about in LA. Would I do it again? You bet.

Dublin to LA...For the Weekend (Part 1 )

2010-02-15T13:13:00.000-08:00

November in Dublin – grey, dark, gloomy. Longing for a trip to brighter climes and enticed by the low prices on continental.com I decided to book a January trip for the wife and me to California. Two nights in LA to be exact. Madness? Possibly. However, €261 (including taxes) per person for a return trip from Dublin to LA isn’t bad going. Viva off-peak season during a recession!

Not only would we get to see LA but the bright lights of Newark and Denver, the latter on the way back only. Sorry Greenpeace for all the flying but it’s good for my bmi Diamond Club balance (might as well make the most of it before Lufthansa impose their Scrooge-like Miles and More programme on us). The bmi points earned on this trip alone would be the equivalent of 1.5 trips from Dublin to London. Good work bmi and Star Alliance.

In addition to experiencing a bit of sun, I was going to use the trip as an opportunity to attend the LAX Airline Memorabilia Show and to put a newly acquired Canon EOS 50D to the test.

In the weeks building up to the trip my wife and I kept going on about how nice and sunny it would be in California and how it would be a welcome escape from the Irish wintry gloom. However, we departed Dublin on 23 January with clear skies and headed to LA where it had been raining heavily all week. Just look at the soggy Golden Globes the weekend before. After frequent consultations with a furrowed brow at weather.com it appeared the weather might be kind to us. Friday was supposed to be questionable with thunder showers possible but Saturday was to be sunny but a bit cooler than average (15c).

Ok, so back to Continental Airlines. Here are the major attractions to flying their service from Dublin to Newark:

- Pre-clearance of immigration at DUB
- 9am departure means an “am” arrival into Newark
- Lots of bmi Diamond Club points
- Good inflight entertainment (AVOD)

Many will say the main drawback of the Continental flight is the aircraft type – the B757-200. Yes, it’s a single-aisle aircraft but it’s all psychological when people think they need a widebody aircraft for longhaul flying. At the end of the day, you end up with the same legroom and seat width and service either way. In my opinion, the only advantage that Aer Lingus has over Continental on DUB-NYC is its 2-4-2 configuration on the A330 means you are less likely to have a stranger beside you when you are travelling as a couple.

As for the flight itself, all went to plan. Immigration at DUB was hassle-free, the flight left on time and arrived early. The flight seemed to be very close to being a full load. Then again with the fares being offered in recent times it wasn't surprising. We took a strange route out of DUB that saw us leave the Irish coast over Coleraine in Northern Ireland. The views of the Scottish islands were amazing, as were those of Greenland and Quebec (both covered in a blanket of white as you would expect at that time of year). I found it funny though that they served “lunch” shortly after take-off and about five hours before an 11.30am arrival into Newark!

Thanks to the immigration pre-clearance at DUB and the fact we were only carrying hand baggage we breezed through US customs and into Terminal C arrivals. We then went back upstairs and breezed through departures as again there were no queues. It was like being in a Carlsberg ad. There was time for a carb injection at McDonalds before boarding the LAX flight. I find it doesn’t matter what you eat after a long haul flight – it all tastes bland! Maybe it’s due to airline food destroying one’s taste buds... Who’s to say?

As departure time neared we just wanted to get on the next flight and get to our destination. After all we were just over halfway from DUB to LAX. We were to fly from Newark to LAX in another B757-200 but this one was adorned with the Star Alliance livery. SkyTeam will note that that didn't take long to apply. Personally I preferred the old school Star Alliance livery with all the airline logos along the aircraft fuselage but that was a nightmare for the airline and the alliance as its members changed so often (mainly through the addition of new members). Then there were the few inconsiderate members that changed their logos...

It seemed to take forever for us to be allowed to board. We watched as dozens of other passengers boarded ahead of us, nearly all with ridiculous sized hand luggage (thanks to the charging of passengers for checked baggage). Thankfully by the time we boarded there was still enough room in the overhead bins for our relatively small bags. Not long afterwards though, putting bags in the overheads became a game of Tetris for those unfortunate enough to board after us.

The flight left pretty much on time and again seemed to have a healthy load factor. The views of Manhattan on departure were amazing. Sure this was routine for the frequent fliers in and out of Newark but this was my first time passing through this airport. Then we turned left and headed for the west coast. For the first hour or so of the flight we experienced light chop but the air was even for most of the remainder of the trip. There wasn’t a whole lot to see out the window. There was no break in the clouds from the east coast until Kansas. Those irrigation-induced “crop circles” always intrigue me. Then the clouds came back, breaking briefly over Denver and then hiding the scenery below until southern Utah where the landscape was red and rocky. Then guess what… yes, the clouds returned again and as we approached LA the cloud grew darker and heavier.

As we came over the eastern suburbs there was light turbulence to accompany the darkening conditions. However, just a few miles out from LAX the sun broke through. It was almost like a sign. Shortly afterwards we touched down on Runway 24R by the In N Out Burger. This was to be followed a looooong taxi to Terminal 6. As we taxied the skies continued to clear to give way to a beautiful evening.

Again we breezed through our arrival airport and walked in a daze towards the airport courtesy bus stop. We had been up and about for nearly 20 hours at this point and it was only 4.15pm. There was only one course of action to take - drinks at the hotel bar!

2009 - My Aviation Year in Review

2010-01-01T14:16:00.000-08:00

And so another year passes.

In recent days the media have typically been full of all sorts of “year in review” articles and programmes. So I might as well join in and do my review of the year. So here’s 2009 in a nutshell...

Flights: 51
Airlines: 14
Airports: 17
Aircraft Types: 13
Countries: 11
Distance Travelled: 92,831km

New Airlines: Air Canada, Air Canada Jazz, Bulgaria Air, Air Moldova, Moldavian Airlines
New Airports: Toronto, Male, Sofia, Chisinau, Budapest
New Aircraft Types: B767-300ER (finally!), CRJ-100ER, Saab 2000
New Countries: Maldives, Bulgaria, Moldova, Hungary

Most Flown Airline: Aer Lingus (15 flights)
Most Flown Aircraft Type: A320-200 (16 flights)
Most Flown Route: LHR-DUB (6 times)
Most Visited Airport: Dublin (18 departures)

Grand Slams: None
Triple Crowns: Dublin-Toronto Air Canada B767-300ER, Chisinau-Budapest Moldavian Airlines Saab 2000
Double Whammys: Boston-Toronto Air Canada Jazz CRJ-100ER, Frankfurt-Chisinau Air Moldova A320-200

Greatest Achievement: only flying Ryanair twice

And so 2010 arrives. If it’s half as good as 2009....then I guess last year was twice as good as thus year. Happy New Year to one and all!

Chisinau That's What I'm Talking About

2009-12-19T08:20:00.000-08:00

"Greetings from Laos. It may be the developing world but it's got free wifi". This is a text I received from my Dad last year. He couldn't believe that his hotel in Vientiane had free wifi while nearly all the hotels in Ireland and the UK charge for the privilege. Hooray for price gouging...

I'm just back from a business trip to Moldova and while in Chisinau I was reminded of my father's text. Not only was wifi free at the hotel but also at the airport and many other places. Take note, Dublin.

We're experiencing a bit of a "cold snap" in Ireland at the moment but it still seems a bit tropical after the temperatures (-10c or worse) in Chisinau. The photo below gives you some idea of the conditions.

The best thing about Chisinau Airport? The blast from the past Soviet era aircraft. At the entrance to the airport there is a Tu-134 while on the tarmac I saw at least three AN-12s, six AN-24s, one AN-72, one IL-18 and four Tu-134s. Unfortunately most of them will probably not take to the air again but it was still a refreshing sight to see in this age of bland Airbuses and Boeings.

Qatar Airways Revisited

2009-11-04T12:19:00.000-08:00

For the sake of fair blogging I am posting this in relation to Qatar Airways. As per my blog on 11 October 2009 I had a mixed experience when I first flew with the airline in August 2008. I felt disappointed after all the five-star hype that preceded my trip. Behold, the power of marketing! However, I chose to fly Qatar Airways (in Y class) over a couple of other options when flying to the Maldives from London last month.

This may come as a surprise but I have few complaints after this latest experience. However, rather than waffle on aimlessly about everything I shall summarise my key points through bullet points.

Positives:

All four flights arrived early or on time (probably the most important factor when travelling, after safety of course)

Excellent crew and in-flight service on all sectors

IFE not as good as Emirates but better than most competitors

Legroom on A340-600 excellent (much better than on the airline's A330s and on most competitors' aircraft)

Negatives:

Doha Airport

The large IFE box under seat in front at the window seat on outbound flight (A330-200 A7-ACF)

Slow check-in/baggage drop-off at LHR

The positives clearly outweigh the negatives.

However, the one thing that consistently lets down the Qatar Airways product is Doha Airport (DOH). I know this is not the fault of the airline, as it is the only airport serving the nation, but the place is just not a nice experience during the late night/early morning peak. The airport seems to have outgrown itself but that's to be expected for an airport that has grown rapidly from 7.1 million passengers in 2004 to 14.9 million passengers in 2007. The new Doha Airport (due 2011) can not open soon enough.

Skytrax may rate Qatar Airways as five-star but it only rates DOH as three-star - not exactly a match made in heaven. The toilet facilities are a disaster (lots of water on the floor and lack of toilet paper) and the airport is just too crowded. There are no airbridges so passengers are bussed to/from the aircraft. On the MLE-DOH and DOH-LHR legs our aircraft were parked on the far side of the airfield and it was a fair trek to/from the terminal. On the DOH-LHR leg one little girl started shouting "why are we going away from the airport???!!!" repeatedly as the bus made its way around the airport perimeter. To compound matters the bus was packed and then waited outside the aircraft for almost ten minutes before boarding could commence. Not a pleasant experience for most weary travellers but I am used to such experiences after many trips through CDG!

Cathay Pacific has HKG, Singapore Airlines has SIN, Asiana Airlines has ICN and Malaysia Airlines has KUL. Qatar Airways needs something better than DOH. Roll on the new DOH in 2011!

Overall, there is no doubting Qatar Airways is an excellent carrier and October 2009's experience was much better than that of August 2008. However, a true five-star airline must deliver consistently. I look forward to my next Qatari adventure.

Qatar Airways - Not Very Five Star!

2009-10-11T09:45:00.000-07:00

Dear Qatar Airways,

In August 2008, my wife and I flew with you from London Heathrow to Doha and on to Dubai. We had high hopes as you claimed to be "the world's 5-star airline". We were left disappointed.

First of all, we called your airline weeks in advance to guarantee a window seat on the flight from London to Doha. No online seat selection or check-in was available at the time (not very five star!). So we checked in at the airport and were given centre seats in the middle of the aircraft with no direct access to the aisle (not very five star!). The people in front of us reclined their seats all the way back. I'm 6'4 and my wife is 5'11. A very uncomfortable experience (not very five star!). On top of that, the crew did not seem to be able to smile (not very five star!). When I asked for a beer the surly female cabin crew slammed the can down on my table and spilt some of it without even a hint of an apology (not very five star!).

When we got to Doha there were no airbridges. Passengers are bussed from aircraft to/from the terminal in the heat (not very five star!). When we got to Dubai the airport had airbridges but Qatar Airways did not use one (not very five star!).

We had thirty minute wait for our bag in Dubai. When it finally showed up, the handle had been ripped off. The bag was a decent brand (Delsey) and brand new (not very five star!). I reported to the damaged bag to the handling agent but nothing came of it despite subsequently writing to your airline (not very five star!).

I know all this makes me sound like a prima donna but I can assure you I am nothing of the sort. I guess I was just disappointed by the whole experience. I have experienced many LCCs that were better than this so-called 5-star airline.

However, I am prepared to try you again and I am flying you from London to Male via Doha this month. Let's try again!

Yours faithfully,
Global Aviator

Overheard at Manchester Airport Viewing Park

2009-10-05T12:46:00.000-07:00

So there I was at the Viewing Park at Manchester Airport among the assorted spotters, general onlookers, old couples and families when the middle aged man next to me says, to who I presume was his grandson, "If you're lucky you'll see Continental Airlines".

How times have changed. When I was kid I felt lucky when my grandfather gave me money or some sort of diabetes-inducing foodstuff. But seeing a Continental Airlines aircraft? I can only imagine what that grandfather/grandson comnination would be like at Newark!

Ta daaaaah.... it's Continental Airlines at Manchester:

British Airways - "Enhanced Seating Policy" a Slippery Slope

2009-09-26T10:04:00.000-07:00

British Airways announced this week that an "enhanced seating policy" would be introduced from 7 October 2009. The PR spin sounds nice until you get to this on the BA website...

"Customers can choose seats from the time they book up to 24 hours in advance of travel at the following costs:
- Euro Traveller (economy in Europe) and Domestic flights will pay £10 per
person per sector
- Club Europe (business class in Europe), World Traveller, and World
Traveller Plus (economy and premium economy long haul) passengers
will pay £20 per person per sector
- Club World (business class long haul) passengers will pay £60 per
person per sector
- First passengers can choose their seat free of charge at any time"

Hmmmm. While BA made a net loss of £358 million in the last financial year and net loss of £106 million for the quarter ended 30 June 2009, this is probably not the best way to go about stopping the financial haemorrhage. I can't see many customers opting to pay £10 in advance just to select a seat in economy class on a short-haul flight. As for a £60 premium on a business class seat? It seems a bit Scrooge-like after the customer has alright forked out a substantial sum just to secure a ticket for the flight.

The nickel and diming is likely to be welcomed by competitors, such as Virgin Atlantic, more than anything. Even penny-pinching Aer Lingus doesn't charge for seat selection on long-haul flights. Yet!

I expect to see a follow-up announcement from BA in the not too distant future. Ryanairisation of BA will only be accepted by their customer base up to a point.

Aer Lingus EI-EDS - St Malachy Turns in his Grave

2009-09-18T13:57:00.000-07:00

According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, "Saint Malachy's Church, Belfast was intended to be the Cathedral Church of Down and Connor dedicated in honour of the Diocesan Patron. However, the Irish Famine broke out and the grand plans for the Saint Malachy's Cathedral were shelved in order to divert funds to the needy." Bummer. Instead, the guy got an Aer Lingus aircraft named after him. Step forward EI-EDS. I'm sure it's what he would have wanted, even if the Wright Brothers flew 755 years after Mal's death.

While EI-EDS may look like a regular Aer Lingus A320 from the outside, it's a tall person's nightmare come true in the inside. I had the misfortune of flying this aircraft for the first time on Sunday from Dusseldorf to Dublin. EI-DVT would probably be a better registration for this aircraft due to the lack of legroom on it.

Some research has shown that this aircraft was originally destined for Iberia and then Comoro Islands Airlines. In the end, neither took delivery of the aircraft from Airbus and it eventually ended up with Aer Lingus who wanted the extra capacity to launch flights from their new Gatwick base. As a result, the aircraft's cabin configuration makes it an oddball compared to the fleet's other A320s. Rows 1-7 have additional legroom as this is where Iberia's business class was destined to be. Rows 8 onwards are a train wreck more befitting of a charter airline. Yep, I was down somewhere in the 20s cursing all the way to Dublin. And that's with the seat beside me vacant!

So what am I trying to say? If you're flying to somewhere like Athens or the Canary Islands, you have a boarding card for a seat in a row higher than 7, you are taller than Danny DeVito and you see EI-EDS (or sistership EI-EDP) as the one operating your flight - just do a u-turn! I'm sure Mal will understand.

bmi rules the airwaves

2009-08-25T13:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I flew bmi from Dublin to Heathrow. As bmi normally do, they played music in the cabin to while away the time. As I boarded the appropriate "Why Does It Always Rain on Me?" by Travis (obviously catering for the Dublin market!) was playing. This was followed by The Bangles with "Eternal Flame". Again the line "say my name, sun shines through the rain" is pretty appropriate for the Irish weather.

Anyway... all this musical shenanigans reminded me of a flight with bmi on the same route last year. I believe it was April to be precise, and they played "Live Forever" by Oasis. Shortly into the song the music paused and the safety demo started. Once that was all out of the way the music came back on with Liam Gallagher belting out the lines:

"Maybe I just want to fly
Want to live, I don't want to die"

Now that's delicious timing.

My chariot G-DBCE departing LHR

PS On a sidenote I think airlines should jazz up the safety demo by playing "Safety Dance"

Lies, Damned Lies and Ryanair

2009-08-16T06:01:00.000-07:00

The aircraft slams into the runway (on a calm and clear night) at Manchester causing many of my fellow passengers to let out the odd expletive or two. And then it happens - the little smug pre-recorded announcement tells us we have arrived ahead of schedule. Umm... sorry to interrupt but we have not arrived early – we have only landed! Only when the aircraft has reached its parking position can you claim to have arrived. After all, the flight schedules are based on block times and not flight times. A little bit of Airline 101!

So the aircraft reached the gate at 9.31pm. This meant we actually arrived late, albeit by one minute. Quite poor really seeing as they allow 50 minutes in the schedule for an off-peak flight from Dublin! But no doubt Ryanair will blame the Irish “tourist tax” for this as well...

Ryanair's CEO was unavailable for comment.

Manchester Airport - Home of the Mismatching Engines

2009-08-11T12:49:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I was in Manchester and going through some of the photos I took at MAN I couldn't help but notice the number of aircraft with mismatching engine cowlings. It's bit like if a car door is replaced by another door that's a completely different colour - it's functional but sure looks odd.

The first photo is G-OZBS of Monarch with a fetching grey part on Engine No. 2.

bmi's G-DBCJ also sported a nice grey part which probably would have been less noticeable on the previous British Midland colour scheme.

Ryanair's EI-DCW jazzed things up with some dark blue on Engine No.2. Incidentally this is the aircraft I flew over from Dublin on. To remember its registration I christened it "the Carl Weathers".

The first of many First Choices - G-OOBC with a bit of white on its RR engine.

OY-VKI of Thomas Cook Scandinavia decided to break up the blue monotony on Engine No. 2 with a bit of white.

Another Ryanair. This time EI-DHA with a somewhat odd looking engine, admittedly not helped by the thrust reverser in action.

It's not really easy to see it on this photo but G-OOBK's Engine No. 1 has a dash of white towards the back.

Another First Choice aircraft, G-OOOZ. Engine No. 2 is 'ooozing' with white. Ok, I won't give up the day job!

Oh look, another First Choice. This time it's G-OOPH and yet again it's another bit of white, on Engine No. 1.

What's this? Surely not a First Choice aircraft? And yes, more white. This time on G-OOBG.

A third Ryanair aircraft with a patchwork engine. EI-DCZ.

And finally, an mismatching engine cowling part that actually adds colour to an aircraft! OM-ASG flashes a bit of blue amongst all the white.

Tough times at the airlines you may ask? More likely just a case of the parts being all that was available at short notice or as a temporary measure. After all, airlines like First Choice (or Thomson or whatever they may be called this week), Thomas Cook and Monarch don't really have time to have their aircraft sitting in a hangar at this time of year waiting for something that may be a bit more aesthetically pleasing. And besides it allows people to do seemingly pointless blogs!

The Air Canada Experience - Great Fare, Poor Aircraft

2009-07-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

One of the things that helped me appease the missus when I booked Air Canada (she likes to fly direct) for our recent jaunt to Boston from Dublin was the prospect of a state-of-the-art entertainment system to while away the time. I was expecting something similar to this:
http://enroute.aircanada.com/en/articles/new-entertainment-from-gate-to-gate

What was to come was more of a letdown than seeing The Hangover after everyone had hyped it up.

We boarded our chariot (C-GFPH) in the pouring rain at Dublin and as we passed through the business class cabin (soaking wet!) it occurred to me that everything looked a bit 1992. Then as we trudged on through the economy cabin the missus pointed out the lack of seatback TVs aka PTVs. Oops. A long flight had just got longer. I suppose I should have read the signs. During the early hours of the morning of departure we had the Irish rarity of powerful thunderstorms accompanied by almost three weeks' rain in 90 minutes. Then, when we got to the airport the computers at the Air Canada check-in desks went down for about 45 minutes.

C-GHPF awaited us on a beautiful Dublin morning...

However, inflight entertainment isn't everything but comfort is, and the legroom onbaord was actually pretty good. It was certainly much better than that on Aer Lingus. For the record I have flown eight transatlantic flights on Aer Lingus and NONE have had PTVs. The odds are improving all the time though. Probably the thing I like most about seatback inflight entertainment is the moving map that shows you where you are. Sadly on this flight the crew gave us no route information until we were told "we're currently over Ottawa". Great. I always like to know where I am flying over. Then again I've always been a bit of a geography nerd.

Usually on these flights I seem to be a magnet for the seat in front to recline fully and cut off the circulation to my legs. Therefore, I would like to say a big thank you to the guy in front for not reclining at all during the 6 hour 45 minute flight to Toronto. As for the 1980s-esque projector-and-screen combo for inflight entertainment, it ceased working after about 10 minutes and the system had to be re-started. Not that anybody seemed to be watching the medium-sized screen at the front of the cabin. The movies She's Just Not That Into You followed by Ice Age 2 meant that my headphones stayed firmly in their little plastic wrapping throughout the trip. The passengers in Business Class had no PTVs either. Bizarre in this day and age. Having spent all that money for a poor product the passengers must have felt like this guy:

So what to do during such a flight? Reading is good but only up to a point, I find. Staring out the window only passes the time if there's no cloud and/or no mass of ocean down below. However, it was during one of my frequent window gazes that I noticed the aircraft's old Asiana registration of HL7269 could be seen clearly on the wing. I guess that explains why there were signs in Korean everywhere in the lavatories.

I understand three B767-300s in the Air Canada fleet do not have the more modern cabin and as Dublin-Toronto is a seasonal route with low yields it is understandable that such aircraft are deployed on the route. However, the airline's website is a bit misleading and these aircraft have no doubt disappointed a lot of customers. A large number of passengers on our flight were connecting to US-bound flights in Toronto (New York, LA and Boston being popular destinations) and such a product could lead to a loss of repeat custom.

All in all though it was an okay flight. After all €420 for a round trip to the US in July is nothing to be sneezed at (no Swine Flu jokes please). Funnily enough, our 75-minute Toronto-Boston leg of the trip was on an A319 with IFE similar to what I was expecting on the transatlantic flight. Better late than never....sadly the map didn't work.

What Do We Want? A Rail Link to Dublin Airport! When Do We Want It? About Ten Years Ago!

2009-06-06T14:53:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has spent time sitting in traffic in a coach, taxi or car travelling to the city centre from Dublin Airport has probably had the same thought at one point or another - why oh why is there no rail link? My travels have been screwed by various events at Croke Park, the RDS, Lansdowne Road (it will never be the Aviva Stadium to those with a soul when it opens!) and a recent SR Technics protest on O'Connell Street. It took me almost two hours to get to Ballsbridge a couple of years ago because of Paul McCartney. One man brought Dublin to a standstill! Other notable events that have hindered my travels include an Ireland-Brazil football match and a fireworks display along the Liffey. However, the latest event to put the icing on the cake was.... the Flora Women's Mini Marathon which took place on Monday.

The graph below shows the top 25 airports in Europe based on passenger numbers in 2008. Airports without a rail link are in red.

So, of the 25 airports just two are without a rail link - Dublin and Palma. It's no surprise the latter has no rail link as it is primarily a holiday airport where arriving passengers are whisked off to their various resorts in air-conditioned coaches or hire cars. Dublin is Ireland's capital city and main international gateway.

Of the old so called "EU 15" states the only capital cities without airport rail links are Dublin, Lisbon, Helsinki and Luxembourg. Plans are afoot to commence construction of a rail link in Helsinki this year, even though it was served by 13.4 million passengers in 2008 (57% of Dublin's figure). For the record, last year Lisbon was served by 13.6 million passengers and Luxembourg just 1.7 million. Dublin was served by 23.5 million. Even smaller airports such as Newcastle (5m) and Pisa (4m) have rail links.

There has been plenty of talk in the last few years about a metro line to Dublin Airport but as usual activity has been close to zero. This should come as no surprise as Ireland has never been known for its infrastuctural foresight. Two-laned M50 anyone?

A simple rail link to Connolly station, which would link up with the DART and LUAS, would be a start. All that needs to be done really is to build a spur off the Belfast rail line. Then not only could Dublin Airport be served from Dublin city centre but from Belfast too. Rail links to various other towns around Ireland could possibly follow and eventually eliminate the need for some domestic air links, particularly the government-funded PSO routes.

One would think that, as part of the coalition government, the Green Party would be pushing the idea of the rail link more, but then again they have been pretty weak to date. After all, the number of buses on the streets of Dublin has been cut. I also recommend they take a trip to Amsterdam and Copenhagen to see efficient public transport in action along with proper cycle lanes.

One could also argue that the last thing the government should be spending money on is an expensive infrastructural project like a rail link. However, the thing is......it should have been built YEARS ago.

Ryanair + Major Sporting Event + Stupidity = Financial Woe

2009-05-17T02:31:00.000-07:00

Shrewd/optimistic Leinster rugby fans would have booked their flight tickets for the Heineken Cup final in Edinburgh months ago. However, if you didn't and you have more money than sense Ryanair.com is just the place for you.

Travelling on the FR 812 from Dublin on match day, 23 May, at 6.40am (ouch) and returning on the FR 8813 at 8.45am the following day will set you back a pretty penny. How much for this? A mere €454.84. That includes taxes and fees of €29.86, which curiously amounted to €30.98 one hour earlier. These taxes and fees include the petty wheelchair levy. Any time I fly Ryanair I want to request a wheelchair just so I can get some return on that spurious levy.

If you want to check in a bag you should add a further €30. That's assuming you check-in online. If not, then it will be yet another €10. If you would like to avoid the scrum (pun probably intended) at the gate then it will be €6 more for priority boarding. Not that you should be in any rush to get on a Ryanair aircraft....

The website will then pester you to purchase travel insurance (€7.50 for Irish residents - don't do it!) before moving on to the credit card fees where your options will be:

-Ryanair MasterCard €10

-Ryanair Visa €10

-3V Visa Prepaid Vouchers €10

-Visa Connect €10

-Visa Debit/Delta €10

-MasterCard €10

-Visa Electron €0

-Visa €10

I'll just reach for my Visa Electron. Oh wait, such a thing is pretty much non-existent in Ireland. Another €10 down the tubes. The biggest scam is that Ryanair's credit card charges are on a per person per flight basis. So if you are a party of four it will set you back €40 even though it's just one transaction! Also, what's the incentive to obtaining a Ryanair credit card if they still charge €10 per person per flight?

So here's roughly how much it will set you back:

- No extras and Visa Electron: €454.84 (unlikely scenario in Ireland!)

- One bag, online check-in, Master Card: €499.84

- One bag, airport check-in, priority boarding, Master Card: €515.84

Alternatively, through ebookers.ie you could travel to Boston for €347.64, Orlando for €359.64 or San Francisco for €375.64 with US Airways, departing Dublin on 23 May and returning 25 May - all in. A no brainer in my eyes and I'm a rugby fan.

I could go on about Jet2.com's £605.98 fare (before bags, check-in, etc) to Rome from Manchester for the Champions League Final on 27 May but that will keep for another day!

Geography According to Saudi Arabian Airlines

2009-05-04T06:19:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled across the Saudi Arabian Airlines route map (as one does). It makes great reading for geography buffs.

Asia:

China finally gets a grip on Taiwan
a huge lake seems to have formed in southern China
Osaka has had enough of Honshu and moved to a smaller island

North America:

apparently Saudi Arabian Airlines serves Frankfort, Kentucky. In fact, that's supposed to be Frankfurt, Germany. Oops. Oh and Kentucky seems to have drifted several hundred miles west
New York and Washington have also moved further inland, possibly to avoid Cloverfield

Africa:

Nigeria has claimed a large chunk of the Sahara and moved Kano to the middle of it
Casablanca has acquired another 's'

Europe:

Ireland has merged with Britain - not good news for the ferry companies and Ryanair!
Manchester has upped sticks and headed for the Scottish border
the Channel Tunnel has brought London and Paris closer together, but Saudi Arabian Airlines have brought them even closer
Brussels is heading for Germany
Nice has had enough of the Côte d'Azur and moved inland
Milan has joined Switzerland (never trust a neutral country!) while Prague has moved to Poland
a new city called "Vieanna" has been formed, possibly by disgruntled Vienna residents
Istanbul, after centuries of proximity to the Black Sea and Sea of Marmara, has suddenly found itself landlocked

Let's just hope the pilots' navigation charts are more accurate!

Media Put the "Swine" in Swine Flu

2009-04-30T13:35:00.000-07:00

"Paranoia, paranoia, everbody's coming to get me". These lyrics from Flagpole Sitta pretty much sum up the media and aviation. Swine flu is the latest thing to kick aviation when it's down. As if the global recession and last year's sky-high oil prices weren't enough..... and the media's loving it!

Remember Ebola? Remember SARS? Remember avian flu? All these things are still out there but the media got bored of them and therefore apparently they're no longer an issue. The same will happen to swine flu. It's worth bearing in mind that every year 36,000 people die in the US alone from the flu or flu-related illnesses. The WHO estimates that the global death rate from flu is somewhere between 250,000 and 500,000 per annum. Does this stop people from flying on aircraft and visiting foreign countries? No, so why should this "H1N1" strain be any different really?

Spare a thought poor old Aeromexico, Mexicana and friends. A quick check of stock prices of airlines around the world reveals some alarming slumps over the past 7 days:

Air China -2.3%
Air France-KLM -3.9%
AMR Corp -8.5%
British Airways -10.9%
Cathay Pacific -3.3%
China Southern -9.8%
Copa -3.7%
Delta -21.5%
JetBlue -9.6%
Southwest -4.7%
UAL Corp -19.7%
US Airways -17.1%

Not pretty reading really. However, my greatest concern is where do US citizens go, now that Mexico is supposedly off-limits, when The Day After Tomorrow scenario happens?

"My Girlfriend", Air Canada

2009-04-28T12:24:00.000-07:00

The missus and I are heading to Boston in July. Apparently 4th of July is a big deal - something about fireworks, independence, red-white-blue, Will Smith and aliens. I naturally went into travel agent mode and started searching for flights from Dublin to Boston, or DUB-BOS if you speak IATAish. After several days of visiting the same old sites it became abundantly clear that the best deal was with Air Canada at €430. If there's a lower fare that weekend in July I will run naked down O'Connell Street*

US Airways was the second cheapest option but they never entered the equation. Who wants to fly on a 757 through Philadelphia and with minimal service? Winglets and some paint does not transform a rabid pigeon into a bird flu-less swan. I once met a US Airways captain at Dublin Airport and he claimed to work for "Useless Airways", not exactly a ringing endoresement for his employer! That combined with their paint-peeling 767s at the time have always stuck with me. However, I hear they're good for dishing out frequent flier points. Nice work, Star Alliance.

Right, to get back on track, I told the other half and she wasn't impressed with the Air Canada option. I knew I had my work cut out. It seemed to be a choice of Aer Lingus or Aer Lingus as she likes to fly direct. This is despite the fact she always complains about Aer Lingus whenever she's onboard! Also, for the record Aer Lingus were charging a king's ransom of €640 and no king is worth that.

So I had to run things over in my head:

Advantages of Air Canada:

bmi frequent flier points

PTVs with AVOD

waaaaaaay cheaper (thank you impending bankruptcy/global economic crisis!)

free alcohol onboard

my first flights on E175 and B767

Toronto will be a new experience

Advantages of Aer Lingus:

direct flights

probably a newer aircraft

Terminal E at BOS beats Terminal B

After highlighting the advantages of Air Canada (mainly the cost, I might add) she reluctantly conceded defeat. However, now any time we see Air Canada on our travels I have to put up with "oh there's your girlfriend, Air Canada" jibes. I would say "oh there's your boyfriend, Aer Lingus" in return but refuse to for two simple reasons:

Aer Lingus are everywhere at DUB and I would get a strained throat
I think if my wife is to have an affair she can do a lot better than Aer Lingus!

Anyway.... the Air Canada experience better go smoothlyl or I'll never hear the end of it! Cue "Don't Let Me Down" by the Beatles....

* In clothes. Due to health and safety reason acts of running may be limited to acts of walking or strutting.