rdc1000RE: JMC A330
I’m not sure that they are likely to withdraw the aircraft from service yet..I may be wrong though. The thing is that charter airlines are generally less vulnerable at the moment than scheduled carriers because they have already sold most of their tickets for the short term. I would guess that JMC would be likely to dispose of other aircraft in its fleet first.
rdc1000RE: Is this the end, my …
I apologise for bringing topics back up, but being new on here I found that there were many things that I had comments for. Also as aviation is dynamic then we cannot discard comments…at certain times there is need for an update..and Sabena going out of business is one of those.
Richard
rdc1000RE: HETHROW RUNWAY THREE
A couple of quick notes.
LHR operates up until 23.59 (midnight) and officially from 6am. It is right that there are a few movements before 6, these are from Asia and so are often 747s. The reason for their exclusion is because of the times they need to fly from Asia and Australasia.
As for Gatwick. It has the most heavily utilised single runway in the world..as a result more flights into there (well before BA’s policy to reduce flights from LGW) was quite difficult.
Richard
rdc1000RE: Is this the end, my
It’s not about which airlines are good and which are bad. I have nothing against Sabena’s service, but as a business case it’s lunacy to continue airlines that aren’t making ANY money. Before long we will see major consolidation in Europe, just as we did in America in the 70’s and then again in the 80’s and most recently with the AA/TWA deal. It’s al worked out for the best there.
I honestly feel for the staff from Sabena, it’s a harsh finish, but it’s not the first airline to go bust. I hope that DAT Plus and Virgin Express will be able to give jobs to these people.
I’m also sorry if I offended anyone, but I just look at things from a business perspective, not a “favourite airline” perspective.
rdc1000RE: WHY?!
There are a lot of arguments about subsidies. But I think the point is this, BAe have been flogging a dead horse with this one. Their 4-engined Avro RJs are simply not as economical as the new proposals from Embraer and Canadair (Bombardier). This has long been a problem and it was the aircrafts field performance that was a major selling point. Embraer have made guarantees to Crossair that their RJ170 will be able to operate on London City’s runway and so their aircraft is meeting field performance needs. As a result the more inefficent RJX family cannot compete, it’s only real advantages are noise (I’m not sure what the Embraer aircraft is like in this area) and the earlier availability of their aircraft. I have been a fan of the 146/RJ family, but can see logically why it has come to an end.
People get hung up on nostalgia and personal preference for an aircraft, but if there is no commercial benefits then you cannot expect a company to manufacture or use them on the basis that they look “nice.”
rdc1000RE: An-225
>LAST EDITED ON 05-06-01 AT
>05:19 PM (GMT)
>
>sorry, i have made a mistake, its the An 225 not 125. Sorry.
>And the A380 is just bigger by a slight margin. The A380 had
>to be bigger as it is a double decker.
When measuring aircraft size you use wingspan to determine which is the largest, so a double deck is of no importance. The AN-225 flew for the first time quite a while ago, it was withdrawn from service though and only recently came back to life. New aircraft are also being constructed to join the single example currently flying.
rdc1000RE: HETHROW RUNWAY THREE
>
>This should have been done a long time ago, the report which
>you mentioned started years ago, about 5 or 6 years ago if
>I’m not mistaked. What on earth does this report contain
>that takes 5 or 6 years to write? It only takes a day at the
>airport to see that there are problems and I’m sure if you
>talked to a few of the controllers, they would let you know
>the scale of this problem.
In reply..
Reports have to take EVERYTHING into account. Starting with issues such as noise, environment etc. But most importantly companies like BAA have to create reports on things like workforce increases and surface access to the airport. There was once a theory (which is inaccurate but a good example), that for every 1million passengers an airport handles then there were 1000 staff, this is the theory that was used for Stansted. So take the 30 million capacity increase due to T5 at LHR, that is another 30 000 staff on top of the 60 000 or so current ones, so housing plans need to be constructed. Bear in mind that these people don’t live at the airport, they all travel to LHR each day and live in the surrounding airport. This may mean potentially another 30 000 homes within half an hour of LHR, and then there may be 4 people in each house, so think of all the new hospitals and schools etc that you would need. On the surface you don’t think about these things when looking at a new proposal, but these are the things that reports take 5 years to write about…and all this is before a planning application is made.
Richard
rdc1000RE: HETHROW R3
After the approval of T5 the governement has set a limit on aircraft movements per year at the airport and so there would be no ned for a new runway. During the planning process it can take about 6 years of research and report writing before anything is made public so BAA may well have plans to put in an application for a 3rd runway one day..but I wouldn’t hold your breath. After the decision on T5 the current government would not dare allow such a proposal to go ahead as it would be political suicide. Anyway, it took 15 years from the start of work on a new T5 to the recent decision and the BAA could expect the decision on a new runway to be just as drawn out. Compare this to Manchester where approval was received in 2 years or so, but that’s because Manchester Airport are put in a better application, and took a lot more factors into account than BAA did for T5.
It’s all a nice theory though. Whilst some may say that Heathrow is very inefficient (which is currently true) I think that after T5 opens then people should watch out as LHR could become a much more efficient airport with less inter-terminal transfers. Infact the issue should now be what plans do BAA have for the central terminal complex, not about a new runway.
There has long been a proposal for a new runway in the south east. If it were to be built at LHR then you are looking at putting a runway through the centre of a village…not very popular! As for LGW and a new runway there..well there is a legally binding contract saying that no new runway will be built there until after 2019..so again, don’t hold your breaths.
Richard
rdc1000RE: Is this the end, my
For whoever said it….BA certainly does not have the biggest fleet in the world..infact it is about a 3rd the size of the large American companies (ie Delta, United and AA to name a few). BA’s fleet stood (before fleet reductions) at around 230 aircraft.
As for Sabena…well I’m affraid to say it but Good Ridance. How can people get so emotional about an airline that has only made a profit for 2 years (I think it was) of it’s entire existance! Sabena would have died even before the events of september 11th. As for Swissair, now this is an airline that carried out a mad business strategy which has also been their downfall (not just in the purchase of Sabena, but many other airlines..and in small quantities). Swissair’s decision to buy Sabena was probably a good thing for SN really as their government wouldn’t be allowed to bail SN out forever so Swissair tried to turn it around.
Richard
rdc1000RE: boeing or airbus
The aircraft produced by both are fairly comparable and their lines are designed to follow each other in general. When airlines are making a decision as to which is better for them then often their decision isn’t actually based on the aircraft, but the financial packages they receive and what they currently have in their fleet.
As for all Boeing cockpits looking like the 777’s..that is quite inaccurate. Boeing has offered 777 style flightdecks on newer build aircraft, but taking the 767 for example, the 200s and 300s are available with EITHER new 767-400 style flightdecks (similar to the 777) or with older style flight decks for commonality. When these aircraft were first produced some airlines actually took them as 3 person cockpits and included a flight engineers position.
Richard
rdc1000RE: BA & A380?
British Airways’ order for the Airbus fleet is (I believe and open to comment) the single largest order ever for Airbus aircraft (in one go) and BA’s largest single order, so I think to state that their order was a goodwill gesture may be a little understated.
British Airways’ policy of reducing capacity in their fleet was to focus on premium passengers due to slot constraints and a slow decision on T5 at LHR. They wanted to do away with a lot of feeder traffic which is relatively low yield. Now that T5 has been given the go ahead we may see BA show interest in the A380, though it isn’t worth them looking at it for some time yet. You’ll notice that many of those airlines (with the exclusion of Virgin who want it more as a luxury aircraft I think) that have ordered the A380 are airlines that feed hubs and do accept high levels of low yield feeder traffic, so it’s worth them ordering the aircraft (this include Emirates and SIA, and Qatar’s decision is based upon them wanting to create a hub like that of fellow gulf carrier Emirates.)
Richard
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