To win an order implies a competition. This further implies LH was seriously considering alternatives (B737NG)
They were not.

You don’t know that they where only considerind the A320NEO. Certainly the 737NG won’t have been seriously considered, but it is possible that Boeing pitched the successor to the 737 to Lufthansa. Lufthansa might have been tempted by that plane.

Which leads to an interesting set of options:
1) The “new Boeing” was not offered to Lufty;
2) The “new Boeing” was offered to Lufty, but they considered the A320NEO to be better for them (not to be mistaken with: “the new Boeing” is inherently inferior, before I start that sh!t-storm).

It would be interesting to find out if Boeing offered their new design, or only the 737NG… assuming they even made a serious offer to begin with.

Concorde, anything with three jets, and just about every Russian type you can think of.

Things look like there getting worse now in Libya. Surely there is No chance off getting a civil airliner in to Tripoli to get UK Nationals out as who would want insure the aircraft now?

This has just appeared on the Reuters twitter page.
http://twitter.com/Reuters

Maybe the RAF can operate a flight? The RNLAF is currently in Tripoli with a DC-10 (might have left by now) to evacuate some 130 people. Mostly Dutch but the TV news also mentioned Belgians, English, Romanian, one Palestinian and perhaps a few more nationalities. It’s due back at Eindhoven AFB tonight.

edited to add: A total of 35 Dutch and 35 people of other nationalities have been evacuated. The 130 referred to the total capacity of the plane, which apparantly was not needed. It’s possible that in the next day or two another flight will be operated. The Navy has diverted the Hr. Ms. Tromp to Libya, it was nearby en-route to the Somalian coast on a anti-piracy mission. It is expected to arrive in Libya on friday.

http://nos.nl/artikel/220651-militair-vliegtuig-geland-in-libie.html

The old world of wings store had been renamed now, but it still looks cool

And just outside the airport there is the Aviation Megastore, one of the largest of its kind in the world.

I’m not overly fond of the aviation store in the terminal. The old one was more enthousiast oriented, but the new one is more for tourists and kids.

Scramble.nl published the “Airfield Guides – Western Europe 2009/2010“, but they are sold out. Perhaps you can get one 2nd hand over the internet, or wait for the next edition?

Well I’ve been one (a spotter!) for over 40 years, and I’ve never felt the need for ladders or badges.

Same for me, and you can include radios, binocs and telescope to the list. And the last few years not even a notebook. Why write everything down when you camera can do it for you! I’ve had it several time that a bunch of English spotters could not read something of with their binos and that I could read it of from my LCD display!

Mind you, while I don’t have binos or telescopes, my most used lense is a Canon 100-400L so that is the next best thing.

A small ladder (two steps) can be usefull for some airport fences. But never the huge 6 or 7 step ladders some people drag along. Let along half a building’ worth of scaffolding some of the more determined Germans seem to drag along.

The UK armed forces are no the only one facing cutback. The Dutch armed forces are going to be slashed again as well. Dutch newspaper Telegraaf (not the best source I’ll admit) is reporting from a leaked concept-plan. The MoD has already responded that all options are kept open, but that no decisions have been made yet.

Hardest hit will be the navy and the air force. The navy will loose it’s remaining two M-class frigates. Of the four Holland-class OPVs currently under construction only two will be delivered to the navy. The other two will be put up for sale. Cutting the entire submarine service is also an option.

Scrapping the JSF plan is also considered. Instead jets would be bought from Europe (there´s a lot of gossip on the web that RAF Typhoons are in the picture). Whatever type ends up replacing the F-16, their numbers will drop significantly. The plan was to buy 85 jet, but that might be lowered to just 30 jets. If that happens Leeuwarden AFB can be closed. All jets will be stationed at Volkel AFB.

The army stands to loose two batallions.

But the trains over there run to the second

LOL