It’s all well and good them opening UK airspace tomorrow and the phone’s were ringing off the hook at work today after the news was announced, but the problem is that the ash cloud is supposedly just moving South!

We’re facing an odd situation now where it’s looking likely we can operate a couple of flights where we’ve had pax waiting in Faro, Malta, Marrakesh, Rome and Dubai to name a few because we can depart in open airspace and climb higher than FL350 over the top of the cloud and descend again on the other side. However, pax waiting in Paris, Sion, etc are still in limbo by the looks of things. At least it’s a start I suppose, but it’s still going to be very uncertain and changeable I think throughout the day (and the day after..and after) unless the restrictions are lifted altogether in favour of evidence which suggests the concentration of ash is now negligible.

The latest metoffice ash chart today published on CFMU shows the ash spreading as far as Siberia…but honestly, how much ash per cubic metre are we actually talking about when it gets that far away…1 microscopic particle maybe? The thing which makes it look most unconvincing is the remark at the bottom, ‘Ash concentrations are unknown’. Isn’t it about time that they were ‘known’, or that someone provided some hard and fast facts/evidence?

Andy, you highlight Ryanair as trying to wriggle out of the EU compensation schemes but various news articles I’ve seen today have quoted many other ‘Legacy’ carrier CEO’s as saying that it’s about time the EU re-considered or waived these rules in this un-predicted situation?

Hmm interesting, do you mind where abouts in Sawbridgeworth you took that 3rd Easyjet shot, the one turning on to the approach? And what zoom did you have? This is a potentially new angle for me to try with my 500mm, something I’ve not considered before at Stansted (you’d never think of taking shots 5-6 miles away from the airport in question!).

Hmm, a difficult but interesting question!

Best:

Singapore Changi – Big, clean, spacious and efficient. Lots to do (plasma screen tv’s, games consoles, outdoor gardens, swimming pool, cinema!). I’ve transited through Changi 14 times and never got bored. As mentioned above, Silver Kris lounge in T3 is awesome.

Honolulu – All walkways between the terminal and gates are open air, so you get that lovely warm tropical air instead of horrible air conditioning whilst waiting for your flight. Huge outdoor tropical gardens to go and sit in (infact almost every airport in Hawaii I’ve been to including Hilo, Kona, Kauai, Molokai and Kahului have similar arrangements)

Lanzarote – I’ve been on holiday here around 15 times now and so I always connect this airport with good times. Compared to a lot of ‘holiday’ airports, the terminal is impeccably clean, modern, lots of space and has a nice outdoor area to get your last bit of sunshine before flying home.

Bangkok Suvarnabhumi – Huge, well planned and very clean. The landside food court is amazing, and apart from slightly higher prices, feels just like being back in Bangkok again, with all those smells and tastes to choose from!

Ko Samui – Another airport in Thailand, the ‘gates’ are huge open air wooden structures, and to walk between them are long pathways lined with gardens.

Worst:

Leeds (sorry Paul!) – I couldn’t really understand how/why the terminal is designed as it is. Lots of odd corridors, random sets of stairs, a strange boarding system and on both occasions I’ve flown through over 30 min queues for security.

Los Angeles – Strangely quiet and empty, very little to do or see, it took me 15 mins of walking to find something to eat and because it seemed to be the only restaurant in the terminal was absolutely rammed with people!

Belfast Aldergrove – In comparison to Belfast City which is a fantastic little airport, Aldergrove is basically a dump.

Ho Chi Minh City (domestic) – This is the old terminal from the Vietnam war era, and in comparison to the new International terminal, felt very outdated and almost ‘clinical’, almost like walking through hospital corridors.

Auckland – Just pretty dark and boring, pretty rammed during peak periods.

Richard, I think your question has been answered.

I’d agree with Arthur on that…I don’t have quite so many as him on a.net (around 350) and still seem to get a fair number of oversharp/soft rejections which to me all look about the same!

I know airliners.net is a good place to showcase your work and my question relates to this site.I read that on Authur Pewteys reply that he had 1500 images on the site and wondered how many hits for image sales he has had since putting this amount on the site.

The aviation photography market is hugely competetitive, and with sites like airliners.net / jetphotos.net I’d say that aviation has become one of the most widely photographed subjects on the internet. However, out of 350 photos or so I think I’ve sold atleast 30 from airliners.net to various sources, which to me sounds pretty good especially for a website which is free to use. Despite jetphotos.net now being the bigger site in terms of photos, it seems that airliners.net still seems to get more hits and media attention (in comparison, out of over 2000 on jetphotos.net I’ve only sold a handful).