RE: BEA-LINKS TO THE US?

Well, according to a Birmingham Airport related website, the link up is with British Regional. Perhaps this web site is wrong…..From what you say, it does sound like British European. I’ll be quite glad if it is, BEA is a superb airline. I’ll have a look into this and I’ll let you know within the next couple of days.

Regards,
V1

RE: BEA-LINKS TO THE US?

By BEA, do you mean British European Airways? It is actually British Regional which has the tie up with Delta. I’ve only just found out about this new alliance so I don’t know too many details.

British Regional may be used to connect smaller regional airports with larger ones so they can feed the DL services. In fact, DL have now made it clear that they want to fly Birmingham – Atlanta daily from 2002. British Regional already have a notable prescence at BHX…Not as much as Manchester of course…

RE: decent viewing areas

Birmingham has some good areas for viewing, although the majority of these are around the perimeter fences, one notable area being near the long stay car park area.

There is a viewing lounge inside the main terminal, but recent terminal expanstion has blocked most of the views, and it is behind glass so it was never that good from a photography point of view.

RE: Business Jets — Your Favourites?

Biz jets eh? I like the HS 125, despite it’s advancing years, it still looks good. The Global Express is another good one as well.

Most Biz jets look very sleek and well designed. Anyone remember the Lockheed Jetstar? A classic.

RE: Hollydays

Hey Paul, Manchester-Paris Cdg is operated by leased 737-500 aircraft. They are all in full BA Union flag colours and will be based at MAN until the first of the new Airbus fleet arrives. Hope this helps!

RE: Boeing safety bias

You raise an interesting point here. With regards to the Boeing 737, Boeing issued checking guidelines to all operators of 737-100/200/300/400/500 models once it was concluded that the United and US Air disasters may have been due to a rudder malfunction. Modifications were then carried out on aircraft and so far the problem appears to be resolved. It is interesting to note that the latest generation, the -600/700/800 and 900 all have redesigned, larger, tail fins with different rudders…

The Boeing 767 has been victim to pylon cracks more than once. The British Airways fleet has been checked over in the past because of these and were then rectified.
The biggest issue with the 767 however, is that concerning the Lauda Air disaster in Thailand a few years ago. The General Electric engines went into involuntary reverse thrust and caused the aircraft to break up in mid air. There is still much mystery as to why this happened. There are a large number of GE powered 767’s operating worldwide and none have been grounded….

Could you imagine what would happen to world air travel if certification was withdrawn for the 737, 747 and 767? It would be a disaster. This could be why none have gone the same way as Concorde.

Airbus itself had problems in the early days of the A320, mainly due to pilots not being used to fly-by-wire and the aircraft’s sophisticated computer management systems. The recent loss of a Gulf Air machine is still under investigation, yet none of these aircraft have been grounded either.

Concorde was grounded because it is a very high profile aircraft and most of the general public recognise the aircraft easily. Most people couldn’t tell you the difference between a 737 and an A320, they are bread and butter aircraft which are seen everywhere. Taking a dozen or so Concordes out of service does not have any effect on global airtravel at all. The likes of BA and Air France will use a spare 767 or 747 to cover the flights that Concorde flew. Not that it really flew that many…

I am confident Concorde will return to the skies within the next twelve months, but due to the high profile of the machine, people will never forget Paris…

RE: How is Ryanair?

I’ve flown with Ryanair on the BHX-DUB route before. The staff are friendly enough and they do offer drinks on the flight, but that is all.

If you fly on one of their 737-200’s, chances are it will be an ex Britannia airways example and the cabin will reflect this. The seats are the same and the drinks trolleys still have the Britannia logo on them.

All in all, I would fly with them again no problem. There isn’t much to say really with regards to their service. If you know what to expect, you will not be dissapointed.

Just make sure that you get on the plane as quickly as possible once the flight has been called, seat allocations don’t exist with Ryanair and if you want the pick of the seats, get in, sit down and don’t move! I made the mistake of boarding last on one flight and ended up on the back row. Not nice in a 737-200!