Aviation Thread [Part 5]

[SA BOY]

yuk an old 340, im on 777 in june and again in dec when we come home for good

[Rosaudio]

Will be great to see a 340-500 in Cape Town finally!

Awesome news!

[SA BOY]

not if you are on it in business class, horrible old rickety seats, no ICE its kuk

[dysan1]

Good news for Cape Town from a frequency point of view, bad news for people who get on that plane. I have used it from Dubai to Madrid and must say it is not much better than the A332 they use from Durban. I am sure though that with the plane upgrades it could be a 777 in a year.

But arent those times a bit weird?

[grjplanes]

Aren't you guys confusing the A340-500 with the older A340-300 aircraft. Isn't the product on the A345 much better than A343? It is 3-class config, so with first class as well.
Agree with dysan, chances good to be upgraded to 777.
This flight timing is also somewhat better suited to connect at CPT to both Windhoek and George, which currently doesn't connect with the later flight.

[evanb]

Originally Posted by grjplanes

Aren't you guys confusing the A340-500 with the older A340-300 aircraft. Isn't the product on the A345 much better than A343? It is 3-class config, so with first class as well.

The A340-500, A340-300 and B777-300 all have different seats in business class. The A340-500 is not bad, but not in the same league at the B777-300!

[dysan1]

Originally Posted by grjplanes

Aren't you guys confusing the A340-500 with the older A340-300 aircraft. Isn't the product on the A345 much better than A343? It is 3-class config, so with first class as well.
Agree with dysan, chances good to be upgraded to 777.
This flight timing is also somewhat better suited to connect at CPT to both Windhoek and George, which currently doesn't connect with the later flight.

Nope i flew the A340-500 to Madrid and the economy section was exactly like the A330-200, poor and not the same level as the 777 offerring.

[Rosaudio]

Originally Posted by dysan1

Nope i flew the A340-500 to Madrid and the economy section was exactly like the A330-200, poor and not the same level as the 777 offerring.

Better than SAA though surely?

[evanb]

Originally Posted by dysan1

Nope i flew the A340-500 to Madrid and the economy section was exactly like the A330-200, poor and not the same level as the 777 offerring.

Sorry, was referring to business class. Economy is the same on the 340s!

[SA BOY]

Originally Posted by dysan1

Good news for Cape Town from a frequency point of view, bad news for people who get on that plane. I have used it from Dubai to Madrid and must say it is not much better than the A332 they use from Durban. I am sure though that with the plane upgrades it could be a 777 in a year.

But arent those times a bit weird?

not really most of Dubais flighst are 12pm to 8am departures. This allows for good conectivity East and West with day time arrival times every where from New York to Shanghai

[SA BOY]

its a shit plane and from what I have heard all 340s and 330 will be phased out inside 3 years. they are usally used to serve new locations untill a 777 can be allocated. 777s arriving at like 1.5 a month .Madrid will go to 777 this year so that 340 will probably start the Copenhagen or Warsaw etc new routes .
EK will be a 2 plane airline (380 and 777) untill their 350's arrive in 5 years

[annman]

10 Mar 2011: Emirates Boosts Cape Town Service

Emirates is to launch a second daily flight to Cape Town. The new service will offer passengers more choice and flexibility, as well as connect seamlessly to a wide range of onward destinations.

“South Africa and the United Arab Emirates enjoy a thriving trade and investment relationship and the launch of our second daily service to Cape Town will help boost this further by supporting new business and tourism opportunities,” said Richard Vaughan, Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations Worldwide.

“We have seen very strong inbound and outbound demand for our South African services over the last year. This new frequency will bring one of South Africa’s leading tourist destinations within easier reach for visitors, as well as meet the needs of our South African customers for enhanced connections from Cape Town to Europe, the Far East and a host of other points across Emirates’ extensive global network,” added Vaughan.

Starting on the 27th March, Emirates will fly non-stop twice a day to Cape Town. The new service will be operated by an Airbus 340-500 aircraft in a three-class configuration, providing 12 luxurious First Class private suites, 42 angled lie-flat beds in Business and 204 generously-sized Economy Class seats.

Oops! Just noticed I was too late posting this. Thought all the talk was about Edelweiss coming to CT. Sorry.

[dysan1]

Originally Posted by Rosaudio

Better than SAA though surely?

better than the SAA A340-200 yes, but not better than the A340-600s which are rather nice actually.

[Mo Rush]

Originally Posted by annman

10 Mar 2011: Emirates Boosts Cape Town Service

Emirates is to launch a second daily flight to Cape Town. The new service will offer passengers more choice and flexibility, as well as connect seamlessly to a wide range of onward destinations.

“South Africa and the United Arab Emirates enjoy a thriving trade and investment relationship and the launch of our second daily service to Cape Town will help boost this further by supporting new business and tourism opportunities,” said Richard Vaughan, Divisional Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations Worldwide.

“We have seen very strong inbound and outbound demand for our South African services over the last year. This new frequency will bring one of South Africa’s leading tourist destinations within easier reach for visitors, as well as meet the needs of our South African customers for enhanced connections from Cape Town to Europe, the Far East and a host of other points across Emirates’ extensive global network,” added Vaughan.

Starting on the 27th March, Emirates will fly non-stop twice a day to Cape Town. The new service will be operated by an Airbus 340-500 aircraft in a three-class configuration, providing 12 luxurious First Class private suites, 42 angled lie-flat beds in Business and 204 generously-sized Economy Class seats.

Oops! Just noticed I was too late posting this. Thought all the talk was about Edelweiss coming to CT. Sorry.

Apparently more good news hopefully on the way in term of flights in 2011.

[grjplanes]

One would expect with this EK increase that both Qatar and Etihad step up their game and offer nonstop flights out of CPT, instead of via JNB.
Qatar could easily do 4 weekly nonstop out of CPT while also having daily JNB flights.
Etihad might do with 3 weekly, apparently the loads out of CPT isn't all that good, so not too sure about this one.

[dysan1]

Originally Posted by grjplanes

One would expect with this EK increase that both Qatar and Etihad step up their game and offer nonstop flights out of CPT, instead of via JNB.
Qatar could easily do 4 weekly nonstop out of CPT while also having daily JNB flights.
Etihad might do with 3 weekly, apparently the loads out of CPT isn't all that good, so not too sure about this one.

not sure how much scope there would be for them now with Emirates double daily. In my mind they would be wiser to get into the Durban market before Emirates decide to up their frequencies here, therefore get one up on them.

[Andrew_za]

Wow all very good news for CT. At CTIA, quite busy at the moment.
If the need was not there, airlines would not be making such additions.

[Cigar]

Cross post from the BA thread:

Comair from May 2011 launches service out of Johannesburg’s 2nd airport, Lanseria, where it’ll offer 5 weekly to Gaborone and 8 weekly to Maputo. These new routes to be operated by ATR72 aircraft.

Schedule:

Lanseria – Gaborone
BA6253 HLA0600 – 0705GBE AT7 x67
BA6254 GBE0735 – 0840HLA AT7 x67

Lanseria – Maputo
BA6297 HLA0910 – 1030MPM AT7 135
BA6299 HLA1810 – 1930MPM AT7 x67

BA6296 MPM1100 – 1220HLA AT7 135
BA6298 MPM2010 – 2130HLA AT7 x67

http://airlineroute.net/2011/03/11/ba-hla-s11/

The double daily HLA-GBE flights are omitted from the above though.

[dysan1]

British Airways adds coastal routes
by Muzi Mohale on 14. Mar, 2011 in Travel Press Releases

British Airways, operated by Comair Limited, announced that it will soon be servicing all major South African coastal routes, and will commence flights between Durban, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town at the end of this month.

“We are experiencing demand for premium travel options to coastal destinations, mostly from the increased number of business travellers on these routes.” said Heidi Brauer, Comair’s Executive Manager for Group Marketing. “British Airways will therefore be taking over the servicing of these routes from low fare carrier kulula.com from 27 March 2011, offering travellers the full service Club (business class) experience as well as Executive Club benefits.”

“Furthermore, the current BA flight configuration and aircraft types are better suited for these routes, further enhancing operational efficiency,” Brauer said.

BA will offer daily return flights from the following destinations:
- King Shaka International Airport to Port Elizabeth International Airport
- Port Elizabeth International Airport to King Shaka International Airport
- Port Elizabeth International Airport to Cape Town International Airport
- Cape Town International Airport to Port Elizabeth International Airport

http://www.travelwires.com/wp/2011/0...oastal-routes/

[romanSA]

Seems Emirates will be poaching some local talent...

---------------

Emirates looks to recruit South African pilots
Written by defenceWeb
Monday, 14 March 2011 14:29

Today and tomorrow Emirates Airlines will host information sessions in South Africa as part of its worldwide drive to recruit 500 pilots this year in order to support its rapidly growing fleet.

“We are looking to recruit an additional 500 pilots to join our talented team over the next 12 months. To meet this figure, we are running information sessions in key locations around the globe, including South Africa,” said Captain Alan Stealey, Emirates Divisional Senior Vice President, Fleet Operations.

“The opportunity to fly some of the industry’s newest and most innovative aircraft is often a key factor for pilots when looking at a potential career move, and at Emirates we meet this key requirement. We have an excellent career path for our pilots as well as ongoing training and development,” he said.

Emirates will hold information sessions at the Birchwood Hotel & OR Tambo Conference Centre in Boksburg, east of Johannesburg. The Monday session will begin at 14:00 while the Tuesday session will start at 10:00.

The Emirates information sessions are open to candidates with at least 4 000 total and 2 000 multi-engine jet hours; or a total of 2 500 hours on a modern, commercial multi-engine, multi-crew jet aircraft (excluding simulator time). Another requirement is that all applicants must be fluent in English.

The sessions will provide interested pilot candidates with the opportunity to obtain information on Emirates, its selection programme, details on living and working in Dubai and salary information. Chosen candidates will be provided with a round trip ticket to Dubai from an Emirates destination to attend the selection programme.

Emirates recruited approximately 250 pilots last year, the airline reports, and is looking to double that figure this year. It currently has 2550 pilots from 89 different nationalities operating the latest Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and is rapidly increasing the number of aircraft on order.

Currently, the airline has 152 aircraft in its fleet, including 15 A380s. A further 200 planes are on order, 75 of which are the superjumbos. Since being introduced into the Emirates' fleet in July 2008, more than 4 million passengers have flown aboard the giant Airbus. The airline's 15 A380 aircraft are supported by nearly 300 pilots and more than 2 000 cabin crew.

The Middle Eastern airliner is also boosting its cabin crew numbers. Last week the number of cabin crew reached the 12 000 mark. Emirates is looking for another 4 000 cabin crew for the 2011/2012 financial year and is recruiting across all six continents where it flies.

Emirates now flies to 111 destinations in 66 countries. Three new passenger destinations have been announced far this year: the Basra, Iraq, service was launched on February 2, while services to Geneva will begin on June 1 and the airline will fly to Copenhagen from August 1.

Emirates has been flying in South Africa since 1995 and currently flies three times daily from its hub in Dubai to Johannesburg and daily to Durban and will launch a second daily service to Cape Town on March 27, connecting passengers to 111 destinations across six continents.


http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.ph...ace&Itemid=107