CheshireTom

The Farnborough Airshow is soon upon us. It'll be interesting to see if Boeing actually acknowledges any cancellations to its order book and whether it identifies any of the customers for its 300+ "unidentified"orders. Meanwhile, with the cost of oil looking set to continue to rise, good news for the A380 ........ Prices for older aircraft are already falling. New aircraft that could not be found on the market barely two months ago, such as the Boeing 777 or the Airbus A330 widebody airliners, as well as popular single aisle short and medium-range aircraft, are now freely available. Leasing prices are also coming down. All this is pretty normal in a downturn. In the current cycle, the most exposed sector is likely to be low-cost airlines. But the bigger carriers are also coming under pressure, rationalising their fleets and operations and cutting routes and capacity. Strangely enough, in this morose industry climate, the one aircraft that is likely to weather the developing storm better than most is the giant Airbus A380 jumbo. Dogged by all sorts of industrial problems and production delays, the A380 has been one of the principal causes for all the difficulties and tensions that Airbus and its Franco-German parent EADS have been suffering during the past two years. But now that the group is getting to grips with the problems, the super jumbo, under new project chief Alain Flourens, looks set to fly out of the ashes like the legendary phoenix. Why? Because it is arguably one of the most economical aircraft to operate, offering extremely attractive seat-mile costs and lower fuel consumption per passenger than any rival. It is also designed to serve long distant markets such as the Middle East, Asia-Pacific and other emerging regions far more resistant to the global economic downturn. Airbus and Boeing are clearly worried by the prospects of a slump after the heady industry boom cycle of the past few years. But at least Airbus may be able to take some comfort from the fact that the downturn, ironically, will finally make its huge A380 gamble pay off. It may even offer some consolation for Boeing's victory in launching a new bidding war over the $35bn Pentagon tanker contract, which seems to have slipped out of Airbus's grasp.

Rigged? You mean the wrong folk won, more like.

LOL. COPYRIGHT 2006 Japan Corporate News Network K.K. Tokyo, Japan, July 12, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - The ANA Board of Directors today decided that the company will sell six aircraft from its fleet of 23 Boeing 747-400 jumbo jets to Avion Aircraft Trading of Iceland commencing next year. This aircraft is the largest of the ANA fleet and is used on both domestic and international routes, carrying up to 569 passengers in a domestic configuration. It entered service with ANA in 1990. ANA's current mid-term corporate strategy for the fiscal years 2006 - 2009 (April 1, 2006 - March 31, 2010) encompasses the introduction of newer and more economical aircraft, such as the 737-700 series and 787, to secure better cost performance and raise ANA's competitive edge. The retirement of the 747-400 fleet is also part of the strategy, and will commence from 2007 at the rate of two aircraft per year.

It won't tell you much. BA flights to BKK still depart from T4. The whole place is a nightmare ........ and to think that folk were critical of the incompetent Thais and their efforts with Suvrnabhumi.

mango, Alleged illegal activity. If they lived in South Carolina they'd probably have been terminated by now. Besides, Airbus hasn't been charged or accused of any illegal activity, if for no better reason than it's not a legal entity that can be accused/charged. Boeing, on the other hand ................. Boeing to pay $3 million fine for exceeding limits on purchases from foreign suppliers CHICAGO: Boeing has agreed to pay a $3 million fine for exceeding value limits on the purchases of parts from foreign suppliers for its military products. Boeing spokesman Tim Neale says the Chicago-based company discovered the violations and reported them to the State Department. The airplane manufacturer violated manufacturing license agreements required under federal regulations governing international arms sales. The suppliers were in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria. Neale says Boeing has been working closely with the State Department to tighten its procedures. Boeing also agreed to report its progress to the State Department over the next three years. And there was me thinking that all these Boeing military aircraft were somewhat beneficial to the US labour force.

Apparently he forgot to put in the seats before he glued the two sides of the fuselage together. You know what it's like with these plastic airplane kits.

That's a bit drastic. Couldn't they just sack the guy.

Any pics of the one offered at 600k as a comparison?

Alan, The 3 airlines that you mention are it. If Nok does go under I would think that either of the other two will pick up at least some of their slots. Edit in .............. Latest update ............. 3 Airlines cut routes to save costs By Suchat Sritama The Nation Published on July 2, 2008 Three low-cost airlines - Nok Air, One-Two-Go and Thai AirAsia - have cut and rescheduled flights in response to record-high jet fuel prices. Effective yesterday, Nok Air cut three domestic routes - Bangkok-Chiang Rai, Bangkok-Ubon Ratchathani and Bangkok-Krabi. It is also considering reducing its 21 flights a week to Phuket. Affected travellers are being transferred to Thai Airways International and Thai AirAsia. The domestic route changes followed the cancellation of its international Bangkok-Bangalore and Bangkok-Hanoi flights. "We're losing money," an airline representative said, who declined to confirm if losses were as high as Bt1 billion as had been reported. The reports have fuelled expectations that the airline would be shut down soon. Meanwhile, One-Two-Go has cut the number of Bangkok-Chiang Mai and Bangkok-Phuket flights from 28 per week to 21, starting yesterday. The flight frequency to Hat Yai has also been cut by half to seven, while those to Chiang Rai and Nakhon Si Thammarat are down from seven to two flights per week. The daily flight to Surat Thani is to continue. Thai AirAsia has cancelled the weekly flight to Xiamen, China, due to lack of passengers. Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of Thai AirAsia, said operating costs had jumped from 30 per cent to 50 per cent due to spiking oil prices. "However, we have no further plans to reduce or cut more flights," he said. The airline planned to add more international routes from Bangkok to Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China, within the next two or three months. It is also studying scheduling flights to Bali. The airline recently started flights to Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City. Thai AirAsia has increased its flights to Phuket and Chiang Mai. The airline expected the number of passengers to reach 4.6 million this year, a 25-per-cent growth rate. To survive the lower passenger traffic due to higher travelling costs, the airline has approached 15 corporate clients to encourage more business travel. To boost loyalty, the airline has launched a programme paying up to Bt1,800 to compensate passengers whose flights are delayed more than three hours.

One guy, not including my testicularly-challenged chum..

There does appear to be a few sarnies missing from the hamper.

Nok Air will be advised at a board meeting on Friday as to what the decision is ............. The article that appeared in the Bangkok Post ....... D-Day approaches for Nok Air High fuel prices may sink budget carrier BOONSONG KOSITCHOTETHANA Far-reaching implications of any drastic decision are holding back leaders of Nok Airlines from determining the fate of the budget carrier, which has been hit hard by high fuel prices and falling traffic. Top management executives representing the airline and major shareholder Thai Airways International (THAI) are due to meet again early next week to make a final decision, following up on earlier talks held on June 10. Last week's discussions included Apinan Sumanaseni, the president of THAI which holds 39% in Nok Air, and were shrouded in secrecy. However, an insider who asked to remain anonymous said: ''There aren't many options left for Nok Air's future. A very drastic decision has to be made very soon.'' With jet fuel prices above US$160 a barrel, it did not make economic sense for four-year-old Nok Air to continue, he said, indicating that a shutdown could be imminent. The low-cost carrier (LCC) business model simply did not work with oil prices at such high levels, he said. For reasons that were not made clear, THAI was not currently at liberty to dispose of its shares in Nok Air, he added. The national carrier is Nok Air's largest shareholder and shares resources, offering preferential aircraft leasing rates and aircraft maintenance fees. THAI has been worried about the no-frills carrier's financial status for the past few years. Some executives have also expressed unhappiness over Nok pursuing strategies that did not complement THAI's operations, and in some cases seemed to represent direct competition. Demand for domestic air travel, to which Nok Air is confined to operate following its exit from the Bangalore and Hanoi routes, is also slowing. THAI itself was having its own difficulties with prohibitive fuel prices and slowing traffic demand, the source added. Mr Apinan himself admitted in an interview this week that the national carrier's near-term focus was on survival, rather than growth, as it was struggling to break even. THAI is scaling down its 10-year business growth plan including a major fleet modernisation that was to include the procurement of 65 new aircraft. One of the consequences arising from any drastic decision involves Nok Air's 100-plus pilots and more than 200 cabin staff. Nok Air operates 52 flights a day, with nine Boeing 737 series jetliners, four of them leased from THAI, and one ATR propeller plane.

Please try to keep up.

As the original article mentioned, they are due to meet early this week to decide what to do. It'll be a shame if they disappear as i much preferred flying to/from Don Meuang over Suvarnabhumi.

Is biz class on EK not "Pod"-type, lie-flat or flatbed seating? It makes Etihad, and to a lesser extent Qatar, seem like a bit of a bargain.

Nice one but I think you'll find the BigD doesn't do humour.

short, You are talking about a totally different place in Jomtien Soi 4. There are two elevators at Nirvana Place and the basic rooms at 77 sq m hardly need mirrors to make them appear big.

Look on the bright side. No self-respecting man is going to steal it.

It looks like a girl's car ................

Don't worry ......... it sits at the top of the hill so you're not going to get flooded like everywhere else.

Is that you "wintering in Thailand" then? Three trips in a year ......... just think of all the airfares you could have saved ................

sweetbacks, Yes, I took the pics. The room is a one-bed superior. The one-bed and two-bed deluxe suites basically cover the same floor area but the one-bed has a more spacious layout. A big plus about the place is that it is also home to Mata Hari and Manhattan's ......... probably two of the best restaurants in town.

The apartments that are sold as hotel rooms are excellent value for money. I've no idea whether the apartment you are looking at is furnished to the same standard or not. Again, without knowing the T&Cs of your timeshare it's impossible to tell what is or isn't included. Certainly, for "hotel guests", there is no joiner fee of any kind. Getting to/from either Pattaya or Jomtien is a straightforward choice between the Baht buses that pass directly outside or using one of the moto-sai guys. I never found it to be much of an issue but some guys are averse to the moto-sai guys for whatever reason.

The big advantage that Emirates has at the moment is that it has a pretty varied fleet that it can, and does, interchange on its routes according to demand.

Hub, Where have you been? Congrats to the Celtics, by the way! I assumed with his new truck and SATNAV system that he was driving to Thailand.