CheshireTom

Smiffy, The fact that the flights completes the entire journey on the same aircraft and flight number makes them "direct"; that they make a stopover is irrelevant - unless, of course, you are the passenger. The fuel situation is obviously outside the airlines control so the burden on them to provide any form of compensation is pretty negligible and as long as the flight departs UK pretty much to schedule your insurance company is unlikely to be interested since they only pay out for delayed departures, not delayed arrivals. Tom

Chris, No-one is expecting them much before Spring 2007 by which time they will have started receiving their new 777-300ERs. A lot could happen between now and then so I won't be holding my breath. Tom

Only some of the TG917 flights are diverting. This is the operational data for the flight on the 29 Jan ......... departed 10 mins late and arrived 20 mins late. Both flights either side i.e. 28 and 30 Jan departed on time but were around 2 hours late arriving just after 18:00. 29 January 2006 THAI AIRWAYS INTL - TG 917 Operational Flight Information Airport Hour FLIGHT INFORMATION Heathrow (LHR), London, United Kingdom 21:50 ESTIMATED TIME OF DEPARTURE Heathrow (LHR), London, United Kingdom - CURITY CLEARANCE PROCEDURES Heathrow (LHR), London, United Kingdom 21:45 LEFT THE GATE Heathrow (LHR), London, United Kingdom 22:03 TOOK OFF Heathrow (LHR), London, United Kingdom 00:10 PLANE IS LATE IN HOURS MINUTES) Heathrow (LHR), London, United Kingdom - CLEARANCE PROCEDURES Bangkok Int'l (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand 15:47 ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL Bangkok Int'l (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand 15:57 AIRCRAFT LANDED Bangkok Int'l (BKK), Bangkok, Thailand 16:07 ARRIVED

growler, What did I do to deserve that? I am depressed at the mere suggestion ............. A member of the Roman legions through and through. That said, I probably am still getting over 1986 ...... it was hard to stomach! Tom

growler, What happened last Saturday? Don't tell me Alzheimer's is kicking in already! Tom

growler, Go to EVA's Home Page and click on 'Flight Status'. Simply choose London and Bangkok as your departure/arrival airports and it brings up the extimated and actual timings for BR68 for the last few days. They appear to have been a couple of minutes late the last couple of days, but nothing drastic. Tom

Gus, The Thai route to/from MAN has been on the cards for many years. The current situation is that Thai announced in one of last year's investor presentations that Manchester would be one of the airports it would commence operations to/from (nominally in 2007). However, they struggled to get 5th freedom rights to route the flights through a third country (India or Russia, for example). They cannot really link the route into another northern European city (e.g. Munich, Zurich etc) because the rules on crew duty time means that they would have to use an additional crew exclusively on the short European legs making the route unviable for them. However, they will start receiving new 777-300ER aircraft later this year which would be ideal to operate secondary European routes like MAN and Berlin non-stop. Given that scenario, my own personal view is that we shouldn't hold our breath .......... it would be a nice service to have but spring 2007 looks like the earliest realistic timeframe that we could reasonably expect (I read somewhere that they already have the slots booked for a 4 engined widebodied aircraft from Spring 2007). That said, it is not stretching the imagination too much to envisage them cutting loose from the North American market and using the planes that were earmarked for the US on European routes. Milan is already being served by the A340-500 that was originally purchased specifically for the US market. Tom

Chivas, If you are travelling to LOS often enough to maintain a top tier membership in a decent FF programme the real cost of biz class flights quickly comes tumbling down. I travel with Qatar and the average cost per flight (all biz class) probably bottoms out at around 900-930 quid all in after using my airmiles (China Airlines probably works out at around 750 quid all in for biz class if you use your miles properly). On the original question about Thai - they are still using the same aircraft with the same old, tired seats and decor that belong to air travel of the early 90s. With EVA curently available for around 410-415 quid on its new aircraft I would not even be considering Thai unless their daytime flight from LHR was of particular importance. Tom

Samsonite, the point is that it is the only one flying the route simply because it is the only commercial aircraft in current service that can. As I said, when the 777LR comes online you'll have the option of going non-stop to nice places such as Islamabad and Taipei.

nidnoyham, Yep, the wings are still built at Broughton, just outside Chester and for most aircraft types they are flown direct from Broughton to Toulouse in Beluga super-transporters. The wings for the new A380, however, are moved to Toulouse by a combination of road/barge/ship. That is not really Stonehenge stuff since the aircraft components (wings, fuselage, tail etc) arrive at Toulouse as part of a JIT manufacturing process already stuffed with all the electronics and gizmos and are merely sellotaped together at the French facility. It's a pretty outlandish concept, so-much-so that Boeing has decided to go down the same route and build the components for the 787 in places such as Japan and merely assemble the bits together at its Washington state facility. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Tom

bobgod, The question wasn't about which aeroplane was faster, it was about which one can get Hub from the (east coast) US to BKK quickest. The straightforward answer is Thai's A345. However, should he at some point in the future decide to change his mongering destination to Islamabad then the 777LR would be the way to go. Tom

And I can assure you, dude, (and as you are well aware) that the A345 will still get Hub to LOS a lot quicker than a 777.

sateef, My unreserved apologies. I didn't realise that "But then those frogs wouldn't fudge the numbers, would they?" was meant to be taken in a positive vein. Sorry, mate; you've got me there. I haven't got a clue what that means, nor even what language it's meant to be in. Anyway, its nice to see that the guys in Seattle have got something to cheer about this morning. Well done, the Seahawks. Tom

Hub, Judging by the responses on this thread, don't you mean sceptics? Maybe so ..... but my A340 can get you to BKK a damn sight quicker than your 777! Tom

sa-teef, That's really quite distasteful and is more appropriate to the off-topic section, however, it speaks volumes about your prejudices. :unsure Tom:

Sa-teef, Please do try to keep up at the back! First it was orders, then deliveries then shareholder value. It's better to address one thing at a time to give folk such as yourself an opportunity to understand and perhaps join in. The fact that you feel confident enough to now contribute, albeit cut and paste jobs, would seem to indicate that was at least partially successful. Maybe they should invest in pizza futures. That's the first really perceptive thing you've contributed. There's hope for you yet. Tom

echster, Some guys around here seem to put way too much emphasis on wishful thinking. The pizza analogy looks great except that your pizzas aren't more profitable, just more expensive. Anyway, if you bought EADS shares a year ago you would be sitting on a tidy 50% profit now so somebody else thinks there is good value to be had in cheese baguettes. Tom

I tried to book a suite last week at the BVP for a couple of weeks next month but they had zilch availability. "Dear Sir and Madam, Thank you for your reservation at Bella Villa Prima.We are sorry to inform you that our rooms during your inquiry period are not available. We also have room available at Best Western Bella Villa Cabana for you to book.Please visit our website www.bellavillapattaya.com We hope to service you again in the future.If you have any questions,please do not hesitate to contact us. Kind Regards Wirinthip"

rascall, When 9 seats show on the agent's CRS (computer reservation system) it usually means that there are at least 9 seats available ...... it could equally be 99. Tom

Samsonite, Now ,now! Another worthless prediction and even for all that, those damn Frogs are still building and selling more aircraft! Merde! Tom p.s. I understand Etihad had to delay launching their Manchester service. Something to do with the delay in the delivery dates of their new 777s due to last years strike at Boeing.

C'mon echster ..... they both mess around with firm orders, options, letters of intent etc, not to mention a good deal of arm-twisting from governments when the question of trade deals comes along. A much easier and more accurate reflection of both companies' fortunes, or in Boeing's case, misfortunes, can be judged by the actual number of aircraft that they delivered to customers in 2005. What are the figures? 30%? 40% more aircraft delivered by Airbus and will continue along those lines for the next couple of years at least. As for future markets the Indians and Chinese will have a bigger say in that than Qantas, BA, Cathay etc. Nobody has got a clue how things will turn out this year or next. As Samsonite so spectacularly demonstrated, the Boeing bully boys can't even predict correctly whats going to happen in a couple of weeks time, never mind a couple of years. Tom

billywhizz, There are several good options from Manchester for under 500 quid without going anywhere near Heathrow. Of the middle east carriers, Emirates has the best choice of flights (2 x daily) and the best stopover in Dubai, whereas Qatar is a notch above them in terms of service standards and they should be flying daily by October. Etihad is commencing daily flights in the next couple of months and they offer a similar product to the other two but for around 40-80 quid less. Of the options to transit at a European airport the best bet is probably Swiss, quick connections and new aircraft. Lufthansa are also worth considering if you opt for the connection via Munich rather than Frankfurt, newer aircraft, good connection times and wireless internet if that is your thing. Also worth considering is Singapore's service on their non-stop MAN-SIN service (they also have a service via Zurich which is best avoided) which is the best economy product I have experienced and Changi is probably the best transit airport bar none...... and the stewardesses are kinda cute. Whichever airline you decide on make sure to join their frequent flyer club before your outward journey. As for booking the flights ..... for a newbie, Trailfinders in Manchester, Deansgate is better than most. They may appear slightly more expensive than others but they have no credit card charges which tends to even things out and their agents are all experienced travellers. If you are with a mate or two and are looking to stop in BKK for a couple of nights, ask the agent to quote you an "IT Fare" which is a good deal cheaper if you book accommodation with the flight. Trailfinders do a good deal with the Bel-Aire Princess which is a decent standard hotel and is handily placed on Sukhumvit Soi 5 for most of the mongering destinations and the skytrain for access to other areas of the city. If you want any more info , drop me a PM and I'll do my best to help. Tom

Brown1950, Qatar currently have some availability at circa 420 quid from most of the main agents up to the Easter increase (first week of April). That's around 60 quid less than the non-promotional discount fare i.e. the discounted fare that is generally available. Emirates seems to be running around 520 quid as their base fare but depending on their booking levels, fares of between 460-480 quid seem to be available closer to the flight date i.e. less than 8 weeks prior to travel. In addition, their evening flights seem to have better availability at the cheaper fares than their afternoon flights. However, be aware of some lengthy layovers in Dubai (5-8 hous) on some of the cheaper fares. I hope that makes sense. Tom

Brown1950, As soon as I get some idea of Etihad's timings/prices I will post them here. Qatar has already announced that its flights will increase to 5 x weekly from the current 4. When I visited their offices 6-8 weeks ago they were talking about increasing again to daily flights by the end of April but I have not seen any formal confirmation of that. If Etihad pitches their prices at similar levels to those at Gatwick I reckon we would be looking at something around the 410-420 quid mark. Regardless of how it turns out, I would still opt to transit through Dubai, Abu Dhabi or Doha before going anywhere near Heathrow and save a couple of extra quid on duty frees. Tom

John, Exactly. Probably the best economy product I've sampled was on Singapore's 777ER from Manchester to Singapore. On the other hand, the worst was Emirates and Thai's 777s with their ridiculous seat configurations. Back to Qatar's biz class on its A330s in a week or two though. Tom