Qantas passengers hit with air fare hike

QANTAS has announced that it will increase domestic, regional and trans-Tasman air fares by up to five per cent.

The price hikes will apply to fares from later this month, with the airline warning that further price increases cannot be ruled out.

The changes will see the average one-way fares from Sydney to Melbourne increase by $5, Perth to Sydney by $10 and Adelaide-Melbourne by $4 from February 25.

The move follows the airline’s decision to lift fuel surcharges on its international flights by more than 50 per cent.

High oil and fuel prices have been blamed for the price increases.

Qantas Chief Executive Officer Alan Joyce said that a “modest” fare increase was the best way for the airline to recover some of the higher fuel costs.

“After fuel hedging and this change to our fares, Qantas will still not fully recover these higher fuel costs.“Domestic, regional and Tasman fares have been under review and, while we have been absorbing higher fuel costs for some time, this increase is an appropriate response to this significant and additional cost to our business,” Mr Joyce said.

“Nor can we rule out further increases in the future should they be necessary.”

The year-to-date average price for West Texas Intermediate crude oil and Singapore jet fuel were at their highest since 2007/08, Qantas said.

Last week the airline announced that one-way tickets booked on or after February 19 for destinations in the UK and Europe would increase to $145, up 53 per cent from the current $95.

Flights to mainland USA, Canada, South America, South Africa and India would attract a $115 fuel surcharge, compared with $85 now.

And travellers headed to Asian and Pacific destinations, including Honolulu, will face a $75 fuel surcharge, which is $20 more than what is being charged at the moment.

Jetstar will also be making adjustments to certain air fares as well as baggage fees.

Qantas air fare comparison

Sydney-Melbourne was $104 now $109

Adelaide-Melboure was $99 now $103

Canberra-Melbourne was $109 now $114

Brisbane-Townsville was $159 now $165

Perth-Sydney was $255 now $265

Sydney-Wagga Wagga was $115 now $120

Brisbane-Rockhampton was $81 now $85

Melbourne-Auckland was $262 now $272

source:   http://news.com.au

Jetstar moves upmarket

Jetstar has announced a series of new deals that will enable it to be less like a low-cost carrier and more like its parent, Qantas, on services to and from Singapore in a widening of ties with the global oneworld alliance.

Passengers on oneworld carriers flying into Singapore, such as Royal Jordanian, British Airways and Finnair, will be able to connect seamlessly with Jetstar services carrying code-shared Qantas flight numbers. They will even be entitled to free meals, automatic baggage transfer and a Qantas-like baggage allowance - even when passengers around them hold regular Jetstar tickets and have to pay for extras. The only perk they'd expect on their home carriers not available for free on Jetstar is in-flight entertainment.

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The deal applies to all oneworld fare types, such as ''Explorer'' round-the-world tickets, sold through the Qantas and oneworld sales systems.

Jetstar doesn't see any problem with a further blurring of the lines between low-cost flying and traditional full service.

''It's another building block on the broader proposition of the Singaporean hub,'' Jetstar spokesman Simon Westaway says. ''We have an agreed product position which will have a meal service and a refreshment service, connectivity for bags and baggage limits.

''We've had code-share arrangements in place since 2004 with Qantas out of Australia. This is a commonsense next step.''

As part of the strengthening of its Singapore hub, Jetstar recently began flying a widebody A330 from Melbourne to the city daily and will soon do so from Auckland. Both services connect with onward Jetstar Asia flights, as well as Qantas flights to Europe.

One of Jetstar Asia's new priorities is connecting Singapore and Australia with China. Jetstar has hinted that direct Australia-China flights are a possibility later this year.

Westaway says Jetstar Asia is now Singapore's biggest low-cost airline but its chief competitor in Singapore and Australia, Tiger Airways, is happy that its rival is moving further away from the pure low-cost airline model.

Tiger's group chief executive, Tony Davis, says the Australian operation was profitable in the last quarter of 2010. ''Can Tiger carve itself a niche in the Australian market? I can understand the scepticism but we're in our fourth year of operation now,'' he says.

''I think we have to put that particular myth to bed. Australia has polarised into two models. There's clearly a low-cost, leisure-oriented model that people like Tiger are successfully operating. Then there's the full-service premium product some of our competitors have decided is where they want to operate.

''There was a lot of speculation about whether a company that sold very cheap tickets could make money in Australia and we're very confident we can. We think we've stopped the start-up phase and we're now in the growth phase. And we've stayed pure to our model.'

source:   http://www.smh.com.au

Boeing unveils new 747 jumbo

Boeing rolled out a new jumbo jet today, hoping to revive the glamour surrounding the birth of the 747 over 40 years ago and use it to boost slow sales.

The 747-8 Intercontinental will seat 467 passengers, 51 more than the current version of the 747, and burn less fuel while offering passengers more comfort, the US planemaker says.

The unveiling comes almost 42 years to the day since the maiden flight of the 747, which went on to become the world's most recognized jetliner and transformed the global travel industry.

It is the first appearance of a radically new version of the passenger jet since the first jumbo, with its humped two-storey cabin and 69-metre wingspan, took the world's breath away on a sunny morning at Everett in September 1968.

"People were awe-struck. It was a monster, nobody had seen anything like it," said Jim Mullins, a Paris-based science writer who covered the original rollout for King Broadcasting.

"Today it looks ordinary, but at that time there were no airplanes even close to it in size. They opened up the hangar doors and it was just unbelievable. People reacted as if they were rolling out the Empire State Building."

This morning's rollout (Sunday local time), in front of a crowd of almost 10,000 Boeing employees, their families and a select group of industry VIPs, took place at the same Everett plant outside Seattle.

Near the front of the seated audience was Joe Sutter, Boeing's chief engineer on the original jumbo, and known as the "father of the 747."

The plane itself, unveiled from behind an enormous curtain to rapturous, thudding music, was bright red and white -- a departure from Boeing's classic blue -- bearing generic Boeing livery on the side and '747' on its orange tail.

The 747 lost its crown as the world's largest airliner when the 525-seat Airbus A380 was unveiled in 2005. But at 5.8 metres longer than its predecessors, this one will be the longest.

It is the first time the 747 fuselage has been stretched to make the biggest passenger jet marketed by a US manufacturer.

The 747-8 - listed at $317.5 million ($A316.8 million) - also boasts new wings, a new tail, state-of-the-art engines and a new cockpit, making it, according to specialist magazine Flight International, "unrecognizable from that first jumbo jetliner."

SLOW SALES

However, big is not yet beautiful for the Boeing order book.

Despite its hopes of securing a new lease of life for the 747 family, Boeing has so far managed to win 33 orders for the 747-8 passenger version including just two airlines - Lufthansa and Korean Air Lines.

The first delivery will be to an unnamed VIP customer instead of an airline late this year, but Boeing has said it is confident of winning new orders as the plane enters service.

It may also become the new international face of the United States as Boeing seeks to replace the Air Force One fleet of two instantly recognizable 747s used by American presidents.

Production has been delayed as the 787 Dreamliner, a carbon-composite plane which represents a bigger leap in technology than the revamped 747-8, diverts engineering time.

Boeing says the first 747-8 that the public will get to fly on will be delivered to Germany's Lufthansa in 2012.

A stronger-selling freighter version, which has already taken flight, is due to be delivered in mid-2011 -- 18 months later than first planned. Boeing has sold 74 747-8 freighters.

Both Boeing and Europe's Airbus have suffered multiple plane project delays, damaging their credibility, say many analysts.

Sales of earlier generations of the 747 far soared above the industry's initial expectations, with more than 1400 classic jumbos sold until the 747-400 was withdrawn from sale last year.

Although the 747-8 and A380 will compete directly for years to come, analysts say airlines are mostly interested in lighter wide-bodied planes in the 200- to 350-seat range, like the 787 and the future Airbus A350. They are designed to bypass crowded hubs and take passengers closer to their final destination.

Boeing will give an update on the delayed 787 on Monday.

source: http://www.smh.com.au

Boeing, EADS submit final tanker proposals to Air Force

(WASHINGTON) — The decision on whether Boeing or European plane-maker EADS will build the U.S. Air Force's next generation refueling tanker could come at anytime.

On Friday, both companies submitted final proposals to build the aircraft. The initial contract for 179 planes is worth at least $35-40 billion.

This decision is critical to America’s national security and its manufacturing base,” said Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney. “Our best-of-Boeing team has offered the most capable and fuel-efficient tanker that will enable the U.S. Air Force to continue serving as the world’s finest air refueling provider without breaking future defense budgets.”

Boeing says it would create 50,000 jobs nationwide. While many of the jobs would be in the Pacific Northwest, several hundred would be in Wichita. Boeing's proposal is a modified 767.

EADS, the parent company of Airbus, would build its tanker in Mobile, Alabma. EADS promises to create 48,000 American jobs. It's entry is a modified A330.

It's taken more than a decade just to award the contract to replace the approx. 600 Eisenhower-era planes. Boeing won the contract originally, but the contract was thrown out in an ethics scandal. EADS won the next bid in 2008, but Boeing challenged it and force another competition.

Some analysts say EADS is the frontrunner because it can underbid Boeing due to European subsidies. They also say Boeing appears ready to consider another formal protest if EADS wins the contract.

The Pentagon is expected to award the contract in the coming weeks. It has called the tanker its No. 1 purchase priority for years.

source: http://articles.kwch.com

Boeing Expects Passenger Version of 747-8 to Fly in Early Spring

Boeing Co. aims for the passenger version of the delayed 747-8 jumbo jet shown to customers and investors today to fly for the first time in early spring in the U.S., a little more than a year after the freighter variant.

The biggest jumbo jet Boeing has manufactured, the 747-8 is about a year behind schedule, and first delivery is scheduled late this year, said Elizabeth Lund, deputy program manager.

The fifth variant of the 747, the Intercontinental was rolled out today from the same Everett, Washington, factory that manufactured the first version of the plane more than 40 years earlier. The newest version stretches the iconic hump and carries about 467 passengers in a typical three-class configuration, fewer than the usual 525 in the larger Airbus SAS A380.

“I have the confidence to say it will be early spring,” Lund said, referring to the first flight. “What we are learning in the freighter gives us confidence in terms of how the Intercontinental will perform.”

The Intercontinental’s flight testing will be shorter and use fewer planes its freighter sibling, Lund said. The freighter made its first flight in February 2010 and is scheduled for delivery in the middle of the year.

“Many of the tests that we are doing on our freighter will also give us credit on the Intercontinental,” Lund told reporters yesterday.

The Intercontinental’s flight tests should be complete in the fall of 2011, with regulatory certification and first delivery in the fourth quarter, Lund said. The first airline to get the plane will be Deutsche Lufthansa AG, whose representatives attended today’s presentation.

Boeing 747-8 Intercontinental Orders

The Intercontinental has 33 orders to date, with 20 of them from Lufthansa and five from Korean Air Lines Co.

Development of previous aircraft shows they sell well at launch, drop off while in production and flight testing then improve once the plane proves itself in the market, Lund said.

“We really do believe that this airplane is going to sell and it’s going to sell well,” she said.

The 747-8’s wingspan stretches more than 224 feet, about 13 feet longer than the earlier model, the 747-400. The aircraft is propelled by GEnx-2B67 engines, built by General Electric Co., which are made with about 30 percent fewer parts, reducing maintenance. The cruise speed is about Mach 0.86, or about 86 percent of the speed of sound.

source: http://www.bloomberg.com

Rat disrupts Alaska Airlines flight

It may not be as bad as snakes on a plane, but a rat in an enclosed aircraft cabin is not a welcome sight. Alaska Airlines (AS) Flight 676 from Seattle Tacoma International Airport (SEA) to Denver International Airport (DEN) encountered just such an incident on Thursday, February 10, 2011 at 7:40 a.m. PST as the Boeing 737-700 was about to depart, as reported by KOMO News on Sunday, February 13, 2011.

The aircraft immediately returned to the gate, and passengers were transferred to a Boeing 737-800, which resulted in a delay of 79 minutes, according to FlightStats.

Such incidents are considered unusual. One airline official called it "a very rare occurrence". It required that the plane be taken out of service and turned over to a professional fumigator, who was called upon to make sure the rodent was gone before any other passengers were allowed back on board.

Mechanics also had to verify that no damage was caused to the aircraft by the animal.

The Seattle based carrier currently operates a fleet of 116 all Boeing 737 aircraft, in various models, with 25 more on order.

At various times, animals have gotten loose inside a plane's cabin, including dogs, and even a small crocodile, but they were all brought on board by their owners. Rats are present on the grounds of many airports, as well as in the natural environment. They are opportunists who seek out sources of food.

Historically, sailing ships have been plagued by marauding rodents. Any modern vessels tied to a dock have shields on their ropes to prevent rats and other pests from climbing aboard. Aircraft, however, are especially vulnerable to such invasions, as they sometimes stand for long periods on an airport's tarmac. The animals may be after first class meals, as there is very little else of edible value served on domestic airlines these days.

source: http://www.examiner.com/

Qantas 'hero' pilot retains faith in A380

The pilot of last November's Airbus flight from Singapore, in which the engine exploded, has declared the Qantas A380 aircraft "absolutely" safe.

Richard de Crespigny managed to land the aircraft after the engine exploded mid-air, resulting in more than 60 separate system failures.

"This is the biggest testament to Airbus. Some people might think the aircraft collapsed under the onslaught but no aircraft is ever designed to take the beating that this aircraft got," Mr de Crespigny told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes on Sunday.

"The wing was clusterbombed, the aircraft had phenomenal damage to all systems - and it didn't just recover, it performed brilliantly. It is indestructible."

Just minutes into the QF32 flight from Singapore on November 4 of last year there was a small oil leak in the intermediate pressure turbine of engine number two.

The oil ignited causing a turbine disk to explode at high speed.

Two pieces smashed through the wing severing the plane's controls while a third did the same underneath the plane.

"Electrically the left hand side of the aircraft was dead. We'd lost 50 per cent of the hydraulics system. The brakes underneath the wings were reduced to 30 per cent braking conditions," he said.

The pilot has been praised for his cool head as he managed to land the plane under these conditions.

"I think it was my finest moment, I think I should give up aviation now and leave on a high because I think it was a good landing under tough conditions," he said.

Mr de Crespigny has been flying with Qantas for 25 years and before that was a pilot with the Airforce.

"I'm so confident that there is nobody in this world who knows that aircraft better than Rich," his wife Coral de Crespigny said.

Ms de Crespigny didn't know about the incident until after her husband was safely on the ground and she got a call from his boss at Qantas.

"He said I need to tell you that Richard's safe and he's on the ground and I said why are you telling me this.

"He said there's been an incident so I immediately turned on the news and I saw that wasn't...well I assumed there had been a crash.

"I'm just so glad he didn't stuff up that landing," she said.

Mr de Crespigny doesn't like being deemed a hero as he said he was just doing his job and was supported by an extraordinary crew with lots of experience.

"I would ultimately be responsible if people died and I am so proud of everyone and all the teams that helped out. I was proud to be in command of that aircraft," he said.

The pilot said that he didn't think an airbus aircraft had ever been challenged as much as this one.

"I think a Rolls Royce engine has never failed so spectacularly... there was so much collateral damage....it was a flight that you could never train for.

"You might practice one or two emergencies, not 60," he said.

Qantas is now completely confident Rolls Royce has fixed the engine fault on the jet.

source: http://www.smh.com.au