Boeing Hoping for Dream Orders
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner will be on display at the Farnborough Airshow this week. The Dreamliner represents the future of the company. This is probably Boeing's biggest aircraft launch since the iconic 747, and much of the survival of the company depends on a strong order book. With the Airbus A380 already in the skies for a number of airlines (Emirates, Qantas) Boeing are keen to see firm contracts being signed.
Boeing have already had some good news this year with Emirates announcing the have placed 30 orders for the Boeing 777.
Making the Boeing 787 Dreamliner
Gowalla
Gowalla - A location based game and guide
Two of the key players in this space are Foursquare and Gowalla, and it is the latter that I'm going to talk about here. Both services are pretty similar, and they have the key action of allowing a user to 'check-in' to a location using their internet enabled mobile phone. So for example I could go to Birmingham Airport, open the application on my phone, which using it's internal Global Positioning System it would list all locations near me. I could then select the listing for Birmingham Airport and use the check in feature. In this way it can be seen as a game as it allows you to see who has checked into a location most.
However the specific feature I'm going to focus on is only provided currently by Gowalla and it is called Trips. Here a user can add a number of locations and make them into a trip, for example here's a Trip I've created for the more cultural sights in Birmingham. In many ways these become like guided tours. Gowalla have been growing this feature and have recently partnered with the National Geographic to create featured spots around the world.
If you have an iPhone (direct app link) or an Android (direct app link) powered phone, I would encourage you to install the Gowalla app and see if there are any Trips for your next location.
Volcanic Ash Cloud Strikes Again
Flights in and out of Irish airspace were suspended for 6 hours on the 4th May, due to harmful levels of volcanic ash being present in the sky. Pretty much all traffic is moving again now, with just some minor closures but there is also a small risk that the new volcanic activity might affect UK airspace again overnight on the 4th May.
With the disruption and financial loss still very present in the minds of travellers and airlines, this is not welcome news. At the moment the activity is far below those witnessed last month, but the situation could change. The Met Office has confirmed an increase in activity from the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull
We just all hope the situation does not get worse.
Some Useful Twitter Accounts to Follow
If you've heard the phrase 'social media' then you've probably also heard of Twitter. For those of you that haven't, Twitter is a service that allows you to write a 140 character text message which can be read by visitors to your specific twitter.com web page. To see an example check out our own Twitter account. A Twitter account name is also known as a handle, so we have the name BrumAiport, which can be found at twitter.com/brumairport. You might also see this written as @brumairport.
Almost all web savy businesses now operate some sort of Twitter account, and with the flight restrictions during the ash cloud, these Twitter accounts have been a great way for airlines and travel companies to spread information out to a large number of users. With a large number of new smart phones having the capability to connect to the internet and even use Twitter Apps, that message can be received almost anywhere.
As a consequence we thought we would list a number of Twitter accounts that you might find useful.
Airlines/Tour Operators
@flysas - Scandinavian Airline Services (SAS)
@bhx_official - The official Birmingham Airport account
@FlyingBrussels - Brussels Airlines
@bmibaby_com
@flybmi -BMI
@thomsonholidays
@easyJet
@cityjet
Aviation Services
@eurocontrol - Eurocontrol
Other Travel
@little_break - Eurostar
Of course there are probably a lot of other accounts that we have not listed here so if you know of any, please let us now.
A380 and 70th Anniversary at BHX
On the 9th September, an Emirates Airbus A380 landed at BHX and later returned to it's base in Dubai. This visit from the worlds largest airliner, marked both the 70th anniversary of Birmingham International Airport and the opening of the new International Pier, proving the airport can handle the worlds biggest planes.
Full Body Scanners At UK Airports
On December 25th 2009, Nigerian Abdul Mudallad attempted to blow up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 which was just 20 minutes away from landing at Detroit airport. Mudallad had concealed explosive material in his underwear which he mixed with a liquid from a syringe. Fortunately this was unsuccessful and only resulted in Mudallad burning himself.
There are a number of disturbing elements to this story. One, that Mudallad was able to board the flight in Amsterdam with undetected explosive materials, and two that Mudallad was actually on a watch list of known terrorist suspects.
The first point has raised significant questions about airport security and the processing of passengers. This has seen British Prime Minister Gorden Brown call for Full Body Scanners to be installed at all UK airports, therefore including Birmingham International.
Some see this as a knee jerk and political PR reaction to an event that was crucially missed by security forces. Despite that, there is clearly a need to increase the security measures that are currently in place at our airports, protecting the lives of passengers and crew has to be a priority.
The body scanners would allow staff to see through our clothing, revealing any hidden weapons, provided the staff can spot such problems, and hopefully prevent a re-occurrence of the terrible event on Northwest Airlines Flight 253. Coupled with this is also the need to re-asses liquid scanners at airports, particularly as the technology is available.
You can see why some people oppose the use of body scanners
Whilst using Full Body Scanners is only going to add to the time passengers face trying to board a flight, and also the feeling by some that this is an invasion of their personal liberties, I cannot think this is a worse dilemma than being blown out of the sky by a misguided individual. As a consequence, I feel we should embrace all technical advances possible that can help protect the individuals flying to and from UK airports.
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Flying Playlist
Pretty much everybody listens to an MP3 player these days whilst traveling. As a consequence we've made a playlist of some of our favorite tracks to listen to whilst cruising at 30,000 feet.
Aircraft and Ice – Not a good mix
Now that we are heading into winter, many aircraft will suffer from the build up of ice on the wings. As you can imagine this can cause problems. The presence of ice can alter the surface of the wing and therefore affect the lift and stability of the aircraft. In severe instances this can cause the aircraft to crash. The presence of ice can also affect control surfaces, again potentially leading to very serious consequences.
As a result, planes are regularly deiced at airports, with a fluid that is not drastically different to a regular deicer you might use on a car. You can find more details about aircraft deicer on wikipedia.
BA Strike Threat
Later today we will find out the details regards the strike threat from BA Unite members. For BA the timing could obviously not be worse. Personally, I can't see what benefit there is in strike action for the employees. Yes, everybody wants to keep their jobs and if possible receive normal pay increases, but BA do not have the revenues to operate as they would like. So if they strike, this will undoubtedly result in canceled flights and long delays, which will only worsen the business performance, resulting in less revenue to pay staff, and thus the viscous circle continues.
Christmas is a busy time of year with lots of people traveling to see family and friends, or to just enjoy some winter sun, so the impact will be large on the poor customer.
Luckily for BHX, BA do not operate any flights currently from the airport, so it should be normal service for us, however one would imagine that other airports will be affected.
What do you think about this situation? Are you due to fly with BA, or from Heathrow?
2010 World Cup – South Africa
Table Mountain in Cape Town
If you follow football you will be aware that the draw was made last night for the initial group stages for the World Cup Finals being played in South Africa over June and July 2010. A number of extra keen England fans will undoubtedly have already made travel plans with flights and hotels possibly booked. However, there is still plenty of time to make arrangements, even if the best deals have already been snapped up. England will play in three locations; Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, Green Point Stadium in Cape Town and the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
Rustenburg will be England's base for the tournament and is about a 2 hour drive from Johannesburg. Port Elizabeth is over 700k from Cape Town in the Eastern Cape Province and is well known for it's watersports due to being located on the cost. Last but not least is Cape Town itself, the capital of South Africa, and it is here you can probably expect to find most of the action.
As the crow flies, Cape Town is 6,100 miles from Birmingham, so this is definitely a long haul route, and unfortunately one that cannot be flown direct from BHX. However, there are still a number of options available from BHX with transfers en route, with the consideration being whether you want to fly to Cape Town or Johannesburg. We have not indicated prices as these will be changing rapidly the closer we get to the tournament, however you can compare live prices on Skyscanner.
1. Cape Town on KLM via Amsterdam Schiphol
2. Cape Town on Emirates via Dubai
3. Johannesburg on Air France via Paris Charles de Gaul
4. Johannesburg on Lufthansa via Frankfurt
5. Johannesburg on Swiss Airlines via Zurich
As for hotels, the obvious criteria will be to stay somewhere central but with good access to the stadiums. Site such as Expedia, hotels.com and eBookers will be good starting points to compare prices and availability.