Picture of the Day(7 December 2011)

Virgin Atlantic Airways Airbus 340-313X(G-VAIR) taxing at London-Heathrow(LHR) on November 24, 2011.

Source: airliners.net

Picture of the Day(6 December 2011)

All Nippon Airways(ANA) Boeing 787-881 Dreamliner taxing to the gate at Tokyo-Haneda International(HND) on November 24, 2011.

Source: airliners.net

Photos, video: Sydney Airport's domestic & international overhaul

A major overhaul of Sydney Airport would see Australia's busiest airport transformed into two 'airline alliance-based precincts' for Qantas and Virgin Australia, with international, domestic and regional services operating under one roof.

The scheme, revealed today by the privately-held Sydney Airport Corporation, would allocate the current domestic Terminal 2 and Terminal 3 exclusively to Qantas, Jetstar and members of the oneworld alliance, with one terminal for domestic flights and the other for international services.



On the other side of the runway, today's international Terminal 1 would become the new home for Virgin Australia and its growing roster of international partners including Etihad, Air New Zealand, Singapore Airlines and Delta.



Other international airlines would continue to operate from T1, although they would likely be clustered around their own group of gates.

The change would reduce the time and hassle involved in transit between international and domestic services.

To help give you an idea of the scale of this project, here's how Sydney Airport currently works (or, as some might say, doesn't work).


There are seperate international and domestic terminals, with transfers between the two done via shuttle bus – a free 'scenic ride' around the perimeter of the tarmac if you're with Qantas, or a paid trundle via public roads for connecting to other domestic airlines.

Also makes above is the 'Qantas Jet Base' hangar facility, directly below the domestic terminals. Now here's how Sydney Airport would like things to look, circa 2019, if this massive makeover gets the green light.

We're now looking back towards Sydney, from the other side of the photo shown above.


Virgin Australia's domestic and regional flights would operate from one arm of what is today the international terminal (T1).


Adjacent to this would be all international flights by Virgin Australia and its partners...


... while international airlines not affiliated with Virgin (or Qantas) would be located further down T1.


And here's the new home for Qantas and friends. Under the plan, T2 and T3 become a single mega-terminal for all domestic and regional flights by Qantas, Jetstar and QantasLink.


Some international flights by Qantas and its oneworld partners also appear ear-marked for this terminal, if the image below is any guide.


There'll also be a second international wing built where the Qantas Jet base stands today.


Sydney Airport believes the proposal can become reality by 2019. Here's a video prepared by the airport (and from which we grabbed the images above) to show how the new airport will look.

Source: australianbusinesstraveller

Picture of the Day(5 December 2011)

British Airways Boeing 747-436(G-BNLP) departing from London-Heathrow(LHR) through mist and drizzle on November 12,2011.

Source: airliners.net

British Airways bid for BMI aims to plug Asia gaps

British Airways scrapped long-haul flights from Manchester in 2008, opting to route through Heathrow


British Airways will probably target Korea, Malaysia and other high-growth Asian markets as it examines how to make the best use of operating slots at London’s Heathrow airport on offer with the takeover of BMI.

BA’s parent, International Consolidated Airlines Group, last month reached an accord to buy BMI from Deutsche Lufthansa. IAG allocates one-third the number of seats to Asia that it does to the US, leaving it trailing European rivals in tapping travel to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

British Airways will also have the capacity available to exploit new inter-continental routes as the London-based company takes delivery of 12 Airbus SAS A380 superjumbos and 24 Boeing Co. 787 Dreamliners starting in 2013. BMI generally serves less lucrative, short-haul destinations using smaller planes.

“There isn’t that much that BMI does out of London that IAG doesn’t do already, or would want to do,” said Chris Logan, an analyst at Echelon Research & Advisory in London. “IAG will cut a lot of BMI’s existing routes and use the slots for long- haul to Asia and perhaps a few additional US destinations.”

British Airways has had limited scope for growth because of a lack of operating positions at Heathrow, Europe’s busiest airport, which operates at 99 percent of capacity and won’t be allowed to add a third runway, according to UK Prime Minister David Cameron.

Buying UK-based BMI will add 8.5 percent of total slots to the 44.5 percent that BA and Spain’s Iberia- with which it merged in January to form IAG - already control.

“We’re still moving forward” with the acquisition and currently doing due diligence on BMI, said Laura Goodes, a spokeswoman for IAG.

Prime targets for BA are likely to include Incheon, the biggest hub in South Korea, a country the carrier has never served, and Kuala Lumpur, which it exited in 2001 to focus Southeast Asian operations on Bangkok and Singapore, according to John Grant, a London-based consultant at UBM Aviation.

“British Airways needs to be back in that part of the world,” Grant said. “It’s the perfect time because they’ve got new orders for aircraft coming in. It really is the missing piece of the jigsaw.”

Air France-KLM Group, Europe’s biggest airline, offers 13 weekly flights to Korea and Lufthansa four. The French company also provides seven services to Kuala Lumpur, operated by the Dutch KLM unit. Kuala Lumpur will also probably feature high on BA’s wish list because Malaysian Airline System is set to join the Oneworld alliance that IAG leads, Grant said.

British Airways also currently operates only 26 weekly flights to China, versus 73 at Air France and 47 at Lufthansa. Madrid-based Iberia doesn’t operate any Asian flights, its chief strength being on routes to Latin America.

To maximize the attraction of services to London, British Airways flights need to leave Asia late at night, allowing passengers to sleep on the plane and head straight into morning meetings after arriving at Heathrow, UBM Aviation’s Grant said.

Gulf carriers including Dubai-based Emirates, the biggest airline by international traffic, Qatar Airways and Etihad of Abu Dhabi represent a major threat to any expansion in Asia as they seek to funnel transfer traffic through their hubs on fast-expanding fleets of widebody planes, Echelon’s Logan said.

“It seems like a good idea to expand to Asia, but delivery schedules at Middle Eastern carriers are so aggressive that there’s a risk in the medium term,” he said. “It’s surprisingly easy for airlines to mess up an attractive market by all throwing supply at it at the same time.”

Travellers shouldn’t expect new connections immediately as routes can take as many as two years to set up, Grant said.

Source: arabianbusiness

Picture of the Day(4 December 2011)

Air India Boeing 777-237/LR (VT-ALF) taxing at London-Heathrow(LHR) on May 22, 2011.

Source: airliners.net

Picture of the Day(3 December 2011)

Air Canada Boeing 777-233/LR(C-FIUF) approaching runway 25 of Sydney International(SYD) on July 7, 2011.

Source: airliners.net

Picture of the Day(2 December 2011)

Aeroflot-Russian Airlines Airbus 330-243(VP-BLY) departing from Moscow-Sheremetyevo(SVO) on November 21, 2011. 


Source: airliners.net

Picture of the Day(1 December 2011)

US Airways Airbus 330-323X(N272AY) departing from Manchester-Ringway International(MAN) on August 18, 2007.

Source: airliners.net

Scoot to launch Sydney services in mid-2012

Singapore Airlines' (SIA) new long-haul low-cost carrier, Scoot, has chosen Sydney as its first destination.

The low-cost carrier will launch a daily service between Singapore and Sydney from mid-2012, said Australia's New South Wales state premier, Barry O'Farrell.

"As the first true no-frills airline operating between Sydney and Asia, we can't wait to bring a whole new way to travel, even better airfares to shake up the industry," said Scoot's chief executive, Campbell Wilson.

Scoot will commence operations with four Boeing 777-200s and expects to receive its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) by the first quarter of 2012.

Source: Flightglobal