Plane Cemetery In The Desert

About a month ago I wrote a post about a designer company creating fantastic furniture pieces of plane parts they collect in plane cemeteries. But what are these exactly?

Well, it’s pretty much the same as with cars. Once a car becomes totally useless you take them to salvage yards, where you can take them apart and buy some parts if you can use them for anything.  Otherwise they rest in peace in these graveyards for decades.

How many plane cemeteries are there on the planet? Well, who knows? But it’s not just one or two. There must be millions of plane both military and jets around in deserted areas. Some of them are in the US, some in the Middle-East, but they can be located practically anywhere.

Today I found this blogpost with a nice story and even much nicer photos of a plane junkyard in the Mojave desert, California.

Plane Graveyard Mojave, California

Plane Graveyard Mojave, California

Take a look at them and if you like them, here is another album on Flickr with a bunch of other beautiful photos – even if the subject of the pictures is rather sad.

Plane Graveyard Mojave, California

Have fun with them!

by Szafi

Formula-1 In Abu Dhabi With Etihad Airways

The last Formula-1 race of the season was the first ever Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates. The state-of-the-art, brand new circuit at Yas Island hosted the already World Champions Brawn GP team and Jenson Button, but from a sponsorship point of view – Etihad Airways took it all.

On-car Advertisement 

The champion Brawn GP started out this season as a new team, with practically no sponsors. The first to sign up was Virgin and we were hoping to see some Virgin Atlantic or other Virgin airlines branding on those cars at some point in the season – which did not really happen. On the other hand, the Abu Dhabi based Etihad Airways has been actively participating in Formula-1 – as an on-car sponsor of Scuderia Ferrari – showing Etihad logos on the front and tail wings of the car, the helmets of the drivers and also on the shoulder of the drivers’ overalls.

Track side Advertisement 

Etihad was also the naming sponsor of the first “2009 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix” – which they have used as a truly worldwide global campaign opportunity. All those who have watched the race have seen the Etihad logos all around the circuit on static displays as well as on dynamic giant LCD displays.

Special Aircraft Liveries

And where can an airline advertise any more visible than on its own aircraft? Etihad Airways has prepared two special livery airplanes over the last year to support its high profile involvement with the first ever Abu Dhabi Formula-1 Grand Prix. The intercontinental ambassador of Etihad is an Airbus A340-600 (registration: A6-EHJ), the currently largest airplane of Etihad that has been carrying a special livery for almost a year that has a shaded background (from white through red to black) and shows a checkered flag on its tail.

Etihad has also designed a special livery for one of its smaller planes, an Airbus A320 (registration: A6-EIB), also known as “Etihad’s Black Jet”. The plane is painted in full black livery, with a Formula-1 car on its tail

 

Congratulations to Etihad for showing the world how to use Formula-1 for a truly, global promotion campaign! 

by balint01

Airbus A380 Sightseeing Flights Over Antarctica

Australian oneworld member Qantas is already operating 4 Airbus A380s, and is awaiting two more for delivery in late 2009. Now Qantas is offering a very special experience aboard this very special aircraft: Sightseeing flights above the all-white, mysterious Antarctica – the world of endless ice and snow. Now a few hundred travelers will have the chance to take a very special look at it from above, from the warm and luxurious flight deck of a Qantas A380 – the largest passenger jet ever flown.

Qantas will operate three sightseeing flights over Antarctica during the Southern summer with its new A380. It is partnering with Antarctica Sightseeing Flights of Melbourne once again, with whom they have previously provided similar special flights aboard Boeing 747-400s.  The idea originally came from New Zealand, where Air New Zealand provided similar flights in the ’70s, until November 28, 1979, when one of its McDonnell Douglas DC-10’s tragically crashed into Mt. Erebus on Antarctica. It took many years before Qantas paired up with Croydon Travel in 1994 for their first scenic Antarctica flight. They have safely operated 85 flights over the 15 years taking more than 30,000 people to experience the world’s ‘last great wilderness’ during this one and a half decade. In contrast to the 30,000 people flown above it, this continent has given birth to only one human in 1978 and has only around 1,000 researchers living on its soil year-round (but nobody is registered there).

The first A380 flight is scheduled for takeoff on December 31, 2009 from Melbourne, the second on January 24, 2010 from Sydney. There will be third Antarctic flight on February 14 from Melbourne, but with a Boeing 747. The New Year’s Eve flight will be under the command of Capt. John Dennis, who has flown more than 40 of Qantas’ 85 747 flights to the ice, and both others will be commanded by a senior Qantas Captain who had flown at least once to Antarctica. The most frequently used route takes the aircraft over the icecap, the South Magnetic Pole, the French scientific base at Dumont d’Urville and finally the spectacular Trans-Antarctic Range. Approval has been secured for 19 Antarctic flight routes, with final selection based upon weather and viewing opportunities.

All flights include two meals with the on board experience enhanced by a panel of experts, including world accredited Antarctic scientists, glaciologists, explorers, adventurers & mountaineers. On to top of the view from the windows, the on board entertainment system would show the live picture of the panorama from the cockpit.  The passengers of the “New Year’s Eve Midnight Sun Party Flight” will be the first to see the sun in 2010– as it will be full daylight at 12.01am over the ice – and the flight will feature dancing in the aisles to the music of a live jazz band.

The flights take about 3 hours to reach the first icebergs of Antarctica, followed by four hours flying above the continent and another 4 to reach Australia again – totaling an average flight time of between 11-13 hours. When over Antarctica the plane flies at approximately 10,000 feet above sea level as this altitude provides excellent viewing while still respecting the wildlife habitats at sea level. The aircraft flies in long sweeping ‘figure 8s’ over various points of interest to allow the spectacular sights to be viewed from both sides of the aircraft. Passenger will be given two boarding passes and will have to switch seats half-way through the flight. This means that all passengers (except the ones flying in Economy Centre or Business Centre seats) will have a window seat at least for half of the flight. Given that there is no dark at night over Antarctica during the Southern summer time, it doesn’t really matter which half of the flight you have the window seat. The seatmap is available here.

Fares for this unforgettable experience start from AUD999 (USD899) for the Economy Class Centre seats and go up through 6 other seat-types to the First Class seats for AUD 6,299 (USD 5,667).

by balint01

Bar Made Of Jet Engine

This probably the most exciting interior decorating idea related to aviation. The folowing bar counter was made of a real Pratt & Whitney Boeing 747 jet engine.

Each custom fabricated piece includes a 1/2” tempered glass top, supported by mirror polished aluminum stand-offs.  Behind the bar includes a hardwood bar counter top with bottom shelves for storage.  Available in multiple finishes including mirror polished.

If you like this one, you should check out this very exciting website I have just found via Born Rich blog.

By Szafi

Vote For Malev’s New Q400 Livery

After all the bad news we read earlier about Bombardier’s Q400 – also called Dash 8, now there’s some fun about them.

Malev, the Hungarian airline company initiated an aircraft livery design contest. The finalists were selected by a smaller jury that includes Mr Laszlo Zsoter, the designer of the present Malev livery. Malev’s planes are sometimes called Blue Nose among planespotters. If you take a look at this picture, you will understand why.

Malev Q400

Now you can visit Malev’s site and vote for the design you like the most. Don’t miss it, it’s fun! Here are some examples:

By Nora Vera Csovari

By Szabolcs Kozicz

By Gabor Tamas Nemeth

By Szafi

9/11

Again a year passed and it is 9/11 again, the black day of civil aviation.

I will not repeat myself. It’s a sad day. Let’s light a candle for them!

By Szafi

SkyEurope Goes Bankrupt

Following 7.5 years of operations and almost half a year of struggling to find an investor, SkyEurope Airlines has announced its bankruptcy this morning on the website of the Vienna Stock Exchange, which also means the immediate suspension of all of their flights.

We have reported earlier that a SkyEurope plane had been held up in Paris in July, then all of their Vienna flights were moved to Bratislava just two weeks ago, and earlier on Monday the company cancelled all flights from Slovakia until midnight on Monday, facing a suspension in flights from the Czech capital of Prague starting on Tuesday due to outstanding bills. Then the (not-so) shocking news saw the light this morning: SkyEurope Airlines went bankrupt. This means all of its fleet is grounded, all of its passengers are left behind wherever they may be at the moment.

The final request for the bankruptcy procedure came from the advisor overlooking Slovakian SkyEurope’s financial restructuring. Due to this, ALL OF SKYEUROPE’s flights are CANCELLED with IMMEDIATE EFFECT. Some reports claim their staff has not received their salary for some time, and it still owes a large sum of money for Bratislava Airport for the fuel they have used in recent weeks. SkyEurope first flew on February 13, 2002 and last flew on August 31, 2009.

When clicking on the banner that reads “SkyEurope suspends its operations”, you get to a page with the following text:

“Dear Guests,
Please be advised that SkyEurope has suspended its sales and operations immediately.
Those of you who have purchased flights with a credit card, please turn to your credit card issuing bank to seek refunds for unused portions of SkyEurope’s flights.
In case you have paid directly to SkyEurope in other means than credit card (e.g. bank transfer, cash), please be advised that a refund may not be possible.
If you have ordered your flight tickets via a travel agency or organizer, you should discuss the matter with them first.
If you are already at the destination or have rented a car through SkyEurope’s business partner, you may stay at the hotel and use the vehicle during the period originally agreed. You must, however, order a return flight from some other airline at your own expense.
You may also wish to contact your insurance provider to seek further guidance and support.
We regret for the inconvenience that have been caused to you.“

The worst point is the one that explains that if you are already at your destination, “you must … order a return flight from some other airline at your own expense”. This will mean a lot of hazzle, and maybe extra income and profit for other airlines flying on the same route. Earlier, when other low-cost airlines went bankrupt, easyJet and BA were the first ones to offer special tickets for passengers having a valid ticket with the bankrupt airline. We are wondering if any other airline will offer this now (Austrian Airlines, Wizzair, CSA and maybe Malev are in favor as they share(d) some routes with SkyEurope).

Update (02SEP): Three Airlines are offering special one-way fares for passengers holding a valid SkyEurope ticket: Austrian Airlines for EUR 150, Malév Hungarian Airlines for EUR 99 EasyJet for EUR 30 and Wizzair for EUR 30. Malév also offers the EUR 99 fare for passengers who planned to fly with SkyEurope from Prague – they can now take Malév’s offer for a transfer flight through Budapest.

by balint01

Michael Goulian Wins Red Bull Air Race 2009 Budapest

It was a real surprise for Budapest, Hungary to see 41-year-old US Michael Goulian winning the Red Bull Air Race in Budapest.

He was eleventh in the championship before the race arrived in Budapest, thus it was a little bit surprising that he flew the best time among the top four.

Michael Goulian

20th of August is a national holiday in Hungary. Traditionally this holiday welcomes tens of thousands watching planes flying over the river Danube in downtown Budapest on the riverbanks. The first Red Bull Air race took place here on this day some six years ago. Founder of the race, Hungarian Peter Besenyei finished 8th today.

Besenyei with the Parliament in the background

This day is also remarkable as old MIG fighter planes (MIG-29s) said goodbye to the Hungarian audience as they will get retired from serving in the Hungarian Air Force. They have been replaced by Saab Gripens.

Another highlight of the day was that rally driver Sebastian Loeb flew a Red Bull Air Race plane over Budapest.

Loeb in an Air Race plane

More news on the Red Bull Air Race on the official website.

(more pictures are coming soon)

By Szafi

SkyEurope Airlines Moves Vienna Flights To Bratislava – Temporarily?

SkyEurope Airlines is in big trouble. They have followed a different strategy from the other regional low-cost carrier, Wizzair, when opting to focus their operations on only three cities: Vienna, Bratislava and Prague. Since last Friday, this has been reduced to only two: Bratislava and Prague.

Following a series of negative financial results in a number of years (actually SkyEurope has not made profits since it launched operations in 2002), and a lot of speculation about possible bankruptcy, the airline went into “creditor protection” – a similar state to the famous US Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Earlier this summer, just a few days after they announced their protection while reorganizing, one of their planes was held up at Paris-Orly airport – due to unpaid duties at the airport. It was then communicated through the media that this had nothing to do with their bankruptcy protection and was an illegal move from the Paris Airport company. However, one of their 737s has been parked at Paris Orly for two months because a French court ordered that the airline not be allowed access to the aircraft until it pays debts owed in France… They also have stated several times during the summer of 2009 that they are paying all of their bills as required and while the reorganization takes place, passengers may count on an uninterrupted service. This was true until last Friday, when:

At the end of July they named the Austrian FOCUS Equity investor group as a partner with whom an agreement had been signed, reporting that FOCUS is willing to invest up to EUR 16.5m, its condition being the successful restructuring of the firm. Ever since this news, SkyEurope has been trying to resolve the problem with lack of cash for the restructuring process.

Just last week further bad news saw the light about the airline, when Vienna Airport announced early in the week, that it will suspend ground handling services for SkyEurope by Friday, unless its outstanding fees to Vienna International are settled by then. Most likely these fees totaling approximately EUR 4 million, have not been settled, as SkyEurope went into pro-active mode on Friday night (August 14, 2009), and simply moved all of its operations from Vienna to the close-by Bratislava airport, overnight. The airports are only 48 kms apart in the air (59 kms on the road), but the move could still lead to unhappy passengers due to delayed flights.

Even though the official announcement of SkyEurope included the word “TEMPORARILY”, it is not yet announced when the Vienna flights would depart and arrive actually in Vienna again. (The information page on their website gets updated everyday to push out the end date by one day…) This temporary measure runs “until an agreement can be reached to resume flights from Vienna.” All passengers scheduled to depart from Vienna on SkyEurope flights will be checked into their flight at Vienna airport as usual and then transferred by bus to nearby Bratislava airport for their flight departures. Passengers should arrive at the Vienna airport to check in at the normal time as they would for a Vienna departure. After check-in, passengers can board the buses in front of the departure area of Vienna Airport Terminal 2. Passengers on SkyEurope flights arriving in Bratislava rather than Vienna will be transferred by bus to Vienna airport. This will mean that the Vienna departure flights will leave Bratislava at least an hour late, and given the short turn-around time used at low-cost airlines, they will arrive back to Vienna at least an hour late. Then passengers will take the bus to Vienna, which could lead to almost a two hour delay in arrivals to the Vienna airport.

SkyEurope will give every affected passenger a free airfare voucher for a future SkyEurope flight. Vouchers will be sent to passengers via e-mail after their flights.

Undermining the “Temporarily” term in the press release about the move, SkyEurope.com has a large banner on the homepage, advertising a 40% sale for “Vienna” low fares - now departing from Bratislava – for the time period September-February (2010). As the banner suggests that these flights will now depart from Bratislava instead of Vienna – it gives the impression that this move is not temporary after all, but is planned for at least half a year – for the less busy winter time-period, for sure – but more probably for the undefined future. When clicking through the banner, you will see the following message:

“By moving our operations from Vienna to Bratislava Airport, you are now saving 40% on our lowest fares.

Booking period: Aug 18, 6pm – Aug 20, 12am.
Travel period: September 1 – February 22″

Not the banner, nor the conditions mention the word “temporarily”…

Looking at this banner also made me think, whether if the move was intended due to the lower handling costs avialable in Bratislava (which may have gotten even lower with the additional capacity bringing better negotiating power with the airport operator) and the Vienna Airport situation was only used as a media reason for the move? Just think about it. Which press release would give you a better impression of the airline:
A) “We are sorry, but due to lower operational costs, we will move our Vienna operations to Bratislava as our financial situation has worsened recently and this is one of the reorganization measures in order to keep SkyEurope in the air (for the time being).” or
B) “Vienna Airport has suspended servicing our flights due to some minor unsettled issues, but SkyEurope have managed to relocate all of those flights to nearby Bratislava – and we’ll take you there by bus for free, plus give you a free flight voucher”.
I think B) just proves to be better accepted by the flying public, and makes SkyEurope look like the champion of quick, problem-solving reaction and relocation!

Whatever the truth is, we hope SkyEurope succeeds in its reorganizational efforts, even though we have our doubts. A low-cost airline using only two basis airports is simply not destined for long-term survival, especially when it has been kicked out of two airports due to unsettled fees in recent months… Keeping our fingers crossed!

by balint01

United Breaks Guitars

A song was written about the negligence of United Airlines. The band Son of Maxwell was on a tour and flew United from Halifax to Nebraska. They changed flights in Chicago, where musician Dave Caroll noticed a ground worker dropping his guitar. He asked the flight attendants to do something, but they could not or did not want to help.

After arrival his fear got proven, his guitar worth more than 500 dollars was broken. He immediately claimed his damage, but it was rejected by the airline.

He promised himself to write three songs about this incident and he will make sure that each song will be viewed at least 1 million times. The first video was uploaded at the beginning of July and it was viewed more than 150 thousand times in the first 3 days.

After the appearance of the video the airline revised the case and offered a compensation, but Dave refused it and told them to give that sum to charity.

Later Taylor guitars offered Dave that they fix his guitar for free plus they gave him a shiny new one.

This was the song about the incident by Son of Maxwell:

Here is the second song:

By Szafi