Aviation | Digital Crosstalk

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Brian and team, who work for a digital marketing agency run this Digital Crosstalk blog.
Occasionally we might blog about companies and people we work with but for the most part we'll simply be blogging about stories and events which we find interesting.

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14th
JAN

French Capital flights affected by strike action

Posted by Brian | Filed under air

Flights at Paris’ two main airports – Charles de Gaulle and Orly – have been disrupted by a strike from air traffic controllers protesting over job cuts and reforms.

The DCAG aviation authority said that around 15% if flights in and out of Charles de Gaulle – Paris’ main international airport – were affected while as many as half of all flights in and out of Orly would suffer distruption and cancellation as a result of the strike.

The strike is expected to continue through to Friday morning and comes at a time where the both airports have also been affected by delays due to snow.

Tags: airports, Aviation, charles de gaulle, orly

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16th
DEC

Boeing’s Dreamliner makes maiden flight

Posted by Brian | Filed under air

: Image by Getty Images via Daylife

After some two years of delays, Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner finally made its maiden flight on Tuesday 15th December, completing a three-hour trip which was hailed by the airline maker as ‘a success’.

More than 12,000 Boeing employees and guests looked on as the plane left the tarmac at around 10.30am from Everett’s Paine Field before the plane touched down three hours later at Seattle’s Boeing Field, around 40 miles from where it started.

Although it might sound something of an anti-climax, taking 180 minutes to cover just 40 miles, the plane actually travelled at around 207 mph at an altitude of 15,000 – a typical height for a maiden flight. During the plane’s airborne time, the chief pilot and captain tested some of the plane’s systems and structures while flight data was streamed to a team of engineers for analysis at Boeing Field.

Although not due to begin commercial flights until 2011, customers have already ordered 840 of the 787 planes at a cost of $150 million each. Boeing promises passengers a ‘better flying experience’ with flyers able to take advantage of cleaner air, bigger windows and interior lighting, and increased luggage space, while the plane is reputed to use as much as 20 percent less fuel than current models of comparative size.

“It’s good is see that plane fly,” said Richard Aboulafia, an analyst with the Teal Group in Washington. “With all the delays, you begin to question when things will get on track.”

Tags: 787, air travel, Aviation, boeing, dreamliner

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17th
AUG

Ryanair to pull flights out of Manchester

Posted by Brian | Filed under air

: Image via Wikipedia

A report in the Independent online claims that budget airline Ryanair will close or switch most of its ten routes away from Manchester airport from October. Ryanair have blamed the airport’s refusal to lower its charges as the main reason for the decision which could see as many as 600 local jobs being lost.

The cutback will see around 40 Ryanair flights per week lost at Manchester airport, while passenger footfall could drop by as much as 60,000 as a result. However, Ryanair claimed it had offered the airport an additional 28 flights which would have increased footfall by around 400,000 and created 400 jobs if the airport would reduce its charges, but this was rejected by airport bosses.

Routes which will cease to operate include flights from Manchester to/from Barcelona Girona, Bremen, Brussels Charleoi, Cagliari, Dusseldorf Weeze, Frankfurt Hahn, Marseille, Milan Bergamo and Shannon. All will stop running from 1st October this year.

Affected passengers will be contacted directly by Ryanair and offered a full refund or an alternative flight from competing, lower cost airports including East Midlands airport and Liverpool John Lennon airport.

“Ryanair continues to lower fares to encourage travel, but with passengers paying lower fares airports must lower their charges – particularly high-cost airports like Manchester, Stansted and Dublin. Ryanair had offered new routes, traffic and growth to Manchester airport but since they prefer to preserve their high-cost base than to grow, Ryanair will now switch or close nine Manchester routes,” said Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara.