December 2010 Archives

When Korean Air places its first A380 into service to Japan and China next May (touch wood), the carrier will boast the least dense A380 cabin.

Korean Air will have a total of 407 seats on its A380: 12 in first class, 94 in business, and 301 in economy, Superadrianme reports. That is only 27 more seats than what Korean fits in its most densely configured 747-400.

Korean Air's A380 configuration enables it to devote the A380's entire upper deck to business class ("Prestige Class"), the first A380 operator to do so. Note that although Lufthansa has more business class seats on its A380, it places them at an approximately 60" pitch, whereas Korean Air's business class seats will have a 74" pitch.

Economy class is not forgotten, as the carrier will have a 34" pitch there.

Business class will also feature large partitions that will offer what is "normally the comfort and privacy reserved for First Class passengers on other airlines," head of the Passenger Business Division Walter Cho says.

So if business class will be like first class, what will first class be like? No word yet. Stay tuned.

These are interesting times for India's Air Force. Somewhere in its colonnaded Delhi headquarters a massive team is poring over tens of thousands of pages about the six fighters in the 126-aircraft MMRCA (Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft) competition.

Aside from the 6,000-7,000 pages each company provided - the contenders are Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Saab, Dassault, Eurofighter, and RSK Mig - the IAF generated tons of data during the lengthy field trials of each aircraft.

An IAF official told me last week that the Air Force chief likes to joke that the IAF could provide consulting service to other countries on how to pick an airplane. The chief also, apparently, says cocktail parties are not as much fun: a nod to this person, or a smile to another, could be construed as an endorsement of a certain plane.

Who is winning? The fervid Indian press seems to throw up a new favourite every week. A discussion with anyone in the aviation sector inevitably veers toward the  MMRCA. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has a favourite, but nobody really knows.

With $10 billion at stake the MMRCA deal is of tremendous importance for each of the companies (and countries) involved in the bidding.  Indeed, the MMRCA could well decide the future of certain programmes.

This was clear in my discussions with the manufacturers last week. In my journalism career I've rarely had interview subjects convey such passion about their wares. It was all tremendously informative, and in my view every aircraft looks terrific.

But in the end there can be only one.

As I was passing through Kuala Lumpur's Sentral station earlier this week this Firefly ad immediately caught my attention.

Firefly last month announced it will ad up to 30 Boeing 737-800 aircraft between 2011 and 2015 in an effort to take on low-cost carriers in the region, namely AirAsia.

AirAsia's ultra low-cost leads to the carrier operating out of a low-cost terminal that some have described as a shed. The carrier also does not use jetways, meaning passengers face a walk on the tarmac to their aircraft. When a city such as KL is warm year-round with humidity and the chance of rain, this is not always a pleasant experience and I can attest to that.

I find the part I like least about AirAsia is the terminal and boarding. Once I get on board AirAsia is fine, but getting there leaves room for improvement.

Enter Firefly.

In its above ad the carrier touts that it will operate out of the main KUL terminal and will use jetways (aerobridges) for boarding.

The carrier says it will have competitive fares against AirAsia. Even if Firefly cannot match AirAsia's low cost and needs to charge slightly more, I think there is room in the market for a quasi-up-scale LCC like Firefly. Look in Europe where easyJet offers more dignity than Ryanair, Southwest and jetBlue offer more than Spirit, and in Australia where Jetstar is more up-scale than Tiger Airways.

There is anecdotal evidence that some passengers would pay AirAsia more to use jetways.

AirAsia has raised having a few jetways at its new low-cost terminal at KUL to board flights (presumably AirAsia X flights that can seat up to 400 passengers) in inclement weather, but the carrier is not looking to use jetways system-wide.

In that case, Firefly has a proposition for you. And if you want full-frills, right next to the Firefly ad at KL Sentral was this ad (below) for Malaysia Airlines.

For some background on Firefly's 737 order, here are some extracts from our article last month on our Air Transport Intelligence news wire:

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) turboprop subsidiary Firefly will add Boeing 737-800 aircraft to its fleet from early 2011 as it seeks to expand its operations and compete with other low-cost carriers in the region.

The airline plans to add up to 30 737-800s from 2011 to 2015 and will operate them out of Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA), says Firefly managing director Eddy Leong.

The airline's 737-800 operations will complement MAS in a "dual product strategy", says Leong. "MAS will focus on the full-service carrier business, while we focus on the low-cost carrier market."

Firefly will begin its 737 flights on 15 January, with twice-daily Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu flights and twice-daily Kuala Lumpur-Kuching flights.

These will be upped to thrice-daily and four times daily, respectively, from 24 January.

Firefly says it will announce more services once it has secured the necessary traffic rights. While Leong declines to name specific destinations, he says: "All major Asean countries are potential candidates."

"We will leverage on MAS' and Firefly's existing infrastructure and expertise," he says, adding that the airline chose to base its jets at KLIA to take advantage of the better connectivity there.

...

"Firefly's fares will be extremely competitive and we will also focus on winning ancillary revenue," he says.

Changi Airport welcomed its 40 millionth passenger for the year today at Terminal 3 - a very lucky Jonathan Shih from Taiwan (second from left), who was on board Singapore Airlines SQ827 from Shanghai.

I say very lucky, because Shih got S$40,000 ($30,440) to spend at the terminal's transit mall. He could buy anything (although I heard he was restricted to a maximum of four of the same item) as long as he completes his shopping spree in 40 minutes.

Shih spent the cash - and topped up with a bit of his own - in just 30 minutes. Among his purchases were two iPads, two iPods, a MacBook Pro, a Cartier watch, a 0.59 carat diamond ring, a Mont Blanc watch, a Hermes bag, a Bottega Veneta bag and S$2,000 worth of candy and chocolates.

What one does with that amount of candy, I do not know, but hey, what's it to you if you have S$40,000 to spend?

In the past few weeks AirAsia X announced two new routes for 2011--Christchurch and Paris--but the fast-growing carrier is not showing any signs of slowing down.

Tony Fernandes, one of AirAsia X's investors, says that he hopes the carrier can fly to New York next year via a stop-over in Europe with fifth-freedom rights. In 2012 he hopes to see AirAsia X expand into Budapest, Moscow, and Prague.

That's all swell, but AirAsia X will be constrained with the range of its A330-300s. (The carrier has two A340s but hasn't shown an interest in acquiring more. Likewise it's A350s on order will not arrive for a number of years.)

For that there are two solutions: Fernandes is pushing Airbus to extend the A330-300's range and is also discussing purchasing longer-range A330-200 aircraft.

Have you met AirAsia X's new flight attendant?

He's known for his airlines, wavy blonde hair, and giving people a Virgin of a time.

Our sister blog that covers the quirkier aspects of aviation has more details and a photo you don't want to miss. (Or maybe you do.)

At the recent Zhuhai airshow I was struck by the large numbers of Pakistani air force personnel. I've always known China and Pakistan were close, but it was still a surprise to see a contingent of over 100 Pakistanis so far from home. 

The retirement of Australia's F-111Cs last week ended the long story of a successful, and iconic, long range bomber. Many forget, however, that US Navy's version of the aircraft, the F-111B, was a failure.

The F-111B was big like the F-111C, though it had a stubbier nose to make carrier landings easier. Conceived as pure fighter (the naval version of the Tactical Fighter Experimental) in the early sixties, it would not need a gun. The F-111B's AWG-9 pulse doppler radar and Phoenix missiles (120lb warhead, 100 mile + range) would ensure that nothing could get near it - ever.

The air war over Southeast Asia, however, ended all hope for the F-111B. In that war nimble (and cheap) Migs and their guns proved a serious problem for big American fighters and their advanced missiles - which, to be fair, often failed to work properly in the humid and hot combat conditions. The best performing US fighter of the war was probably the old F-8 Crusader with super manoeuvrability, ample power, and four 20mm cannons.  

Extensive trials showed the F-111B's manoeuvrability to be inferior to that of the F-4 Phantom, the plane it was designed to replace on carrier decks. It proved to be yet another peacetime weapons system condemned by the unforgiving realities of war.

The F-14 Tomcat was eventually adopted as the premiere carrier fighter, reigning on carrier decks for three decades, before finally being retired in 2006.

Cathay yesterday unveiled its new business class seat, to be offered on the airline's long-haul A330 and 777-300ER flights (those flying between Hong Kong and Sydney will be the first to try it out from March 2011). The new seat, which reclines into a lie-flat bed, is wider and longer than Cathay's current business class seats.

The new seats come with storage space at the side, a vanity mirror, a shoe locker and a water bottle holder. Seats in the centre are angled towards each other and have a shared cocktail table in the middle, perfect for those travelling with a companion, says Cathay.

And for those hoping to get some work done at 35,000ft, the new seats come with USB ports and power outlets to charge Blackberries and iPods. Passengers can also view content from their iPods through the in-flight entertainment system, which my colleague Mary Kirby aka Runway_Girl talks more about here.

Besides the new seats, Cathay's refurbished business class cabin comes with artwork on the interiors by Hong Kong artist Maria Lobo as well as new bedding and dining ware.

 

Since joining the Flightglobal team I've been burning to write about the elephant in the room: China's aircraft carrier.

That she exists is beyond question. Formerly the Russian carrier Varyag, the flattop is tied up in Dalian covered by scaffolding, a tantalizing plume of smoke rising from her island. What's going on in there? Engines gearing up? Apparently she even has a name, Shi Yang, and an auspicious number, 83. Shi Yang was an admiral who invaded Taiwan in 1861.

There is plenty of speculation on the Internet, but from the Chinese navy only silence. 

Being a military aviation fan (which, as luck would have it, is now part of my job description) I can't help but think about the Shi Yang, and the J-15 that might fly off it one day - especially after it was allegedly caught on film. I was hoping to see the J-15 (based on the eighties-era Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker-D) appear at the recent air show in Zhuhai, but no dice. 

"Man, I'm certain this thing will put in appearance," says I to a colleague before the show.

"No way," said he. "China doesn't like surprises."

He was right. Not only was the J-15 absent, but also the J-11, China's copy of the Sukhoi Su-27, and any other Russian kit of note. And my exhaustive searches through the sprawling show revealed not a single carrier illustration - not counting the American carrier, all planes on her deck, getting pummelled by Chinese missiles in one of the COSIC murals (the subject of a previous post).

There was also no mention or illustration (again, unsurprisingly) of the much discussed base somewhere in China that has a runway rigged like an aircraft carrier deck, apparently for pilot training.

What, exactly, is going on? When will the Shi Yang emerge? Will she one day be operational? Or will she serve only as a training ship, training cadres of naval aviators and sailors for some future, built-entirely-in-China,  fleet of super carriers? Who knows? For now all we can do is ponder internet photos, and an unsatisfying video of what is believed to be a J-15.