David Kaminski-Morrow: February 2008 Archives

Traditional khanjar curved daggers are a frequent sight in Oman where they are carried in public as part of the national dress. But while the khanjar has featured on Oman Air's livery since the airline started operations, it's shortly to disappear in favour of a gold-and-silver swirl representing the smoke of burning Omani frankincense.

It's all part of a change of image newly unveiled in Muscat, timed to coincide with Oman Air's expansion into long-haul operations and the introduction of a fleet which will include Airbus A330s and, eventually, Boeing 787s.

You wouldn't think IATA designators could be worthy of much mystique but the code for British Airways' new carrier OpenSkies was one secret it chose not to spill during January's unveiling.

And now we know why: because OpenSkies has been hoping to land a code which is just as recognisable as the familiar 'BA' identifier of its parent company.

If you're planning to fly the 'open skies' flag for the European Community, then you could do worse than operate under an 'EC' code - the designator for which OpenSkies is cheekily seeking approval.

The evidence is buried in a stack of legal paperwork outlining OpenSkies' proposed first service, which will operate from Paris to New York JFK. British Airways will be codesharing with OpenSkies on the route.

Given that the 'EC' designator was last seen attached to a small Antonov freighter operator in Uzbekistan, OpenSkies shouldn't have much trouble picking it up. Which is fortunate, because 'EU' and 'OS' are already taken...

Just to prove it’s not conspiring to conceal an extraterrestrial plot by minds immeasurably superior to ours, the British Government has just released the latest batch of unidentified flying object sightings reported to the Ministry of Defence.

It comprises about 130 statements, most of which – to the chagrin of those who thought this stuff would prove they weren’t paranoid – are overwhelmingly dull recollections of winking, blinking multi-coloured lights, interspersed with the occasional gem which reveals that, as far as intelligent life goes, there’d better be some up there because there’s precious little of it down here.

There's no pleasing some people. Buried among the general gloom of SAS Group's full-year results today is the contrasting record performance of Norwegian regional carrier Wideroe, achieved in spite of its Q400s being grounded.

"Wideroe recorded the best full-year result in the company's history," acknowledges SAS, before putting the boot in. "It is not far off achieving the group's earnings requirement."

Tough crowd.