Internet na pokładzie Alaska Airlines

Linie lotnicze Alaska Airlines zapowiedziały, że będą w przyszłym roku testować satelitarne połączenie internetowe na pokładzie jednego ze swoich samolotów. Jak napisał "Seattle Post-Intelligencer", jeśli próby zakończą się powodzeniem, w możliwość skorzystania z internetu na pokładzie zostaną wyposażone wszystkie samoloty tej linii.

Serwis szerokopasmowego internetu Row 44 będzie testowany na Boeingu 737, a cała flota Alaska Airlines liczy 114 samolotów.

Row 44 działa nad wodą i poza granicami USA, korzystać więc z niego mogliby pasażerowie lecący z kontynentalnych Stanów Zjednoczonych na Alaskę, Hawaje, a także do Kanady i do Meksyku. Pasażerowie podróżujący z własnymi laptopami i palmtopami będą mogli połączyć się z internetem w tzw. hot-spots w kabinie samolotu.

Malev withdrawing from Krakow

Hungarian national carrier cancels its Budapest-Krakow connection. The last departure from Krakow will take place on October 26. Malev will also close its office at Krakow airport. The flights between two cities by Malev commenced in July 2003. The Hungarian airline was using Fokkers 70 (seen on the photo) and CRJ 200ER on this route. These planes were able to take 50-70 passangers on a single flight.

Two weeks ago Sky Europe - one of the first middle-European low-cost carriers - decided to quit its operations in Krakow and moved on to concentrate its business in much cheaper and profitable airports as Vienna, Prague and Bratislava. Polish low-cost airline Centralwings (subsidiary of LOT Polish Airlines) filled in the vacant spot. The Krakow airport authorities are also in the middle of talks with Ryanair to bring the Irish airline to fly from Krakow.

Photo by Viktor Laszlo/Malev

Beijing tickets by LOT on sale

After nearly 10 years of absence on this route Polish national carrier is bringing back Warsaw-Beijing connection just in time for the summer olympics in China.

It is already possible to book tickets. The first flight to Beijing is scheduled for March 30, 2008. It is supposed to be the first of many more long-haul connections by LOt Polish Airlines to the Far East. "We want to fly where our costomers wants us to fly. There is a growing demand for this route due to rising economical activity between China and Poland but also because of a pure touristic reason. Far East is a critical destination for LOT" - says Piotr Siennicki, LOT's president.

It will be the first non-stop route between Poland and any East Asian destination in almost 10 years. The schedule includes 4 flights a week.

The flights will be performed on Boeings 767 planes, but they will be replaced by B787 Dreamliner in the fall of 2008. LOT is considering opening of further direct routes - to Seoul, Hanoi and Tokyo.

LOT is expecting to put seven B787 Dreamliners in use next year, and had just ordered another plane, making a total of 8 aircraft. The price of one plane is approx. $153 million.

BA gotowe na "otwarte niebo"

Linie British Airways już ogłosiły swoją ofensywę związaną z wejściem w życie porozumienia o "otwartym niebie" pomiędzy UE a USA w marcu przyszłego roku.


W rozkładach lotów na przyszłoroczny sezon wakacyjny znajdzie się m.in. więcej lotów z Heathrow do Nowego Jorku (JFK), Seattle i Waszyngtonu, a z Gatwick do Orlando. W sumie BA zaoferują 41 codzienych lotów do 18 amerykańskich miast.

30 marca 2008 brytyjski przewoźnik zlikwiduje natomiast połączenia do Detroit, które przynosi straty. BA latały do Detroit nieprzerwanie od 50 lat. Już w październiku tego roku BA zlikwiduje natomiast bezpośrednie rejsy z Londynu do Harare w Zimbabwe. Harare pozostanie w siatce połączeń, ale z transferem przez Johannesburg w RPA. Loty JNB-HRE obsługiwane będą przez linie Comair, która lata w barwach BA. Powodem likwidacji bezpośrednich lotów z Londynu do Zimbabwe są problemy z paliwem lotniczym w tym kraju - BA musi ściągać je aż z RPA.

LOT Polish Airlines continues its Rzeszow-New York route

Despite earlier announcements that Rzeszow-New York direct connection will be suspended after the summer season, after popular demand LOT decided to keep the route in its schedule, limiting it to one flight every two weeks. "It's true this route was very popular throughout the summer vacation and we want to treat the coming month of October as a test for this connection" - says Wojciech Kadziolka, press speaker for LOT.

The planes of Polish national carrier were departing Rzeszow to new York twice a week - on Thursdays and Sundays - starting from June and ending in mid-September. They headed for Newark and JFK respectively.

"LOT is considering keeping the route in our winter schedule, but it depends how the October flights will sell" - adds Andrzej Kozlowski from LOT press bureau.

The "twice a week schedule" of Rzeszow-New York flights will definetely return April next year, 2 months sooner than this year's route introduction.

Read LOT press release in English on Rzeszow-New York connection

Boars bothering Polish airport

Authorities of Szczecin airport in north-west Poland are spending nearly 100 000 zlotys each year (approx. 37000 $) fixing fence surrounding its runway. The fence is constantly being destroyed by wild boars. The airport is situated by a forest and on the boars' trail from woods to the fields.

Boars are biting through the nets or tearing them by trying to go underneath the fencing. A pair of airport's employees are spending 12 hours each day patrolling the fencing surrounding the airport. They are trying to prevent a situation in which a plane trying to land in Szczecin would be forced to abort the touchdown in order not to collide with a boar.

In the picture you can see how close the woods are to the runway and how dense the forest is.

BTW kudos for the airport's website address - could not be simpler than that
www.airport.com.pl

Szczecin airport is one of regional airports in Poland. It's a commuter airport for Warsaw (connections by LOT), but is also used by low-cost carriers Ryanair, Centralwings and Norwegian.no that fly from Szczecin to London, Dublin, Edinburgh and Oslo. It is also used by charter airlines and Polish soldiers were departing from here for their service in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We are lost - how pilots should not joke

The captain's announcement brought panic into the cabin. The passengers of the flight from Rome to Milan have been told that the pilot lost its way, and he is not sure if he will manage to land.

"This is captain speaking. We are currently flying over Tyrrhenean Sea and we got lost on our way to Milan. We don't know, where we are any more. We should land in about 20 minutes, if we find our way" - said the joker from the cockpit of Airbus320 flight of Italian Air One airline.

Some of the passengers asked if they are not being recorded on a candid camera. Nobody was laughing though.

Terrified were calmed by the cabin crew. "The pilot was just joking of course" - one of the flight attendants said.

Air One is an Italian Airline, the member of Star Alliance. Its fleet consists of 47 planes and they fly mainly between Rome, Milan, Turin and Venice, but also reach smaller regional airports. Its international destinations include Paris, Barcelona, Athens, Berlin, Copenhagen, Dubrovnik, Split and London (small London City Airport).