From London to Australia in 5 hours? Way cool.

by Iva Skoch on

A UK company, Reaction Engines, introduced exploratory plans for a hypersonic, eco-friendly passenger jet that would make it possible to fly from the UK to Australia in as little as 5 hours, reports The Guardian today. With funding from the European Space Agency, a team of engineers and scientists has come up with the A2, a plane they believe could carry 300 passengers at a top speed of more than 3,000mph.

Reaction Engines has designed an engine that would run on liquid hydrogen, rather than producing vast amounts of carbon emissions it gives off water vapor and nitrous oxide. Another advantage of the design is that while the 132 meter-long A2 is much bigger than conventional jets it would be lighter than a Boeing 747 and could land on current airport runways. There are some drawbacks, too, such as the possibility of damaging the atmosphere, because the plane would fly at around the height of the ozone layer. Also, it won’t be great for anyone who suffers from claustrophobia, as it does not have any windows.

Who needs windows if surfing in sunny Bondi Beach becomes a day trip, though?

Airbus A380 moves towards flying green

by Anna Brones on

Airplanes are not the world’s most eco-friendly commodity. To make amends with their carbon emissions, some airlines offer CO2 offsets for passengers. On Friday, Airbus took an even bigger step with its much talked about A380; it became the first commercial airline to fly with alternative fuel on a test flight from Filton, UK to Toulouse, France.

The fancy-schmancy A380 needs no modifications in order to use gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuel which is mixed with 60% regular jet fuel. Although the GTL used is no cleaner in terms of CO2 emissions, it produces no sulfur, providing for better air quality. Using alternative fuel in a commercial airliner, even at a small percentage, is also symbolically important; GTL is the first step in moving towards biomass-to-fuel (BTL), which could be concocted with anything from wood chips to industrial hemp. Maybe one day we will see airplanes running on 100% renewable resources, until then Airbus is calling its alternative fuel friendly A380 the “gentle green giant.”

The first commercial use of GTL might be by Qatar Airways in 2009. Until then it might be better to consider other options for green travel.

New United baggage policy: $25 for second checked bag

by Anna Brones on

Are you an over-packer? Do you have a tendency to pack all of your hottest outfits instead of choosing just one for your upcoming trip? Then you might want to re-consider flying United Airlines.

The airline announced today that beginning May 5, 2008 it will charge passengers $25 to check a second bag on all domestic flights. The only people that will get out of the new policy are those passengers who are members of the airline’s Mileage Plus and Star Alliance frequent flier plans. But even those who are members can’t expect to go hassle free; passengers will only be allowed the special “two bags for free” treatment if they have Premier Status or above with Mileage Plus or Silver Status and above with Star Alliance.

The charge is an attempt to deal with rising fuel costs without raising ticket prices; the $25 charge is expected to generate $100 million in revenue and cost savings per year. I say start practicing packing light to get your vacation wardrobe into one bag and save the money for a nice bottle of wine.

British Airways announces London – New York business class-only service

by Grant Martin on

After Maxjet folded last year you would think that the corporate world would have learned, but according to British Airways their business class market is surging and this service fits their model. So they’re moving ahead with the unrolling of their London to New York (JFK) all-business class service.

Slated to begin in 2009, two Airbus A318‘s have been purchased to make the luxury voyage between the world’s two financial epicenters. And those willing to spring for the extra buck will be able to depart from London City (LCY), which is significantly closer to the city than Heathrow or Gatwick.

The jury is still out on the exact routing; for the seven airline nerds out there who read this blog, you know that the A318 can’t make it all the way between New York and London on one tank of petrol. Speculation is that the jet has to stop in Shannon partway through the journey to pick up some more fuel (any idea, Kent?). Sounds like an invitation for more traffic and airport problems to me.

Oh well, if the market calls for it I suppose there’s a place for another all-business class service. Maybe I’ll be able to test this one out before it folds.

Where to find the cheapest airfare

by Aaron Hotfelder on

Over at BootsnAll, Roger Wade asks a question of great interest to travelers: “Which airfare site is the cheapest?” Comparing five traditional airfare sites along with two aggregators– Kayak and Sidestep— Wade comes up with six different “test itineraries” and makes some rather surprising findings.

For the most part, the sites’ prices were pretty close together, but Priceline tied for the cheapest fare four of the six times and found the cheapest fare outright the other two. It was followed closely behind by the aggregators, Sidestep and Kayak.

I’ve always trusted Kayak in the past for finding the cheapest fares, and I especially like to play with the site’s “Buzz” feature, which allows you to look at other users’ searches and see the best fares they’ve discovered. Kayak’s straightforward design and functionality ensure that I’ll still rely on it for finding fares, but in the future, I’m not going to book a flight without first looking at Priceline too.