Concorde may once again fly – thanks to $22 million and a lot of hard work

by Scott Carmichael on

October 23rd 2003 is a date many aviation nuts will remember as the end of the era of supersonic passenger transportation.

It was the day the final Concorde flight took place, ferrying celebrities into London Heathrow airport.

Of course, her fate had already been sealed when Air France flight 4590 crashed just outside of Charles De Gaulle airport in July 2000 killing 113 people.

Her retirement may soon come to an end, if a team of engineers get their way. The engineers are part of two groups – the British Save Concorde Group, and the French group Olympus 593 (named after the amazing Concorde engines).

The purpose of the collaboration is to get a Concorde back in the air – on time for the 2012 London Olympics opening celebration. The Concorde in question is currently parked at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum. With $22 million in available funding, the first step is to determine whether the engines on the plane can be started, and whether the plane can be taxied.

After that, there will still be a long way to go, especially if the plane is to receive a certificate of airworthiness. Still – as someone who was lucky enough to fly her several times, the prospect of seeing her take to the skies makes me very, very happy.

Fly the Air France Airbus A380 from London to Paris for just $115!

by Scott Carmichael on

Fancy a trip on the world’s largest jet? Air France is about to start flying the Airbus A380 from London Heathrow to Paris Charles De Gaulle – making them the only airline to use the plane on a short haul route.

Normally, the A380 is used on long hail international routes, making it tough to experience the plane “on the cheap”, but the Summer A380 London-Paris flights cost just £80 (or £280 for business class) putting the trips well in reach of any budget.

The A380 flights will operate one round trip each day starting on June 12th until Monday August 30th. To book a ticket or to learn more about this amazing plane, head on over to the Air France A380 site.

Sadly, the chances of any of the US carriers buying an A380 are rather slim – most US carriers don’t even have enough cash to provide blankets or water – let alone invest $317 million in a massive plane.

Air France goes prix fixe, not buffet

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Starting in April, Air France is going to make you pay for what you consume. If you consume only one seat, that’s all you’ll have to buy. But, if you require more than one seat, expect to whip out your plastic. For some reason, airline spokesman Nicolas Petteau calls it “a question of security,” but I don’t think so. To me, it seems more like a question of getting what you pay for … and asking you to pay for everything you get.

The new policy includes refunded additional fares for obese passengers taking up two seats on a plane that isn’t full. Air France estimates that these refunds will be granted in 90 percent of big-passenger cases. Nonetheless, the airline cites economic factors as behind the decision (aside from the bizarro comment about security), which is not only believable but appropriate.

Air France, which denied the policy in the French media, ran into some trouble over this issue three years ago. A passenger weighing 353 pounds successfully sued the airline, which had to pay him $11,423 in damages and the cost of the second seat from New Delhi to Paris. (Let’s just hope he had an empty seat next to him.)

Other airlines have similar policies, including Southwest and JetBlue — and I applaud them. Forget about everything except the simple fact that the ticket you buy entitles you to one seat on the flight. If one seat does not meet your needs, buy two seats. After all, if I go to a restaurant and buy one entrée and remain hungry, I have to buy a second one.

A380 encounters trouble – again

by Tom Johansmeyer on

Everyone was eager to see the Air France A380 leave New York and head for Paris this week, but a fuel-tank issue kept it on the ground at JFK. This was the second problem the world’s largest plane had in getting off the ground since it started bouncing between New York and Paris just under a month ago.

The A380 is nothing short of hefty, accommodating 511 passengers, and it gets thirsty. So, when the airline found that fuel wasn’t moving properly between its tanks, it had to keep the beast on the tarmac. The 21 A380s in operation by four airlines have completed 8,700 flights and carried 3 million passengers.

The plane’s maiden flight was from Paris to New York on November 20, 2009. A week later, an Air France A380 had to return to New York after only 90 minutes in the air because of a technical issue that wasn’t disclosed.

Air France Airbus hits severe turbulence 10 miles from doomed aircraft location

by Scott Carmichael on

Here is a scary piece of aviation mystery – On November 29th, Air France flight 445 from Paris to Rio had to make an emergency descent after hitting severe turbulence. Now, bad turbulence is something any air passenger will have to deal with at least once in their life. It isn’t fun, but it usually goes away after 10-20 minutes.

In the case of this Air France flight, things get a tad more spooky – the bad turbulence was almost in the exact same spot as where Air France flight 447 crashed back in June. And since investigators don’t know the exact cause of that crash, they are paying very close attention to the events experienced by flight 445 as they may help provide clues about the doomed plane.

When the severe turbulence started, the pilots sent out a mayday, and descended by about 5,000 feet. After 30 minutes of turbulence, they plane entered smoother skies, and continued on to Rio with its 215 passengers.