First regular A380 service to the US announced

by Grant Martin on

Emirates finally announced its delivery and route schedule for the new A380s that it’s supposed to receive from Airbus later this yea, and New York is on the list of destinations.

Starting on August 1st, the Dubai based airline will fly direct from JFK to Dubai three times a week, with routes to San Francisco and Los Angeles to unfurl later in the year.

While this isn’t the first time that the massive aircraft has been seen in the states, it will be the first time that regularly scheduled flights are locked into the US and the first time that commoners like you and I have the chance to fly on the aircraft.

Make sure you keep an eye on the schedule and the airline though. While Airbus has most of the tweaks out of its production line, it’s not impossible that they could delay delivery by a touch and throw the late summer schedule into disarray.

I for one am looking forward to flying on Emirates’ A380. The combination of one of the best airlines in the planet with one of the most advanced aircraft flying around it is enough to make any airplane nerd giggle. We’ll keep you updated on the schedule.

Russia to produce new Sukhoi jets

by Grant Martin on

Is airframe production the mark of a successful country? The US has Boeing, Europe has Airbus, Canada has Bombardier, Brazil has Embraer. Even China’s trying to get in on the business with the China Comercial Aircraft Company, even though that’s going to take a couple ten years to get rolling.

Russia’s flagship producer, Tupolev, not unlike their progress as a democratic nation, has been pretty lethargic. Much of their production has been in the commercial sector while very few new aircraft designs have surfaced.

Under a new commercial wing of The United Aircraft Building Corporation (UABC), however, things are starting to turn around. UABC, Russia’s new manufacturing congolmerate (which will soon run Tupolev as well) is now employing Sukhoi Corporation to start production of a new series of medium range jets.

The first, dubbed the Sukhoi Superjet 100’s, are already well underway. First test flights were just complete this week and the company has an aggressive production schedule that includes initial deliveries later this year.

Their plan is to directly compete with medium range aircraft — those like Bombardier’s CRJ’s or Embraer’s E-Jets — but mostly in the Russian market. Reducing dependence on foreign airframe manufacturers (not unlike China’s plans), will therefore make their economy stronger.

Don’t expect to be flying on any Superjets in the near future though. Most of the initial orders have gone to Russian carriers and even then it’s going to be a few years until all of those orders are fulfilled. Until that point, I’m still happy flying on Tupolev 154.

New photos of the Singapore Airlines A380 emerge

by Justin Glow on

Some new (to me) photos of the elaborate, sophisticated, luxurious, jealousy-inducing Singapore Airlines A380 emerged recently, and I’ve got the whole lot in a convenient gallery below. Feast your eyes on the amenities most of us will never have the chance to experience, like in-flight chess games and video monitors the size of my television at home.

Some of these are repeats, but some are new. Have a look:

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Get your super jumbo jet today! Airbus to raise price of A380 by $4m

by Grant Martin on

Good thing I’ve already got my order in. EADS and Airbus just announced that they’re increasing the price of the A380 because the dollar keeps tanking. While the European conglomerate still does most of their business in Euros, the problem is that their aircraft are priced in dollars. This means that when the dollar falls against the euro it cuts into their bottom line.

It also makes competition difficult because Chicago based Boeing, their primary rival, does most of their business in dollars and their costs have fallen with the dollar. Now, potential aircraft customers are going to find Boeing aircraft a better deal than Airbus.

In that respect, EADS is sort of between a rock and a hard place. EADS CEO Louis Gallois referred to the Euro as a “Sword of Damocles” for the struggling company(obviously). Why can’t American CEOs use obscure Ancient Greek references as metaphors for modern economics?

Can’t get enough of that jetset lifestyle? Buy an airplane cabin!

by Grant Martin on

I seriously thought this was a joke until I looked at the auction. Apparently, someone on Ebay Germany is selling an actual internal section of an Airbus aircraft, complete with seats, rails, overhead compartments and even OVENS.

What on earth would you do with something like that? I know I’m a bit of an airplane nerd and I like to stare out the window and fly around the country in circles, but I can think of very few uses for this. So I’ll put it to you guys: What would you do with a replica airplane interior? Here are my few (lame) ideas:

  • Set it up in my boss’ office while she’s out on assignment
  • Throw a pilots and flight attendants party and get drunk in it
  • Buy it (in Germany) and try to check it in on your flight home — “I brought my own overhead compartment”
  • Put it in my basement, drink whiskey out of four once bottles and bite my thumb at the TSA to my heart’s content

What would you do with an airplane cabin? I’m interested to see how much this auction goes for.

[Via Gizmodo]