Speed-dating at 35,000 feet in Europe

by Abha Malpani on

Catherine recently talked about finding love at the airport and the popularity of online social networking to meet someone while hauled-up at the airport.

But, if you want to skip the whole courage building process to approach the hottie you saw whilst boarding, or want immediate interaction with not one, but plenty of singles looking for in-flight spice, Central Europe’s low-budget airline Sky Europe will organize a speed-dating session for you mid-air. “Come with a bright smile and look forward to a great trip”, I had to laugh when I read that in its list of guidelines.

So far the Sky Dating service has been offered on Sky Europe flights to Italy, Portugal, Belgium and the Netherlands. It works like any other speed-dating service: you get 5-minutes with every person signed up and results are emailed 3 days post event. Unfortunately, you can’t sign-up for it on a spontaneous whim, you have to register for it in advance.

If you want to travel especially to meet someone, you can get the Sky Date package to a European capital. Trips are normally 1-3 days, your accommodation is taken care of and city tours will be organized, all with the idea of getting you hooked to someone on the trip. According to a recent article on MSNBC: on the last Sky Date flight – which combined speed-dating with overnight hotel stay and guided city tour, three couples were formed by the end of the trip.

Hmmm. Excuses for being single are running out way too fast! :)

Would you want to stay connected at 35,000 feet?

by Abha Malpani on

I remember how thrilled I was when wireless became so common place at airports, and although talked about for a few years now, it always surprised me how it hadn’t got onto flights yet. Little did I know that the Internet-on-flights saga has had its twists and turns.

Although never introduced on any American airlines, Internet has been on certain carriers since 2004. The broadband service was initially provided by a Boeing company called Connexion that shut down last year because it didn’t work out to be economically viable — not enough people were making use of broadband Internet in the air.

I suppose things have changed over the last three years and having wireless on aircrafts seems to have come back onto the agenda. From next week, JetBlue Airlines will start offering free email and instant messaging on the aircraft; American Airlines, Virgin America and Alaska Airlines plan to offer wider usage in the following months; and beginning 2008, all Lufthansa long-haul flights will have broadband.

Emirates seems to be leading the pack as it has maintained email and SMS services on its flights since 2004! You don’t even need a laptop, you can do it on a screen behind the seat in front of you. They even have in-seat phones that allow you to call anyone from the sky for US$5 a minute — on average 6,000 calls are made per month, basis which Emirates recently announced that it will be the first airline to allow mobile phone use on board.

Although some awesome material could be gathered from live in-the-sky-blogging, and even though there will be restrictions on connectivity, I don’t see how they would be able to stop people from disturbing others by speaking loudly on the phone or having cybersex through the web-cam. I’m not so sure anymore if I would want this in-flight option, would you?

Dubai Air Show set to soar in the Emirate

by Abha Malpani on

It is easy to be oblivious to events happening in Dubai, simply because of the number of them happening throughout the year. Most of them are hyped in the media to give you nausea (e.g.GITEX), or they are events that you go to just to be seen (e.g.Dubai World Cup).

One exception is the Dubai Air Show. This year, it will be held from November 11-15 and will host: 850 exhibitors from over 50 countries;140 aircrafts on display across 117 indoor and outdoor pavilions, and a mind-blowing display of fighter planes zooming across the sky, making the event a dream come true for anyone remotely interested in the aviation industry.

Unless you are in the corporate sector, it’s actually quite hard to get hold of passes for the show — they are normally sold out in advance. This year (the 10th), the biannual show will run for the last time at the Airport Expo, and Diana Ross has been invited to perform at the gala dinner. However, unlike other events, unfortunately there is no raffle to win a plane yet (it’s normally easier with computers and cars), but I will not be surprised if they introduce that in the years to come.

In 2009, the air show will move to grounds of Dubai World Central — the US$33 billion, 14-square kilometer aviation hub currently under construction. When that happens, Dubai will yet again add another few superlative tags to its list as then it will be the world’s largest air show, and the aviation hub will be the world’s largest international airport.

[Via Gulf News]

China to Compete With Boeing and Airbus

by Jonathon Morgan on

By announcing plans to build a plane that can carry more than 150 people, China has officially become a competitor of Boeing and Airbus. The larger jets won’t be finished until 2020 at the earliest, but the China Aviation Industry Corporation has already started building a smaller, regional plane that can carry up to 105 people.

Increased wealth in China has made flying a more viable means of travel for it’s citizens. In light of the air travel boom, the country will need to purchase an estimated 2,230 planes before 2025. Thus, according to the State Council, China’s firms are committed to constructing an “internationally competitive product” that can take a share of the market.

With mass production on the mid-size ARJ-21 regional jet set to begin later this year, it sounds like it won’t be long before you’ll be flying on Chinese-built planes when you travel within the country.

Birds Inspire Aircraft Of The Future

by Jonathon Morgan on

The people designing tomorrow’s aircraft are turning to animals for inspiration.

In an effort to create a plane that would make no noticeable noise outside an airport, the Silent Aircraft Initiative is mimicking owls. The owl’s fringe-like feathers muffle the passing air as the bird swoops in for the kill — an age-old technology that could be Incorporated into planes of the future.

But it’s not just owls. For instance, NASA is also looking to birds, as they research planes that can shift the size and shape of their wings — creating a more efficient and versatile aircraft. NASA is also examining bats, and their ability to move more nimbly than man-made aircraft by sensing tiny changes in winds.

And yes, there’s even someone trying to create a machine that keeps itself in the air by flapping it’s wing. How completely and totally awesome.