She was always known by just her name. Never an article ahead of it. She was Concorde. Never THE Concorde or A Concorde or LE Concorde; and 40 years ago, she made her first flight from Toulouse in France, where the giant Airbus A380 is made today. F-WSST took to the skies at 15:40 on March 2, 1969, coincidentally, just …

These powerful images made on the mobile phone seconds after the Turkish Airlines flight crashed at Amsterdram Schiphol airport. Video from Heart of the Netherlands.

Been to Bengaluru International Airport over the last fortnight, and took some photos early in the morning with planes taking-off and landing in to the sun. Some of the planes I got; VT-JNV, VT-JGQ, VT-INE, VT-INS, VT-INF, VT-SGE, 9V-SFF, VT-DKA, G-OJIB (Ed Force One), VT-JNZ, Luftwaffe A310 10-27, VT-EPH, VT-JCD and a few others. Hope you enjoy the shots. You …

Virgin group Chairman Richard Branson went around the world in 8 days showcasing his airline’s world coverage with the launch of V Australia’s flights to the United States. Virgin is the only airline group that offers a traveller the ability to circumnavigate the world on one airline brand. He documented the events with a video blog and we can see …

Wired has a nice story on the constant efforts by both Airbus and Boeing to increase fuel savings by their aircraft. The latest technology which appears promising is “moving winglets” or “morphlets” whose configuration can be changed in-flight to suit flying conditions to deliver fuel savings. The two airframe makers are taking different approaches to the same goal. Read the …

At the start of this month, Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair announced it has invited proposals from both its sole vendor till date, Boeing, and competitor Airbus for 200 to 300 new single-aisle aircraft in the Boeing 737 and Airbus A320 category, for delivery between 2012 and 2017. I had a chance to interact with senior Airbus executives during the recently …

Image Courtesy Matt CawbyBoeing delivered the second of eight 777-200LRs (Longer Range) ordered by Qatar Airways on February 24th. A7-BBB took a near 15-hour journey to its new home in Doha with guests on-board who included a selection of journalists from the United States, India and the Gulf and a high-profile delegation of bankers and financiers. Along with its sister …

I received call earlier this evening from the news media soliciting my reactions to the news that Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has proposed to the Union Government the renaming of the Bengaluru International Airport, after the founder founder of Bangalore, Kempegowda. The name of an airport may not mean much, but I am happy and thankful that the airport is …

Turkish Airlines THY released the names of their staff killed in crash of their Boeing 737-800 flight TK 1951 at Amsterdam, Schiphol. A total of nine persons perished, including 3 pilots, 1 flight attendant and 5 passengers. The pilots who died were Captain Hasan Tahsin Arısan, Murat Sezer and Olgay Ozgur and the flight attendant Ulvi Murat Eskin. The bodies …

The airport operators at Delhi and Mumbai airports have a mantra as far us passengers go. “Heads I win, tails you lose” After a messy process, in May 2006, the Delhi Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) was handed over to the Delhi International Airport Ltd. (DIAL) consortium led by the GMR group, for modernising, handling and management. GMR won the …

A heart-warming and amazing experience occurred over this week which highlights the power and reach of blogging. On February 4th, I wrote an article about my friend, Marcel Hungerbuehler, taking over as CEO of BIAL, the company which operates the Bengaluru International Airport. In that article was a picture of Marcel. Two days ago, I received a comment from a …

Qantas announced plans for its new Indian services via Singapore, which will replace the discontinued direct services between the two countries. From June 2, flight QF51, will fly to Mumbai via Singapore on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The return flight QF52 to Singapore will operate on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Qantas will use its Singapore hub to offer passengers connections …

Turkish Airlines has just released a statement refuting rumours in the media, circulating after the crash of their Boeing 737-800 VT-JGE at Schiphol airport near Amsterdam yesterday, and clarifying their aircraft maintenance procedures. The maintenance work of our aircraft has been carried out according to appropriate procedures. It has become an absolute necessity to make the statement given below over …

Airline body, International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced international scheduled traffic results for January showing a deepening year-on-year demand slump. International passenger demand fell by 5.6% in January 2009 compared to the same month in 2008, a full percentage point worse than the 4.6% year-on-year drop recorded in December, and the fifth consecutive month of contraction. Air cargo is a …

The new domestic departure terminal T1D at New Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGIA) was inaugurated today by Mr. Praful Patel India’s Civil Aviation minister. The new terminal is located between the existing Domestic Arrival T1C and Domestic Departure T1A, and will raise the capacity of domestic departures to 10 million passengers per annum. The terminal is a dual level …

Airbus A380-861 MSN045 currently registered as F-WWSG, and destined as the 10th A380 for launch customer Singapore Airlines made its first flight on February 23 and flew straight to Hamburg, where it will undergo outfitting for the Singapore Airlines’ luxurious interiors, and is expected to be delivered late this year and registered 9V-SKJ. The plane had a rejected take-off the …

A preliminary report into a crash of an Air New Zealand Airbus A320 jet last November off the coast of France, is pointing the cause toward its aircrew who were performing low speed tests, claiming “the flight crew’s failure to adhere to standard operating procedures”. As a result of the interim finding air safety regulators have issued urgent advice on …

Last week Air France took delivery of the first Boeing 777F freighter. Every new aircraft is given a water cannon salute, and for aviation romantics like me, it is always a poignant occasion, and one we do not see too often. Courtesy Liz Matzelle enjoy these two videos of the new “Le Freighter” being given its first shower, and then …

Bahrain based Gulf Air has confirmed an agreement to lease four new Boeing 777-300ERs (B77W in industry parlance) from Jet Airways of India. The agreement which was signed on February 22nd, calls for three aircraft to join its fleet in March, and the fourth in May. This deal was expected since January. Gulf Air is already wet-leasing two Airbus A330-200s …

A Lion Air Boeing MD90 registration PK-LIO performing flight JT-972, on February 23, 2009, had to perform an emergency landing while on a flight from Medan to Batam, both in Indonesia. The flight with 156 passengers and 6 crew, could not lower the nose gear while on approach to runway 04. While on approach to Batam the crew noticed, that …