Airbus A380 for training at Manston for three weeks

Manston Airport is due to welcome the world’s largest commercial passenger aircraft for a critical crew training programme.

British Airways’ first Airbus A380, a double-decked four Rolls Royce engine jet, will arrive at the Thanet terminal for a period of training in preparation for its launch into service later in the year.

Once the A380 training is complete, the airline’s new Boeing 787 Dreamliner will also make its way to Manston for part of its “entry into service” programme. Charles Buchanan, chief executive of Manston Airport, said:

“We are thrilled that the UK’s leading airline chose Manston as the place to carry out its entry into service programme. Essentially, this means that training for both the pilots and cabin crew will be taking place over three weeks with the aircraft departing from here once or twice a day and also staying overnight.”

Dave Thomas, British Airways’ head of flight technical and training, added:

“With one of the longest runways in the UK, Manston offers ideal facilities for our programme. We are looking forward to working with the staff who have been very helpful throughout the preparation period.”

British Airways has 12 A380s on order with flights due to start between London and Los Angeles in October. The manufacturer claims it has the lowest cost per seat and the lowest emissions per passenger of any large aircraft. Despite having almost 50% more floor space and 60% more headroom than the Boeing 747-400, it is claimed to be 50% quieter on take off.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines recently launched a twice-daily service from Manston to Schiphol, linking Kent with 130 destinations worldwide. There will be no interruption to this service by the A380 training programme.

kentonline 12th Jun 2013
   

Heathrow closes - TWO planes diverted to Manston

Flights have been diverted via Manston Airport from Heathrow today after a plane was forced to make an emergency landing.

Both runways were closed when the British Airways plane caught fire in mid-air shortly after taking off this morning. Two diverted British Airways A320 aircraft - en route to Heathrow from Helsinki and Budapest - landed at Manston.

Both flights will return to Heathrow when permission is granted by London Air Traffic Control. Manston Airport chief executive Charles Buchanan said:

"We were pleased to help, and even more pleased that the incident ended safely for all concerned. I'd just like to thank all the team at Manston who handled these two flights, as well as the passengers arriving and departing on the scheduled KLM service to and from Schiphol, Amsterdam this morning."

All passengers and crew from Heathrow flight were safely evacuated and the fire brigade said the blaze has been put out. Heathrow's two runways were closed before one re-opened later in the morning. Other flights were diverted via Stansted and Cardiff. A statement from British Airways said:

"The BA762, Heathrow to Oslo service, returned back to Heathrow shortly after take-off due to a technical fault. The Airbus A319 aircraft was carrying 75 customers. The aircraft landed safely and emergency slides were deployed and we are currently caring for our customers. Emergency services attended the aircraft. We will be carrying out a full investigation into the incident."

kentonline 24th May 2013

The "cheap flights" era is over

The penny seems to be dropping, albeit slowly and late. Oil is a finite resource: as it gets scarcer, the price increases. The car industry is future-proofing itself by developing electric cars. There are no electric planes for the passenger routes to Belfast, Boston or Bangkok. Aviation is a sunset industry.

---

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of the company formed by the merger of British Airways and Spain's Iberia, said consumers must get used to higher ticket prices. Arguing there had been a "structural shift in the price of oil", Mr Walsh said:

"The industry is going to have to price in $120 oil. As a percentage of our cost base, it's 32%. For the low-cost guys it's more like 50%. It is such a big part of an airline's costs that fares will have to go up."

IAG yesterday said it expected its total fuel bill for the year to reach €5.2bn (£4.6bn) after a first half that saw a near-35% increase in fuel costs to €2.44bn. The company, which is 50% hedged for the next 12 months at about $93 per barrel against a current spot price of around $117, managed to recover 50% of the first-half increase in fuel costs through "revenue initiatives". However, IAG said such recovery "becomes progressively harder through the year".

Despite these headwinds, IAG reversed last time's half-year losses of €419m to post a pre-tax profit of €39m on total revenues up 17.9pc to €7.77bn. Passenger revenue growth of 18.6% was flattered by the disruption caused last time by the Icelandic volcano and BA strikes. Underlying growth was closer to 11% to 12%.

Boosted by ongoing recovery in first and business class traffic, strong cost controls and a 7.2% increase in yields – broadly revenue per seat – Mr Walsh said he expected "significant growth in operating profit this year". Analysts are expecting €400m pre-tax profits this year. Mr Walsh said premium traffic was "just getting back" to its 1997 peak, before the credit crunch, with the tie-up with American Airlines reaping dividends on the transatlantic routes, where traffic rose 16%. Describing London as a "strong market", Mr Walsh said:

"We are doing better than Air France and Lufthansa. Our performance on the transatlantic is clearly better than the competition."

He said he had seen "no evidence" of any recent slowdown on the North American routes caused by the US debt crisis but confirmed a €90m-€100m hit from the Japanese tsunami and political upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East.

Mr Walsh added IAG was interested in the possible purchase of Portugal's TAP airline, which the new government is considering privatising:

"You should expect us to look at what's on offer. But we've not had any discussions or done any analysis of it yet."

The shares rose 4.7 to 237.3p but analysts were cautious about potential turbulence ahead. Charles Stanley analyst Douglas McNeill said:

"We remain sceptical that through-the-cycle profitability is improving and continue to rate the stock a hold with some downside risk."

Telegraph 30th Jul 2011