Air New Zealand has put more than 300,000 seats across its domestic network on sale for under NZ$100 between September and November, until Thursday this week.
The airline also added more than 250,000 additional domestic seats from mid-August to October to support domestic tourism and encourage Kiwis to travel to the regions.
The move comes after the Trans-Tasman bubble was scrapped due to the Delta variant ravaging Australia’s east coast states.
The airline is also adding capacity across the majority of its domestic network but Queenstown gets a major increase of over 45,000 seats, Nelson 16,000 and Napier 17,000.
Air New Zealand Chief Customer and Sales Officer Leanne Geraghty said “it’s great to see demand for domestic travel above pre-COVID-19 levels, highlighting New Zealanders’ desire to explore the hidden gems throughout Aotearoa (New Zealand).
“It’s heartwarming to see Kiwis are getting out and about supporting our regions. We live in such a beautiful part of the world, so it’s not surprising that our customers are making the most of it!”
“Rarotonga is also proving popular for those looking to escape winter, so we’ve recently added 25 percent capacity to deliver Kiwis straight to the beach.”
A source has disclosed to MH370 analyst Victor Iannello that an Italian satellite that is part of the COSMO-SkyMed constellation detected three floating objects on March 21, 2014, near where MH370 is believed to have crashed in the Southern Indian Ocean on March 8, 2014.
This information was never publicly released and the three floating objects were detected at 34.9519°S, 91.6833°E; 34.5742°S, 91.8689°E; and 34.7469°S, 92.1725°E.
According to Mr. Iannello, “the detections are significant because we know that a French satellite that is part of the Pleiades constellation detected what appears to be man-made floating debris on March 23, 2014, only 35 NM from where the Italian satellite had detected floating debris two days earlier.
“The French Military Intelligence Service shared four proximate images from Pleiades 1A with Geoscience Australia (GA) in March 2017, which then performed detailed analyses and determined that a cluster of nine objects that are probably man-made appear in one of the images near 34.5°S, 91.3°E. Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) then used this position information along with advanced ocean drift models to calculate the most likely point of impact (POI) to be 35.6°S, 92.8°E.”
He adds that “‘there is no definitive proof that either satellite detected floating debris from MH370. Our source also could not definitively state that there were no other floating objects detected near the 7th arc by these two satellites. However, the source believes that if there were other objects detected, they would have been shared with the MH370 search team.”
“The two satellites used different physical principles for detecting floating objects. The Pleiades satellite used optical sensors to capture images in multiple bands of color to achieve a pixel size of 0.5 m x 0.5 m. On the other hand, the COSMO-SkyMed satellites use Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) sensors to continuously scan the earth’s surface. Unfortunately, COSMO only obtained a wide-angle, low-resolution capture of the objects. On a subsequent satellite pass, attempts to capture the objects at high resolution were not successful.”
Mr Iannello said that “to determine if the objects detected by Pleiades and COSMO-SkyMed were from a common source, we used the results of a complex drift model (BRAN2015) developed by CSIRO and shared by oceanographer David Griffin. The results include the trajectories of 86,400 virtual drifters, representative of generic debris sitting flat on the surface. The virtual drifters start along the 7th arc on March 8, 2014, between latitudes 8°S and 44°S, and the trajectories are tracked for 1000 days. Our method was to find the two virtual drifters that best match the position and timing of the detections from the two satellites. If those two virtual drifters started from nearby locations on March 8, likely the objects detected by the satellites came from a common source.”
The results from the drift analysis are shown in the figure below from Mr Iannello’s website. The yellow circles show the path of the virtual drifter that passed closest to the COSMO objects on March 21. The red circles show the path of the virtual drifter that passed closest to the Pleiades objects on March 23. These two virtual drifters start within 3.5 NM of each other on March 8, near to 35.4°S, 92.8°S. The proximity of the starting positions is consistent with a common source for the objects detected by the two satellites. That position is about 83 nm to the southwest of where a previous study estimated that MH370 crossed the 7th arc, and within the 140 nm radius recommended to search.”
Mr Iannello poses the following questions and requests on his site;
Were there other detections of floating objects along the 7th arc by Pleiades, COSMO-SkyMed, or any other satellites?
Were the COSMO-SkyMed detections on March 21 determined to be metallic objects?
Exactly what areas along the 7th arc were surveilled by Pleiades, COSMO-SkyMed, or any other satellites?
Will Airbus (the operator of the Pleiades satellites) provide the images for each color band so that independent researchers can analyze the raw data? (HT Bobby Ulich)
Famous debris hunter Blaine Gibson who is responsible for finding a large amount of MH370 has his doubts. “Even though I do not agree that these are from MH 370 because they could be anything and would place the crash site well south of 35°S, in this group we welcome information from unattributed sources as being valuable information that promotes discussion.”
New Zealand has dumped the travel bubble with Australia for at least eight weeks with most Australian states in lockdown because of the rapid spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced the suspension after a cabinet meeting on Friday morning.
However, there will be managed flights over the next seven days to get New Zealanders home with those outside Victoria and NSW able to come home without quarantine.
Ms Ardern said that her ”strong message to every New Zealander in Australia right now who does not want to stay there long term is – come home.”
The travel bubble which started in April has been a great success with more than 300,000 passengers taking advantage of the quarantine-free travel.
A much fitter Qantas is promising its staff huge potential but warns of possible stand-downs if the current lock-downs drag on too long.
In a rallying email to staff, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said that now, as thousands of flights are canceled, “it might not feel like it some days, but there are lots of reasons for us to be positive.”
“We are much fitter than pre-COVID and we know this business has huge potential once we’re all back in the air.”
Mr. Joyce assured staff that “what we’re experiencing is temporary and unlike last winter there’s now a COVID vaccine rolling out, and that means this cycle of restrictions and lock-downs will break. In other words, there is an endpoint to all of this and it’s not far away.”
The Qantas Group’s domestic flying has been slashed from 90 percent of pre-COVID levels to 60 percent off the NSW lockdown and the Victorian and South Australian lock-downs have brought that number down to just 40 percent.
Intra Western Australian and Queensland flying are the shining lights and account for the majority of the rest.
One of Qantas’s competitors, REX, has grounded its fleet of six 737s because of the lock-downs.
Mr. Joyce told staff there were two scenarios with the first that “the outbreaks can be brought under control soon and we can bring capacity back.
“We know travel demand rebounds quickly and, if the current lock-downs end when scheduled, then Group domestic capacity should be back at around 60 percent in August and up to 80-90 percent in September-October.
However, the staff email was sent out before the worsening numbers in NSW and Victoria were announced which means that the second scenario outlined by Mr. Joyce of stand-downs may loom on the radar.
Mr. Joyce told staff that if these lock-downs drag on for much longer than expected the airline group would be faced with continued levels of low flying.
Under that second scenario, the airline expects support packages to be offered by the government to provide a basic level of income support directly to those eligible, depending on the criteria set.
However, it warns that some stand-downs would be inevitable.
“We can’t rule it out if multiple states keep their borders closed for extended periods,” Mr. Joyce said.
Insiders at Qantas tell WestBusiness however that stand-downs are a last resort and are months away.
Mr. Joyce told staff that “just as the vaccine roll-out will turn the tide on this pandemic our recovery program is changing how the Qantas Group is placed on the other side.”
Jeff Bezos and crew shoot into space. Image: Blue Origin
Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, accompanied by the oldest and the youngest humans ever to reach space, landed safely in Texas Tuesday after their mission’s “nominal flight” provided another boost to space tourism.
Bezos, brother Mark, 82-year-old Mary “Wally” Funk and 18-year old Dutch student Oliver Daeman launched aboard Blue Origin’s reusable New Shepard spacecraft on the 52nd anniversary of the first moon landing in 1969.
The world’s richest man described it as his “best day ever” after the journey took just over 10 minutes and crossed the Karman line, the boundary 100kms above the Earth defining the boundary between atmosphere and space.
Watch the entire flight.
Bezos was beaten to the punch by Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic on July 11 but the Blue Origin capsule went higher. Branson tweeted his congratulations to the crew.
The Blue Origin mission reached 2233mph (3595kph ) before reaching an altitude of 105km (65.24m) above ground level and allowing the crew to experience about three minutes of weightlessness while viewing the Earth through windows billed as the largest in space.
The inside of the crew capsule. Photo: Blue Origin.
The fully-automated booster and capsule both appeared to function as planned, with the rocket auto-landing on target and the capsule drifting gently to earth on three parachutes before retrograde rockets softened the landing.
Jeff Bezos exits the crew capsule.
New Shepard, named after Mercury astronaut Alan Shepard, flew 15 test flights before its billionaire backer and his three crewmates were launched into space.
Bezos noted the mission profile of New Shepard was similar to the profile Shepard flew when he became the first American in space.
The trip was particularly sweet for Funk, who trained to be an astronaut in 1961 as part of the “Mercury 13” project but was excluded from reaching orbit at the time.
The 13 women in the privately-funded project were put through the same screening tests as the astronauts selected for Project Mercury but were never part of NASA’s astronaut program.
Funk, an aviator, went on to become the first female air safety investigator for the National Transportation Safety Board as well as the first civilian flight instructor at Fort Sill in Oklahoma and the first female FAA inspector.
Funk at Fort Sill. Photo: Blue Origin
NASA was subsequently criticized for not including women in its early space programs.
Funk thanked Bezos for the chance to get into space, saying “I want to go again, fast”.
“I’ve been waiting a long time to finally get it up there,” she said, noting she had done lot of astronaut training “and I can always beat the guys”.
The space tourism projects have been criticized by some people who believe the money would be better spent fighting issues such as poverty and climate change on Earth.
Responding to the criticism, Bezos said there was a need to do both.
“We have lots of problems here and now on Earth and we need to work on those and we also need to look to the future,” he said.
“We’ve always done that as a civilization. We have to do both.”
Blue Origin plans another two human flights this year but Bezos told a post-flight press conference that the technology used by New Shepard was a forerunner to bigger things such as its heavy-lift New Glenn rocket.
He said the company was not yet sure what it would do the following year but it wanted the cadence of missions to be high.
“We’re approaching $US100m in private sales already and the demand is very, very high so we’re going to keep after that because we really do want to practice with this vehicle,” ‘he said.
“So we’re going to have to build more boosters to fly more frequently and we’re going to be doing that and working on all the operational things we need to do and all the things we learned.”
Bezos described the flight as the first step “in something big”, adding “I know what that feels like, I did it …almost three decades ago with Amazon.”
“We’re going to build a road to space so that our kids and their kids can build the future,” he said.
“And we need to do that, we need to do that to solve the problems here on Earth.”
Qantaslink is AirlineRatings.com’s Best Regional Airline for 2021 with new aircraft and new routes across the broad expanse of Australia.
Qantaslink, which won the award in 2019, has grown significantly over the past 18 months despite COVID supporting the country’s massive resource industry, particularly in Western Australia.
AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said that “Qantaslink is an outstanding operation and brings the safety and product of Qantas to the remotest corner of Australia.
“At every touchpoint, it is a class operation and there is innovation – driven by isolation – everywhere,” Mr. Thomas said.
The airline has been a major part of the parent Qantas’s expansion of the domestic network with 45 new domestic routes added to the network.
Qantas has expanded its three-year contract with Alliance Airlines, which provides QantasLink with capacity using Alliance’s Embraer E190 regional jet aircraft.
The expanded agreement lifts the options under this deal from 14 aircraft to 18. Of this, five are already in operation with another three to enter service by October.
The E190s (above) are painted in QantasLink livery and are part of Qantas growing its domestic capacity to at least 107 percent of pre-COVID levels in FY22.
The first of the 94-seat E190 jets started flying on the QantasLink network last month. The airline says that the E190s free up Qantas’ Boeing 737 aircraft to be redeployed across the domestic network, enabling the airline to launch new routes and add frequencies.
Qantaslink in Perth has added more Airbus A320s (below) and Fokker 100s to its fleet which now number 11 and 18 respectively.
That jet fleet supports what is called Fly-in/Fly-Out (FIFO) workers who work on resource projects throughout Western Australia.
Qantaslink also has a fleet of 717s which are now based in the Eastern States are a long stint in Perth.
Making up the roster of aircraft are 45 turboprop aircraft that have just been upgraded with a refreshed interior.
Photo: Qantas
The multi-million-dollar upgrade of the airline’s Q200, Q300, and Q400 fleet was completed at the end of 2019.
The airline has three 36-seat Q200s, 11 50-seat Q300s, and 31 74-seat Q400s.
They operate on regional routes in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania, and South Australia.
Virgin Australia is a big winner in the 2021 AirlineRatings.com Excellence Awards taking out the highly coveted Best Cabin Crew and being named in the global Top Twenty.
AirlineRatings.com the world’s only airline safety, product, and COVID rating website promotes excellence and innovation in the airline industry, and the pinnacle of these efforts is its Airline Excellence Awards.
AirlineRatings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said, “Virgin Australia’s cabin crew treat every passenger whether in row 1 or at the back of the aircraft as a special guest.”
“Their commitment to their passengers is outstanding and is a benchmark of what cabin service should be. And this applies to ground staff as well, where the standards are just as high.
“The airline’s staff have gone through a very turbulent 12 plus months with both COVID and receivership but their smiles have never left, Mr. Thomas said.
Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said; “At Virgin Australia, it is our people who make the difference. We know many of our guests are going through a challenging time with the pandemic and every day our team goes the extra mile to make their journey as easy and enjoyable as we can.
“This award acknowledges our commitment to delivering experiences our guests love and is a testament to what makes us Australia’s most loved airline.
“I am proud to lead such an extraordinary group of people who have today been recognised by industry peers for delivering the very best cabin crew service in the world.”
Top Twenty
Virgin Australian also made the global Top Twenty.
For rankings, the editors of AirlineRatings.com, some of the most experienced and awarded, combine international industry and government audits, with another 11 key criteria that include: fleet age, passenger review ratings, investment rating, and key product offerings to arrive at a ranking.
“We are looking for leadership, airlines that innovate to make a real difference to the passenger experience particularly in economy class,” Mr. Thomas said.
For Virgin Australia that innovation is Economy X and the airline has reconfigured the first three rows of the economy cabin on its Boeing 737 fleet to give passengers -for a fee – an additional three inches (7.6cms) of legroom.
Combined with exit row seating, this means one in five seats in its B737 economy cabin — 30 seats on a B737-800 — are now branded, Economy X.
Economy X passengers also get preferred overhead locker space, priority boarding, and priority security screening.
The high public interest in affordable travel has prompted AirlineRatings.com, the world’s only safety, product, and COVID rating website, to identify the top ten low-cost airlines for 2021 from the almost 400 airlines it monitors.
Low-cost carriers (LCCs) have allowed millions of people to travel for the first time or to take trips they would otherwise be unable to afford.
Best Low-Cost Airlines – Top 10
They are a rapidly-growing segment of the industry, but rapid growth can come with some problems, which is why it’s so important to read reviews and ratings before booking.
The AirlineRatings top 10 LCCs for 2021 are, in alphabetical order: EasyJet, Jetstar, Frontier, Jetblue, Ryanair, Scoot, Southwest, VietJet Air, Volaris, and Westjet.
Airlineratings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas said that “each of these airlines has an excellent safety record and has made a big difference in their market.”
“From Southwest Airlines which started the low-cost revolution in the 1970s to JetBlue which redefines the low-cost product, each airline has made a huge contribution to affordable travel.”
“In Europe, it’s Easyjet and Ryanair, in Asia Jetstar and Scoot, while in Americas one can add Frontier, Volaris and Westjet to Southwest and JetBlue. All are standouts.”
Factors Involved in Choosing the Best Low-Cost Airlines
All the airlines chosen have either excellent safety and incident records or have completed the International Air Transport Association Operational Safety Audit.
AirlineRatings offers a unique safety tool that allows passengers to compare the safety ratings of the almost 400 airlines it rates.
Jetstar has been voted Best Low-Cost Airline for 2021 in the Asia-Pacific region by AirlineRatings.com in its annual Airline Excellence Awards.
The airline group – made up of Jetstar, Jetstar Asia, and Jetstar Japan – is part of the Qantas Group and has been at the forefront of the development of low-cost travel in the region since launching in 2003.
Since 2003 with just 14 Boeing 717s, the airline has grown dramatically across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Japan. Its Australian fleet now numbers 66 A320s and A321s and 787s.
Jetstar Japan has 24 A320s and Jetstar Asia Airways 18 A320s.
“Jetstar is a top-quality low-cost operation and has been in the winner’s circle several times before at AirlineRatings.com,” Mr. Thomas said.
“The Jetstar group’s DNA comes from its parent Qantas and it shows with a major focus on safety and customer care.”
Jetstar Group CEO Gareth Evans said “we’re incredibly proud to be recognised as the Best Low-Cost Airline Asia – the award is a testament to the tireless work and commitment of our team members over the past year under challenging circumstances.
“With airlines based in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Singapore, we’ve all experienced different impacts of the pandemic but the resolve of our teams to provide great service and low fares have remained strong across our entire network.
“At a time when families and friends are looking forward to reuniting after months and years apart, providing affordable travel through our low fares is more important than ever, and we can’t wait to reconnect loved ones when international borders open,” Mr Evans said.
The Jetstar Group is one of the largest low-cost airline groups in the Asia Pacific by revenue and has flown more than 300 million passengers since it launched in 2004.
Collectively the Jetstar Group offers around 5,000 (pre-covid) flights a week to 58 destinations in 18 countries and territories across the Asia Pacific region.
Jetstar’s mission is to offer all-day, everyday low fares to enable more people to fly to more places, more often.
And incredibly about 2/3rds of its passengers pay less than A$100 (US$75) for their fares.
AirlineRatings again named VietJet Air as the Best Ultra Low-Cost Airline in 2021, thanks in large part to its amazing cabin crew and efforts during the pandemic.
Since launching in December 2011, the airline has grown its fleet and subsequently, its number of destinations, opening up travel to all including those that perhaps couldn’t afford air travel before.
Airlineratings.com Editor-in-Chief Geoffrey Thomas commented that the airline is “extremely clever in its marketing but behind that fun is a very smart and serious business plan that brings affordable travel to millions.”
It was the first private airline in Vietnam to offer domestic and international services.The ultra-low-cost airline has carried more than 80 million passengers and covered over 116 routes across the Asia-Pacific region.
VietJet Air hasbeen awarded the highest ranking for safety with 7-stars since 2018. It is a member of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) with the IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate and technical reliability rate standing at 99.64%.
Mr. Thomas said:“The airline has a very modern fleet of Airbus aircraft and operationally is now up there with the very best.”
“That is great news for the traveling public and tourists in the region,” said Mr Thomas.
The airline’s multinational cabin crew takes safety seriously focusing on seat belts and exits being kept clear.
Vietjet Air operates a fleet of A320s in a 3-3 configuration with black leather seats. The airline distinguishes itself with a good combination of affordable ticket fares, which are suitable to the mass flyers plus diversified services and personalized options for busy and highly demanded passengers from all walks of life.
Skyboss service is one of them, which offers its flyers priority check-in, private boarding/disembarkation, 30kg check-in luggage, free golf kit handling, VIP lounge and free flow of foods and beverages served onboard, etc.
Also, for a small fee, you can select quiet seats up the front or exit rows. Also, windows and aisle seats attract a small premium.
Blankets, pillows, gifts, and gimmicks can be purchased on board.
Prior to COVID the ultra-low-cost airline operates a route network covering destinations nationwide and more than 40 regional destinations in Thailand, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, China, Japan, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Indonesia.
It is operating a fleet of A320s and A321s with an average age of 3 years.
The airline was named as one of the Top 500 Brands in Asia 2016-2017 and “The Best Asian Low-Cost Carrier” at the TTG Travel Awards 2015, “The most favorite carrier in Vietnam” by the Economic Times.The carrier was also awarded “Vietnam’s best place to work” in consecutive years and “the Best Employer Brand Asia Awards 2016”
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