Etihad Airbus A340-600 taking off – Photo: Jacob Pfleger
Recently, Etihad Airways had a very attractive sale on business class fares between its European gateways and Australia, including codeshares with Czech Airlines from Prague. This was simply too good an offer to pass up, being the AvGeek I am.
Gear retraction on Etihad A340 – Photo: Jacob Pfleger
As I booked via the Etihad website, I was able to partake in the online upgrade auction system. This program is a fairly recent initiative introduced by Etihad Airways, along with other carriers. The program sends out an email approximately a week before the flight, inviting business class passengers to bid on unsold seats in the first class cabin, as well as business class seats for those in economy. Bids for a first class upgrade ranged from $600-$1500 (USD) for the Abu Dhabi-Sydney flight. I bid $1000, as I was celebrating my birthday and thought it would make a nice present. Bidders are advised of the outcome 48 hours prior to the flight. The system is still in the trial stage; I only got an email T-24 hours, advising that my bid had been accepted.
Upon arriving at the combined first and business class terminal at Abu Dhabi, I was greeted by a porter who took care of my luggage and escorted me to the first class check-in area. Unlike conventional check-in desks, the first class area is set up like a classy hotel, where you take a seat at a desk with an agent who processes your booking. The whole process took no more than five minutes and I was on my way to the first class lounge.
A crashed A6M2 Reisen on display at a museum in Kokopo – Photo: Bernie Leighton | AirlineReporter
This is part of a series about visiting Papua New Guinea. In part one, Bernie reviewed flying Air Niugini. In part two, he visited (New) Ireland and (New) Britain via a Q400. This is part three of four.
There are a lot of things that one can do in New Britain that are typically tourist. You can go to the golf club. There are beaches everywhere. Local markets that aren’t even designed to rip off tourists. Reasonably warm ocean. Think of it like Hawaii before it became a commercialized tourist haven.
The thing is, that kind of tourism bores me. I would not have flown all the way around the world just to go see a new beach. I was actually there because I wanted to see the leftovers from Operation Cartwheel.
This story was originally posted on Jan 12, 2014 and re-posted with updated details on Feb 12, 2014.
Unite AvGeeks! This weekend is it – Aviation Geek Fest 2014 – and to say that we are excited is an understatement. Personally this will be my fifth AGF and I am more excited about this one versus any of the others (and the others were awesome).
A HUGE thanks to Sandy Ward & Toni Olson at the Future of Flight Aviation Center & Boeing Tour for organizing most of these great activities.
I wanted to share all the newest updates to help you prepare for the weekend.
Sukhoi Superjet in Sky Aviation livery (PK-ECN) – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
I was able to take a tour of a Sukhoi Superjet at the Singapore Airshow and am sharing the photos with AirlineReporter readers!
The aircraft, parked next to a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, was in Sky Aviation livery – an airline based predominantly in Surabaya Indonesia that operates a full-service product, including business class.
This was my first time on an operational Russian commercial airliner and I was pleasantly surprised that the interior was similar to an Embraer E-Jet, although it is considerably wider and the overhead space is greater.
The flight deck was also surprisingly roomy, as were the lavs and galley areas. The configuration in business is set up 2-2, while economy is 2-3. I found that the seat pitch in business was sufficient, but economy was a bit of a challenge.
The A350XWB shows its stuff at the Singapore Airshow – Photo: Jacob Pfleger | AirlineReporter
The Singapore Airshow is in full swing right now and although we will have a nice wrap-up story at the end, we wanted to share some photos.
These are pictures of the third Airbus A350 XWB (MSN003) taking its first flight at an airshow like this and according to Jacob Pfleger, who is at the show for AirlineReporter, the most noticeable thing for him was how quiet the plane was. “During its fly-by I was impressed with how quiet it is and in my opinion it’s the quietest jet out there even more so than the Airbus A380 or even Boeing 787,” Pfleger explained via email.
