At RwandAir's headquarters at Kigali Airport, they have mutliple images of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner in their livery around the office. This mock up shows a hopeful operation date of 2015.
I have been learning a lot about Rwanda and RwandAir over the past few days and will be sharing everything over the next week or so. I wanted to give a quick update on RwandAir’s aircraft and route planning, since it is quite surprising and involves a few Boeing 787 Dreamliners.
The airline has just taken delivery of their first new aircraft ever, a Boeing 737-800 with Sky Interior. According to RwandAir CEO John Mirenge this is just the beginning. He stated that they hope to increase their current fleet of six aircraft to 12 over the next five years and up to 18 by 2020. Currently they operate a fleet of two Boeing 737-500s, one Boeing 737-800 (a second one coming in October), two CRJ-200s and one Dash 8. By 2020, they hope to take delivery of additional Boeing 737s, ATR-72, Embraer regional jets and Boeing 787 Dreamliners — new.
Mirenge told AirlineReporter.com that he hopes to fly the Dreamliners to China, Europe and possibly the eastcoast of the United States. The airline hopes to create a hub of air transportation in Kigali, providing the demand for the larger aircraft.
It seems that flying the Dreamliner by 2015 might be a bit optimistic. It might be difficult to get a delivery slot by then and Kigali is in the process of building a new airport to better handle the expected increase of traffic, but is not set to be completed until 2018.
It is unusual for an airline to be so candid about their future plans of aircraft purchases and future routes. However, RwandAir is a different sort of airline and definitely have created a positive momentum.
Who wouldn’t want to spend a beautiful and sunny Saturday at Paine Field with a bunch of historic aircraft and other aviation enthusiasts? Well, I am hoping for the sun, but I am pretty sure of the good times. This Saturday, the Vintage Aircraft Weekend will be going down at Paine Field and if you are in the greater Seattle are, you should surely come check it out. From vintage aircraft (that fly) to vehicles to historians, this is going to be one awesome shin-dig. Here are the details:
Just some of the things spotted during Vintage Aircraft Weekend 2010.
What: An opportunity to experience history in action at a family event. Enjoy vintage aircraft flybys, military and antique vehicles, hands-on demonstrations, WW II re-enactors, interactive presentations, great food, live swing/jazz music, dancing, and special activities to commemorate the Centennial of Naval Aviation. As many as 50 aircraft will be on display and most will fly on the afternoon of the 3rd.
When: Friday, September 2, 2011, 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm (Big Band Dinner Dance) and Saturday, September 3, 2011, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (Festival)
Where: Historic Flight Foundation Restoration Center
Located on the southwest corner of Paine Field
10719 Bernie Webber Drive
Mukilteo, Washington 98275
Speakers: Addison Pemberton and William E. Boeing, Jr. will address the importance of the Model 40B to the survival of the Boeing Company during the Great Depression. Dan Hagedorn will present “Hiding in Plane Site,” the story of operating Boeing Plant 2 in wartime camouflage. Mike Lavelle will share “Lessons Learned 100 Years Ago in the 1911 Transcontinental Flight of the Vin Fiz.” John Sessions will present two hundred shots taken in 2009 during the North Atlantic crossing of B-25D “Grumpy.”
Why: Educate and inspire visitors of all ages through an opportunity to experience history in action!
Tickets: Tickets for the Big Band Dinner Dance on the 2nd are $50 per person and include admission to the festival on the 3rd.
Discounted tickets for the festival on the 3rd may be purchased in advance for $10 at Historic Flight Foundation or online. Tickets for the festival on the 3rd may also be purchased at the door on the day of the event: Adults – $12 | Senior/Military – $10 (65+) | Youth – $8 (6-15) | Child – Free (< 6) | Family – $25
Who: Hosted by Historic Flight Foundation along with many supporters including Cascade Warbirds, Castle & Cooke Aviation, Flying Heritage Collection, Future of Flight, Heritage Flight Museum, Museum of Flight, Paine Field, Port Townsend Aero Museum, and media sponsor – KUOW.
All photos from Air Vintage Weekend website for 2010
Jazeera Airways Airbus A320.
Jazeera Airways is a low cost airline based in Kuwait. It was founded in 2004 and currently has a fleet of six Airbus A320 aircraft. At one time, the airline had 30 A320s on order, but in 2010 aircraft were parked and five had their leases stopped. Jazeera Airways cancelled most of their orders and now only has four A320s on order with Airbus.
The airline was started when the Kuwait government allowed Jazeera Airways to operate, ending Kuwait Airway’s monopoly in the country.
The livery has a lot of white and I almost wish they would have made part of the bottom or have a stripe that was teal. One fun part, you don’t see on many liveries, is the blue behind the tail surrounding the APU. It is pretty difficult to read the airline’s name on the front, on the engines and on the tail due to the font chosen.
Image by: Globespotter
This a guest blog from Vinay Bhaskara looking how airline and train transportation has changed over time on the east coast. This is his story:
One of my more ’œavgeeky’ hobbies is looking at the Form 41 data; specifically the T100. The T100D Segment, which I’m going to be looking at today, gives us data about every domestic flight operated by all carriers, both US owned, and international.
Now the T100 database at the DOT goes back to 1990, so I decided to take a look at how a specific route looked like in 1990, and then in 2009 (the second to last full year of data available). After a few moments of debate, I decided on New York La Guardia to Washington Reagan ’“ one component of the venerable Northeast Shuttle.
The La Guardia to Reagan route is still one of the most traversed air routes in North America, comprising 423,483 passengers last year. There are only two airlines on the route; US Airways, and Delta. In 1990, it was the legendary Pan Am who flew the route in lieu of Delta. That being said, here are some of the stats I found most interesting:
* Capacity on the route fell by 49% and passengers dropped 50%. So in 19 years, the airlines have halved their capacity on the route, and half as many passengers are flying the route.
* Despite the precipitous drop in capacity and demand, the average number of daily flights only dropped from 31 to 24.
* This corresponds with the average aircraft size falling from 159 seats in 1990, to 103 seats in 2009. Of course this probably has a lot to do with the fact that Delta is running E175s every hour, but still.
* Delta had a load factor of 40% last year. I hope they have lots of high yielding passengers, because they sure as heck aren’t filling many seats.
The following chart shows how the capacity and passengers carried stacked up for each airline:
The next two charts show the corresponding market shares of the different airlines. Isn’t it surprising that Delta (who replaced Pan Am on the route in 1991) lost so much market share?
Why are the passenger numbers dropping so much? In a word: time. The time it takes to fly between New York and DC has grown so much, that flying has become far less attractive, especially when compared to other options like the Acela Express.
Still skeptical?
Let’s take our average businessman, and say that he lives 20 minutes away from both Penn Station and La Guardia (I’m not sure there is such a point, but work with me here). So we start with that. Then, the Acela Express takes an average of 3 hours to reach its destination, and bam, you’re in downtown DC at Union Station.
The flight on the other hand is much more complex. After arriving at the airport, you usually have to budget time for security. I’d estimate it to be 15 minutes at the Marine Air Terminal (Delta Shuttle) during peak times, and 40 minutes at US Airways’ terminal during the same time period. So let’s assume that it takes around 30 minutes for security. Then, you want to be at the gate around 25 minutes before your flight; which brings you to a total of 75 minutes before you even board the flights. Now, the average ramp to ramp time, which is how long it takes for the plane to go from gate to gate was 73 minutes last year. Once you arrive at the airport, we can figure around 10 minutes for disembarking and going to the taxi stand/limo pickup. From Reagan National, it usually takes around 25 minutes to get to downtown DC by car. So let’s tally up the total travel time for each method.
Acela Express
Drive to Penn Station- 20 minutes
Train Travel Time- 180 minutes
Total Travel Time- 200 minutes
US Airways and Delta Shuttles
Drive to La Guardia- 20 minutes
Security at Airport- 30 minutes
Time at Gate Prior to Departure- 25 minutes
Plane Travel Time- 73 minutes
Time to Get out of Reagan Airport- 10 minutes
Drive to Downtown DC- 25 minutes
Total Travel Time- 183 minutes
Plus, the service on the Acela Express is much better. Acela Express- Spacious seats, in-seat power, WiFi, a newspaper, and gourmet meals. US Airways/Delta Shuttle- Cramped cabin, snack boxes, free drinks, and a newspaper. You decide’¦.. Which one would/do you choose?
Vinay Bhaskara is an aviation analyst and history buff based in the United States (New Jersey). In addition to his analyst’s position at Aspire Aviation, he also writes for the Bangalore Aviation blog, and does a podcast on Asian aviation with Innovation Analysis Group (IAG). He can be reached at @TheABVinay on Twitter, as well as at vi***@ba***************.com, on Facebook , and via Linkedin.
ANA's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner to be delivered on September 27th.
Sorry folks, I have to be lazy and copy and paste directly from ANA’s press release:
’œThe airplane is ready. ANA is ready. And, Boeing is ready,’ said Jim Albaugh, president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes. ’œThis airplane begins a new chapter in aviation history.’
ANA’s airplane will arrive in Tokyo on Sept. 28, following a Sept. 27 departure from Everett, Wash., and will be greeted by ANA employees, media and Japanese partners. Details of events in Everett and Tokyo will be provided in the weeks ahead. Many of the events will be webcast live, allowing people around the world to participate in the celebration.
Shinichiro Ito, president and CEO of ANA Group, said, ’œAs launch customer, we are delighted to be taking delivery of our first 787 Dreamliner. This aircraft will enable us to offer new standards of service and comfort to our passengers and will play an important role in our international expansion strategy as we seek to become Asia’s number one airline.’
ANA launched the 787 program with a record-setting order of 50 airplanes in April 2004. The airline has played a key role in guiding the design of the Dreamliner.
