Australia’s largest regional airline, QantasLink, is set to upgrade five Boeing 717 aircraft to include Business Class and in-flight entertainment for all passengers.

New boeing 717 business class… QantasLink

QantasLink Executive Manager John Gissing said the additional five aircraft, which Qantas announced in January this year, will be in addition to the existing fleet of 13 B717 aircraft operating across Australia.

“QantasLink will introduce a full Business experience on these aircraft, including market-leading seats, premium food and drinks and exceptional onboard service,” says Gissing.

“We will also be providing individual in-flight entertainment for all customers – both Business and Economy – and are currently testing the latest technology.

“The continued investment in our fleet shows the commitment and confidence that we have in the Australian domestic market and regional Australia.”

Gissing says the airline would be progressively introducing the five aircraft into service later on in the year, once the interior improvements are complete.

“The first aircraft will be used on Sydney-Canberra, Brisbane-Canberra and Melbourne-Canberra, with the B717 aircraft size and configuration ideally suited to these routes,” he said.

Cobham, which currently operates QantasLink’s fleet of Boeing 717 aircraft, will operate the five additional aircraft.

QantasLink operates a network of 58 metropolitan and regional destinations across Australia, including Port Moresby.

www.qantas.com.au

Qantas and the NSW Government have announced a new $30 million partnership to promote Sydney and regional NSW to the world.

NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell and Qantas CEO Alan Joyce signed the three-year agreement at Sydney Airport earlier this week, marking the largest tourism and major events marketing partnership in the State’s history.

Not famous enough?… Sydney Opera House

Premier O’Farrell said the deal involved Qantas matching the NSW Government dollar for dollar to attract more international visitors particularly from the United States, United Kingdom, Europe, China, South-East Asia, Japan and New Zealand.

“Nothing says Australia more than the unmistakeable red tail with the flying kangaroo and the home of Qantas is right here in Sydney,” Mr O’Farrell said.

“This partnership with Qantas is the cornerstone of our strategy to increase tourism to NSW, providing a boost to our economy and helping to create more jobs.

“We will be aggressively targeting big spending leisure and business travellers from overseas which will be a boon for our hotels, restaurants and retail sector.

“This will build on our standing as the nation’s leader for international visitation and expenditure and the preferred destination for key emerging markets”.

Mr Joyce said the time was right to elevate the partnership between Qantas and Destination NSW to a higher level.

“Sydney is the gateway to Australia with more than 50 per cent of all international visitors to Australia arriving at Sydney Airport so it’s fitting this is the largest partnership we have ever entered into with a State Government,” said Joyce.

“We have seen a fantastic and tangible response to work we have done with Destination NSW in the past and we think working more closely will result in more people visiting NSW and flying Qantas”.

The partnership, which sees both the NSW Government and Qantas invest $15 million each over the three years, will include international advertising and marketing activities around major events.

Destination NSW and Qantas are finalising preparations for the initial joint campaigns under the partnership, which are expected to commence in September in multiple markets.

The partnership will also have a strong domestic component, designed at encouraging more Australians to visit NSW and the regions for business and leisure travel.

Tourism and Major Events Minister George Souris said he was delighted that the State had secured the landmark deal.

“This new partnership will give us unprecedented opportunities to leverage the marketing assets of both organisations to deliver on the Government’s goal of doubling overnight visitor expenditure by 2020,” said Minister Souris.

“We are looking forward to achieving even greater success over the next three years”.

www.qantas.com.au 

www.visitnsw.com

Royal Jet, the Abu Dhabi-based luxury airline, recently launched a bespoke travel division, Royal Jet Luxury Vacations (RJLV), in the Seychelles Islands.

Celebrating 10 years of luxury travel… Royal Jet

The new RJLV division offers exclusive, customer-centric travel itineraries based on clients’ personality and preferences and was borne out of a partnership with Eden Luxury Group, one of the UK’s largest independent luxury travel providers.

“We are pleased to offer Royal Jet Luxury Vacations as the solution for today’s high-end travellers who demand comfort, intuitive personalised service and unparalleled expertise,” says Royal Jet President and CEO, Shane O’Hare.

“I am confident that our partnership with Eden Luxury Group will deliver, what we believe, will be the only full service ultra-luxury tour operator in the region with a full length and breadth experience of the luxury travel portfolio.

“The holiday package doesn’t necessarily have to start or finish on board a Royal Jet aircraft. We are delighted to partner with our preferred airline partner, Etihad Airways, as well as other leading global airlines to offer comprehensive travel options for one’s journey.”

www.royaljetgroup.com

Contemporary… Emirates lounge in Milan

A EUR2.48 million investment, this is the first international lounge to feature the airline’s new design.

Emirates now has the largest dedicated lounge in Malpensa airport, which is among the country’s busiest. The interior design features a natural colour palette and space for over 150 guests. Along with a business centre, dining area and shower facilities, the lounge also has a dedicated prayer room.

“This opening aims to strengthen our commitment to the city, where we have established our presence with three daily flights in addition to our AC Milan sponsorship.”

“Constantly seeking to innovate, the new lounge design is reflective of the understated luxury of our lounges in Dubai Concourse A, and it is this type of investment that sets Emirates apart,” said Mohammed H. Mattar, Divisional Senior Vice President – Airport Services.

Emirates currently operates 49 weekly flights throughout Italy, including three daily flights to Milan Malpensa.

www.emirates.com 

Luxurious... First Class lounge

Cathay Pacific’s flagship First Class lounge at The Wing at Hong Kong International Airport reopened its doors this month, after an extensive two-year long refurbishment.

The Wing’s new-look First Class lounge, located on the upper level of Hong Kong airport’s southern concourse, includes a champagne bar where guests are greeted with flutes of Moet and Deutz, a library room complete with ‘reading nook’, and custom-made Solus workstation chairs with a high-gloss black shell and burgundy leather interior.

Privacy... one of five cabanas

The Wing set a new standard in airline ground service when it opened its doors in 1998. With a vision to elevate the passenger experience to the next level, Cathay Pacific commissioned world-renowned architectural firm Foster + Partners to redesign The Wing. Work on the complete renovation commenced in late 2010.

Contemporary, lush furniture fills the main area of the lounge, which has a total seating capacity of 167, up from 123 in the previous design.

Then of course, there’s The Haven Bar, an offshoot of the lounge's Haven restaurant, which overlooks the airport’s boarding gates and apron. The Haven has long been a favourite among travellers and now features a ‘reinvented’ à la carte menu with recommended wine pairings as well as an expanded buffet selection.

Extensive menu... Haven restaurant

The Wing’s legendary cabanas have also had a makeover. Much like private day spa, these five rooms boast a spacious shower area, indulgent full-sized bath, and extendable day bed.

The First Class lounge also features 12 shower suites (up from three) and an in-lounge ironing service with a 10-20 minute turnaround. 

The Wing’s First Class Lounge is open to First Class passengers, Diamond Marco Polo Club members and Emerald oneworld members. Opening hours are from 5:30am until the last departure.

www.cathaypacific.com

New luxury for business travellers... Airbus A350

A new Airbus, targeted at business travellers with a 'luxury business class', is set to take to the skies in 2014.

Passengers will see the continuation of a push away from first class, with a more concentrated focus on business class.

"The trend tends to be more to the two-class right now, with a very luxurious business — or a business/first with lay-flat beds — and coach," said Airbus executive John Leahy earlier this year.

"And sometimes there's premium economy in there so that it becomes three class again," says Leah.

"It becomes business, premium economy and economy, rather than first, business and economy."

The Airbus A350 XWB is an advanced next-generation design, similar to Boeing 787, with over 50 per cent of the aircraft built from composite materials such as carbon fibre.

The new Airbus, whose initials standing for 'Extra Wide Body', will start commercial flights on Cathay Pacific, Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qatar in 2014 and promises a new cabin ‘feel’ with innovative design and construction methods.

The A350 is eighteen inches wider than the Boeing 787 Dreamliner, its closest competitor and, at 5.96 metres across, business class will comprise of a 1-2-1 seating configuration, allowing all passengers aisle access.

The increased proportion of modern composite materials used in the A350 also allows for lower cabin pressure (down to 6000 feet from the previous 8000 feet) which lessens the effects of altitude on the body, making travelling less tiresome and jetlag less disruptive.

Flying further... Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia

Singapore Airlines (SIA) and Virgin Australia will expand their codeshare agreement in 2013 to cover further destinations in Australia, Asia, Europe and the United Kingdom. 

The extended agreement between the two airlines will offer Singapore Airlines customers access to 32 Australian cities as well as trans-Tasman flights between Australia and New Zealand.

Virgin Australia will in turn extend its current codeshare cover connections from the East Coast of Australia to Europe, the United Kingdom and additional cities in Asia, via SIA's hub in Singapore.

"With more cities covered, Singapore Airlines and Virgin Australia can together offer even better connections for our customers between Singapore and Australia, as well as through our Singapore hub to many more points around the world," said SIA Executive Vice President Commercial, Mak Swee Wah.

SIA and Virgin Australia entered into a wide-ranging partnership last year. In addition to codesharing, the alliance covers reciprocal frequent-flyer programme benefits and lounge access.

Counting sheep... Qantas' new sleep service includes a mattress

Qantas has announced a number of changes to its international Business service to help customers get a better night’s sleep.

Among the improvements is a new sleep service that includes a mattress placed over Skybeds on international flights, duvets instead of blankets, and a special 'wellbeing' tea blend to encourage sleep.

Business class customers will also enjoy exclusive amenity kits designed by Kate Spade New York and Jack Spade, and have more control over their dining experience, with Select on Q – Eat, a service enabling customers to select from a wider menu by choosing their meal as well as the time they would like to dine, before they board.

Qantas International CEO Simon Hickey says the new Qantas international Business service is focused on improving the opportunity for premium customers to sleep on international flights.

“Qantas is focused on putting the customer at the centre of everything we do, making Qantas International best for global travellers. This means listening to our customers, understanding why they fly with us and providing the best service we can,” said Mr Hickey.

“Our premium customers travelling in Business have told us they want greater choice and the ability to maximise their sleep. That’s why we've made these changes.”

Qantas will trial its Select on Q – Eat meal service on select routes and will progressively introduce additional enhancements across its international network of A380s, B747s and A330s from mid November.

This follows Qantas’ announcement that it will offer a door-to-door chauffeur service to Business and First customers on long haul flights over 12 hours, from April 2013, in connection with its proposed partnership with Emirates. 

Futuristic... Airbus concept cabin

More flights, fewer emissions and quicker passenger journey times – this is the future of air travel. 

By 2050, every flight in the world could be on average 13 minutes shorter and save approximately nine million tonnes of excess fuel annually.

This equates to over 28 million tonnes of avoidable CO2 emissions and passenger savings of over 500 million hours of excess flight time on board an aircraft. 

According to leading aircraft manufacturer Airbus, the future of aviation depends on sustainability.  

The comany's 'Smarter Skies' vision suggests five ways to optimise aircraft operation, both on the ground and in the air, by 2050.  

1. Eco Climb:

As space becomes a premium and mega-cities a reality, this approach also could minimise land use, as shorter runways could be utilised.

The power needed to take off is determined based on runway length, wind speed, temperature, and the weight of the aircraft.

An assisted takeoff – using some form of propelled acceleration – would allow planes to be lighter, with smaller engines consuming less fuel and climbing to its most efficient cruising altitude more quickly. 

With less time and distance required for takeoff, runways could be shortened by up to a third, minimising land use and enabling airport capacity to increase or new micro-airports to emerge. 

A continuous "eco-climb" would further cut noise and CO2 emissions, particularly if renewable fuels were used. 

2. Express Skyways:

While borders have fallen at ground level, the same can’t be said for the skies above. As flights transit a patchwork quilt of international airspace they are passed between disparate air navigation service providers and diverted into sets of air corridors.

The result is circuitous, zig-zag flight patterns. But what if the skies were stitched into one seamless blanket?

Aircraft could navigate more directly and thus more quickly, efficiently and safely through optimal gate-to-gate flight paths or express flyways. On an Airbus test flight from Brussels to Stockholm, a 20 minute gain meant fuel savings of 725kg, in turn reducing CO2 emissions by 2,283kg.

A generation of intelligent aircraft could also utilise 4D navigation to self-select the most efficient route, making optimum use of prevailing weather and atmospheric conditions.

Just as birds heading south for the winter save energy by flocking together, formation flight can also boost the efficiency of commercial aircraft.

Trailing planes can effectively "surf" on the energy coming from the wing tip vortices of the preceding aircraft.  This reduces drag, which increases fuel efficiency and minimises engine emissions.

A safe flight separation of apporximately 20 wingspans – far less than the four nautical miles that separate civil aircraft today – is sufficient to reap the benefits.

3. Free-glide approaches to landing:

Allowing aircraft to take free glide approaches into airports would lower emissions during the overall decent and reduce noise during the steeper approach as there is no need for engine thrust or air breaking.

These approaches also would reduce the landing speed earlier, making shorter landing distances achievable with less runway needed.

Today aircraft descend in stages and often are forced to wait in the air, circling in holding patterns to avoid congested airspace or while awaiting a landing slot. However, levelling off during descent requires an increase in thrust.  That means extra fuel burn and emissions – as well as unnecessary delays for passengers.

With better air traffic management, aircraft could enter a fuel-efficient descent based on when best to leave cruise level – with no risk of getting stuck in traffic. 

Aircraft featuring technology to optimise landing positions with pinpoint accuracy could glide smoothly into airports with their engines running in idle, for significantly reduced fuel burn, emissions and noise.

4. Ground operations:

On landing, aircraft engines could be switched off sooner, runways cleared faster and ground handling emissions could be cut.

Technology could optimise an aircraft’s landing position with enough accuracy for an autonomous renewably-powered taxiing carriage to be ready, so aircraft could be transported away from runways quicker, optimising terminal space, and removing runway and gate limitations.

Simply switching engines off sooner on the ground would make a big difference.  According to the International Air Transport Association, up to six million tonnes of CO2 could be saved each year by reduced engine taxiing.

5. Power:

The use of sustainable biofuels and other potential alternative energy sources will be necessary to secure supply and further reduce the environmental footprint of air travel for the long term.

This will allow the extensive introduction of regionally-sourced renewable energy close to airports, feeding both aircraft and infrastructure requirements sustainably.

The potential benefits of this solution to the long-term availability and affordability of fuel means it is fast becoming a very real and viable option with 50/50 blend biofuels already certified for commercial flights.  

While it is not foreseeable that fuel cells would be used for commercial aircraft propulsion, they are one of the most promising 'step change' technologies to power cabin operations.  

Over 1,500 commercial flights worldwide have been flown on biofuels to date. So the burning question is, when will sustainable biofuels become the industry standard?

http://www.airbus.com/innovation/future-by-airbus/smarter-skies/

Creature comforts... Aeroloft sleeping birth

Luxury air travel reaches new heights as the first Aeroloft is unveiled in Wichita, Kansas.

The Aeroloft boasts eight private sleeping berths in the aft, upper section of the aircraft providing a comfortable rest area during flight.

The Aeroloft installation on a Boeing Business Jet 747‐8 aircraft marks an important milestone for Greenpoint Technologies, who first announced the prototype program in 2009.

Greenpoint has worked with The Boeing Company for over a decade developing multiple solutions for VIP and Heads‐of‐State clients. 

Greenpoint CEO and President Scott Goodey says, “our close relationship with Boeing allows us to develop state of the art solutions for our VIP customers by providing them with the best in luxury, utility, and safety". 

“Our core business is designing and manufacturing unique interior solutions and the Aeroloft is a perfect example of engineering collaboration resulting from customer demand.”

Greenpoint has two more Aeroloft installations scheduled for delivery in 2012.

www.greenpnt.com