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SEPTEMBER 2013 PAGE 30
THE FLYING COLUMN
TURKISH Airlines Comfort Class now offers seat pitch of 45.7 inches (116 cm) and the seat width is 19.5 inches (49 cm). Each row has a 2-3-2 seating configuration
Aviation with Gerry O’Hare
BOOTS in Dublin airport’s The Loop
shopping area has moved further up the street towards Butlers
DUBLIN-based aircraft leasing group Avalon has delivered nine new aircraft valued at $540m. MINISTER Leo Varadkar said that
adopting the Cape Town Convention will boost Ireland’s €19bn-a-year aircraft leasing sector
RYANAIR announced extended direct coach connections to and from Stansted Airport with National Express.
ONBOARD FOOD A survey by Travelsupermarket.com singled out Ryanair and Easyjet for applying the biggest mark-ups in onboard food and drink. THE LOOP’s 27 food and beverage
outlets at Dublin Airport will host a week-long celebration honouring Irish producers and suppliers from September 27th to October 4th, with tastings, quick fire cookery demonstrations, celebrity guest chefs and festival menus.
EMIRATES said they will launch a private jet service served by an Airbus A319 that can seat up to 19 passengers. RYANAIR reported 92pc of 53,000
flights arrive on-time with less than 1 complaint per 1,000 passengers and less than 1 bag complaint per 2,000 passengers.
AIRBUS said it is investing $180m per
yearin its -200 and -300 program development. Airbus is increasing the -300’s maximum takeoff weight by five tonnes to 240 tonnes, extending its range by 400 nautical miles to 5,950 nautical miles with 300 passengers on board, the second upgrade for the -300.
AIR CANADA enabled the
Navan2Navan group to bring a Navan and Boyne valley promotional tourism trade stand at a fair in the "other" Navan in Ontario this week, August 8-11th.
DELTA will suspend Atlanta-Dublin serv-
ices from January 11 to March 22 , the first time in over 25 years of Irish operation that it has dropped Atlanta.
CITYJET‘s sale is “close” to conclusion, Air France-KLM CEO Alexandre de Juniac said at a briefing on the AF-KL Q1 results. However, Hans Rudolf Woehrl, co-founder of Intro Aviation, the prospective buyer, says whether or not there will be a deal also remains completely open," SWISS have a double daily service from Dublin to Zurich on Saturday and Sunday for July and August.
IAA is considering a cut in air traffic control cover at Cork Airport, ending its 24-hour landing capability and potentially impacting on the airport’s ability to grow business.
Ryanair fares are down even though sector length is longer
Ryanair fare fall
Average fare now €42 reduction of 4pc from 2012
R
yanair’s annual accounts showed that the average fare was down 4pc to €42. This is 8pc down when a 4pc longer trip is taken into account) but revenue per passenger up 1pc to €58. More predictably, ancillary revenue per passenger was up 21pc from €13 to €16. Ryanair’s average fare was down 4pc to €42 (8pc down when a
4pc longer trip is taken into account) but revenue per passenger up 1pc to €58. Ancillary revenue per passenger was up 21pc from €13 to €16 Reserved seating, priority boarding, the controversial new €3 administration fee and 2pc credit card fee made up 26.5pc of revenue. Ryanair intends to keep on increas-
ing baggage charges until few people bring luggage that needs to go in the hold, CEO Michael O’Leary has said. At a press conference he defended the annual hike in baggage fees, said that some fees were going to increase further, threatened to price luggage out of the sky' and told passengers to take fewer clothes on holidays.
TURKISH AWARDS FOR WORLD PHOTOGRAPHS
T
urkish Airlines reports an enthusiastic response to its international photo competition launched last month by In-flight Skylife Magazine. Bridges and People invites people to submit photos telling of the
bridges built between people, cultures, and civilisations. Prizes include Turkish Airlines’ flight tickets worth $15,000, $6,000, and $3,000, and 80 selected photos will be exhibited. Apply online o v e r
yarisma.skylife.com/en and upload their photos to the website before November 16th. Turkish recently won the Skytrax award for best European airline for the third year in a row.
MOMONDO: TUESDAYS 28pc CHEAPER
A
survey by Momondo showed why Tuesdays are the cheapest day to fly. The comparison site Momondo tested 40 of popular flight routes and found for 58pc of them, the cheapest departure day was a Tuesday. For 28pc of the
routes, it was cheapest to depart on a Wednesday. And for the remaining 14pc of routes, it was cheapest to depart on a Monday, or Thursday. Momondo found that by departing earlier in the week, on the cheapest day of travel (between Mon –
Murat Balandi of Turkish
Thurs, depending on route), momondo found travellers can save 18pc on an average flight, this saving went up to 36pc on some routes. Departure on Friday, Saturday and Sunday costs 22pc more than the cheapest day’s price. Momondo is unique
among price comparison sites in that it is allowed by Ryanair to display their prices, but not a booking facility. Momondo’s mobile applications are available for free for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.