Northwest 747-200 Land Reclamation All-Premium Airlines LATITUDE CCONTENTSONTENTS OCTOBER 2007 10 COVER STORY Focusing on Size—Just How Big Are Our Airlines?

The In-Flight Magazine of SimAirline.net October 2007

ALSO INSIDE: Northwest 747-200 Land Reclamation All-Premium Airlines LATITUDE CCONTENTSONTENTS OCTOBER 2007 10 COVER STORY Focusing on size—just how big are our airlines?

Cover Photo: Jeffrey S. DeVore Continental Airlines last year moved up to become the fifth largest airline in the world.

5 END OF AN ERA A tribute to Northwest’s 747-200, which retired last month.

8 SEAPORTS A growing trend in Asia is building airports on man-made islands using land reclamation.

14 FIRST CLASS EXCLUSIVE All-premium operations are a new option for travelers.

3 Viewpoint 4 News Briefs 7 VA Spotlight 9 Hub Focus 15 The Tail Section

2 VVIEWPOINTIEWPOINT In the coming weeks, most SimAirline.net destinations will change time zones as countries shift to/from daylight saving time. Flight Simulator is known for not having the best accuracy when it comes to time zones, so we have the following recommendations: -know what time zones your flights are between using The World Time Server -calculate your expected flight length based on your flight times and compare it to the timetable -use the FS Real Time add-on, available on our Downloads page SimAirline.net updates the time zones for PIREPs within hours of it occurring, so please file your PIREP as soon as possible after flying it in order to ensure the right time zones. Please understand that you may have some PIREPs sent back to you because of concerns about the flight times due to time zone changes. By following these recommendations, you can ensure that your PIREPs will be approved quickly and without problems. This month, Latitude will look at 2006 statistics for the top airlines worldwide. A brief look at the numbers reveals that SimAirline.net offers flights from five of the seven largest airlines in the world, an impressive number. Keep in mind that some of ourour vvirtual airlines (based on closed airlines) aren’t listed. We strive to offer a wide variety of flights around the world to you, and I hope that these numbers help you see how SimAirline.net’s offerings compare to the rest of the world realize how much we offer already. Also in this issue, we’ll be exploring two important trends in commercial aviation: all- premium airlines, which are a small but growing segment, and offshore airports, which have been around for decades but are increasingly popular. This month’s final article is in tribute to Northwest’s recent 747-200 retirement.

Happy Flying!

Aaron Robinson [email protected] AOL Instant Messenger: SimAirlineNet

In 2006, Emirates grew by over 25%, moving up to fourteenth largest in the world

Latitude welcomes the opinions of its readers to issues raised in the magazine. Letters should be directed to [email protected]. SimAirline.net will not print anonymous letters, but names will be withheld upon request. Latitude reserves the right to edit letters as it sees fit and does not guarantee publication. 3 NNEWSEWS BBRIEFSRIEFS British Airways Selects A380, 787 As part of its longhaul fleet renewal, British Airways announced orders for 12 A380s with seven options and 24 787s (-8s and -9s) with 18 options. The first 787 delivery will be in 2010, while the first A380 arrives two years later; both will be powered by Rolls- Royce engines. CEO Willie Walsh indicated that the A350, 777-300ER, and 787-10 are under consideration for a future order.

Dash 8-400s Worldwide Grounded Following the collapse of two Dash 8-400 main gears on SAS flights, Bombardier recommended that aircraft with more than 10,000 cycles be grounded for landing gear checks. Corrosion was found on the gears of 25 of SAS’s 27 aircraft. ANA briefly grounded its fleet in March after a nose gear extension failure.

DOT Announces China Awards The U.S. Department of Transportation announced its selections for the latest round of awards for China routes, allocating one route to each major airline that applied: American Airlines (Chicago-Beijing), Continental Airlines (Newark-Shanghai), Delta Air Lines (Atlanta-Shanghai), Northwest Airlines (Detroit-Shanghai), United Airlines (San Francisco-Guangzhou), and US Airways (Philadelphia-Beijing).

A350 Switches to Composite Frame Airbus has opted to switch its plans for the A350 frame from aluminum to composite materials. The decision came after maintenance concerns by Emirates and ILFC on an aluminum structure. At this summer’s Paris Air Show, Airbus had no intentions of switching, but chose to switch for “simplification of maintenance.” Boeing has indicated that it will likely pursue an “all-composite new aircraft response” to the A350 as a replacement for its 777 line.

Delta Announces Major JFK Expansion Delta Air Lines continued its transatlantic push by announcing fourteen new routes from New York Kennedy to begin through next summer, with emphasis on Africa and Latin America. New destinations from New York are Amman, Cairo, Cape Town, Dakar, Edinburgh, Guatemala City, Lagos, Liberia (Costa Rica), Malaga, Nairobi, Panama City, Port of Spain, San Jose (Costa Rica), and Tel Aviv. Delta currently flies to four other continents from New York.

Hawaiian-Mesa Case Takes an Unexpected Shift Mesa Air Group attorneys told a U.S. bankruptcy court that CFO Peter Murnane was placed on leave after he admitted to mistakenly deleting files relating to Hawaiian Airlines’ case against Mesa. The files were supposedly deleted as he tried to clear pornography from his computer. Hawaiian claims that Mesa used confidential information obtained in 2005 when considering investing in Hawaiian to start its subsidiary go!, a new interisland competitor.

Continental to Expand Cleveland Hub Continental Airlines announced a major expansion of its Cleveland hub that will increase capacity by 40% over the next two years. An additional twenty destinations will be added by next summer, including summer service to Paris de Gaulle.

SIA Buys China Eastern Stake Singapore Airlines and parent company Temasek Holdings together purchased a 24% stake in money-losing China Eastern Airlines as part of a larger plan for cooperation on marketing, sales, traning, and flight operations. Singapore Airlines may also begin flying internationally from China Eastern’s main Shanghai hub.

Bidding Underway for AeroMexico AeroMexico is being pursued by Mexico’s Saba family and Banamex, the Mexican branch of Citigroup. At the moment, the Saba family’s $158.8 million offer for the airline is the highest, beating Banamex’s $150 million bid.

Air India to Join Star Alliances The recently merged Air India has opted to join Star Alliance. Limited details were revealed, with no timetable for accession.

4 PridePride ofof thethe PacificPacific

Je89 W.

Northwest Airlines retired its last 747-200 from scheduled passenger service on 12 September. The aircraft was used throughout its lifetime to Asia and Europe, but continues to serve the airline in the form of thirteen dedicated freighters. For its final flights, the aircraft flew from Tokyo Narita to Seattle/Tacoma, and then onward to Minneapolis/St. Paul. Northwest Manager Nick Anderson was fortunate enough to be on board the flight, and his trip report can be found here. During its 36 years of service, the aircraft type flew over 320,000 flights and over 1 billion miles for Northwest.

Ken Rose

Originally dedicated to Pacific routes, the first 747- Dean Straw 200 was delivered to Northwest in 1971. Note the Northwest’’s 747-200s were all powered by Pratt & original three-window upper deck, an early carryover Whitney JT9Ds, the airline’’s preferred engine from the original 747. manufacturer. -continued on page 6- 5 -continued from page 5-

Ed Fleming Paul Robbins The 747-200 was the last three-crew aircraft flown by Over the years, Northwest has converted or bought a major U.S. airline. several 747-200Fs, of which it flies thirteen today.

Mark Abbott Northwest

The “bowling shoe” was the most common -200 livery. The crew of the aircraft’’s last Pacific crossing.

Adam Wright Johan Ljungdahl

The 747-200 featured Northwest’’s new World Of the 62 747s Northwest has flown, 34 were -200s, Business Class in the last years of its life. includingincluding manymany purchasedpurchased secondhand.secondhand.

6 VAVA S SPOTLIGHTPOTLIGHT

South African Express also operate regional aircraft on behalf of SAA. Following the Yamoussoukro Agreement in 1999 that liberalized African commercial aviation, South African sought to expand its reach across the continent by investing in and partnering with other African airlines. From 2002 to 2006 it held a 49% stake in Air Tanzania that was eventually sold. SAA also tried to create a new Nigerian airline to establish a West African hub (see August 2007 Latitude, p. 11), but failed in its bid to set up what is now Virgin Nigeria. A 737-800 over Cape Town Interesting Facts: Despite its location at the southern end of -During apartheid, other African countries the continent, South African Airways (SAA) is would not allow overflights, so to serve the largest airline in Africa. A new member of Europe, SAA used Sal in Cape Verde to fly Star Alliance, the airline is one of a select few around Africa. to fly to six continents. -In 1953 SAA became the first non-U.K. SAA’s current brand features a stylized airline to fly jets. It operated a de Havilland version of the South African flag, replacing Comet on lease from BOAC. the decades-old colors and springbok (a kind of gazelle) logo that were associated with the country’s apartheid era. SAA has undergone numerous leadership shakeups over the last decade, resulting in changes in fleet strategy, from Airbus to Boeing to Airbus again. Most of SAA’s international operations are from Johannesburg, but some longhaul destinations, such as Frankfurt and London Heathrow, are also served from Cape Town. Domestically, SAA’s primary hubs are the three major cities: Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg. South African Airlink and A 737-800 over South Africa

7 Air,Air, Land,Land, andand SeaSea

Jeff Well

Land reclamation has been available to man for centuries, but Hong Kong Chek Lap Kok (1998) has experienced a leap forward in the past few decades. Filling in Hong Kong’s new airport was built partially on two islands, Chek swamps or shallows has gone on for centuries (notable examples Lap Kok (CLK) and Lam Chau, which together made up 25% of include Helsinki, the polders of the Netherlands, Rio de Janeiro, the airport’s current area. Construction of CLK was delayed for Singapore, Tenochtitlan, and Washington, DC). years (see July 2007 Latitude, p. 5) due to political disputes between Today the science has advanced to such a degree that creating China and the U.K. Since its opening, CLK has been one of the artificial islands is not uncommon. One major application is to build most passenger-friendly in the world. new airports, which require vast tracts of land, preferably away from major residential areas. Seoul Incheon (2001) Some airports had runways built or extended via land South Korea’s primary international facility was built using the reclamation such as New York LaGuardia, San Francisco, and islands of Yeongjong and Yeongju as a base. Construction took Tokyo Haneda. Today however, entire airports are built via land eight years, and the airport is today regarded as one of the finest in reclamation. Due to their dense population and limited land, most the world. such airports have been constructed in Asia, especially Japan. Nagoya (2005) Nagasaki (1975) Chubu Centrair International Airport has grown rapidly since its Nagasaki’s airport opened well before any modern airports built on opening two years ago, and was designed with the environment in reclaimed land. Construction required both filling land around the mind: the island’s shape allows currents to flow freely, and the shore existing island and flattening its hills. Because of its age and the fact was built with sloped natural rock to better support sea life. that most of the land already existed, Nagasaki is often forgotten. Kobe (2006) Osaka Kansai (1994) Kobe was the originally planned location for Kansai, but was Construction on Osaka’s new international airport began in 1987 refused by the municipality due to its location. Kobe changed its and finished seven years later. Designers new that the island would mind several years later, to the objection of the central government. gradually sink, but results were worse than expected (25 feet), The airport is not currently served by any SimAirline.net airlines. drawing criticism as an engineering and financial disaster, being one of the most expensive civil projects in history. However, the airport Kitakyushu (2006) proved extremely durable, withstanding the 1995 Kobe earthquake The city’s original airport was both small and close to mountains and a 1998 typhoon, and the sink rate has declined tremendously and residential areas, placing limitations on its use. The airport is and is close to settling. A second runway on a neighboring island uncontroversial, unlike the one-month-older Kobe, and automakers opened in August 2007. have begun building factories nearby because of convenient access to cargo flights. Macau (1995) Macau’s terminal facilities are located on Taipa Island, but its Doha (2009) 11,000-ft. runway was built in the harbor. Prior to its construction, Qatar’s future international airport is being partially built on a the only air service to the territory was via helicopter to nearby former landfill. At first glance, the airport’s design appears very Hong Kong. similar to Hong Kong’s. 8 HHUBUB FFOCUSOCUS Portland International Airport (PDX/KPDX) Portland International Airport is the 93rd busiest airport in the world and the third largest airport in the Pacific Northwest. The airport is a major hub for Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air. During the 1990s PDX was Delta’s Pacific gateway, offering MD-11 flights to seven cities in Asia. However, the operation was closed by 2001 due to the Asian financial crisis, poor domestic connections offered by Delta, and overly sensitive immigration that led to the nickname “Deportland,” causing it to be avoided Chris Coduto by Asian passengers. Since then, PDX has received new PDX sits in the shadow of Oregon’s 11,249-ft. international service to partly replace the loss of Mt. Hood, which is often passed on approach. the Delta gateway, including service to Northwest’s Tokyo Narita hub. Pan American Seattle/Tacoma; on weekdays, thirty-one flights also offered service to London Heathrow via are flown. Seattle/Tacoma. The remainder of PDX’s destinations at Interesting Facts: SimAirline.net are all within North America. -For the past two years, PDX has been named Service to Hawaii is available with Hawaiian, the best U.S. airport for business travelers by Northwest, and Pan American and to Vancouver Condé Nast Traveler magazine. on Air Canada, Delta, and Horizon Air. -In addition to convenient light rail access to Domestically, Alaska with Horizon, Continental, downtown, PDX features free wireless internet Delta, Frontier, and Northwest together fly to 40 access for passengers. cities, including new Alaska transcontinental -PDX’s outdoor canopy was met with great service to Boston and Orlando. One route of note reception for its design, critics noted that it is Horizon’s half-hourly shuttle service to blocked any view of nearby Mt. Hood.

Chris Coduto

Scenes such as this one were common when PDX was home to Delta’’s Pacific gateway.

9 20062006 AirlineAirline RankingsRankings Source: Airline Business

RPM PASSENGERS RANK AIRLINE (millions/change) (millions/change) FLEET

1 American Airlines 139,370 0.8% 98.1 0.1% 673

2 Air France-KLM 123,970 5.4% 73.5 5.0% 363

3 United Airlines 117,221 2.9% 69.3 3.8% 401

4 Delta Air Lines 116,108 -3.2% 106.6 -10.3% 434

5 Continental Airlines 81,508 14.4% 50.3 11.9% 368

6 Northwest Airlines 72,590 -4.2% 54.8 -2.9% 372

7 British Airways 70,122 0.9% 33.1 -7.2% 234

8 Lufthansa German Airlines 68,556 2.0% 53.4 4.2% 243

9 Southwest Airlines 67,677 12.4% 83.8 7.9% 497

10 US Airways 60,669 -5.4% 57.4 -7.6% 357

11 Japan Airlines Corporation 59,519 -4.5% 57.5 -0.9% 232

12 Qantas Airways 56,482 4.5% 34.1 4.3% 123

13 Singapore Airlines 55,395 7.7% 18.3 7.9% 93

14 Emirates 48,434 25.2% 17.5 21.0% 97

15 Air Canada 45,080 -3.6% 32.0 6.7% 195

16 Cathay Pacific Airways 44,224 9.3% 16.7 8.4% 103

17 China Southern Airlines 43,232 12.4% 49.2 11.5% 279

18 All Nippon Airways 37,722 3.0% 51.0 2.2% 154

19 Air China 37,455 15.0% 31.5 13.7% 187

20 Thai Airways International 33,547 8.1% 18.6 2.4% 84

21 China Eastern Airlines 33,407 35.5% 37.5 41.0% 207

22 Iberia Airlines 32,618 7.0% 27.8 40.0% 140

23 Korean Air 32,422 6.4% 22.1 2.0% 127

24 Malaysia Airlines 25,538 -10.9% 15.5 -13.6% 87

25 Ryanair 24,928 32.4% 42.5 22.2% 137

26 Alitalia 23,625 0.1% 24.2 1.0% 149

27 JetBlue Airways 23,315 15.4% 18.6 26.0% 127

28 Virgin Atlantic Airways 21,921 9.8% 4.9 8.6% 38

29 China Airlines 20,500 2.9% 10.1 4.0% 69

30 Air India 19,674 2.2% 12.7 5.8% 82

31 Saudi Arabian Airlines 17,847 4.6% 17.8 5.3% 97

32 Alaska Airlines 17,818 5.4% 17.2 2.4% 118

33 easyJet 17,155 10.7% 28.0 7.0% 122

34 Scandinavian Airlines 17,091 -0.7% 25 2.3% 146

35 TAM Linhas Aéreas 15,966 29.8% 25.0 27.9% 123

36 Air New Zealand 15,877 -0.1% 11.9 1.6% 36

37 South African Airways 15,852 5.0% 7.7 9.5% 55

38 Turkish Airlines 15,772 19.1% 16.9 19.9% 96

39 Air Berlin 15,193 19.1% 19.7 45.9% 63

10 Ismael Jorda RPM PASSENGERS RANK AIRLINE (millions/change) (millions/change) FLEET

40 EVA Air 15,085 5.1% 6.2 4.5% 45

41 Qatar Airways 14,946 34.4% 7.4 22.5% 55

42 Thomsonfly 14,925 2.9% 9.6 0.8% 48

43 Austrian Airlines 14,523 2.1% 10.8 7.1% 30

44 Condor Flugdienst 14,257 3.2% 7.7 4.3% 22

45 Aeroflot Russian Airlines 13,922 8.0% 7.3 8.8% 98

46 AirTran Airways 13,834 22.4% 20.1 20.5% 133

47 Swiss International Air Lines 13,716 7.8% 10.5 9.8% 74

48 Asiana Airlines 13,642 14.2% 13.8 16.8% 58

49 Hainan Airlines 12,538 17.3% 14.4 12.4% 68

50 MyTravel Airways 12,514 -5.5% 5.6 -12.5% 30

51 LAN Airlines 12,114 11.5% 8.9 11.4% 52

52 LTU International Airways 11,728 3.7% 5.8 3.6% 26

53 Finnair 11,137 7.1% 8.8 3.2% 56

54 Hapagfly 10,863 1.4% 6.7 -8.3% 35

55 Gulf Air 10,813 -0.4% 7.1 -4.1% 29

56 TAP Portugal 10,345 14.5% 6.9 7.0% 49

57 ExpressJet Airlines 10,295 15.2% 18.2 13.0% 275

58 El Al 10,271 2.4% 3.6 -1.1% 33

59 Virgin Blue 10,262 5.2% 14.3 6.3% 49

60 First Choice Airways 9,998 2.3% 5.5 -7.9% 31

61 Philippine Airlines 9,950 -2.7% 6.9 1.2% 34

62 WestJet Airlines 9,790 23.0% 11.2 18.9% 65

63 SkyWest Airlines 9,486 -0.6% 19.1 -6.2% 267

64 Pakistan International Airlines 9,398 4.3% 5.7 4.2% 42

65 Garuda Indonesia 9,244 16.0% 9.3 7.9% 48

66 Gol Transportes Aereos 9,204 53.0% 17.4 34.1% 67

67 Monarch Airlines 9,098 8.1% 5.8 7.9% 31

68 AeroMexico 9,078 0.8% 8.8 -4.4% 68

69 Air Europa 9,075 8.6% 9.2 10.6% 39

70 Thomas Cook Airlines 8,913 0.9% 4.9 -0.8% 25

71 Mexicana 8,855 -3.1% 8.8 -1.7% 64

72 American Eagle Airlines 8,420 12.3% 18.8 7.0% 260

73 Frontier Airlines 8,323 15.4% 8.9 19.3% 59

74 Aer Lingus 8,303 6.4% 8.6 7.3% 38

75 Varig Brazilian Airlines 8,126 -54.1% 5.8 -54.7% 21

76 XL Airways 7,896 22.3% 4.7 34.3% 27

77 S7 Airlines 7,768 14.3% 4.9 16.6% 65

78 Jet Airways 7,648 28.5% 10.7 12.2% 61

79 Vietnam Airlines 7,518 14.4% 6.8 12.8% 59

80 Air Transat 7,068 4.3% 2.6 3.6% 16

11 Ken Cheung RPM PASSENGERS RANK AIRLINE (millions/change) (millions/change) FLEET

81 Mesa Airlines 6,891 9.7% 15.4 18.1% 145

82 Hawaiian Airlines 6,838 1.6% 6.2 5.4% 27

83 Corsairfly 6,690 -14.7% 1.6 -20.9% 6

84 Transavia Airlines 6,460 4.5% 5.1 7.8% 28

85 Atlantic Southeast Airlines 6,330 6.1% 12.4 3.1% 161

86 Shenzhen Airlines 6,216 26.4% 7.2 25.2% 47

87 Etihad Airways 6,089 186.5% 2.7 172.0% 23

88 SriLankan Airlines 5,925 5.4% 3.2 5.6% 16

89 Iran Air 5,799 8.5% 8.9 11.2% 42

90 Martinair 5,635 -3.0% 1.7 -9.6% 20

91 Xiamen Airlines 5,568 14.1% 7.8 12.5% 45

92 Shanghai Airlines 5,441 11.1% 7.5 10.2% 50

93 bmi 5,298 -3.4% 8.6 -13.5% 48

94 Royal Air Maroc 5,292 24.5% 4.2 18.5% 38

95 Comair (USA) 5,290 -13.3% 10.6 -4.4% 141

96 Avianca 5,185 19.5% 8.0 12.7% 34

97 Egyptair 5,149 -17.5% 4.0 -25.0% 42

98 CSA Czech Airlines 4,991 3.2% 5.5 5.0% 49

99 TACA International Airlines 4,924 -4.5% 3.0 -4.5% 34

100 Transaero 4,842 47.5% 2.1 35.8% 29

101 Kenya Airways 4,646 12.7% 2.6 8.8% 24

102 Brussels Airlines 4,583 5.4

103 Spanair 4,572 27.4% 8.3 25.0% 61

104 Spirit Airlines 4,552 1.3% 5.0 4.9% 36

105 Kuwait Airways 4,477 3.6% 2.4 21

106 Dragonair 4,467 10.9% 5.6 10.7% 38

107 Sichuan Airlines 4,412 23.7% 5.9 22.9% 35

108 Olympic Airlines 4,376 -4.2% 5.6 -2.4% 36

109 Aerolineas Argentinas 4,355 -38.8% 2.4 -44.0% 23

110 Pinnacle Airlines 4,287 3.8% 9.0 10.9% 133

111 LOT Polish Airlines 4,176 6.9% 3.7 3.4% 39

112 AirAsia 4,164 37.3% 5.7 29.6% 33

113 Copa Airlines 4,074 25.9% 30

114 ATA Airlines 4,062 -39.9% 2.6 -51.0% 29

115 Jetstar 3,983 47.5% 5.8 32.3% 27

116 Midwest Airlines 3,826 22.6% 3.6 20.3% 36

117 Air Canada Jazz 3,819 53.4% 8.7 46.3% 134

118 germanwings 3,701 31.8% 7.1 31.2% 26

119 Ethiopian Airlines 3,623 17.7% 1.8 13.7% 30

120 Royal Jordanian Airlines 3,464 1.3% 2.0 11.0% 19

121 GB Airways 3,457 21.0% 2.7 10.5% 15

12 Jean RPM PASSENGERS RANK AIRLINE (millions/change) (millions/change) FLEET

124 KrasAir 3,383 -0.3% 1.9 1.6% 48

128 Air Deccan 3,184 164.3% 5.9 158.6% 39

129 Chautauqua Airlines 2,830 -24.6% 6.8 -13.1% 113

131 Horizon Air 2,691 8.8% 6.9 5.8% 76

132 Piedmont Airlines 2,686 -23.2% 8.8 -7.6%

133 Icelandair 2,640 -1.4% 1.5 0.3% 16

134 Norwegian 2,624 56.2% 5.1 56.6% 22

135 Air Tahiti Nui 2,588 10.1% 0.5 15.4% 5

136 Shuttle America 2,582 268.7% 3.7 192.0% 43

137 Biman Bangladesh Airlines 2,573 -17.1% 1.1 -22.3% 12

138 Malev Hungarian Airlines 2,547 -7.0% 3.0 -0.6% 32

139 Lufthansa CityLine 2,507 1.6% 6.2 4.2% 76

140 Royal Brunei Airlines 2,505 7.6% 1.0 -7.7% 11

141 Jet2.com 2,448 26.9% 2.8 17.4% 29

143 Air Jamaica 2,428 1.4% 2.0 16

146 UTair Aviation 2,278 23.4% 2.4 31.7% 79

147 VIM Airlines 2,273 -20.1% 1.0 -37.1% 15

149 Allegiant Air 2,251 73.8% 2.2 81.6% 27

150 Air Wisconsin 2,240 -17.8% 5.8 -15.6% 70

151 Hapag-Lloyd Express 2,168 14.4% 4.6 29.8% 10

152 Air Pacific 2,144 4.2% 0.6 7.4% 6

153 Sun Country Airlines 2,105 2.1% 1.6 -1.6% 7

154 Air One 2,101 -7.3% 5.8 3.5% 49

156 Australian Airlines 2,033 -16.2% 0.7 -14.4%

158 Cyprus Airways 2,023 2.2% 1.6 0.9% 11

159 Vueling 2,021 95.8% 3.5 77.8% 20

160 Meridiana 1,992 18.1% 4.7 17.1% 21

161 Comair (S.A.) 1,926 7.2% 3.1 6.6% 23

163 Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise 1,918 -46.0% 1.6 -43.9% 95

164 Air Astana 1,899 24.9% 1.5 27.8% 17

165 Air Macau 1,888 24.1% 2.4 17.0% 15

166 Flyglobespan.com 1,882 80.2% 1.3 47.7% 15

166 Aegean Airlines 1,822 11.1% 4.4 12.3% 25

167 Aloha Airlines 1,816 -15.7% 3.5 -12.1% 25

168 KLM cityhopper 1,934 9.4% 5.2 5.8% 56

169 Austrian Arrows 1,808 7.8% 4.5 9.8% 56

171 Air Nostrum 1,762 12.3% 5.3 12.3% 59

172 SkyEurope Airlines 1,740 32.4% 2.6 40.5% 14

173 Skymark Airlines 1,728 23.6% 2.9 26.0% 10

175 Caribbean Airlines 1,706 1.0 6

176 Kingfisher Airlines 1,645 339.8% 2.8 350.2% 29

13 Suresh A. Atapattu BusinessBusiness isis theirtheir business.business.

Michael van Bosch

The all-premium airline segment has grown tremendously Thomas is no stranger to the subject, as Geneva-based over the last few years and are quickly being adopted by major PrivatAir has operated all-business flights for over five years, operators. While airlines were originally exclusively for the on behalf of KLM, Lufthansa, and Swiss. These airlines wet- wealthy, the new operators come from a different mold: they lease a total of five aircraft on routes, with different strategies seek to offer all-business class flights for lower fares than their for each. network airline counterparts. KLM’s lone PrivatAir service is on a Boeing Business Jet (a Four such airlines have begun service across the Atlantic modified 737-700) from Amsterdam to Houston Bush—the over the last two years: L’Avion in France, Silverjet in the flight replaced a previous thrice-weekly KLM 767 in 2005, U.K., and Eos Airlines and MAXjet Airways in the U.S. All reducing economy seats but boosting business capacity on the operate some of the smallest aircraft able to cross the Atlantic, route by 45% and frequency by 30%. “It’s a practical solution reflecting the infancy of the new market: Eos and L’Avion fly to a single market rather than a development,” says former 757-200s, while MAXjet and Silverjet fly 767-200/200ERs. CEO Leon van Wijk. L’Avion flies from Paris to the U.S., while the others use Lufthansa and Swiss, by comparison, use PrivatAir on thin London as their European terminus. Major airlines are mostly business routes, most notably to Newark. Lufthansa will soon unconcerned by the impact of a few hundred additional seats be replacing one of its three routes with one of its own in the sea of nearly thirty flights on the London-New York aircraft. route, including British Airways CEO Willie Walsh. “I don’t Elsewhere in the world, ANA is now flying the world’s believe there’s been any material impact.” Virgin Atlantic first two 737-700ERs in its ANA BusinessJet service, from Airways’ Barry Humphreys concurs, noting that “at the Nagoya to Guangzhou and from Tokyo Narita to Mumbai, a moment our [premium cabin] load factor is at record levels.” route it left in the 1990s due to poor yields. The final operator If the major players are unconcerned though, they don’t in the world is Saudi Arabia’s Al-Khayala, a 2004 startup that show it well. British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have both flies the busy Jeddah-Riyadh route, and from Riyadh to Dubai. indicated that they plan on launching all-premium flights from For now, the future of all-premium looks bright, especially the continent with the advent of open skies next spring. The with some major airlines openly adopting the model, but details of such operations are still unclear. What kind of which could just be reclaiming the passengers that were once aircraft? What routes? Only British Airways has announced theirs. Craig Jenks, president of the consulting firm details: no more than four 757s, and multi-class. Airline/Aircraft Projects, believes that “there’s a subtle PrivatAir CEO Greg Thomas believes that Virgin Atlantic Concorde dimension here,” pointing out that the number of will opt for a two-class configuration as well. “When you go seats on London-New York and Paris-New York are about to a single business class configuration, they get a little less the same number offered today by the four new entrants. comfortable,” he says. 14 TTHEHE TTAILAIL SSECTIONECTION SimAirline.net Trivia Much like Turkish Airlines’ personnel (see SimAirline.net Trivia January 2007 Latitude, p. 13), Nepal Airlines One trivia submission may be made per mechanics know how to get a plane in the air. pilot in the topic in the Latitude Discussion After one of their 757’s deicing system section of the Message Boards. The first correct responder for each question will be wouldn’t work, employees sacrificed one black announced in the following month’s issue. and one white goat next to the plane. The aircraft left without a problem. This month’s questions: 1. Airport codes in Canada are well-known The restroom at Minneapolis/St. Paul for starting with Y (IATA) or CY (ICAO). One SimAirline.net destination in Canada International Airport that has embroiled U.S. doesn’t follow the pattern—which is it? Senator Larry Craig of Idaho has become a popular tourist locale, with transiting 2. What aircraft type has the highest passengers insisting on stopping to visit. Craig percentage of active aircraft flown by admitted to disorderly conduct and has been SimAirline.net airlines? asked to resign from office.

3. Between what two airports do the most SimAirline.net VAs offer nonstop service?

Answers from last month: 1. What airline and aircraft is the oldest ever included in SimAirline.net’s operations? Era Aviation’s Convair 580 – delivered in 1952 (Nick Anderson)

2. Aside from Pan American Flight 1/2, what is the longest SimAirline.net route (stops allowed) with a single flight number? Pan American 811/812 – 15,606 st. mi. (Nick Anderson) DPA

3. What is the highest elevation destination Lufthansa is celebrating Oktoberfest, the served by SimAirline.net? annual beer festival in Bavaria. Select La Paz, Bolivia – 13,325 ft. (Alex Wigoda) longhaullonghaul flightsflights fromfrom Munich will feature flight attendants wearing traditional Bavarian clothing, a practice that first began fifty years ago.

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