Steve Creedy
Airline Ratings
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Past articles by Steve:
Gossamer wings take solar Airbus drone to world record height
Eat your heart out Icarus — the Airbus Zephyr S is not only flying closer to the sun but it’s staying up there for extended missions. While it looks like a gust of strong wind would be its undoing, the solar-powered Zephyr is proving its mettle after a successful test campaign saw it establish a … → Read More
FAA brings Virgin Galactic back to Earth
Virgin Galactic is hoping for a “timely resolution” of a probe to determine how its showcase July 11 flight involving founder Richard Branson veered off course. The US Federal Aviation Administration has grounded the space tourism venture while it investigates the incident, saying the company’s SpaceShipTwo rocket plane cannot fly until it approves a final … → Read More
Overseas airlines slam Australian consultation on international borders.
Overseas airlines say they are having difficulty getting Australian governments to discuss the practical issues involved in reopening the nation's borders. → Read More
Virgin targets bagless travelers with low-cost Economy Lite
Virgin Australia is taking on low-cost competitor Jetstar with a new seat-only Economy Lite option aimed at people without checked bags and offering fares as low as $59 one-way. The basic fare is part of a restructuring of the airline’s economy fares that will see three options introduced: Economy Lite, Economy Choice and Economy Flex. … → Read More
Qantas adds in-flight zest to virtual meetings
Bored by the bland background of your Zoom meetings? Concerned about the clutter? Or maybe you’re an aviation tragic who just wants to escape the COVID crisis to better times above the clouds? Qantas may have the answer to your high-altitude aspirations. READ: Qantas offers frequent flyer extension. The Australian carrier has released a series … → Read More
Emirates ad wows with surprise climax
Emirates starts its latest ad in what some may take as a nod to Bob Dylan’s Subterranean Homesick Blues but that’s just to lure you into a false sense of security. The latest ad by Dubai-based Emirates is waiting to spring a big surprise (spoiler alert: watch the ad now). The hint was in the … → Read More
Air New Zealand flight draws a giant kiwi in the sky.
FIRST it was a kangaroo and now it’s a kiwi — airlines Downunder continue to display their talent for designing flightpaths displaying their national emblems. The latest effort comes for Air New Zealand which displayed a giant kiwi, the flightless bird that gives the nation’s inhabitants their nickname, during a flight from Christchurch for 50 … → Read More
World-first trial of super-fast COVID test sparks travel hopes
British Airways is conducting a world-first trial of an ultra-rapid COVID-19 antigen test that displays results within 25 seconds but claims an accuracy similar to expensive and slower polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. The airline hopes the super-fast saliva test can play a role in opening up travel and says it can detect both symptomatic … → Read More
Cargo success slashes Q1 loss at Korean
Signs of recovery continue at Korean Air as a surge in cargo revenue helped reduce the airline’s first-quarter net loss to $US25 million from a mammoth $US610 million for the same period last year. The first quarter of 2021 delivered the Korean carrier its fourth consecutive quarter of operating profit, $US110 million, as it benefited … → Read More
Australia moves to close COVID transit travel loophole
The Australian government has moved to prevent further instances of people circumventing travel bans on COVID hot spots such as India. Australia earlier this week banned flights from India but the government discovered on Wednesday that passengers were getting around the ban by traveling through the Qatari capital of Doha. This included two cricketers who … → Read More
Airbus, JetBlue bring widebody comfort to single-aisle planes.
Airbus and JetBlue are out to prove smaller planes can be just as comfortable as their bigger cousins. → Read More
ANA introduces world-first 'hands-free' loo door
Those canny Japanese designers have done it again with ANA about to install a world-first hands-free aircraft loo door aimed at cutting down potential COVID contact points during flights. All Nippon Airways has developed what it touts as the world’s first hands-free lavatory door in partnership with JAMCO Corporation as part of its Care Promise … → Read More
JAL becomes first Japanese carrier to offer COVID insurance
Japan Airlines has become the first Japanese carrier to offer complimentary COVID cover for international passengers as it moves to boost traveler confidence. The new service, available from December 23 and backed by insurance giant Allianz Travel, includes coverage of up to €150,000 ($US182,370) in total medical costs for those who test positive during their … → Read More
James Bond-like flying car takes to the air.
Key the James Bond theme, a futuristic car that transforms into an aircraft in less than three minutes has taken to the air for the first time. The experimental prototype developed by Klein Vision took off from an airport in Slovakia and completed two circuits, including two take-offs and landings, at heights of up to … → Read More
British Airways farewells the Queen of the skies.
British Airways has waved goodbye to its last two Heathrow-based Boeing 747s, one painted in the airline’s heritage “Negus’ livery and the other in the current Chatham Dockyard colors. More than 18,000 people flocked to the airline’s Facebook page Thursday to watch the two giant aircraft take off into a gray, drizzly London morning. Thousands … → Read More
Boeing cuts forecast aircraft demand by 11 percent over the next decade
Boeing has reduced its forecast for commercial aircraft demand over the next decade by 11 percent but remains bullish about long-term growth. → Read More
Aviation groups intensify push to replace European quarantine with testing
The International Air Transport Association and European aviation bodies are ramping up a campaign to replace onerous quarantine measures with passenger testing → Read More
Qatar expands to 124 destinations as restrictions ease
Qatar Airways has revealed plans to serve 124 destinations by the end of 2020 with a schedule it pledges “travelers can rely on”. Qatar has continued to operate through the coronavirus pandemic, taking on the mantle of the world’s biggest international carrier, and its expanded schedule will include 21 destinations in Africa, 10 in the … → Read More
All hail the Queen as last Qantas 747 exits Aussie skies
The Queen of the Skies ends her reign in Australia on Wednesday as a Qantas Boeing 747 brings down the curtain on almost a half-century of service. → Read More
Pilot vote sees Qantas score significant Project Sunrise win
Qantas has scored a significant victory with its plans to conduct ultra-long-haul flights after a union agreement won 85 percent support from pilots voting. → Read More