I doubt that the sort of people who recklessly and impulsively decide on a whim to take a cheap flight to indulge in a Lads Weekend in some notorious Baltic Party Town, with total disregard for the catastrophic contribution they are causing to the future of the planet, are likely to say "Wot, no Air Miles!, OK, we won't go." Meanwhile, the family who take one or two flights a year, for a well earned holiday, to broaden their horizons and encounter other cultures, or occasionally visit relatives or friends who live overseas, won't even notice the lack of Air Miles, they never earn enough to gain any benefit because the few Miles they do earn expire before they accumulate enough to actually redeem any reward. As for the true Frequent Flyers, who do collect their Miles and gain the attendant benefits, they would most likely travel because thy have to 'be there' to do their job. Their flights are paid by those they work for, and The Firm would not pay for the flight if there was a che

(Written on 10/18/2019)(Permalink)

Some of this does sound a bit contradictory. If the intention is avoiding crosswind then at any given time there will be a 'sweet spot' to touch down without any sideways drift, presumably that's where everyone would want to land. As prevailing wind would shift during the day, or seasonally, but it may not do so evenly over any given period, so there would probably be a few dominant preferred directions. If the intention is to maximise Runway use, 3 simultaneous takeoff or landing was mentioned, that suggests the circumference being divided into 3 Sectors 120deg apart, so now 'somebody' is going to get a crosswind, or even a tailwind. 'Sharing the Pain'. At an established Airport the flightpaths are clearly defined, property affected may be cheaper where disturbance is heaviest, it may not be tolerated or accepted by those living there but it is known about, so you pay your money and take your choice. If the flightpaths become more varied many more properties could be affecte

(Written on 03/17/2017)(Permalink)

3.5km was mentioned as the Diameter = about 11Km Circumference

(Written on 03/17/2017)(Permalink)

Jetmen sponsored by Skydive Dubai, presumably sponsored by 'Dubai Inc.' Emirates, some say, sponsored by Dubai Inc.' Dubai Inc. - shameless self-publicist. Imagine the scene; Some Skydiving Dudes chatting - "Jetman is the worlds smallest manned 4 engine Jet, how cool to have a couple flying with the worlds largest 4 engine passenger jet..." "I know a bloke with a few 380's, perhaps he'd lend us one for an afternoon..." "Yeah, I know another bloke with a Go-Pro, maybe he could film it for us..." A few 'What are you doing next Friday' phone calls later...

(Written on 11/06/2015)(Permalink)

Brief 'Making Of' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFCQJ5sYGtI So, these guys didn't just say "Hey, lets chase that 380" Seems a little more thought went into it.

(Written on 11/06/2015)(Permalink)

How much of an 'Issue' is this really? I've flown Emirates for many years. With their first 'Seat Back' screens the controller was also a phone handset, with a slit down the side to swipe a credit card. You could use this to call Terra Firma, presumably at great expense, I never tried it, nor did I ever notice anyone around me using it. More recently many of their planes have 'AeroMobile', you can use your own phone to make a call presumably via a 'Cell' on board linked via satellite. I guess this would be billed as 'International Roaming' by your telecom. Again, never tempted to use it, never noticed anyone else doing so around me. I can only assume that either these services were not widely used, or that anyone using them did not stand out any more than someone in a nearby seat having a normal conversation with an adjacent passenger. Just maybe 'Social etiquette' will be sufficient for most people to be discrete in their use of phones on planes, and it micht be considered a

(Written on 12/13/2013)(Permalink)

I read the NYT Article, and then scrolled down to their Comments, interested to see what opinions the 'General Public' might have, In there I saw and followed a link to the IEEE Spectrum report, and crawled through that too. Then I returned to this forum to see what a presumably well informed and knowledgeable crowd had to offer. Nothing seemed to lead to any absolute conclusions; Some PED's could potentially/probably interfere with some Flight Systems, in some circumstances. Some PED's probably don't interfere in most circumstances. Some PED's couldn't interfere in any circumstances. Now, consider the Cabin Crew, who have to try and enforce the regulations. They already have to be knowledgeable and proficient in many skills and subjects in order to carry out the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of their jobs. How can they be expected, on top of all this, to be experts in an ever changing multitude of products that may, or may not, be more, or less, safe to use on-board at

(Written on 01/26/2013)(Permalink)

Notice the runway orientations, every flight would have at least one crosswind take-off or landing, could make things a bit tricky/exciting on a blustery day. And they do have a few of those in the Islands.

(Written on 01/18/2013)(Permalink)

Your original comment makes more sense now with the added context you provide. I must admit my experiences are more 'straight through' as I'm departing or arriving, so I only spend an hour or two at most from Check-in to Gate, I've never had to endure a long Transit. I guess it could get a bit glum hanging around for several hours.

(Written on 01/06/2013)(Permalink)

In the case of Abu Dhabi/Etihad and Doha/Qatar Airways, you may be helping them out when you fill your tank, but not DXB/Emirates. a) Dubai has so close to No Oil left as makes no difference. Oil is not a significant contributor to Dubai GDP. b) Dubai Duty Free (airport retail) manages to bring in more than a few Bucks. c) Emirates somehow manages to make a profit. Dubai Airport, Dubai Duty Free and Emirates are all owned by the Dubai Government, and far from DDF and EK being subsidised they pay dividends back into the Govt pot. EK pays the same Airport Charges as all other 150 or so Airlines using DXB, which has an Open Skies Policy, and EK buys its Fuel at DXB from Chevron, BP, and Shell, same as everyone else.

(Written on 01/04/2013)(Permalink)