The business of travelling for work
Africa’s first 787
Ethiopian becomes the first airline outside of Japan and ahead of airlines in the Americas and Europe to take delivery of Boeing’s 787 Dreamliner.
Named Africa First, the Dreamliner, although much delayed, is one of the most technologically advanced commercial aircraft in the world. Ethiopian has an order for 10 more Dreamliners with Boeing and will be receiving five more by the end of the year. With the delivery of the Dreamliners, the Ethiopian fleet will become one of the youngest and most advanced in Africa.
The new aircraft will serve international routes to Europe, India and the Middle East. On September 17th, Africa First will fly the first ever flight from Addis Ababa to Rome and London.
Routes to watch
Low-cost carriers in Asia are expanding rapidly and adding regional routes to formerly difficult to get to locations. Ones to watch are Indigo ( GoIndigo.in) with 27 cities within India. Cebu Pacific has a fleet of 18 for 32 destinations in and around the Philippines and to China and other SE Asian cities (Cebu Pacificair. com). Air Asia has more than 90 aircraft with a primary hub in Kuala Lumpur and more than 400 routes, particularly to the Asean countries.
Bargain time as BA drops prices by 27%
THE EXPECTED British Airways sale has appeared and passengers from Ireland can book travel up to June 23rd next year at discounted rates. World Traveller Plus seats have been reduced by 18-27 per cent depending on the routes.
Booking can be made on the BA.comwebsite or with travel agents by September 25th. Sample World Traveller premium economy flights from Ireland (Dublin, Cork and Shannon) are New York from €795, Johannesburg from €1,240, Hong Kong from €1,100. No sale on Club World or First yet, but watch this space.
On-off for phones
On an aircraft, when the message comes over the intercom to remind passengers to turn off their phones, are you one of the 12 per cent who leave them on?
A survey by Four Points by Sheraton found that 12 per cent of business travellers leave their phones on during flights and 54 per cent turn them on while the aircraft is taxiing. The smartphone is the most carried of all technology gadgets with 74 per cent of people having one.
Road warriors carry up to four technology devices, including tablets, music players and laptops.
The Lion’s share
Lion Air's hub is Jakarta and it has 81 aircraft flying to 36 cities in Indonesia. Lion Air's large aircraft orders – 230 Boeing jets – will see it growing significantly over the new few years ( Lionair.co.id). Nok Air is a home- grown Thai airline and baby brother of Thai International. It offers 20 destinations around Thailand and to Vientiane in Laos ( Nokair.com).