Aussie Flyer

Earlier this year Air New Zealand announced the retirement of it' Boeing 747-400 fleet. As part of the farewell celebrations they scheduled a one off Auckland-Sydney-Auckland service, and as a fan of the Jumbo Jet, I booked a ticket. Sadly about a week before the flight the airline cancelled the service with no explanation. It was quite disappointing. However, the replacement aircraft was the brand new B787-9 and that would be a new type for me so I decided to go ahead and fly anyway. I managed to snag a seat in the Premium Economy cabin for a small surcharge, but please be aware that whilst I had a premium economy seat, ANZ do not offer a premium economy service on Trans-Tasman flights. So the soft product that you will see on this review is identical to the basic 'Seat Only' economy class service. FLIGHT NZ104 AIRLINE Air New Zealand ROUTE Sydney to Auckland DEPARTURE 12:30 (Scheduled) / 12:28 ...

The Saab 340 has been on the Australian aviation scene for about 30 years, and it is still going strong. In fact we are home to the world's largest operator of the type, Regional Express, or simply 'Rex'. Rex was created after the collapse of Ansett Australia and is the amalgamation of the former regional airlines 'Hazelton' and  'Kendell'. They fly a fleet of almost 50 of these Saab's to many regional destinations throughout the country. Today I would be flying on the morning service between Melbourne and the NSW regional city of Wagga Wagga. FLIGHT ZL3258 AIRLINE Regional Express ‘Rex’ ROUTE Melbourne to Wagga Wagga DEPARTURE Schedule 0900 / Actual 0930 ARRIVAL Schedule 1000 / Actual 1030 FLIGHT TIME 45 minutes airborne AIRCRAFT Saab 340B VH-EKH  (Age 19 years)

I was incredibly lucky a couple of months back to try out Etihad First Class on my flight home from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne. Here's my review of their premier product.... FLIGHT EY460 AIRLINE Etihad ROUTE Abu Dhabi – Melbourne DEPARTURE 22.20 ARRIVAL 17.30 FLIGHT TIME 13 Hours 10 Minutes AIRCRAFT Boeing 777-300ER (A6-ETM) My day actually started in the airport hotel, the Premier Inn Abu Dhabi International Airport. I was there during a long layover. It's a basic but very good quality hotel and I found it very comfortable. I would recommend it to anyone with long transits. It is connected to the terminal complex and very reasonably priced. I departed the hotel at about 7.30pm, and checked the departures board as I left:

A few months ago I was looking for interesting ways home from Europe when I discovered award availability on Qatar Airways business class from Munich to Doha. Since the flight was with a carrier I had never flown before but heard great things about AND on the Boeing 787, I jumped at the chance and booked right away. I used Qantas frequent flyer points for this booking, which was possible since Qatar Airways have joined the oneworld alliance. FLIGHT: QR58 DEPARTURE: Munich @ 16.35 ARRIVAL: Doha @ 23.05 CLASS: Business Class AIRCRAFT: Boeing 787-8 PASSENGER LOAD:  18 out of 22

As part of a trip to Europe recently I wanted to try and fly on something a little bit different. Whilst researching ways to get from London to Munich I found a route sold by Air Berlin from Stansted to Munich via Dusseldorf with the first leg being flown by Etihad Regional on a Saab 2000! With so few Saab 2000's in operation, and certainly none in Australia, I jumped at the chance. As it turns out I flew on the first day of Etihad Regional operations to London's Stansted Airport. FLIGHT: F7275 (Etihad Regional, operated by Darwin Airlines FROM: London-Stansted @ 16.10 TO: Dusseldorf @ 18.25 I took the train from London to Stansted which was convenient, fast and easy  (although I think expensive at approx $40 AUD one way, next time I need to book in advance):

I was absolutely shocked to see the news of MH17 unfolding over the last 24 hours, I am truly devastated. I would like to express my condolences to the families, friends, coworkers and anyone who know those who died. It really is quite incredible that another disaster has hit Malaysia Airlines. It's hard to express how most people feel, it could easily have been any one of us who perished. Rest in Peace.

Last month I finally got to try out the latest Cathay long haul business class seat. It was a long time coming I suppose since the seat has been in operation for well over a year and now features on all flights between Australia and Hong Kong. All CX flights to Australia are operated by the Airbus A330-300 in a 3 class configuration with economy, premium economy and business class. Today I will take a look at flight CX134 which departs Melbourne at 7.40am during the winter months, and 8.40am during the summer months. I warn you, there is a lot of photos... 51 in total! A fairly quiet check-in zone at MEL