As the Crow Flies

It might at first glance sound a bit obvious, but the fact that The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is working on moves to make flights straighter and quicker is the product of considerable effort. The fuel-saving measures could make European routes a few minutes shorter and take over fifteen off a London to New York flight. Airlines are desperate to cut their fuel bills as they are pinched by the twin forces of increased oil prices and falling passenger numbers.

Traditionally airline routes have to skirt around patches of airspace reserved for military use. Under the proposed arrangements civilian air traffic will be permitted to share airspace with military aircraft, allowing more direct flying. The average European airline flight is 30 miles longer than strictly necessary in order to steer clear of military zones. France is a good case in point with four separate military areas. It is estimated that 5% of the total airspace in Europe is restricted in the way at certain times.

Aside from these efforts, on which negotiations continue, airlines are working to cut costs in other ways. BA has started to carry less tap water to save weight and therefore fuel. No sign of them dropping the boxes of duty-free nonsense that they cart about so far, though.

All is Not Rosy With the Low Cost Carrier Flight Plan

From tomorrow Ryanair have announced one of their famous 1p a flight seat sales - which includes taxes and charges. Although this means that there offering all in fares of £10 per flight to many of their destinations. Five million seats to be precise. Ryanair’s online booking system and call centre was closed for part of the weekend in order to comply with the Office of Fair Trading’s directive to include taxes and other charges in the headline price for flights.

Of course this has nothing to do with their load factor being squeezed downwards, which is the driver of profitability. In January it slipped below 70% to 69% - the first time this has happened in five years. Natural no one in the press seemed to pick this up as they were all too busy commenting on their saucy ads (that includes you! - Ed). This is not good news for the boys from over the water. I wonder if Michael O'Leary the charismatic Chief executive of Ryanair is still thinking of giving it all up in 2008?

Not that it's just Ryanair that are seeing load factors dip. easyJet's PLF dropped to 72% in January from 74.9% a year ago. Overall the passengers flying through the BAAs UK airports dropped by 2%, with traffic at Stansted off by over 9%.

It's not good.....

America By Air

America's National Air & Space Museum has launched a new online exhibit called America By Air. It celebrates a century of air travel. Check it out HERE

There's more poster art like this on the site. This one is just superb, great art in every way.