New sky giant: Thai Airways receives its first A380 Superjumbo

Thai Airways received its first Airbus A380 Superjumbo last week, boosting efforts to compete with Singapore Airlines and Emirates for lucrative corporate travellers.

The carrier's planned fleet of six A380s and new Boeing 777-300ERs will help it raise the percentage of seats filled in premium cabins across its network to more than 70 per cent from about 60 per cent, Acting-President Chokchai Panyayong said in a interview in Bangkok. He didn't give a timeframe for the goal.

Load factors in first and business class are "a little bit low," he said. "With improvements in the product and services we can increase that."

Thai's 507-seat A380s and new regional unit Thai Smile will lead a push to win more business traffic as low-cost airlines lure leisure flyers. Budget airlines eventually may boost their share of regional travel to as much as 35 per cent from 20 per cent, Chokchai said.

iPad & airlines pilots: The case of Air France & American Airlines

Air France: iPads serving the needs of flight safety

Air France is the first major European airline to equip its 4,100 pilots with an iPad digital tablet. Boeing 777- qualified pilots have been using it on a daily basis since June, and all the Company’s pilots will be equipped by summer 2013.

Interview with Sébastien VEIGNEAU, First Officer on B777 & iPad project pilot correspondent. 

What are the advantages of using this tablet?

The Flight Operations Division and the Air France IT Systems Division have been working together with Apple to personalize this tool and adapt it especially for our pilots. It will simplify access to information, notably for consulting regulatory documentation, and facilitate our communication channels within the Company.

Starting in 2013, iPad will offer training and refresher e-learning modules, i.e., aircraft system revision, self-service briefings, flight path and airfield recognition. With this tool, Air France has chosen to promote use of new technologies and is the first European airline to equip its pilots. 

Boeing studies ultra long-range 777-8LX concept

The new 777 variant would be capable of a range of 16,330 miles
holding a maximum of 195,270 liters or 51,585 gallons.

Boeing is exploring an ultra long-range replacement of the 777-200LR, conceptually dubbed the 777-8LX.

Likely to be the last of three members of a conceptual 777X family, the -8LX could potentially have a service entry in the 2020s, providing a mission range of 17,550km (9,480nm), industry sources tell Flightglobal, which is 85nm longer than the 17,395km (9,395nm) offered by the 777-200LR.

The reduced fuel burn per seat for the -8LX is estimated to be a 14% to 16% improvement over the 777-300ER, and the extended range may, for the first time, open the prospect of profitably operating flights between Sydney and London without a "kangaroo" stop in Southeast Asia.

Today's ultra long-range 777-200LR and the Airbus A340-500, which is no longer in production, have served in mostly niche roles for carriers requiring long-range capacity on hot and high and extended missions.