Tag Archives: london heathrow

Breaking News: Operations suspended after a fire on an Ethiopian Airlines parked Boeing 787 at London Heathrow

Ethiopian Airlines‘ (Addis Ababa) Boeing 787-8 ET-AOP (msn 34744) parked at a remote stand (parking spot) at London (Heathrow) was involved in an unspecified on-board fire this afternoon. No passengers were on board the aircraft.

The 787 was grounded in January after several on-board fires involving the battery system. The NTSB was never able to determine the cause of the battery fires. Boeing re-designed a battery containment package system that was approved and certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the aircraft returned to the skies in April. It is undetermined if this reported fire involves the battery system.

Airport operations at LHR was suspended briefly due to the fire. Fire equipment were seen surrounding the aircraft at the stand. Fire crews were inspecting the rear cargo compartment (see second video).

According to a Reuters photo, there appears to be a damaged area in the top rear roof area ahead of the tail.

Ethiopian Airlines issued this statement:

Today, Friday, July 12, 2013, smoke was detected from Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 787 aircraft with the registration number ET-AOP, which was parked at London Heathrow Airport for more than eight hours.

The aircraft was empty when the incident was observed.

The cause of the incident is under investigation by all concerned.

Further statements will be issued in due course, as we receive more information.

Read the full report from Reuters: CLICK HERE

The aircraft has been moved to a hangar and an investigation has started. All airlines continue to operate the aircraft although a Thomson Airways 787 had to return due to a technical problem. Read the full report from the Financial Times: CLICK HERE

Ethiopian Airlines:

Videos:

Qatar Airways to operate the Boeing 787 to six European cities in October

Qatar Airways (Doha) is planning to operate its new Boeing 787-8s to six European cities for the October 27, 2013 winter schedule according to Airline Route. The Doha 787 European routes for the winter season include Copenhagen, London (Heathrow), Munich, Oslo, Stockholm (Arlanda) and Zurich.

Qatar Airways:

Thai to start nonstop Bangkok-London Heathrow Airbus A380 flights on December 1

Thai Airways International (Bangkok) is planning to introduce its Airbus A380 on the Bangkok-London (Heathrow) route starting on December 1 per Route News.

Top Copyright Photo: Ole Simon/AirlinersGallery.com. Airbus A380-841 HS-TUC (msn 100) climbs away from Frankfurt (please click on the photo for the size view).

Thai:

Bottom Copyright Photos: Thai. Over the past 53 years, Thai’s cabin crew distinctive uniforms have changed to reflect changing trends. But the beautiful Thai silk outfits, worn during flight with a “Sabai” shoulder drape by air hostesses, remained unchanged.

According to the airline, “several remarkable uniforms since 1960 include the first one ever, pale purple dress topped by a cute pillbox hat, the new look design in 1977 which featured various colours in the collection, mauve, pastel pink, yellow and sky blue, and the Balmain outfits, designed by French couturier Pierre Balmain in 1987, that look distinctive with the colour of Thai orchids, elegant and feminine, yet entirely practical.

Nowadays, Thai cabin crew wears a uniform designed by Ms. Pichitra Boonyarataphan, a Thai designer who won the uniform competition in 2005, with a stylish contemporary fashion blended with Thai’s traditional concept of the uniform.”

Video:

London’s Heathrow Airport was closed after a British Airways Airbus A319 returns with a smoking engine

British Airways‘ (London) flight BA 762 to Oslo operated with Airbus A319-131 G-EUOE (msn 1574) was forced to return to Heathrow Airport this morning after a fire developed in the right engine. The passengers and crew member were safely evacuated on the runway. The emergency landing temporarily closed both runways causing delays this morning. However one runways is again open. However BA was forced to cancel its short-haul flights and issued this statement:

We are very sorry for the significant disruption at London Heathrow today.

The closure of one runway meant that we needed to cancel all our short-haul flights in to and out of Heathrow up until 16:00 (BST) today. We understand how frustrating this is for customers and thank them for their patience.

These cancellations will help us to stabilize our schedule, allowing us to get as many customers away as possible in these difficult circumstances.

Read the full report from the Independent: CLICK HERE

Update: On May 31, 2013 the Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) report stated two cowlings on the Airbus A319’s engines were left unlocked after maintenance and this was not noticed before the aircraft departed according to Reuters.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

British Airways:

El Al reduces its loss in 2012

El Al Israel Airlines (Tel Aviv) reported it narrowed its yearly loss to $18.8 million for 2012, compared with a loss of $49.8 million in 2011, an improvement of 62 percent.

El Al has purchased two additional Boeing narrow-body 737-900s (a total of six have been purchased). The first of these new aircraft will begin service with El Al in October 2013.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Boeing 747-458 4X-ELD (msn 29328) climbs gracefully away from the runway at London (Heathrow).

El Al Israel Airlines:

Virgin Atlantic freezes wages as it prepares to report a record yearly loss

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) has frozen all salaries according to this report by Bloomberg. The struggling carrier is expected to report a loss of $201 million for its fiscal year ending on February 28 according to the Sunday Times.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Copyright Photo: Keith Burton. Looking almost new in its updated 2010 livery, Airbus A340-313X G-VELD (msn 214) climbs away from the runway at the London (Heathrow) hub. Higher fuel costs are hurting the carrier especially with its older less fuel-efficient aircraft like the Airbus A340-300. The last of the four A340-300s is expected to depart from the fleet this year.

Virgin Atlantic:

British Airways announces Los Angeles as the first Airbus A380 destination

British Airways‘ (London) first Airbus A380 will fly from Los Angeles to London Heathrow, with tickets going on sale today.

Los Angeles will be the inaugural destination for the first A380 to be operated by a UK airline. The double-decker superjumbo is due to be delivered to British Airways in July and seats are now on sale for flights from October 15, 2013.

The second A380 route will be to Hong Kong and customers can book flights now for travel from November 15, 2013.

The A380 will be the largest aircraft in the British Airways fleet, accommodating 469 customers across four cabins. Customers in First will be seated at the front of the main deck. The cabin will offer 14 seats and is evolved from the current First class. Club World (business class) customers can choose from 44 seats on the main deck, or 53 seats on the upper deck. These upper deck seats will feature a new 2:3:2 configuration across the cabin. The 55 World Traveller Plus (premier economy) seats will be located on the upper deck while World Traveller (economy) customers can choose seats on both the main and upper deck. Both cabins will feature the airline’s current design, which is now flying on the new Boeing 777-300 ER fleet.

The aircraft’s innovative design makes it much quieter during take-off and landing and more fuel efficient than its predecessors. British Airways has ordered 12 for delivery by 2016 as part of a [Pounds]5bn investment over five years in new aircraft, smarter cabins, elegant lounges, and new technologies to make life more comfortable in the air and on the ground.

The arrival of the A380 has entailed a multi-million pound redevelopment of British Airways’ Heathrow engineering base to support maintenance of the world’s largest commercial aircraft type. This included two 24-ton roof ‘eyebrows’ being lifted into place in one of the hangars to raise the height of the entrance to accommodate the A380’s 24-meter tailfin.

British has 12 A380s on order.

All images: British Airways.

British Airways:

Virgin Atlantic introduces Virgin Atlantic Little Red

Virgin Atlantic Airways (London) has introduced its brand and name for its new inter-UK regional subsidiary. The airline issued this statement:

Virgin Atlantic Little Red is our new UK domestic service, offering great value, full service multiple daily flights between London Heathrow and Manchester, London Heathrow and Aberdeen and London Heathrow and Edinburgh.

Aberdeen flights begin on April 9, 2013
Edinburgh flights begin on April 5, 2013
Manchester flights begin on March 31, 2013

Virgin Atlantic is wet leasing four Airbus A320s for the new domestic services.

Virgin Atlantic:

Qatar Airways is “interested” in the Czech Airlines privatization

Qatar Airways (Doha) is interested in the privatization of Czech Airlines-CSA (Prague) according to this report by Reuters. However the Gulf carrier has not yet made a decision on whether it will bid for the flag carrier.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

Top Copyright Photo: Dave Glendinning. Brand-new Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner A7-BCL (msn 38330) made its first visit to London (Heathrow) on December 13 where it is pictured landing on the historic first flight.

Qatar Airways:

Czech Airlines-CSA:

Bottom Copyright Photo: Ole Simon. Airbus A319-112 OK-NEO (msn 3452) prepares to land at Stockholm (Arlanda).

US Airways awarded the Charlotte-London Heathrow route, flight attendants vote to strike

US Airways (Phoenix) has announced it has been awarded operating slots to inaugurate daily, nonstop service between its Charlotte hub and London’s preferred business airport, Heathrow, beginning in March 2013. US Airways will operate the service between Charlotte and London Heathrow with Airbus A330 aircraft that features Envoy, the airline’s international business class. Specific schedule and fare details will be released at a later date.

The new service from Charlotte, N.C. will supplement the airline’s existing daily service between its international gateway in Philadelphia and London Heathrow.

The flight will originate in Miami, offering customers in South Florida convenient one-stop service to London via the airline’s Charlotte hub.

On the flip side, US Airways’ flight attendants have voted by a 94 percent margin to authorize a strike should the continued negotiations fail according to this report by Reuters.

Read the full report: CLICK HERE

US Airways: