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Latest on airline social media marketing: Vueling leveraging the Instagram craze
Published on 2012-05-10 13:04:00
Your Instagram pictures could soon be on a Vueling A320 like this one It is hardly news that airlines, as most consumer-oriented companies, are embracing social media to connect with the public, sell tickets or sort out crisis. Some go the extra-mile and even develop their own innovative applications exploring the social travel space (whether successfully or not is another matter, the jury is still out)...But the key element here is that the hyperconnected world we live in provides also a platf [..] > read more
British Airways to be soon owned by...the Spanish state?
Published on 2012-05-08 16:29:00
One of the side-effects of the economic and financial turmoil in Spain might be none other than British Airways falling back into government hands...but in the hands of the Spanish state this time! How's that? The main shareholder of British Airways' parent company, International Airlines Group (IAG) is non other than Bankia, formerly Cajamadrid (Madrid's savings bank before the latest reform of the Spanish financial system), with over 12% of IAG's capital (a vestige of the times when Cajamadr [..] > read more
More ways to follow Allplane
Published on 2012-05-04 18:14:00
This is kind of a service announcement, but I would like to share with you the new platforms where I am posting airline and aviation-related content. You will see that the web is getting visual and that it is seems that it is all about social curation now...the great advantage of these platforms is that they are all interconnected, so they are great complements of this blog and allow me to share my content in new ways as well as uncover some great aviation-related content produced by other avia [..] > read more
Airlines and postal services, still getting along well
Published on 2012-04-30 13:46:00
The association between airlines and postal services dates back to the very early times of aviation. In fact, many pioneering airlines started to carry mail and, only later, started to carry passenger...Some air postal routes became icons of an era, such as the famous Aéropostale, running between Toulouse and Dakar, with stopovers in Barcelona and Casablanca.... Although airplanes have continued to feature prominently in air mail stamp issues in many countries, the two industries have followed [..] > read more
Starbrook Airlines, the airline that only exists in chocolate, and more...
Published on 2012-04-29 12:48:00
There are many interesting stories in the aviation industry these days, so interesting that, actually, haven't got the time yet to sit down and write the proper article they deserve. So I thought about sharing a couple of, somewhat lighter, aviation-related stories that might also be of your interest... For a start the story of this amazing chocolate box I came across the other day....Starbrook Airlines does not exist today...but a Belgian chocolatier has developed a whole range of airline-them [..] > read more
Aviation Videos (II): attempting to land in windy Bilbao
Published on 2012-04-26 04:31:00
Cross-wind landings are always spectacular to watch, and there is a good collection of them on Youtube, but those seen yesterday at Bilbao airport (BIO), while it was being hit by a gale brought about by storm "Petra" are really impressive! By the way, one of the planes you can see in the video that managed to land was a Boeing 717 in > read more
Meet Surf Air, the Californian startup that wants to disrupt the corporate air travel market
Published on 2012-04-25 04:57:00
Volotea still flying under the radar...but for how long?
Published on 2012-04-24 13:56:00
What is going to happen to BMI Diamond Club miles after BA's acquisition?
Published on 2012-04-23 14:16:00
As most of you might already be aware of, British airline BMI was sold by Lufthansa to its Oneworld competitor IAG (aka British Airways). Once the news was confirmed, one thought came to my mind: what happens with BMI's Diamond Club frequent flier miles? As both airlines operated out of the UK, many frequent travelers were members of both British Airways' executive club and BMI's Diamond Club. The truth is that BMI has moved fast to inform its Diamond Club members and in the last few days has [..] > read more
An Interflug Tupolev at Schiphol airport!
Published on 2012-04-20 16:51:00
Looks like a museum of European aviation The flag carrier of the former Eastern Germany is no stranger to this blog and while "retro" is now in fashion in aviation, it is not everyday that you get to see a model airplane of one of its Tupolev TU-154M, and it could be anywhere else but at my favourite shop at Amsterdam Schiphol airport (by the way, a must for any aviation enthusiast traveling through the Dutch airport!) By the way, did you noticed that below the Interflug model of TU-154M there [..] > read more
A look at the Swiss regional airlines industry
Published on 2012-04-17 18:17:00
Aviation videos (I): do not get too close to a jet engine!
Published on 2012-04-16 08:44:00
In addition to the text articles I publish in this blog regularly I would like to regularly share with you spme aviation-related videos that I come across. Here is today's video! I am sure that most of you are already familiar with plane-spotters beach next to Sint Maarten airport in the Caribbean...see what can happen if you place yourself next to the blast of a jet engine...! (btw, there is > read more
Is Vueling getting ready for an African adventure?
Published on 2012-04-14 04:49:00
Could history become a new source of ancillary revenue for airlines?
Published on 2012-04-12 19:35:00
A few days ago a friend of mine mentioned that, after several years, he had flown again on an aircraft that he knew well from a previous stint in the airline industry. I checked the registration details of the aircraft in question and found out that I had also flown on that plane in the past, only that when it belonged to another airline and had a different name.So the following idea came to my mind, given the rush to get more and more ancillary revenue, why don’t airlines create a list of fam [..] > read more
More on airport advertising: when does it makes sense to advertise an airport?
Published on 2012-03-27 19:07:00
In this blog, I have repeatedly brought up the topic of whether it made sense or not for a major airport with already serious congestion problems, like London Heathrow, to advertise itself in the public transport system (see my entries here and here)...and while BAA continues to spend its marketing budget in what, to me, look like pretty useless ads (maybe I am missing something, airport marketing experts, please, let me know if this is the case!) such as the one below (spotted at Angel station, [..] > read more
Iberia Express update
Published on 2012-03-15 05:06:00
Just a quick update on my previous post about Iberia Express where I posted a link to what looked like the new airline's livery. Today Will Horton has tweeted the following picture that confirms the simple mainly white livery of the "new" airline. With this livery Iberia is possibly wishing to highlight the fact Iberia Express is a "lite" version of itself. I must say I am unimpressed by this design, however this approach might make sense if what you are willing to sell is an unexpensive, basic [..] > read more
What's really new with the new Iberia Express?
Published on 2012-03-13 19:10:00
Time to maneuver for Iberia The answer is: very little! For those readers that might not be familiar with the whole story, Spain's flag carrier Iberia, now part of the IAG Group, is starting a new low cost airline that is to take over most short -haul routes from its parent company, so that what's left of Iberia can concentrate on the long-haul, primarily its most important market: the links between Spain and South America. This move is due to the need to lower costs, forced by the strong comp [..] > read more
Volotea opens for business!
Published on 2012-03-03 16:20:00
Europe's youngest airline (Picture: Volotea) Lots of speculation has surrounded the launch of a the new startup airline Volotea (in case you missed it, this blog was one of the first to report it back in December!) but the veil has finally been lifted... It's not every day that you can witness the birth of a new airline, but this is exactly what happened last Friday: Volotea is now open for business! Volotea, taking off on 5th April (Picture: Volotea) Volotea won't be flying until 5th [..] > read more
Who is London Heathrow advertising to?
Published on 2012-02-27 08:18:00
I already expressed, a while ago, my surprise (and a point of skepticism) about finding advertisements for London Heathrow airport in the London underground...and here is another example. Just that this time, a lot bigger! (I know, the ad is a bit dated since it was from before last Christmas) But what purpose do these ads really serve? has anyone measured what is the ROI on these ads? as a frequent traveler it is usually the airline that I check first when I need to travel somewhere, only w [..] > read more
Loving my job!
Published on 2012-02-26 17:17:00
An eclectic mix of work companions > read more
A personal note
Published on 2012-02-08 17:21:00
Some of the regular readers of this blog might have noticed that I have been recently posting a bit less regularly than usual. The fact is that it has been really hectic in the last few weeks and the big news is that as of this week, I am working as a content editor at Flightglobal.com I will continue writing this blog, but, as you might imagine, most of my aviation-related activity is now going to be devoted to this new professional project, so, I apologize in advance if my posts become less f [..] > read more
A tribute to Spanair, in pictures...
Published on 2012-01-31 06:27:00
I travel often through Spanish airports, where Spanair aircraft were a common sight. They came in different sizes and colours, the result of a convulse corporate history. Spanair, we will miss you! Here is my photo-tribute: The old livery, here a Spanair Airbus at Madrid-Barajas And the new livery...this one spotted at BCN Spanair was a proud Star Alliance partner A Boeing 717, we'll see some more of these in the European skies soon! Spanair was positioning itself [..] > read more
Spanair's collapse: a few notes
Published on 2012-01-30 09:56:00
When I wrote my latest post a few days ago, I was not expecting to write again so soon about the Spanish aviation industry, but the events of last Friday, despite not being entirely unexpected, have shaken to the core the Spanish airline industry, nothing less than the collapse of Spanair. I have been following the Spanair saga almost since the day I started this blog and a lot has been said already about Spanair's demise (the Spanish and, particularly, the Catalan press are packed with news, r [..] > read more
The Spanish airline industry, in a state of flux
Published on 2012-01-14 08:27:00
A constant flow of news is coming out of the Spanish airline industry, making it one of the hotspots of the industry in Europe, so I thought about writing this post to summarize what is going on... One of the most amazing things is that the deep economic crisis that Spain is currently going thorugh is not enough to deter Spanish airline entrepreneurs...one of the most exciting developments we have seen in last few months is the set-up of "stealthy" Barcelona-based airline startup, Volotea. L [..] > read more
Airline social seating is here...to stay
Published on 2012-01-13 04:37:00
If the previous post was featuring three great airline blogs, today is the turn of four new services that bring the principles of social shopping to one of the most important aspects of the airline passenger experience: seat allocation. Once upon a time airline passengers were always asked whether they prefered window or aisle (not many people seem to like the middle seat!), the not so young might even remember when they had the choice of smokers/non-smokers...well, to be fair, many passengers [..] > read more
Three airline blogs that stand out
Published on 2012-01-11 09:27:00
Every social media manual will tell you that having a corporate blog is a must. Opening a blog is actually not that difficult (this blog is proof of this :-)) but doing it in a nice and engaging way is another story, particularly when we are talking about "corporate" blogs...this is why I would like to highlight a few examples I came across of airline blogs that, in my opinion, are really outstanding: 1) KLM The Dutch carrier has been a pioneer in the use of social media tools and its corpor [..] > read more
Is there a lack of innovation in the aviation industry?
Published on 2012-01-07 10:27:00
Ready to take another leap? The other day a tweet from aviation social media expert Shashank, from Simpliflying caught my attention, it contained a quote from Splatf, a tehcnology blog that I also follow, it stated "The airplane industry needs its iPhone". If you go to the article in question you will see what this means: there has been little radical innovation in the aircraft industry in the last few decades, with the two main manufacturers (plus some smaller ones) basically delivering [..] > read more
The long-awaited European long-haul low cost revolution
Published on 2012-01-06 04:13:00
Are low cost long-haul airlines finally coming to Europe (to stay)? Well, to be fair, long-haul low cost airlines have operated in Europe before, but for a number of reasons they have never been able to consolidate. From the early days of pioneering Laker Airways, back in the seventies, to the more recent Oasis Hong Kong (not to be mistaken for Oasis Airlines, a Spanish charter airline that ceased operations in the mid-nineties!), that flew Boeing 747s between London and Hong Kong, and Air Mad [..] > read more
Interesting marketing approach for executive aviation
Published on 2012-01-05 09:58:00
I know executive aviation is not my usual blogging topic, but when I come across something in the aviation industry that I find interesting from a marketing or business point of view I like to share it here...and this is what happened when I came across Blink, a small British executive jet operator with bases at London Blackbushe (BBS), Surrey, Geneva and the Channel Islands. Something caught my eye in their website: the user interface looks incredibly similar to that you can find in a regular [..] > read more
Meet Volotea: Spain's new airline
Published on 2011-12-23 03:05:00
After months of rumors, we finally have a public announcement: Spain's new startup airline is called Volotea. You have to be brave to start a new airline in Spain in the current economic climate, but its founders have done it before and their ability to pull an airline off the ground is beyond any doubt: Carlos Muñoz and Lázaro Ros were the founders of Vueling (now under Iberia's wings) whereas Román Pané used to be a manging director at Futura (a now-defunct Spanish charter carrier). They [..] > read more
More airline archaeology
Published on 2011-06-30 11:19:00
When I was doing some research on communist-era airlines for my previous post on my visit to Belgrade's aviation museum, I came across this interesting photo on Flickr of a Tupolev TU-134 that belonged to East German flag carrier Interflug. This phot > read more
Revisiting the history of European aviation in Belgrade
Published on 2011-06-29 09:38:00
I was being driven to Belgrade's Nicola Tesla international airport to take my flight back home after a couple of fruitful days in Serbia's capital when something caught my eye...right to the side of the main airport terminal there was what looked li > read more
Amazing video taken from a Vueling airliner while intercepted by a French Mirage fighter jet
Published on 2011-06-04 05:12:00
Ever since the terrible events of 9/11 in the US, commercial airlines that can not be properly identified or that report some sort of incident are regularly intercepted and escorted by fighter jets...How does it feel to see fighter jets approaching w > read more
Unusual planespotting opportunities
Published on 2011-05-14 02:07:00
I am by no means an expert planespotter, but when I come across some interesting sights at Europe's airports, I like to share them here. On this occasion the pictures are of two airlines that operate very limited schedules to European airports, so it > read more
The frustrated merger Olympic-Aegean and the competitive situation in the Greek air travel market
Published on 2011-05-06 03:59:00
The Olympic-Aegean merger, unlikely to happen anytime soonThe Greek aviation industry has been flying through turbulent times in recent years and one of the consequences has been the proposed merger between the country's two main airlines: Olympic Ai > read more
Spectacular photo of Moscow at night taken from an airliner
Published on 2011-05-05 11:45:00
I recently came across a site with amazing photos, all of which had in common that had been taken from aircraft in flight.I then went to my archive and posted on Twitter what is possibly the best picture I have ever taken from an airplane. I took las > read more
Why I like Amsterdam Schiphol airport so much?
Published on 2011-05-04 02:40:00
I have been fortunate enough to live in The Netherlands for over a year at one point in my life and I know Amsterdam Schiphol (AMS) very well...I recently had the chance to visit it again after a long absence...and I still think is one of the best ai > read more
Highlights of the annual Airneth conference (& V): low cost carriers ultimate frontier, long haul and connectivity
Published on 2011-05-02 12:47:00
What is going to happen once low cost carriers become the dominant force in the European short haul market. What's next?This is precisely the question that two separate presentations by speakers Wolfgang Grimme, of the University of Giessen, and Pete > read more
Highlights of the annual Airneth conference (IV): de-hubbing, re-hubbing and Amsterdam Schiphol
Published on 2011-04-26 03:40:00
One expected consequence of any futher consolidation in the airline industry is that some airports are going to experience de-hubbing. This is actually one of the worst things that can happen to an airport (from a business point of view, of course). > read more
Highlights of the annual Airneth conference (III): "the airline industry is structurally unstable"
Published on 2011-04-25 04:50:00
The title of this post refers to the words of Rigas Doganis, author of Flying Off Course, possibly the most-read book on the airline industry to date (a revised and updated fourth edition that has just been released!)Flying Off Course is the referenc > read more
KLM retro and SkyTeam liveries
Published on 2011-04-23 18:27:00
Here are some interesting KLM liveries that I have seen on a recent trip to Schiphol:KLM retro livery, spotted @AMS . This Boeing 737 was painted this way in order to celebrate the Dutch airline's 90th birthday, but I am not sure to what historical p > read more
Highlights of the annual Airneth conference (II): analyzing the Delta-Norwest merger
Published on 2011-04-21 02:42:00
As I anticipated in my previous post, the annual Airneth conference was a very interesting opportunity to listen to major airline industry experts and learn first-hand how they envisage the future of the airline business. The following is not an exha > read more
Highlights of the annual Airneth Conference in The Hague (I): Consolidation and new business models in the air transport industry
Published on 2011-04-18 02:02:00
The Hague: an excellent choice to host the annual Airneth conferenceLast week I had the opportunity to attend what is possibly one of the most interesting aviation-related events in Europe right now: the annual Airneth conference in The Hague, The Ne > read more
Vueling and Spanair: two different strategies to develop Barcelona into an airline hub
Published on 2011-04-15 12:01:00
A few weeks ago I presented my vision of Barcelona airport as at potential Mediterranean hub. But are there any airlines able to turn this idea into a reality?Actually, the prospects of this happening have never been better, as, there are currently t > read more
A brand new airport opens in Spain, no flights expected in the near future...
Published on 2011-04-02 18:10:00
I had no plans to continue writing about Spanish airports and overcapacity this week, when I learned about the opening of the latest Spanish airport: Castelló-Costa de Azahar (CDT), on Spain's Eastern coast, filling the gap between Valencia (VAL) an > read more
Zaragoza (ZAZ): an airport below potential?
Published on 2011-03-19 03:30:00
Zaragoza has a opportunity to become strong in cargo (photo: a Lufthansa Cargo MD-11F at Frankfurt International airport)I my recent series about "Spain's empty airports", I wrote about the amount of public money that has been devoted to create or up > read more
How Air New Zealand drives innovation in the airline industry: lie flat in economy class
Published on 2011-03-12 02:47:00
In this video you can see how Air New Zealand's Skycouch worksGreat innovations often come from small things, and this is what Air New Zealand has achieved with its Skycouch for economy class. This idea, that emerged from within the company, is going > read more
What next for Girona airport?
Published on 2011-03-02 02:29:00
Transavia is currently the only airline other than Ryanair operating at GROGirona has been possibly the fastest growing in Spain during the last decade. From a sleepy charter-only airport, GRO has gone on to become one of Ryanair's major bases in the > read more
Cool KLM commercial
Published on 2011-02-25 02:10:00
As promised in a previous post, here is another imaginative airline commercial, this time from KLM. It is remarkable how KLM seems to be one of the airlines that best understand the power of new media when it comes to marketing and have not hesitated > read more
Allplane quoted at AirObserver blog: commenting the new scenario at Girona airport after Ryanair's massive route cancellation
Published on 2011-02-23 04:54:00
In this blog I speak often about the constantly evolving situation at Barcelona and Girona airports. It is a very interesting case of interaction, in one single metropolitan market (Barcelona-Girona-Reus) of pure low cost players (Ryanair), airlines > read more
Airline adverts on Youtube
Published on 2011-02-22 09:46:00
If Ryanair made the headlines recently with its educative hand-luggage packing videos on Youtube...other airlines are also using the popular video-sharing service to successfully launch new promotional campaigns. In this video Virgin Atlantic positio > read more
Why low cost carriers have not taken off in Russia
Published on 2011-02-19 04:45:00
Russia has had its fair share of revolutions in the last century, but a more recent sort of revolution has totally skipped it: the low-cost airline revolution that has swept through Europe in the past 15 years has barely touched the Russian airline i > read more
A hub in the Med? What strategy should Barcelona airport follow
Published on 2011-02-15 02:17:00
Barcelona airport is a sort of unusual case in Europe, it is one of the continent's top ten airports by number of passengers, however it managed to get this spot without having a flag-carrier based there and with a minimal offering of long-haul fligh > read more
Allplane featured in the media
Published on 2011-02-13 10:09:00
The Spanish air travel market is one of the favourites of this blog, as so much is going on there at the moment. The effects of the economic crisis are having a deep impact on this sector and, therefore, it does not come as a surprise that the media > read more
Ryanair teaching Belgian students a lesson in packing
Published on 2011-02-10 16:54:00
An incident between Ryanair and some of its customers is hardly any news, the latest one involved a group of Belgian students that were removed from the plane that was going to take them from Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, to Charleroi, Belgium, a > read more
Too much of a good thing? Brazil's airports are suffering a growth crisis
Published on 2011-02-05 13:03:00
Images: WikipediaOne of the countries that has been experiencing sustained growth in the last decade is Brazil. The country's magnificent rates of growth have had its reflection on the aviation sector too and the number of air passengers in Brazil ha > read more
The legendary air shuttle Barcelona-Madrid: the "Puente Aéreo"
Published on 2011-02-05 05:12:00
Early morning at Madrid airport, a familiar view for many Barcelona-based passengersIf in my previous post I explained how the Spanish airport authority is using replicas of some venerable aircraft to advertise her state-of-the-art facilities and, fo > read more
Aena goes retro to present its new airport investments in Spain
Published on 2011-01-29 08:54:00
I was at Madrid's Fitur a few days ago. This is one of the largest tourism trade shows in the World and, as you might imagine, airlines and other aviation-related operators had a strong presence. Aena, the Spanish airport operator had a huge stand wh > read more
When a direct flight is not really a direct flight?
Published on 2011-01-13 15:54:00
I was at Barcelona airport recently and something caught my attention: in all airport screens and also in the airport guide I could find some flights operated by Iberia to several destinations in North and South America (New York, Bogota, Mexico...), > read more
The best airline meal in a long time
Published on 2011-01-10 13:42:00
A meal on Brussels airlinesOne of the best airline meals I have had recently (I mean, on Economy class of course), on board Brussels Airlines flight from Moscow Domodedovo (DME) to Brussels (BRU). Very simple and unpretentious, but nice and filling. > read more
Turkish Airlines, total rebranding
Published on 2011-01-05 03:20:00
We continue tracking the amazing movements of Turkish Airlines (THY), a company that seems to be in the middle of a transformation that is nothing short of a total reinvention.The Turkish flag carrier is making a very serious effort to position itsel > read more
Spain's empty airports (V): Burgos
Published on 2011-01-04 04:31:00
This case is similar to Logroño (see previous post). The historical city of Burgos and its region is not without its tourist attractions, and to be fair, in spite of the economic crisis, Burgos airport (RGS) has shown some modest growth since its in > read more
Spain's empty airports (IV): Logroño
Published on 2011-01-02 10:31:00
The Spanish region of La Rioja is famous worldwide for its great wines and its cellars attract numerous visitors every year, but few get there by plane if we are to judge by the traffic figures at the regional airport Logroño-Agoncillo. The airport > read more
Lufthansa and Boeing, 50 years together
Published on 2011-01-01 15:19:00
Lufthansa is celebrating its 50 years of continued use of Boeing aircraft. Here is an example, I could recently spot at Frankfurt airport (FRA), of a Lufthansa Boeing 747-400 specially decorated for the occasion, with a large "50" painted on the side > read more
Airlines soon to become more like media companies?
Published on 2010-12-30 04:09:00
We all know what the internet has done to print magazines...is it now the turn of the in-flight magazine?As in-flight wi-fi becomes commonplace and airlines start to facilitate the use of hardware platforms on-board too, I imagine the days of the pap > read more
Spain's empty airports (III): León
Published on 2010-12-28 04:53:00
In North-West Spain the city of León got a brand-new airport in 1999. There had been an airfield at León for decades, but the inauguration of the new facility and the opening of commercial services at León airport was a significant improvement on > read more
Spanair's difficult year
Published on 2010-12-27 04:05:00
A Spanair A320 on the tarmac at Barcelona airportFrom this blog I follow very closely the evolution of Spanair, as Barcelona (BCN) is one of my favourite airports and its future is inextricably linked to the future of Spanair. Why? because Spanair is > read more