Once we landed in Singapore it was time to burn five hours before we had to catch a six hour flight to Tokyo. Maybe it was the excitement of being in a new airport for the first time or just that I wasn't tired. For some reason I choose not to sleep which was quite idiotic on my part seeing as we would be moving non stop from this moment forward. The next morning the plane arrived, a boeing 777, and we went to the ticket desk to see if we would get lucky and get another business class seat but there were none to be had. We were given a consolation though, premium economy which gives you extra legroom. The flight took off for Japan and I spent much of it glued to the window drawing in as much of the pacific ocean as possible.
When we landed we looked at our watches and noticed that the first flight that was leaving to San Francisco was leaving very, very soon. United was kind enough to have set up a line for customers that needed to catch a connecting flight and so we breezed through security and ran on towards the plane. Once at the ticket desk, gasping and panting, I managed to spit out that we were on the stand by list. Before the words had finished leaving my mouth I was handed one gold ticket and one blue. The gold was a business class seat and the blue a economy one. Walking back to my dad I made the argument that since this was my birthday trip I should get the business class seat. This turned out to not be as good as I thought it would be. More on that in the next post.
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Thursday, April 29, 2010
The Return Trip Part 1
When Mrs. Stoklosa first brought up blogs and told us to write about something that interested us the first thing that popped into my mind was planes. My second thought was the story of the hellish return trip that involved five flights, four countries and over fifty hours of consciousness. In fact I didn't sleep until we were in the car driving back towards Weston.
In this post I will be setting up for the following threads. It all started in Hong Kong International airport where we were trying to catch a flight back home. The goal was to be able to catch a flight directly from Hong Kong to the mainland but due to the humid, hot weather that makes up Hong Kong, flights were being weight restricted which means that they were having to bump paying passengers off the flights and move them to other flights. As a stand by passenger this is the worst news you could possibly hear. We stood and waited as names for more senior stand by crews were called but alas ours was not. My dad got on the computer and looked for a way for us to get to Tokyo where the flight loads were more manageable to get on. The way we were going to do this was to catch an overnight flight to Singapore, sleep in the airport and then catch the first flight to Tokyo the next morning. Due to the extremely low loads on the Hong Kong- Singapore flight we managed to snag upper deck business class seats for the three hour hop to Singapore. This flight represented a number of firsts for me such as first time on a 747, first time on the upper deck and first time sitting in business class.
In this post I will be setting up for the following threads. It all started in Hong Kong International airport where we were trying to catch a flight back home. The goal was to be able to catch a flight directly from Hong Kong to the mainland but due to the humid, hot weather that makes up Hong Kong, flights were being weight restricted which means that they were having to bump paying passengers off the flights and move them to other flights. As a stand by passenger this is the worst news you could possibly hear. We stood and waited as names for more senior stand by crews were called but alas ours was not. My dad got on the computer and looked for a way for us to get to Tokyo where the flight loads were more manageable to get on. The way we were going to do this was to catch an overnight flight to Singapore, sleep in the airport and then catch the first flight to Tokyo the next morning. Due to the extremely low loads on the Hong Kong- Singapore flight we managed to snag upper deck business class seats for the three hour hop to Singapore. This flight represented a number of firsts for me such as first time on a 747, first time on the upper deck and first time sitting in business class.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Widespread effects
As you probably could have been imagined, the aftermath of a volcano halting flights for six days would have had a profound impact on the ability of people to return home to where they live. It also would have messed up airliners because of the fact that they had been still for six days.
My Dad and his girlfriend Krissie were actually scheduled to go to Europe on Wednesday April 21 and they were scared that the airspace would not be clear by then. Thankfully British Airways jump started the reopening of airports by sending all of their planes back towards their home base at London Heathrow. Due to the pressure from British Airways the London Airport Authority was forced to open the airport even though they had not planned on opening it quite so soon. This was a risky move by British Airways because their plan to get the airport back open could have failed miserably and then they would have had to put their planes somewhere else.
My Dad and Krissie managed to get on their flight but they said it was controlled chaos at the airport due to six days worth of passengers trying to get on any flight that they could get on.
Natural disasters such as this really bring out the worst in our airline and airport infrastructure and then worst part about it is that there is almost no way to create a contingency plan for something like this occurring.
My Dad and his girlfriend Krissie were actually scheduled to go to Europe on Wednesday April 21 and they were scared that the airspace would not be clear by then. Thankfully British Airways jump started the reopening of airports by sending all of their planes back towards their home base at London Heathrow. Due to the pressure from British Airways the London Airport Authority was forced to open the airport even though they had not planned on opening it quite so soon. This was a risky move by British Airways because their plan to get the airport back open could have failed miserably and then they would have had to put their planes somewhere else.
My Dad and Krissie managed to get on their flight but they said it was controlled chaos at the airport due to six days worth of passengers trying to get on any flight that they could get on.
Natural disasters such as this really bring out the worst in our airline and airport infrastructure and then worst part about it is that there is almost no way to create a contingency plan for something like this occurring.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Eyjafjallajokull and it's 6 days of Chaos
By request I will sum up the past six days that have been quite detrimental to the aviation business. On April 14 2010 the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted sending ash and smoke 30,000 feet up into the air. On the ground in Iceland there was widespread flooding due to the volcano being underneath a glacier.
This volcanic ash impeded flight because aircraft engines are not designed to be able to take in anything besides air. The main problem that is faced when there is volcanic ash is the possibility that the silicates in the volcanic ash will turn to glass inside of the engines of the planes thus causing loss of power and avionic instruments that rely on bleed air from the engines.
When this ash began moving east the first airports to close were the Nordic countries such as Finland, Denmark and Sweden. Then as the ash moved progressively east the list of countries with closed airspaces grew to include almost all of western Europe and Great Britain. One of the only countries not affected by this was Spain due to its more southern location.
The lack of flights was very detrimental for the bottom lines of these airlines. It was reported that Emirates was losing $10 million dollars per day due to not being able to fly to Europe. British Airways, an airline that has a hub in London was reportedly losing $35 million per day. As you can see this incident has been very disastrous for the airline industry.
This volcanic ash impeded flight because aircraft engines are not designed to be able to take in anything besides air. The main problem that is faced when there is volcanic ash is the possibility that the silicates in the volcanic ash will turn to glass inside of the engines of the planes thus causing loss of power and avionic instruments that rely on bleed air from the engines.
When this ash began moving east the first airports to close were the Nordic countries such as Finland, Denmark and Sweden. Then as the ash moved progressively east the list of countries with closed airspaces grew to include almost all of western Europe and Great Britain. One of the only countries not affected by this was Spain due to its more southern location.
The lack of flights was very detrimental for the bottom lines of these airlines. It was reported that Emirates was losing $10 million dollars per day due to not being able to fly to Europe. British Airways, an airline that has a hub in London was reportedly losing $35 million per day. As you can see this incident has been very disastrous for the airline industry.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Our Hotel
Our Hotel in Hong Kong was nothing spectacular but this wasn't a problem because I was here to experience Asia not chill in my hotel room.
My dad and I decided to take a walk around Hong Kong and get a feel for the city. What we saw will stick with me for the rest of my life. It was a Sunday which meant all of the Philippine houseworkers were not allowed in the house. As my dad explained it, the houseworkers work Monday through Saturday and they live with the families but then on Sunday they are either forced out or given a day off I can't recall. But anyways, there was thousands of house workers everywhere. It was so bad that entire streets and city blocks were closed down because the workers just sat down and occupied the middle of the road. There were police on hand, oddly enough not to attempt to remove any of the workers but to protect them from other people.
After seeing this, my dad and I decided we wanted to have high tea which is an English installed during the times that Britain ruled Hong Kong. High tea is of course tea, but there are also little pastries and sandwiches. It is meant as a brunch and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After high tea my dad and I headed back to the hotel before going out for dumplings later that night. This pretty much sums up my first night in Hong Kong. Tomorrow I will go over Victoria's peak and I will show you pictures (not mine because my camera died) and hopefully I will be able to link something on the trolley.
My dad and I decided to take a walk around Hong Kong and get a feel for the city. What we saw will stick with me for the rest of my life. It was a Sunday which meant all of the Philippine houseworkers were not allowed in the house. As my dad explained it, the houseworkers work Monday through Saturday and they live with the families but then on Sunday they are either forced out or given a day off I can't recall. But anyways, there was thousands of house workers everywhere. It was so bad that entire streets and city blocks were closed down because the workers just sat down and occupied the middle of the road. There were police on hand, oddly enough not to attempt to remove any of the workers but to protect them from other people.
After seeing this, my dad and I decided we wanted to have high tea which is an English installed during the times that Britain ruled Hong Kong. High tea is of course tea, but there are also little pastries and sandwiches. It is meant as a brunch and I thoroughly enjoyed it. After high tea my dad and I headed back to the hotel before going out for dumplings later that night. This pretty much sums up my first night in Hong Kong. Tomorrow I will go over Victoria's peak and I will show you pictures (not mine because my camera died) and hopefully I will be able to link something on the trolley.
Hong Kong and Kowloon
We landed in Hong Kong's Chep Lap Kok International Airport (a place I will go into great detail about during my next couple of Blog Posts). It is a fantastic airport and what is really magnificent about it is that it is on reclaimed land. More on that later.
When we got off the plane we immediately began making our way towards the train. Hong Kong has a stupendous train system that would take us from the airport all the way to downtown Hong Kong and from there we would continue by train to Kowloon (where we would be staying) or we could take the ferry. We ended up taking a ferry across Kowloon bay because this would give us an opportunity to look upon the Hong Kong skyline. When I first saw the Hong Kong skyline I was taken aback. Firstly because it hit me that I was clear on the other side of the world. Hong Kong is exactly 12 hours ahead of us here so that made it very difficult contacting people. Also something that I noticed when the Dark Knight came out is that I had seen the buildings that batman was leaping onto in person. I don't know if anyone else thinks its cool but I did and thats all that matters.
When we got off the plane we immediately began making our way towards the train. Hong Kong has a stupendous train system that would take us from the airport all the way to downtown Hong Kong and from there we would continue by train to Kowloon (where we would be staying) or we could take the ferry. We ended up taking a ferry across Kowloon bay because this would give us an opportunity to look upon the Hong Kong skyline. When I first saw the Hong Kong skyline I was taken aback. Firstly because it hit me that I was clear on the other side of the world. Hong Kong is exactly 12 hours ahead of us here so that made it very difficult contacting people. Also something that I noticed when the Dark Knight came out is that I had seen the buildings that batman was leaping onto in person. I don't know if anyone else thinks its cool but I did and thats all that matters.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Flight DXB-HKG
I thought I would try something a little different for this blog posting. I am going to do an airline review of Emirates airlines during this flight. This would be the second time that I flew with them however the first flight was so empty that we were able to stretch out across rows of seats and sleep and so I feel it would be incorrect to comment on that flight.
This was the interior of our A330-200 Aircraft that would be ferrying us from Dubai to Hong Kong. Emirates's A330's are a little bit different from other operators in that Emirates likes to squeeze in one extra seat per row, but there is a consolation for this. The seat pitch or back and forth of the seat is very generous and when I first sat down it felt a little bit cramped but as soon as I reclined I felt as if I was in a nice little cocoon.
The T.V's on the back of each seat can be used for on demand video which I found to be very, very exciting. It also has things such as movies games and music. In this aspect Emirates excels, as well in the seating.
The meal that was provided was decent for airline food. I don't expect much when I get my meal and for that reason when something half decent arrives on the plastic tray I can get a little excited. Needless to say the food that arrived on the plastic tray satisfied me so and the crew members aboard this aircraft are very attentive. Many times during the flight they would come by and make sure you had water or a soda and at the back of the plane there was even a little snack area set up.
The only real detractor that I can think of for Emirates is the fact that we sat in a sweltering aircraft for about 20 minutes. But I do understand when your Airlines hub airport is in the middle of a desert keeping a plane cool when some part goes awry can be pretty difficult.
I would definitely fly Emirates again and if any of you plan to fly to the UAE I recommend Emirates to you. They offer more no stop flights to Dubai then any other carrier (naturally) and many times they are quite a bit cheaper. They fly to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Toronto, New York and a couple of other destinations but rest assured you will enjoy your flight.
Journey to Hong Kong
After spending two days in Dubai is was time to head off to our next exotic destination, Hong Kong. Hong Kong was not part of the original trip plans but once we decided that we were going to Dubai my dad and I decided that we would like to travel around the world and not head back the way we came. It was funny because until last summer I had never flown west across the Atlantic and I have never flown east across the Pacific.
When we went to the Dubai airport we were again assigned a remote gate due to all of the construction that was occurring in the airport. When it was time to board our aircraft it was probably 120 degrees Fahrenheit outside and once on the plane which for some reason was not being air conditioned we began to sweat profusely. And above all that we were delayed because the plane had a mechanical problem so as we sat there sweltering in the Dubai heat the stewardesses kept running up and down the aisles with cups of water because thankfully they understood how hot it was and that people need water.
Finally the engines started and immediately the cabin temperature in the plane dropped about ten degrees. We all breathed a sigh of relief as we took off in to the foggy skies that plagued our stay in this magnificent city. People have been posting in my comments asking if they should go to Dubai and I 100% recommend it because it is such a fantastic experience and I did not feel threatened as an American once during my stay in Dubai.
When we went to the Dubai airport we were again assigned a remote gate due to all of the construction that was occurring in the airport. When it was time to board our aircraft it was probably 120 degrees Fahrenheit outside and once on the plane which for some reason was not being air conditioned we began to sweat profusely. And above all that we were delayed because the plane had a mechanical problem so as we sat there sweltering in the Dubai heat the stewardesses kept running up and down the aisles with cups of water because thankfully they understood how hot it was and that people need water.
Finally the engines started and immediately the cabin temperature in the plane dropped about ten degrees. We all breathed a sigh of relief as we took off in to the foggy skies that plagued our stay in this magnificent city. People have been posting in my comments asking if they should go to Dubai and I 100% recommend it because it is such a fantastic experience and I did not feel threatened as an American once during my stay in Dubai.
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