Qatar Airways Launches Phuket Flights

Qatar Airways has launched its second destination in Thailand following the commencement of scheduled flights to Phuket.

The Thai holiday resort island becomes the airline?s 93rd destination and the eighth new route launched by Qatar Airways so far in 2010.

The flights operate from Doha to Phuket via Kuala Lumpur and are scheduled to provide connections from several of Qatar Airways? key markets in Europe, which form the bulk of tourist traffic to the holiday island.

The Phuket services are part of an overall capacity increase to Thailand, which sees Qatar Airways boost its Doha ? Bangkok frequencies from twice daily flights to triple daily effective from 1 November 2010.

?Visitor numbers to Phuket are on the rise and Qatar Airways will look to take advantage of our European connections from countries like Russia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, the UK and other parts of Europe to bring them to Phuket. Foreign visitors are expected to top 4.5 million in 2010 and with only a handful of airlines offering flights from Europe, the opportunity is there for us to acquire market share,? said Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker.

On board the airline?s first flight to Phuket was Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Commercial East Asia & Southwest Pacific Marwan Koleilat, who said that the airline will also target outbound business traffic from across the southern Thai province.

?As the second wealthiest region in Thailand, Phuket Province is an ideal city for Qatar Airways to serve. It has a population of over 1.5 million, which swells during the tourist season, and the airline is ready to welcome onboard local executives and, in particular international hotel brands who will benefit from the convenience and connectivity that this flight creates,? said Koleilat.

By 2013, Qatar Airways plans to serve 120 key business and leisure destinations worldwide with a modern fleet of 120 aircraft. Today, the airline?s fleet stands at 89 aircraft, flying to 93 destinations across Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North and South America.

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Boeing Launches InFlight Optimization Services

Boeing is introducing new subscription-based services to help airlines save fuel and increase environmental efficiency.

The InFlight Optimization Services are designed to be implemented within current air traffic and airline operating procedures using existing communication channels. No regulatory changes and little to no new equipment is needed. The services, Direct Routes and Wind Updates, provide up-to-the-minute information to airlines and their flight crews, enabling adjustments en route to account for weather and air traffic control status.

"We are bringing to market easy-to-implement solutions to help our customers reach new levels of operational and environmental efficiency by reducing cost, fuel use and CO2 emissions," said Sherry Carbary, vice president of Flight Services, Commercial Aviation Services, Boeing Commercial Airplanes. "As part of our commitment to offer lifecycle solutions to our customers, we are now providing real-time flight efficiency advisories."

Direct Routes automatically alerts an airline's operations center and flight crew every time a simple, more fuel-efficient path opens up along the intended route of flight. To increase the likelihood of air traffic controller approval and to keep workload to a minimum, the advisories are pre-checked for traffic conflicts, wind conditions, established airspace constraints and other factors.

Initial Boeing projections show that Direct Routes can save more than 40,000 minutes of flight time per year for a medium-size U.S. airline - the equivalent of operating hundreds of flights that use no fuel and produce no emissions.

Boeing collaborated with NASA, Continental Airlines and Southwest Airlines in the development of Direct Routes to ensure operational viability and assess the benefits and shared details of the project and its findings with the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The service leverages NASA technology for advanced software algorithms.

Boeing's second InFlight Optimization Services offering, Wind Updates, increases fuel efficiency and improves aircraft performance by sending datalink messages directly to the flight deck with real-time, flight-customized wind information. These messages enable the airplane's flight management computer (FMC) to recalculate flight control inputs based on more accurate and precise information.

Currently, if flight crews obtain wind data prior to departure, that data can be as much as 12 to 20 hours old as a flight approaches its destination. Inaccurate and limited weather data can prevent airplanes from operating at optimum speeds, altitudes and trajectories. Wind Updates delivers a fleet-wide solution using existing onboard equipment and requiring minimal investment.

Boeing projects potential savings of 100 to 200 pounds (15 to 29 gallons or 55 to 111 liters) or more fuel for the descent portion of a typical single-aisle airplane flight and is conducting operational trials with KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Alaska Airlines.

Both services will be available beginning in 2011.

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