by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 12, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Minutes ago, predictably successful Flight 418, a Boeing 747-400 (Registration D-ABTB) from Frankfurt(FRA) to Washington Dulles (IAD) arrived safely after it’s 8hr 12min journey.
What makes this flight significant is the fact that it accomplishes a landmark achievement in the the airline industry. It demonstrates the successful use of BioFuels as an alternative to the current fuels being used to power jet airliners.
For Lufthansa this flight marked the conclusion of 6 months of test flights that had been taking place in Germany. 1187 flights were successfully operated using a 50/50 BioFuel/Regular fuel mix on flights between Hamburg(HAM) and Frankfurt(FRA)since July of 2011.
With this achievement, Lufthansa demonstrates the ability for an aircraft to significantly reduce the amount of carbon pollution that is released into the atmosphere. When an aircraft uses BioFuel it is estimated to reduce carbon emissions by 50%.
On this specific flight, the amount of carbon emissions that was reduced was the equivalent of pollution that is released by 6 flights between Frankfurt and Berlin.
For more on this topic, you can read my post here. Or visit Lufthansa’s website covering the topic here: http://www.puresky.de/en/
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 12, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Thanks to “Mike” for sharing this video link in his comments on one of my postings.
How many times have you been aboard an airliner and the entertainment system wouldn’t function properly? Do you have enough fingers to count? I recall several flights on domestic US carriers where even the simple safety video would crash several times to the point that the Flight Attendants had to resort to the “old school” way of doing it themselves. It looks like things have come a long, long way!!
In this Boeing News video , the aircraft manufacturer takes us on a rare behind the scenes look at some of the testing that went on in developing the new 787’s Inflight Entertainment System. A Dreamliner full of Boeing employees flew aboard the 787 for a flight lasting several hours during which they subjected the airliner’s IFE systems to heavy use and worst case scenarios such as everyone starting the same task at the same time. During the course of the flight other cabin features were also tested to make sure they could handle the workload of a plane full of passengers.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BO57mnBgEkc[/youtube]
by Lufthansa Flyer | Jan 11, 2012 | Airlines, Industry News |
Earlier today, Lufthansa reported passenger figures for a record setting 2011. I’ve attached the official press release from Lufthansa below but here are some of the key take aways:
* 106.3 million passengers carried by Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian, BMI, and Germanwings. To put that into context, it would be the equivalent of every citizen of Mexico being on one Lufthansa flight last year.
* Forecasts 3% growth (passengers) for 2012 compared to 7.5% growth in 2011. This growth forecast is a good development considering that the IATA is forecasting operating losses for European carriers due to the ongoing economic challenges of the continent. More passengers translates into better potential for profitability.
*Lufthansa Cargo sales were up slighty but capacity was higher, so the net load factor was down 1.4% to 69.5%.
*Lufthansa will report full year 2011 financial results on March 25, 2012.
The Press Release:
Lufthansa Group in 2011 with record passenger figures
Group airlines carry over 106 million passengers in total / Passenger Airline Group still plans low-level growth of 3 percent in 2012 due to weak economic environment
East Meadow, NY, January 11, 2012 – The airlines that make up the Lufthansa Group carried a record number of passengers in 2011. A total of 106.3 million passengers chose to fly with Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, bmi and Germanwings. This is equivalent to growth of 7.5 percent compared to the previous year. The Group increased its capacity by 9.8 percent overall in 2011, while its revenue seat kilometers rose by 7.0 percent. The average passenger load factor for the aircraft correspondingly fell by two percentage points to 77.2 per cent.
The trend of decreasing sales that emerged this past fall, continued in the remaining months of the year. Group-wide, it proved not possible to match the level of sales growth recorded at the beginning of the year. In light of this development and ongoing economic uncertainty, the Passenger Airline Group plans to achieve low-level growth of 3 percent in its available seat kilometers in the full year 2012. This will be realized by using larger aircraft and introducing the New Europa Cabin on Lufthansa Passenger Airlines’ European routes. A total of 65.5 million passengers flew with Lufthansa-brand planes in 2011 – 11.1 percent more than in the previous year. Lufthansa expanded its capacity by 11.8 percent in the full year, while sales were up 8.8 percent. The load factor was 2.2 percentage points down year on year, at 77.2 percent. In 2011, SWISS carried approximately 16.4 million passengers; at Austrian Airlines passenger numbers came to 11.3 million; around 5.7 million passengers chose to fly with bmi; and Germanwings had approximately 7.5 million passengers.
Lufthansa Cargo recorded growth of 5 percent in its tonne-kilometers transported in 2011 and carried a total of 1.9 million tonnes of freight and mail. Capacity grew by 8.6 percent in the full year, while sales were up 6.5 percent. This prompted the load factor to drop by 1.4 percentage points to 69.5 percent.
The Lufthansa Group’s financial results for the full year 2011 will be published on 15 March 2012 and will be available for download at www.lufthansa.com/investor-relations starting at 8.00 a.m.
