Week in brief 080710

So Jetstar is to fly to Singapore in direct competition with parent Qantas, despite management declarations over several years now that the subsidiary brand was purely focused on routes that Qantas couldn't make money from. However, the feeling that bigger things were afoot has persisted - and announcement after announcement from the Qantas Group entrenches us in that view. This time the Qantas pilots union is voicing its concern at the longer-term threat to the Flying Kangaroo. While they have a point, there is also some sense of inevitability to the 'Jetstarisation' of Qantas, and maybe they'd be better advised to devise a strategy of their own that accepts this inevitability. After all, AirAsia X is already operating to London on the kangaroo route - and it won't be the last low-fare carrier to do that.

With a new poll on the Aviation Business website (inviting your opinion on the relevance of airshows), it is timely to note that only four per cent of respondents to the previous poll thought that airline cabin product has never been better than it is now; while 57 per cent said that they thought the product in all classes had deteriorated.

We'd have to agree with that majority, particularly after a disappointing recent long-haul experience with the brilliantly marketed Emirates brand. For our money there's now quite a marked difference between airlines when it comes to cabin product. And not always where you'd predict.

Maybe that's got something to do with the fact that Qantas has dropped to eighth place in a customer satisfaction survey conducted by Roy Morgan. Air NZ got top billing with a 90 per cent satisfaction response. Then came Singapore Airlines (89 per cent), Etihad (87 per cent), Emirates (86 per cent), Thai and Malaysia (8 per cent), V Australia (83 per cent) and then Qantas (80 per cent). But one would have to say that even a result of 80 per cent is reasonable, given that the industry average was 74 per cent.

Auckland Airport has taken a minority stake in Queenstown Airport Corporation as part of a strategic alliance designed to lift tourism traffic through both airports. But it will also involve operational synergies and whatever else can be derived for mutual benefit. The AIAL stake is initially just under 25 per cent, but there's an option to increase it to 35 per cent by mid next year. Christchurch Airport was quick to voice its enthusiasm, saying that anything that boosts tourism generally is OK from its point of view.

Here's an entrepreneurial marketing move. Aeromil Pacific, the local Cessna dealer will have a new glass-cockpit Cessna 172 on display in Martin Place in Sydney's CBD for three days from 28 July. The event will also feature a Cessna 182 Flight Simulator and a new Garmin G1000 glass-cockpit Training Kiosk. Aeromil MD Steve Padgett said that "It will be all about promoting aviation, living the dream and sharing the passion we have for flying". We know better, but it's still a great idea. Let's just hope the Sunshine Coast-based Aeromil team brings some Queensland sunshine with them.

The Flight Safety Foundation has announced the re-release of its Approach-and-Landing Accident Reduction (ALAR) Tool Kit with updated data and a new section on runway excursions. The ALAR Tool Kit was introduced 10 years ago and more than 40,000 copies have been distributed around the world. The updated version of the tool kit has been enhanced with the inclusion of the results of the Foundation's Runway Safety Initiative efforts to prevent runway excursion accidents. In addition, the tool kit contains updated data and graphic presentations on approach and landing accidents.

All this hype about Ryanair (or someone else) introducing standing room fares is bewildering. On the one hand, the idea of passengers standing for a hour or so during a flight would appear to have significant safety issues (not to mention comfort ones), but in fact the proposal is based on introducing an actual 'standing' seat. That's one where the pax is actually strapped in despite their vertical stance, so that safety is not directly the issue. In theory the airline then makes money by accommodating more travellers in the same cubic space. All we can say is, we'll believe it when it happens.

More plausibly, a UK report suggests that we may see helium-filled blimps taking to the commercial skies sometime in the next decade. The most likely role for the lighter-than-air craft would be as freighters, but passenger use is not excluded. Even though a blimp freighter would be much slower than traditional air cargo, it would be quicker than shipping. It could also carry a lot more than, say, a B747F. And, of course, a blimp does not require an airport.