Jan 23, 2018  -  Is there no stopping Viking? The rapidly expanding company recently announced it is building seven new river ships to start sailing in 2019, which will bring its worldwide river fleet to 69. Six of the ships will cruise the Rhine, Main and Danube rivers and the seventh, Viking Helgrim, will cruise Portugal's Douro River. Viking Helgrim joins three Viking ships already sailing on the Douro; carrying up to 106 passengers they are smaller than the 190-passenger Longships but share many of their fleetmates' features, including the streamlined Scandinavian design, Aquavit Terrace and organic herb gardens.

Jan 23, 2018  -  Emirates SkyCargo offers enhanced protection for pharmaceutical cargo with launch of pharma corridors. Emirates SkyCargo, the freight division of Emirates, has stepped up its commitment to securely transport temperature sensitive pharmaceutical shipments with the introduction of pharma corridors offering additional protection across selected stations in its network for pharmaceutical cargo.

Jan 23, 2018  -  Hotels, motels, backpackers, and holiday parks benefited from widespread growth in November 2017, with total guest nights up 4.3 percent from November 2016, Stats NZ said today. International guest nights increased 5.6 percent in the month, with domestic guest nights close behind, up 3.1 percent.

“An increase in visitor arrivals from Australia may have contributed to the growth in international guest nights,” accommodation statistics manager Melissa McKenzie said. “Fans here for the Rugby League World Cup may also have been a factor.”

Hotels led the increase in total guest nights, with 50,000 more nights spent in hotels in November 2017 than the previous November.

“International guests are typically more likely to choose hotels for accommodation,” Ms McKenzie said.

Backpackers and holiday parks also recorded sizeable increases in total guest nights, up 7.3 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, in November 2017 compared with November 2016.

“This November was a warmer, dryer month than the previous November which may have helped guest night increases, particularly for holiday parks,” Ms McKenzie said.

Motel guest nights increased a modest 1.7 percent after strong growth in November 2016.

The accommodation survey collects data for guests staying in short-term commercial accommodation such as hotels, motels, backpackers, and holiday parks. Hosted and private accommodation, such as bed and breakfasts and holiday homes, are excluded.

Accommodation survey: December 2017 will be released on 15 February 2018.

Continue here to read the full article on STATSNZ  

|  A STATSNZ release  |  January 23, 2018   |||

Jan 22, 2018  -  Air New Zealand’s latest marketing campaign puts a quirky spin on holiday planning, using facial recognition technology to predict an individual’s dream Queensland getaway.

19 January, 2018 - A newly-signed contract discloses key details of Russia’s design goals for the country’s first high-bypass gas turbine engine in the 75,000lb-thrust power class launched on 19 January to support the CRIAC CR929 widebody, Ilyuishin Il-96-400 and several military projects.

The $1.13 billion (₽64.3 billion) contract awarded by the Russian government on 19 January calls on United Engine Corporation-Aviadvigital to develop a demonstrator engine named the PD-35-1 by 2023 featuring several state-of-the-art technologies, including wide-chord composite fan blades and composite fan case, ceramic matrix composites and advanced cooling systems.

The PD-35-1 also will be designed with a compressor pressure ratio measuring 23:1, the contract documents posted on the Russian government’s procurement agency says. That falls a step below the 27:1 ratio planned for the high-pressure compressor section of the GE Aviation GE9X engine now in development testing for the Boeing 777X.

But the documents still reveal a plan for Russian industry to make dramatic progress over the next decade. Building on the advanced metallics now in testing in the 28,000lb-thrust PD-14 turbofan, the PD-35-1 will drive Russia to introduce composite materials pioneered by GE over the last 15 years. The Aviadvigital PD-14 is Russia’s homegrown alternative to the Pratt & Whitney PW1400G on the Irkut MC-21 narrowbody.

In a statement posted on his Facebook page, Russia’s deputy prime minister for defence and space industries Dmitry Rogozin notes that the Soviet Union never produced a turbofan engine over 70,000lb-thrust and the PD-35-1 will become the first in the region’s history.

“We really need it,” he says.

Russia and China have teamed up to develop the CR929 under the CRIAC joint venture beween Comac and United Aircraft Corporiation. CRIAC is expected to select an engine made by GE or R-R to introduce the CR929 into commercial service by the end of the next decade. Separately, China and Russia each plan to develop indigenously-sourced alternatives to the Western powerplants for the CR929. The PD-35-1 also would be used to power several Russian air force development projects, including the Il-476 airlifter, Il-478 tanker and a long-term effort to replace the Antonov An-124.

Mimicking the structural configuration of the Boeing 787’s GEnx-1B engines, the PD-35-1 engine will be designed with widechord composite fan blades and a composite, the contract documents show. The documents don’t specify if Russian industry plans to use a similar process as GE’s 3D woven composite materials.

The turbine of the PD-35-1 will be exposed to temperatures as high as 1,450°C (2,640°F), exceeding the melting point of most advanced metal alloys. To help the turbine survive, the contract documents say Aviadvigital must integrate exotic new materials and advanced cooling systems. Two types of ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) – silicon carbide-silicon carbide (SiC-SiC) and carbon-silicon carbide (C-SiC) will be used in the PD-35-1 demonstrator engine, the contract documents say. GE pioneered the use of CMCs in the Leap-1 series of engines that it produces with Safran under the CFM International joint venture.

SOURCE: Flight Dashboard BY: Stephen Trimble Washington DC   ||  January 19, 2018   |||

Jan 19, 2018 - Dubai, UAE – Emirates, the world’s largest international airline, today announced a US$ 16 billion (AED 58.7 billion) deal for 36 additional Airbus A380 aircraft, with 20 firm orders and 16 options. Emirates’ A380 fleet operates both GE and Rolls-Royce engines, and the airline is evaluating engine options for its latest A380 order.

Jan 18, 2018  - Hawaiian Airlines and Jetstar Group have launched a new interline partnership offering travellers from cities in New Zealand convenient flight connections to Hawai'i and the USA mainland.

Jan 16,  2018  - Airbus has strengthened its position following a record year for jet sales, extending an order lead over rival manufacturers such as Boeing.  The European company booked contracts for 1,109 airliners in 2017, Airbus announced, widening its margin over its US competitor to 197.

Jan 16, 2018  - New Zealand travellers’ connections to Istanbul will improve from June 8 when Emirates resumes flights between Dubai and Istanbul’s Sabiha Gokcen Airport.  The resumption of services on the route will allow customers two airport options when travelling Emirates to Istanbul.

Jan 16, 2018  -  Two additional hybrid models have just bolstered the New Zealand fleet of Avis Car Rental making theirs the largest fleet of hybrid rental vehicles available in New Zealand. The luxury BMW X5 XDrive40e plug in electric Hybrid SUV and Toyota Corolla Hybrid Hatch will sit alongside the existing Toyota Camry Hybrid.