Plane Vanilla

[Samurai_Jerk]

Budget carrier renamed Vanilla Air

The budget arm of All Nippon Airways (ANA) is being rebranded as Vanilla Air, with its president saying that vanilla is "loved by everyone in the world".

"We chose vanilla as our brand name because it is popular and loved by everyone in the world," the airline's president Tomonori Ishii told reporters in Tokyo. "I think it is a very cute name."

Mr Ishii was apparently unaware of the bland and plain associations with the word "vanilla" in the West.

The airline, initially a joint venture between ANA and the Malaysia-based AirAsia, was previously called AirAsia Japan. A name change was needed as ANA now wholly owns the carrier. ...

Vanilla Air will begin flights in late December with a fleet of two aircraft, to be leased from ANA, and will target travellers heading for holiday resort destinations in Asia.

[wagyl]

AirAsia have been great for me in that they filled a gap where other airlines reduced services following the Tohoku Earthquake, and their fares and value for money do make me happy. What makes me unhappy is what they tend to do when things aren't as profitable as they would like -- things like this, dissolve a partnership in a hurry. I am sure they had an escape clause or maybe even decided that any one off penalty they have to pay to ANA is better than a slow bleed of red ink, but they have this nasty habit of cancelling flights with only one week notice. This time, the Nagoya-Fukuoka route is no exception. I suppose it adds a certain thrill each time you make a booking.

So now ANA run Peach and Vanilla. Does that make it a Melba?

[Coligny]

Pretty sure the peeps who had to go to nagoya will recover quite fast from the loss...
Those trying to get out meanwhile...

[Samurai_Jerk]

AirAsia have been great for me in that they filled a gap where other airlines reduced services following the Tohoku Earthquake, and their fares and value for money do make me happy. What makes me unhappy is what they tend to do when things aren't as profitable as they would like -- things like this, dissolve a partnership in a hurry. I am sure they had an escape clause or maybe even decided that any one off penalty they have to pay to ANA is better than a slow bleed of red ink, but they have this nasty habit of cancelling flights with only one week notice. This time, the Nagoya-Fukuoka route is no exception. I suppose it adds a certain thrill each time you make a booking.

So now ANA run Peach and Vanilla. Does that make it a Melba?

A buddy of mine flew Air Asia last year and said that he'd rather pay more to fly a real airline next time.

[Coligny]

Better or worse than Air China Airlines... Anything... ?

[Samurai_Jerk]

Better or worse than Air China Airlines... Anything... ?

Couldn't be worse than East China. He said the planes and the cabin crew were fine but he thought overall all experience of using them was a pain in the ass.

[wagyl]

A buddy of mine flew Air Asia last year and said that he'd rather pay more to fly a real airline next time.

People have different expectations: I just expect a plane to be a bus which flies through the air, so it doesn't take much to satisfy me. Little features like paying about USD20 to keep the two seats next to you vacant so that you have a row to yourself kept me very happy. Seat pitch was generous too. My biggest bugbear with low cost carriers is the hoi polloi you are forced to share the cabin with. All those low class families you wouldn't normally see on a plane, how dare they enjoy the middle class experience of an overseas holiday. But when the all up fares, even after luggage fees and booking fees and prebooked meals, and those vacant seats, are less than the fuel levy charged by other airlines, I swallow my pride.

[matsuki]

Mr Ishii was apparently unaware of the bland and plain associations with the word "vanilla" in the West.

I'm nearly 100% sure they did what my former employer did...hired some Japanese "company name/brand expert" to come up with vanilla. It would be more appropriately applied to 95% of the cars Toyota's making nowadays. Also, given that one of my biggest gripes on most flights is the vanilla ice cream...I'm not a fan. (seriously, one can only eat so much rock hard Häagen-Dazs vanilla before you get sick of it....Singapore has Ben & Jerry's Chocolate brownie, never get sick of that!!)

Never used this airline though my experience with Peach has been that they have reasonable service and booking through ANA on the same flights gets you the same service for twice the price. Skymark is cheap as fuck but has been running 30mins~hour late on every flight I've used them for. (and their refund policy/service is complete shit too) Like Wagyl though, I don't go in with much in the way of expectations, considering the cost.

[yanpa]

You haven't had the genuine LCC experience unless you've flown with Ryanair, where you are genuinely treated as self-loading freight.

[matsuki]

You haven't had the genuine LCC experience unless you've flown with Ryanair, where you are genuinely treated as self-loading freight.

Hahaha, that looks "fun"

[Samurai_Jerk]

A buddy of mine flew Air Asia last year and said that he'd rather pay more to fly a real airline next time.

People have different expectations: I just expect a plane to be a bus which flies through the air, so it doesn't take much to satisfy me. Little features like paying about USD20 to keep the two seats next to you vacant so that you have a row to yourself kept me very happy. Seat pitch was generous too. My biggest bugbear with low cost carriers is the hoi polloi you are forced to share the cabin with. All those low class families you wouldn't normally see on a plane, how dare they enjoy the middle class experience of an overseas holiday. But when the all up fares, even after luggage fees and booking fees and prebooked meals, and those vacant seats, are less than the fuel levy charged by other airlines, I swallow my pride.

I'm pretty much on the same page as you though East China was so bad that I don't think I'd use them again for anything further than SE Asia. The only good thing I'll say about them is the plane I was on had wider seats than any Delta, JAL, or ANA flight I've taken.

Being able to pay 20 bucks to keep the seats next to you empty doesn't make sense much economic sense for the airline though. Or is that only if the flight isn't fully booked?

[wagyl]

You haven't had the genuine LCC experience unless you've flown with Ryanair, where you are genuinely treated as self-loading freight.

Hahaha, that looks "fun"

The EUR70/GBP70 fee to print out a boarding pass at the airport, for those who have not printed it out on their own printer more than two hours before departure, is a classic.

[wagyl]

Being able to pay 20 bucks to keep the seats next to you empty doesn't make sense much economic sense for the airline though. Or is that only if the flight isn't fully booked?

Yes, the full details of the deal is that you pay about USD20 extra to get a row if you are travelling alone, or USD10 if you are two people wanting to get the three seats. If there are enough empty seats on the plane, those empty seats get allocated to those who have applied for the empty seats. If the plane is fully booked and you do not get your request, then you get $19 (or $9) back. It is a pretty clever way for the airline to get you to pay for carting air, especially when you know that your chances of getting an empty seat next to you by chance have decreased because they have introduced this system. The $1 processing fee is small enough that you don't feel it is too big a risk to take the gamble.

[GomiGirl]

I am just back from 10 days in Thailand and we went AirAsia X out of Haneda.

No real dramas except for the gobshite warehouse terminal/cattleyard they make you transfer in KL.

We used the "lottery" for the 75% discounted upgrade to flatbeds. We were able to get flatbeds home for 10,000 extra each. That was well worth it. It is a lottery so if they are not filled with full fare paying passengers, you might get lucky if you paid upfront. If you don't get lucky, you get your normal seat and then the upgrade price is refunded.

But it was the destination that was more important to us than the journey.

[wagyl]

No real dramas except for the gobshite warehouse terminal/cattleyard they make you transfer in KL.

Yes, the Low Cost Carrier Terminal in KL is quite obviously what it is: a repurposed cargo terminal. Down the drive-up steps and walk to the terminal across the tarmac. Here, have an umbrella if you get the mid afternoon tropical squall.

[Mike Oxlong]

Jetliner buzzes sea after Naha miscue

A jetliner dived to a dangerously low altitude of just 248 feet above the ocean during its landing approach to Naha airport in Okinawa Prefecture on Monday after the pilot mistook instructions from air traffic controllers, the transport ministry said.

The Airbus A320-200, owned by Japanese budget carrier Peach Aviation Ltd., had 59 passengers and crew aboard. Despite the miscommunication, the jet climbed in time to avoid crashing and landed safely after being alerted by a ground proximity warning system, the ministry said Tuesday. No one was injured.

The aircraft was in “a dangerous situation as it could have crashed into the sea,” a ministry official said.

The 45-year-old Argentinian captain of the plane, which was headed for Naha from remote Ishigaki Island further southwest near Taiwan, said he mistakenly believed the controllers told him to descend when it was 7 km north of the airport, according to the ministry. Visibility is believed to have been low at the time due to rain.

The Japan Transport Safety Board is set to probe the incident by sending investigators to Kansai airport, where Peach Aviation is based.

[Coligny]

248 ft ASL a little more than twice the A320 wingspan...

[Mike Oxlong]

Japan, Korea clip Thai flyers' wings
Move could affect civil aviation rating by ICAO

Thailand's aviation industry has begun to feel the pinch of Thai authorities' failures to comply with global standards, as Japan and South Korea have taken pre-emptive action to curb air service by Thailand-registered...

http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/tou ... yers-wings