By Ogova Ondego
Published January 12, 2010
Qatar Airways, that brands itself as “the world’s 5-Star Airline”, has acquired two Boeing 777-200 long-range aircraft and two Airbus A320, bringing the Doha-based airliner’s fleet to 76 aircraft.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has introduced a ‘comfort zone’ in the Economy Class with seats with more legroom and that can be reclined twice as far as a standard seat.
On her part, Fly540 has introduced three weekly flights linking Nairobi (Kenya), Mwanza (Tanzania) and Bujumbura (Burundi). The flights, on 50-seater CRJ-100 jets, are on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.
Fly540 has at least one daily flight to Mombasa (four times a day), Malindi (three times a day), Lamu, Mara, Eldoret (twice a day), Kisumu (three times a day), Kitale and Lodwar in Kenya, Entebbe in Uganda (twice a day) and Zanzibar (twice a day), Kilimanjaro, Serengeti and Manyara in Tanzania.
RwandAir, the national carrier of Rwanda that was initially operated in partnership with Kenya Airways, has acquired CRJ200 aircraft from Germany’s Lufthansa and has employed six local aircraft engineers to work alongside their German counterparts for certification as fully licensed engineering and maintenance staff.
The training, offered by Lufthansa Technik, will be imparted on the understudies in both Germany and Rwanda.
RELATED: Out of Nairobi Holiday Packages for Christmas 2009 and New Year 2010 Announced
Meanwhile, reports TOURISM-REVIEW.COM, budget airlines are much greener than regular airlines as travellers on the former board not only with fuller wallets but also with a clearer conscience.
The most important things to know about the difference between budget airlines and regular airlines are that low cost airlines are naturally cheaper and that there are no get out clauses for being late or changing dates. But the differences go a little further than that. For the greener minded passengers, it is worth bearing in mind that budget airlines do much less damage to the environment and are a lot friendlier to the planet.
According to Liligo, a research company, taking low cost budget flights instead of business class on traditional airlines could reduce flight carbon footprint by more than 30%. The first and perhaps most logical reason is that budget airlines tend to carry more passengers. This naturally leads to the fact that the planes emit less carbon dioxide per capita. Budget airlines function on the quantity and not quality principle so fuller planes are to be expected.
On a similar note, budget planes tend to fill more seats than regular airlines so the savings are even more recognisable. Whereas British Airways tends to fill 75% of its available seats, budget airlines are renowned for selling more seats than there are available and giving out compensation to those checking in late.
RELATED: The Top 10 Most Dangerous Pickpocket Cities Unveiled
Furthermore, low cost airlines tend to focus upon short haul, which means a lower average carbon emission. Maybe one of the most important reasons is the fact that the budget airlines use newer planes, which thoroughly exploit fuel efficiency and are better at avoiding waste. The average British Airways plane is three years older than the planes used by, say, budget Ryanair.
But whether the generalisations employed on European budget airlines by Liligo can also apply to those operating in Africa (regular African airlines are derisively referred to as flying coffins; budget ones could be worse!) is unclear.
