As frequent air traveler it is always very interesting to discover where your favorite airlines appears on the annual Skytrax World Airline Award.

The 2007 edition of the awards honors Singapore Airlines as the Airline of the Year. In few days the name of the best Airport of the year will also be published.

HEADLINE RESULTS
	AIRLINE OF THE YEAR	BEST CABIN  STAFF	BEST INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT
	Singapore Airlines	Malaysia Airlines	Emirates
	BEST FIRST CLASS	BEST BUSINESS CLASS	BEST ECONOMY CLASS
	Qatar Airways	Singapore Airlines	Korean Air
	BEST LOW-COST AIRLINE	FIRST CLASS CATERING	BUSINESS CLASS CATERING
	Jetstar Airways	Gulf Air	Austrian
	FIRST CLASS LOUNGE	BUSINESS CLASS LOUNGE	ECONOMY CLASS CATERING
	Thai Airways	Virgin Atlantic	Etihad Airways
	BEST AIRLINE ALLIANCE	TRANSATLANTIC AIRLINE	TRANSPACIFIC AIRLINE
	Star Alliance	British Airways	Qantas

Additional awards and detailed results on Skytrax website

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Yesterday, an Airbus A-380 took-off for the 2000th time and this flight was also the 1st public flight. The largest passenger plane took-off with more than 200 journalists & companies executives on board for a 2 hours flight over the Pyrenees.

The megaplane can fly non-stop for 9,300 miles (15'000 kms) with up to 840 passengers. However, airlines will most likely hold an average of 525 passengers in a 3-classes configuration.

When A380 launches for Singapore Airlines later this year it could have features such as a gym, cocktail bar, nursery, and private first-class cabin suites with their own sliding doors, desk and be.

Sources : The Guardian / Airbus 

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Just read an interesting article about Connexion by Boeing on the Journal du Net. Today, 11 airlines proposed inflight Internet access on some selected flights.

The connexion speed is announced to be 1 Mbps upload and 5 Mbps download. Prices start at 9.95 USD for 1 hour up to 26.95 USD for the whole flight + connecting flights during a 24 hours period. The service includes email access, web browsing as well as VPN connexions.

Connexion to user’s computer can be established using cables (only in Business class I guess) and WiFi 802.11b/g.

Connexion by Boeing bases its connexions on Société Européenne des Satellites (SES) Ku Band satellites such the newly launched AMC-23.

Since January 2006, 5 TV channels such BBC, Eurosport or MSBCN are also available on the 135 aircrafts already equipped.

Airlines proposing Inflight Internet service:
Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS), Japan Airlines, Singapore Airlines, All Nippon Airways (ANA), China Airlines, Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, El Al Israel Airlines, Etihad Airways, Austrian Airlines, Air China

I’m impatient to board one of these flights to see how good and reliable the connexion is. Unfortunately, Connexion by Boeing does not provide electricity supply to aircraft seats, in consequence, inflight Internet access will remain limited by the battery capacity and the laptop consumption.

By the way… according Connexion by Boeing, the average user of Inflight Internet is 41 years old, flies 57% of his time on Business class and flew 27 times in the last 12 months. Etonnant non ?

The complete story in french is here

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