Billionaire unveils underwater 'plane'

LONDON, Jan. 29 - A British billionaire has unveiled a submarine created with fighter jet technology to allow for underwater "flying."

Richard Branson, 59, the billionaire head of Virgin Atlantic, said U.S. company Hawkes built the $664,000 Necker Nymph prototype to reach depths of 130 feet and he is in the process of building a stronger model to travel up to 35,000 feet below the surface of the ocean, The Sun reported Friday.

"It is very similar to an airplane flying in the sea. You can literally do loop-the-loops," Branson said.

He said the carbon fiber plane will be based at his private Necker Island and he will offer underwater tours to vacationers.

Media Man International Profiles

Virgin Enterprises Limited

Richard Branson

BRANSON TAKES SPACE TOUR TO U.S. TV - 16th January 2010

Virgin boss Sir Richard Branson has landed a new reality TV series, documenting his efforts to make space tourism a reality.

Branson unveiled his VSS Enterprise spacecraft last month (9th December) with plans to launch the first Virgin Galactic flights in 2011.

National Geographic Channel's four-episode Virgin Galactic series will follow the billionaire mogul and engineer Burt Rutan's efforts to send 50,000 people into space over a 10-year period.

The series is Branson's second foray into TV in recent months. Reality series Fly Girls, about flight attendants on his Virgin America Airline, is currently in production for U.S. network CW.

Media Man Profiles

Richard Branson

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Enterprises Limited

National Geographic

Reality TV

Aviation

Travel and Tourism

Lower Fares to Australia are Coming as Virgin Spreads Its Wings From South Africa to Australia With Its Newest Airline

From Leopards and Lions to Koalas and Kangaroos

BRISBANE, Australia, August 17 -- -- Coming soon!! Sir Richard Branson's newest Australian airline to bring low fares, koalas on the aircraft wall, opera house shakers, the Southern Cross, a new airline choice and world famous Virgin service to the people of South Africa.

Sir Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group, has today announced that Australia's newest international airline, V Australia, will launch direct flights between Johannesburg, South Africa and Melbourne, Australia from early next year.

V Australia launched flights between Australia and the US in February this year and has already been recognized for its exceptional in-flight product, friendly crew and unique Australiana touches. The airline is the sister carrier to Richard Branson's other long haul airline, Virgin Atlantic, which already operates flights from the United Kingdom to Johannesburg.

V Australia will begin flying between Australia and South Africa in March next year, just in time to fly hordes of fans to Johannesburg for the FIFA World Cup.

Flights from Johannesburg to Melbourne will take off on 13 March 2010 and operate twice weekly with connections to other Australian cities including Sydney and Brisbane.

Sir Richard Branson said, "I am very proud to be bringing our fresh new Aussie airline to South Africa and can't wait for it to touch down for the first time on South African soil. I know V Australia will offer true value for money, while at the same time providing a brilliant service."

He added, "I am especially pleased that it will mean lower fares to Australia and will also bring more Aussie visitors to experience the special beauty of South Africa, its people, its landscape and of course, the big five."

V Australia is part of the award winning Virgin Blue Group of Airlines, based in Australia and operates a brand new fleet of Boeing 777-300ER aircraft. The carrier offers a three class service including International Business, International Premium Economy and International Economy.

The airline was designed to offer the most comfortable, high-tech, innovative and pleasurable long haul flying experience available and does so via a range of special features from the sit-down in-flight bar, fully lie-flat beds and "privacy suite" seating options in Business Class to the complimentary thongs and salt and pepper shakers in the shape of the Sydney Opera House that are gifted to Business Class Guests.

The aircraft also features Australian animals hidden in wallpaper murals on the bathroom walls, a Ladies Only Toilet and the Southern Cross sky twinkling on the cabin roof through its innovative mood lighting system. Every V Australia Guest across all cabins is able to enjoy our "Red" individual seat back in-flight entertainment providing a wide array of films, music and games.

Sir Richard Branson continued, "The one special thing that sets Virgin airlines apart from all other airlines around the world is the people who fly our aircraft and the people who look after our Guests, whether it be in the air or on the ground and I am personally excited that travellers can now fly from Australia direct to South Africa on V Australia and then on to London with Virgin Atlantic under the great care of Virgin crew all the way."

Virgin Blue Group revolutionized air travel in the Australian market when it first launched almost 10 years ago and has been credited with providing competitive air fares, sterling service and for bringing back old fashioned fun and glamour to both domestic and international flying.

The commencement of V Australia flights to Johannesburg will mean South African travellers will be able to fly all around the world on a Virgin airline including to Australia and then across to Los Angeles on V Australia, on to New York on Virgin America, followed by a flight to London and then back to South Africa on Virgin Atlantic.

V Australia plans to announce super specials to Australia shortly, signaling a new era of air fare competition on South Africa- Australia routes.

*Subject to Government and regulatory approval.

Media Man Australia Profiles

V Australia

Virgin Enterprises Limited

Travel and Tourism

Aviation

Aabar Investments and Virgin Group Agree Equity Investment Partnership in Virgin Galactic

Oshkosh/Abu Dhabi, 28th July 2009

Abu Dhabi's Aabar Investments and Virgin Group today announced that they have agreed to enter a strategic partnership, which will see Aabar take an equity stake in the world's first commercial spaceline - Virgin Galactic. To date, Virgin Galactic has been wholly owned and funded by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group.

The deal, signed today at the EAA AirVenture air show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin attended by Sir Richard Branson, Founder of Virgin Group, and Mohamed Badawy Al-Husseiny, CEO of Aabar. The signing ceremony is taking place alongside Virgin Galactic's new carrier space launch vehicle, WhiteKnightTwo (VMS Eve) which is making its public demonstration flying debut in Oshkosh.

Under the deal, Aabar will invest approximately US$280m and take around a 32% stake in Virgin Galactic's holding company, valuing the business at about $900m. The transaction is subject to obtaining regulatory clearances in the United States and elsewhere. Additionally, Aabar has committed $100m (plus transaction cost) to fund a small satellite launch capability, subject to the development of a full business plan. It will also gain exclusive regional rights, subject to regulatory clearances, to host Virgin Galactic tourism and scientific research space flights. Finally, Aabar has plans to build spaceport facilities in Abu Dhabi.

Commenting on the acquisition, HE Khadem Al Qubaisi, Chairman of Aabar, said, "I am pleased to announce this partnership. Virgin Galactic is the leader in the realm of space tourism, having successfully established a potential global market for its offering in a very short span of time. Aabar's stake in Virgin Galactic will open a new avenue of opportunity for Abu Dhabi in this unique and dynamic business. The significant partnership not only falls in line with Abu Dhabi's larger plans to inculcate technology research and science at a grassroots level but also complements its aim to be the international tourism capital of the region."

Virgin Galactic is in the final stages of developing and testing commercial sub-orbital space vehicles based on the prototype SpaceShipOne, that flew successfully to space and back three times in 2004. The unique and innovative designs of the vehicles will transform the cost, safety and environmental impact of access to space for people, science research and education.

Sir Richard Branson said, "We are delighted to partner with Aabar in a strategic deal that is a first for Virgin Galactic. The initiative will leverage the solid financial backing of Aabar and the pioneering technology and strong global relationships of Virgin Galactic. This exciting deal is indicative of the interesting and high value investments that mark the UAE's commercial portfolio."

The new joint venture also proposes to undertake additional development which would enable the space system to launch small satellites at unprecedented levels of cost, reliability and flexibility.

"This transaction carries multiple potential for the creation of an exceptional platform for space infrastructure such as research labs, space centre for commercial travel and much more," said Mohamed Badawy Al-Husseiny.

Virgin Group has invested over $100m in Virgin Galactic since its formation in late 2004. The development of its new vehicles is being carried out by Scaled Composites, the renowned Mojave CA based aeronautical firm, owned by Northrop Grumman and led by Burt Rutan.

Scaled Composites was responsible for designing and building SpaceShipOne which won the $10m X Prize in 2004 as the first privately funded manned space vehicle. The system is highly innovative: it utilises a carrier aircraft for launch of the spaceship at high altitude, a controllable and benign hybrid rocket motor and a unique wing feathering design for a failsafe re-entry. The spaceship makes a runway landing rendering it almost entirely reusable.

The new commercial vehicles are now at an advanced stage of development. VMS Eve, VG's new carrier aircraft is well into its test flight programme and is performing flawlessly. It is the world's largest all carbon composite aircraft and has a unique high altitude, heavy lift capability. Sir Richard Branson is due to be onboard VMS Eve as a member of the crew for a demonstration flight during EAA AirVenture at Oshkosh on Tuesday 28th July.

The new spacecraft, SpaceShipTwo will commence its own test flight programme before the end of 2009. Both vehicles offer a unique environment for space tourism and a wide range of science research applications as well as a platform for small satellite launch.

Patrick McCall, the Virgin Group Commercial Director responsible for the transaction said, "We are building a great partnership for the development of the world's first private sector integrated human and payload space launch system. All of us at Virgin Galactic are very much looking forward to working with Aabar's Chairman, HE Khadem Al Qubaisi, its CEO Mohamed Badawy Al-Husseiny and the whole Aabar team as we move forward together at the cutting edge of the coming industrial revolution in space access . I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Brandt Mowry, the senior vice-president of corporate development who managed the transaction on behalf of Virgin Group."

Virgin Galactic expects the capital infusion to fully fund the company through to its commencement of commercial operations.

Credit Suisse acted as the exclusive financial advisor and placement agent to Virgin Galactic regarding the transaction.

About Aabar
Aabar Investments PJSC is an investment company headquartered in Abu Dhabi and is on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange. It directly invests in various sectors including energy, infrastructure, real estate, automotive and financial services companies. Its largest shareholder is the International Petroleum Investment Company, which in turn is wholly owned by the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.

About Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic was launched by Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group in 2004 with the objective of developing commercial space vehicles which would transform the safety, cost and environmental impact associated with access to space. As well as offering 1000's of ordinary people the chance to experience space for themselves, the system will be used for space and high altitude science research and potentially developed to launch small satellites. In the future the company expects to move on to the development of orbital vehicles capable of carrying people, including the possibility of offering very fast trans –continental flights around the planet.

Virgin Galactic's vehicles use the design and technology developed by the renowned aeronautical engineer, Burt Rutan, for SpaceShipOne, which as the world's first privately built manned spaceship, flew safely to space and back three times in 2004.

This remarkable and unique project is now in its final stages with the test flight programme of the commercial vehicles underway. Already, approximately 300 people from around the world have paid approaching $40m in deposits, representing $60m of ticket sales, to guarantee an early seat.

Virgin Galactic's guiding star is safety. In addition to a system that is proven and safer by design, the vehicles are being put through a comprehensive and exhaustive test flight programme before the inaugural commercial flight takes place on which Sir Richard Branson and his family will fly.

Virgin Galactic astronauts will be prepared and trained for an experience of sensory overload, from the incredible acceleration at launch through to the "out of seat" zero gravity experienced in the blackness of space whilst looking through large windows at the breathtaking views of the Blue Planet below.

All of Virgin Galactic's first astronauts will be pioneers in a new industry which in the future will allow us to make better use of space to improve life here on Earth.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Enterprises Limited

Aviation

Branson to press case against BA-AA tie-up - 14th May 2009

WASHINGTON — Billionaire Richard Branson said Thursday a proposed tie-up of British Airways and American Airlines would threaten the survival of rivals, including his own carrier Virgin Atlantic.

The proposed tie-up of the North Atlantic operations, part of a five-airline plan awaiting approval from US authorities, "will be absolutely disastrous" for consumers, travel agents and the industry, he said.

"It will be the end of red-hot competition," the flamboyant British tycoon and head of the Virgin Group said at the National Press Club in Washington.

Branson said he was in Washington to put the finishing touches on Virgin Atlantic's "final submission" to the US Department of Transportation (DOT) to try to block the deal with BA and AMR Corporation's American Airlines.

He said the benefits touted for the deal "are illusory."

"It doesn't make sense to actually encourage even less competition by allowing the two largest dominant carriers to increase their stranglehold by setting price together and agreeing schedules."

Last year, American Airlines, British Airways and Iberia of Spain signed an agreement to cooperate over flights between North America and Europe to help them overcome soaring fuel costs, drawing fierce opposition from Branson's group.

BA, AA and Iberia are part of the 11-airline oneworld alliance, and are seeking, along with oneworld partners Finnair and Royal Jordanian, antitrust immunity from the US government on transatlantic flights.

American Airlines spokesman Ryan Mikolasik said Branson's speech and comments were "rife with overgeneralizations, hyperbole and just plain old inaccuracies."

Mikolasik said that the five partners were "simply seeking to level the playing field" with some airlines in rival alliances Star and SkyTeam that already have US antitrust immunity.

"This permission or antitrust immunity has already been granted to 10 airlines in Star and six in SkyTeam -- including the recently merged and now world's largest airline Delta," he said in an email to AFP.

He said that between them, the rivals hold more than 64 percent of the market share of European Union and US passengers.

The AA spokesman noted that the US Department of Transportation is taking comments on their application for immunity through Monday, and then will have six months to issue a ruling.

Asked about the impact of the deal on his own airline if it wins regulatory approval, Branson said: "I cannot guarantee Virgin Atlantic's survival if BA and AA are allowed to merge."

"It would be very, very difficult," he added.

Virgin Atlantic had argued against BA and AA tie-up proposals that ultimately failed in 1997 and 2001.

"Our arguments are as strong today as they were then. Their dominance has grown even further" in the key transatlantic route between the United States and London's Heathrow airport, he said.

"It's vital that regulators understand that this isn't just another alliance: it's an attempt to stitch-up the most important long-haul routes from Europe's most important airport," he said.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Atlantic

Richard Branson

Virgin Enterprises Limited

Beach stunt - The Bondi View - March 2009

Bondi Beach local Greg Tingle and aviator Paul Bennet made a gutsy attempt to block out the sun at Bondi Beach last Saturday when Bennet took his Pitt's Special to the air, plastered in Aquasun signage, and circled Bondi Beach. Clouds lessened the effect but the stunt was incident free, and no sharks were spotted. Bennet is the Australian advanced aerobatic reigning champion and is now working on an air stunt for the world famous Crusty Demons.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Paul Bennet

Maxx-G Aerobatics

Greg Tingle

Aquasun

Crusty Demons

Aviation

Publicity stunt at Bondi Beach blocks out the sun...almost - The Bondi View - 1st March 2009

Bondi Beach media and marketing entrepreneur, Greg Tingle, and long time Media Man friend and associate, aviator, Paul Bennet, made a gutsy attempt to block out the Sun at Bondi Beach this past Saturday morning.

Bennet took his Pitt's Special to the air, plastered in Aquasun signage, and circled Bondi Beach at least half a dozen times to show beachgoers the reverse side of his wings which featured Aquasun, the iconic Australian sunscreen.

Due to strong and extremely thick cloud formations the visual effect was not quite as stunning as what Bennet, Tingle and Aquasun had hoped for, but the message cut through none the less.

The Bondi View can report that the Bondi Beach stunt was incident free, and no sharks or white pointers were spotted on Saturday.

Bennet is the Australian Advanced Aerobatic reigning champion and is currently putting together an air stunt component for the world famous Crusty Demons.

On the stunt Bennet advised, "These sort of performances are always tricky. We can control and influence many things, but not the appearance of clouds. It was an enjoyable and safe display and everyone was happy with the ultimate result".

Bennet's manager, Tingle joked, "Well, at least it didn't rain and thank God Malcolm Turnbull wasn't able to accept our invitation to this one. The cloud incident was embarrassing enough. We don't think anyone got sunburned for the first half of the day, and we're grateful The View was able to cover it anyway due to our unusual attempt to help raise sun protection awareness. The tourists seemed to enjoy the show, but I'm only half sure about the locals. We handed out hundreds of free sunscreen packs so that's only a good thing".

*photos

Bennet's Pitt's Special shows us its wings

Agent, Greg Tingle, and the Aquasun beach babes crew

Media Man Australia Profiles

Paul Bennet

Aquasun

V Australia's Boeing 777 lands in Sydney, by Leah McLennan - The Age - 9th February 2009

V Australia's first Boeing 777 jet has touched down at Sydney Airport, marking the launch of a new home grown international carrier on the trans-Pacific route between Australia and the US west coast.

The arrival of the new plane for the Virgin Blue offshoot airline on Monday is expected to spark a price war on tickets to Los Angeles as V Australia goes head-to-head on the route with Qantas, United Airlines and newcomer Delta.

On site to welcome the aircraft were members of V Australia's 300 strong staff, Virgin Blue staff and corporate guests.

Representatives from the Yolgnu people, the traditional keepers of the Yiridaki (didgeridoo) were also present to give a traditional welcome to V Australia's new aircraft, called Didgeree Blue.

On board the delivery flight check capita in Andrew Grierson, a former pilot with Dubai-based carrier Emirates, said it was exciting to be a part of the launch.

"It's an opportunity to be part of something new," Mr Grierson said.

Before touchdown at 1015 AEDT the new plane - the first Australian-owned B777-300ER and the first aircraft of its type to operate on the trans-Pacific route - performed a low flyover of Sydney.

The jet left the US planemaker's home town of Seattle on Friday after UK billionaire Richard Branson, chairman of the Virgin Group, attended a handover ceremony that was more like a beach party than an official delivery event.

Sir Richard, wearing board shorts and zinc cream, accepted the keys to V Australias new plane at the event in the Boeing hangar after frolicking with bikini clad women and US cheerleaders.

The aircraft then took off for LA with Sir Richard, Aussie celebrities including Nip/Tuck actor Julian McMahon and singer and actor Holly Valance, Virgin Blue staff competition winners and several reporters on board.

Upon arrival in LA, Sir Richard announced two new routes for V Australia - Melbourne to LA and Sydney to Johannesburg, South Africa.

"Recession ... What recession?" Sir Richard said to a crowd of travel industry professionals gathered in LA to greet the plane.

"The way to get out of recessions is to try to expand out of recessions, create more jobs, bring airfares down and try to offer better quality of products."

The self-made billionaire then departed on his private jet bound for his home in the British Virgin Islands, while V Australia's plane prepared to depart for Sydney.

V Australia has ordered a further six of the jets.

The plane is owned by International Lease Finance Corp (ILFC) and leased to V Australia.

V Australia received its first jet three months later than expected because of machinist strikes at the Boeing factory in Seattle

Sir Richard said in Seattle that if Boeing did not resolve its labour issues the company risks losing orders.

"The strike hurt hundreds of thousands of our passengers," he told journalists.

"It messed up Virgin Blue in Australia, it ruined people's Christmas holidays."

But any concerns over potential future aircraft delays were overshadowed by Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey's excitement about the launch of V Australia.

"This is a new airline for Australia," Mr Godfrey said.

"Australia has never had a second international airline."

Mr Godfrey acknowledged the airline was launching into a soft market, with demand for air travel declining because of the economic slowdown around the world.

But he told journalists Virgin Blue would not follow Qantas' lead and undertake a capital raising in the domestic equity market.

"We're not looking at that track," Mr Godfrey said.

Virgin Blue's balance sheet is under pressure with V Australia's $65 million in start-up costs and load factors - a measure of paying passengers - at 40 per cent between now and June.

Mr Godfrey said V Australia would break even in 18 months and he expected bookings to increase once word got about the aircraft's features and fares.

"We will bring some healthy competition to the route," Mr Godfrey said.

"The combination of our Virgin service and the outstanding features and comfort levels on board the B777 will be a winner on the trans-Pacific route."

V Australia's plane carries 360 passengers in a three class configuration - business class with lie-flat seats, premium economy and economy.

The aircraft boasts two in-flight bars, cutting edge in-flight entertainment systems from Panasonic and mood lighting throughout the cabin.

V Australia will make its debut commercial flight from Sydney to Los Angeles on February 27.

Brisbane-LA flights start from April 8 and Melbourne-LA commences on September 15. The Sydney to Johannesburg start date has yet to be set. (Credit: The Age)

Media Man Australia Profiles

V Australia

Richard Branson

Branson launches V Australia fleet - 7th February 2009

British billionaire and showman Richard Branson has declared war on Qantas and other rival airlines with the launch of his new fleet of V Australia passenger jets to fly the Australia-US route.

The Virgin boss used a press conference in Los Angeles on Friday to announce two new routes for the airline on top of the already revealed Sydney-LA and Brisbane-LA legs.

V Australia will fly between Melbourne and LA from September and a Sydney to Johannesburg route on a date yet to be set.

Branson, never one to shy away from creating a media spectacle, braved wind and rain to walk out on the wing of a new V Australia Boeing 777-300ER jet with Australian celebrities Julian McMahon, Jason Clarke, Holly Valance and Kimberley Joseph.

He then popped a bottle of champagne, spraying it on the celebrities and the Los Angeles international airport tarmac below.

"Recession?" Branson, wearing an Akubra, asked.

"What recession?

"The way to get out of recessions is try to expand out of recessions and create more jobs, bring airfares down and try to offer better quality of products."

V Australia will begin its Sydney-LA flights on February 27 and Brisbane-LA on April 8.

Qantas and United Airlines dominated the Australia-US route in recent years but V Australia and US airline giant, Delta, plan to challenge.

Airfares on the route have been slashed as each airline attempts to grab or maintain market share.

V Australia general manager Brett Godfrey said his airline was offering $1100 all inclusive return fares for Australians travelling to the US.

Godfrey said he expected Qantas and other competitors to slash their prices again.

"They will continue to try to undercut us," Godfrey said.

"There will be a fare war.

"Consumers are going to be the beneficiary."

Branson said the public can expect rock bottom fares if there were vacant seats on a V Australia plane prior to takeoff.

"We will never go out with an empty seat so if we have an empty seat we will slash the fare," Branson said.

The new flights to Melbourne, starting from September, will see V Australia provide an extra 1080 seats for visitors each week, Victorian Industry and Trade Minister Martin Pakula said from the Melbourne Airport on Saturday.

"That will secure more jobs for the Victorian tourism industry as tourists and business people spend their money at hotels, restaurants and tourist facilities," he said.

He said Victorians would also welcome the opportunity to catch a direct flight to Los Angeles.

"It's very important to have direct flights. It provided great flexibility for tourists, particularly Victorians travelling to LA not needing to have to hub through Sydney," he said.

Melbourne Airport CEO Chris Woodruff said he was delighted with the announcement.

"Melbourne has the market opportunities airlines look for - we are continuing to grow even in the economic downturn, we have kept our costs down and we are continuing to invest in new capacity and the Virgin group has obviously found this very attractive," Mr Woodruff said.

Media Man Australia Profiles

V Australia

Richard Branson

Aviation

Delta to compete with Qantas on Sydney-LA route, by Scott Rochfort - The Sydney Morning Herald - 19th December 2008

The world's biggest carrier Delta Air Lines has confirmed its plans to launch flights from Los Angeles to Sydney in July next year, a move tipped to trigger the first serious air fare battle on the Qantas-dominated route in more than a decade.

- Fares battle looms on key route
- Qantas faces competition
- Prices topple as carriers stake claim

Delta announced overnight it would commence a daily Boeing 777-200 flight on the route on July 1.

Combined with V Australia's plans to fly to LA in February, Delta's arrival is not only expected to boost the number of seats on the route but also dramatically lower airfares.

V Australia already appears to have pre-empted Delta's announcement by slashing its fares by 45 per cent through its $1199 fare (including taxes) sale which was launched on Wednesday.

Delta is yet to announce what introductory fares it will offer from Sydney. But from the US, Delta is offering one-way fares from LA to Sydney for US$499 ($730) including taxes.

The launch of the Sydney service will make Delta the first US airline, since the now defunct Pan Am, to fly to six continents.

Delta has also held talks with Melbourne Airport. But one factor preventing Delta flying into Victoria is its Boeing 777-200LR aircraft, which do not have the range to fly to LA-Melbourne with a full-load.

"Naturally we will be talking to them to use larger planes and come to Melbourne," a spokeswoman for Melbourne Airport said.

Melbourne Airport, in its proposal to Delta, argued that unlike Sydney it was not restricted by a curfew. The airport also pointed out it has 40 per cent lower landing and aircraft-related costs than the Macquarie-controlled Sydney.

Delta and V Australia's entry will end the cosy duopoly enjoyed by Qantas and United Airlines on the route since Air New Zealand suspended its Sydney to LA service in 2003.

But the US carrier's entry is set to frustrate V Australia's launch on the route.

V Australia has already pushed back its launch date from December to February, and Delta's entry, coupled with the global economic slowdown, could make it even tougher for the Virgin Blue long-haul airline to make a profit on the route.

Aside from flooding the route with more seats, Delta could capture more traffic given its membership of the world's second largest airline alliance, SkyTeam. Unlike V Australia, it is also a well-known brand in the US.

Delta's entry could also spell an end to the bumper profits and domination Qantas has enjoyed over the route for the past decade.

A spokesman for the federal Minister for Transport, Anthony Albanese, said the Government was yet to hold talks with the airline.

But thanks to an open skies treaty signed between Australia and the US early this year, Delta will have the right to start daily services almost immediately. United Airlines is the only other mainland US carrier to fly direct services on the route, from which Qantas makes an estimated 20 per cent of its profits.

The number of seats on the route is already set to increase on route even without V Australia and Delta's entry. Qantas has recently deployed its second A380 superjumbo on the route, which has 100 more seats than the 350-odd seat 747-400s it has used on the route since the early 1990s.

Delta's arrival has been a welcome boost to the flagging Australian tourism sector, which is bracing itself for a slump in international arrivals due to the global economic crisis. But coupled with the recent fall in the Australian dollar there are hopes it could inject some life into Australia's fourth largest source of international tourists.

"We're going to be doing it tough in 2009 so any additional competition on the LA-Sydney route will stimulate the market," said Tourism and Transport Forum executive director Olivia Wirth. Around 370,000 Americans visit Australia each year.

"At the moment we're seeing greater competition in airfares not only in Australia but worldwide," she said.

It is believed Delta's entry could be a byproduct of its merger in October with US rival Northwest Airlines, which made it the largest airline in the world.

As both airlines eliminate overlaps in their respective networks, they now have surplus aircraft to put on new routes, such as to Sydney.

Delta's entry could also thwart Singapore Airlines' hopes of ever gaining permission to fly the route. The Asian carrier has been attempting to gain entry on the route since 1996. Its appeals were knocked back by the Howard Government in 2007, when Virgin Blue signalled its intention to fly to LA. Early this month, Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said he would continue to block Singapore Air from the route despite Australia having a free trade agreement with the South East Asian nation.

A Singapore Airlines commissioned economic survey in 2005 claimed the lack of competition on the LA route was costing Australia $126 million in lost tourism revenue each year. The Econtech report claimed the entry of just one daily service by a new competitor - against Qantas and United - would bring 48,000 extra US tourists to Australia annually. The report also found that airfares on the LA route were substantially higher than those on the highly competitive Sydney-London route, where more than 30 airlines compete.

The study claimed economy fares per kilometre on the Los Angeles route were 17 per cent more expensive than for flights to London. The report said the fare per kilometre to Los Angeles (12,000 kilometres from Sydney) was 8.9c compared with 7.6c for London (20,000 kilometres from Sydney).

Qantas declined to comment on Delta's entry and is yet to announce any new seat sales to LA.

(Credit: The Sydney Morning Herald)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Travel and Tourism

Aviation

Aviation corporate movements, by Peter Gosnell - The Daily Telegraph - 4th December 2008

There's plenty of Irish mafioso folklore surrounding this proposed tie up between British Airways and Qantas, along with the usual whiff of corporate incest.

BA boss Willie Walsh and Qantas new boy Alan Joyce both cut their aviation fangs at Aer Lingus, the Emerald Isle's national carrier.

Joyce was eventually lured to the antipodes by Sir Rod Eddington to work at the now defunct Ansett.

Walsh, who started as a pilot at Aer Lingus, went on to become chief executive. While he was running things there, Joyce moved to Qantas' el-cheapo service Jetstar but got the call up from Aer Lingus when Willie was lured to BA to replace Eddington, who stepped down in September 2005.

Joyce stopped over in London on his way to Dublin for the interview and just happened to run into then Qantas boss Geoff Dixon who told him not to take the job because he had a bright future down under.

Sir Rod, who is a great mate of Joyce, is just as well acquainted with Qantas chairman Leigh Clifford, through his directorship on the board of mining giant Rio Tinto.

Clifford only stepped down as chief executive of Rio in April 2007, and that's a dual listed corporate structure, not dissimilar to the one being proposed for Qantas and BA.

(Credit: The Daily Telegraph)

Aviation News Media Profiles Udpated

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Daredevils delight with aerial stunts, by Dale Miller - The West Australian - 3rd November 2008

British pilot Paul Bonhomme soared to a thrilling victory in the final of yesterday’s Red Bull Air Race as big crowds descended on the Swan River at the weekend to marvel at aerial stunts and daredevil flying.

Bonhomme won the all-English final by clocking a time of 1 minute 17.78 seconds in his Edge 540 to pip rival Nigel Lamb’s time by 1.90 seconds. Earlier, he beat new world champion Hannes Arch in the semi-finals.

Video

The victory failed to elevate the 44-year-old Briton ahead of Austria’s Arch, who became the first European to win the title after securing the championship with 61 points — seven ahead of second-placed Bonhomme.

About 300,000 people watched the spectacular final leg of the series across the event’s two days, with people lining the banks of the Swan River and vantage points such as Kings Park to take in the action.

About 250 boats dotted the Swan River.

WA Police Media spokeswoman Ros Weatherall described crowds as well behaved. A couple of move-on notices were issued but there were no arrests.

“There were lots of families and even if you weren’t part of a family everyone was in a good mood and there was no real trouble — we were very pleased,” she said.

One child suffering dehydration was taken to hospital by St John Ambulance but no other incidents were reported.

A low fly-over by a Qantas Boeing 747 and an aerial display by the Royal Australian Air Force Roulettes aerobatic team were among other highlights.

Live radio commentary was broadcast for the first time to help follow the action in conjunction with big video screens.

The Red Bull world championships will return to Perth in 2010.

(Credit: The West Australian)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Red Bull

Austrian takes out Red Bull series title - The Age - 2nd November 2008

Briton Paul Bonhomme clinched victory in an international air race over Perth on Sunday to finish second in the world series.

Austrian Hannes Arch claimed the Red Bull world series title on Saturday when he qualified fastest for Sunday's super eights, becoming the first European to win the title.

Bonhomme overcame a throat infection to edge out Arch in Sunday's final leg.

Last year Bonhomme finished second to American world series champion Mike Mangold and this year he lost out to Arch.

Arch's tally of 61 points edged out Bonhomme who finished on 54.

American Kirby Chambliss came third with 46 points while Mangold was fourth with 44.

Thousands flocked to the banks of Perth's Swan River to watch the spectacular event.

All the action took place over a low level aerial track on the Swan River, made up of 20 metre high inflatable pylons known as air gates, at speeds of up to 370km/h.

The pilots pull up to a g-force of 12 during racing.

Perth has hosted the event since 2006 and has brokered an in-principle agreement with organisers to hold it until 2012.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Red Bull

Virgin America and HBO Take Entourage to the Skies On New JFK-LAS Route

25th August 2008

Partners Launch New Direct Route From JFK to Las Vegas With Star-Studded Media Event to Introduce 'Entourage Class' On 'Entourage Air'


SAN FRANCISCO, Aug 25, 2008

Virgin America today announced it is teaming up with HBO to launch the airline's new non-stop New York-Las Vegas flights and Season 5 of Entourage in high style with "Entourage Class" service on the new route, a star-studded in-flight sneak peek of Entourage Season 5, and HBO content fleetwide. On September 4, the partnership kicks off with the unveiling of the newest member of Virgin America's fleet -- a co-branded aircraft named "Entourage Air." The inaugural flight from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS) will include an advance screening of the first episode from Season 5 of Entourage, premiering on HBO Sunday, September 7.

"With mood-lit cabins and the most advanced touch-screen entertainment system in the U.S., we are on a mission to reinvent travel and bring a little style and entertainment to the skies," said Vice President of Marketing for Virgin America Porter Gale. "HBO is known for redefining the genre and Entourage's hip, sexy vibe is a perfect match for our guests and for our new JFK to Las Vegas route in particular."

During the month of September, First Class guests on Virgin America's new non-stop JFK-LAS route will fly "Entourage Class"* and receive A-List perks like noise canceling headphones, champagne, Godiva chocolates, Kiehl's Since 1851 personal products, Altoids and "Entourage Air" blankets and eye masks. Beginning on September 5, Virgin America also will begin offering HBO's award-winning programming cabin-wide on every flight, including the hit series Entourage.
"We are excited to launch "Entourage Air" in partnership with Virgin America. Entourage appeals to the same savvy, sophisticated consumer that flies Virgin America," said Courteney Monroe, Executive Vice President of Consumer Marketing at HBO.

On September 4, members of the Entourage cast and Virgin Group Founder and Chairman Sir Richard Branson will host a swanky, star-studded send-off party from a private hangar in New York, where "Entourage Air" will take center stage. Guests will walk the red carpet to board "Entourage Air" for two memorable firsts: the first-ever in-flight premiere of a cable or broadcast program in the domestic skies and Virgin America's first non-stop flight from JFK to LAS. Palms Casino Resort will host an after-party for Entourage Air guests at the Playboy Club that evening in Las Vegas.
The unveiling of "Entourage Air" will serve as the kickoff of a larger licensing partnership between HBO and Virgin America, allowing the airline to offer premium HBO content on RED, its interactive, in-flight entertainment system from Sept. 5, 2008 - October 2009.

Virgin America currently flies to seven cities with daily flights from: SFO to LAX, SFO to JFK, SFO to SAN, SFO to IAD, SFO to LAS, SFO to SEA, LAX to JFK, LAX to IAD, LAX to SEA, and starting Sept. 4, 2008, non-stop JFK to LAS.

About Virgin America: Launched in August 2007, Virgin America is a California-based airline that offers guests attractive fares and a host of innovative features aimed at reinventing air travel. Virgin America's base of operations is San Francisco International Airport's ultra-modern and convenient International Terminal. The airline's new Airbus A320-family aircraft offer interactive in-flight entertainment systems and power outlets for laptops and other electronic gear. In July 2008, Virgin America was named "Best Domestic Airline" in Travel + Leisure World's Best Awards. In Zagat's 2007 Global Airlines Survey, the airline was ranked #1 among U.S. carriers for quality in First/Business Class and #2 in Main Cabin. To learn more: www.virginamerica.com

The Virgin America logo is available at http://www.primenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2371

About HBO Entourage: From executive producers Mark Wahlberg, Stephen Levinson, Doug Ellin, Rob Weiss and Denis Biggs, HBO's award-winning, hit comedy series ENTOURAGE draws on the experiences of industry insiders, and stars Adrian Grenier as Vince, who is enjoying life in the limelight as a hot young actor; Kevin Connolly as Eric, Vince's manager, who tries to help him make the right choices; Kevin Dillon as Vince's half-brother Drama, whose own career has been eclipsed by Vince's success; Jerry Ferrara as Turtle, the least savvy of the group; and Golden Globe(r) and two-time Emmy(r) winner Jeremy Piven as Ari, who serves as Vince's aggressive, high-powered agent.

* Terms and Conditions: Must be a valid first class ticket holder on JFK - Vegas flight during the period of Sept. 1 - October 1, 2008 to receive partner products on Entourage Class. Virgin America and HBO reserve the right to discontinue the promotion on any flight, at any time. Headphones and blankets are samples only -- guests will be required to leave them on the plane.

This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com
SOURCE: Virgin America

Virgin America
Media:
Abby Lunardini
(650) 533-7576
abby.lunardini@virginamerica.com

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin

Virgin Atlantic launches campaign to highlight James Bond film tie - Brand Republic - 30th September 2008

LONDON - Virgin Atlantic will support its partnership with James Bond movie Quantum of Solace with a national integrated drive.

The press, outdoor, online and promotional activity will highlight a Virgin Atlantic flight that the fictional spy is seen taking in the film, which will be released on 31 October.

The 'You Only Live Once'-themed ad for the airline's economy class seats promotes its latest fares and features Bond actor Daniel Craig. Ads for its Upper Class service emphasise check-in and security procedures, using the strapline 'Fastly superior'. Virgin Atlantic will also introduce pricing incentives with the travel trade.

Greg Tingle comment...

Virgin, and specifically, Virgin Atlantic, beats them to the punch again. The Bond franchise is priceless and little wonder its now know as 'Buy Another Day'. Richard Branson nailed this, and along with V's deal with HBO's Entourage, is currently enjoying a stellar run, or at least that is the media and public perception. Perceptions often become reality, financial crush, crash or not. Adapting to the times and relevance is what its all about. Charles Darwin said, "In the long history of humankind \(and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed". Murdoch went on, "Big will not beat small anymore, It will be the fast beating the slow", and Australia's James Packer, "Internet is like electricity". I will be speaking of this article at CAP Down Under also. Brand Republic is quick and like electricity I see!

(Credit: Brand Republic)

Media Man Australia Profiles

James Bond

Virgin Atlantic

Red Bull air race to keep flying in WA - The West Australian - 26th October 2008

The Red Bull International Air Race will stay in Perth for another three years from 2010, the West Australian government has announced.

The event, which will be held next weekend, last year attracted hundreds of thousands of spectators and more then 100 million TV viewers worldwide.

West Australian Tourism Minister Liz Constable said the race would not be held next year but would resume in 2010 for three consecutive years.

“The Red Bull organisers are re-jigging their calendar and they want to put the Perth event up front around about March/April and everyone felt that a six month gap between the two races was not long enough,” Dr Constable said.

“But an 18-month gap gives us time and everyone more time (and) breathing space before we start up again.”

The event involves race pilots from around the world flying between buoys or air gates in the Swan River doing speeds of up to 400km/h, 10 metres above the water.

It is a free event but prime viewing positions can be purchased close to the finish line on the Perth foreshore.

Ms Constable today said, while the event would cost the state government almost $5 million in 2010, the benefits would be worthwhile.

“It returns over $12 million to the local economy ... which is good for business, especially small business,” Dr Constable said.

“And that’s a fantastic to involve people in Western Australia as well as interstate visitors and some overseas visitors.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Red Bull

Aviation

A few interesting facts about V*Points

21st October 2008

Surely you’re all familiar with V*Points right now, but we can all do with a refresher once in a while, can't we?

Whether they win or lose, every single player you send to Virgin Games earns V*Points, and are able to exchange these points for lots of Virgin extras.

Virgin Games has been round their Virgin sister companies and raided the cupboards. There are Virgin Atlantic Flying Club miles, Virgin Vouchers that can be spent on a variety of things from mobile top-ups to digital downloads, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.

A few interesting facts about V*Points at Virgin Casino:
- 44,528,073 V*Points have been earned
- 34,229,098 V*Points have been redeemed
- 3,771,177 Flying Club Miles have been redeemed or given away

* That's almost 2 trips to space on Virgin Galactic (2 million miles required for a Virgin Galactic trip to space)
* It's also roughly 135 times around the world
* It's also roughly 8 trips to the moon and back or 16 one way trips to send the things in life you don't want any more

- 445,280 V*Points have been given away
- £306,818 in cash has been redeemed from V*Points

Media Man Australia Profiles

V*Points

Virgin Games

Virgin Casino

Virgin Atlantic

Richard Branson

A midair mall? Airlines seek new ways to make money, by Caroline Brothers - IHT - 15th October 2008

LONDON: The passenger beside you is playing poker on an online gambling site. His wife is chatting on her mobile phone while the children fire off text messages and tune in to pay-per-view satellite TV. Your overpriced drink sits on a tray table embellished with advertising, while the cabin crew, working on commission, moves up and down the aisles peddling theater tickets and DVDs along with traditional duty-free goods - for home delivery.

"It's an on-board mall," said Ramsey Nuwar, sales director for ARINC's Skybuy, speaking of a not-so-distant future, when airlines may become retailers with wings. His company sells the satellite-connected machines that would bill your credit card directly, from high in the sky.

The idea is part of a frantic quest by airlines for new ways to maximize earnings amid a financial crisis that is hurting demand after oil prices climbed dramatically over the past two years. With little control over most of their costs, the airlines are increasingly charging passengers for elements once covered by their tickets, while low-cost carriers are spearheading efforts to find new things to sell in the air.

"There is no low-cost airline that isn't being kept alive by ancillary revenue," Mike Rutter, chief commercial officer of the British low-cost airline, Flybe, said during a recent interview. "You may lose money flying from A to B but you can reduce your losses on ancillary."

Flybe, which introduced a baggage fee early, sees check-in as the next frontier for breaking out costs for the traveller.

"We can unbundle check-in more," he said, offering possible fee levels, "from not using check-in at all, with the Internet; to using kiosks in the airport for some help, which is Level 2; to full manual check-in, which is Level 3," he said. "Then different forms of baggage could be Level 4 - for fragile objects that need unusual handling on the ground."

Prices would increase from one level to the next.

Traditional airlines that have long used an all-inclusive fare system have been slower to "unbundle" costs to passengers, though some started charging for checked bags as the price of oil approached $150 a barrel during the summer. Now that the oil price has receded, few airlines are revoking those charges. United doubled the fee, to $50, for a second bag last month.

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of British Airways, said there were some things his flag carrier would never charge for.

"We won't unbundle seat assignment," he said during an interview last month. "We won't unbundle the checked-in bag allowance. We won't unbundle check-in at airports and we won't charge you for a glass of water on the aircraft."

But he did not rule out introducing fees for checking in golf bags and skis. "That debate is still going on," Walsh said.

Passengers' comfort is not expected to be the top priority for flight attendants in the midair shopping malls of the future.

"You need them to break away from Salvation Army service," said Joao Monteiro, an executive at LSG Sky Chefs, a Lufthansa-owned airline caterer and service provider. "You want retailers on board."

Sales commissions of 10 percent to 12 percent would work as powerful incentives for cabin crews to sell extra products, said Laura Duran, ancillary revenue manager at Vueling, a low-cost airline based in Barcelona that is merging with a rival, Clickair.

"From Vueling's perspective it's a very good idea," Duran said. Making cabin crew salaries entirely commission-based would, however, be a step too far, she said. "It's just a topper."

Passengers could be encouraged to spend with offers of discounts on attractions like Disneyland if they paid more than $50 on board, Nuwar said, while sales targets would drive cabin crews to ring up more in-flight sales. Train tickets, hotel rooms and rental-car reservations could all be offered.

Duty-free perfumes and alcohol, which are too heavy to stock aboard weight-sensitive aircraft like Vueling's, could be picked up at destinations or even delivered. "You scan and pay with your credit card and have them delivered to your home," Nuwar said.

No midair snack is too small to generate a profit, provided it can last through several flights before being sold.

"The basic needs are hunger and thirst - not the lifestyle of gourmet food," said Monteiro of Sky Chefs, whose experience in supplying gourmet sandwiches to one airline was not a happy one. "We had wastage of more than 30 percent - we had to throw them all out after the first flight."

Airlines, he said, should think like flying supermarkets instead.

"You have to think like a retailer who has space on board to get higher margins," Monteiro said. "When you are struggling to make a profit on a ticket, then selling for $3 to $5 that item of water on board that cost you 20 cents can make you a profit."

Meanwhile low-cost airlines, early adopters of all new methods to make the passenger spend, are impatient for new technology that will let them charge for access to live and satellite TV. But the prohibitive cost of retrofitting existing aircraft for broadband, Rutter said, means that cash source will be realized only when airlines renew their fleets.

At a time when planes are jettisoning ballast to reduce their fuel bills, the equipment alone will add 70 kilograms, or 154 pounds, to a plane's load.

But Asbjorn Christoffersen, chief regulatory officer at OnAir, an information technology company, said the system would allow airlines to offer passengers services like in-flight gambling.

"If you can make one passenger sign up for a gambling application on your aircraft, you will be paid $100 by the gambling application provider," he said.

Ryanair, the biggest low-cost operator in Europe, will roll out the mobile phone and Internet system on its whole fleet "in the next few weeks," Christoffersen said. Two other low-cost airlines - Air Asia and Shenzhen Airline of China - are set to follow, while Kingfisher of India and TAM of Brazil are interested.

"Low cost airlines are aggressively driving this," Christoffersen said. Mainstream carriers like Air France-KLM, TAP of Portugal and BMI of Britain are also starting to explore the service. "It's becoming something you have to have," he said.

Laws about gambling do not apply over water, and they apply only during descent into the national airspace of certain countries, said Rutter of Flybe. Like Ryanair, Flybe has long been interested in gambling as a form of entertainment on flights too short for watching films.

Vueling, meanwhile, hopes advertising will bolster its revenues. Duran sees tray tables as untapped ad space.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Travel and Tourism

Flying into the future, by Aimee Greaves - 4th October 2008

It's the stuff of Boy's Own adventures or far-flung science fiction, but a record-breaking feat by test pilot Brian Binnie has paved the way for the next generation of tourist destinations – outer space.

Binnie made history when he flew the first privately funded rocket ship, SpaceShipOne, into orbit.

In doing so, he was the catalyst for tycoon Sir Richard Branson's ambitious Virgin Galactic project, and paved the way for ordinary people to travel where only astronauts had been before.

SpaceShipOne, funded by billionaire Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, won the $10 million (Dh36.7m) Ansari X Prize – a competition for the first non-government organisation to launch a reusable ship into space twice in two weeks.

Binnie, 55, is set to speak at the Orion Congress tourism conference on October 11 at Atlantis The Palm, where he will deliver a 45-minute presentation to highlight the "new frontier of the hospitality industry", according to the Regional Manager of Orion Hotel Schools, Adam Sargeant.

Ahead of his visit to Dubai, Binnie spoke of his hopes for commercial space travel – which, he told Emirates Business, was within the financial reach of many people.

Virgin Galactic is charging $200,000 per person for a trip to the fringes of space, which comprises a two-and-a-half hour journey to the edge of Earth's atmosphere and back. Despite it costing almost Dh5,000 a minute, Binnie said: "The cost is not vast and there are plenty of people willing to pay.

"The only other space-ride option I'm aware of is about 20 times more expensive. I have no reservation saying that if we get to the point where we're running out of wealthy passengers then the price will have dropped dramatically to where the rest of us can entertain the notion."

Virgin will initially run one flight a week for six passengers at a time – although no launch date has been announced – and then hopes to eventually increase it to two flights a day, all of which will help reduce costs.

But if Binnie's vision is any indication of if, and when, space flight will become a common reality, people could soon find themselves swapping a city break for one on the Moon – and this is what attracted him to Dubai. "The theme of the Orion Congress for 2008 is 'What's Next?' and what new ideas are shaping, informing, changing and driving the 2020 agenda for tourism and hospitality," he said. "The potential of space tourism is enormous.

"First there will be sub-orbital flights, then perhaps hypersonic travel and even space hotels – the opportunities are endless and Virgin Galactic is taking the first step [by adopting SpaceShipOne's technology]," he added.

Binnie's fascination with flight started at a young age, when he would fly model aeroplanes with his father in their backyard.

"Our favourite one was a folding-wing glider you launched with a slingshot and when it slowed down near apogee, the wings would unfold and start a lazy descent to the ground," said the native of the state of Indiana. Now he has had the opportunity to experience the rush of reaching the fringes of space first-hand and gliding to earth as the pilot of SpaceShipOne.

"When that rocket motor is finally shut off, you literally step across a threshold into another realm, where beauty and peace and quiet reign, graced by weightlessness," he said.

"And then there's that view. The black void that is space is revealed as if someone has pulled back a stage curtain for your eyes.

"This vast presence offering menace, mystery and majesty. But below is a reassuring comfort – a 1,600km horizon that reveals mountain ranges, coastlines and weather patterns normally only seen on the evening news. And separating space from Earth is an improbably thin, bright, electric-blue ribbon that is the atmosphere.

"Everywhere you look is 'wow' and everything you feel is 'wow'.

"And as you drift over to another window for a different view, you realise with child-like wonder that you are in space in a spaceship.

"But with four minutes of magic still to be absorbed you glide lazily over to a companion to share and soak up the reward of all your hard work and relish the joy it brings."

Binnie started his flying career as a pilot in the US Air Force and then became a test pilot on retirement.

Paul Allen and the team behind SpaceShipOne, constructed by Scaled Composites, soon came calling and between them they made history when they won the Ansari X Prize.

Although the venture netted the $10m prize, Allen spent a reported $25m to do so. The cost may be small to the Microsoft co-founder, who Forbes says has a $18 billion fortune, but there was no guarantee of success.

On December 17, 2003 – the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers' first powered flight – Binnie piloted the first powered test flight of SpaceShipOne, which reached a top speed of mach 1.2 and a height of 20.7km.

Then on October 4, 2004, he piloted SpaceShipOne's second Ansari X Prize flight – the first was helmed by Mike Melvill on September 29 – to win the X Prize and become the 434th person to go into space.

But the route to the outer atmosphere was far from plain sailing, said Binnie. "We had significant, sometimes serious and always challenging problems from the start.

"Problems were encountered with the first flight of the mothership, first rocket motor firing, the third glide flight and all of the powered flights except the last one," he said.

"While I always felt the vehicle was capable of completing the mission profile, it was far from clear we were going to achieve it prior to the X Prize expiration date.

"But the cost was secondary to Paul [Allen]. I read that he estimated the programme had a 50-50 chance of succeeding.

"When he committed his money, the X Prize wasn't even funded but Paul wanted to be associated with an effort that potentially could make a mark on the long-delayed commercial sector entry to manned space flight.

"That he got some of his money back was the icing on the cake compared to having the vehicle put in the National Air and Space Museum."


What is the X prize?

The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a $10m (Dh36.7m) prize for the first non-government organisation to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks.

It was modelled after early 20th century aviation prizes, and aimed to spur development of low-cost spaceflight.

The prize was won on October 4, 2004 – the 47th anniversary of the Sputnik 1 launch – by a project designed by Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, using SpaceShipOne.

While $10m was awarded to the winner, more than $100m was invested in new technologies in pursuit of the prize.

The X Prize Foundation is a non-profit institute that designs and manages public competitions for the benefit of humanity.


PROFILE: Brian Binnie

Born: Indiana, United States

Age: 55

Education: Degrees from Brown and Princeton varsities

Key Achievement: Piloting the first privately funded spacecraft, SpaceShipOne

Awards: Won the Ansari X Prize, after SpaceShipOne made two space flights in as many weeks

(Credit: Erirates Business 247)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

“YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE” VIRGIN ATLANTIC LAUNCHES CAMPAIGN

Virgin Atlantic, one of the world’s leading long-haul airlines, has unveiled its campaign to promote its partnership with Quantum of Solace, the James Bond adventure in cinemas in the UK from 31st October.

In the film, James Bond, played by Daniel Craig, flies Upper Class across the Atlantic. It’s the second time that Virgin Atlantic has appeared in a Bond movie, after its successful partnership with Casino Royale, which became the most successful in the James Bond franchise.

Virgin Atlantic will be promoting its partnership via Upper Class and Economy service advertising in print, poster sites (outdoor), online and through incentives with the travel trade. The airline will also be showing behind-the-scenes footage on its in-flight entertainment system onboard each flight.

The economy advertising promotes Virgin Atlantic’s latest fares with the theme “You Only Live Once,” highlighting the fact that, if we’re going to fly abroad, there’s only one airline to choose. The Upper Class advertising focuses on the airline’s “Fastly Superior” check-in and security channel for business passengers at Heathrow Terminal 3’s new Upper Class Wing.

Paul Dickinson, Sales and Marketing Director for Virgin Atlantic, said:

“As you only live once, Virgin Atlantic is the airline to fly with. Being James Bond’s favourite airline means we have to live up to his desire to travel in style. Our new campaign will highlight our great range of fares and superior product offering compared to other airlines. We’re delighted to be part of Quantum of Solace.”

Daniel Craig reprises his role as Ian Fleming�s James Bond 007 in Quantum of Solace, the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures/Columbia Pictures release of EON Productions’ 22nd adventure in the longest-running film franchise in motion picture history. The film is directed by Marc Forster. The screenplay is by Paul Haggis and Neal Purvis & Robert Wade. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli produce.

For further information please contact the Virgin Atlantic Press Office on +44 (0) 1293 747373 or log onto www.virginatlantic.com.

About Virgin Atlantic

* Virgin Atlantic is one of the world’s leading long-haul airlines
* It flies to 30 destinations worldwide from its main base at London Heathrow and London Gatwick
* There are 38 aircraft in its fleet, comprising 747-400s, A346-600s and A343-300s
* Sir Richard Branson is the President of Virgin Atlantic; Steve Ridgway is the Chief Executive
* In 2007, Virgin Atlantic carried around 6 million passengers

About EON Productions

EON Productions/Danjaq, LLC, is owned by the Broccoli family and has produced twenty two James Bond films since 1962, including Quantum of Solace. The James Bond films, produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, make up the longest running franchise in film history and include the recent blockbuster films GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies, The World is Not Enough, Die Another Day and Casino Royale. EON Productions and Danjaq LLC, are affiliate companies and control all worldwide merchandising of the James Bond franchise.

About Columbia Pictures

Columbia Pictures, part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America (SCA), a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE’s global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 100 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com.

About Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., through its operating subsidiaries, is actively engaged in the worldwide production and distribution of motion pictures, television programming, home video, interactive media, music and licensed merchandise. The company owns the world’s largest library of modern films, comprising around 4,100 titles. Operating units include Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc., United Artists Films Inc., Ventanazul, MGM Television Entertainment Inc., MGM Networks Inc., MGM Domestic Networks LLC, MGM Distribution Co, MGM International Television Distribution Inc, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Home Entertainment LLC, MGM ON STAGE, MGM Music, MGM Worldwide Digital Media, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Interactive. In addition, MGM has ownership interests in international TV channels reaching nearly 120 countries. MGM ownership is as follows: Providence Equity Partners (29%), TPG (21%), Sony Corporation of America (20%), Comcast (20%), DLJ Merchant Banking Partners (7%) and Quadrangle Group (3%). For more information, visit http://www.mgm.com.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Atlantic

Richard Branson

James Bond

'Steve Fossett items' possibly found in California: police

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Items possibly belonging to missing aviator Steve Fossett have been found by hikers in a remote area of California more than one year after his mysterious disappearance, police said Wednesday.

Mammoth Lakes Police Department chief Randy Schienle, told CNN that items including an identity card bearing Fossett's name had been handed to authorities after being discovered on Tuesday.

"They found some miscellaneous ID and actually some cash in the area, and the ID has the name of Steve Fossett on it," Schienle told CNN.

"We're not certain that it belongs to Steve Fossett but it certainly has his name on the ID which are some miscellaneous pilots and/or aircraft licenses."

The identity cards did not have a photograph of Fossett on them and no plane wreckage was found near the items, Schienle said.

"We found no wreckage. We have found a sweatshirt in the area as well. And it's certainly been out in the area for some time as it's quite faded," Schienle told the network.

Police said a command post had been set up at Mammoth Lakes Airport and aerial searches of the area were underway.

The rugged terrain where the items were found is well within the range of the private airfield south of Reno, Nevada, where Fossett took off from on September 3, 2007.

Schienle declined to speculate on whether searchers expected to discover wreckage of Fossett's plane, a single-engine Citabria Super Decathlon.

"All I know is we have this ID. It seems to have been outside there for a while, because the ID itself is well weathered as well," he said. "I don't know if we're anywhere near a potential wreckage or not."

Fossett's disappearance baffled rescuers who found no trace of the 63-year-old adventurer despite a massive search that involved dozens of aircraft taking to the skies to scour the region.

A multi-millionaire who made his fortune dealing stocks in Chicago, Fossett set dozens of world records in sailboats, gliders and hot-air balloons.

He famously made the first solo nonstop, non-refueled circumnavigation of the world in 67 hours in the Virgin Atlantic GlobalFlyer. In 2002, he was the first person to fly solo around the world in a balloon.

In February, an Illinois judge declared Fossett legally dead at the request of his widow, who issued a recent statement that there were "no further plans for additional searching."

Fossett's iconic status and the unusual circumstances around his demise have brought comparisons to the enduring question of what happened to aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

The fact that no trace of Fossett or his plane was found after his disappearance have given rise to numerous conspiracy theories, with British newspapers in July speculating he could have faked his death.

However Fossett's close friend and fellow adventurer Sir Richard Branson has rubbished the speculation. "If it were true, I'd be the happiest man ever," Branson told media earlier this year.

"I would love to see Steve alive and living somewhere with a beautiful lady. I'm absolutely sure that it's absolutely bollocks."

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Qantas blues help rival - The Sydney Morning Herald

Virgin Blue shareholders might not have felt it yesterday, but the airline has been a beneficiary of the recent woes at Qantas. The only problem for Australia's second-largest airline is that JPMorgan and Credit Suisse believe this probably won't continue as Qantas operations begin returning to normal.

Virgin's latest statistics show the airline's revenue load factor - a measure of the number of seats filled by paying passengers - dropped 2.6 percentage points to 79 per cent in August.

Credit Suisse reckons a domestic recovery at Qantas and weakening demand will create a "challenging environment" for Virgin in months to come.

But one of the headwinds for legacy airlines such as Qantas is the expected slowdown in demand for business-class seats. JPMorgan points to recent statements from Qantas, Air New Zealand and British Airways that indicate a segment that has traditionally been resilient is showing signs of weakness.

The latest financial market meltdown won't give the Qantas chief-in-waiting, Alan Joyce, any confidence of the segment's impregnability.

Belt-tightening might encourage corporate travellers to fly Virgin instead of Qantas business class or fully flexible economy fares, JPMorgan said. But the frequent flyer program at Qantas might encourage corporate types to stick with it.

Shares in Virgin Blue slumped 17 per cent, or 6.5c, to 31.5c yesterday.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Blue

Qantas

Richard Branson Profile Updated

Media Man Australia Profiles

Richard Branson

Rocketman flies into the record books, by Avril Ormsby - News.com.au - 27th September 2008

* "Rocketman" flies over English Channel in 13 minutes
* Becomes the first man to make the crossing by rocket
* Now plans to take on the Grand Canyon

Swiss adventurer Yves Rossy flew from France to England overnight propelled by a jetpack strapped to his back - the first person to cross the English Channnel in such a way.

Rossy, a pilot who normally flies an Airbus airliner, crossed the 35km between Calais and Dover at speeds of up to 200km/h in 13 minutes, his spokesman said.

When the white cliffs of Dover came into view, he opened a blue and yellow parachute and drifted down in light winds to land in a British field where he was mobbed by well-wishers.

"Everything was perfect," he said afterwards. "I showed that it is possible to fly a little bit like a bird."

Rossy traced the route of French aviator Louis Bleriot, who became the first person to fly across the Channel in an aircraft in 1909.

The Swiss pilot was propelled by four kerosene-burning jet turbines attached to a wing on his back.

He ignited the jets inside a plane before jumping out more than 8000 feet above ground.

After a period of free fall he opened the wing and soared across the water. With no steering controls, the only way to change direction was like a bird, moving his head and back.

The 49-year-old Rossy, who calls himself "Fusion Man", told the BBC the most tense moment was when he jumped from the aircraft "because I did have many problems during exits before."

But this time he made a perfect exit and quickly set the correct course by aiming for the cliffs of Dover.

Rossy usually flies a Swiss International A320 Airbus between Zurich and Heathrow and he developed the jet-propelled device himself.

The wing, which spans 2.5m, is made of lightweight carbon composite and weighs about 55kg including fuel.

He postponed the flight twice this week due to poor weather and wore a flameproof suit to help him withstand the jet exhaust around his legs.

His future plans included flying over the Grand Canyon, taking off from a standing position on the ground and performing acrobatics.

V Australia faces delays, by Matt O'Sullivan - The Age - 26th September 2008

Virgin Blue's long-haul carrier V Australia could face delays to the delivery of its first Boeing 777s, casting serious doubt over whether it will begin services to Los Angeles in mid-December.

The delivery dates for the more fuel-efficient planes to airlines around the world have been thrown into question because of a three-week strike at Boeing's plants near Seattle. V Australia was due to receive its first 777 in the first week of November, while another two of the long-haul planes had been expected in December. Yesterday Air Canada said it expected two 777s due for delivery by the end of this year to be delayed because of the strike by Boeing machinists.

The prospect of delays will create major headaches at V Australia because it already has a tight timeframe to begin services between Sydney and Los Angeles on December 15.

A Virgin Blue spokeswoman said yesterday the airline was still "awaiting clarity" from Boeing over the expected impact of the strike and whether this would affect V Australia.

"At this stage we can still launch on time," she said. "We're awaiting answers from Boeing and then we will have clarity. We're hopeful Boeing will resolve their dispute ASAP."

V Australia's first 777 is believed to be on a tarmac outside a Boeing production plant near Seattle, but still needs an internal fit-out. Virgin Blue has ordered seven Boeing 777-300ER planes for its V Australia operation, with an option for six more for the trans-Pacific flights.

Chief executive Brett Godfrey said this month that V Australia did not expect to get its air operator certificate until early December just days before it is due to begin services.

"Virgin Blue did its approving flight five days before its first flight (in 2000).," he said then. "You anticipate to get it … so we are selling, you are moving, jumping through all the hoops and hurdles."

A Boeing spokesman said the company did not know whether there would be delays to deliveries until the strike was over. He could not say whether it was closer to ending.

"As far as Boeing is concerned, we really can't predict what impact the strike might have," he said yesterday. "Until we get back to work we won't know."

V Australia sold out a promotional $999 return fare from Sydney to LA within hours in April, but has yet to fill the rest of the seats on its first flight, which coincides with the start of the year's busiest travelling period.

Media Man Australia Profiles

V Australia

Virgin Blue

Aviation

Meet Virgin Blue’s best marketer: Qantas - Aviation Record - 24th September 2008

There's nothing like a good old fuel crisis to shake out the airline industry.

And for much of this year, that's exactly what the whole industry has been going through.

One of the outcomes of this has been the rapid blurring of the line between traditional full-service carriers and discount airlines.

In Australia, Virgin was the airline that turned the traditional domestic model on its head, offering significantly-reduced fares and friendly service in late-model efficient planes. Their rapid success in soaking up the infrequent flyer sent Qantas into a bit of a spin. Virgin, together with the success of northern hemisphere carriers like EasyJet and Ryanair, prompted Qantas to launch a low cost subsidiary, Jetstar, which has proven hugely successful in increasing the number of Australians - and latterly Asians - taking flights, expanding the market rather than cannabilising its mainstream brand.

But this year, Qantas has lost the plot on the cannabilisation front. For reasons best known to itself it has started handing Virgin customers in droves.

In the last year Virgin has matured into a carrier with schedules, a rewards program and even lounges to attract the lucrative business market - the Virgin of today still offers great value to infrequent travellers who book reasonably well in advance, or even just a few weeks out. But by introducing wider seats at the pointy end and improved catering menus, it now offers a very real alternative to Qantas for the more frequent traveller.

Qantas has responded to this repositioning by Virgin by giving it a hand - throwing thousands of customer's Virgin's way.

In rash, sweeping decisions, Qantas has decided to pull its mainline brand out of domestic and international routes it has decided are tourist routes and thus can be served by Jetstar.

One of those routes is the Gold Coast. Apparently, Qantas has decided that the Gold Coast with its sandy beaches and extravagant nightlife is just a destination for tourists. Well it is, but it also had a thriving convention industry. And people who go to conventions don't want zealously-enforced baggage limitations, cramped seats, poor flight punctuality, minimal food choice (assuming there is actually food packed on board; a colleague of mine recently boarded an evening flight from Gold Coast to Melbourne only to be told no-one had loaded any food on the flight and passengers couldn't even buy it) or to be told they can't change flights at short notice without paying a penalty sometimes higher than the original fare itself. They want more than a "tupperware airline" as a friend described his Jetstar experience last month.
So those people can now travel with Virgin Blue - they can even use a lounge at one end (although not, yet, at Gold Coast). If you're going to a convention or doing any business in Gold Coast you now have a choice of Jetstar or Virgin Blue. I am a Qantas Platinum level frequent flyer. I won't fly Jetstar on principle, so off I went to Virgin.

This scenario is being repeated in a number of domestic destinations as Qantas hands routes over to Virgin Blue by replacing its services with cheap-Charlie Jetstar flights - and to places like Osaka and Kuala Lumpur where business travellers, or those who prefer to fly comfortably, now have to choose another carrier.

Worse, the fewer cities Qantas flies to, the less comprehensive its route map and the more likely frequent travellers are to consider alternative airlines.

It's a slippery slope: Outgoing Qantas CEO Geoff Dixon admits it takes a long time to build passenger volumes - and thus profits - on new routes. My view: handing loyal customers over to rivals like that simply nurtures the cancer that consumes brand loyalty.

From talking to colleagues and others who travel frequently, I know I am not alone: Qantas' decision to start whiting out those red lines on its once extensive route maps inspired me to sign up for Virgin Blue's Velocity reward program. It also prompted me to hire a seat in a V Australia Boeing 777 to Los Angeles in January to attend an industry convention; not only did I save a lot of money on the fare, I get to fly on a brand new month-old aircraft with a large personal TV screen and comprehensive entertainment system - much more comfortable than down the back of a shaky old Boeing 747 which may or may not get to the destination on time and without an unscheduled stopover in Nadi or somewhere while they fix something underneath, or in Auckland to take on more fuel due to encountering unexpected head winds.

Last week Qantas sent me a glossy magazine they told me was only sent to the top 1% of their customers.

It will be a short-lived subscription, I am sure. But will that message reach Qantas' board in time?


Greg Tingle comment

It's almost as if someone is paying Qantas to keep stuffing up upon the impending launch of Virgin's V Australia. If you paid Qantas to keep doing what they are doing for Virgin I don't think they could do a better job. I hope no one gets hurt leading up to the V Australia launch. The financial market's struggling a touch but Virgin Blue and V Australia are flying high, by airline industry standards anyway, at least that's the public perception, and perceptions become reality. Don't forget also, Virgin is not an airline company, aviation is just one of the businesses they engage in. Qantas is an airline company, which has branched out a touch into accommodation etc. I think we know which of the two is the more stable company. I wonder if the Australian (or British) government would be prepared to rescue any of these firms if the need arose, and who might get the nod. While we are pondering these questions here's a good read... Flying Without Fear and You F'Coffee Sir?!!! If this is too inside, ask Richard Branson, Geoff Dixon or Dick Smith... they will get it. You can bet that Tourism NSW and Tourism Australia is watching every move.

(Credit: Aviation Record)

The height of luxury travel - Calgary Herald - 20th September 2008

SPACE TRAVEL - Did you ever think you'd see the day when a travel agency would be called an "Accredited Space Agent," never mind that in the not-too-distant future we mere earthlings could be taking off for the weekend to orbit space ourselves?

With the unveiling this summer of Richard Branson's Virgin WhiteKnight2 (and the mothership 'Eve,' named after his mother), it's clear the British billionaire is serious about being the pioneer of space tourism.

With plans for the virgin flights to take off some time in 2010, only a select few travel agencies around the world are being ASA (accredited space agent)- approved to sell the trip to clients, and that includes Mason Horvath, a Vancouver-based "elite" travel agency, with an office in Calgary.

Meanwhile, only those with stratospheric travel budgets should enquire, with seats going for $200,000 a pop. The space adventure includes two days of training at the National AeroSpace Training and Research Center, including accommodation, before departing Earth's atmosphere at 2,500 m.p.h. in a vertical climb. Once in space, passengers will float in zero gravity.

The entire trip lasts two and a half hours. For more information and details, check out masonhorvath.com and virgingalactic.com.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Galactic

Aviation

Media Man Australia Top 5 Aviation Brands For The Month

Based on service, value for money, feedback and overall customer experience. From #1 to #5.

Virgin Blue

Webjet

Maxx-G Aerobatics

Jetstar

Qantas

Brett's slower transport, by Andrew Carswell - The Daily Telegraph - 3rd September 2008

On the nags, one CEO has taken quite a shining to all things racing.

Virgin Blue boss Brett Godfrey has snapped up a handful of race horses in recent months and one insider says he is besotted with them.

"He's been spending plenty of time down at the races. He just loves it," the insider told Bizcon.

Not the kind of horsepower Godfrey is used to, but given the aviation sector's tough times, perhaps a welcome diversion from the office.

But despite his thoroughbred love affair, Godfrey is unlikely to follow Queensland millionaire counterpart Nathan Tinkler in selling his bread-winning assets to buy up at the yards.

But there is one luxury a usually frugal Godfrey has splurged on.

The VB boss has booked his seat on the inaugural Virgin Atlantic space flight alongside his good friend Sir Richard Branson.

Rumour is the seat set him back a cool $250,000.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Brett Godfrey

Virgin Blue

RED BULL AIR RACE RETURNS TO PORTUGAL - Press Release - 29th August 2008

The Red Bull Air Race returns to Porto and Gaia on 6th and 7th September for the penultimate leg of the 2008 World Championship. Another record crowd is expected to descend on the Portuguese cities where last year 600,000 fans packed the banks of the Douro River to watch the world’s best pilots in action.

The Portuguese race will feature a fast and narrow track. The biggest challenge for the pilots will be maintaining maximum momentum and speed as they negotiate the twisting chicanes whilst keeping a tight and smooth line.

With just one race to go before the season finale in Australia and with the positions of the top pilots so close, Porto is shaping up to be an exciting and crucial race for the World Championship. Britain’s Paul Bonhomme is clinging to the slimmest of leads and faces tough competition from Austrian Hannes Arch who is now in second place having claimed his first ever victory at the last race in Budapest. American Kirby Chambliss has dropped nine points behind the frontrunners to third place after a disastrous performance in Budapest, seriously jeopardizing his championship hopes.

The Portuguese race was one of the most spectacular on last year’s calendar with the striking bridges and historic, picturesque Ribeira waterfront providing an incredible backdrop. Traffic stopped moving and virtually every inch of balcony space was occupied with people eager to watch the race which takes place between the Dom Luis I and Arrábida bridges.

Britain’s Steve Jones, who came second in Budapest and currently stands in sixth place, will be looking forward to Porto. He won the race there last year.

Spectators will be able to enjoy the race for free from both sides of the river: in Cais de Gaia or Ribeira of Porto. Qualifying takes place on Saturday 6th September followed by Race Day on Sunday 7th September.

(Credit: Red Bull Air Race)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Red Bull

Faulty GPS units lethal for pilots, Dick Smith tells transport minister, by Steve Creedy - The Australian - 15th August 2008

Aviator Dick Smith has urged the federal Government to warn pilots that a GPS unit used in a fatal crash near Benalla, Victoria, in 2004 can default to the "dead reckoning", or simulator mode, if there is a problem with the aerial.

Mr Smith said this was contrary to Australian Transport Safety Bureau findings that the GPS unit needed manual inputs for it to fly in the dead reckoning mode.

"An experienced professional pilot, John Chew, has found that this is completely wrong," he said in a letter to Transport Minister Anthony Albanese. "In fact, the GPS will fly a complete approach in the dead reckoning mode, which (depending on the wind) will replicate exactly the approach made by the accident aircraft."

Evidence given at an inquest into the crash last week suggested pilot Kerry Endicott was led by a malfunctioning GPS system to believe he was about to land at an airport when he crashed into a tree-lined ridge in heavy fog. Endicott, who died along with his five passengers, was also not warned by aircraft controllers he was about 30km off course.

Timber company director Robert Henderson, his daughter Jacquie, her husband and RAAF helicopter pilot Alan Stark, friend Belinda Andrews and Qantas jumbo jet pilot Geoff Brockie were killed in the July 28 crash.

Coroner Paresa Spanos heard it was likely that the satellite signals to the twin-engine plane's GPS had failed and the system went into "dead reckoning" and would have informed the pilot he was on course to land safely just before he crashed.

Counsel assisting the coroner, John Langmead, told the court Endicott received "erroneous information" from his GPS but he should have also seen warnings from the system that it had lost satellite signals.

The court heard the pilot had been flying off course since leaving Sydney's Bankstown Airport earlier that morning and air traffic controllers were notified of this divergence through a Route Adherence Monitoring alert system.

But air traffic controllers failed to notify Endicott he was off course on the second and third of three occasions the alarm was set off during the flight.

The Henderson family disputes assertions that Endicott would ignore warnings from a malfunctioning GPS and believes the inquiry should focus on the role of the air traffic controllers.

Mr Smith, who was prevented from giving evidence, acknowledged that Airservices Australia had taken steps to issue an alert when an aircraft strayed from its track by a particular tolerance.

But he said it had still not fixed "the vertical problem", when an aircraft descended from controlled to uncontrolled airspace below the lowest safe altitude.

He said his experience with the Australian Advanced Australia Air Traffic System was that its software could be modified to give controllers an alarm when an aircraft descended below a safe altitude.

Media Man Australia Aviation Profile Updated

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

John Singleton's agency Banjo pitches for Qantas contract, by Lara Sinclair - The Australian - 4th September 2008

Anyone who thought John Singleton's influence on the Australian advertising scene had waned will have to think again.

Banjo, the new agency backed by Mr Singleton, has won a spot on the pitch for the prestigious Qantas Frequent Flyer advertising account, whereas his former agency, Singleton Ogilvy & Mather, has not -- despite its position on the roster of Qantas agencies.

This time last week, Banjo was without a full-time creative director, a planning director and even an office.

SO&M Sydney chief Stuart O'Brien said the agency's American Express loyalty business conflicted with the Frequent Flyer account, meaning it could not have pitched for the business.

Six agencies are pitching: Banjo, BMF, Lavender, Lowe Sydney, M&C Saatchi and Publicis Mojo.

Industry observers say the account, which could include the mooted float of the Frequent Flyers program, could be worth $20 million.

Qantas spent $10 million earlier this year to relaunch the rewards scheme.

It is understood all six agencies pitched for the business on Friday.

The review included a creative project aimed at attracting younger people to join the Frequent Flyer program.

Qantas is expected to announce a short list of just two or three agencies next week.

Executives from the agencies in question would not comment.

However, speculation was circulating last week that Banjo had signed a lease on premises because it had signed up its first account.

Industry observers have long expected that accounts with a link to Mr Singleton would follow him to the new agency.

Andrew Varasdi, who was the catalyst for Banjo's launch when he resigned earlier this year as managing director of SO&M Sydney, and Mr Singleton, who backed him to start a new agency, would not comment on the speculation.

Planning director Ben Lyttle, who was on gardening leave from SO&M, started officially at Banjo on Monday.

Veteran creative Allan Johnston is involved also.

Singleton Ogilvy & Mather is the brand agency for Qantas but the airline seems to have moved projects to other rostered agencies in recent times.

Publicis Mojo is believed to have picked up the Qantas Holidays account, formerly handled by SO&M. Mr O'Brien would not comment.

Publicis Mojo also handles Qantas's call centres and its master media account through ZenithOptimedia.

M&C Saatchi created recent advertising campaigns to promote Qantas's soccer and Olympics sponsorships.

Sydney agency Lavender won the project to relaunch Frequent Flyers earlier this year, taking the business from incumbent M&C Saatchi and its direct division Mark.

Mr Singleton has long-standing ties with soon-to-retire Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon, but sources said Mr Dixon was not obviously involved in the current pitch.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Qantas

John Singleton

Airlines worldwide to post $A6.2b loss - Fairfax - 4th September 2008

Global airlines are expected to post a combined loss of $US5.2 billion ($A6.22 billion) in 2008 on a "toxic" combination of high oil prices and falling demand, industry association IATA has warned.

The latest projection marked a cut from an August estimate of a $US6.1 billion ($A7.29 billion) loss on spiking oil prices, but IATA Director General Giovanni Bisignani said on Wednesday that the situation "remains bleak".

"The toxic combination of high oil prices and falling demand continues to poison the industry's profitability," he said.

The group's latest projections assume an average crude oil price of $US113 ($A135.14) per barrel, and $US140 ($A167.42) for jet fuel.

The crude price is $US40 ($A47.84) more than the $US73 ($A87.30) per barrel average for 2007, pushing the industry fuel bill to a predicted $US186 billion ($A222.43 billion) for the whole year, Bisignani said.

North American carriers are set to be the hardest hit with expected losses of $US5 billion ($A5.98 billion) in 2008, IATA said.

European airlines are still seen in the black but only just, as profits tumble to $US300 million ($A358.77 million) from $US2.1 billion ($A2.51 billion) in 2007.

Similarly, Asia-Pacific carriers are expected to see profits shrink to $US300 million ($A358.77 million) from $US900 million ($A1.08 billion).

IATA also said that passenger demand growth fell to 1.9 per cent in July, its lowest level in five years.

Asia-Pacific demand fell by 0.5 per cent, "showing that economic weakness is spreading to previously robust economies".

Flying Without Fear

We are writing to you from the UK enjoying what seems to be the summer!

We get lots of questions time and time again about the weather as it seems a major concern for people - particularly when it is windy.

We want you to know that you are normal. It is okay to worry about these things. Once you know how well planned EVERY aircraft flight is including knowing the predicted weather patterns along the way, you would not let this worry you.

Everything in the commercial aviation world is about safety, planning and allowing for the What if...

According to the Institute of Advanced Motorists, 3,500 people are killed on the world's roads every day. Imagine that.

Commercial aviation is the safest form of transport FACT.

What happened to Spanair then?

This came up on our last course.

It is true to say that this is still be highly investigated.

The investigators will not stop until it is known for definite what happened. In the meantime, don't believe what comes out about it. I have seen some stuff in the press which is nothing short of scandalous.

The truth is that we don't know what happened but it will be investigated and reported on the Government website - Air Accident Investigation Board. Arm
yourself with the facts. This website prints unbiased facts from the investigation. Everything that is currently whizzing around the news is at best
speculation.

It is absolutely tragic when an air incident occurs but they are extremely rare. Compare the figures to any other form of transport.

Remember:

Airlines always put Safety first. There is always a back up plan in place.

Postcards

Every week we get loads of postcards from previous graduates of our programme.

This one came today and is an example of many...

"Hi, having a fantastic time in the Big Apple. Plenty of shopping and lots of sight seeing. I am loving it. Just think, if I hadn't done FWF in 2003, I wouldn't
be here now! Thanks again Sue.

P.S. Hope to see you again soon."

This is a great example of people now making their own choices about where they travel to. Incidentally, we were touched by Sue's last comment but actually,
we are more flattered if we don't see people again! This means that they don't need us anymore...

Future Courses
Next Courses

* Edinburgh - 14th September
* Southampton - 5th October
* Gatwick - 9th November
* Manchester - 16th November
* Leeds - 11th January 2009
* Luton - 25th January 2009
* Newcastle - 8th February 2009
* Birmingham - 22nd February 2009

(Credit: Flying Without Fear)

Website

Flying Without Fear

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

WorldMotorSports Games and Aero GP To Shake Up Australian Airspace

More news soon

Websites

Network Nine Australia 60 Minutes

World MotorSports Games

Flying Without Fear Is here - Panic Attacks

Welcome back to our newsletter and part 10 of 10 of the report that looks at the top ten reasons that we have found people who attended our courses had fears. A reminder of what the top ten were.

1/ Lack of Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Airpockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out The Sky
10/ Panic Attacks

Today we are going to look at Panic Attacks. In our experience, Panic Attacks occur very rarely on the course itself. In fact, in nine years of running this course, we have had two people have a panic attack, both of which we were able to help to calm down naturally. If you do, which is very unlikely by the time you are with us, you could not be in better hands than with our lot being there. It is often the fear of panic attacks for a lot of people which never manifests in reality.

For those of you that have had full blown panic attacks, you will know what a terrifying experience it can be for you and for those around you.

Why is it so terrifying? Well, let's consider the following two sets of symptoms:

Panic Attack:

Over heating Sweating Clammy hands Tunnel vision Pains in chest Extreme anxiety and feeling of losing control Rapid breathing Feel like you are going to die.

Heart Attack:

Overheating Sweating Clammy hands Tunnel vision Pains in chest Cramping pains in left arm? Extreme anxiety and feeling of losing control Rapid breathing. Feel like you are going to die.

Now, one of the above you could die from and one you won't. A Panic Attack won't kill you unless you have an underlying health problem. It feels like you are going to die and it is no laughing matter. Panic attacks are the body's natural response to a situation that it feels are beyond what it can cope with.

Did you say natural?

Yes, it is natural and is very closely linked to the Fight or Flight instinct that all animals have. In a panic attack, people will either panic and run away or panic and freeze.

So, what can be done?

We are now coming back full circle to what we talked about in earlier newsletters. You can control your thoughts and your breathing. We can teach you how to control your fear but YOU need to practice it to make it work.

Please give yourself every chance of success by starting the positive thinking practice now, today. Please don't wait till you are marching through the airport before you start chanting, I MUST RELAX, I MUST RELAX.

This is not meant to patronise but there are no magic cures. It is very easy to get into faulty ways of operating. Faulty ways of thinking.

Let me share a personal story with you... I am absolutely terrified of Big Wheels at fairgrounds. I hate them. The mere sight of one feels me with fear and dread. I know that as soon as my kids see it, they will want to go on it. I don't imagine that I will ever love the big wheel.

However, I use the techniques from our course to control it. That is good enough for me. I went on a big wheel two days ago. Two days before it, I told myself I would be on it come what may. There was no way I was going to pass my fear onto my daughters...

I noticed that in myself that it was very easy to slip into faulty thinking. I saw myself strewn at the bottom of the big wheel in a lump of folded flesh. I could see it in vivid detail.

At that moment, I shout STOP to myself. Instead, I change my self talk to something positive to replace the negative talk. We know that before an emotional response such as panic, there is a series of un helpful thoughts. If these are left unchecked, they start to become automatic and will then govern your behaviour afterwards.

As I approach the Big Wheel with my children, I am saying to myself and out loud to the kids, Isn't this fun? Won't this be great? Look how strong and safe that Big Wheel looks. Look how much fun other people are having.

You would be amazed how some people come onto our course and during the introductions say things like, There is absolutely no way I will be getting on that flight today and there is nothing that you can do about it! And for that small minority they prove themselves right!

Whatever you repeatedly say in your head becomes true for you. Do you see great sports people looking like they are saying to themselves, 'Goodness me that other athlete looks fitter than me, I bet he wins!' No they don't. Once on the dreaded Big Wheel, I keep practising my deep breathing. I use all the thinking and techniques that are taught on our courses to get me through. I am aware that as I write this, it does not really convey the depth of what we teach people. I notice my body and if I feel my legs or hands or face tightening, I make them go loose again. I know that if I can make myself just flop into the chair and keep breathing deeply and saying positive stuff, I will get through it.

This is some of the stuff we teach people. A lot of people say, well that sounds easy. It is - if you practice. On our courses, we go through what is happening in your mind and how to control it. If it was just as simple as taking deep breaths then we could all do it of course.

Don't give up.

What next?

We will keep writing to you with top tips and questions that come up during our courses. You can of course un subscribe at any time but we hope that you stay with us. This does not cost you anything and we do not pass your details onto anybody else.

Take care and hope that the 10 part report has been useful to you.

If YOU have a question that has not been covered by this newsletter, why not post a question on the message board for one of the team to answer.

Very best wishes Paul and Richard

On behalf of the flying without fear team.

We run courses that put you back in charge of your life. If you like what we do, please don't keep us a secret.

Website

Flying Without Fear

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

World MotorSports Games - about

About the World MotorSports Games

The World MotorSports Games holds a vision that is as grand as the land, sky and the oceans that gave the inspiration.

This vision is for an elite and modern global initiative aimed at uniting the motor-sports enthusiasts of all nationalities, experience and skill-sets, across land, sea and air.

In order to do this, the initiative will be delivered via two channels; these are The World MotorSports Games - Events and the World MotorSports Games - Showcase.

The World MotorSports Games - Events is designed to provide two four yearly Events which will be classified as Summer Games, followed two years later by the Winter Games. As each will take place every four years, with a two year gap between them, there will be a World MotorSports Games initiative every two years.

The purpose of these Games will be to develop motor-sport to a truly global audience across a unique multi-based motor-sports event. As a whole, The World MotorSports Games, will promote fair and equal competition between participants with the motto of "Everyone in life is given the opportunity to compete equally, fairly and honestly with all fellow competitors, no matter what their physical capabilities ".

Each participant, enters into the World MotorSports Games, either as driver, member of the pit crew or a team official, for the purpose of representing their city, and not themselves personally.

As a supporter of Equal Opportunity, The World MotorSports Games is open to both able bodied and people with special needs. Categories for separate gender and mixed will also be available within each section, as for classes of Beginner through to Advanced and Professional for the Invitational competition.

As the World MotorSports Games are also a supporter of global initiatives, Bio fuels, Green Fuels and cleaner engine management will be encouraged, so wherever possible, technically proven and commercially viable fuels will be used.

Within the events, the World MotorSports Games - Showcase will be a welcome global platform for all motor-sports related products and services including vehicles and by products.

As a global player, it is also the objective of the World MotorSports Games to contribute to the world responsibility of cleaner fuels and engines. To that end, The World MotorSport Games intends to work constructively with MotorSport manufacturers and providers to create new products or develop existing products to the level they need to be at in order to provide responsible enjoyment of motor-sports, perfectly integrated with our environment.

Website

World MotorSports Games

Kenny aviation firm wins $50m govt deal - The Age - 22nd May 2008

The growing aviation business of former Olympian and ironman champion Grant Kenny has secured a $50 million Queensland government contract to provide marine pilot transfers at two of the state's busiest ports.

The contract follows Curry-Kenny Aviation Group's acquisition earlier this month of Western Australia's largest privately owned aviation company, Slingair Heliwork WA, in a multi-million-dollar transaction.

The five-year contract announced with the Queensland Department of Transport has a two-year option and involves transferring government-employed marine pilots to and from vessels off the industrial ports of Gladstone and Hay Point.

Curry-Kenny Aviation will purchase two helicopters and one fixed-wing aircraft for $7 million each to service the contract, which starts at the beginning of calendar 2009.

Mr Kenny said the helicopters would be modified extensively to meet the needs of the operation.

He said Curry-Kenny Aviation Group would build a purpose-built facility for the pilotage services at Gladstone Airport for about $1 million.

Curry-Kenny Aviation, which is Australia's largest private aviation operator, will use its existing facilities at Mackay Airport to support the nearby Hay Point operations, for which a new hangar will be built.

Maritime Safety Queensland general manager Captain John Watkinson said the awarding of the tender was "a significant step forward in the safety, economy and efficiency of Queensland's pilotage services".

Flying Without Fear is here - Falling out of the sky

Hello again.

Hello and welcome back to number 9 out 10 parts of the report on what people like you fear most. This is of course according to the people that come on our course and tell us at the beginning of the day.

A recap of the top ten reasons that we have found from the thousands of people we have helped, have fears.

1/ Lack of Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Airpockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out The Sky
10/ Panic Attacks

Why don't aircraft fall out of the sky is a question we get asked on a lot of courses. Some of the reasons we would have covered in earlier newsletters as you know. I will revisit those and add in some other reasons why you might think that they do but don't.

I could tell you that aircraft don't just fall out of the sky 50 million times but you may not believe me. It takes a lot of people that come on our courses to hear it from a professional Captain to dispel this idea.

Below are some reasons why you might think and some answers to hopefully help you... By the way, when aircraft are up there travelling along at 400 miles an hour in clear open space, what could suddenly make it suddenly fall out of the sky?

If you were driving along the motorway at 80 miles an hour and then you suddenly turned the engine off, what would happen? Your car would slow down gradually until it came to a gentle stop. If you happened to be at the top of a massive hill it might never slow down and could even speed up a bit depending on how steep the hill was.

This is the effect of gravity.

Now imagine your worst scenario and at 30,000 feet up in the air, all of the aircraft engines suddenly stopped working. This in terms in likelihood is virtually impossible due to their reliability but hey ho let's talk about it. The engines all stop. What happens to you? You glide. As the aircraft is gliding, you will be using gravity too to pick up speed because you will increase the air flow across the wings.

But how far would you glide for then? Well if you were 30,000 feet up in the air, you would glide quite comfortably approximately three miles for every 1,000 feet of altitude. So, you would glide for approx 90 miles and you could land without engines too.

Below are some of the reasons we have been asked about what could allegedly bring an aircraft down and some sample answers on why it is not so.

Fuel runs out. Not possible because airlines always carry much more fuel than they need. They carry enough to go to their location, hold for half an hour and go to two altenate airports that were already decided upon before the aircraft took off.

Air Pockets. As you know these don't exist.

Turbulence. Uncomfortable but not dangerous if you are strapped into your seat. Even if an aircraft changed altitude by 1,000 feet up or down, it is travelling at 400 miles an hour. This means that it does not drop suddenly, it changes altitude over a distance. It feels like it drops suddenly and dramatically because you are not able to see outside and you have no sense of perspective due to our primitive ground dwelling senses tricking us.

Lightning. Has no effect on the aircraft as we are not grounded.

Wings fall off. Can't fall off as the aircraft is built onto the wing spa not bolted on afterwards. When you look out the window at the wing, it moves up and down by up to 12 feet - it is meant to do that. It is normal.

Bird Strike. The engines are spread well apart far wider than the average flock of birds. Engines are tested at manufacture by firing frozen chickens at them to make sure that they keep going.

Volcano Dust. Shows up on Radar so no-one flies near them.

Tornado. Same as above.

Pilot Dies. Always minimum of two pilots both capable of flying to same standard. Pilots eat separate food in case of food poisoning.

Autopilot fails. At least two back ups plus can be flown manually.

Engines fall off. Highly unlikely but aircraft would glide and land fine.

Decompression. Masks would come down as soon as the pressure got to 14,000 feet. The Oxygen systems contain enough to keep us alive. The pilots would then take the aircraft down to 10,000 ft where we can breathe normally anyway. The pilots are on separate oxygen systems to us passengers.

Computer fails onboard. Always at least three others that can do the job.

Hydraulics fail. Always spare systems that can take over. Now, really there can't be anything else can there!?

Aircraft are the safest way to travel FACT. No other industry puts so much effort into thinking WHAT IF...

Next time...

Next week, we are talking about Panic Attacks.

Until then, take care

Paul and Richard
FWF Team

The Course That Puts You Back In Charge Of Your Life

(Credit: Flying Without Fear)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Sydney runway to remain open during safety upgrade, by Sunanda Creagh - The Sydney Morning Herald - 15th August 2008

Residents of Coogee, Eastlakes and Maroubra will cop 15 extra planes overhead per day during the upgrade of the east-west runway at Sydney Airport.

Under the former coalition government, the plan had been to close the east-west runway during the works, now scheduled to begin in October.

But Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese announced today that installation of a 'Jet Blaster Barrier' across the western end of the East-West runway will protect the worksite and allow the eastern end to be used for take-offs during the renovations.

"Keeping the eastern end of the runway open for take-offs will ensure that residents to the north, north-west and south of the Airport do not bear the full burden of aircraft noise during construction, and will get some respite when weather and operational conditions permit,'' Mr Albanese said.

"I know the residents of Sydney will be affected by the temporary changes in aircraft noise from this essential safety project, but every possible option has been examined in order to minimise the noise impact on surrounding communities.''

Mr Albanese's spokesman said keeping the east-west runway open would mean about 15 extra planes per day for the eastern suburbs but it would be less than one an hour for the duration of the eight-month safety upgrade.

President of No Aircraft Noise party, Allan Rees, said the east-west runway take-offs would affect Coogee, Eastlakes and Maroubra but residents in Marrickville, Leichhardt and Drummoyne would still suffer extra noise during the construction period.

"They are only retaining take-offs to the east which can be done from the third runway anyway, so it's not really making any difference to people in the north and west,'' said Mr Rees.

However, Canada Bay mayor Angelo Tsirekas, said any reduction in airport noise for inner west residents would be appreciated.

"We are looking for any release we can get. We truly think it's appropriate to relieve inner west residents of aircraft noise,'' he said.

Waverley mayor, Ingrid Strewe, said she didn't get many complaints from residents about airport noise "but maybe I will in future.''

Her fellow councillor, George Newhouse, said: "This is just more evidence that the long term operating plan for the airport is in a shambles.''

The new plan will also see all airplanes land from the south, thereby crossing over Botany Bay.

The works, expected to cost Sydney Airport Cooperation $80-$100 million, are needed to meet latest national and international safety standards.

The work is scheduled to be completed by May.

Flying Without Fear Is Here - Terrorism

This week we are looking at Terrorism.

This is no.8 in our series of newsletters.

This is a very current one since the events of September 11th 2001.

It is fair to say that the world has changed since then.

Every industry and the people within it since then around the world now approach security completely differently.

The horrific events of September 11th have has a major impact on the whole aviation industry.

The procedures now in place since that event have changed dramatically.

It is fair to say of Terrorists tend to go for soft targets.

They go for areas that will cause the maximum disruption to others without them getting caught before they have performed their deed.

Airlines are not soft targets now.

There is so much more that has been added to the procedures to airports.

There are things that you can see such as the longer times to check in now due to your bags being screened more.

There are lots of things that go on security wise that you won't see and as non-airline security people, we may never know about.

Things that have been added at the airports include:

Bags are screened three times
You are vetted more now than you used to be
Airlines have sky marshalls on some of their flights which are a direct cost to the airline.

Random security searches made once through to departures
Aircraft are searched before passengers get on

On board the aircraft, the flight deck area is now sealed off during
the flight.

This is a bullet proof and attack proof door that blocks the Flight Crew off.

There is a door entry system that the Cabin Crew have to key in to go and check on the pilots every 20 mins.

Inside the Flight Deck is a camera where the pilots can see who is keying in the code.

If they don't like the look of what is happening outside, they won't allow the door to open.

So, it is not a case of a terrorist just getting the code and coming in.

Even if the Cabin Crew were being held hostage, the Flight Crew will not open the doors.

The events of Sept 11th were horrific and shocked the world.

The whole travel industry has had to get better with their measures. Airlines are not a soft target and even more so now.

Hope that this has helped with the question of Terrorism.

Next week, we are going to be looking at the question of why don't aircraft just fall out of the sky.

Take care

Paul and Richard

FWF Team

The Course That Puts People Back In Charge Of Their Lives.
Flying Without Fear Limited

Website

Flying Without Fear

Profiles

Virgin Atlantic

Aviation

The new rules of air travel, by Kendall Hill - The Sydney Morning Herald - 13th August 2008

The glamour of the Jet Age may have faded, but Travel + Leisure magazine's Kendall Hill has some practical tips on how to survive the new, and often confusing world, of airline travel.

In bygone days the glamour of the Jet Age was captured in commercial posters depicting elegant passengers in exotic climes. These images epitomised a bold new era of convenience and leisure far removed from today's volatile air industry, where constant changes to rules and regulations, cost-cutting and expedience can leave passengers bewildered and confused rather than refreshed and rewarded. The only remaining sophistication in air travel is that required to keep abreast of an industry in constant upheaval. In an effort to decipher just where we're at now, here are some of the new rules of flying. Just bear in mind they might change at any time ...

Rule one: More fuel you

As fuel prices surge ever-upwards and airlines scramble to protect profits, passengers are repeatedly being stung with increased taxes designed to offset the cost of kerosene. In Russia, for example, some air fares have risen 50 per cent this year thanks to heavy-handed fuel surcharges. And after Japan Airlines recently increased its fuel surcharges on the Sydney-London route to more than $1000, travel giant Flight Centre predicted passengers could soon be paying as much for fuel as they do for their base fare.

Rule two: Tread lightly

By some estimates, the global travel industry is the fastest-growing contributor to CO2 emissions. Hence the websites of any eco-aware airline or travel agent now come complete with an online calculator so you can see how much damage your next holiday will wreak on the earth, and how much you need to pay to "offset" that damage and assuage your guilt.

A key criticism of carbon-offset schemes in Australia is that they are unregulated. There is no central umpire monitoring whether these companies do what they claim to do (though many have been independently audited), nor is there a simple, practical way of assessing whether the moneys paid to offset emissions actually achieve that end.

Environmental groups often stress that tree-planting schemes can be of dubious merit - better to park your hush money in renewable energy programs or energy efficiency projects. Or, better still, concentrate on reducing your so-called carbon footprint. Modifying our behaviour - not paying for our sins - is the ultimate goal here.

Rule three: Develop a pack mentality

That an airline should carry our luggage as well as ourselves has been an accepted right of passage since the dawn of aviation. Not any more. In a bid to reduce costs several airlines - such as Aer Lingus and Ryanair - have begun charging passengers for the privilege of checking in bags on flights. Others, such as British Airways, have restricted luggage allowances and introduced scorching new fees for any extra kilos you'd like them to load on for you. One way around these punitive new rules is to fly business or first, as premium passengers almost always score extra luggage allowances. Ditto if you are a treasured member of an airline loyalty scheme. If not, check your carrier's website before take-off to avoid any rude, and costly, shocks at check-in.

Rule four: Know the evils of all routes

Slashed services are the twin evil, along with fuel surcharges, of the out-of-control oil price. When airlines are under financial stress, unprofitable routes are the first to go. Hence Qantas announced in May it would axe five per cent of its domestic flights. Struggling US airlines are taking even more drastic steps - United has flagged an end to several of its major transcontinental routes, including the Denver and Heathrow service it launched with much fanfare in March. Stand by for more interruptions to once-regular services.

Rule five: Get an e-ticket to ride

Amid the gathering clouds there are a few silver linings. One was the decision by IATA, the International Air Transport Association, to phase out paper tickets from the end of May. Not only does the move help protect our forests for future generations, it also signals an end to the angst of lost or forgotten plane tickets. While airlines may still insist on a printout of your e-ticket, they can no longer charge ridiculous fees to reissue a lost one.

Read the full list of 10 new airline rules at http://www.travelandleisure.com.au

Media Man Australia Profiles

Travel and Tourism

Aviation

Fuel prices crucial to Qantas, Virgin results, by Steve Creedy - The Australian - 13th August 2008

QANTAS'S net profit could improve by 42 per cent in the 2008-09 financial year and Virgin Blue would come close to breaking even if current oil prices hold, according to analysts.

UBS Investment research used current spot prices and hedging profiles to calculate its forecast that net profit for Qantas would rise from $414 million to $588 million.

It said Virgin would move from the current forecast of a $34 million loss to a loss of $8 million under the same circumstances.

"Over the past month Singapore jet fuel is down 22 per cent and down 15 per cent in Australian dollar terms, with declines in the crude and refining margin both helping," UBS analysts Simon Mitchell and Ramoun Lazar said in a note.

"For FY09, Qantas and Virgin are 75-85 per cent hedged at effective WTI crude prices of $US115 per barrel (the current spot) using mostly options, therefore offering material upside as fuel drops."

The analysts said the airlines also had about 60 per cent of their US dollar requirements covered in the US85-90c range and this would provide protection from a weaker Aussie dollar.

The dollar continued to fall yesterday on signs of a weakening local economy and predictions that the Reserve Bank would cut interest rates.

It has now fallen almost US10c in the past two months.

The US dollar exchange rate is important to airlines because they use the currency to buy fuel, aircraft and spares.

The analysts warned that the spot fuel prices were still about 40 per cent above the financial year 2008 average and this meant that both carriers still faced major cost issues.

"But the outlook is a lot a better," they said.

UBS is waiting for both airlines to announce their annual results next week before making any changes to its forecasts and the analysts still prefer Qantas shares on valuation grounds.

They said revenue performance was still the key unknown, despite moves by Qantas to slash capacity growth from a planned 7 per cent to zero and Virgin moves to halve growth to 10 per cent.

"This should be supportive of our forecast of a 3 to 6 per cent rise in unit revenue (yield and load) but an uncertain domestic and international economic outlook makes this still difficult to predict," they said.

Another analyst with higher estimates for Qantas's 2008-09 profit based on lower fuel price assumptions said he would not be moving his estimate as much as UBS.

"We won't change our numbers that much but I suspect a lot of other people will," he said. "The thing is the Aussie dollar is offsetting a lot of it too. The US crude price is coming down but the Aussie dollar's coming down. That's what happened on the way up the Aussie dollar insulated them and it's doing the same on the way down. But overall it's still positive."

Despite the volatile oil prices and softer markets in the second half of 2007-2008, Qantas has not changed its last guidance that its pre-tax profit for the year would be at least 40 per cent higher than the 2006/07 result of $1.03 billion.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Steve Fossett's secret lovers and hidden bank accounts, by Annette Witheridge - Sunday Herald Sun - 3rd August 2008

When adventurer Steve Fossett seemingly disappeared off the face of the Earth last September, his many admirers couldn't quite believe he had perished on something as mundane as a joyride in a light aircraft above the Nevada desert in the US.

The around-the-world flying pioneer had crashed hot-air balloons and planes, but had always emerged unscathed.

As far as his fans were concerned, the first man to fly non-stop around the globe in a hot-air balloon was a survivor.

No body or wreckage has been found since Fossett failed to return from his last flight.

And now, five months after a judge officially declared the 63-year-old financier dead, investigators have made the astonishing suggestion that he faked his death.

The claims come from one of the rescue team leaders and an insurance assessor who spent eight months trying to find out what happened on behalf of Lloyd's of London, which is said to face a $53 million payout on Fossett's death.

Both say there are elements of his disappearance that make no sense and they have independently concluded that Fossett - a close friend of Virgin tycoon and fellow adventurer Richard Branson - could still be alive.

Their inquiries have revealed that Fossett, married for 38 years to childhood sweetheart Peggy, had at least two mistresses and was living a double life.

There are suggestions he was in financial trouble and feared a ruinous divorce if his philandering was discovered.

"Steve Fossett may have been declared dead, but this is one mystery that is still alive," says Lloyd's risk assessor Robert Davis.

"All you have in this case is a missing man and a missing plane, no more and no less."

Mr Davis is baffled by the way law enforcement agents failed to launch a proper investigation into Fossett's disappearance.

He says the only person who claims to have seen Fossett take off has never been interviewed.

"What I've strived to find out is what happened to this man in the run-up to his disappearance. Why did he disappear?" Mr Davis says.

"I spoke to anyone I thought could shed some light on this. And what I discovered is that there is absolutely no proof that Steve Fossett is actually dead.

"I'm not a conspiracy theorist. I'm a man who deals in facts and I don't really care if he is alive or dead, it makes no difference to me.

"What I am interested in is the truth and a proper criminal investigation of this man's disappearance was never undertaken by law officials in the state of Nevada."

Fossett became famous across the globe for his daredevil exploits, embarking on a personal quest to break as many world records as possible.

Of the 116 records he set in five different sports, 60 still stand. He was the first person to fly solo non-stop around the world in a balloon and later made five non-stop circumnavigations of the Earth in his balloon. He was also a masterly sailor and fixed-wing aircraft pilot.

His expeditions were often funded by Branson, whose friendship with Fossett began in 1997 after they met during the course of their separate attempts to break the record for travelling around the world by balloon.

Branson called Fossett "one of the most generous, good-natured and kindest people I have ever met" and joined forces on several around-the-world balloon attempts.

In late 1998, they made a record-breaking flight from Morocco to Hawaii, but were unable to complete a global flight before a rival team beat them to it.

The official story of Fossett's disappearance is that he took off from the 400,000ha ranch of hotel heir and close friend Barron Hilton in Nevada at 8.45am on Monday, September 3, 2007, for a three-hour flight across the desert.

The remote Hilton ranch is a private playground for celebrities and wealthy flying enthusiasts.

Hilton, 80, has an enviable collection of vintage planes for his guests to use. The ranch also has a well-stocked trout river and top-notch hunting.

Fossett and his wife, who did not have children, had been staying at one of the luxurious guest cottages near the main mansion.

Peggy quickly raised the alarm when he didn't return as expected because they were due to fly back to their Chicago home that afternoon. The US Civil Air Patrol immediately sent up Black Hawk helicopters, equipped with infra-red technology, to search for any signs of Fossett or his plane.

Thirty volunteers in private planes joined the search and Branson encouraged 50,000 cyber-sleuths to look for clues on satellite pictures of the area on the internet.

Peggy accepted her husband wasn't going to be found alive two months after he vanished. A Chicago judge declared him officially dead in February.

But Fossett fans have continued to scour Nevada. Early last month a team of 10 Canadian athletes, mountaineers and geologists trekked across three mountain ranges looking for his plane.

They called off the search a week later having failed to find even a sliver of wreckage, let alone a body.

"We don't want to speculate. Let's stick to the facts," says Barron Hilton. "That's what we pilots do: facts count, not speculations. Steve had fuel for four hours and flew at 100 miles an hour (160km/h). Those are the facts."

BUT Lt-Col Cynthia Ryan of the US Air Force - who was involved in every aspect of the Air Patrol's month-long hunt - finds it bizarre and suspicious that no trace of Fossett has been found.

"There are a lot of raised eyebrows," she says.

"I know very few people here, friends in law enforcement, who buy this story like the rest of the world has. I've been doing this search and rescue for 14 years. Fossett should have been found.

"It's not like we didn't have our eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for him. We're pretty good at what we do."

Lt-Col Ryan also believes there are many things about Fossett's supposed last flight that simply don't add up. He borrowed a tiny Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon plane - a make that Fossett, a serious plane buff, was known to dislike - from Hilton's vast selection of aircraft.

The plane, used mainly for acrobatics, is made from steel, wood and fabric and is easy to dismantle.

Fossett asked one of Hilton's pilots - the only witness to see him take off - to prepare the plane for flying, though he had never allowed even his most trusted flying companions to do that for him before.

He left his expensive global positioning system watch - something he always wore on solo flights - behind at the cottage where he and Peggy were staying on Hilton's ranch. And despite a lifetime's experience of ferociously cold desert nights, he wore only a T-shirt and shorts and had no parachute or blankets with him.

The plane was fitted with a satellite rescue beacon to alert rescuers to his position if he crashed. But no signal was ever received and the beacon has never been located.

According to the Hilton employee, who has never been questioned by law enforcement agents, Fossett was carrying only one bottle of water. And though he wasn't required to file a flight plan, he usually did. On that occasion, he just casually told the pilot that he was going up to scout locations for a land speed record attempt.

"Think about all the things that were atypical about it - like he goes off without his fancy watch, he leaves it at home," Lt-Col Ryan says.

"And he goes out without his emergency kit, which he supposedly never, ever did."

Lt-Col Ryan disclosed that Hilton - the billionaire grandfather of party girls Paris and Nicky Hilton -- employed mercenaries from the controversial Iraqi security firm Blackwater to guard the ranch during the search.

She also revealed that police had been unable to trace a California highway patrol officer who allegedly saw Fossett's plane flying low near Mammoth Lakes, 80km from Hilton's Flying M ranch. And a supposed final sighting of the tiny craft by a ranch hand near Mt Grant, Nevada, had never been collaborated either.

But why would a fabulously wealthy man, living out his dreams of freedom and adventure, want to fake his death? One theory is that Fossett feared the exposure of his complicated love life and a multi-million-dollar divorce battle.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Flying Without Fear - News and Media

Many thanks for checking out our website. If you read some of the testimonials that we've received from people like you and our message board, you'll see why those who've experienced our courses to help them overcome their fear of flying and the media are so enthused.

All members of our team are passionate about helping you to overcome your fear of flying. To quote the Eastern Daily Press, 'the infectious enthusiasm of the (Flying Without Fear) team is undoubtedly a factor in its success rate.'

We have just launched our new book called "Flying Without Fear, 101 Fear of Flying Questions Answered". This is now available from all major bookshops. It may interest you to know, that Sir Richard Branson has written the foreword for the the book and has a copy on his own book shelf.

On the 25th May we were filmed by ITV1 for prime-time television. The reporter, Gillian, said "I can honestly say that in my 7 years as an ITV reporter dealing with you was one of the best, friendliest and most most professional interactions that I have ever had. I also personally thoroughly enjoyed my day.".

On Sunday 8th June BBC TV and Radio also came along to feature the Bournemouth course. Denise, a fearful flyer, who they followed was filmed and recorded as she overcame her fears of flying.

In May 2008 we featured in Business Traveller magazine, Choice magazine, BBC Radio Solent, BBC Radio Southern Counties and Top Sunte magazine.

Two Coronation Street celebrities, Kym Ryder and Antony Cotton, both attended our recent Manchester course. They both sent us very warm messages and video clips saying how much they enjoyed the course.

Media:- What interest does our fear of flying course attract?

Recent TV and Radio - One of our recent courses featured on 'Cash in the Attic' where a gentleman overcame his fears of flight and is planning his holiday to New Zeland. We also featured on Radio 1 for half-an-hour on the Chris Moyles show, BBCs 'Inside Out' documentary series, filmed a short while ago, where both participants who were followed by the BBC crew, finished the course very happy people

IIn addition to this our fear of flying course has also appeared on 'ITV, Sky, Airtime.

We also appeared on ITV1s 'Solution Street' series. At that time, ITV informed us of two people they knew of in the 'street' had a fear of flying and who wouldn't fly under any circumstances. They challenged us to help those people to overcome their fears of flying. Both attendees thoroughly enjoyed the course and boarded the flight at the end of the day. We have since received a letter from ITV saying 'We are delighted to let you know that S.G. and K.C. have booked holidays with family and friends and are truly happy.'

Hello magazine ran a full page article in September 2006 on how the reigning Miss England,Eleanor Glynn, wouldn't travel to the Miss World competition in Poland due to her life long fear of flying, until she attended the Virgin Atlantic Fly Without Fear course. After the course she flew to Poland and was quoted saying " The flight to Warsaw was brilliant. I never thought i'd hear myself say i enjoyed a flight!" She has also left a message on the August Heathrow 2006 section of our message board.

Airliner world, the leading airline magazine, also attended our Heathrow course and published a fantastic 5 page article, they printed,"Many of those on the course were actually quite surprised at how effective the days session had been. 'I attended a fly Without fear course with another airliner about 10 years ago but with no success, so I was way apprehensive. But there was no need to be because I thorougly enjoyed this course. The whole day was very relaxed and held in a very friendly atmosphere which made all the diffrence' said Christine Milland."

Radio:- LBC Radio, BBC World Service, Greater Manchester Radio, BBC Radio 2, BBC Radio Leeds, BBC Radio Leicester, BBC West Midlands, Smooth FM, BBC Radio York, Radio Kent, BBC Wales.

Newspapers:- METRO, The Sun, Mirror, Daily Mail, The Times, Times Educational, Daily Express, Guardian, Sheffield Star, Southern Daily Echo, Midlands Outlook, The Shropshire Star, Travel Daily News, Eastern Daily Press, Glasgow Evening Times, Surrey advertiser, Market Raisin Mail, Eastleigh & Chandlers Ford News.

Magazines:- Hello, Time Out, Men’s Health, NOW, Woman’s Own, Bella, Closer, Best, Take a Break, Good Holiday Magazine, Woman & Home, BUPA magazine, Phobics Society Magazine, Manchester City Life, A Place in the Sun’s Everything FRANCE, Cloud9, Healthy, LE Magazine, Seatback, Univardis (for doctors), ABTA magazine, IAM magazine, I-fly, Plane talk, Rush Magazine, Seasons magazine, Skyport, Airliner World, Womens Weekly.

Media Quotes

The Financial Times said “Virgin's Flying Without Fear day could be the best gift you ever gave anyone."

The Eastern Daily Press reported “the infectious enthusiasm of the (Flying Without Fear) team is undoubtedly a factor in its success rate.”

Sunday Express reporter, Louise Earl wrote “I can’t believe it. I loved it and to be up above the clouds was just brilliant. Orlando here I come.”

Hello magazine ran a full page article on how the reigning Miss England,Eleanor Glynn, wouldn't travel to the Miss World competition in Poland due to her life long fear of flying, until she attended the Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear course. After the course she flew to Poland and was quoted saying " The flight to Warsaw was brilliant. I never thought I'd hear myself say i enjoyed a flight!"

The Sunday Times reporter Liz Edwards wrote “..there are several spontaneous rounds of applause, and on landing, when the pilot asks if we want to go again, there’s an enthusiastic response.”

Airliner World, a leading airline magazine, "Many of those on the course were actually quite surprised at how effective the days session had been. 'I attended a fly Without fear course with another airliner about 10 years ago but with no success, so I was way apprehensive. But there was no need to be because I thoroughly enjoyed this course. The whole day was very relaxed and held in a very friendly atmosphere which made all the difference' said Christine Milland."

South Manchester Reporter’s Kate Stirrup said “The Virgin staff were wonderful……..this was a life changing experience……..The difference this course – just one day – has made to the way I look at air travel really is remarkable……….if you are scared of flying, this course could be one of the best investments of your life.”

Vogue’s Eve Conant wrote "What an amazing course! I absolutely loved it. When I flew out of London the next day, on a genuine flight, I was so armed with knowledge about how a plane works, I felt like I could have piloted the big bird.”

Shropshire Star’s Ben Bentley said “Upon touchdown there were tears of joy and hugs. We have survived the plane and all the fears attached to it, and this is no small victory.”

Scotland on Sunday’s Ruth Fairbain shared the following, “At the beginning of the day I was absolutely certain there was no way I was setting foot on a plane, that I would be content to come and listen and try to work on my fears from there. But when the moment came, I was more than happy. I felt really relaxed and confident.”

A reporter for Newsshopper called Louise Tweddell reported “I was genuinely not scared. As we took off I was amazed to feel none of the usual symptoms of fear……As we landed there was a huge cheer, caused by a sense of achievement. I got off the plane feeling like I had beaten it.”

Mark Stratton a Wanderlust magazine reporter said “After circling cloudless skies, we returned to earth. Applause broke out on touchdown……….behind me I heard an excited voice comment: Shame there wasn’t a little more turbulence.”

In the Metro newspaper, Neil Moore said “The pilots, David Kistruck and Dominic Riley, were brilliant. They were funny and kept the atmosphere relaxed yet informative.”

In the Newcastle Evening Chronicle, Patricia Stobbs is quoted saying “I now go to bed dreaming of where I’m going to fly.”

Brighton Argus reporter Ruth Addicott said “…….And for the first time in years, I didn’t feel scared but actually enjoyed the experience. After what seemed like no time, it was over and another big cheer went up when we touched down. For anyone afraid of flying, I’d definitely recommend it.”

Southern Daily Echo magazine reporter Paula Rushton said “Imagine your worst fear. Now imagine deliberately putting yourself in the path of that fear. I did and it was fantastic!”

Surrey Advertiser reporter Julia Hunt reported “As the minutes ticked by the mood on board got better and better and by the time we landed everybody – including myself – was euphoric.”

Now magazine quoted from Gemma McCafferty “That sick, panicky sensation is a thing of the past and I feelI can do anything. My phobia’s well and truly gone.”

If there are any questions that you may have, please don't hesitate to either e-mail on info@flyingwithoutfear.info or call 01423-714900. For media enquiries, please call the Virgin Atlantic press office on 01293-747373.

We look forward to seeing you on one of our courses soon to help you overcome your fear of flying,

Richard, Paul & the Virgin Atlantic 'Flying Without Fear' team.

Website

Flying Without Fear

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Atlantic

Richard Branson

Flying Without Fear is here

Hello and welcome back to the newsletter from the team that
puts you in charge of your life.

This is part seven of ten parts which look at the top ten
reasons that people like you fear flying. If you find that
your question is not covered here, it is likely to be picked
up in later newsletters.

Alternatively, please feel free to go to our message board and post your question for one of the team to answer it.

A recap of the top ten reasons that we have found from the
thousands of people we have helped, have fears.

1/ Lack of Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Airpockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out The Sky
10/ Panic Attacks


This week we are talking about a major subject for a lot of
people, which is Engine Failure.

There is a lot of misunderstanding around engines. These
engines are not like your car engine. These things cost a
vast sum of money to make and buy.

There is a huge amount of money spent on maintaining them
too.

Right, let's take the worst scenario possible.

You are flying along and all four engines fail.

What do you think would happen?

A. The Aeroplane would plummet

B. The Aeroplane would glide until the pilots landed

it.

The answer is B.

The aeroplane is a huge glider. This is the same regardless
of how heavy the aircraft is. The engines give it the
momentum to get up there and keep it going forward at great
speed but it is the Wings that keep it flying. Before you
ask, these can't fall off as the Aircraft is built onto the
wing at production. The wing is one piece of integral metal
not like the Airfix model idea.

Anyway, the aircraft will glide if the engines stop working.

On our courses, we go into a lot more detail about this.

Here are a few key points.


1/ When the pilots plan the take off, they allow in
their calculations as if one engine stopped working so they
could still take off. By the way, this is so ridiculously
rare due to the modern Jet engines being so incredibly
reliable.

2/ All four engines temporarily stopping on an aircraft
has only happened once on a commercial aircraft about 20
years ago. It was volcanic dust which no-one knew could do
that then and even then, the pilots managed to start some of
them up again. Now aircraft don't fly near volcanoes.

3/ The pilots practice the scenario of engine failure
several times per year in their simulators and they have to
practice flying without engines and landing safely. If they
don't get it right, they don't keep their licenses.

4/ The pilots know at all times on a journey, exactly
where they can land if they needed to.


The world of aviation is not like other transport
industries. Airlines can't afford for things to go wrong.

Modern Jet Engines are so incredibly reliable now and safety
ALWAYS comes first.

So, if you did ever have an engine failure on one of your
flights, which is highly unlikely, it is not a problem for
the pilots.

Aircraft can fly at speed on one engine safely if needs be
and do remember that they can glide with no engines.

Oh, but what about two engine aircraft then?

Two engine aircraft have enough power in the other engine to
take off if necessary. In fact, two engine aircraft have
even more power per engine than a four engine aircraft.

They have to because Airlines put safety first. Without
safety there is no business.

Take care


Paul and Richard

P.S. Next week, we will be looking at Terrorist Threat. We hope that you find these all useful...
Flying Without Fear Limited

PO BOX 289
Betchworth, Surrey
RH3 7WX
GB

(Credit: Flying Without Fear)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Richard Branson

Aviation

Virgin Galactic shows off mothership aircraft, By Alicia Chang - AP

MOJAVE, Calif. (AP) — The space tourism race marked a milestone Monday as British mogul Sir Richard Branson and American aerospace designer Burt Rutan waved to a crowd from inside the cabin of an exotic jet that will carry a passenger spaceship to launch altitude.

The photo-op was the public unveiling of the White Knight Two mothership before a crowd of engineers, dignitaries and space enthusiasts at the Mojave Air & Space Port in the high desert north of Los Angeles.

The four-engine jet, with its 140-foot single wing, is an engineering marvel. The space between its twin fuselages is where SpaceShipTwo, the passenger rocket being built for Branson's Virgin Galactic, will be mounted.

White Knight Two, billed as the world's largest all-carbon-composite airplane, is "one of the most beautiful and extraordinary aviation vehicles ever developed," Branson proclaimed.

White Knight Two is the brainchild of Rutan, who made history in 2004 when his SpaceShipOne became the first private, manned craft to reach space. SpaceShipOne accomplished it with help from White Knight Two's smaller predecessor, White Knight. After winning $10 million for the feat, Rutan partnered with Branson, chairman of Virgin Group, to commercialize the prototype.

White Knight Two's long-awaited rollout, a year after a deadly explosion rocked Rutan's test site, is the first tangible sign of progress toward making space tourism a reality. Despite the glitz surrounding the event, significant hurdles remain.

The aircraft must undergo at least a year of rigorous flight tests starting in the fall. In addition, workers have to finish building SpaceShipTwo, which will be flown by two pilots and carry six passengers.

Matthew Upchurch, 46, who reserved a future flight, said he felt goosebumps when he saw White Knight Two.

"It was very emotional for me," he said. "I thought, `Oh my God, we're getting closer.'"

The mothership rollout also moved Rutan, who has made a career of designing unconventional aircraft.

"Even though this is a pretty weird airplane, we all expect it fly very well," said Rutan, who traded his usual leather jacket for a white button-down shirt with a Virgin Galactic logo.

Meanwhile, SpaceShipTwo, which is 70 percent complete, remained under wraps. It sat in a hangar several hundred feet away from White Knight Two shrouded in a black tarp. A sticker on it read "Coming Soon ... To A Spaceport Near You."

In the history of spaceflight, most astronauts have been in government programs. In recent years, a handful of wealthy people have paid about $20 million each to ride Russian rockets to the international space station.

Virgin Galactic envisions a future where space voyages will become as common as airplane travel. It wants to fly 500 people into space in the first year for $200,000 a head. If it succeeds, that would be on par with the same number of people who have gone up in 45 years of space travel.

So far, more than 250 wannabe astronauts have paid the full amount or put down a deposit to fly with Virgin Galactic, but when they will float in zero gravity is unknown. Rutan has declined to release a schedule. Virgin Galactic stopped predicting after it said in a 2004 press release that flights could begin in 2007.

Virgin Galactic renamed White Knight Two after Branson's mother, Eve. After the rollout, Branson and his mother popped open a bottle of Champagne next to the craft, which sports a decorative motif of a blond woman flying a Virgin flag.

White Knight Two has a wingspan of 140 feet, about the same as a World War II B-29 Superfortress bomber.

The mothership is designed to tuck SpaceShipTwo under the center of its wing and release it at 50,000 feet. After separation, SpaceShipTwo will fire its hybrid rocket and climb some 62 miles above Earth, the internationally recognized boundary of space.

The spaceflight — up and back down without circling the Earth — will include about five minutes of weightlessness. The total trip, from White Knight Two's takeoff to SpaceShipTwo's unpowered landing, will last about 2 1/2 hours.

Monday's unveiling was bittersweet for Rutan's company, Scaled Composites LLC. A year ago, three technicians were killed in an explosion while testing SpaceShipTwo's propellant system. Scaled, which was since bought by Northrop Grumman Corp., held a ceremony last week in honor of the fallen workers.
On the Net:

* Virgin Galactic: http://www.virgingalactic.com
* Scaled Composites: http://www.scaled.com

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Galactic

Richard Branson

Aviation

The Aviator Series - World Premier - Fly Right Films - Press Release

The Aviator Series - World Premier

Volume 1 - Attitude Flying with Dick Rutan

Oshkosh, Wisconsin - Fly Right Films has announced the world premier of Attitude Flying with Dick Rutan at AirVenture 2008. Three years in the making, the Aviator Series is heralded as a “masters program for serious pilots.” This revolutionary approach to advanced flight training shares the wisdom and expertise of some of the foremost pilots of our time. It just may change the way we fly.

Volume One, Attitude Flying with Dick Rutan, showcases the talent, expertise and wisdom of legendary pilot Dick Rutan who takes pilots on an important first step towards realizing their potential to be the very best pilots they can be.

Filmed entirely in High-Definition (HD) widescreen format, the flying sequences leave nothing to the imagination. Meanwhile, the soundtrack - mixed in 5.1 Dolby Surround - creates a “you-are-there” audio experience that puts you right in the cockpit.

Produced and hosted by award-winning filmmaker and pilot, Charlie Hewitt, viewers will fly shoulder-to-shoulder with Dick Rutan as he explains, dissects and demonstrates the challenges and secrets of precise instrument flying. According to Hewitt, “The formula for this series was born right here at Oshkosh three years ago in a conversation I had with Dick Rutan. Invite the world’s finest aviators to work with award-winning filmmakers. The goal: create an advanced flight training series that offers the perfect balance of meaningful, pro-active instruction, beautiful visuals and engaging narrative. In a word, we call it entertrainment.”

CONTACT

Charlie Hewitt

Fly Right Films

907-245-8888 o 907-360-3800 c

Charlie@flyrightfilms.com

www.flyrightfilms.com

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Adventurer Steve Fossett 'may have faked his own death', by Chris Irvine - The Telegraph - 28th July 2008

Round-the-world flying adventurer Steve Fossett may have faked his own death, investigators have claimed.

Fossett, a friend of Virgin boss Richard Branson, and the first man to fly non-stop round the earth in a hot air balloon, went missing last September when his final flight in a light plane over the Nevada desert went missing.

However, Lieutenant Colonel Cynthia Ryan of the US Civil Air Patrol has said Fossett, whose body or plane was never found, could still be alive.

She said: "I've been doing this search and rescue for 14 years. Fossett should have been found.

"It's not like we didn't have our eyes open. We found six other planes while we were looking for him. We're pretty good at what we do."

Fossett's disappearance sparked the biggest search in American history, with the Civil Air Patrol's Black Hawks, fitted with infra-red technology, joined by over 30 private planes and internet experts scanning the Nevada desert looking for clues.

Lt Col Ryan believes Fossett may have faked his own death due to personal problems or fears about his business dealings.

There are also a number of anomalies that question whether Fossett's plane ever crashed.

Only one witness, a pilot at hotel magnate Barron Hilton's flying ranch near Reno, claims to have seen him take off that day.

That witness claims Fossett asked him to prepare the plane for take off, even though he had never allowed anyone else to do this before.

Fossett also apparently claimed he was going to scout for locations for a land speed record attempt, but he supposedly took off with no emergency equipment.

The choice of plane was also a baffling one - a Bellanca Citabria Super Decathlon, which, according to risk assessor Robert Davis said was constructed from a steel and wood frame, but actually covered in fabric, making it easy to dismantle.

Davis conducted an eight-month investigation for insurers Lloyd's of London, said to face a £25 million payout on Fossett's death.

He said: "What I've strived to find out is what happened to this man in the run-up to his disappearance, why did he disappear?

"I spoke to reporters who were on the scene, people who were helping out with the search efforts, anyone whom I thought could shed some light on this.

"I discovered that there is absolutely no proof that Steve Fossett is actually dead. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, I'm a man who deals in facts, and I don't really care if he is alive or dead, it make no difference to me.

"What I am interested in is the truth - and a proper criminal investigation of this man's disappearance was never undertaken by law enforcement or officials in the state of Nevada."

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Visa rule could scupper AirAsia X flights to Japan

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) — Long-haul budget airline AirAsia X is likely to drop plans to fly to Japan next year, despite several airports having welcomed it, due to tough visa rules, a top official has said.

"Give me a chance now and I'd rather fly to Korea, the Middle East and India... Other countries are competing for Malaysian tourists," AirAsia X chief executive officer, Azran Osman-Rani, told AFP in a weekend interview.

"To get a Japanese visa, a Malaysian has to visit the embassy in Kuala Lumpur twice and even then the person is not sure a visa will be issued," he said.

The Australian-based Centre for Asia Pacific Aviation (CAPA) said recently that Japan's highly restrictive visa system virtually rules out Malaysia-based AirAsia X from starting a service in 2009 as it had planned.

CAPA said Japan would have to remove the visa restrictions -- which are highly inconvenient to travellers with non-refundable low-cost tickets -- to make it attractive to regional budget carriers.

Azran said that when he visited airports in Japan this month, the operators were eager to accept AirAsia X flights, to compensate as full-service carriers like Qantas cut back their frequencies.

"I am looking at all airports except Narita due to congestion and high costs," he said, adding AirAsia X was keen to fly to Japan as a wealthy country with a huge population.

If Japanese authorities were to come up with a good proposal, "I will change my plan," he said.

An affiliate of regional low-cost carrier AirAsia and Virgin Group, AirAsia X was launched in January 2007. AirAsia and AirAsia X share common shareholders, including AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes.

Richard Branson's Virgin Group has taken a 20 percent stake in the airline and the British billionaire has vowed to ensure that the project turns a profit.

Azran said the carrier would take delivery of two brand new A330-300 by year end. It has signed a deal with Airbus to buy 25 A330-300 aircraft.

AirAsia X now has one A330-300 aircraft. It currently mounts a four-weekly return flight to Australia's Gold Coast which began in November last year and also flies to China's Hangzhou.

It plans to offer six return flights per week between Perth and Kuala Lumpur starting November 2.

But Azran declined to confirm if AirAsia would be able to carry out its plan to fly to Britain -- either London or Manchester -- by year-end.

"I am still looking at it," he said.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

World focus on our sky safety, by Cameron Stewart - The Australian - 26th July 2008

Australia is facing international pressure to address growing safety concerns about the practice of passenger jets flying through uncontrolled airspace.

The world's governing aviation body, the International Civil Aviation Organisation, has asked the federal Government to explain why large chunks of Australian skies are being left uncontrolled, forcing pilots to fend for themselves to avoid mid-air collisions.

The move comes as the world's largest pilots association yesterday slammed Australia for allowing a "third world" situation to develop in its skies because of a chronic shortage of air traffic controllers.

Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue this week called for a review of safety procedures for flying through uncontrolled airspace, despite claims by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority that the practice is not unsafe.

ICAO has written to the Department of Transport, CASA and the air traffic control manager, Airservices Australia, to ask for an explanation of the situation. A spokesman for the Department of Transport said ICAO had asked "for a status report and information on contingency plans being used in Australia for situations involving disruptions to airspace".

He said the Government would respond to the request "confirming Australia's ongoing commitment to the relevant ICAO regulatory requirements".

Chronic mismanagement of the recruitment of air traffic controllers by the government-owned Airservices means there are now not enough controllers to monitor all Australian airspace properly. The Government believes controllers are contributing to the problem by calling in sick to highlight the shortage and help their forthcoming wage claim.

The result is that large chunks of airspace are being left uncontrolled for hours on end, leaving pilots to rely on ICAO-mandated contingency procedures to avoid collisions. These procedures rely on pilots monitoring the movements of other planes by visual sightings and by listening to a common frequency.

CASA says these procedures, while not perfect, do not pose an unacceptable risk; air traffic controllers disagree, describing them as a disaster waiting to happen. Their concerns were highlighted on July 12 when, as reported in The Australian, a US Lear jet came within 60 seconds of a possible collision with a Jetstar Airbus because of confusion about uncontrolled airspace near Canberra.

Yesterday, the world's largest pilots association broke its silence on the issue, saying uncontrolled airspace should not occur in a developed country like Australia.

Richard Woodward, vice president (technical) of the International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations, which represents about 110,000 pilots worldwide, said: "We are disappointed that a first world aviation country like Australia has to resort to these procedures.

"While the procedures used are not inherently unsafe, they are intended for countries where there are less than ideal air traffic control systems.

"You would not expect to use it in a first-world country and so to have Australia behave like a third-world country in this respect is disappointing."

A spokesman from the ICAO did not return calls from The Weekend Australian.

Airservices has recently doubled its intake of air traffic control trainees to try to solve the shortage, but it will take several years before they are fully trained.

Airservices also recently recruited 25 controllers from overseas but the controllers' union, Civil Air, said it was still about 80 people short of what it needed. The airlines are furious about the situation, which has forced them to balance the safety aspects of flying through uncontrolled airspace against the extra costs of flying around uncontrolled sectors.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Emissions trading 'could put air fares out of reach', by Mathew Murphy - The Age - 25th July 2008

Affordable domestic air travel will be snatched away from many Australian families under the Federal Government's proposed emissions trading scheme, says an airline chief.

Will you start reducing your power consumption to prepare for emissions trading? Click here to vote.

Virgin Blue chief executive Brett Godfrey has described the Government's green paper on emissions trading as disappointing and its analysis on the impact on the aviation sector as "way wide of the glide path".

"To suggest that Australian domestic airlines 'will generally be able to pass on carbon costs because their competitors will face similar cost increases' ignores the current economic stresses the entire industry is already experiencing," he said.

"Exceptionally high fuel costs have already forced all airlines to raise fares and withdraw some services."

Last week Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon warned that domestic air fares would rise and tourism be shackled unless the aviation industry was given free permits.

Mr Godfrey said Virgin Blue would wait for the modelling from Treasury to determine the full impact on the airline, but he rejected the Government's suggestion that the aviation sector was not a "strongly affected industry".

"Aviation is an industry that operates a delicate balancing act between price, available capacity and demand," he said. "The burden of requiring airlines to account for 100% of their emissions, thereby cross-subsidising other sectors of the economy, from scheme start-up could put an unacceptable financial burden on an already economically stressed industry.

"It will also have the end result of taking away from average Australian families the ability to easily access affordable domestic air fares."

The Federal Government has been accused of "scare tactics" over carbon's impact on climate change.

The Australian Retailers Association said the "science doesn't back up the theory behind the emissions trading scheme". Executive director Richard Evans called on Climate Change Minister Penny Wong to "show us the science" that carbon emissions are causing global warming.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Travel and Tourism

Virgin Blue

Model A380 breaks world record - The Sydney Morning Herald - 24th July 2008

When it comes to the Airbus A380 superjumbo, even a scale model is a giant. The world's largest airliner has broken another record with the world's largest aircraft model going on display at Heathrow.

Airline Emirates has installed a third-scale model of the A380 on the Emirates' Roadabout, formerly known as Concorde Roundabout, at Heathrow Airport.

Weighing 45 tonnes, the model is more than twice the size of Concorde model, which was based at Heathrow for 16 years. Despite being only a third of the size of the real aircraft, the model still measures 24 metres long with wingspan of 26 metres. The model, made of glass-reinforced plastic over a steel frame, is the same size as a Boeing 737.

The replica was built by US-based Penwal at its manufacturing base in California over a six-month period, using plans provided by the A380's manufacturer, Airbus, in Toulouse.

It was then transported by truck to Ontario Airport in Los Angeles where it was flown to Heathrow aboard a massive Antonov cargo plane.

A special mechanical ramp was flown into London from Germany to offload the plane as it was too heavy for the Antonov’s winch crane.

Next month Emirates will become the second airline, after Singapore Airlines, to begin flying the A380 commercially. The first flight is scheduled to take place on Friday, August 1, flying from Dubai to New York. It will be the A380's first commercial flight into the United States.

- Craig Platt with AP

Media Man Australia Profiles

Emirates

Aviation

Flying Without Fear is here - Noises

Welcome to this weeks Virgin Atlantic ‘Flying Without Fear'
newsletter.

This week we are talking about noises. All those bings and
bongs and also some of the other noises that you may hear on
board aircraft…

A reminder of the top ten reasons that we have found that
people like you have had a fear of flying when they came to
our course.

1/ Lack of Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Air pockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out the Sky
10/ Panic Attacks

We are hoping that you have found the other recent
newsletters helpful?

There are all sorts of noises on aircraft. You have told us
that the bings and bongs can be frightening. Many people
think that they're secret messages, which they're not. This
can simply be a member of Cabin Crew letting their
colleagues know that they'd like to communicate with them,
so they may be asking them to pick up the phone. It maybe
that they'd like to ask something as simple as ‘have you got
any more vegetarian meals available at your end of the
aircraft?'

It makes much more sense to communicate by
phone, than to run down the length of the aircraft to find
out.

Engines too make unfamiliar noises during the different
stages of the flight. One of the most frightening,
according to what you tell us, are the engines at start-up.

First, one engine will start and then another etc. It may
also change the sound of the air conditioning on the
aircraft temporarily. These noises are all absolutely
normal.

When the wings change to their ‘low-speed wing' or
high-speed wing, this also sounds like a humming that comes
in and then fade out. It may not be something that you're
used to hearing regularly and so it can feel like it's not
normal. Please be assured that this too is totally normal.

You also have undercarriage noises. When the undercarriage
doors open, it's a little bit like opening the sunroof on
your car. The noise will be louder than if it's closed.

When the undercarriage comes down or goes into the aircraft
and clicks into place it also makes a ‘clunk'.

If you don't know what you are listening to, it can seem
pretty daunting.

We are here right now to tell you that all the noises you
hear are normal. Even those funny creaking noises that the
overhead lockers make during take off and landing. All is
normal - they are meant to do that. They have been designed
to flex and rattle a little.

You can do one of a couple of things if you fear the noises
onboard an aircraft:

1. Ask a member of the crew what the noise is, if you are
concerned about a noise you hear

2. Re-train your brain to say that the noises are normal.
What you are hearing is over emphasized because you are in
an alien environment. An environment where everything just
happens without you doing anything or anyone consulting you!

Please remember, the noises onboard an aircraft are good.

During our courses, we talk through the noises to reassure
people that it is normal and explain exactly what they are,
in order that when you're next travelling by air, you'll
also recognise what they are and they then won't appear to
be frightening.

Next week, we are going to talk about Engine Failure.

Until then, take care,

Paul and Richard
FWF Team
www.flyingwithoutfear.info

The team that puts you in charge of your life again.
Flying Without Fear Limited

PO BOX 289
Betchworth, Surrey
RH3 7WX
GB

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Atlantic

Richard Branson

Aviation

Dick Smith returns air review fee in protest, by Steve Creedy - The Australian - 24th June 2008

Former Civil Aviation Safety Authority chairman Dick Smith has returned more than $10,000 paid to him for taking part in a federal government aviation review, in a protest against the Transport Department's failure to release "the important, urgentsafety recommendations" it produced.

Mr Smith was part of the Aviation Regulation Review Taskforce set up by the Howard government to provide policy advice on the best way of reforming Australia's aviation regulation over the next five years and what should be done first.

It was chaired by Australian National University chancellor Allan Hawke and included CASA chief Bruce Byron as well as Mr Smith and industry representatives from Qantas and Brindabella Airlines. The taskforce completed its report in December, but it has yet to be released.

In a letter to Transport Department secretary Mike Taylor, Mr Smith said he was refunding the money because "keeping it would be dishonest".

"I have my copy, which contains important, urgent safety recommendations, but it is stamped 'under embargo'," Mr Smith said. "Just why such an important safety document would be embargoed is beyond comprehension to me."

Mr Smith was reluctant to elaborate on the urgent safety recommendations, but it is understood they include issues such as the need for enhanced ground proximity warning systems and collision avoidance alarms in smaller passenger planes. The report is also believed to have recommended speeding up the slow pace of aviation regulatory reform.

The millionaire aviator believes at least $500,000 was spent on the review and said it now appeared to have been an incredible waste of resources.

He said he understood the report had not been released because Mr Hawke had not been able to meet with Transport Minister Anthony Albanese.

But a spokesman for Mr Albanese said last night that Mr Hawke had met staff from the minister's office. "Minister Albanese has received the report ... and is giving it appropriate consideration," the spokesman said.

"The Government's response to the report will be announced in the near future."

Mr Albanese has ordered the nation's first white paper on the aviation industry and a Senate committee will conduct a formal inquiry into CASA's administration next month. The inquiry will look at the effectiveness of administrative reforms undertaken by CASA since 2003 as well as the effectiveness of the authority's governance structure.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Dick Smith

Aviation

Flying doctor's extreme dream, by Arjun Ramachandran - The Sydney Morning Herald - 22nd July 2008

Emergency doctor Glenn Singleman sees plenty of blood, but when he slices through the air over Alice Springs today wearing just a wingsuit, the sight of the bright red dust far below will surely have his heart thumping.

Dr Singleman and his wife, Heather Swan, plan to jump from a balloon 12,000 metres over the Docker River and then glide 30 kilometres back to earth in seven minutes.

The adventurous pair, wearing specially-made wingsuits with webbing between the arms and torso and between the legs, hope to set a world record for flying in a wingsuit.

The current wingsuit record of 20 kilometres was set by Spaniards flying over Gibraltar in the Mediterranean.

The new record attempt will take place on Thursday, but the pair had hoped to make a smaller jump from 7600 feet today.

After a practice jump on Friday, Ms Swan wrote: "I love flying in hot air balloons. To me they are the ultimate jump aircraft. Peaceful, surreal almost, and quick. We were at jump altitude in less than 8 minutes.

"Then the arduous process of getting out of the balloon basket and onto the jump platform began ... we were ready to fly.

"And fly we did. We had a beautiful flight. It surprised me just how good it was. It was an importance confidence booster and a successful trial run for the big jumps."

On his website, Dr Singleman - who works in emergency and critical care at Sydney Adventist Hospital - said it had been a "long held dream ... to launch in a wingsuit from a balloon ... and fly as far as possible ... before opening a canopy and floating safely back to earth."

On Thursday, the couple expect to rip through the air at speeds of up to 400kmh.

They will carry extra oxygen, as "a person exposed to the low pressure and low oxygen content at 39,000 feet (12,000 metres) would lose consciousness in about a minute and die in about five", the website said.

Both Dr Singleman and his wife will carry a GPS systems, so that they can be quickly located after landing "in the middle of nowhere in the harsh Australian desert", the site said.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Counting the cost of fuel, by John Durie - The Australian - 18th July 2008

Qantas boss Geoff Dixon today warned the airline industry could be forced to cut regional routes affecting tourism if the Federal Government persisted with plans to exclude the industry from any special benefits under its carbon trading system.
After unveiling plans to cut job numbers by 2700 people, Dixon said he would seek compensation from the government to offset increased carbon costs which analysts have said would add another $100 million to Qantas’s costs.

While $100 million on a $15 billion cost base may not seem large, every bit counts as stressed by Dixon when he confirmed plans to cut 1500 jobs and cancel plans to add another 1200 jobs.

The job cuts are due to fuel cost increases, which will add $2 billion to Qantas fuel bill this year, bringing it up to more than $15 billion.

Fuel now accounts for 35 per cent of Qantas’s costs and 45 per cent of Jetstar’s costs, while staff costs account for another 30 per cent.

As fuel costs rise staff costs as a percentage of total costs fall, but as a guide fuel represented just 20 per cent of costs in the 2005 financial year and the $2 billion increase in costs this year is more than the total fuel bill in the 2005 year.

Virgin’s Brett Godfrey said in an interview earlier that the impacts of September 11, 2001 and SARS in 2002 pale into insignificance in comparison to the effects of the higher fuel prices.

The job cuts unveiled are a vivid reminder of the impact of the fuel price increases on the Australian economy and Virgin’s Godfrey, while playing down the chance of job cuts, made clear further price increases were almost guaranteed which will eventually slow demand further and potentially hitting the leisure market the most.

Qantas’s Dixon appeared to use the job cuts as a bargaining tool with the engineers union having reached an agreement to end its strike last night.

The precise terms of the deal were not released, but the union was seeking a 5 per cent pay hike which Dixon rejected out of hand, saying it would add another $360 million to the airline’s cost if applied across its workforce.

Dixon said the costs of the redundancies would be accommodated with in its existing budget.

Crude oil prices have risen some 45 per cent this year, causing inflationary pressures to rise and creating mayhem across a range of industries with the airline sector hit worse than others.

Qantas will also cut capacity growth from 8 per cent to zero this year as it bunkers down to cope with the high fuel prices.

Amid this crisis Dixon made clear he was going to protest long and hard about the industry’s exclusion from compensation under carbon trading scheme as outlined in the Green paper released earlier this week.

Dixon’s comments coming after those made by Woodside boss Don Voelte highlight the battle faced by the government in getting some form of consensus on the issue.

Many were dismayed at the decision to give maximum benefits to the biggest polluters, like coal fired power stations, when arguably they are the ones with the most work to do to cut emissions.

duriej@theaustralian.com.au

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Qantas: the smoking kangaroo?, by Jill Stark - The Sydney Morning Herald - 17th July 2008

Qantas has been slammed by anti-smoking groups for a decision to reintroduce cigarette sales on board international flights.

In a letter to staff, the national airline has asked cabin crew to "prominently display" cigarettes on top of duty free trolleys.

The company has denied the policy has any link to the appointment of a former tobacco lobbyist to the Qantas board.

Paul Rayner, the former chief executive of British American Tobacco Australasia, was yesterday named as the airline's latest non-executive director.

But Qantas says the move to offer three cigarette brands for sale on overseas flights was due to customer demand.

It overturns the airline's decision 10 years ago to remove cigarettes from its in-flight duty free range.

Health groups have received several complaints from Qantas staff, who are concerned at having to push tobacco products as part of their job.

The policy, which came into effect on July 1, has been branded inconsistent with Qantas' sponsorship of World Youth Day and children's cancer charity Canteen.

Quit Victoria has described the decision as "backwards" and a "greedy cash grab" at the expense of people's health.

"International flights are an opportunity for smokers to give up smoking, but having cheap cigarettes promoted to them by Qantas in-flight completely undermines this opportunity," said Quit boss Fiona Sharkie. "Qantas are cashing in on smokers who may be going through withdrawal symptoms on smoke-free flights … Perhaps the flying kangaroo should be renamed the cancer kangaroo."

Australian tobacco legislation prohibits cigarettes from being advertised or listed in duty free catalogues.

But in a letter to staff, Qantas management wrote: "… It's vital that duty free carts are taken out into the economy cabin with the cigarettes displayed prominently on top so customers know they are for sale and are aware of our entire product offering."

Anne Jones, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) said Qantas was in effect promoting cigarettes by instructing staff to have the packets in full view. She said several cabin crew members had complained to ASH about the policy.

"Qantas are saying: 'We're not promoting, we're just selling', but in their letter to the crew they're saying they want to prominently display the products on the trolley. It's a backwards step, and totally out-of-step with where governments are moving nationally and internationally to get displays out of sight."

Qantas Group general manager of customer product and services Lesley Grant said other airlines including British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Virgin Atlantic sold cigarettes in-flight.

"The availability of cigarettes reflects customer demand. Regardless of what the product might be, if we see changes in demand we review our product range. We comply fully with all government regulations regarding the sale of all duty free products," Ms Grant said.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Qantas

Aviation

Virgin Blue broadens fuel response - AviationRecord.com - 19th July 2008

Sydney: A four-pronged response to record fuel prices has been taken by Virgin Blue Airlines in Australia in its second round of measures.

A further two aircraft are being removed from service, new baggage fees are being introduced, fare cuts the carrier describes as “significant” apply to baggage-heavy leisure routes to preserve its commitment to air travel affordability, and Flexible Fares have been increased.

“We have endeavoured to seek a reasoned and balanced approach to recover costs associated with current punitive fuel prices and the direct effects on our business,” says chief executive Brett Godfrey.

“The necessary introduction of baggage fees and the reduction of our lowest fares for our price-sensitive guests is anticipated to yield both improved demand
levels and revenue.”

With “encouraging support” continuing from the business sector, the increase in Flexible Fares is expected to help revenue.

Two more Boeing 737s will be removed from the Australian domestic market by October, cutting capacity by about 3% on top of the previously stated 6% planned reduction for the 2008-9 fiscal year. The aircraft will be used for maintenance spares and to support the airline’s focus on efficient recovery from disruptions and improvement of its on-time performance.

Removing the planes will mean less frequency on some under-performing routes, yet to be determined.

Virgin Blue has also agreed with Embraer to delay five committed deliveries for next year, which will further reduce capacity 3%. Along with decisions announced in June there will be a 12% cut in capacity, but no redundancies at either Virgin Blue or Pacific Blue.

Virgin Blue's new “pay for weight” baggage policy will apply to both Virgin Blue and Pacific Blue domestic flights booked from August 18 for services from September 1.

This current allowance is up to 20kg of free checked baggage. A flat fee of $8 will apply for an increased allowance of 23kg of checked baggage. If the checked baggage allowance has not been pre-purchased, a $20 charge for up to 23kg will apply at airport check-in.

There will be certain exemptions, such as infant equipment and mobility aids.
Virgin Blue's new “Go Fare!” will be up to $20 less than its lowest lead-in fares across more than half the airline’s domestic network.

These fares will be available from August 18. Meanwhile, Flexible Fares will rise by up to 5% on about half its business markets.

by Greg Tingle

Virgin Blue have a plan and are implementing it in a staged approach suitable for market conditions. In addition, this is occurring in a way that is not pissing off staff or customers and it appears that the news media gets it, this time around. Always remember, Virgin Blue is part of a larger company, Virgin, and aviation just happens to be one of the business sectors they are in. A position other airline carriers would kill for, especially at the moment.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Blue

Brett Godfrey

Richard Branson

Virgin's dangerous game, by Robert Gottliebsen - Business Spectator - 18th July 2008

This is a story about the periodic wars of our two domestic airline companies. In the current war Virgin’s infant international overseas operation is stretching the group because the timing of the adventure could not be worse. The KGB Interrogation of Virgin CEO Brett Godfrey sets out the problem, but I felt that it was so important to the sharemarket and Australian aviation that additional commentary was required. First some background.

I remember vividly listening to Brett Godfrey about five years ago explaining that he had a cost structure that was way below Qantas' cost structure on domestic routes, so it was time to take advantage of his position and expand capacity to achieve around a 50/50 market split.

Godfrey was putting Qantas chief Geoff Dixon under the pump and Dixon hit back with a vigour that stunned Virgin. Not only were Qantas costs trimmed, but Jetstar was launched with a cost structure even lower than Virgin. Virgin was caught with overcapacity in a Dixon pincer.

But Godfrey did not panic and Virgin moved through the crisis and in time the spare capacity became an asset. Later the company realised it would need to take a slice of the business market. This Virgin move has prompted Qantas to revamp its domestic frequent flyer offering. (Overseas is another story.)

But despite this, Virgin was boxed in and because of its growth culture looked for a new opportunity. There was only one found – the Australia-US route.

Sydney-Los Angeles looked to be a winner because Qantas obtained high yields on the route and United Airlines, the other competitor, was vulnerable. By buying 777 aircraft, Virgin would have lower fuel costs than both airlines. And Virgin was only aiming for 12 per cent of the market. Encouraged by then key shareholder Toll, Virgin put out the challenge to Qantas and United. Virgin also believed that if it did not act, Singapore Airlines would jump in and take the route and that would accelerate its entry into Australia.

Veteran Australian airline observers say Virgin should never have attacked Qantas in its home base, but should have gone for the Melbourne-LA or Brisbane-LA routes. This would have rung much louder alarm bells at Qantas, which derives enormous domestic revenue out of Melbourne – though Virgin would no doubt dispute that this was a viable alternative strategy.

What seemed a reasonable risk decision two years ago now looks to be very high risk. The Virgin point of no return on leasing the first five aircraft was February 2007 and at the time the economy and the airline industry was considerably more buoyant.

Fuel prices then proceeded to double, a financial crisis enveloped the US and Australia began slowing, led by Sydney. It will now be very difficult not to take the aircraft and so Virgin will have to take the considerable start-up losses onto the group profit and loss account.

If oil prices were to rise further, the losses would be very high and the company might have to re-market the aircraft which would be an expensive and unpalatable option – although the higher the fuel price goes the better these low fuel consumption aircraft will be.

Brett Godfrey finds himself over exposed going into a looming Australian and American downturn. He fought through the last crisis and intends to do it again. Godfrey might disagree, but I think the Virgin board should read the Paul Little KGB Interrogation (to be published on Monday).

It is clear that road transport operators can now pass on cost rises. It was not always so. If Virgin was a true number-two player that made sure its market share did not rise above a certain level – 33 per cent, say – then the major would not worry about it and prices would rise.

But every time Virgin attacks Dixon he attacks it back (currently he is cutting Sydney-LA prices). There is a lot of money to be made by a low-cost number-two that accepts its place. But of course that’s not the culture that Richard Branson implants into people in his orbit.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Virgin Blue

Qantas

Aviation

Flying Without Fear is here - Crashing

This week, we are talking about crashing.

A reminder of the top ten reasons that we have found that people like you have had a fear of flying when they came to our course.

1/ Lack of Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Air pockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out the Sky
10/ Panic Attacks

We are hoping that you have found the other recent newsletters helpful?

As usual, this week we are going to go down the honesty route, just as we do on all our courses.

We use a mixture of honesty, knowledge and humour on our courses because we know that 99.9% of the people on our courses are intelligent and normal functioning humans. There is this one fear that is stopping them from living their lives, stopping them from taking holidays and some people even losing jobs because of it.

We want to help to stop that happening to you. Stop the fear being in control of you instead of the other way around. I bet that Greg, you would like that too?

We run an activity at the beginning of every course to find out what people want from the day and this comes up every time. One very positive person's question was, ‘When we crash (note when and not if) do we die before, during or after it has crashed?' We don't actually know the answer to this one I'm afraid.

The answer to this may surprise you but we will explain.

You have every right to be scared of crashing. I am scared of crashing. Fear of dying is a rational fear. Who wants to die? No-one does.

What we forget when we think about all of the horrific things that could happen to us in an aircraft, we are guilty of allowing our thinking to become faulty.

How dare you say that?!

Well, it is true because if you want to be more at risk from dying, travel by coach, travel by car, walk behind donkeys, ride a motorbike, eat lots of doughnuts, ride a push bike or take any other form of transport than aircraft. Flying in commercial aircraft with all their law enforced safety checks is safer than any other form of transport. Fact.

The most dangerous part of a commercial pilot's day is his/her journey on the motorway to the airport.

The airline industry is possibly the only industry where safety always comes first before profit. Without safety there are no customers.

Commercial aircraft are safer than any other form of transport – even walking. The training and regulations in place for this profession are staggering. More than you hear about because it does not make the news.

‘Today, one million people landed safely at their destination and nothing happened.' This is a headline that does not sell newspapers (although the Virgin Atlantic Flying Without Fear team have all agreed that we would buy one)

If an aircraft wing-tip brushes against a catering van in an airport, causing no damage to the aircraft and no danger to the passengers, it would probably be in the newspaper as, ‘Aircraft collides with Catering Van at Heathrow.'

So coming back to Crashing. It is normal to fear crashing as it is normal to fear dying – lots of people do. We have to do something about the way we think about this. Only we can control the thoughts in our head otherwise they control us.

Forgive us as we suggest that we have a choice here. If we want to think about dying we have two options open to us:

Option 1

Build ‘thinking about dying' into everything we now do where it could happen such as eating peanuts, drinking beer, opening the door to a stranger, changing a plug socket and driving to work.

Option 2

Accept that dying and crashing are something that are normal to fear HOWEVER, it is not normal to pinpoint all of that fear into one mode of transport. Especially, as the one that we are picking on is the one where we are least likely to die from.

Hopefully, you can see the irony in this? These comments are not intended to poke fun at the way our brains work sometimes. It is about thinking about it rationally.

We have to train ourselves to stop thinking about the worst consequences and learn to replace these with rational replacements.

Top Tips:

Each and every time you think about catastrophe shout ‘STOP' in your head (out loud if you prefer but not at work!)

Say instead something like, ‘It is okay to feel worried as I am in the safest place I could be….in an aircraft.' Or just simply, ‘Everything is okay.'

We know it may sound twee but it works. It takes effort because we have probably had years of telling ourselves ‘I am going to die!'

Imagine in your brain, you now have the neural pathway the size of a motorway that links all things aircraft related to feeling fearful. We get really good at bringing on the fear and do it even quicker the more we practice.

We are asking you to practice stopping the negative self talk and replace it with more positive talk. It is the equivalent of driving down a new dirt track to get somewhere versus going on the motorway. Slow but over time all dirt tracks can become busy roads.

So, this week we have talked about crashing. We have pointed out it is normal to fear such things. The main point of today is that we need to re-train ourselves to put the fear of dying on an aircraft into perspective. We will die but it will not be due to flying on commercial aircraft.

Hope that this has been useful? Next instalment, we are going to be talking about noises. What are those weird and wonderful clunks and bing bongs all about?

Take care

Paul and Richard
FWF Team

The course that changes peoples' lives and has done so for thousands of people just like you.

Flying Without Fear Limited

PO BOX 289
Betchworth, Surrey
RH3 7WX
GB

Website

Flying Without Fear

Media Man Australia Profiles

Richard Branson

Aviation

The Other Side of the Business - Turbine Toucan - 9th July 2008

This year we’ve seen more then 8 million hits on the Turbine Toucan site, which continues to please and excite each and everyone one of us! Considering we’ve only had one press release (introducing the aircraft) and no advertising, that’s A LOT of traffic and it has all happened virally. A large part of this online success is from loyal, like-minded enthusiasts like yourselves, whom we are indebted to. We have been stuck in an awkward situation the past six or so weeks regarding regular updates and it took Tom Kampel’s interest and candor to point out our lack of keeping you involved.

Our journey has really been a two-part process. The first being the development and test flying of a very exciting, unique and unusual aircraft. The second part might be even more involved than the first… corporate sponsorship. In all honesty, this part of the process is by far the most demanding and much harder than building and flying the aircraft. The second part of this equation is also the hardest to articulate and why we extend an apology for the temporary radio silence.

What we are trying to accomplish in the air show industry is unprecedented and there are a lot of eyes watching. That includes many agencies of record we had early conversations with when we were at the exploration stage of building the Turbine Toucan.

And just what are we trying to accomplish? Our main focus since we got started was to create a highly differentiated marketing communication platform. This not only included our highly differentiated aircraft but also our custom 75ft tractor-trailer, support aircraft, pit equipment and team. We are intent on creating an experience both in the air and on the ground, which is second to none. Our tractor-trailer has several missions but is centered around our title sponsor for hospitality, similar to NASCAR, NHRA etc. We’ll also use the tractor-trailer for the ultimate static display. It will be complete with pit equipment and access to the pilot & crew, which will be a focal point at any air show. The static display/hospitality also provides air show event organizers that much more entertainment, adding value to their event.

We have had many meetings at the CMO level with Fortune 1000 companies, which is an achievement in and of itself. Each meeting takes more than a week to prepare for, with custom presentations for each of the prospective title sponsors. Many, if not all, of these meetings are confidential, making details something we can’t communicate. So, a lot is happening but unfortunately we can’t elaborate. Add the current economic conditions and it puts a whole new layer of challenges and complexity to our pursuit. Our focus over the last few months has solely been on positioning our entertainment property to the world.

We took on the challenge of building the Turbine Toucan because we identified a very unique opportunity (for which there are few and far between), after looking at the air show industry. What many don’t realize (including agency’s of record and corporations) is that air shows represent the single largest spectator event in the US. The top 14 air shows trump that of NASCAR, Indy Car, Champ Car or any other motor sport when it comes to “at venue” attendance. Air shows also represent both rich and wide demographics, with a higher average household income and education than NASCAR. They also provide the greatest geographic reach, with events in every state of the union. Air shows get overlooked for several reasons, one being the lack of television coverage. They are one of the few events that do not translate well to television, no matter how hard you try. It is such an emotive experience that you have to be there to truly appreciate and interpret.

To the savvy marketeer, the lack of television coverage is quickly overlooked when one considers the raw “at venue” attendance figures… the numbers are staggering! The reason this is one of the best-kept secret is because air shows don’t have an industry-sanctioned body and lack any kind of resources or voice to get the word out at an orchestrated national level. In a sense, we are that lone voice, educating individuals at any opportunity we can what an incredible opportunity this industry truly offers! Air shows, in our opinion, represent one of the best “experiential marketing” opportunities ever. And that is why we embarked on this journey, to help evolve an industry, raise the bar and provide incredible ROI to a forward thinking company!

Every motorsport/event in the U.S. is made up of and driven by corporate sponsorship… and with great success we might add. So why is the air show industry so slow to adopt? It is one of the last few event industries remaining that is not regulated or managed by a sanctioned body. The FAA has, in a sense, been that lone soldier. International Council of Air Shows (ICAS) unfortunately can only act in an advisory capacity for the industry, since it is grossly under funded. There is no industry marketing being done, it is only done at the local event level, which is one of the many reasons companies and ad agencies lump it into the same category as a county fair. Every fair is different; there is no cohesiveness, no standards for the guest experience, etc. With that said, we are also in one of the most enviable positions of any motor sport with regards to safety. Not a single spectator has been killed at an air show from an aircraft related accident. This unprecedented safety record is also a huge story to tell yet very few people are aware of this fact.

Not being a sanctioned event also has its advantages. Our research indicates that community/local driven events, such as air shows, are far more news worthy at a local and regional level. This is an important attribute, as part of the overall value to a potential sponsor and delivers valuable exposure and PR money can’t buy… literally.

In order for the air show industry to continue to evolve and prosper, a paradigm shift is needed. After years of researching the air show industry and its practices, we could only identify a few individuals/businesses that focus on this industry full time and receive 100% of their revenue or salary from it. Up to now, events have had the great fortune of relying on the generosity of air show performers who have been willing to subsidize the air show industry in order to perform at public venues. And all but a few are either independently wealthy or have another full time occupation/business to support their love of flying and performing. In either case, the monetary losses for being on the air show circuit full time is staggering! We won’t disclose what the elite level performer makes for a two-day show (from the event organizer) but suffice to say it is nominal considering the associated risk and costs involved. With fuel prices surging out of control, this paradigm shift is what the industry needs, if it is to survive.

Up to now, the industry has been fueled by the passion of pilots. Pilot/performers willing to subsidize (in most cases) the industry in order to do what they love is very admirable. But it is not sustainable. Nor does it give the industry the required resources to do things on a much higher level. At the end of the day, air show fans are also consumers, who have most likely been to other motorsport events such as NASCAR, IRL, NHRA and their expectations are high. So, the bar has been set for the industry for some time. But the bar will never be reached if we expect pilots and local air show promoters to brunt most of the cost.

By contrast, Sean D. Tucker, title sponsor Oracle, illustrates our point exactly. It provides him professional marketing talent and resources. It also allows him to have a top notch, full time crew, equipment and a back-up aircraft. More over, it also provides him much needed resources to provide hospitality at every venue he appears. Sean’s sponsorship allows him the time and resources to practice EVERY DAY leading up to and between his scheduled air show performances. What does all this really mean? For one, SAFETY! And on so many levels I can’t begin to emphasize the importance of. It also is a level of professionalism we need to see more of.

Many might question why Oracle, a software maker for business applications, would ever sponsor an event that is made up of the widest consumer demographics in the event business. It’s not like you can go down to your local strip mall and buy anything Oracle branded after you just saw Sean perform at an air show. Oracles sponsorship is not going to influence any impulse buy at your local store. But air shows provide a huge value and ROI for Oracle.

So why does Oracle sponsor Sean? For the very same reason Dupont, a B2B company sponsors NASCAR. Both companies use these unique venues to entertain key industry partners and distributors, top performing employees and their families, as well as providing invaluable and immeasurable company moral for such an association. And both companies have measured success with such an affiliation!

So, if there is truly measurable ROI for Oracle and their sponsorship, imagine the success a CPG (consumer packaged goods) company could experience from one of the best-kept secrets in the event/experiential marketing world. (Credit: Turbine Toucan)

Media Man Australia Profiles

Stunt Planes and Stunt Pilots

Aviation

Points of view beg to differ, by Clive Dorman - The Sydney Morning Herald - 12th July 2008

Qantas's new frequent-flyer program has polarised travellers, writes Clive Dorman.

It's laughable, if you listen to some of the feedback on independent consumer websites. It's exactly what consumers want, according to the company.

Such are the extremes of reaction to Qantas's new frequent-flyer program launched last week.

Qantas frequent flyers can now book any seat for sale on any flight without the extensive blackout periods of the old program, something customers have complained about long and hard.

The trade-off is that to get that seat exactly when you want to fly, it may cost you up to five times the frequent-flyer points of the old scheme.

This isn't much use for infrequent flyers who may pick up enough points for a short interstate trip after a long-haul flight to America or Europe, for example. But it is good news for frequent business flyers, some of whom have amassed millions of points but had trouble using them when they wanted to fly under the old scheme.

The so-called "classic" program, with its fixed points-redemption levels (plus taxes and charges) has been retained alongside the new "Any Seat" program, whose points values include all taxes and charges.

Any Seat also offers the option of topping up your points balance with an extra payment if you're short of the points needed to buy a flight reward. The only restriction is that Any Seat is available only on flights that have a Qantas or Jetstar flight number, not on all flights with Qantas code-share partners.

"It's great that Qantas has introduced Any Seat awards," one blogger writes on the independent website, frequentflyer.com.au. "But the points required are just laughable."

Another rejoices that he can get to Mexico City via LA on Christmas Eve, returning the first week in January - the busiest two weeks of the year - for "only" 1.8 million points in business class or 2.2 million in first. "Amazing value," he writes. "Surely we will all be able to burn points quickly."

However, some bloggers report that seats in first class can be cheaper than business-class seats on some flights. One says a reward seat between Canberra and Perth in business class was cheaper via Sydney than non-stop.

This is because of two new factors: Qantas Frequent Flyer is now a separate business within Qantas that buys seats from the airline; and Any Seat displays seat "prices" in points values in the same way that anyone booking online chooses from different seats in dollar values.

While some may be unhappy with the new sliding points system, Qantas insists it has done its research.

"Our members told us what changes they wanted," Qantas Frequent Flyer chief executive Simon Hickey says, "and we've responded."

Qantas chief executive Geoff Dixon, who will take a case to the Qantas board next month to sell off a stake of about 40 per cent in the frequent-flyer program, is more blunt. "If we're going to try to sell this to the public, as we probably are, as a company to invest in, it's going to have to have some very attractive fundamentals," he says.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Qantas

Travel and Tourism

Aviation

Flying Without Fear Is Here - Air Pockets

Hello and welcome back to the next installment from the team
that changes people's lives.

This is part four of ten parts which look at the top ten
reasons that people like you fear flying. If you find that
your question is not covered here, it is likely to be picked
up in later newsletters. Or, go to our message board and
post your question for one of the team to answer it.


A recap of the top ten reasons that we have found from the
thousands of people we have helped, have had fears.

1/ Lack of Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Air pockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out the Sky
10/ Panic Attacks


Today is about Air Pockets. This could be the shortest
newsletter ever. Here we go,

THERE ARE NO SUCH THINGS AS AIR POCKETS!

There, that's it.

It is actually a term made up by the media. There is no such thing. There are no parts of the air that other air isn't living in.

There are not vacuums in our air.

The term ‘air pocket' sounds terrific for a headline but we
deal with the truth here.

What the bloke down the pub is talking about when he waffles
on seemingly knowing about Air Pockets, is changes in air movement.

Do you remember the Pooh sticks story in the previous
letter? Pooh sticks in water move about because of water
currents.

Air has movement too.

When newspapers talk about, We lost a thousand feet…

It is often hugely exaggerated.

Within the aircraft we are deprived of our main sense organ
which is sight.

Without sight, our other senses, particularly the ears, try to make sense of what is happening.

We start to rely on the tiny movement sensations within our
ear fluids which without being able to see horizons with our
eyes, our brains are confused.

When confused, our brains guess what is going on.

It is an illusion that our ears create because we can't see
movement outside. So, in other words, if the aircraft
changed altitude quickly by even a few feet, we may feel it,
and think it's a massive drop, even though it isn't.

In other words, what we feel is not what is really
happening. It is a well researched and recorded illusion
that all pilots are trained to be aware of. Pilots use
their instruments to calibrate because none of us can rely
on human organs alone.

We are quite clever humans, but two hundred years ago, there
were no cars and if trains reported that they could go
faster, there would have been panic that humans could not
take it!

In summary, there are no air pockets. The sensations that
you feel on board the aircraft are not accurate. We all
have to train ourselves to dismiss the messages our brains
tell us that are not right.

Whatever happens is normal. If we are seat belted, we are safe. Aircraft are safe.

Next week, we will be talking about crashing! A nice cheery
one then hey!?

Take care

Paul and Richard
The Flying Without Fear Team
Flying Without Fear Limited

PO BOX 289
Betchworth, Surrey
RH3 7WX
GB

Website

Flying Without Fear

Profiles

Virgin

Richard Branson

Aviation

V Australia unveils Brisbane-LA direct - The Australian - 5th July 2008

Virgin Blue's new international arm, V Australia, will introduce direct flights from Brisbane-Los Angeles next year.

V Australia will begin a daily direct Sydney to LA service on December 15, with Brisbane to LA being its second route.

To celebrate the announcement, V Australia said it would offer discount economy return flights of $1234 until sold out.

The carrier said that everyday return economy fares would start from $2087.

The Brisbane-LA service will depart on Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from March 1.

The carrier said it conducted extensive research before deciding to commit resources to operating a trans-Pacific flight to and from Brisbane.

"Only one other airline currently operates direct services between the two cities, making it ripe for competition," it said.

Qantas operates a direct service between Brisbane and LA.

V Australia general manager Scott Swift said the Brisbane to LA route would bring new opportunities for Queenslanders to travel to the US and would have a positive impact on the state's tourism industry.

"We are keen to help ramp up visitor numbers to Queensland," Mr Swift said.

Premier Anna Bligh said she welcomed V Australia's vote of confidence in Queensland.

"Virgin Blue has already delivered significant benefits to the state in terms of domestic tourism and resulting business and economic spin-offs," she said.

V Australia is conducting a recruitment drive for international cabin crew.

Media Man Australia Profiles

V Australia

Virgin Blue

Aviation

And then there were five, by Clive Dorman - The Sydney Morning Herald - 5th July 2008

Can Australia's crowded air space support another domestic carrier? Clive Dorman reports.

A decade ago, debate raged within the airline industry about whether Australia could support more than the two airlines it then had, Ansett and Qantas.

The industry's conservative analysts argued that Australia didn't have the population. Those who said more than two airlines could be sustained were considered radicals.

But radical things have happened in the past decade. The most astounding statistic is that every Australian takes at least one domestic return plane trip every year on average.

In the past 10 years domestic air travel in Australia has doubled from 24 million one-way trips to 48 million.

The radicals were right. Australia now has four financially strong airlines. Unlike the bloodbath elsewhere in the airline world, caused by record fuel prices, all the Australian carriers (Tiger Airways Australia, Virgin Blue, Qantas and Jetstar) are at least ahead of budget.

This is why airlines and would-be airlines throughout the world are attracted to Australia like moths to a flame.

There were reports last year that a US regional airline group was looking at opportunities here. An Indonesian carrier has formed an Australian joint venture, Lion Air Australia, which is looking at not only linking Indonesia and Australia with new services, but also at Australian domestic routes.

In the past fortnight, reports have emerged that a new domestic carrier is to try its luck. Calling itself VivaJet, the Melbourne-based would-be airline isn't talking about its plans on the record but has leaked selected snippets.

It aims to fill the gap between Australia's three low-cost carriers and its only full-service carrier Qantas, offering free meals and refreshments as part of the ticket price, for example.

It plans initially to connect Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast with four new 100-seat regional jets, eventually expanding to Adelaide, Hobart and Canberra.

Four airlines? Yes, we can cop that, say the industry analysts. But a fifth? The airline watchers are sceptical - especially in an era of record fuel prices. Not to mention the long odds of successfully taking a share of the full-service market from Qantas.

A VivaJet source says the company wants to begin flying in November. This is impossible, according to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, which must approve the new carrier.

"We've had no contact, formally or informally, so any notion of a start-up this year is impossible," says CASA spokesman Peter Gibson.

"From the point of first contact, it takes six to nine months to get an air operator's certificate [an airline licence].

"Beyond that, we have no way of judging the veracity of the project."

One thing is certain, however: whether VivaJet flies or not, it won't be the last would-be airline to be dazzled by Australia's gold-plated runways.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Flying Without Fear is Here!

Hello from the team that changes people's lives.

Welcome back. This is part three of your sequenced report on the top ten reasons that we have found that people just like you have had a fear of flying.

This week, we are talking about Turbulence.

This is part three of ten parts that will cover off all of the areas of fear below.

Reminder of the list:

1/ Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Airpockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out Of The Sky
10/ Panic Attacks

Turbulence.

Questions about Turbulence come up on each and every course that we have run since November 1997. It is one the biggies for people.

The content for today's newsletter is cribbed from listening to our pilots describe in terms that we all can understand. It is divided into two parts.

The first part looks at the reality of what Turbulence does to an aircraft and you.

The second part looks at what is Turbulence is in normal speak.

By the way, I was watching a programme on the TV last night and saw this scene which involved Turbulence. I thought to myself, If Turbulence was like that I wouldn't get on an aircraft ever!

It was absolutely untrue how they portrayed it with flashing lights and lots of weird engine noises. If you watch anything like this, please remember it is television not real life! Come on our course and you will know that for true!

First things first. There is no danger to the aircraft from Turbulence. Aircraft do not fly into tropical storms as they have sophisticated systems that can detect thunderstorms, heavy turbulence, volcano ash in fact anything that you can think of.

Pilots will fly around anything that would be too uncomfortable for our passengers. But, make no mistake, modern aircraft are not bothered by turbulence. It is humans that don't like it because it is uncomfortable.

It is uncomfortable but not dangerous. Provided, you are strapped in when asked to be.

Why do the Cabin Crew not have to sit down - do they have special gravity footwear?!? (Real question from an ex-nervous flyer we helped)

Cabin Crew are used to walking around in aircraft that would feel wobbly to non Cabin Crew.

To repeat, the aircraft is not in danger. You are only in danger if you are not seatbelted when the Captain asks you to be.


So, what is Turbulence then?

Have you ever played Pooh Sticks? Pooh sticks is when you lean over one side of a footbridge, drop a couple of twigs into the stream below. Then, you rush to the other side of the bridge to see which Pooh stick won. Not played?

Anyway, as you watch the twigs you will notice that they bob about, speed up, slow down and generally move around due to the currents in the water. The currents are caused by different speeds of water molecules coming together. Sometimes, the different bits of water are slightly different temperatures so rub together as they meet.

Well, guess what. Air behaves and has all the properties of water.

Did you at any point see the twigs plummet to the murky depths because the water didn't feel like supporting it any more? No? Of course not. This is not meant to be patronising but it is a key point that we need to tell ourselves because it is easy to talk ourselves into thinking unhelpful thoughts.

It is also worth mentioning that pooh sticks don't have sophisticated navigation systems like aircraft do. The sort of systems that effortlessly keep the aircraft completely on track at all times. Not so for Pooh sticks.

Ah, but you can see water! You say.

Yes, that is true. Plus, when you are in aircraft you often have no idea where we are flying as it is difficult to be precise when looking at a big fluffy cloud. Like as precise as a building or even a coast line.

Aircraft like air movement. Coming back from America, you will shave about one hour off your journey because of the air blowing us from behind.

Air is a strong thing. Go outside on a windy day and notice the trees bending in the wind. You can't see it like water but there is sheer power and energy there.

Air is good. It is always there. It has energy and potency in it. Aircraft stay up because of the air passing over the wing. The engines give the aircraft thrust but they don't keep the aircraft up there once it is flying. The wings with the air passing over them do that. Aircraft are just like big gliders using the air to their advantage.

Have you ever looked at a stream and seen absolutely no movement whatsoever. Nothing at all? No, because there is always some movement.

Same with air. Even on the calmest of days, the air is always moving. Turbulence is just a name for moving air. It always moves and that is good. Wherever there is air there will be some movement or Turbulence.

It is normal and it is safe to aircraft and safe to you if you have your seatbelt on. Did you know, pilots always keep their seat belts on during the whole flight except for essential visits! The reason that they keep their seat belts on is that safety always comes first with airlines. We all know here that hardly anything ever happens on a flight Turbulence wise. Really bad turbulence, although though not dangerous to the aircraft, is extremely rare. We know that the airlines have so many back up and safety measures in place, wearing of the seat belt is just another one of them.

When the air moves quickly it can take us by surprise. Here is your challenge:

Every time you hear yourself say Turbulence or someone else says it. You have to NO!! It is movement of air and it is okay.

Turbulence has too many negative connotations now and it does not deserve them. Just like Air Pockets which is the subject of next week's newsletter.

Until then, keep practising managing your thoughts and your breathing.

Very best wishes

Paul and Richard
FWF Team
Flying Without Fear Limited

PO BOX 289
Betchworth, Surrey
RH3 7WX
GB

Website

Flying Without Fear

Profiles

Richard Branson

Virgin

Aviation

Flying boats: Sydney’s golden age of aviation - Museum of Sydney - Saturday 10 May — Sunday 14 September 2008

1938 saw the dawn of a golden age of aviation when Rose Bay became home to Sydney's first international airport, servicing the mighty flying boats – large, luxurious, four-engine aircraft that alighted on water.

This was the beginning of an era when air travel was new, exciting and glamorous and a ticket cost more than the average annual wage. Passengers on the journey from Sydney to England enjoyed a leisurely ten day trip in first class comfort with over 30 exotic stopovers.

Flying boats played a vital role in World War II, and after the war they opened up the South Pacific and Lord Howe Island as popular holiday playgrounds for Australians. As a result Sydney operated the last major flying boat base in the world until 1974.

Featuring photographs, posters, film, models, flight crew uniforms, a recreated cabin, a flying boat engine and the fascinating personal stories of travellers, crew and the workers at the Rose Bay base, Flying boats celebrates the early days of transoceanic air travel and presents a definitive account of this extraordinary chapter in Sydney's history.

Website

http://www.hht.net.au/whats_on/highlights/exhibitions/flying_boats

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Pilot walkssaway from plane crash - Central Coast Express Advocate - 2nd July 2008

A pilot walked away from an emergency landing at Warnervale airport early on Monday after his plane burst into flames in mid-air.

The man, 29, of Hamlyn Terrace, suffered minor burns to his face in the incident which occurred about 7am just moments after take-off.

Police said the plane, a single engine Jake Special, "briefly became airborne when the pilot realised the aircraft was on fire".

"He managed to make an emergency landing, bringing the plane to rest about 500m south of the tarmac," a spokesman said.

The pilot was the only person in the plane and was taken to Wyong Hospital for treatment.

The fire could not be extinguished and the plane was destroyed.

Police referred the case to air safety investigators. The pilot's name has not been released.

There was no other person at the airport when it happened.

The airport is owned by Wyong Council and leased to Warnervale Air Pty Ltd which conducts charter and hire service flights.

A spokesman said it was not uncommon for the pilot to leave at that time of the morning before anyone else was on duty.

Last week, aviator and businessman Dick Smith lodged a development application to build a new hangar at Warnervale airport to house his Cessna Caravan.

He said it was ideal for small planes, located centrally between Sydney and Newcastle.

The future of the airport has been dogged by controversy.

Some, like Mr Smith, want it developed as a major airfield for light aviation while others want it shut down.

In 1999, the council proposed extending the runway to 1600m to cater for jet aircraft carrying between 50 and 116 passengers.

The plans were scrapped in February 2003 when the council decided instead to focus on job creation for the area's growth, including helping the establishment of a $100 million distribution centre for Woolworths on part of the land initially earmarked for the airport upgrade.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Honda's shot heard around the world, by Simon Canning - The Australian - 3rd June 2008

Advertising loves a shot that is heard around the world and last week in the UK the Japanese car maker Honda managed to pull off a stunt of epic proportions.

More than 2.2 million Channel Four viewers in the UK were happily settled on their couches last week when regular programming was interrupted by a three minute ad.

In any circumstances a three minute ad is something special, but Honda managed to make its effort even more eye-catching by broadcasting the ad live.

Cameras crossed to somewhere in Spain where a team of skydivers were set to do their stuff.

As it is, what they did was unremarkable, falling from the sky and spelling out HONDA with their bodies as they went.

As ads go, it was little more than a stunt, but it has managed to capture global attention well beyond the three minutes it commanded on a British TV station.

It is an advertising shot being heard around the world, supposedly the first ad of its type ever broadcast live.

It lacks the over-produced humour of Australia's own Carlton Draught skydiver ad but what it has managed to connect with is people's imagination.

In a world where every sporting event goes out live across the globe, the thought of an ad featuring daredevil skydivers in Spain being beamed into people's lounge rooms has a certain sense of wonder about it.

Over the years Honda has created some very special ads including the environmentally focused Hate Something Change Something ad.

But the live effort is different and often when an advertiser goes in terms of innovation, other advertisers rush to follow.

So, are we about to see a global onslaught of live advertising stunts?

The odds are adland's desperate desire to be original will cancel any thoughts of copycat live ads.

But then again, when a shot is heard around the world, the echo is rarely far behind.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Honda

Publicity

Publicity Stunt

Advertising

Aviation

Pilot thrown from plane, by Arjun Ramachandran - The Sydney Morning Herald - 30th June 2008

A pilot was thrown from a plane and a passenger trapped, after their aircraft clipped a fence during take-off and ploughed into the ground near Port Stephens yesterday.

The twin-seat ultralight plane had taken off from a private paddock on Storks Road, Glen Oak, about 2.40pm.

But during the take-off the plane's wheel was believed to have hit the top of a fence, and it ploughed into the ground, police said.

The pilot, a 39-year-old Brandy Hill man, was thrown from the plane and suffered a fractured shoulder and possible spinal injuries, police said.

A 48-year-old female passenger, from Glen Oak, was trapped for about 15 minutes before being released by a rescue team. She suffered severe facial injuries.

The pair were airlifted to John Hunter Hospital and were in a serious but stable condition.

Police could not say what caused the plane to clip the fence.

"My understanding is that it was a joy flight they were going on," a police spokesman said.

The Newcastle Herald yesterday named the injured pair as Michael Freund and his wife, Jennifer. They owned the property where the crash occurred, the paper said.

However, a police spokesman today said the injured pair were not a married couple.

A large group of neighbours gathered at the property after the accident, many clearly shaken by the crash, the Herald reported.

Lawrence Bogie, who lives in an adjoining property, said his daughter alerted him to the accident.

"They are very, very nice people," he said of Mr and Mrs Freund.

Meanwhile, a light plane caught fire a short time after landing at Warnervale Aerodrome on the Central Coast about 7.15am today, an ambulance spokeswoman said.

The pilot got out from the plane and suffered minor injuries, she said.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Publicity Stunt And Branding Opportunity - Are you the next Branson, Dick Smith or Kym Illman?

It's not always so easy to stand out from the pack in today's world, either as an individual or a brand.

Via the power of exposure to the public and media, combining together a stunt pilot, his flying canvas, a publicity stunt (and your brand), a huge positive exposure opportunity is now available. Our pilot frequently performs in front of 1000's of people and is often featured in the press.

Could you be the next Richard Branson, Dick Smith, Kym Illman or GoldenPalace.com?

Want to crack the pages of the likes of Marketing Magazine, B&T and AdNews?

Get your brand on the lips of Australia's top advertising and media analysts.

Paul Bennet, aviator, stunt pilot and his Pitts Special, are now ready to push your brand to the limit.

Check out the flying canvas here.

Paul's upcoming appearance schedule is located here.

Read about stunt marketing and ambush marketing and publicity stunts here and here.

For more information contact Paul Bennet and Greg Tingle
e: greg@mediaman.com

Profiles

Paul Bennet

Maxx-G Aerobatics

Sky-high petrol: it's almost cheaper to fly, by Linton Besser The Sydney Morning Herald - 17th June 2008

Drive to Newcastle from Sydney for work, and the Tax Office will reimburse you at least $93. But now, for just $6 extra, you can fly direct to the former steel town from salubrious Rose Bay.

In a flashback to the days when the grand old Empire-class flying boats left the harbour bound for prewar London, a commuter service took off yesterday, delivering business types direct to Newcastle's growing harbourfront development in just 30 minutes.

At a time when big airlines are cutting routes around Australia and overseas, four return flights a day have been scheduled between the two city centres on a 12-seat, $3 million Cessna Caravan.

"There is a huge number of people who drive between Sydney and Newcastle each day," Aaron Shaw, owner of Sydney Sea Planes, said. "And the F3 is so unreliable, it can turn into a four-hour drive very easily."

In a climate of rising fuel prices, Mr Shaw is so confident about the viability of the business that he has ambitions to open similar commuter services to other locations, including Lake Illawarra, south of Wollongong, and Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra.

But word of mouth takes a little while to spread. On the first day of scheduled services yesterday, just a handful of passengers took advantage of the cheap fares.

One was Kate Walsh, 14, a boarder at Kincoppal Rose Bay, whose parents live in Newcastle. It was a "one-off", she said, that her friends thought was "pretty cool". "But it was lots of fun - you could see the coastline all the way south."

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Up, up and away, By Sam Paine - Mudgee Guardian - 28th April 2008

This year's Wings, Wheels and Wine air show was the biggest yet, with 3000 patrons passing through the gates.

Mudgee Aero Club secretary Rob Duffy attributed this year's success partly to the decision to move the show to the ANZAC Day long weekend.

He and coordinator Dan Power estimated that the monetary benefits for the Mudgee region could be measured in millions of dollars, as many visitors arrived early and stayed in Mudgee through the week leading up to the show.

This year, the show ventured into a new W, with a wool display including exhibitions of wool clothing and demonstrations by male and female shearers.

As wine has always been intrinsic to the air show, Mr Power said, "it was just a natural progression to the other product that's in the area."

Nine wineries offered tastings on site, and members of Mudgee Fine Foods brought various local products to taste and purchase.

Other stallholders offered a variety of material for air show enthusiasts, from model ships to framed prints of war planes in pencil.

The team behind Mudgee High School's solar powered car brought it along to compare with UNSWs solar powered racer.

Four rows of classic cars were lined up on the airfield, while the skies were filled with flying displays.

Special guest Father John Fowles showed off the four-seater kit plane in which he will soon circumnavigate the continent.

A highlight of the day was a pair of high-flying aerobatic performances by Paul Andronicou and Paul Bennett, followed by feats in formation by six RAAF Roulettes.

A crew from the ABC attended the show to film the roulettes for a new program on remarkable careers.

Motor Magazine will also use Mudgee as the backdrop for a photo shoot this week, after making a successful appearance at the air show with a number of impressive new-model cars.

Mr Power reported increased numbers of car clubs, partly due to the support of the president and secretary of the Council of Motor Clubs, who have been promoting the event and are now discussing bringing an annual motor rally through Mudgee en route to Bathurst. For more photos from Wings, Wheels and Wine, see Wednesday's Weekly.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Paul Bennett

Maxx-G Aerobatics

Stunt Planes and Stunt Pilots

Aviation

Airbus says in talks on superjumbo casino - 15th Feb 2008

HONG KONG (AFP) - Airbus said Thursday it was holding talks with a number of customers interested in converting its superjumbo A380 -- the world's biggest passenger plane -- into a flying casino.

"We have had interests from customers who would like to do something like (casinos)," said David Velupillai, marketing director for Airbus's executive and private aviation division.

"We had discussions with several customers about it," he told AFP.

"Of course the biggest attraction of the A380 is that it's got 50 percent more floor space than the (Boeing) 747. If you have to do something like that, you have got the floor space that will allow you to do this."

Velupillai said a fully-fitted casino on the world's biggest airliner could be delivered as early as 2012.

He would not disclose the identity of the interested customers nor whether they included casino operators.

Nor would he be drawn on whether there would be special interest from Asian customers seekign to exploit a gambling surge.

Gaming revenues from the southern Chinese territory of Macau have already overtaken the Las Vegas Strip and are set to challenge the greater Las Vegas region, Clark County, this year.

Singapore is also set to open its first casino in 2009.

Airbus has so far received nearly 200 firm orders for the A380 from a list of predominantly Asian, European and Gulf-based customers.

The first of the hulking, double-decker planes to go into normal passenger service has been flying the Singapore to Sydney route since October, operated by Singapore Airlines.

Giant casino operator Las Vegas Sands, which has operations in the United States and Macau, is hoping to launch VIP charter flights between Hong Kong and Las Vegas featuring baccarat tables in Lockheed Martin planes, a South China Morning Post report said earlier this week.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Casino

Gaming

Aviation

Ryanair CEO talks free sex on flights, by Craig Platt - The Sydney Morning Herald - 27th June 2008

European budget carrier Ryanair has taken its cheeky reputation to new levels, with chief executive officer Michael O'Leary suggesting business class passengers would receive free oral sex on flights.

O'Leary made the saucy remarks during a press conference in Germany about Ryanair's Trans-Atlantic flights.

Explaining that Ryanair's long-haul flights would feature a business class that went against Ryanair's typical low-budget ethos, O'Leary remarked that "in economy it will be very cheap fares, say 10 Euros, and in business class it will be bed and blowjobs".

While O'Leary's remark was obviously a joke, he repeated the controversial comment and wanted it translated for the journalists.

"In business class," he said, "it will all be free - including the blowjobs."

He then asked the translator the German word for oral sex. After being told there wasn't one, he remarked "terrible sex life in Germany".

Last year, Ryanair found itself in trouble over its "Girls of Ryanair" calendar, which featured scantily clad flight attendants posing on board aircraft. Spain's government-run Women's Institute called the calendar sexist and complained to Irish and European Union authorities.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

You F'Coffee Sir?!! The Real Air Hostesses' Handbook (Liz & Julie)

Website

You F'Coffee Sir?!! The Real Air Hostesses' Handbook (Liz & Julie)


If you are new to our Readership, let us give you a brief run down of us and our book. Oh yeah! First of all, can we just thank you for finding us and being interested. We're chuffed you're here!

We're two best friends, Liz & Julie, and we live in a North Western city, but both fly for a long-haul airline from Heathrow. We've been friends for nearly nine years now, and we met in amazing circumstances all to do with our work in the sky. We both love being Stewardesses because of the freedom, fun and great life it affords us. We started writing "You F'Coffee Sir?!!!" just because we got a bit pissed one night and started giggling and reminiscing about all the great things we've done, all the amazing places we've been and, of course, all the incredible people we've met. Our musings and memories became jottings, which became notes. The notes ended up becoming stories and metamorphosed in to chapters. We felt it was time to put our profession out there as we see it and we live it, in all it's mental, fun and fabulous glory, so hence our book! And what a wonderful journey and adventure it has been!

We set up a MySpace page in September, and we had such a brilliant response to our chapters that it gave us the courage to ask a famous writer, (who is an acquaintance of a family member no less) for his opinion. He loved our work, was astonished at what we'd achieved and got his Literary Agent to contact us. Ultimately we ended up with a Publisher! We couldn't believe it, it all happened so fast. Now we have a fully published book, which takes off in June. So this is where you can pre-order if you like and we'll send you your copy direct through the letter box! And if you order you will be entered in to our brilliant competition with a chance to win the clubbing weekend of your life. (subject to terms and conditions.)

By the way, if we do well (with your help and support of course) and get our book in to the charts, we will make history because we got our following through MySpace, and we will be the Lili Allen of the book world! She's as mad as a hatter like us! How fabulous would that be????

So to the future of "You F'Coffee Sir?!!!" The REAL Air Hostesses Handbook!

Thank you all so much,
Liz & Julie x
(Credit: Liz & Julie)


Profiles

Aviation

Stunt Pilots aka Air Show Performers

Media Man Australia Profiles

Stunt Pilots aka Air Show Performers

Aviation

Flying Without Fear is Here

Hello again from the course that changes people's lives.

Welcome to Part Two of the Top Ten Reasons we have found our course attendees have a fear of flying. This is part two of ten weekly segments that you will receive. Hope you find them useful...

To recap, the top ten reasons:

1/ Control
2/ Enclosed Spaces
3/ Turbulence
4/ Airpockets
5/ Crashing
6/ Noises
7/ Engine Failure
8/ Terrorist Threat
9/ Falling Out Of The Sky
10/ Panic Attacks

This week, we are going to look at Enclosed Spaces.

Let us be up front here. We use a mixture of three things on our courses: Honesty, Humour and Knowledge.

Let's use some honesty…….Aircraft can feel like enclosed spaces to people. More honesty…..When you get on board, they shut the door and you cannot get out…….You cannot open the door. This is a good thing.

The moment that the door shuts, your mind can go into panic overdrive. Your brain is attempting to protect you from what you see as a threat and you can feel that you have to escape. Maybe similar feelings to what you may have if you were in a lions den, with the lion in there too! To those who suffer with this, it can be the most awful thing. You may experience sweaty palms, over breathing, anxiety and even 'tunnel vision.'

The only way to control this aspect of your fear is to manage two things; your breathing and your thoughts.

Breathing.

On our course, we spend a fair amount of time practising breathing techniques to help keep your breathing in control. Everything is linked to your breathing, if you don't control your breathing, everything else goes crazy such as your heart, your lungs, your thoughts etc.

We really recommend that you learn to breathe properly. To learn how to relax why not try something like our relaxation CD. We give away our relaxation CD and booklet, free of charge on the course, in order that you can practise you techniques well before the flight from the comfort of your own home. Our testimonials show that those who have been on one of our courses and listened to the relaxation CD, go on to enjoy flying. You could also consider going to Yoga or listening to relaxation tapes or CDs to help you learn to control your breathing.

Thoughts.

'It is not what happens to you but your interpretation of what happens to you.' Steven Covey. This is the basis of this cognitive approach. You need to become aware of what the 'chatterbox' in your head is saying.

Compare the two following thought patterns:

1/ Chatterbox out of control. 'Oh my God, what was that noise?! It must mean we are crashing. I am not ready to die. All the Cabin Crew look scared, it must be true.'

2/ Chatterbox in control. 'Oh my God, what was that noise?! Okay, I may not feel comfortable but I am safe. If there was something I needed to know, the Captain would have told me. Flying is safe. I am able to cope with whatever happens to me.'

Which of the above is going to leave you feeling more resourceful?

So to summarise this week's newsletter. Fear of enclosed spaces is natural. It is an enclosed space. We suggest controlling two things to help you with this; your breathing and your thoughts.

Find out more on one of our courses by going to www.flyingwithoutfear.info and booking online.

Next newsletter, we will be looking at reason no. 3 - Turbulence.

Take care,

Paul and Richard
Virgin Atlantic's ‘Flying Without Fear' programme
The course that changes your life.


Flying Without Fear Limited

PO BOX 289
Betchworth, Surrey
RH3 7WX
GB

Website

‘Flying Without Fear'

Profiles

Aviation

Richard Branson Blog - Branson's Virgin

Media Man Australia created the Branson's Virgin blog.

Media Man Australia Profiles

Richard Branson

Virgin Blue

Virgin

Aviation News Media Blog

Welcome to the Aviation News Media Blog

We cover just about anything and everything to do with the world of aviation.

This blog compliments the coverage of Australian media and publicity company, Media Man Australia.

To get us on our way...

Media Man Australia Profiles

Aviation

Virgin Blue

Qantas