Monthly Archives: January 2020
Former Royal Navy Harriers to take to the skies again!
The Harrier, informally referred to as the Harrier Jump Jet, is a family of jet-powered attack aircraft capable of vertical/short takeoff and landing operations. Named after a bird of prey, it was originally developed by British manufacturer Hawker Siddeley in the 1960s.
Established in 2014, The Fly Harrier Trust is dedicated to bringing the BAE Harrier back once more to British skies. Founded by two longterm enthusiasts and pilots, Mark Fitzgerald and Sir Peter Rigby, the Trust aims to honour the aircraft’s long and distinguished service, its extraordinary engineering ingenuity, and the pilots that flew it by restoring two rare Harriers to flight-ready condition. A great plane is made to fly: let’s fly it.
The task of readying the Harriers for flight has seen them relocated from Cornwall to their current refurbishment hangar in St Athan. A former RAF and Navy Harrier maintenance hangar, it has proved the perfect location , and it is here that the restoration process has been overseen by two of the UK’s best practitioners, John Sparks and Pete Walker. Their efforts aided by hugely generous supply of parts, we are excellently placed to realise our dream. It’s time for a modern British icon to grace our skies once again.
The task of returning our Harriers to flight has required the support, care, and expertise of a community of the most wonderful enthusiasts. A plane much loved by those who knew it in its prime, we have been able to build a highly skilled team of experts, many of which worked with the Harrier from the 1960s onwards. Together with the backing of Sir Gerald Howarth, a former Aviation Minister, the Trust must now persuade the CAA of the seriousness of its cause. Let’s get the Harrier back up in the air.
Please, join us. Follow our story. Watch the process of restoring our Harriers. Help persuade the powers that be of the necessity of our cause. Your enthusiasm, your support, and the strength of your voice will help the Fly Harrier Trust achieve the most fantastic of dreams: to see this most iconic of British fighter jets flying British skies once again.
More information on the project can be seen on the fly harrier website https://www.flyharriers.com/
SAA NAMED AS ONE OF THE TOP ON-TIME-PERFORMING AIRLINES
JOHANNESBURG, 7 January 2020 – South African Airways has been named as one of the top performing airlines globally for on-time performance (OTP) by travel data and analytics company, Cirium.
SAA was ranked fourth in the category for Middle East and Africa mainline carriers, ahead of some of its major competitors, making SAA the leading African carrier on OTP.
“According to the International Airlines Transport Association’s benchmark of OTP, an airline is on-time when it arrives within 15 minutes of the scheduled time of arrival or departs within 15 minutes of the scheduled departure time. We are excited that most of the time we adhere to these deadlines,” said Zuks Ramasia, SAA Acting CEO.
SAA’s overall on-time performance across its route network is 85.69%.
“We are encouraged by this latest announcement about our performance. It is an endorsement and occasion to celebrate great achievement, especially when judged against our own peers, globally. Customers always have a choice and those who elect to fly with us recognise that we are a dependable airline. The results speak volumes about consistency and reliability of our operations – a key feature underlying our customer value proposition. This is an important attribute of our business,” said Ramasia.
SAA A350 Landing at Cape Town International Airport
As a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance, SAA serves 57 destinations within South Africa and across the continent in partnership with SA Express, Airlink and its low-cost carrier, Mango. SAA also flies to eight intercontinental destinations from its Johannesburg hub.
“We place a high premium on punctuality as measured through OTP. It is one of our most important customer impact performance indicators. The more punctual we are, the happier the customers we keep. Any flight delays could lead to costs for the airline and inconvenience to the customer. Delays could snowball into more delays, requiring more re-planning to recover the schedule for the rest of the day and bring inefficiencies,” concluded Ramasia.
Cirium works with over 90 per cent of the world’s top 50 airlines. The company, which has published its annual On-time Performance (OTP) Review for the past 11 years, provides a definitive list of the world’s best performing airlines and airports for on-time flight operations.
Jeremy Bowen, Cirium CEO, said: “Achieving world-class customer satisfaction and industry-leading product differentiation is about more than just competitively priced tickets and flight availability. When choosing whom to fly with, savvy travellers also now consider airline punctuality and operational reliability.
“We believe Cirium’s On-Time Performance Review 2019 will inspire airlines and airports to continue innovating to improve their performance. By embracing digital transformation and leveraging data to its full potential, Cirium can help the aviation industry harness its power to improve on-time performance and enhance the passenger experience,” Bowen said.
ISSUED BY SAA
About South African Airways:
South African Airways (SAA) is the leading carrier in Africa, serving 57 destinations, in partnership with SA Express, Airlink, and its low-cost carrier, Mango, within South Africa and across the continent, and eight intercontinental routes from its Johannesburg hub. It is a member of the largest international airline network, Star Alliance. SAA’s core business is the provision of passenger airline and cargo transport services together with related services, which are provided through SAA and its wholly owned subsidiaries: SAA Technical; Mango its low-cost carrier; and Air Chefs, the catering entity of SAA. SAA is the winner of the Best Airline Staff Service award in the Africa category; this shows that our customer-facing employees are our true brand ambassadors who made a difference to millions of travelling customers.