The Service of Snowden

29 June 2013 - Roger Cohen for the International Herald Tribune

At the same time, he has been lauded by Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, as a member of the “young, technically minded” generation “that Barack Obama betrayed.” Assange called President Obama the real “traitor.” Across the world, and in the United States itself, many people sympathize with Snowden. They see his leaks as a needed stand for individual freedom against the security-driven mass surveillance of a U.S. National Security Agency armed with the technology to gather and analyze the digital trails of our lives.

So what is Snowden? A self-aggrandizing geek who betrayed his country and his employer, Booz Allen Hamilton, exposed the United States to greater risk of terrorist attack, and may now — wittingly or unwittingly — have made his trove of secrets available to China and Russia, nations that are no longer enemies but are rival powers?

Or a brave young American determined to fight — at the risk of long imprisonment — against his country’s post-9/11 lurch toward invasion of citizens’ lives, ever more intrusive surveillance, undifferentiated data-hauling of the world’s digital exhaust fumes (for storage in a one-million-square-foot fortress in Utah), and the powers of a compliant secret court to issue warrants for international eavesdropping and e-mail vacuuming?

Snowden, apparently holed up in the transit area of Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport, has disappeared from view. Perhaps one way to assess what he has done is to imagine how things would stand if he had never existed. I am not big on counterfactuals — hypothetical history is at once tantalizing and meaningless — but in this case the exercise may be useful.

We would not know how the N.S.A., through its Prism and other programs, has become, in the words of my colleagues James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, “the virtual landlord of the digital assets of Americans and foreigners alike.” We would not know how it has been able to access the e-mails or Facebook accounts or videos of citizens across the world; nor how it has secretly acquired the phone records of millions of Americans; nor how through requests to the compliant and secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (F.I.S.A.) it has been able to bend nine U.S. Internet companies to its demands for access to clients’ digital information.

We would not be debating whether the United States really should have turned surveillance into big business, offering data-mining contracts to the likes of Booz Allen and, in the process, high-level security clearance to myriad folk who probably should not have it. We would not have a serious debate at last between Europeans, with their more stringent views on privacy, and Americans about where the proper balance between freedom and security lies.

We would not have legislation to bolster privacy safeguards and require more oversight introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont and the chairman of the Judiciary Committee. Nor would we have a letter from two Democrats to the N.S.A. director, Gen. Keith B. Alexander, saying that a government fact sheet about surveillance abroad “contains an inaccurate statement” (and where does that assertion leave Alexander’s claims of the effectiveness and necessity of Prism?).

In short, a long-overdue debate about what the U.S. government does and does not do in the name of post-9/11 security — the standards applied in the F.I.S.A. court, the safeguards and oversight surrounding it and the Prism program, the protection of civil liberties against the devouring appetites of intelligence agencies armed with new data-crunching technology — would not have occurred, at least not now.

All this was needed because, since it was attacked in an unimaginable way, the United States has gone through a Great Disorientation. Institutions at the core of the checks and balances that frame American democracy and civil liberties failed. Congress gave a blank check to the president to wage war wherever and whenever he pleased. The press scarcely questioned the march to a war in Iraq begun under false pretenses. Guantánamo made a mockery of due process. The United States, in Obama’s own words, compromised its “basic values” as the president gained “unbound powers.” Snowden’s phrase, “turnkey tyranny,” was over the top but still troubling.

One of the most striking aspects of the Obama presidency has been the vast distance between his rhetoric on these issues since 2008 and any rectifying action. If anything he has doubled-down on security at the expense of Americans’ supposedly inalienable rights: Hence the importance of a whistleblower.

Snowden has broken the law of his country. We do not know what, if anything, he has offered China or Russia — or been coerced or tricked into handing over. He has, through his choice of destination, embraced states that suppress individual rights and use the Internet as an instrument of control and persecution. His movements have sent the wrong message.

Still, he has performed a critical service. History, the real sort, will judge him kindly.

Abbott v Rudd: the choice Australia deserves?

26 June 2013 Mike Seccombe for The Global Mail

Julia Gillard is a class act. I can’t think of any Australian politician, at least in my time, who’s had to put up with so much crap, and done it with such grace.

Forget about policy and ideology for a moment, and think of it just in human terms. She led a minority government, with all the delicate negotiation that entails. She was up against the most intransigent, ruthless opposition imaginable. She faced, right from the get-go, a hostile media, sections of which were entirely prepared not only to misrepresent the facts at every opportunity but to attack her personally in way we’ve never seen before in this country.

Nothing was too nasty for these opponents – these people I have previously called the Nasty Movement. I don’t think it’s partisan to suggest that commentary which attacks a political leader in the crudest possible language, which suggests her father died of shame, which lampoons her genitalia, for God’s sake, and impugns her partner’s sexuality is demeaning not just to Gillard, but to the whole political process.

This extreme nastiness was not restricted to her, either. A significant part of the reason Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor announced their decision to leave politics was the unremitting assaults of the shock jocks. Over the past couple of weeks, the parliament has seen an exodus of other good people too, most of them lamenting as they went the decline in Australian public political discourse.

But Gillard had to deal not only with the enemy without; she also faced an implacable enemy within. The Liberal party’s secret weapon was Kevin Rudd.

No matter what the government’s achievements – and they were significant – the Gillard government never got a clear run at selling them. Case in point: only hours before the prime minister announced there would be yet another party room contest for the party leadership, her government’s legislation promising comprehensive reform of the national education system passed the Senate.

Rudd, whose ego vastly outweighs his loyalty and integrity, sabotaged his own party from the moment he lost its leadership. Three times Gillard defeated him for the leadership: first, to take his job after his colleagues realised they could no longer cope with his erratic management style; then again, overwhelmingly in a vote in the party Caucus; then again in a contest which his followers called on, only to have him run away from the battle once he knew he could not win.

And after each, he protested loyalty, while privately he went about sowing discord. After the last, Rudd promised there were no circumstances, none at all, in which he would contest the leadership again. He said he would be a team player. He lied. He whispered his treason to any sympathetic Labor party or journalistic ear.

And so, coming into the last sitting week of the 43rd parliament, the word was that it was on yet again. Less than three months before an election, with Labor way behind, the whispering reached a new crescendo. Rudd and his surrogates were marshalling their forces.

There were two days of edgy hiatus, before the excrement hit the fan on Wednesday.

He said he would be a team player. He lied. He whispered his treason to any sympathetic Labor party journalistic ear.

The day began with Oakeshott and Windsor, jointly announcing they would not contest the election. According to Windsor, they went for a walk the previous night, during which Windsor told Oakeshott he’d decided to pull the pin, and Oakeshott told Windsor the same thing.

They are two honourable men, to whom should go much of the credit for such stability as this minority government has enjoyed. And two players right to the end, for the suggestion was that if Labor lost Gillard as its leader, it might also lose their support on the floor of parliament.

For the next couple of hours, the name of the media game was chasing the independent and minor party players, to see whether Labor could muster the support it needed to keep governing if it changed leader. At this stage, the best that can be said is “maybe”.

But for all this speculation, the fact remained that there was as yet no apparent move to change leader. Late morning and word spread that the Rudd forces had got up a petition in an effort to force a leadership contest. Under party rules, if one-third of Caucus members sign, it forces a ballot.

Ah, but it was devilishly hard to determine whether such a petition existed, let alone divine how many signatories it had. As Gillard later said, it was a bit like the Loch Ness monster in that some people believed it existed, but there was not hard evidence.

Anyway, off we all went to Question Time, half expecting Gillard to do as she did last time and announce in the parliament that she was calling on a leadership vote. But it didn’t happen. Instead, opposition leader Tony Abbott moved to suspend standing orders to debate his motion that “this house calls on the government to end its internal arguments and get on with governing this country.”

His speech was pretty much the stock-standard one he has been giving for three years, flogging again the notion that there was something treacherous in Gillard’s taking of the leadership. That’s rubbish, of course. She remained a loyal team player until it became abundantly clear her party was sick of Rudd and ready to dump him.

Less contentious, though, was Abbott’s assertion that: “The poison inside the Labor Party is paralysing government in this country.”

Yes and no to that one. For, as we noted above, the Gillard government has done pretty well, legislatively, but not at all well in terms of selling its achievements. His motion was defeated by one vote.

Then Question Time was over, and the focus was back on the elusive petition for a leadership spill. Was there a petition? Maybe. Probably. But in the end it didn’t matter, because Gillard called on the contest, a little after 4pm, live on Sky TV. It was, she said, in the “best interests of the nation and the Labor Party for this issue to be resolved”.
Julia Gillard before the vote on party leadership in Parliament House, Canberra. Photograph: Mike Bowers
And this time, she made clear right at the top, it definitely would be permanently resolved. If she lost a ballot, she would leave the parliament. She challenged any other contender – she didn’t name Rudd – to make the same promise. The Caucus would meet at 7pm.

It was a steely, gutsy performance. She looked confident. She had entered politics, she said, to “get things done”. Leadership instability was interfering with that, to the point where someone or other would have to leave the parliament to end that instability.

Then, she went back into the chamber, all poise and smiles, to hear Tony Windsor’s valedictory speech. Meanwhile Rudd held his own presser to confirm that he would stand. His pitch was simple: he’d changed his mind because and was standing “for the sake of the nation”. Without a change of leadership, he said, Labor faced a “catastrophic defeat”.

After that, it was a matter of taking sides, counting numbers. The crucial, Brutus blow for Gillard fell a little after 6.30 when one of the more influential factional players, Bill Shorten, formerly in the Gillard camp, came out in support of Rudd.

He looked and sounded deeply regretful, and why wouldn’t he?

In effect he was agreeing to pay ransom to a hostage taker. His choice was between an honorable contender who had committed to end the instability by leaving the parliament if necessary, and a man prepared to kill his party’s chances if his demands were not met. And in the party room, his demands were, finally met. The vote went 57-45 to Rudd.

Now it just remains to be seen if Rudd’s storied – and to so many who actually know him inexplicable – popularity with electors can do Labor any good.

As the old saying goes, in a democracy people get the government they deserve. Maybe it’s simply the case that Australia deserves a choice between Rudd and Abbott.

Can LCCs thrive in Japan?

25 June 2013

The simple answer is yes.

The longer answer is that there are some hurdles along the way. But there is no doubt that the Japan market is ripe to be opened up to low cost travel. Japan's high domestic short haul yields still frequently lead the world. And the consumer is the winner with LCCs offering high frequencies and cheaper flights.

In 2012 three new LCCs entering the market, all joint ventures with ANA (Peach and AirAsia Japan) or JAL (Jetstar Japan).

Yet this week AirAsia and All Nippon Airways have announced an end to their joint venture low fare AirAsia Japan venture.

The airlines cite irreconcilable differences for their divorce. Founded by Tony Fernandes, Air Asia is the largest and most profitable budget travel brand in Asia, although likely to be eclipsed by Lion Air of Indonesia in the near future.

Fernandes has expressed concern and frustration with AirAsia Japan in recent months, citing an inability for the carrier to control costs in Japan, and its exclusion from flying to Haneda, Tokyo’s most centrally located airport, and ‘other matters’.

Air Asia Japan and Jetstar Japan are both restricted to using remote Narita airport for their Tokyo bases.

All Nippon’s other low fare brand, Peach, which is based at Osaka’s Kansai airport, is expected to continue operating once AirAsia Japan goes out of business in October under the terms of agreement between ANA and AirAsia.

Qantas is a partner with Japan Airlines in Jetstar Japan, with each holding a 33.3% equity, while the remaining equity is equally divided between Mitsubishi Corporation and Century Tokyo Leasing Corporation. This venture will reach its first year of operation next Wednesday. Jetstar has also benefited to some extent from its association with Jetstar’s international wide body services to Japan including in particular its Gold Coast and Cairns flights.

It is no secret that Jetstar Japan has been losing money at this early stage in its roll-out, but it has been delivering relatively good operating statistics and is embarked on a long term strategic mission and parents Qantas and JAL have been longstanding partners too. Macquarie Equities estimates Jetstar Japan is losing about $50 million a year. But the Jetstar brand is already well recognised in Japan, thanks to several years of international operation by its Australian-based long haul arm and the major shareholders understand that they need to be patient.

It is worth noting that our recent flights on Jetstar from/to Tokyo-Sapporo were full both ways. The downside is that Narita was not built for domestic routes; check in areas are buried in a remote part of the airfield; security is slow; there are no or few airside facilities; and the bus to the plane is near pre-historic.

Peach (with Hong Kong part owners) too has apparently quietly been the best achiever, most recently reporting a 78% load factor for May-2013, with an 81% on time performance.

But the AirAsia-ANA partnership has not been a happy place. It was not just about ANA's high cost overheads burdening Air Asia. As the AirAsia media release points out the words “and operating from Narita” point to the disadvantage for the JV of being based at a substantial distance outside Tokyo, as well as being head to head with Jetstar Japan, also based there. Peach by contrast, has Osaka’s Kansai low cost market virtually to itself. The media release added that AirAsia Japan was suffering from an “inability to manage costs.”

A key constraint on the country’s budget carriers is that they have been shut out of Haneda Airport, just a short train ride from downtown Tokyo and the staging point for the most profitable domestic routes, which are controlled by ANA and rival Japan Airlines (JAL).

Flying out of Narita International Airport requires a one-hour train ride or a 90 minute bus ride from the city center, a long-standing headache for travellers, including passengers with AirAsia Japan and Jetstar Japan, a joint venture between JAL and Australia’s Qantas.

The bus ride to Narita can cost as much as the onwards air ticket.

In addition the Japanese aviation industry has long been notorious for sky-high landing fees and fuel taxes, in a market that is still largely controlled by JAL and ANA, the country’s two dominant carriers.

Jetstar's summer schedules show part of the problem of operating from Narita; Jetstar Japan will be operating non-stop on 13 domestic routes across Japan, seven from Tokyo Narita, four from Osaka Kansai (including Tokyo Narita), and three from Nagoya Chubu. In total, the airline will be operating 70 flights per day, basically three round-trips for each of its 12 aircraft. With each flight being on average perhaps 75 minutes flying time that means each aircraft is only flying for 7 hrs 30 minutes a day. Not enough for an LCC.  

In the future Jetstar Japan will begin flying international routes to China, Korea and Taiwan; this should extend flying hours and allow access to airports where early morning and late night departures are feasible.

Air Asia will be back at a future date and with another partner. The opportunity is too big to miss.

More test cricket in the UAE

24 June 2013

Excellent news for UAE cricket fans - these will be two well contested series.

Pakistan's next two cricket series against South Africa and Sri Lanka will be held in the UAE, according to a PCB official, with preparations already underway.

Officials had been reluctant to announce their next two series from October-January, instead hoping they could convince visiting teams to tour Pakistan, a country hard hit by Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked violence.

Pakistan has been forced to play their 'home' games in the UAE since militants attacked the Sri Lankan team in March 2009, suspending international cricket in the country.

On Saturday, 10 foreign climbers were killed by gunmen in the Himalayas, the worst attack on foreigners for a decade and an incident that has further inflamed the country's reputation for insecurity.

The Pakistan Cricket Board on Monday took out an advertisement in a local newspaper, inviting bids to sponsor two series, now confirmed for the UAE.

"The two series will be played in the UAE as we have started our preparations," a PCB official confirmed, refusing to be named.

Pakistan play two Tests, five one-day and three Twenty20 internationals against South Africa in October-November before returning to play three Tests, five one-day and two T20s against Sri Lanka in December-January.

Dubai's other great airline

24 June 2013 Stephen Scourfield, Travel Editor, The West Australian

"We have become familiar with the one-stop nature of the Emirates network. With Dubai as the stepping stone, London, New York, Athens and Nairobi are just one stop away, along with more than 120 other destinations.

But add in low-cost regional carrier flydubai and the picture deepens.

I am one stop away from Yerevan in Armenia, where I am heading, and from Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, from where I will return. I can have my baggage ticketed direct to and from either city.

And it could have been many places in the Middle East, south-eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine, Central Asia, the Subcontinent, and north and East Africa. From Luxor and Alexandria in Egypt to Amman in Jordan. From Bucharest in Romania to Kiev in Ukraine. From Muscat in Oman to Kathmandu in Nepal.

For, with 1054 flights a week, flydubai flies to 57 destinations in 33 countries.

Yet, though flydubai first flew in 2008 and is owned by the Government of Dubai, many Perth travellers will not have heard of it or seen an air ticket bearing its FZ code. But it has 28 Boeing 737-800 planes, with 22 on order. They are all configured with 189 seats.

Although flydubai is not part of the Emirates group, Emirates supported it during its establishment phase.

Emirates' flights to and from Perth arrive at Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport and I take a $12 taxi ride to Terminal 2 to board my flight to Armenia.

The flight announcement boards are a geographer's dream and the terminal itself is a mix of these regional nationalities.

On the coach to shuttle out to the plane, seated Armenian men automatically stand for women and children as they board. Tough guys with manners.

Carry-on baggage is included in the ticket price. Passengers are allowed a maximum of 7kg, in addition to a small laptop computer bag or handbag.

A 20kg check-in luggage allowance can be bought online for AED50 (approximately $14), 30kg for AED95 and 40kg for AED150.

On board, the Boeing 737-800 is new and spotlessly clean, with a bright interior and high ceiling - flydubai was the first airline to introduce the Boeing Sky interior, with its new lighting system that simulates daytime, night-time, sunrise and sunset.

Overhead lockers give extra headroom. The seats are also surprisingly spacious for a low-cost airline - with more legroom, for example, than the Jetstar flight I'd been on a couple of days before. The seats, designed by Recaro, not only give an extra 5cm of legroom by moving the magazine rack to the top of the seat, but have good back support, a comfortable pad and are made of light materials, saving fuel, which can be reflected in fares.

On my flights, TV and movies are complimentary. There's a touch screen, also with eReader newspapers. Interestingly, the touch screen works though lighter fibre optics, rather than copper wire, reducing weight and, therefore, fuel consumption.

There is an extensive menu, with wraps from AED15, sandwiches from AED10, muffins from AED10, Coke or coffee from AED5, and much more. The good three-cheese sandwich is haloumi, red Leicester and cheddar on brown bread.

There is also duty-free shopping.

The crew are terrific - friendly, helpful and clearly well trained.

It might have been rather invisible, until now, from Perth, but flydubai easily serves 2.5 billion people with planes that have a 5500km flying range.

And it backs into the Emirates network to make even more of the world one stop away."

Snowden escapes Hong Kong

23 June 2013

The world has gone mad when Edward Snowden has to fly to Russia and onto Cuba or Venezuela to ensure his freedom. But the USA had asked the Hong Kong government to arrest Mr. Snowden and it was therefore time to leave.

It look likely that Snowden will finish up in Equador. Venezuela is not really recommended if you read the Caracas Chronicles.

His plane arrived in Russia shortly after 5pm local time. Snowden is not believed to have a Russian visa and is thought to be staying overnight at a capsule hotel inside Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport after reportedly being met on the tarmac by diplomatic cars.

Well done the Hong Kong authorities - they really played this straight and the "meanwhile" in their press release really is a less than diplomatic tow fingers to the Americans.

The HKSAR Government today (June 23) issued the following statement on Mr Edward Snowden:

Mr Edward Snowden left Hong Kong today (June 23) on his own accord for a third country through a lawful and normal channel.

The US Government earlier on made a request to the HKSAR Government for the issue of a provisional warrant of arrest against Mr Snowden. Since the documents provided by the US Government did not fully comply with the legal requirements under Hong Kong law, the HKSAR Government has requested the US Government to provide additional information so that the Department of Justice could consider whether the US Government's request can meet the relevant legal conditions. As the HKSAR Government has yet to have sufficient information to process the request for provisional warrant of arrest, there is no legal basis to restrict Mr Snowden from leaving Hong Kong.

The HKSAR Government has already informed the US Government of Mr Snowden's departure.

Meanwhile, the HKSAR Government has formally written to the US Government requesting clarification on earlier reports about the hacking of computer systems in Hong Kong by US government agencies. The HKSAR Government will continue to follow up on the matter so as to protect the legal rights of the people of Hong Kong.

Ends/Sunday, June 23, 2013
Issued at HKT 16:05

ABC News in the USA reported that Snowden's passport was revoked on Saturday, leaving US officials even more baffled as to how he was allowed to fly out from Hong Kong. It is, however, unlikely to be a problem for Russia; assuming that Snowden is in transit and never leaves the airport, his immigration status is not Moscow's issue.

His movement to a new country is being supported by the Wikileaks organisation at Snowden's request.

The move came two days after the US announced it had charged him with espionage and hours after the US stepped up pressure on Hong Kong to issue a provisional warrant for Snowden's arrest with a view to his surrender.

Snowden had previously said he would stay in Hong Kong and fight for his freedom through the courts. He had been at a safe house since 10 June, when he checked out of his hotel after giving an interview to the Guardian revealing himself as the source who leaked top secret US documents.

Snowden's departure came on the same day the South China Morning Post carried detailed reports of claims from him about US actions against China, including allegations of the hacking of phone text messages. China has said it is “gravely concerned” about the revelations. The country’s Xinhua news agency called the US “the biggest villain in our age" when it comes to hacking. Which does sound a little like the pot calling the kettle black.

His unexpected departure comes a day after the US sought to turn up pressure on the territory, with a senior administration official telling the Washington Post: "If Hong Kong doesn't act soon, it will complicate our bilateral relations and raise questions about Hong Kong's commitment to the rule of law."

Snowden is believed to have boarded Aeroflot SU213 on Sunday morning, bound for Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport.

In a statement, WikiLeaks said: "He is bound for a democratic nation via a safe route for the purposes of asylum, and is being escorted by diplomats and legal advisers from WikiLeaks.

"Mr Snowden requested that WikiLeaks use its legal expertise and experience to secure his safety. Once Mr Snowden arrives at his final destination his request will be formally processed."

It is not clear why the Us request did not comply with HKSAR law; there is a very low information requirement for a provisional warrant – simply providing evidence that the person was in Hong Kong and that he or she was wanted for prosecution in the USA should be sufficient. 

There is much self righteous noise from America about the damage that Snowden has done.

National Security Agency director Keith Alexander said today that Snowden had betrayed the trust of Americans. Alexander defended the broad surveillance programs as necessary to prevent another terrorist attack.

General Alexander told ABC's This Week: "This is an individual who is not acting, in my opinion, with noble intent ... What Snowden has revealed has caused irreversible and significant damage to our country and to our allies."

Alexander said the NSA surveillance programs Snowden had disclosed to the Guardian were tightly overseen and disputed statements from members of the Senate intelligence committee that they had not played a unique role in preventing terrorist attacks.

The Obama administration indicated on Sunday morning it would not cease in attempts at capturing Snowden.

Alexander said that broad surveillance efforts on Americans' phone records and on foreign internet usage, disclosed by Snowden, was in line with Americans' expectations for preventing another 9/11.

"These two capabilities helped us form the dots," Alexander said. "I think that's what the American people want us to do."

9/11 has been used to justify all manners of abuse and to support a massive increase in surveillance. It is time to redress the balance and Snowden has done that. He is not a hero. He has abused the trust of his employers. But he has opened up a necessary debate about just how much data a government needs not just on its own citizens but on their contacts with companies and peoples around the world.

EK's plans for DXB single runway ops - summer 2014

23 June 2013

Emirates has outlined its planned service reductions from May 2014, due to the 80-day Dubai International Airport’s (DXB) runway enhancement project, scheduled from 1 May 2014 to 20 July 2014. Based on its current plan Emirates plans to reduce approximately 215 – 225 weekly flights or up to 32 daily flights, which accounts roughly 15% out of the carrier’s 1450 – 1470 weekly scheduled flights (Based on May 2014 vs March 2014 schedule out of Dubai on one-way basis, including 1/2-stop(s) flight, as of 24 June 2013.

Routes with frequencies reduction are listed below, while cancelled flights are listed in the parentheses (these flights are no longer available for reservation for travel on/after 01MAY14, Dubai departure). Further changes to planned service reduction are expected during the course of next few months.

Dubai – Amman Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK903/904)
Dubai – Bahrain Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK835/836)
Dubai – Bangalore Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK566/567)
Dubai – Bangkok Reduce from 5 to 4 daily (EK376/377)
Dubai – Beirut Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK957/958)
Dubai – Cairo Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK923/924)
Dubai – Cape Town Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK770/771)
Dubai – Colombo Reduce from 17 to 7 weekly (EK654/655; Including onward service to Singapore, see below)
Dubai – Colombo – Singapore 1 daily service cancelled (EK348/349; Singapore nonstop service unaffected)
Dubai – Delhi Reduce from 4 to 3 daily (EK516/517)
Dubai – Dhaka Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK586/587)
Dubai – Doha Reduce from 6 to 3 daily (EK841/842, EK847/848, EK851/852)
Dubai – Frankfurt Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK043/044)
Dubai – Glasgow Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK027/028)
Dubai – Hong Kong Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK386/387)
Dubai – Johannesburg Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK765/766)
Dubai – Karachi Reduce from 5 to 4 daily (EK608/609)
Dubai – Kuala Lumpur Reduce from 4 to 3 daily (EK344/345)
Dubai – Kuwait City Reduce from 5 to 4 daily (EK853/854)
Dubai – Lagos Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK783/784)
Dubai – Milan Malpensa Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK101/102)
Dubai – Moscow Domodedovo Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK133/134)
Dubai – Mumbai Reduce from 5 to 4 daily (EK508/509)
Dubai – Muscat Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK866/867)
Dubai – Nairobi Reduce from 2 to 1 daily (EK721/722)
Dubai – Riyadh Reduce from 4 to 2 daily (EK813/814; EK815/816. EK819/820 in April 2014 displays 5 weekly instead of daily)
Dubai – Seychelles Reduce from 12 to 7 weekly (EK707/708)
Dubai – Tehran Reduce from 3 to 2 daily (EK977/978)
Dubai – Vienna Reduce from 13 to 6 weekly (EK127/128; No operations on Tuesdays)

In addition, Emirates says that it has no plans to open new Trans-Atlantic services out of Europe during the 80-day runway enhancement project (other than the planned new Milan – New York JFK due from October 2013).

It is a start - but more cuts are likely - and some air traffic will need to relocate to Dubai World Central.

Emirates in near miss - February 2013

23 June 2013
From www.avherald.com
By Simon Hradecky, created Friday, Jun 21st 2013 18:18Z, last updated Friday, Jun 21st 2013 18:18Z

An Emirates Boeing 777-300, registration A6-EBD performing flight EK-123 from Dubai (United Arab Emirates) to Istanbul (Turkey) with 414 passengers and 17 crew, was in the initial climb through 500 feet out of Dubai's runway 12R in clear skies and daylight, when a United Arab Emirates Hawk fighter jet, not in contact with Dubai however transponding Mode-C, was about to cross the extended runway center line of runway 12R at 600 feet AGL and 353 knots over ground. The Boeing crew, who received a TCAS Traffic Advisory but were unable to visually locate the other aircraft, as well as ATC had no time to react, the fighter pilot however flew a hard left turn avoiding a collision but not without the separation reducing to 100 feet vertical and 0.3nm horizontal. The United Arab Emirates Civil Aviation Authority reported only 3.5 seconds separated the aircraft from collision.

United Arab Emirates' Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA) released their preliminary report stating, that the fighter pilot departing Dubai's Minhad Airbase flying north had already busted the airspaces of Dubai Al Maktoum Airport and Dubai International Airport without making contact with either airport control frequencies. The aircraft however was in contact with Dubai Approach Control Unit Al Minhad sector, operating from Dubai's Al Maktoum Airport. Sporadic radar contacts suggested that the Hawk was transponding Mode-C.

77 seconds prior to the near collision the Hawk crew requested clearance to climb to 2000 feet to cross Dubai International Airport from Al Minhad sector, the controller declined and advised the crew needed to contact Dubai International Airport tower at the tower frequency providing the frequency for the tower controlling runway 12L, not 12R. 11 seconds prior to near collision the Hawk crew attempted to contact that frequency.

The tower controller working 12R and the Boeing 777 noticed the fast moving target at 500 feet moving north just after the rotation of the Boeing 777 and issued a traffic alert to the Boeing, however, no avoidance action was possible due to phase of flight and the closure speed in excess of 350 knots.

Following the avoidance maneouver the Hawk crew established contact with Dubai International Airport's tower and advised they were now returning to Al Minhad Airbase, the aircraft was seen moving in a southerly direction afterwards.

The GCAA reported that the Boeing 777-300 was fitted with a TCAS 7.1, retrieval of data stored in the TCAS memory confirmed the crew's report of a TCAS traffic advisory, a resolution advisory was still inhibited as the aircraft had not yet reached TCAS operating height.

The GCAA rated the occurrence a serious incident involving a serious risk of a collision.

The GCAA's preliminary report can be found here: Investigation Preliminary Report of Boeing 777-300 and BAe Hawk Serious Incident, Loss of Separation, Inside Dubai Control Zone (CTR) near Dubai International Airport (OMDB) runway 12R, 12 February 2013

And the following comment from PPRUNE tells you all you need to know about mutual dis-respect in Dubai: "He (the UAE Hawk pilot) was on his mobile phone texting habibi. It was the 777's fault... if the expat hadn't been in "his" country, the local wouldn't have nearly hit him." Though it maybe that the 777 didn't see him, even though he was flashing his lights at him.....

Emirates is world's best airline - really?

17 June 2013

The Skytrax organisation announced its 2013 World rankings and Emirates appears as the World's best airline. Predictably this has caused plenty of hype from the airline and the local UAE media.

But how on earth did this happen. In 2011 Emirates rated 10th in the annual Skytrax survey; last year it ranked 8th; this year it wins.

Did all the other airlines lower their standards or did Emirates improve that dramatically?

Skytrax rates Emirates only as a 4 star airline; so a 4 star airline is now the world's best beating out a number of Skytrax ranked five star airlines. It really does not seem likely. And should any airline that has 3-4-3 in economy on a 777 be ranked as the world's best.

Emirates service has not improved in the last year. And judging by the flight yesterday night to Bangkok it has slipped significantly, at least in Economy.

Part of the answer might be the A380. It does make a huge difference for Emirates. It is an airplane that passengers like to fly and is significantly more comfortable in Economy than the cramped 777s.

Skytrax says that more than 18.2 million airline passengers from 160 countries took part in the survey; but I have never seen this survey or met anyone who has seen it. So how does Skytrax compile its data? They not very helpfully do not say. All they will say is that passengers vote for their favourite airline based on factors ranging from cleanliness of the cabin to the quality of the meals and entertainment.

Here’s the full top ten for 2013:

1. Emirates
2. Qatar Airways
3. Singapore Airlines
4. ANA All Nippon Airways
5. Asiana Airlines
6. Cathay Pacific Airways
7. Etihad Airways
8. Garuda Indonesia
9. Turkish Airlines
10. Qantas Airways

This was the 2012 top 10

1 Qatar Airways (1)
2 Asiana Airlines (3)
3 Singapore Airlines (2)
4 Cathay Pacific Airways (4)
5 ANA All Nippon Airways (11)
6 Etihad Airways (6)
7 Turkish Airlines (9)
8 Emirates (10)
9 Thai Airways (5)
10 Malaysia Airlines (12)

Now this is not very scientific but I thought I would look at the Skytrax flight reviews published for three airlines on the Skytrax website for the month of December 2012. Why December? It is a busy and stressful month for flying die to the winter/christmas holidays and it is in the middle of the year for the 2013 awards.

So what did I find: