Airline of the week

The airline of this week is Druk Air (Royal Bhutan Airlines). Druk Air founded in 1981 is the national carrier of the Kingdom of Bhutan. From its hub in Paro, Bhutan (IATA: PBH ICAO:VQPR) Druk Air flies to seven destinations in five countries. The airline is planning to add three more destinations including Hong Kong, Dubai, and Singapore. The seven destinations they currently fly to are Paro, Bhutan Kathmandu, Nepal, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Gaya, Kolkata, and New Delhi, India, and last, but not least, is Bangkok, Thailand. The airline began operations in 1983 with one Dornier 228-200 with 18 seats from Paro to Kolkata and Dhaka. In 1988 Druk Air took delivery of their first jet aircraft, the British Aerospace BAe 146-100, registered A5-RGD. Then in 1992 they took delivery of their second BAe 146-100, registered A5-RGE. On October 31, 2004 they took delivery of their first Airbus A139-115 to replace the BAe 146-100 on the Paro-Bangkok route registered A5-RGF. Later they took delivery of their second Airbus A319-115 registered A5-RGG. Presently, Druk Air no longer flies the Doriner 228-200. To visit Druk Air's website go to www.drukair.com.bt. Just Planes has a DVD that features two roundtrip flights on Druk Air too!

below: BAe 146-100 A5-RGD
flying over Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi
International Airport.










below: A319-155 A5-RGG
flying over Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi
International Airport.









below: The Just Planes
Druk Air DVD cover.

Air France cabin

I've recently looked at pictures of the first, business, premium economy, and economy class of Air France. They look spectacular! The first class is called L'espace Première. The L'espace Première cabin has four to eight wood and leather seats which can recline up to 180° which forms a bed that is 2 meters long! Your L'espace seat has a 10.4 inch TV screen with interactive games and AVOD. But that's not all you get! Your seat also has a privacy divider, a reading light, auto massage, noise-cancelling headphones, storage drawer, laptop power ports, and last but not least is a personal telephone! Also you get in L'espace Première is a-la-carte on-demand meal services includes entrées done by the chef of Air France, Guy Martin. Also you can get turndown services which includes a mattress, duvet, and a pillow. Last but not least, travelers who use L'espace Première are allowed access to Air France's private lounge world-wide. You would find L'espace Premiere on the following aircraft: the Boeing 777-300ER and the Boeing 777-200ER.


below: The L'espace Permière
seats in a Boeing 777-300ER
at Tokyo Narita.










The business class is called E'espace Affaires.

Cubana Air DVD Review

I just got the Just Planes DVD that features the national carrier of Cuba, Cubana. This is the second DVD to feature Cubana. This program features three Soviet aircraft including the Ilyushin Il-62M, Antonov An-24RV, and the Yakovlev Yak-42D. The flight crew of these unusual aircraft show the cockpit and the walk-arounds of the Ilyushin Il-62M and the Antonov An-24RV.

These awesome presentations were absolutely interesting. One flight on the Yak-42D is filmed in the cabin! Three of the featured destinations are cities in Cuba, including Santiago De Cuba, Guantanamo, and last, but not least, the capital Havana.

The Cuban scenery is unusual. Because it is illegal for Americans to go to Cuba at this time, I saw a lot of things I hadn't seen before. Also featured is a maintenance tour of Cubana, which was cool, plus it was spoken in Spanish and English.

This DVD is discontinued. I got it at Flight Sim Pilot Shop. They still have it in stock, but act fast before it sells out! I give this DVD 4-1/2 wings out of 5.

Airline of the week

North Korea is the most secretive country in the world. At first I thought there were no airlines from North Korea, but amazingly, I was wrong! Air Koryo, the national airline of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea based at Pyongyang's Sunan International Airport(IATA: FNJ/ICAO: ZKPY), flies a fleet of Soviet aircraft, such as the Ilyushin Il-18 and the Tupolev Tu-154B2 on routes to China, and Russia, as well as charter flights to Seoul's Incheon International Airport(IATA: ICN/ICAO:RKSI), Shenzen, and Macau. Air Koryo also flies domestic services in the D.P.R.K. to various cities, such as Chongjin, Hamhung, Kaesong, Kiliju, Kanggye, Sinuiju, and Wonsan. On March 22, 2006, Air Koryo was banned from entering EU Airspace, due to Air Koryo's failure to repair safety deficencies found during ramp inspections in France, and Germany.

below: An Air Koryo Ilyushin
Il-76 on ground at FNJ.









below: Air Koryo Ilyushin
Il-62M in old livery.









below: An Air Koryo Tupolev
Tu-154B taking off from PEK.









below: Air Koryo Ilyushin Il-18 on ground
at Vladivostok Russia's Knevici
International Airport.

Just Planes reopens!

After Just Planes being closed from June 27th-July 23rd, Just Planes resumes processing orders once more. However, Just Planes will close once again on August 8! So if you want to order more DVDs act fast!

Just Planes' JFK DVD: Review

After Just Planes' earlier release of the Two disc Big Apple feature, they bring you a new DVD featuring New York's JFK airport! This new DVD features airlines that weren't included in the Big Apple double disc set, such as Air Tahiti Nui and Independence Air.


This DVD includes 84 Airlines, 343 aircraft, 54 landings, and 131 takeoffs! It also has a special ending for you to enjoy- you watch the Airbus A380-800 arrive in America for the first time. This includes the aircraft passing over JFK, then landing footage, taxi of the aircraft, close up views, and the departure of the A380.


To order go to www.justplanes.com.

Just Planes' Airport DVD Collection

Not only does Just Planes have their awesome World Air Routes DVDs for you to enjoy, they also have awesome airport DVDs too! These DVDs feature airports from around the world, such as Hong Kong's former Kai Tak Airport and Zurich's Kloten Airport. Each DVD includes breathtaking takeoffs and landings of aircrafts from around the world. Aircraft that are included are the McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30 and the Tupolev Tu-154M! Others are Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Polar Air Cargo.

I highly recommend you start your collection with the DVD that features Moscow's Domodedovo airport.


Before you even watch the takeoffs and landings, a fellow who works at the airport will take you through a tour of this modern airport. After the tour, you're off to see the takeoffs and landings of some unusual airlines and aircraft. Some of these airlines are Silk Way Airlines and Daghestan Airlines (Daghestan Airlines website under construction). Some of the aircraft you were see were built during the Soviet Union, such as the Ilyushin Il-86, and the Antonov An-12! To order these DVDs go to www.justplanes.com.

Just Planes is Closed!

On June 27th after 5:00P.M. Just Planes closed for the summer and will be closed from July 1 to the 23nd. You can still order from Just Planes, but your order won't be processed until they open again on the 24th of July.

BWIA West Indies/Tobago express DVD selling out!

On June 22nd, Just Planes announced that their BWIA West Indies Airways/Tobago Express DVD is selling out! This DVD begins with a flight from London's Heathrow airport to Port of Spain's Piarco International Airport, with a stop at Bridgetown's Grantely Adams International Airport on the Airbus A340-300. While en route to G.A. Intl. BWIA's fleet manager gives you a very nice presentation of the aircraft. While on ground, At Grantely Adams Intl., one of the pilots takes you through a walkaround of the A340-300. Then you're off to Piarco Intl. Next you board the Dehaviland Dash 8-Q300 for a roundtrip from Piarco Intl. to Scarborough's Crown Point International Airport and back. After this very senic roundtrip, you fly back Crown Point for a flight in the cabin. Next you meet up with another A340-300 crew at Piarco Intl. to view the return flight to Heathrow. While landing at Heathrow, you will view the landing from two spots in the aircraft! To order go to www.justplanes.com. If you want to order this excellent Just Planes film, act fast before it sells out!

Just Planes releases Oasis Hong Kong Airlines DVD

On June 22nd Just Planes releases the Oasis Hong Kong Airlines DVD! Oasis Hong Kong airlines is not only the 190th airlines to Join the World Air Routes series, but it is the first Chinese airlines to join the series! At the beginning of this film, the CEO will give you a presentation of OHKA. After this presentation, the flight operations and ground operations managers will give you a presentation of what they do! After these very thorough presentations by these three gentlemen, you ride on the cable car to check out some very nice views of Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport. After the ride, you then board the Boeing 747-400 for the first leg of the round trip flight featured on this DVD! While you fly over the English Channel, en route to London's Gatwick Airport, you will enjoy some excellent air to air footage with another OHKA 747-400! The friendly flight and cabin crews on both flights give you very excellent presentations of the Boeing 747-40, including a cockpit presentation and much more! To order go to www.justplanes.com!

Just Planes releases Oasis Hong Kong Airlines DVD

On June 22nd Just Planes will release a new World Air Routes DVD that takes place on the first Chinese airline, Oasis Hong Kong Airlines, which is Hong Kong's latest long haul airline. This DVD features a round trip flight from the Oasis hub at Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok International Airport to London's Gatwick airport on the Boeing 747-400. Before departure from CLK Intl. the CEO of Oasis gives you an excellent presentation of the airline. Also the flight operations, and ground operations managers give you very nice presentations of Oasis.

After these very excellent presentations you ride the cable car down to CLK to check out views of the airport. Then you board flight O8 700 bound for London! While en route to Gatwick and back to CLK Intl. the flight crews will give very interesting details about the 747-400 such as a cockpit presentation and more! Besides all of these very exciting features you will enjoy some air-to-air footage with another Oasis 747-400 over the English Channel! To order go to www.justplanes.com