Growing Evidence That The Upturn Is Upon Us
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Ah! Got you now. Small traces of radioactive elements from within the coal enter the atmosphere after burning. This is of course spread over a huge area over a long period of time. If you got the 5 tonnes of Uraniun per year produced and dropped it on a city, you have a major problem. Don't forget that the reactor will have enriched Urainium too.
Sorry, I thought you were saying that coal power stations got their energy from fission.
Mix-up aside, surely every air crash leading to a potential small Chernobyl is not an option and will never happen.
Apologies for the blatant thread creep.
Sorry, I thought you were saying that coal power stations got their energy from fission.
Mix-up aside, surely every air crash leading to a potential small Chernobyl is not an option and will never happen.
Apologies for the blatant thread creep.
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Green shoots a mirage in economic desert
Back on topic:
An interesting article:
Green shoots a mirage in economic desert - Times Online
An interesting article:
So that's all right then. Almost a year into the worst recession to afflict Britain and the West since the Second World War and we are, say the optimists, over the worst. “The End” is no longer nigh but, suddenly, the end of the slump is. In the barren desert of economic gloom an oasis of hope, lush with “green shoots”, at last shimmers on the horizon.
Or does it? Alas these rose-tinted visions of a rapid revival from recession are almost certainly a cruel mirage. For fearful families, fretful businesses, edgy investors, and — most of all — tormented financiers and desperate politicians, all craving a swift return to the good times, the present chorus of upbeat and reassuring responses to the persistent question “are we nearly there yet?” is little more than wishful thinking.
Sure, there are the first, tentative signs that the vicious first phase of this wrenchingly brutal recession may be passing. The pace of the slump in the present quarter, here and across the world, is likely to be markedly less than the headlong plunge of the past six months. The massive response by governments and central banks, pretty much unprecedented in scale and speed, ought to have begun to slow the rate of decline — and seems to have done so. That much is welcome. But, crucially, we are still going down, and quite fast.
Or does it? Alas these rose-tinted visions of a rapid revival from recession are almost certainly a cruel mirage. For fearful families, fretful businesses, edgy investors, and — most of all — tormented financiers and desperate politicians, all craving a swift return to the good times, the present chorus of upbeat and reassuring responses to the persistent question “are we nearly there yet?” is little more than wishful thinking.
Sure, there are the first, tentative signs that the vicious first phase of this wrenchingly brutal recession may be passing. The pace of the slump in the present quarter, here and across the world, is likely to be markedly less than the headlong plunge of the past six months. The massive response by governments and central banks, pretty much unprecedented in scale and speed, ought to have begun to slow the rate of decline — and seems to have done so. That much is welcome. But, crucially, we are still going down, and quite fast.
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I have got something that you might not know...
A lot of fuss has been made on this thread as to how the awful trends shown in the IATA passenger numbers do not include low cost airlines... the theory being that the numbers aren't really as bad as the headlines suggest.
Well if you add together total passenger numbers in March for the two biggest low-cos in the UK (Easy and Ryanair) they were actually down YoY for the first time in years and years (albeit marginally at -0.3%).
Now this may well be due to Easter falling a couple of weeks earlier or later... or unseasonal snow... or leaves on railway lines.... or maybe (shock horror) people choosing not to travel due to the recession.... who knows.... but fact is the numbers were down.
Only time will tell if this is a "blip" but something tells me that March will not prove to be the last month of declines we will see....
A lot of fuss has been made on this thread as to how the awful trends shown in the IATA passenger numbers do not include low cost airlines... the theory being that the numbers aren't really as bad as the headlines suggest.
Well if you add together total passenger numbers in March for the two biggest low-cos in the UK (Easy and Ryanair) they were actually down YoY for the first time in years and years (albeit marginally at -0.3%).
Now this may well be due to Easter falling a couple of weeks earlier or later... or unseasonal snow... or leaves on railway lines.... or maybe (shock horror) people choosing not to travel due to the recession.... who knows.... but fact is the numbers were down.
Only time will tell if this is a "blip" but something tells me that March will not prove to be the last month of declines we will see....
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Qantas axes more jobs and warns on profits
Sorry, but its not interesting in the slightest because it doesnt tell us anything that we dont already know.
Qantas, Australia’s leading airline carrier, today slashed its annual profit forecast by $AU300 million (£147 million) and announced plans to cut another 1,750 jobs in a bid to weather the global financial crisis.
Shares in the flagship airline plunged more than 10 per cent after the announcement this morning which surprised analysts and was described as “unwelcome news” by Julia Gillard, the Australian deputy Prime Minister.
The airline revised its full year pre-tax profit outlook to between $100-$200 million, a downturn of more than half from its previous forecast of $500 million.
Shares in the flagship airline plunged more than 10 per cent after the announcement this morning which surprised analysts and was described as “unwelcome news” by Julia Gillard, the Australian deputy Prime Minister.
The airline revised its full year pre-tax profit outlook to between $100-$200 million, a downturn of more than half from its previous forecast of $500 million.
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Yes, I saw those figures. Easyjet for March are reporting passengers 6.3% down with load factors down as well at 84.7%. The change in load factor I don't see as significant, it's bound to go up and down around a mean. Easyjet acsribe the fall in the load factor to Easter being in April this year as opposed to March last year, I imagine they mean that the passenger numbers were down for that reason as well as the two are, to some extent, interlinked.
Easyjet
Ryanair are posting a 4.8% increase in traffic for March with a 2% reduction in load factor. Interesting to note that Ryanair's load factors seem to be generally lighter than Easyjets.
Ryanair
It will be interesting to see the April figures.
As an aside, I tried to book flights for my family of 5 with flybe from Exter to Bergerac this summer. Every single flight was full for the entire summer holiday, except on one day. I'm now flying with Ryanair from Bristol
Easyjet
Ryanair are posting a 4.8% increase in traffic for March with a 2% reduction in load factor. Interesting to note that Ryanair's load factors seem to be generally lighter than Easyjets.
Ryanair
It will be interesting to see the April figures.
As an aside, I tried to book flights for my family of 5 with flybe from Exter to Bergerac this summer. Every single flight was full for the entire summer holiday, except on one day. I'm now flying with Ryanair from Bristol
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meanwhile....
BAA air traffic numbers slump 11.3% in March
Air France to shed 2,500 jobs as gloom deepens
BAA air traffic numbers slump 11.3% in March
The number of passengers flying out of Gatwick and other UK airports has plummeted as the economic crisis combined with a weak pound dissuaded thousands from travelling abroad in March.
Passenger traffic at the UK's key airports, including London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, fell 11.3 per cent in March, airport owner BAA said today
Gatwick airport was the worst hit, with passenger numbers falling 17.7 per cent compared to March 2008. The company said 2 to 3 percentage points of that decline were due to Easter falling later this year, while the rest of the fall was blamed on global economic problems.
Balanced against those reductions were flights taken by passengers to India, the Middle East and South America – which all saw increases in traffic. Flights to South America were up 8.9 per cent as travellers took advantages of relatively good exchange rates between the pound and local currencies.
Passenger traffic at the UK's key airports, including London's Heathrow, Gatwick and Stansted, fell 11.3 per cent in March, airport owner BAA said today
Gatwick airport was the worst hit, with passenger numbers falling 17.7 per cent compared to March 2008. The company said 2 to 3 percentage points of that decline were due to Easter falling later this year, while the rest of the fall was blamed on global economic problems.
Balanced against those reductions were flights taken by passengers to India, the Middle East and South America – which all saw increases in traffic. Flights to South America were up 8.9 per cent as travellers took advantages of relatively good exchange rates between the pound and local currencies.
Air France announced today that it will reduce its workforce by 2,500 staff over the next two years as it responds to the global downturn in air travel.
The carrier said this morning that it aimed to eliminate the jobs through natural staff turnover rather than redundancies. Qantas, the Australian airline, yesterday said that it would cut 1,750 jobs at the same time that it issued a steep profit warning while this morning, BAA, the Spanish-owned airport operator, reported a 11.3 per cent fall in traffic across its hubs, including Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted.
Air France, which is part of Air France-KLM, has a workforce of 70,000. It has suffered a rapid decline in passenger numbers during the global financial turmoil and has forecast a loss of €200 million (£178 million) for the financial year to the end of March.
The carrier said this morning that it aimed to eliminate the jobs through natural staff turnover rather than redundancies. Qantas, the Australian airline, yesterday said that it would cut 1,750 jobs at the same time that it issued a steep profit warning while this morning, BAA, the Spanish-owned airport operator, reported a 11.3 per cent fall in traffic across its hubs, including Gatwick, Heathrow and Stansted.
Air France, which is part of Air France-KLM, has a workforce of 70,000. It has suffered a rapid decline in passenger numbers during the global financial turmoil and has forecast a loss of €200 million (£178 million) for the financial year to the end of March.
Pprune Voyeur
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I'm offline moving house so moderation is being handled by others.
I'm having the bunker extended and widening the bullion vault...
Www
I'm having the bunker extended and widening the bullion vault...
Www
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This is your captain: we'll arrive on time
Passenger numbers are down and flights have been cut, but the Civil Aviation Authority yesterday discovered a silver lining amid the dark clouds hanging over the airline industry - punctuality has improved at nearly all of Britain's airports.
Airline insiders said that the economic downturn had relieved pressure on the overstretched airport and air traffic infrastructure and fewer flights were being delayed as a result.
It is also believed that fewer bags are being lost because the system is less strained.
The CAA's most recent figures show that in January 85.1 per cent of flights to Edinburgh, for example, were early or within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time, compared with 72 per cent in the same month last year. In this period, the number of flights at Edinburgh fell by 9.2 per cent and passenger numbers were down by 5.8 per cent.
Airline insiders said that the economic downturn had relieved pressure on the overstretched airport and air traffic infrastructure and fewer flights were being delayed as a result.
It is also believed that fewer bags are being lost because the system is less strained.
The CAA's most recent figures show that in January 85.1 per cent of flights to Edinburgh, for example, were early or within 15 minutes of their scheduled arrival time, compared with 72 per cent in the same month last year. In this period, the number of flights at Edinburgh fell by 9.2 per cent and passenger numbers were down by 5.8 per cent.
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Quote : Alex Whittingham
I'm now flying with Ryanair from Bristol
And you have a problem with that?
There is a good chance that the pilot flying you there subsidized the price of your fare when he trained for his ATPL'S with you!
I'm now flying with Ryanair from Bristol
And you have a problem with that?
There is a good chance that the pilot flying you there subsidized the price of your fare when he trained for his ATPL'S with you!
Last edited by grob.1; 18th Apr 2009 at 18:53.
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There is a good chance that the pilot flying you there subsidized the price of your fair when he trained for his ATPL'S with you!
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hang on grob, what bloody planet do you live on? If it was none of "our" business why the hell didn't you send Alex a PM? You posted on an open public forum, to expect others not to comment is a rather retarded outlook.
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Another sunny day in paradise
Morning all.
BBC NEWS | Politics | Darling '£15bn spending cuts due'
Or alternatively;
I'M NOT EVEN TRYING ANY MORE, ADMITS DARLING - The Daily Mash
Cheers
JR
BBC NEWS | Politics | Darling '£15bn spending cuts due'
Or alternatively;
I'M NOT EVEN TRYING ANY MORE, ADMITS DARLING - The Daily Mash
Cheers
JR
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grob.1
I see after you threw your toys out of the pram you actually took smith's advice and edited your spelling.
Thanks for the advice mum, but I'll remain my nosey self thanks.
EK
I see after you threw your toys out of the pram you actually took smith's advice and edited your spelling.
Try to mind your own business in future please.
EK
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House sales 'jumped 40% in March'
The number of homes sold in the UK jumped by 40% in March from the previous month, according to figures from HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
There were 60,000 property sales worth at least £40,000 each, compared with 43,000 in February.
The figures suggest that the slump in home sales seen in the past 18 months may be coming to an end.
There were 60,000 property sales worth at least £40,000 each, compared with 43,000 in February.
The figures suggest that the slump in home sales seen in the past 18 months may be coming to an end.
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Here's a scary thought when considering how close to a recovery we are. Globally banks have only written off about 1/3 of the toxic assets they have on their books (about US$700bn). Total estimate is about US$4tn (yes that's US$4,000,000,000,000). I think we've got a little while to go.
Sorry for the negative view.
Sorry for the negative view.