The landscape of aviation has evolved faster than any other industry. Aviation has come a long way since 1943, when Qantas operated the world's longest commercial flight with a weekly service between Perth and Colombo. The duration of the flight was 28-32 hours, and seated three passengers on a tiny Catalina aircraft travelling at 200km/h. Now with a minimum 1 hour flight with minimum 40 seats speak a lot about its long journey.
Dean Wicks, Chief Flights Officer for Wego, world's largest travel search site talks about some interesting facts about the changing landscape, the world's longest flight routes, and which airlines are changing the game.
Longest flight
Singapore Airlines holds the record for longest flight for its 100 passenger, all business class service from Singapore to Newark, a distance of 15,329 km.
"However, when Singapore Airlines cancelled that flight in 2013, the record returned to Qantas with their Sydney to Dallas/Fort Worth service, a distance of 13,804 km, and a duration of 16 hours, 55 minutes," said Dean Wicks, Chief Flights Officer for Wego, world's largest travel search site.
Emirates will become the new record holder for longest flight duration shortly, from Dubai to Panama City flying a total of 17 hours, 35 minutes. That's 13,821 kms on Emirates Boeing 777-200LR aircraft.
2016 predictions
This year, the aviation landscape is about to change yet again with a lot of new records, thanks on the most part to Middle Eastern carriers, according to Wicks.
"The rapid pace in which Middle East carriers launch new routes and continue to grow, purchasing larger fleets of wide body aircraft in huge numbers, is establishing the region as the new world aviation superhub," Wicks added.
"The new Emirates service places Qantas back to second, but it will be interesting to see how long they retains that position, as the Australian national carrier has already expressed their intentions to operate a direct Perth to London service, a distance of 14,000 kms, when they receive their 787-900 in 2017."
"Of the top eleven longest flights in the world, eight are serviced by Middle Eastern carriers; Emirates, Etihad, Qatar and Saudia," Wicks continued.
"The MENA region continues to display its commitment to the travel industry with impressive fleet additions, and new and renovated airport investments. Istanbul's new airport, slated to open in 2018, potentially could launch 200 new routes to over 150 destinations," said Wicks.
Dubai will also exceed London's Heathrow Airport lead of number of international passengers, and become the world's busiest international airport, and in anticipation of Iran's return to the international scene, the country just days ago placed an order for 114 aircraft from Airbus.
According to statistics, 2016 will see 1,100 new services scheduled from 170 airlines the world over, he said.
"Competition in aviation has never been so fierce and the Middle East region is stepping up to be a leading contender."
"New aircraft, services and airports, coupled with intense competition and further drops in the oil costs, equates to greater choice and airfares for the traveller, no matter where they're located or what destination they're travelling to," Wicks said in conclusion.
2016 is promising to be a big year in the aviation industry, and a great time to travel.
See the slideshow
Showing posts with label facts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label facts. Show all posts
Friday, 29 January 2016
Thursday, 28 January 2016
Autism Spotlight
Unlike tuberculosis and polio, two infectious diseases that were nearly eradicated in the twentieth century as a result of scientific advances, many neurological disorders are actually on the rise. One prominent example is autism, a disorder that results in difficulty with communication and social interaction. According to a study published in the journal Pediatrics in 2009, the rate of autism among children is now 1 in 100, more than double the rate assessed in the mid-1990s. This striking growth has renewed public dialogue about the causes of autism and the subjectivity of its diagnosis.
For many decades, autism was considered to have purely psychological origins. Dr. Bruno Bettelheim, a psychologist at the University of Chicago and survivor of the Dachau concentration camp, believed that circumstances of severe deprivation are the basis of severe emotional disturbance. Consequently, through his work with children, he concluded that the emotional disorder now known as autism is a psychotic disturbance caused by maternal neglect. Due in part to Bettelheim's influence, the notion that autism is caused by environmental factors rather than biological factors became widespread during the 1950s and 1960s. However, in 1964 Dr. Bernard Rimland, a psychologist and the father of an autistic child, showed through analysis of data gathered from twins that the occurrence of autism has a strong genetic basis, and is not linked to maternal behavior. His work shifted the focus of blame from so-called "refrigerator" mothers, and launched a vigorous new era of research into the biological basis of autism.
Research has now associated as many as fifteen genes with autism, most of which support the strength of connections between different areas of the brain. According to this research, none of the relevant genes are absent or mutated in an autistic person, but their expression levels vary from expected norms. This results in an abnormally functioning nervous system characterized by poor brain connectivity that causes impaired social behavior and communication.
Recently, the scientific community has developed a more nuanced understanding of autism's origins that takes both biological and environmental causes into account. Advances in the field of epigenetics, in particular, show that environmental interaction with genes can modulate neurological functioning. Intense research is underway today in genetics, neuroscience, psychology, and even nutrition studies to refine our understanding of autism's origins and settle the question of why the rate of autism has grown so much during the past twenty years.
There is another intriguing possibility to consider that involves the work of social scientists: what if it is not the rate of occurrence but the rate of diagnosis of autism that has increased? Physicians and parents are now more aware of the disorder and its symptoms than they were before, and the standards for diagnosis have changed over time. In the mass media, for instance, classical autism proper is often conflated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), a broad grouping of disorders characterized by milder forms of impaired language development, social interaction, and motor skills than classical autism. Two of the more familiar ASDs are Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger's syndrome. Would these shadow syndromes have been considered autism in the mid-nineties? The American Psychological Association recently announced, for instance, that it is again reviewing the terminology that distinguishes Asperger's syndrome and other ASDs from autism, illustrating how changing standards of diagnosis over time might factor into the growth of autism rates.
Opinions about the best treatments for autism have been as varied as about its origins. Some treatments — Applied Behavioral Therapy, Pivotal Response Therapy, and Verbal Therapy, for instance — are purely behavioral, in that they reinforce desired behaviors with consistent rewards, to develop a patient's social abilities. Other treatments involve pharmaceuticals or special nutritional approaches. Opinions about the best treatment for autism are as complex and changing as the research about its causes.
Popular impressions of autism have been largely shaped by mass media. Dustin Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance as an autistic savant (someone whose social impairment is combined with exceptionally high computational or other intellectual abilities) brought autism into public discussion in 1988. Claire Danes's current performance in an HBO movie as Temple Grandin, an animal scientist who used her autistic sensitivity to develop improved techniques of animal handling in the agricultural industry, presents an even more nuanced and accurate depiction of the experience of an autistic person.
We hope that many people will use Temple Grandin and other mass-media discussions of autism as starting points for learning about the neurological basis of the disorder and its treatment. In this Spotlight, we guide you through the basics of autism, the context for understanding diagnosis rates, and the culture surrounding autistic people and their caretakers.
Read the feature and set of articles
For many decades, autism was considered to have purely psychological origins. Dr. Bruno Bettelheim, a psychologist at the University of Chicago and survivor of the Dachau concentration camp, believed that circumstances of severe deprivation are the basis of severe emotional disturbance. Consequently, through his work with children, he concluded that the emotional disorder now known as autism is a psychotic disturbance caused by maternal neglect. Due in part to Bettelheim's influence, the notion that autism is caused by environmental factors rather than biological factors became widespread during the 1950s and 1960s. However, in 1964 Dr. Bernard Rimland, a psychologist and the father of an autistic child, showed through analysis of data gathered from twins that the occurrence of autism has a strong genetic basis, and is not linked to maternal behavior. His work shifted the focus of blame from so-called "refrigerator" mothers, and launched a vigorous new era of research into the biological basis of autism.
Research has now associated as many as fifteen genes with autism, most of which support the strength of connections between different areas of the brain. According to this research, none of the relevant genes are absent or mutated in an autistic person, but their expression levels vary from expected norms. This results in an abnormally functioning nervous system characterized by poor brain connectivity that causes impaired social behavior and communication.
Recently, the scientific community has developed a more nuanced understanding of autism's origins that takes both biological and environmental causes into account. Advances in the field of epigenetics, in particular, show that environmental interaction with genes can modulate neurological functioning. Intense research is underway today in genetics, neuroscience, psychology, and even nutrition studies to refine our understanding of autism's origins and settle the question of why the rate of autism has grown so much during the past twenty years.
There is another intriguing possibility to consider that involves the work of social scientists: what if it is not the rate of occurrence but the rate of diagnosis of autism that has increased? Physicians and parents are now more aware of the disorder and its symptoms than they were before, and the standards for diagnosis have changed over time. In the mass media, for instance, classical autism proper is often conflated with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs), a broad grouping of disorders characterized by milder forms of impaired language development, social interaction, and motor skills than classical autism. Two of the more familiar ASDs are Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS) and Asperger's syndrome. Would these shadow syndromes have been considered autism in the mid-nineties? The American Psychological Association recently announced, for instance, that it is again reviewing the terminology that distinguishes Asperger's syndrome and other ASDs from autism, illustrating how changing standards of diagnosis over time might factor into the growth of autism rates.
Opinions about the best treatments for autism have been as varied as about its origins. Some treatments — Applied Behavioral Therapy, Pivotal Response Therapy, and Verbal Therapy, for instance — are purely behavioral, in that they reinforce desired behaviors with consistent rewards, to develop a patient's social abilities. Other treatments involve pharmaceuticals or special nutritional approaches. Opinions about the best treatment for autism are as complex and changing as the research about its causes.
Popular impressions of autism have been largely shaped by mass media. Dustin Hoffman's Oscar-winning performance as an autistic savant (someone whose social impairment is combined with exceptionally high computational or other intellectual abilities) brought autism into public discussion in 1988. Claire Danes's current performance in an HBO movie as Temple Grandin, an animal scientist who used her autistic sensitivity to develop improved techniques of animal handling in the agricultural industry, presents an even more nuanced and accurate depiction of the experience of an autistic person.
We hope that many people will use Temple Grandin and other mass-media discussions of autism as starting points for learning about the neurological basis of the disorder and its treatment. In this Spotlight, we guide you through the basics of autism, the context for understanding diagnosis rates, and the culture surrounding autistic people and their caretakers.
Read the feature and set of articles
Trends, Facts & Figures
According to WHO, 285 million people are estimated to be visually impaired worldwide: 39 million are blind and 246 have low vision. Source
Each village with 5k people to have a bank by Mar 2017. Source
Each village with 5k people to have a bank by Mar 2017. Source
Thursday, 26 February 2015
18 interesting facts about India Railways
18 interesting facts about India Railways
Despite its perpetually impoverished status, Asia's largest railway network has a number of credits to its name.
1) Indian Railways started its service 161 years ago on 16 April 1853 when the first passenger train was run over a stretch of 33 kilometres from Mumbai to Thane. The train with 14 railway carriages, carrying around 400 guests, left Bori Bunder at 3:30 p.m. that day. It was declared a public holiday then.
Read the rest
Despite its perpetually impoverished status, Asia's largest railway network has a number of credits to its name.
1) Indian Railways started its service 161 years ago on 16 April 1853 when the first passenger train was run over a stretch of 33 kilometres from Mumbai to Thane. The train with 14 railway carriages, carrying around 400 guests, left Bori Bunder at 3:30 p.m. that day. It was declared a public holiday then.
Read the rest
Monday, 11 June 2012
52 cool facts and stats about social media (2012 edition)
In July 2010, I (Danny Brown) wrote a post called "52 Cool Facts About Social Media" to explore some of the mind-boggling and truly impressive numbers from the space in which we play. I also wanted to offer a fun fact for every week of the year, for anyone playing social media trivia games. At the time, the Big Five were (arguably) Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and blogging. My, what a difference two years make. So, to bring some of these figures up to date, as well as include some of the newer names on the scene, here are 52 cool facts about social media, the 2012 edition
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