Given we have become so blasé about this incredible form of transport that continues to become more and more efficient at whipping us around the globe, we thought we’d compile a few facts that may surprise you.
Did you know...
The world’s oldest airline still running is Dutch carrier KLM, established in 1919
The world’s second oldest carrier still flying today is our very own flying kangaroo – established in 1920 as Queensland and Northern Territory Air Service, or Qantas for short.
The word ‘Mayday’ is an international call sign of distress. It was taken from the French word for help me – M’aidez but …
English is the universal, and mandatory, language spoken between pilots and air traffic controllers worldwide.
The windows of air traffic control towers are angled at 15-degrees to help reduce the reflection from both inside and outside the tower.
The queen of the skies, the Boeing 747, is made up of over six million parts.
The wing-span of the 747 is 59.4 metres, which is considerably longer than the first flight recorded by the Wright Brothers at 36.6 metres.
The wing-span of the world’s largest aircraft, the Airbus A380 is actually longer then the aircraft itself. The length of the aircraft is 72.7 metres long, and the wing span is 80 metres.
Chicago’s O’Hare international Airport has a plane taking off or landing on average every 37 seconds or around 100 aircraft each hour.
American Airlines saved over $40,000 a year when it removed just one olive from each business class meal.
One of Australia’s largest outbound international carriers, Singapore Airlines, spends over $700 million dollars in food each year.
The world’s largest purchaser of caviar is German carrier Lufthansa Airlines, who buys over 10-tonnes of the exotic treat per year.
It was 1999 when the first online check-in for a flight was introduced by US carrier Alaska Airlines. A groundbreaking innovation at the time.
The world’s largest aircraft is the Antonov AN-225 cargo plane with six engines and capacity to carry a Space Shuttle in its belly.
At any given hour in the skies over the United States, there are more than 61,000 people airborne.
You may be surprised to learn that flying is the second safest form of transport, behind moving on an escalator!
Pilots and co-pilots must eat different meals when on duty in case of food poisoning.
And one for the real trivia buffs … the word ‘stewardess’ is the longest word typed on a keyboard with just your left hand!
