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Boeing versus electric car Can a Tesla Model S beat a Qantas Boeing 737-800? On a runway at Avalon Airport, southwest of Melbourne, Australia, the unique test of skill, innovation and power took place.
The Boeing 737 – with 52,000lbs of thrust – took on the electric car – which does 0-100km in three-seconds: pilot versus driver.
The Tesla was hard to catch at the start but the 737 narrowed the gap as they raced down the runway.
See the race at at qantasnewsroom.com.au/roo-tales/ car-vs-plane-fasten-your-seatbelts-batteries-are-included
The race was conducted as part of an ongoing relationship between Qantas and Tesla to investigate opportunities around sustainable transport.
Alaska and Virgin get together The choice of carriers in the US aviation market will reduce with plans for Alaska Airlines to acquire and merge with Virgin America.
Both west-coast based airlines are known for their customer loyalty and service and are award winners for their service, loyalty programmes and punctuality.
Just four airlines control around 80 per cent of the US market.
The merger will expand options for travellers to 125 destinations in the North America region. Emirates stocks up on vintage wine Thirteen millions bottles of wine – hard to picture – but that is what Emirates airline bought in 2015 for €123 million.
At the heart of Emirates’ wine strategy is the purchasing of wines en primeur, years before they reach the market, and then allowing them to mature.
Emirates has direct relationships with prestigious vineyards and can secure exclusive and rare wines. The wine cellar at present has 2.2 million bottles of vintage wines.
Bordeaux wines are the mainstay of the offering with some exclusive grand crus from Burgundy and fine Italian wines such as Solaia and Ornellaia.
More flights to UK from west Ireland New year-round flights from Ireland West Airport to Birmingham and Edinburgh will be welcomed by businesses in the west.
Flybe will operate six times weekly to both airports. That is 70,000 seats annually. It is also increasing services to Manchester by 8,000 extra seats in the summer.
These airports also offer passengers onward services into Europe and beyond.
US embassy in London moving The US Embassy in London is moving from its site on stylish Grosvenor Square, where it has been since 1960, to Nine Elms near Battersea and the Thames next year.
The new embassy was designed by architects Kieran Timberlake, and sits among a cluster of properties by "starchitects" Richard Rogers, Frank Gehry and Norman Foster.
The Grosvenor Square building will be repurposed as a Qatari-owned luxury hotel with 137 bedrooms, a ballroom and spa. Plans to restore the building will see the bollards and barriers removed and the square returned to its former glory.