Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/254848
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2014 18 Events Emirates completes 21 aircraft 'make-overs' in 2013 A unique look into Emirates' aircraft paint hangar, the world's largest owned by an airline EMIRATES, a global connector of people and places, operates the world's largest fleets of A380s and Boeing 777s, and to serve these aircraft, it runs the world's largest state-of-the-art aircraft paint hang- ar owned by an airline. Located at Dubai International Airport, Emirates' paint hanger is more than twice the size of a foot- ball field, and has been designed to deliver quality that exceeds even the standards of aircraft manufac- turers. In 2013, Emirates' advanced paint hangar completely stripped 21 air- craft (or nearly 10% of its fleet) of exterior paint and gave them a brand new coat. It took 6,550 hours in total, or 273 days and nights of non-stop stripping and repainting, to complete these "make-overs". In addition to these major projects, the paint shop was kept fully en- gaged with over 60,000 other paint touch-up jobs on the exteriors and interiors of the aircraft, as well as cabin items. "Our aircraft livery is one of the most recognisable and visible as- pects of our brand. It is what people see in the sky, and the first thing our passengers see at their board- ing gates," Adel Al Redha, Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer, Emirates, said. "It's not just about looking good. The paint coat has to withstand fierce weather conditions, includ- ing severe wind, bitter cold and searing heat, and an exterior coat that is clean of debris and imper- fections improves aerodynamics and reduces fuel consumption. Emirates already flies a young and efficient fleet, but with fuel prices at consistently high levels, every little bit of efficiency counts," he added. Emirates previously had a minor paint booth in its Dubai hub to man- age minor jobs while outsourcing the big projects to an external sup- plier. Building its own paint hanger has helped the airline to better con- trol total quality, and co-ordinate flight operations scheduling. Since the paint hangar started operations in August 2010, it has completed 59 full aircraft "strip-and-repaint" projects and several hundred thou- sand aircraft component paintings. After every seven to eight years in service, Emirates fully strips its aircraft of their exterior colour and gives them a brand-new coat. A Boe- ing 777 requires a team of 26 to 30 people for a full strip-and-repaint project, which is turned around in just 12 to 13 days. Emirates' paint hanger operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It employs highly skilled and special- ised staff for this purpose, and uses the latest technologies and systems including fully-controlled environ- ments that regulate temperature, humidity and airflow – all of which are critical factors for the perfect glossy coat. Emirates' first A380, which en- tered service in August 2008, will be due for a full repaint in 2015. Emirates operates the largest fleet of A380 with 44 in total and an ad- ditional 96 on order. It also operates the world's largest fleet of Boeing 777s with 132 in service and 210 more on order. To watch the video of the "make- over", please visit: http://youtu.be/ T3RRPQ_Csss. Emirates operates daily scheduled flights from Malta to Dubai. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays Emirates flies via Larnaka, Cyprus, while on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Fridays, the airline operates direct flights from Dubai to Malta and return flights fly via Tripoli The Macallan six litre decanter 'M' achieves a New World Record price LAST month saw the sale of a stun- ning rare 6-litre 'Imperiale' version of the highly sought after Macallan M – the world's most sophisticated single malt whisky, contained within a beautifully designed and meticu- lously crafted crystal decanter, for US$628,000 at Sotheby's in Hong Kong. All net sale proceeds will be donated to a host of local charities in Hong Kong. M represents a masterpiece created from the collaboration between three masters of their crafts; Fabien Baron, Founder and Creative Director of Bar- on & Baron, Silvio Denz, President and CEO of LALIQUE and Bob Dalgarno, Whisky Maker at The Macallan. To celebrate the conception of M and its global launch in Hong Kong, four 6-litre Imperiale decanters were specially crafted by LALIQUE for The Macallan. These are the largest decanters ever made by LALIQUE. Each decanter required the work of 17 craftsmen, including two with the prestigious title, "Meilleur Ouvrier de France", with each taking over 50 hours to complete. Of the four, two will be archived by The Macallan and one has been com- mitted to a private collector in Asia. The fourth, Constantine (named, as are the other three, after Roman emperors), uniquely features the en- graved autographs of the three princi- pal creators – LALIQUE/Silvio Denz, Fabien Baron and Bob Dalgarno. This highly collectible creation was made available as part of the Finest and Rar- est Wines and The Macallan auction by Sotheby's in Hong Kong on 18 Janu- ary 2014. David Cox of The Macallan com- mented, "We are absolutely delighted at the generosity of the successful bid- der of the "M" 6L decanter Constan- tine in securing such a wonderful con- tribution to a number of Hong Kong charities and at the same time setting a new world record for The Macallan. It is testimony to the craft, quality and passion underpinning the creation of this great decanter. It is a very proud moment for us". The Macallan is one of the world's most sought after and collectable whiskies, sitting at the top of the auc- tion index for whiskies and holding the current Guinness World Record™ for the most expensive whisky ever sold at auction, in 2010 in New York, The Ma- callan 64 years old in LALIQUE Cire Perdue at US$460,000. Silvio Denz of LALIQUE said, "This new world record at US$628,000 high- lights the uniqueness of the decanter and the remarkable quality of The Macallan single malt. Its creation is a tremendous achievement due to the unprecedented size, weight and com- pletely new shape. After the Guin- ness World Record achieved by The Macallan in LALIQUE Cire Perdue in 2010 at Sotheby's New York, this exceptional figure underscores the in- terest and value of such extraordinary decanters". Formula 1 exclusively on GO Sports until 2016 FORMULA1 fans will continue to enjoy all the Grand Prix action live and exclusively on GO Sports un- til 2016. In addition to every Grand Prix, car racing enthusiasts will also be able to follow every Friday free practice, as well as Saturday's free practice and qualifying session, for a further three seasons. Michèle Dandria, Manager – Con- tent and Digital Media, at GO, said: "Formula1 is immensely popular in Malta where there is a real passion for cars. With the new F1 season start- ing soon, on 16 March in Australia, GO has once again secured live and exclusive coverage of every session of every Grand Prix for local fans, for another three years. GO is com- mitted to delivering the best sports broadcasting service in Malta and all Formula1 fans know that GO Sports is the only place where they can fully enjoy their favourite sport." "Formula1 is one of the most popu- lar sports in the world and this year fans can look forward to 19 races in- cluding two new races in Austria and Russia, before the season comes to an end in Abu Dhabi in November. Eve- ryone is keen to see if Sebastian Vet- tel's dominance will be challenged and GO Sports customers will be able to follow every twist and turn as the season unfolds," said Dandria. In addition to Formula1, GO Sports broadcasts Champions League, Bar- clays Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1 football, International Rug- by, the ATP Tennis Masters and The Wimbledon Championships, golf Majors and the Ryder Cup, among many other of the world's premier sporting events. Formula 1 features on the stand- ard GO Sports service available to all those who are subscribed to the Silver or Gold TV packages for an ex- tra €7.99 per month. GO Sports Pre- mium which gives digital terrestrial subscribers access to six channels and interactive customers access to 8 channels also includes a number of Football Club channels including Manchester United, Juventus, AC Milan, Chelsea, Inter and Liverpool. GO Sports Premium is available as an optional add-on to Silver or Gold TV subscribers for €14.99 a month. GO interactive TV customers who also subscribe to the HD package will also enjoy GO Sports 1 and GO Sports 2 in HD. Terms & Conditions apply. For more information on the GO Sports or Formula 1 SMS updates on GO mobile, customers are welcome to visit www.go.com.mt. Alternatively, they can call anytime on Freephone 8007 2121 or 146 from their GO mo- bile Technology Seminar on Next Generation Storage ICT Solutions is organising a seminar, in collaboration with HP, on the latest technolo- gies in the field of storage and backup solutions. The semi- nar will be held on Thursday, 13 February from 8:30am till 1.00pm at Le Meridien Hotel, in St Julians and will be fol- lowed by a light networking snack lunch. The presentations will be delivered by various speakers from HP, each an expert in his respective field. The seminar will be exploring HP's storage strat- egy, looking at the latest technolo- gies, and exploring various options to move from older generations of storage to the new platforms includ- ing 3PAR. Speaking about the seminar, Liam Pace, Manager Commercial Serv- ices at ICT stated "This is a very in- teresting area of technology which is growing fast. Storage is becoming very complex as data requirements explode, and the need for high avail- ability and secure backups becomes even more critical. At ICT Solu- tions we are working closely with HP, who are leaders in this field, to be able to bring these solutions to the local market and our team of highly experienced engineers are working on a number of projects assisting clients move their stor- age to these next generation tech- nologies." The Seminar is free of charge for IT professionals. Attendees may register online at www.ictsolutions.com.mt. ICT Solutions is a leading sys- tems integrator in Malta, and an HP Partner. It is best at under- standing the different business needs of corporate customers, and in then integrating IT and commu- nications technologies to offer real solutions to these needs. The quali- ty and commitment of the ICT team is the company's main strength and ensures that the company always delivers to customer expectations. More information may be found at www.ictsolutions.com.mt