Road Warrior: The business of travel

Speedy Etihad, choose your own room, new United Airlines services, dangerous drones

Etihad's engine change record
It must be the association with Formula 1 racing that has speeded up Etihad Airways, as it has just broken the world record for changing an aircraft engine.

On November 10th a GE90 engine on a Boeing 777 was replaced in less than seven hours by a team of 12 mechanical staff.

The normal time for replacing this type of engine is 20-25 hours. The engine diameter is 3.4m, it is 7.4m long, weighs eight tonnes and delivers 115,000lbs of thrust.

Guests choose room at Euston
Thistle Hotels has launched a facility for guests to choose their own room at the Euston Hotel in London. On booking, guests will be sent an email with a link to take a 360° tour of the property's rooms.

Hilton Hotels and Resorts launched a similar service via smartphones in the summer for "Hilton HHonors" members. Loyalty programme members and direct bookings will have access for choosing rooms first.

United Airlines increases flights
United Airlines (UA) will be increasing its foothold in the Irish market as it begins daily services from Dublin to Chicago from June for the summer.

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The Boeing 757-200s will operate with 169 seats, including 16 flat-bed United BusinessFirst seats. UA operates year-round services from Dublin to Newark and Washington, and from Shannon and Belfast to Newark. 

Drones spotted at JFK airport
Last week there were a number of sightings of unmanned drones in and around JFK airport in New York. Delta, JetBlue and Virgin Atlantic pilots reported seeing drones at altitudes of 600m-900m.

There are already regulations in place in Ireland by the Irish Aviation Authority on their operation.