A plane called Placido

A plane called Placido

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norman lebrecht

May 14, 2018

This is Iberia’s new flagship.

If flies lower than it used to and is expected to go on forever.

 

Comments

  • Caravaggio says:

    I may throw up. Seriously. This Domingo business sees no end. Who are these people? I would happily fly aboard a Flagstad SAS jet but never never never on a jet named after Domingo. As it is I have no need to ever fly Iberia. Where Flagstad retained her dignity and artistry intact through the very end, the same cannot be said of Domingo.

    • erich says:

      Last time I travelled on the PD Eurostar, it broke down. Let’s hope this plane doesn’t suffer the same fate…

    • Barry Guerrero says:

      Always something to complain about. Who cares what it’s named! At least it isn’t called the Francisco Franco. The main thing is that it takes off, flies and lands safely.

      A friend once asked a pilot, quite seriously, what a good landing was. The pilot replied that anytime you’re safe on the ground, that’s a good landing!

  • Max Grimm says:

    “This is Iberia’s new flagship.”

    No it’s not, Norman. That picture is of the first Iberia jet that was named ‘Placido Domingo’; an Airbus A340-300, which was parked and decommissioned in 2013….something Domingo should have done years ago as well.

    • Carmen says:

      They did, but they’ve just reintroduced it with the same name. The story is valid.

    • Carmen says:

      This one is an Airbus 350, a newer model.

      • Max Grimm says:

        Yes, which is why I specified “the *first* Iberia jet that was named…” and referred to the picture Norman is using, which is of the old A340 and not the new A350.

        • Caravaggio says:

          What does it matter? I couldn’t distinguish an A340 from a 350 if either landed on me.

          • Max Grimm says:

            My dear Caravaggio, just because something doesn’t matter to you or just because you can’t tell two completely different things apart, doesn’t make it irrelevant to distinguish between them.
            It also so happens that my snark that Domingo should have been “decommissioned” some time ago, as well as Norman’s gibe about “[It flying] lower than it used to …” really work best in relation to the old, retired Airbus A340, not the newest and technologically most advanced Airbus A350.

        • Carmen says:

          Hi, Max, you have an eagle eye!

          The 350 is apparently so new that there aren’t any photos of it yet. The only pics show the plane still being painted and they don’t show the Placido Domingo logo. So yes, this is the original older model that also bore Domingo’s name. Most folks don’t know their aircraft as well as you do! Good call!

  • JoBe says:

    Still better auspices than a Spanish plane christened “Maria Bayo”…

  • Ernest Low says:

    Will they be having Caballe, Carreras, Aragall, Kraus and Berganza planes? Surely they are equally worthy?

  • Sue says:

    I want to see the Kleiber “jump jet” (do they still manufacture those?); where you can lift-off out of nowhere at a moment’s notice.

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