Trabber News

news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber


News of August 2008


Spas, showers and more: Emirates Airline invites guests aboard Airbus A380 at LAX

8 August 2008

If Ritz-Carlton Hotels put a commercial jetliner into service, it would be like the Airbus A380-800 that Emirates Airline displayed Tuesday at Los Angeles International Airport.

It is equipped with two shower-spas, two lounges and 14 first-class “‘suites'” fitted with vanities, mini-bars, widescreen video displays and seats that convert to beds.

The showers and adjoining spas — the first to be installed on a commercial aircraft — are available to first-class passengers, who pay about $18,000 for a round-trip ticket from Dubai to New York.

source: LAtimes.com


Ryanair faces legal action over charges

5 August 2008

Ryanair is facing a lengthy court battle as the British Airport Authority confirmed it had begun legal action against the airline over its refusal to pay a 15% increase in airport charges at London’s Stansted Airport.

The court action is the latest twist in a long-running dispute between Ryanair and the UK airport manager over charges at Stansted, which is the main hub for the airline.

source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk


Delta adds Wi-Fi to entire domestic airline fleet

5 August 2008

Now Delta is looking to capitalize on the popularity of in-flight Wi-Fi by outfitting its entire domestic fleet of aircrafts with Aircell’s GoGo service.

GoGo will cost Delta flyers $9.95 on flights of three hours or less, and $12.95 for flights that are longer than three hours. Delta says it expects to begin to offer in-flight Wi-Fi early 2009.

American Airlines and Virgin America have been on-board for some time with in-flight Wi-Fi. Both have announced testing of Wi-Fi aboard its airliners for a limited number of flights. But Delta is making a big splash with an ambitious rollout of Wi-Fi to all its domestic fleet. This is big news coming from an airline that has been struggling lately.

source: PC World


British Airways seeks to seal alliance with American Airlines

4 August 2008

British Airways will make a third attempt to seal an alliance with its US partner American Airlines within weeks.

Willie Walsh, BA’s chief executive, said he expected final preparations for the deal to be complete within a fortnight, with an application to US regulators to follow shortly afterwards. “‘We want to move on this as soon as possible’,” he said.

BA, which revealed sharply reduced profits last week, has tried to consummate its marriage with American Airlines for more than a decade. It first sought the permission of US regulators in 1997, then again in 2002.

source: Times Online


Airline fined £5,000 for flying faulty plane

4 August 2008

A budget airline allowed a faulty jet to complete a 6,000-mile round trip from New York to Liverpool and back across the Atlantic despite knowing there was a problem with its engine monitors after it had been struck by lightning, a court heard today.

The company had used some “‘optimistic interpretation'” of rules to allow take-off from, Liverpool, leaving the crew to manually adjust the throttle with the help of another gauge.

source: guardian.co.uk


Strike ends as Lufthansa agrees pay deal

2 August 2008

Lufthansa yesterday put an end to a potentially crippling strike by ground and engineering staff by increasing a pay offer that will set the salaries of more than a third of its workers until early 2010.

The German airline’s willingness to reach a deal had grown as lack of even simple maintenance grounded an increasing number of aircraft – the number of cancelled flights rose from 70 on Tuesday to 130 yesterday.

source: FT.com