Trabber News

news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber


News of September 2010


Airline passengers face chaos due to French strike

22 September 2010

Another 24-hour general strike over the Sarkozy government’s proposal to raise the state pension age will see French air and rail services severely affected on Thursday 23 September.

‘Direction Generale d’Aviation Civile ‘(DGAC), the country’s civil aviation authority, has asked airlines to reduce flights into and out of Paris’s Orly Airport by 50%. Flights to and from Charles de Gaulle and other French airports are to be cut by 40%.

Airlines are likely to try to keep long-haul services running so most of the disruption will probably affect short-haul services disproportionately.

source: publicsectortravel.org.uk


Airline offers money-back satisfaction guarantee

15 September 2010

All-business class airline OpenSkies is offering a guarantee to customers that they will enjoy their flight – and a full refund if they don’t.

The airline announced its new “‘Love Everything or Pay Nothing'” guarantee saying that the offer was unprecedented in the airline sector.

It says that the deal was prompted by a survey of passengers that revealed 96.85 percent of its passengers would recommend the airline.

source: Independent.co.uk


Germanwings joins Lufthansa as ‘Miles & More partner’

12 September 2010

From 1st September 2010, ‘Miles & More’ members will be able to collect miles on Germanwings flights, use Lufthansa lounges when travelling on a Germanwings ticket, and benefit from combinable airfares from the two airlines.

From 1st September, ‘Miles & More’ members can not only redeem all Germanwings flight miles on the ‘Miles & More’ programme, as previously, but will also now be able to collect award miles, applying for the same fixed mileage amounts for individual booking classes that currently apply to Miles & More members on all Lufthansa flights.

The Germanwings frequent flyer programme, the ‘Boomerang Club’, will continue to exist independently of the ‘Miles & More’ partnership. Before each flight, passengers who have both a ‘Miles & More’ and a ‘Boomerang Club’ card will be able to select the frequent flyer program from which they wish to collect miles.ç

source: traveldailynews.com


Amadeus looks to sell majority stake in Opodo

11 September 2010

Madrid-based Amadeus is reported to have held initial talks with several investment banks about selling its 55% shareholding in Opodo, which was originally set up by airlines such as British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa in 2001.

Amadeus paid €62 million for the majority stake in Opodo in 2004 and would be expected to make several times this amount in any sale.

source: ttglive.com


Airline wants you to travel – and then tell the world all about it

10 September 2010

It seems almost too good to be true. A job where you get to travel the world and have people listen to what you think of the whole experience.

But that’s exactly what’s being offered by Finland’s flagship airline Finnair.

This month the airline is searching for four “‘Quality Hunters”’ to scour the globe and report back on all that’s good – and not so good.

The “‘Quality Hunters”’ will travel to cities in Europe, Asia and the US throughout October and November at the same time “‘assessing flights, airports and destinations.”’

source: The Independent


Ryanair boss wants to ditch co-pilots

9 September 2010

Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary wants to ditch co-pilots as part of a bid to slash costs.

He accepts co-pilots are needed on longhaul flights, but says on shorter trips their only role was to “make sure the first fella doesn’t fall asleep and knock over one of the computer controls.

“‘It could save the industry a fortune. In 25 years with over 10 million flights, we’ve had one pilot who suffered a heart attack in flight and he landed the plane.'”

But a British Airline Pilots’ Association spokesman said: “‘His suggestion is unsafe and his passengers would be horrified.'”

source: Mirror.co.uk


Your hotel room costs £9…plus £7.50 to clean it and £1.50 a towel

1 September 2010

A no-frills hotel that costs as little as £9 a night – but charges for extras including towels and luggage storage – has opened in London.

Using a similar strategy to budget airline Ryanair, Malaysian hotel chain Tune Hotels will charge its customers extra for everything from towels to using the hair dryer and even getting the room cleaned.

The tiny rooms will cost as little as £35 a night for a standard, with an occasional special offer price of £9, and come with a comfortable bed, power shower and a laptop stand.

But luggage storage costs £2, getting your room cleaned will add £7.50 and using the hair dryer costs £1, with each towel used costing £1.50.

A night’s worth of television will set you back £3 and using the room’s safe will cost an extra £2.

source: This is London