news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Budget airline Ryanair is to cut 18 routes from its base at Girona, following a disagreement with the Catalonian government.

Ryanair said the new government, which oversees operations at Girona, had “‘refused to honour’” a five-year extension of its agreement to base 11 aircraft at the airport rather than 6.

Five of the 11 aircraft will be relocated to bases elsewhere in Europe, resulting in the loss of 18 routes from Girona. These include London Gatwick, Madrid and Dusseldorf Weeze. 17 more routes will see their frequencies cut.

source: businesstraveller.com

Easyjet is set to become the UK’s first commercial airline to apply nano-paint to its aircraft.

The super-micro technology, which is 100 times thinner than the average human hair, will allow the plane to slide more efficiently through the air, cutting costly fuel bills and giving airline bosses more leeway to cut fares.

The new technology will add 4oz to the weight of the plane but will prevent dust and debris build up.

source: manufacturingdigital.com

Delta Air Lines Inc. must pay a $2 million civil penalty, following a Department of Transportation (DOT) investigation released Thursday that said the airline violated rules protecting passengers with disabilities.

Delta agreed to settle the case”the DOT’s largest fine against an airline in a non-safety-related case”without admitting wrongdoing.

Among the agency’s complaints were that Delta allegedly failed to properly assist passengers with disabilities on and off planes; respond adequately to written complaints; and report each complaint to the DOT.

source: The Wall Street Journal

Ryanair and Maxroam have teamed up to provide Europe’s first free mobile phone roaming service.

Customers will be able to buy a SIM card for €5 which comes loaded with €10 of calling credit. They can then use the new SIM to receive calls and text anywhere in Europe for free.

source: travolution.co.uk

Thanks to the results of a new survey by the Business Travel and Meetings Show, we now know where most of the hot flight attendants are.

Of the 1,000 people who participated in the survey, over half said that the most attractive flight attendants work for Virgin Atlantic.

No other airline in the world even came close to Virgin Atlantic and their “‘red hotties.’”  Here are the top five airlines with the hottest flight attendants according to the results:

1. Virgin Atlantic – 53%
2. Singapore Airlines – 18%
3. Etihad – 12%
4. Emirates – 11%
5. Aer Lingus – 6%

source: Reuters

Flights in the US were more on time in 2010 than in 2009, according to figures released February 10 by the US Department for Transportation, with Hawaiian taking the top spot.

The 18 major carriers in the US reported 79.8 percent of flights were on time last year, compared to 79.5 in 2009, despite several significant disruptions to travel caused by severe weather.

The most on-time airline (92.5 percent) was Hawaiian Airlines, taking the award for the seventh straight year – no doubt helped by nearly-permanent good weather at its hub at Honolulu International Airport.

source: independent.co.uk

Four Thai “‘ladyboys'” have been recruited as flight attendants for a start-up charter airline that says it will be Thailand’s first to include transsexuals among its cabin crew.

P.C. Air, which will fly to several Asian destinations starting in April, had its first training session this week for 30 recruits, including four from “the third sex.”

Thailand is known for its tolerance for transvestites and transsexuals, known locally as “‘katoeys'” or “‘lazyboys'”.

source: washingtonpost.com

An Alaska Airlines flight had to return to the gate at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport when a rat was spotted on the plane.

Flight 676 was headed to Denver and had just pulled away from the gate at Sea-Tac when a passenger reported seeing the rat scurrying around the cabin.

The 737 aircraft returned to the terminal, and the crew and passengers boarded another plane for Denver about 90 minutes later.

source: Aol

Spain and Portugal are seeing a resurgence as customers seek an alternative to Egypt, where political violence continued into a third week.

Leisure carrier Jet2.com pulled its summer programme to Sharm el-Sheikh and Hurghada this week as protesters stepped up their efforts to overthrow President Hosni Mubarak.

‘Foreign and Commonwealth Office‘ advice remained unchanged, with guidance against all but essential travel to Cairo, Alexandria, Luxor and Suez.

Fears are growing that the political violence will have a long-term impact on tourism to Egypt.

source: travelweekly.co.uk

The private equity firms Axa and Permira are buying the online travel agent Opodo for €500m (£424m) from the Spanish travel reservations group Amadeus.

Following the acquisition, Axa and Permira plan to merge Opodo with their two rival online travel firms, the French Go Voyages and Spain’s eDream.

Opodo, which was set up in 2001 by a consortium of European airlines including British Airways, Air France, KLM and Iberia, is based in the UK and operates websites across Europe.

source: independent.co.uk