Complimentary meals will still be offered to passengers on economy fares on all intercontinental trips, certain other international routes and domestic flights longer than six hours, Houston-based Continental said today in a statement.

Now, with shorter flights and pressure from low-fare rivals such as Southwest Airlines Co., Continental and the rest of the large U.S. airlines are turning to fees including bag-check charges to raise revenue from sources other than tickets.

source: Business Week

The Malév re-nationalization plan does not solve the issue as the airline will require continuous illegal financial aid from tax payers’ money going forward.

source: Travelio.net

It said last year’s decline was led by a fall in holiday airline traffic, with charter flights down 17%. UK domestic flight traffic was down 8% and overall scheduled airline traffic fell 6%.

source: BBC News

In the latest in a series of legal attacks on Ryanair’s business model, the Franco-Dutch airline accused the Irish company of receiving illegal state aid and distorting competition.

Air France-KLM said that Ryanair obtained at least €660 million a year in financial incentives from regional authorities in Europe, notably in the form of reduced ground-handling fees and other airport charges.

source: Times Online

The strikes will involve 12,000 flight attendants and will affect more than half a million BA passengers. As promised, there will be no strikes over the Easter period, but further strike action will take place after April 14 if no deal has been reached by then.

source: OnTheShow.com

The airport was conceived as a hub for budget carriers but the check-in counters were almost deserted as operations began. There is just one plane a day, to South Korea. Another flight, to the Japanese city of Kobe, will begin next month.

The airport has become a symbol of decades of public spending to prop up the economy that has left Japan studded with bridges to nowhere and unneeded dams.

source: BBC News

The system, called Tempus IC, will allow cabin crew to gather vital information about a passenger’s health quickly. Information gathered by the system will be transmitted to a medical team of experts around the world who specialise in assisting in-flight medical situations.

The technology, designed and manufactured by UK-based company RDT, will be installed on Etihad’s A340 and Boeing 777 aircraft, and then across the remaining long and extra long haul fleet.

source: theaustralian.com.au

The Government, via state holding company MNV, has agreed to acquire a 95% stake in Malev through a Ft25.2 billion ($127 million) investment funded partly by cash and partly by debt conversion.

The finance ministry says that the acquisition will clear the way towards creating stability for the troubled airline. But the ministry warns that “intensive” restructuring is required in order to minimise the burden on taxpayers and ensure that the rescue does not constitute illegal state aid.

source: flightglobal.com

One women-only lavatory will be provided in the rear section of the passenger cabin and will display a pink ladies sign, a signal designed to let male travelers know that they’ll have to look elsewhere.

ANA says there are exceptions. If a passenger is not feeling well or “when there are very few female passengers and the women-only designation has been lifted for the flight,” male passengers will be allowed to use the lavatory.

source: seattlepi.com

The independent tribunal announced the review on Thursday after ruling that three people who are allergic to cats are, in effect, persons with disabilities because the airlines’ pet policies affect their ability to fly.

The passengers had complained about Air Canada, the country’s biggest airline, its regional carrier Jazz Airline, and WestJet Airline, the No. 2 airline in Canada.

source: Reuters