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Vueling opens its first operational base outside of Spain, at Paris-Charles deGaulle airport. The opening of the new base will take place on May 16th with the installation of three brand-new Airbus A320s and the launching of new routes to Spain, Italy and the Netherlands.

Vueling will become the first Spanish airline in setting up a base outside of Spain and the second airline ever, only after Air France, in doing so at Paris main airport.

source: boarding.no

Irish low-cost airline Ryanair plans to start serving larger airports in a bid to double passenger numbers, its chief executive said in an interview with German business magazine WirtschaftsWoche.

“‘If we want to be so big in five years’ time, we can’t avoid such airports,'” Michael O’Leary told the magazine in an interview released ahead of publication on Monday.

Ryanair has focused its network so far on airports where landing fees and other costs are low.

source: smh

British airline BMI is considering taking legal action if Britain blocks an open skies deal between the European Union and the US. EU transport ministers will vote on the treaty on March 22 and the transport secretary, Douglas Alexander, has already signalled government opposition to the draft agreement. He said last week that in its current form it favoured Washington and “‘there remains work to be done'”.

source: Guardian.co.uk

When Qatar termed 2007 the ‘year of expansion’, the airline wasn’t exaggerating, last month announcing their expansion into New York and Dar es Salaam, and just last week announcing even more new routes and increased frequencies.

Speaking at a press conference on the first day of ITB Berlin, Akbar Al Baker, Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, took the chance to unveil even more new routes for one of the fastest growing Arab airline in the market today.

Scheduled flights to Chennai (formerly Madras), Bali and Ho Chi Minh City will begin towards the end of March. From mid-year, Qatar Airways will operate flights to New York, Washington and Geneva, and Stockholm will follow later this year.

Mr Al Baker said, “2007 is an exciting year for Qatar Airways, celebrating 10 years since our relaunch and we look forward to welcoming passengers on our brand new routes and increased services to provide them with greater choice.

Easyjet is poised to become only the second airline ever to enter the FTSE 100 ” a move that could eventually trigger a bumper payout for its senior management.

The low-cost airline was last week placed on the reserve list for the elite group of companies after the quarterly reshuffle of the membership list.

This means Easyjet is in contention to join the index should one of the current members drop out before the next quarterly review.

Elevation to the fringes of the FTSE 100 confirms a startling change in the stock market’s valuation of the company.

source: Times Online

AirTran is scheduled to begin service June 7, joining JetBlue in offering low-cost flights to and from Portland International Jetport.

AirTran, based in Orlando, Fla., plans to offer three round trips a day to its Northeast hub in Baltimore, along with a Saturdays-only nonstop flight to and from Orlando.

source: Seacoast online

The organisers of Hamburg’s Reeperbahn Festival are close to a deal with national airline Lufthansa that’ll enable music fans throughout Europe to get a cheap trip to the event September 27-29.

The package will include a round-trip flight, festival access and free local public transport, and will come out at no more than euro 180.

Discussions are still ongoing for 14 airports to offer the deal, including major international terminals in England, France, Holland, Austria, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Hungary and Russia.

The Kuwaiti airline Al-Jazeera Airways announced it would start to offer flights from Kuwait City to Tehran as of March 26, IRNA reported.

The airline, which is said to be the first low-cost carrier set up in the Persian Gulf state, has planned to operate three services a week, on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

fuente: Iranmania

A packed jetliner burst into flames Wednesday as it landed on Java island, killing 21 people, but more than 110 other people escaped the burning wreckage, many with severe burns, the airline and witnesses said.

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said about 10 of his citizens were on board the Garuda airlines plane.

“‘It is a terrible tragedy,'” Howard told a nationally television news conference. “‘Many lives have been lost, and our love and sympathy and condolences go to those who are suffering distress and grief.'”

Pakistan’s national airline announced Tuesday that it had slashed its flights to Europe by nearly 50 percent after the European Union barred most of its planes due to safety concerns.

The EU’s executive commission said Monday it would allow Pakistan International Airlines to use only its seven Boeing 777 planes on services to EU airports due to worries about the age and maintenance of its other long-haul aircraft.

source: BusinessWeek