news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

The new day-to-day leadership at JetBlue Airways Corp. is beginning to make itself felt, revealing to analysts that the low-cost carrier intends to take a new and a hard look at its expansion plans over the next two months in an effort to make a turnaround.

At a Merrill Lynch conference in Manhattan on Wednesday, JetBlue’s new chief executive, David Barger, told analysts that the Forest Hills-based carrier will evaluate the need for the airplanes it has already ordered and the 16 new markets it added last year. The company is aiming to create the best match it can between expansion and profitability, he said.

JetBlue posted a $22 million loss in the first quarter. The airline is expected next week to disclose preliminary information about its second quarter financial results.

Like all other airlines, JetBlue has been grappling with higher fuel costs. But JetBlue also is facing increased competition from legacy carriers who have shaped up their balance sheets and otherwise trimmed costs. Delta Air Lines, for example, a major JetBlue competitor on the heavily traveled East Coast routes, has recently emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and is adding flights at Kennedy, JetBlue’s home base.

Northwest Airlines on Friday revealed a new service between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia International Airport beginning Sept. 5, 2007. The company noted that the new service would be operated with Northwest’s modern Airbus A319 aircraft. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers extensive global networks.

source: tradingmarkets.com

Czech state controlled airline CSA announced Friday a rise in its fuel surcharge on air fares due to the increase in the global price of oil.

The surcharge on European flights will rise by 2.0 usd to 25 usd and on long-haul flights by 11.0 usd to 71 usd with immediate effect, the airline said.

The surcharge change is the first since November when lower oil prices allowed it to be cut. Oil prices reached 65 usd a barrel in April and are expected to stay above this level for the foreseeable future, CSA said.

source: Forbes

Boeing Co. forecast on June 13 that airlines worldwide would take delivery of nearly 30,000 new jets in the next two decades amid surging demand for air travel. The company’s annual report forecast that the worldwide aviation sector would deliver 28,600 commercial aircraft over the next 20 years worth a total $2.800 trillion. The bullish outlook came despite growing concern about the impact of airline pollution and EU plans to impose carbon dioxide emissions quotas on the industry from 2011.

source: industryweek.com

Malaysia’s home-grown budget carrier AirAsia Bhd plans to launch its first flight to India towards end of 2008 and its first destination is likely to be Amritsar in Punjab. “I am really limited by the planes and the earliest we can look at is the third quarter of 2008.

“‘I like Amritsar, many Sikhs have written to me but I need to know more about India. I only know about their music and cricket,'” AirAsia chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes told reporters after speaking at the one-day Low Cost Airline Symposium in Mumbai here Wednesday.

AirAisa X, the long haul budget carrier of AirAsia, is being prepared to do longer destinations and the huge Indian aviation market, growing at 38 percent annually, appears to be on the company’s route.

Jet Airways is starting operations between Totonto and New Delhi via Brussels from Sep 5, and will fly to this city five times a week, the airline’s founder and chairman Naresh Goyal said.

The airline has also firmed up plans to start a service to Newark in New Jersey from Aug 5, Goyal said, adding that the fares to both these sectors would be competitive without compromising on the service.

”Canada was on our radar the minute we were allowed to fly internationally in January 2005. Canada-India trade is growing every day and so is travel between our two countries,” he said.

Budget airline easyJet say they have a new aircraft design which would emit half the carbon dioxide of today’s planes.

At the moment it’s only a model – but the budget airline easyJet claims that a revolutionary eco-friendly plane design could take to the skies in just eight years time.

source: Channel 4

Scandinavian travel group SAS AB said Wednesday it would sell its holdings in three airlines as it announced a savings package designed to cut costs by 2.8 billion kronor ($399 million).

SAS said it would sell its stakes in Spanair, bmi and Air Greenland and focus on its flagship carrier, Scandinavian Airlines, as well as its smaller airlines Blue 1, Wideroe, airBaltic and Estonian Air.

The package was initially planned to be presented on Thursday, but was moved forward because of market and media speculation on what it contained.

source: Chron

Southwest Airlines Co. expects fare prices to be under pressure in the traditionally strong travel months of June and July, the low-cost carrier’s chief executive said on Wednesday.

“‘At this point, we’re experiencing the effects of the slowing economy and the softening demand for air travel,'” Gary Kelly said, speaking at a Merrill Lynch investor conference.

source: Reuters

No-frills airline Ryanair Holdings carried more international passengers than any other airline last year, according to official figures.

Ryanair said the International Air Transport Association’s (IATA) world airline passenger statistics for 2006 showed 40,532,000 cross-border passengers flew with it during the year, nearly 2,300,000 more than its nearest rival, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, which carried 38,236,000 passengers.

source: Forbes