Trabber News

news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber


News of July 2007


Jetstar in emergency landing in Bali

23 July 2007

An engine failure has forced a brand new Airbus A330-200 carrying more than 300 Jetstar passengers to Melbourne from Bangkok to divert for an emergency landing at Bali’s Denpasar Airport.

The captain of the Jetstar flight headed for Bali after the aircraft’s computer system detected the fault and shut one engine down.

Flying for almost an hour on one engine, the jet landed at Denpasar about 6.45am (AEST), stranding its 302 passengers and 12 crew for an unwanted 17-hour stopover.

source: theage.com.au


Italy says Alitalia faces liquidation if not sold

20 July 2007

Italian national carrier Alitalia will be shut down unless it finds a buyer, the government said, in an apparent warning to unions that played a central role in deterring suitors.

Italy scrapped its seven-month auction of the loss-making airline on Wednesday after the last bidders pulled out, and now faces dwindling options and growing political embarrassment over the sale’s failure.

source: Reuters


Virgin to fly between NY and California

20 July 2007

In a move that will be a boost to travelers benefitting from cheaper air fares and a headache to discount airlines like JetBlue Airways Corp. and Southwest Airlines Co. who are going to face more competition, newcomer Virgin America Inc. began selling tickets Thursday in preparation for starting service next month from San Francisco to Kennedy Airport.

San Francisco-based Virgin America, the low-fare airline partly owned by United Kingdom billionaire Richard Branson, said it plans to begin flying Aug. 8 from San Francisco to Kennedy, charging an introductory one-way fare of $139. Service to Las Vegas and Dulles Airport in suburban Virginia are to be added in the next two months, Virgin said.


Budget airline scraps flights to Liverpool after a year

20 July 2007

The low-cost airline Ryanair is to ditch its flights from Inverness and Aberdeen to Liverpool after only a year because of poor passenger numbers.

The company yesterday announced plans for 11 new routes across Europe from October. But 11 other links, including Inverness-Liverpool and Aberdeen-Liverpool are being axed from 2 November to accommodate them.

source: scotsman.com


Virgin America’s inaugural flights set for August

19 July 2007

Maverick airline Virgin America plans to begin selling tickets Thursday, giving travelers their first chance to book a trip on planes equipped to pamper passengers even when they aren’t flying first-class.

The airline’s inaugural flights are scheduled to take off Aug. 8 from Los Angeles and New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and arrive at roughly the same time late that morning in San Francisco, which will serve as Virgin America’s hub.

source: MSNBC


Eos opens new Stansted lounge

19 July 2007

Business class carrier Eos Airlines has opened its new departure lounge at Stansted Airport.

The gate-side facility, named Club 48, features two 50-inch widescreen TVs, computers, Wi-Fi, a bar and catering services.

Furnishings are finished in leather, granite and frosted glass, while closed-off seating areas offer privacy for customers.


Ryanair announces 11 new routes and cancels 11 others

19 July 2007

Ryanair today announced 11 new routes from its bases in Barcelona, Bremen, Brussels, Dublin, London, Marseille and Milan. The airline also cancelled another 11 routes.

These 11 new routes bring the Ryanair network to 499 routes across 26 countries and mark the reinstatement of low fare flights between France and Morocco following the French Government’s refusal in December to proceed, as other European countries did, with the prompt application of the already agreed EU Morocco open-skies agreement.

source: finfacts.com


200 feared dead in Brazilian airline crash

18 July 2007

A Brazilian TAM airliner skidded off a runway on landing at a Sao Paulo airport on Tuesday and crashed into a building, bursting into flames and killing up to 200 people, according to one official.

“‘There’s 200 killed over there,'” Manuel Antonio da Silva Araujo, a colonel in Sao Paulo’s fire department said, according to the online edition of the Folha de Sao Paulo daily. He said none of the 176 people aboard Tam Airlines Flight 3054 could have survived such a crash.

Late in the night, 16 people who were in the building at the time of the crash were confirmed dead, with 12 more injured, officials said as rescue operations continued.

source: Canada.com


China private airline to run international flights

18 July 2007

East Star has become China’s first private airline authorized to operate international flights after less than two years in business.

The company is yet to release the timetable for the services, but Hubei Television reported on Tuesday evening that a daily service would be available from early September.

According to Civil Aviation Administration of China regulations, new airlines can qualify to apply to operate international flights only after three years of operations.

East Star, however, beat rivals Okair, Ueair, Juneyao Airlines and Spring Airlines, which analysts say should be attributed to the ongoing reform of China’s civil aviation industry.

source: China Daily


U.S. keeps airline rules for liquids

18 July 2007

U.S. restrictions on liquids carried aboard airliners will stay in place “for the foreseeable future” as authorities test better bomb-detection gear, the Transportation Security Administration said.

Machines reliable enough to screen 2 million passengers a day for liquid explosives “‘don’t exist today in mass quantities,'” TSA spokesman Christopher White said in an interview.

That means carry-on liquids still must be in containers of 3 ounces (89 milliliters) or less, sealed inside a 1-quart (0.95-liter) plastic bag, as they have been since September. A plot in the U.K. to blow up trans-Atlantic jets with liquid explosives spurred an Aug. 10 ban on carry-on fluids, which was replaced with the current rules about a month later.

source: Chicago Tribune