news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Skybus Airlines Inc. has confirmed it is expanding outside the Columbus market with nonstop flights between Portsmouth, N.H., and two Florida airports.

The Columbus-based discount airline said Tuesday it will begin service from New Hampshire to St. Augustine, Fla., about 40 miles south of Jacksonville and 50 miles north of Daytona Beach; and Charlotte County Airport in Punta Gorda, Fla., about 30 miles northwest of Fort Myers.

source: Columbus Business First

Italy’s Meridiana is planning to launch a new Ugandan carrier in November with international development agency the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED).

Air Uganda will be based in Entebbe and will initially operate two daily flights to Nairobi in Kenya four weekly flights to Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro in Tanzania and three weekly flights to Juba in Sudan. The carrier will start with one McDonnell Douglas DC-9, add a Boeing MD-87 in March and take a second MD-87 in May.

source: Flight Global

Lounges, leather seats, extra leg room, speedy boarding and frequent-flyer miles: new-style, low-cost airlines aren’t skimping on the extras in their effort to woo high fliers.

The age of the blanket budget model, with low fares as the unique selling point, is over, industry observers said at an international conference on low-cost airlines here last week.

A new breed of budget airline has emerged that’s spurning the golden rules of the tried-and-true low-cost formula ” such as having a single type of aircraft and offering point-to-point service only.

The new model introduces paying perks, such as extra inches to stretch the legs, as a way of differentiating from competitors and sweetening the margins.

source: Fox News

Low-cost airline Sky Europe is to launch new direct flights from Bulgaria to 11 European capitals and major cities in October 2007, the airline’s commercial director, Karim Maklouf, said on Monday.

The company will operate daily flights to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Innsbruck and Warsaw.

source: Spero News

US low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines is in talks with Aires that could lead to a purchase of the Colombian airline. Colombia’s recent award to Aires of daily flights from Bogota to Fort Lauderdale prompted the talks. Fort Lauderdale is also Spirit’s gateway to Latin America.

The two carriers are discussing having Spirit providing ground handling services for Aires at Fort Lauderdale, codesharing on the Colombian route, and Spirit buying part or all of Aires. Spirit is also reportedly interested in buying Aeroasis, a Colombian start-up that is authorised but has not yet launched services.

source: Flight Global

Low-cost airlines flew 2.7 million passengers to Spain in August, up 42.9 percent from the same month last year, the Industry Ministry said on Monday.

About 40 percent of passengers arrived in Spain on low-cost airlines during the month, the ministry said.

Ryanair, easyJet and Air Berlin carried the most passengers among the low-cost airlines, with 52 percent of passengers in the sector.

fuente: Reuters

From this week low fares airline, flyMonarch.com will be introducing a new baggage charge scheme for all hold baggage checked in on its scheduled flights. In line with other UK low fares airlines, flyMonarch.com will be implementing a charge for each bag that is checked in on flights departing after 01 November 2007.

Bags will be charged at £3.99 / €5.99 / CY£3.99 per bag*, per one way flight if pre-booked online, offering a £6 saving against passengers paying at the airport, where a charge of £10 / €16 / CY£10 per bag, per one way flight will apply. Hold baggage can also be pre-booked via the flyMonarch.com Call Centre where bags will be charged at £8 / €12 / CY£8 per bag per one way flight.

source: Easier

American Airlines has been named Best North American Airline for the fifteenth consecutive year at the 2007 Business Traveller Awards. Business Traveller magazine presents its awards based on findings of its annual survey of its readers, who represent some of the world’s most discerning, affluent, and frequent international business travellers.

source: Boarding.no

Air Berlin, the biggest German discount airline, has reached agreement to buy Condor Flugdienst from the tour operator Thomas Cook for up to €475 million in stock to add routes and planes.

The stock portion of the deal, valued at $667 million, would leave Thomas Cook, based in Britain, with 29.99 percent of Air Berlin stock, Thomas Cook said Thursday. It will also receive €120 million in cash.

Condor is Air Berlin’s third major purchase in a year as the carrier seeks to compete with its larger rivals, Ryanair Holdings and EasyJet. For Thomas Cook, the second-largest European travel agency after TUI Travel, the deal fits with a strategy of scaling down operating assets to reduce risk following its merger with MyTravel Group in June.

source: International Herald Tribune

EasyJet is stepping up calls to scrap aviation tax in its present form by launching a campaign to encourage politicians to “‘adopt a more intelligent approach to air travel'”. It claims that its plans will also reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change.

The low-cost carrier is launching an advertising push today (September 18) to inform consumers of its new tax proposal, which suggests that Air Passenger Duty (APD) should be replaced with a tax based on aircraft types and the distance travelled.

source: marketingweek.co.uk