news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Flyglobespan, a low-cost Scottish airline based in Edinburgh, has announced that it will launch direct flights to Turkey next summer.

Considering the rising interest of British tourists in Turkish holiday spots in recent years, Flyglobespan has decided to offer direct flights to Dalaman, a popular Turkish resort.

Similarly, EasyJet, a low-cost British airline, had started offering flights to certain destinations in Turkey last year.

source: todayszaman.com

A combination of factors is likely to have caused the plane crash at Madrid Airport which left 153 people dead, Spain’s civil aviation chief has said.

Manuel Batista said failure in one of the Spanair jet’s two engines should not have been enough to cause a crash.

New footage of the tragedy shows the plane struggling to gain altitude but does not show any explosion as it was taking off, contrary to some reports.

source: teletext.co.uk

British Airways PLC said its planned business-class only flight from London’s City Airport — which is just a 14-minute train ride from the city’s financial district of Canary Wharf — to New York will allow passengers to complete U.S. arrival checks in Ireland.

The airline said that the route’s refueling stop at Shannon airport, in western Ireland, will double as the port where passengers will go through U.S. immigration checks, meaning they’ll be able to skip them when they land in New York, and speed straight into the city.

source: Business week

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou is taking easyJet, the airline that he founded, to the High Court to try to limit its ability to make money from activities that may clash with his other ventures. The surprising spat between the budget carrier and its founder stunned the City yesterday and threatens to limit the airline’s ability to raise revenues.

Sir Stelios founded easyJet in 1995, is still a board director and owns 16 per cent of the airline. He also owns the easyJet name through a company called easyGroup IP Licensing, which has brought the High Court action.

source: Times OnLine

The airlines, along with Iberia, a prospective partner of British Airways, said on Thursday that they planned to apply for antitrust approval from the Transportation Department to form a marketing alliance to link their global flight networks.

American and British Airways tried twice before to bring about such an arrangement, only to face stiff requirements from regulators. But the aviation landscape has changed significantly since they first proposed the deal in 1996. Then, flights between the United States and Heathrow Airport near London were strictly controlled, and deals between big airlines were routinely viewed as anticompetitive.

source: New York Times

The airlines, along with Iberia, a prospective partner of British Airways, said on Thursday that they planned to apply for antitrust approval from the Transportation Department to form a marketing alliance to link their global flight networks.

American and British Airways tried twice before to bring about such an arrangement, only to face stiff requirements from regulators. But the aviation landscape has changed significantly since they first proposed the deal in 1996. Then, flights between the United States and Heathrow Airport near London were strictly controlled, and deals between big airlines were routinely viewed as anticompetitive.

source: New York Times

Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic is set to launch a major advertising campaign to challenge British Airways’ (BA) plans for a tie-up with American Airlines (AA). Branson claims that the proposed deal would damage transatlantic competition.

BA is expected to make an application in the US this week to enact the joint venture with AA. The pact between the two airlines would mean they would have dominant shares of transatlantic flights from Heathrow on six routes including New York JFK, Chicago and Los Angeles.

source: marketingweek.co.uk

JetBlue Airways said Monday that it planned to begin charging for pillow and blanket sets on flights of two hours or longer. The $7 sets, which passengers can keep and reuse, include a 10-by-12 inch pillow, a fleece blanket and a $5 coupon for Bed Bath & Beyond.

Buying the sets will be the only option for airline slumberers who do not tote their own; pillows and blankets will no longer be distributed free.

source: NYTimes.com

Budget airline Ryanair yesterday declined to comment on speculation that it may make a bid for Stansted Airport.

The carrier’s chief executive, Michael O’Leary, reportedly said he was interested in making a bid for the airport, which is London’s third largest.

The move comes after BAA started legal action against the airline after it refused to pay a 15% increase in landing charges.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG is still interested in rival Austrian Airlines after the Austrian government said it aims to keep at least 25 percent of the company in Austrian hands, management board member Stefan Lauer said.

The Austrian carrier’s supervisory board recently discussed a shortlist of possible partners that includes Lufthansa, Aeroflot, Air France-KLM and Turkish Airlines, and media reports said the board prefers a tie-up with Lufthansa.

source: Forbes