news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Airports across the south of England saw hundreds of flights cancelled yesterday following a computer problem affecting the air traffic control system.

National Air Traffic Services (Nats), which oversees much of air traffic control in the UK, suffered a glitch that stopped data reaching workstations at its London area control centre at Swanwick in Hampshire.

In a statement, Ian Hall, director of operational performance at Nats, said: “‘We take every step to avoid any problems but are always aware, that in maintaining and updating highly complex systems, we can experience difficulties.'”

He added that safety was not compromised at any stage.

source: Silicon.com

Low-cost airline Ryanair will allow mobile calls on its flights from next month, but users could end up paying £2 a minute.

The Irish carrier is launching a trial which will see 14 of its 166 planes fitted with the technology needed to enable mobile calls back to land.

But the development will come at a cost with OnAir, the company behind the in-flight calls, predicting a price of up to £2 a minute.

source: Metro.co.uk

EasyJet has scheduled additional flights to three holiday destinations next month following the demise of XL Leisure Group.

Extra flights have been added from Gatwick to Las Palmas, Gran Canaria; Dalaman in Turkey and Arracife in Lanzarote.

source: Travelmole

A senior official at Ryanair, the biggest discount airline in Europe, said Tuesday that the airline would ground more planes than usual as it prepared for a “‘very difficult winter.'”Howard Millar, the chief financial officer said he expected more carriers to go bankrupt in coming weeks as economies slow.

Millar said Ryanair would ground 14 aircraft at London Stansted airport, the Dublin-based airline’s main hub. That is twice as many as were grounded during the winter last year.

source: IHT

A last-ditch attempt to find a buyer for crisis-stricken flag carrier Alitalia will be made today as Italy’s transport minister warned that the airline’s planes could be grounded within a week.Alitalia’s special administrator will put the national carrier up for sale, but buyers are thin on the ground.

Unions last week rejected a €1bn (£791m) rescue bid by the CAI consortium of Italian businesses because the plan involved the loss of 3,000 jobs and more stringent working conditions for remaining staff.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

British Airways has “indefinitely” cancelled all flights to the Pakistani capital Islamabad amid security concerns after the bombing of the Marriott hotel, the airline said Tuesday.BA issued a statement confirming the cancellation of its six weekly services to Islamabad, the only destination it flies to in Pakistan, a day after saying that it was only temporarily suspending flights.

“In light of the security situation in Pakistan, British Airways has cancelled its flights from Islamabad to Heathrow indefinitely,” a British Airways statement said.

source: AFP

Spanish low fares carrier clickair today announced a £40 flat fee, per sector fare to help XL Leisure Group and Futura passengers stranded in Spain – primarily in the Balearic and Canary Islands – get home.

The offer follows the cancellation of flights by the British tour operator and Spanish charter airline and also applies to European originating passengers looking to get back to Spain from the UK.

source: TravelWeekly

Deutsche Lufthansa, the second-largest European airline, agreed to buy 45 percent of SN Brussels Airlines for €65 million as the pace of consolidation in the industry accelerates.

Europe’s largest carriers are vying to buy smaller competitors to expand networks and cut costs amid slowing economic growth and surging fuel bills. Lufthansa has also been linked with bids for Austrian Airlines Group, Scandinavian carrier SAS Group and BMI of Britain. Air France-KLM is the largest European carrier.

source: IHT

Just weeks after American Airline started offering in-flight wireless internet, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants is urging the airline to add filters restricting passengers from browsing porn and other inappropriate sites. Many passengers and attendants have reportedly complained about the issue.

source: Wired

The holidays of more than quarter of a million people have been wrecked following the collapse of Britain’s third largest tour operator as the crisis engulfing the travel industry intensified.

XL’s failure, which grounded flights around the world, is the biggest to hit the industry in 17 years as soaring oil prices and a collapse in consumer confidence hit home.

More than two dozen carriers have now folded in less than a year, the victims of surging fuel costs and the credit crisis.