news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Continental is rolling out a new menu of snacks and meals coach passengers on most U.S. flights will be able to get for a price starting Oct. 12.

Customers in first-class cabins and on many international flights will still eat for free.

The Houston-based airline, which plans to combine with United Airlines, announced the menu and prices Monday. It said several months ago that it planned to join most other U.S. airlines in charging for food in coach.

source: Business Week

Sibir Airlines which operates under the S7 brand, will become a member of the Oneworld alliance from November 15.

S7 currently offers regularly scheduled flights to 90 destinations in 28 countries, including 45 in Russia and 25 in the CIS.

As a member of Oneworld, S7 will be able to offer flights to 750 destinations in 150 countries. The alliance members operate a combine total of 2,250 planes.

source: RT.com

British Airways, American Airlines and Spanish carrier Iberia have signed off on a long-awaited strategic alliance that will see them cooperate on flights between Europe and North America.

The three airlines won approval from the U.S. government and the European Union to work together in July.

Faced with mounting competition from low-cost, no-frills upstarts, the notoriously low-margin airline industry has been going through a period of rapid consolidation and analysts say American Airlines needs a merger partner if it is to keep up amid a wave of mergers in its home market.

source: Reuters.com

Air France, KLM and American Airlines  all launched new mobile travel services this week, proving that the race to add new functionality to mobile travel is far from over.

The new mobile websites from Air France and KLM include the ability to change tickets (for flexible bookings) – something which the airlines say is a world first.

Like competitors’ services, passengers can also check in, choose seats, add bags, check timetables and flight status and receive their boarding pass.

source: independent.co.uk

Southwest Airlines announced today that it will purchase AirTran Holdings in a $1.42-billion deal that will expand the nation’s largest low-cost airline to 37 new cities.

The merger, if approved by regulators, would create an airline with 685 aircraft that will serve about 100 million passengers annually in nearly 100 airports. The company will remain headquartered in Dallas and keep the Southwest name.

Southwest, the largest airline based on domestic passenger load, has grown quickly since it was founded in 1971, capitalizing on no-frills service, low fares, no first-class seating and no baggage fees.

source: Los Angeles Times

Lufthansa Group will be purchasing 48 new aircraft at a value of 3.5  billion Euros to add to the group’s fleet and to replace older aircraft.

Lufthansa Passenger Airlines will receive three Airbus A330-300s and  twenty Airbus of the A320-family, whilst Lufthansa Regional will receive  eight new Embraer 195 aircraft.

Asia-Pacific-based airlines recorded double-digit growth in both passenger and air freight demand in August, sending traffic past pre-recession highs, an industry group said Friday.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines said air carriers in the region transported a total of 16.8 million passengers in August, an increase of 12.4 per cent from the same month last year.

The growth reaffirmed the ”robustness” of the region’s economic recovery, it said.

source: monstersandcritics.com

Easyjet has become the first low cost carrier to protect passengers under the Package Travel Regulations by way of insurance.

On September 2 2010, Easyjet switched its financial security obligations provider from the Travel Trust Association to International Passenger Protection (IPP).

All passengers booking packages (flights plus other travel components) online with Easyjet will benefit from financial protection in the event of its insolvency.

Easyjet is the first low cost carrier to protect its passengers through insurance arranged with IPP.

source: postonline.co.uk

German low-cost airline Germanwings, a unit of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said Friday it expects it will have to eliminate some routes  as a result of the country’s new air travel tax.

Germany introduced a levy on air travel included in an EUR80 billion package of budget cuts.

The low-cost carrier will therefore analyze which routes are still worth  being operated after taking account of the new tax, which according to the company management puts German airlines at a disadvantage compared with others.

source: wsj.com

Air France has unveiled its new business class cabin, saying that the new two-meter bed is one of the longest on the market.

The airline, which is investing some €110 million in its business class cabin, will offer the new seat on long-haul services from the end of this year.

Air France says that by investing in its business class cabins during  the economic crisis, it’s now in a perfect position to look after  premium passengers during the recovery – which the International Air  Transport Association (IATA) says is well underway.

source: independent.co.uk