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Air France has put more flesh on the bones of its plan to develop provincial bases, aimed at offering lower-cost regional services to help it regain market-share from its low-cost rivals.

The carrier will debut the new regional services from Marseilles this October. It will roll out ­similar new services from Bordeaux, Nice and Toulouse in spring next year, launching 54 new routes in total to European cities and the Mediterranean.

Under the initiative Air France aims to reduce operating costs by 15% and increase capacity in the regions by more than 30%.

source: flightglobal.com

Prince William and his wife Catherine were among first-class passengers compensated by British Airways after an in-flight entertainment system failure.

As the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge returned to London from their recent tour of Canada and California, an issue with screens at the front of the aircraft meant a 10-hour trip minus amusement.

British Airways confirmed the technical issue, adding that it could not be fixed before the aircraft’s departure from Los Angeles.

source: Stuff.co.nz

The Airbus factory in Broughton, Flintshire, has been given a major boost with the news that American Airlines is to buy 260 new aircraft.

It came as the US carrier announced its biggest ever order of 460 planes from Airbus and rival Boeing.

All 260 aircraft will also feature large, fuel-saving wingtip devices known as sharklets, as American moves to make its fleet as efficient as possible.

source: Wales Online

A former Continental Airlines sales agent has been sentenced to prison for a $1 million Ponzi scheme involving the sale of hundreds of fake airline ticket vouchers.

Victoria Scardigno (Skahr-DEE’-noh) said she was “‘beyond remorseful'” as a federal judge in Manhattan sentenced her Thursday to 2 years and 5 months.

She had pleaded guilty to wire fraud in February.

source: WSJ

Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings has extended its presence on global distribution systems (GDSs) following an agreement with Travelport.

The Cologne-based airline joined the growing list of low-cost carriers to appear on GDSs when it signed a deal with Amadeus at the end of January. However, like other low-cost carriers, Germanwings continues to push the availability of a direct link to its reservations system via Direct Connect for “‘important distribution partners’”.

source: travelweekly.co.uk

Brighter Planet, a consultant on carbon accounting and mitigation, has rated the carbon efficiency of U.S. domestic and international airlines. The top three among U.S. domestic carriers: Continental, JetBlue and Frontier. In last place was American Eagle. The international winners were Ryanair, Singapore Airlines and Delta. SAS Scandinavian was the least environmentally friendly.

source: northjersey.com

Frequent flyers who have achieved ‘Senator ‘status now have an opportunity to relax in style at Lufthansa‘s largest airport lounge. In the Departures area of Terminal 1 at Frankfurt, top customers can for the first time enjoy a modern wellness area with luxury facilities that include ten showers and two spa rooms.

Additionally, now there is free Internet access in all Lufthansa’s lounges worldwide.

source: media-newswire.com

Airport operator BAA said 6.1 million passengers travelled through Heathrow in June, 6.3% more than the same month a year earlier.

That made June the London airport’s busiest on record, although its comparative figure was partly due to British Airways strikes hitting traffic last year. Without that impact, Heathrow’s growth was up 3.8% on the year.

However, BAA added: “‘In contrast to the rise in passenger numbers, growth in the global air freight market continued to slow as the strong post-recession recovery phase comes to an end.'”

source: thisislondon.co.uk

The delicate work of a sommelier has become more important as U.S. airlines fight for premium passengers willing to shell out up to thousands of dollars to fly business class on international and transcontinental flights. The idea isn’t to make money on the wine ” the passengers in those seats drink for free ” but rather to keep those customers coming back and encourage their well-heeled friends and co-workers to join them.

According to the ‘International Air Transport Association’, through the first four months of this year, there was an 8.5 percent increase year-over-year in premium passenger traffic, which includes business class and first class seats. Those seats are among the most pricey and profitable for airlines. The trade group expects fuel costs to weigh on premium traffic, and stronger growth in the second half of the year will depend on how well the economy holds up.

source: AP

One of EasyJet‘s biggest institutional shareholders has called on Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the airline’s founder and largest shareholder, to either stop attacking the company or make a bid for it if he is not happy with the way it is run.

Sir Stelios, who controls 38 per cent of the airline’s shares, has reignited his dispute with EasyJet by demanding the board call a shareholder vote over the airline’s plans to buy new aircraft from Airbus.

He demanded it halt any payments to the European aircraft maker for those aircraft until it has addressed his concerns.

source: FT.com