news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Virgin Atlantic is forcing hundreds of new staff each year to pay for their own criminal record checks after referring them to an employment screening firm.

New staff at the airline’s call centre in Swansea have been asked to pay £25 for the background check.

Department of Transport rules require criminal checks for air-side staff but not for other airline employees.

The airline employs around 8,500 people worldwide and recruits hundreds of staff in the UK each year.

source: bbc.co.uk

In the Netherlands a weekend break can become a weekend break-up for couples hoping for a swift and cheap divorce.

It is a concept called the “‘Divorce Hotel'” and helps husbands and wives to arrange all the necessary legal documentation to end their marriage over the course of just two days.

They meet a mediator and series of lawyers behind closed doors who will split assets, agree alimony payments and arrange visitation rights – all for a fixed fee.

It is the brainchild of entrepreneur Jim Halfens, who said he spotted a gap in the market in a country where the average divorce can easily run into five figures and take months to complete.

source: dailytelegraph.com.au

China has “‘banned'” all airlines in the country from joining the European Union’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) aimed at cutting carbon emissions.

The authorities have also barred the airlines from increasing their fares or adding new charges for the scheme.

The ban comes just weeks after the China Air Transport Association said its members did not support the ETS.

The scheme, implemented from 1 January, levies a charge on flights in EU airspace based on carbon emissions.

The move by the Chinese authorities is likely to complicate the issue as the EU will have to decide on what measures it will take from here on.

source: BBC.co.uk

The Hungarian national airline Malev has folded after its financial situation became unsustainable.

“‘At 0500 GMT… after 66 years of almost continuous operation Malev will no longer take off,'” it said.

It came after the European Commission ordered Malev to repay various forms of state aid received from 2007 to 2010.

The sums involved amounted to 38 billion forints (130m euros; $171m; £108m), a sum equal to its entire 2010 revenue.

source: BBC.co.uk

Aviation regulators have launched a guide to optional extra fees charged by airlines.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has published a summary of the charges in a comparison document.

Information on the cost of having an in-flight meal and reserving specific seats is included, and a range of other optional charges that airlines may apply.

Transport Secretary Justine Greening said: “‘Consumers want to know that the price on the label is what they’ll end up paying. But many air tickets seem to come with unexpected charges for everything from choosing a seat to just ‘booking’ the ticket.’

‘”I hope this new information from the CAA will help, which is why we are legislating to give the CAA even more powers to ensure transparency for consumers. Ultimately, however, it’s time that airlines were far clearer cut with passengers about these add-on charges in the first place’.”

Visit www.caa.co.uk/passengers for the comparison table and other information at the CAA “‘passenger portal'”.

source: Press Association

Global airline passenger traffic rose 5.9 per cent last year despite weak conditions according to the International Air Transport Association.

“‘Given the weak conditions in Western economies the passenger market held up well in 2011,'” IATA said in a statement, describing the year as one of contrasts.

“‘Healthy passenger growth, primarily in the first half of the year, was offset by a declining cargo market,'” it said.

The Geneva-based association, which represents some 240 airlines accounting for 84 per cent of global air traffic, noted that cargo fell 0.7 per cent last year although it picked up 0.2 per cent in December alone.

source: The Economic Times

The airline, which filed for bankruptcy in November, said it wanted to get rid of 13,000 workers, or 16 percent of its work force. It plans to terminate its pension plans. It wants to cut back health benefits for current employees and retirees. Over all, it said, it seeks to cut employee costs by 20 percent.

The proposals are just the opening move in what are expected to be long and contentious negotiations. A bankruptcy judge must approve any new contract if the unions reject American’s proposals. But judging from previous airline bankruptcies, American might get much of what it is seeking.

Union representatives said they were stunned after meeting throughout the day with airline executives at the carrier’s headquarters in Fort Worth.

source: nytimes.com

Rising baggage charges and weakening competition helped EasyJet push up revenues per seat by 8 per cent in the three months to December, buoying investor confidence.

The mild winter also helped Europe’s second-biggest budget carrier, with an absence of snow-related disruptions boosting the number of seats flown in its first quarter and subduing unit costs other than fuel.

But innovations aimed at boosting the number of higher-paying business passengers are not yet proving drivers of top-line growth. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, EasyJet’s founder and biggest shareholder, on Thursday lambasted management for trumpeting an incremental, 200,000-person rise in the number of passengers who said they were travelling on business.

source: FT.com

More than 120,000 places reserved in hotels by Olympics organisers for workers, sponsors and the media during the Games will not be needed, it has emerged.

The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (Locog) confirmed that around 20% of the room nights they had booked would now be returned to the hotels for them to offer up to other customers.

As part of the bid to stage the 2012 Games, agreements had been struck with hotels to provide more than 40,000 rooms, representing more than 600,000 room nights during the period. Part of the deal was that the committee promised to return any unwanted rooms back to the hotels so they could sell them in time for Games.

The rooms, at more than 200 hotels, range from five-star to budget accommodation.

source: Press Association

Etihad Airways is buying a 40% stake in Air Seychelles. The Abu Dhabi-based carrier is investing $20 million in the airline and giving the carrier a $25 million loan. Air Seychelles also is receiving a $20 million capital infusion from the Seychelles government. The deal includes a five-year management contract and a state official says the new shareholder will name a new CEO and CFO.

source: aviationweek.com