news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Start-up carrier JetXtra.com has been ordered by the Civil Aviation Authority to stop selling seats after the company claimed, incorrectly, that bookings would be protected by travel partner CTT Group’s ATOL.

The CAA said today that it had not yet approved an increase in the number of licensed sales CTT could make in a year so JetXtra’s bookings were not covered by its ATOL.

The carrier, launched by the founder of failed airline venture Nexus, started selling summer-only flights from Humberside Airport to Majorca and Malaga earlier this month.

source: Travelmole

Alaska Airlines, America’s seventh-largest carrier in terms of passenger traffic, said on Wednesday that it would end a decades-old tradition of handing out prayer cards with its in-flight meals.

The prayer cards, which the Seattle-based airline began offering in the 1970s after an executive spotted them on another airline, were intended to serve as a marketing strategy and to put passengers at ease, a spokeswoman said.

The airline sent an e-mail to its frequent flyers on Wednesday explaining the change, which takes effect February 1.

source: Reuters

Spanair ceased operations late Friday after a regional government in Spain announced it could no longer fund the airline, officials said.

Spanair’s financial woes were exacerbated by a 2008 crash that killed 154 people. Eighteen people survived what was Spain’s worst aviation disaster in 25 years. In a statement, the airline said its “‘last commercial flight will land at’” 10 p.m. (2100 GMT) on Jan. 27.

The regional government of northeastern Catalonia, which had been investing in the country’s No. 4 airline since its 2008 purchase from SAS Scandinavian Airlines System International, said in a statement that it could no longer bankroll Spanair.

source: washingtonpost.com

Spanish airline Iberia‘s new low-cost carrier Iberia Express, whose creation has been stiffly opposed by unions, will operate its first flight on March 25, company president Antonio Vasquez said Monday.

Iberia argues the move is needed to help it compete with other low-cost carriers but employees of the airline fear it will lead to job losses and lower salaries.

Iberia says the pilots’ strikes later this month would cause 289 flight cancellations over the three days, mostly within Spain and Europe.

source: Expatica.com

You’ll have more company on some full Southwest Airlines flights beginning this summer.

That’s when the Dallas-based low-cost airline begins a $60 million overhaul of the interiors of its Boeing 737-700 aircraft. The upgrade process will mean installing new carpet and new seats. In the process, Southwest’s 737-700s will gain six seats each, raising capacity from the present 137 to 143.

But Southwest claims you’ll hardly notice if you’re a passenger. The new seats are both lighter ” by about 6 pounds each ” and thinner, said the airline.

source: seattletimes.nwsource.com

In the wake of a record year for new aircraft sales, Airbus predicts that demand for its jets would fall by about half in 2012 as the waiting list for its popular single-aisle planes grew and airlines looked to its U.S. rival, Boeing, to fill their steadily increasing capacity needs.

Despite signs of a deepening slowdown in Europe and North America and waning airline industry profits, however, executives at the European plane maker and its parent, European Aeronautic Defense and Space, said they were confident the group’s performance would continue to buck the broader economic downtrend.

Airbus recorded net orders for 1,419 commercial jets in 2011, up from 574 in 2010, giving it a market share of 64 percent by volume, or around 54 percent by list-price value. Deliveries of new jets reached 534, up 5 percent from the previous year.

source: nytimes.com

Sir Richard Branson’s airline has unveiled new salt and pepper shakers for its Upper Class cabins after its former seasoning shakers became “‘highly collectable’”.

Often finding its salt & pepper shakers appear on eBay and selling for up to ï¿¡20 each, the carrier decided to replace the old ones and replace them with new ones that will be collected after each meal service to prevent theft.

A Virgin Atlantic spokesperson said thousands of older coveted condiments were taken over the past 12 years but the new ones would be closely guarded.

source: etravelblackboardasia.com

A company claims it has developed a scanning machine that could mean an end to liquid restrictions on planes.

Oxfordshire-based Cobalt Light Systems said its INSIGHT100 device could analyse bottles up to three litres for explosives in less than five seconds.

A ban on liquids over 100ml in hand luggage was introduced after a foiled 2006 plot to blow up planes using explosives hidden in drink bottles.

The UK government said it was working towards plans to ease the ban in 2013.

source: BBC.co.uk

International airline partnership Star Alliance will likely tender for a broker this year to help its members buy CO2 permits, while Air France, a member of rival group SkyTeam, said its alliance partners would give first refusal to each other when selling allowances.

From January 1, around 4,000 airlines that fly to and from EU airports were included in the bloc’s Emissions Trading Scheme ETS and must next year surrender carbon credits against their 2012 emissions.

The carrier expects fleet emissions of 16-17 million tonnes in 2012, meaning it would need to buy around 4 million permits on top of its free allocation of 12.6 million EUAAs, the aviation CO2 units distributed under the ETS.

Rival coalition Star Alliance, which boasts members Lufthansa, United Airlines and U.S. Airways, does not have a similar arrangement, its director responsible for emissions trading told Point Carbon.

source: Reuters

The government is to hold a formal consultation on UK aviation – including controversial plans for a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

The study, to begin in March, will look at options for “‘maintaining the UK’s aviation hub status'”.

David Cameron has ruled out expanding Heathrow but his deputy Nick Clegg is said to be opposed to the estuary idea.

The airport would be built partly on reclaimed land and could be on either an island or a peninsula. But concerns have been raised about damage to the environment.

source: BBC.co.uk