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Ryanair will introduce a 25 euro cents levy on every seat booked from next week to cover the expected 18-20 million euro cost for carbon permits it needs this year under a new European Union emissions trading scheme (ETS).

Europe’s largest budget airline on Monday followed U.S. group Delta Air Lines and Deutsche Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest carrier, in passing costs onto customers.

Global airlines group IATA has estimated the annual industry-wide cost of the ETS will rise to 2.8 billion euros by 2020 from 900 million this year.

source: Reuters

German carrier Lufthansa is ending the trial use of a biofuel mix for its planes because it has used up stocks of certified biofuel and no other reliable supplies are available.

The trial, which ran on flights between Frankfurt and Hamburg, will end January 12 on a flight from Frankfurt to Washington.

“‘Lufthansa will only continue the practical trial if we are able to secure the volume of sustainable, certified raw materials required in order to maintain routine operations,'” project manager Joachim Buse said on Monday.

The race to cut carbon dioxide emissions has heated up with the introduction this month of the European Union emissions trading scheme under which airlines must pay for the CO2 they emit.

source: Reuters

British travellers’ love affair with Spain will be as passionate as ever in 2012, according to Jet2.com and package trip provider Jet2holidays.

In a report predicting key trends for the coming year based on surveys and customer data, the company revealed that 30 per cent of sun seekers are planning to visit the Iberian peninsula for their main holiday.

Alicante, Ibiza, Majorca and Malaga will continue to welcome high numbers of British visitors, according to the research, while Dalaman in Turkey and the Greek island of Crete are also attracting interest.

All-inclusive trips are set to prove popular among consumers trying to stick to a budget, with Jet2holidays reporting that 60 per cent of all family bookings for the coming year are for packages of this kind.

source: Travelbite.co.uk

Beijing said it has deep concerns over the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which came into force on New year’s Day and demands all airlines pay a green duty to offset carbon emissions.

“‘China opposes the European Union’s unilateral legislation. China has expressed to the EU our deep concern and opposition many times on a bilateral level,'” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said.

Mr Hong urged Brussels to hold urgent talks with Beijing over the controversial carbon allowance scheme, which has also met strong opposition from other countries.

China is likely to be able to pull unusually heavy punches in the dispute as its air carriers ferry hundreds of thousand of passenger from Asia into Europe’s troubled markets, including the tourist sector.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) said passenger traffic rose 7.2 percent last year as a surge in growth at British Airways made up for almost static demand at its Madrid-based Iberia division.

Traffic increased 10.6 percent at BA, while Iberia posted a gain of 0.1 percent, IAG said today in a statement. The U.K. unit accounted for almost 70 percent of total traffic, a measure of the number of passengers carried times the distance flown.

British Airways increased capacity 9.8 percent during the 12 months, with Iberia adding only 1.2 percent more seats.

source: Bloomberg.com

Ryanair carried 4.8 million passengers in December, 5 per cent down on a year ago, Europe’s largest budget airline said yesterday after it grounded 80 aircraft to avoid flying routes made unprofitable by high fuel prices.
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The Irish company said its 2011/2012 winter traffic was expected to fall by around 5 per cent due to the decision to ground planes.

source: Independent.co.uk

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A relieved burglar must be as pleased as punch to get out unharmed after sneaking into Mike Tyson’s hotel suite while the boxing legend was asleep.

The former undisputed world heavyweight champion was awoken by a torchlight and noises in one of his rooms. Reports say Tyson, 45, went to investigate but the lucky intruder fled before being confronted.

A source said: “‘Whoever was in the room had a very ­fortunate escape. They would have been terrified if they had come face to face with Iron Mike.’”

source: Mirror.co.uk

Hong Kong Airlines has placed an order for 10 Airbus A380 aircraft worth about $3.8bn (£2.5bn) at list prices.

The contract will be a relief for the European planemaker, as the order risked being derailed by a dispute between the European Union and China.

Beijing opposes an EU plan that international airlines comply with a scheme to tackle carbon emissions.

But Kenneth Thong, HKA’s corporate governance head, told a television interview the order would go ahead.

source: BBC.co.uk

German carrier Deutsche Lufthansa plans to hire temporary staff as flight attendants for routes to and from Berlin’s new airport to cut costs.

A spokesman for Lufthansa told Reuters on Wednesday about 200 flight attendants will be employed by a Lufthansa-owned temp agency rather than by the airline itself.

While entry-level salaries will be on a par with those at Lufthansa — 1,700 euros ($2,200) gross salary per month plus benefits — contracts will end after two years. The temporary crew can then apply for a new job with Lufthansa.

source: Reuters

The first flights of the new airlines that will take tourists past the threshold of space are poised to take off in 2012, and getting a seat on one is not all that different from booking a trip someplace on Earth. You can sign up on the Web site of, say, Virgin Galactic, the most prominent of the new space tourism companies, or go to a travel agent and put down a hefty deposit. Soon you will be able to buy travel insurance, just as you can for any other vacation.

Virgin Galactic intends to start offering flights just beyond the space barrier on a rocket ship it has built, featuring five minutes of weightlessness during a two-and-a-half hour jaunt. At $200,000 a seat.

When the question of whether to offer space travel insurance first came up three or four years ago, “‘we said it was a joke at that time,”‘ recalled Erick Morazin, global accounts director at Allianz Global Assistance.

Currently, Virgin Galactic, XCOR and Space Adventures refund almost all of the deposit if someone wants to cancel, but Mr. Morazin said he expected their policies to become less forgiving in the future. “‘We will be prepared for this milestone,'” he said.

source: nytimes.com