news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Germany’s competition authority is investigating whether air carrier Lufthansa forced its corporate customers to provide information about competitors’ prices in order to receive discounts.

Germany’s competition watchdog, the ‘Bundeskartellamt’, is looking into whether contracts between Lufthansa and its corporate customers required that they provide the airline with sensitive information about competitors’ pricing structures, thereby possibly distorting competition.

Authorities say contracts between Europe’s largest air carrier and some large corporate customers stipulated that the firms would not receive discounts unless data on price and discounts from other airlines were provided.

source: dw-world.de

American Airlines says it will offer “‘happy hour'” pricing next month to customers buying alcohol on flights departing during the 5-o’clock hour. The promotion is a return of one AA tried this past December.

Starting May 1, the carrier’s “‘5@5’” happy hour promotion will feature $5 alcoholic drinks on flights in the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean that depart between 5 p.m. and 5:59 p.m. (local times).

source: USA Today

A flight data recorder has been recovered from an Air France flight that crashed off the coast of Brazil in 2009. Investigators are hoping the device can provide answers to why the plane went down, killing 228 people.

Deep sea search teams have located one of two flight data recorders from the 2009 Air France flight that crashed mysteriously in the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 228 people on board.

In a statement, France’s Bureau of Investigation and Analysis (BEA) said the black box was “‘localized and identified'” on Sunday morning and brought up from a depth of 4,000 meters (4,375 yards).

source: dw-world.de

Marriott has won two major awards at the ‘Frequent Traveler Awards’, held April 28 in New York.

The chain’s Marriott Rewards scheme picked up the award for ‘Hotel Program of the Year’ in both the Americas and Europe and Africa, although ‘Priority Club’ by rival chain InterContinental took the ‘Program of the Year in Middle East and Asia/Oceania’.

Air Canada‘s Aeroplan, Lufthansa‘s Miles & More and Emirates‘ Skywards were the big winners in the airline ‘Program of the Year’ category, taking the Americas, Europe and Africa and Middle East and Asia/Oceania respectively.

source: Independent.co.uk

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Wednesday launched the country’s new national airline, Mauritania Airlines, which will be entirely state funded.

Mauritania Airlines was created in 2009 as part of a national strategy of air transport development and the expansion of trade in Africa and Europe, including France and Spain, according to its leaders.

In 2008 Air Mauritania, owned by the state as well as private shareholders, was declared bankrupt. This company was followed by Mauritania Airways which halted operations in December 2010 after being banned from European airspace.

source: Independent.co.uk

Air Asia is to introduce fuel surcharges from May becoming one of the first major low-cost airlines to do so.

The Asian budget carrier, which operates a network across Asia and to long-haul destinations including Seoul, Delhi, Melbourne, London and Paris through its AirAsia X long-haul carrier said it would introduce the charges on May 3.

It will affect all domestic flights within Malaysia and all international routes, although domestic flights within Thailand and Indonesia will not be affected.

Passengers flying to Paris, London and Christchurch in New Zealand will have to pay the most – an extra RM90 (€20) per flight.

source: Independent.co.uk

Oil prices may have stayed close to their recent highs, but that failed to prevent International Airlines Group (IAG) flying to the top of the blue-chip index last night.

Ever since British Airways and Iberia merged and began trading under their new moniker in January, the airline has seen its share price plummet, falling by 20 per cent as the cost of the black stuff soared. Yet IAG rose by 9.9p to 229.6p yesterday after UBS chose the airline as its “‘top pick'” among the flagship carriers.

source: Independent.co.uk

Southwest Airlines won U.S. government approval on Tuesday buy out AirTran Holdings Inc in a deal that will add East Coast muscle to Southwest’s operations as it takes on bigger rivals.

Antitrust enforcers at the ‘Justice Department’ signed off on the $1.04 billion deal with no conditions, concluding it would not hurt competition or raise fares.

“‘The merged firm will be able to offer new service on routes that neither serves today,'” the agency said in a statement.

source: Reuters

The advertising watchdog has banned a campaign by Ryanair featuring a bikini-clad model and the promise of spring sun after most of the destinations on offer had maximum temperatures under a nippy 10C.

Budget airline Ryanair, no stranger to flexing its interpretation of advertising regulation in the past, ran a national press campaign promoting cheap tickets in February and March urging readers to “‘Book to the sun now!'”.

The ad featured a model in a bikini, lying on a beach wearing sunglasses while sipping a cocktail.

source: Guardian.co.uk

Three major hotel groups are being investigated by the ‘Office of Fair Trading’ over claims they fixed prices.

The Radisson, Thistle and Starwood chains – which run hotels all over the world – are accused of secretly setting room rates with online travel agents and ordering them not to offer discounts.

It means holidaymakers may have had to pay hundreds of pounds more than they should have.

All three hotel groups deny breaking competition law but if they are found guilty of price- fixing they could be fined up to 10 per cent of their turnover, which could cost them millions.

source: dailymail.co.uk