news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Smokeless cigarettes which look like the real thing but do not have to be lit to provide nicotine to the user, are to be introduced by Ryanair.

Smoking on commercial flights has been illegal since the 1990s, but the airline says it will introduce Similar Smokeless Cigarettes, which it says look and feel like a real cigarette and deliver a small amount of nicotine through inhalation – passengers do not light the ‘’cigarette”.

The new Similar Smokeless Cigarettes are available to passengers over 18 years of age and are sold in packs of 10 on board all of the company’s flights for €6.

source: irishtimes.com

British Airways is understood to have joined Qantas and American Airlines in a three-strong investment consortium bidding to drag Japan Airlines (JAL) back from the brink of financial collapse.

Other offers to buy stakes in JAL are believed to have come from Korean Airlines and Air France-KLM.

The rehabilitation of JAL, which is bathed in red ink and has been allowed to operate with huge inefficiencies, poses a severe political challenge to the new administration of prime minister Yukio Hatoyama, who was only inaugurated two days ago.

source: Times Online

Design Q, a British design firm, has proposed a radical change in the manner in which you sit inside an aircraft.

The company has come up with an innovative, high-density configuration for new sideways seating on airplanes to cut airlines’ costs by maximising the number of passengers on board.

If the new design is implemented by cash-strapped airlines, you will see a row of seats facing inward (with your backs to the windows) on each side of the plane and two rows running back-to-back all along the middle of the aircraft. This will be for flights of one hour duration or less.

Military aircraft carrying soldiers already have such a seating arrangement.

source: rediff.com

The drift away from premium to economy class air travel has been reconfirmed by British Airways, which has registered another month of falling sales from first- and business-class passengers.

The airline saw premium-class traffic in August fall by 11.9 per cent year-on- year although “‘non-premium'” economy-class custom edged up 1.3 per cent.

The monthly breakdown confirmed trends established this year as BA continued to grapple with a downturn in demand among business travellers.

The airline is also battling against competition from no-frills budget airlines on its less lucrative short-haul routes in Europe.

source: FT.com

German flag carrier Lufthansa has completed the takeover of rival Austrian Airlines following months of tense negotiations.

The Cologne based airline will pay around €166 million (£150 million) for private Austrian Airlines shares while also paying €350,000 for the stake presently controlled by the Austrian government.

In 2008, 10.7 million passengers flew with the Austrian Airlines Group to 120 different destinations. Austrian Airlines currently operates a fleet of 91 aircraft.

source: travelbite.co.uk

Ryanair is to increase the fees it charges to check in bags and sporting equipment from 1 October by up to 50%.

The airline is to increase the fee for checking in a bag to £15 from £10 now if booked in advance online and to £30 from £20 now if you pay at the airport.

Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara said: “‘These baggage fees are all avoidable by all passengers who choose to travel with carry on luggage only. Over 70% of Ryanair passengers will be totally unaffected by these changes as they already travel with just one carry on bag, which is free of charge.’”

source: Times Online

Airlines say they’re preparing for the return of swine flu this fall but stop short of declaring they’ll bar passengers with symptoms from planes or give refunds for trips canceled because of the illness.

Rather than impose special measures to deal with the H1N1 virus, several U.S. carriers emphasize they’ll follow long-standing policies that permit them to keep an ill person from flying, whatever the sickness.

Some airlines say they’re waiting to see whether to offer refunds or waive rebooking fees for passengers who cannot fly because they are sick.

source: USA today

Southwest Airlines will temporarily halt flights on three routes early next year as it deals with a decline in air traffic and tries to bend its schedule to fit seasonal demand.

The airline will cut one flight per day on 92 routes and increase service on 42 routes, usually by one trip per day as well.

source: Associated Press

SkyEurope, a Slovakian low-cost airline, declared bankruptcy and suspended flights on Tuesday, after being unable to cope with the difficult conditions resulting from the global economic crisis.

SkyEurope began flights in 2002 with a single 30-seat Embraer jet, and quickly grew into one of the region’s larger carriers. It took advantage of the central Europe’s accession to the European Union in 2004, which spurred the low cost travel industry as millions of Poles, Slovaks and Hungarians migrated to western Europe in search of employment.

source: FT.com

BA, which began life as Air Transport & Travel, took off on its first flight from Hounslow, west London to Le Bourget on the outskirts of Paris, on Aug 25 1919. The airline was the first to offer a daily international service.

BA in its present form was created by the merger of British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways, in 1974.

Today, BA is struggling to compete with low-cost carriers such as Ryanair offering no-frills flights with fares of a few pounds and, like the rest of the airline industry, has suffered from the sharp drop-off in business and holiday travel as a result of the global downturn. BA is particularly reliant on business-class travel across the Atlantic for its profits.

source: telegraph.co.uk