news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Ultrabudget airline Ryanair is set to develop apps that will allow air travelers to gamble, play games or watch porn.

However, the company doesn’t even have broadband within its planes, and would need at least a year to implement the technology, according to chief executive Michael O’Leary.

“‘I’m not talking about having it on screens on the back of seats for everyone to see’,” O’Leary told the paper. “‘It would be on handheld devices.'”

source: pcmag.com

The head of JetBlue is apologizing for a “‘confluence of events'” that left a plane filled with passengers stranded on the tarmac at Bradley International Airport near Hartford, Connecticut, over the weekend.

Chief Operating Officer Rob Maruster said in a video posted on the company’s blog and its YouTube Channel that the airline had six flights divert to Hartford during the freak weekend snowstorm “‘due to various runway, congestion and other operational issues at Newark and JFK Airports'” and that the airline “‘did not deplane those aircraft in our target time allotted’.”

One of those flights, JetBlue 504 from Fort Lauderdale spent nearly eight hours stranded on the tarmac before passengers were allowed to deplane.

source: CNN

Carolyn McCall, chief executive of EasyJet, does not want to answer many detailed questions about its short or long-term growth strategy, including opportunities to expand into new markets or buy aircraft.

EasyJet is seeking to turn itself into a higher quality brand because it is targeting affluent consumers who fly more than once a year, and also trying to woo more business people. This strategy underlines how EasyJet regards its main competitors as the European flag carriers rather than Ryanair, Europe’s largest budget airline by revenue.

She wants EasyJet to concentrate on securing more revenues in its existing markets “such as the UK, France and Spain” and hopes the airline can raise its dividend over time.

Ryanair has ambitious plans to increase the number of passengers flying with Europe’s leading low-cost airline each year from 70m to up to 130m over the next decade, by buying as many as 300 aircraft.

Michael O’Leary, Ryanair’s chief executive, announced that he was looking to take a large delivery of aircraft between 2015 and 2021, and was in talks with US, Chinese and Russian manufacturers.

source: FT.com

Etihad, the fast-growing Middle Eastern airline, has approached the Irish government to buy its 25 per cent stake in flag-carrier Aer Lingus, people with knowledge of the move said.

The approach comes after the debt-laden Irish sovereign said in September it would sell its stake in the national carrier. Leo Varadkar, Ireland’s transport minister, said that he would not sell it for less than €1 per share, which would value the stake at €132.4m ($183m) and the airline at €529.6m.

source: FT.com

The move, which takes ‘‘no frills travel” to a whole new level, could see 200 passengers vying to share one facility – forcing them either to wait in very long queues or cross their legs and pray.

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said he wants to replace the toilets with extra passenger seats in order to offer cheaper air fares.

He is pressing Boeing to ‘’re-certify” Ryanair’s aircraft to enable six extra seats to be installed, particularly for short-haul flights.

The airline flies only one type of aircraft type, the Boeing 737-800. It has 189 seats on each plane, the maximum allowed under current rules.

source: dailymail.co.uk

Reports from Singapore suggest flag-carrier Singapore Airlines will launch its highly anticipated low-cost carrier in April next year.

The carrier will be called Scoot Airlines and will wow guests with in-flight wi-fi as well as a host of other attractions.

The new airline will start off with just one Boeing 777-200 before increasing its fleet to four aircraft within three months.

source: breakingtravelnews.com

Virgin Atlantic plans to start using a low-carbon jet fuel derived from waste gases released during industrial steel production on certain commercial flights by 2014.

The technology, developed with energy firm LanzaTech, will capture waste gases from industrial production, then ferment and chemically convert them using technology by the company Swedish BioFuels for use as jet fuel.

In two to three years, Virgin plans to use the new fuel on its routes from Shanghai and Delhi to London Heathrow.

source: Reuters

Low-fare airline easyJet will  announce that it is opening two new bases in Nice and Toulouse – a pre-emptive strike against Air France.

The move is an attempt to steal the thunder from the Gallic flag-carrier, which has recently unveiled its own plans to operate a low-cost model from new regional bases.

Air France opened a new base in Marseille on October 2 but is stuck in negotiations with the unions over other bases, including in Nice and Toulouse.

source: Telegraph.co.uk

The launch of Ryanair‘s new pre-paid card which will become the only way to avoid the airline’s booking fees has been branded an ”insult” to customers.

From November passengers must book with the MasterCard Cash Passport to escape a £6 each way surcharge.

But Which? said it was a bad deal and warned customers they would be charged £2.50 a month if they did not use the card for more than six months.

‘’Ryanair is making it even more difficult to avoid paying the fees,” said a spokesman for the consumer watchdog. ‘’Before, you had to use any pre-paid MasterCard – now they’re narrowing it even further.”

source: metro.co.uk