news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Virgin Atlantic could be hit by its first-ever strike as flight crew, affecting British holidaymakers as they jet off over the summer.

The airline, which has just celebrated 25 years since its first transatlantic flight to Miami, is hopeful it can avoid a walkout by pilots over pay.

The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) is currently polling its members about strikes at the carrier and the result is due out next week.

A walkout could begin at the end of this month or the start of July just as millions of Britons are leaving the UK for their holidays.

source: dailymail.co.uk

easyJet has announced that its new Flexi fare is available to all via easyJet.com from today. This will give passengers unlimited flexibility to change the date of their flights up to two hours before the scheduled departure time.

Passengers booking an easyJet flexi fare will also benefit from automatic speedy boarding, no booking fees and a checked in hold bag included at no extra cost.

The new Flexi fares were initially available only through business booking channels, including Global Distribution Systems (GDS) and self booking tools used by business travel companies. Making Flexi fares available through easyJet.com, one of the UK’s top ten most popular websites, opens the fare to the 325 million people who visit easyJet.com each year.

source: clickliverpool.com

The airline’s early growth was stalled by the onset of the second World War. Yet when peace returned, it quickly established a route network to the Continent and then to the United States. It played a role in the growth of Ireland’s tourism and industrial development that cannot be overstated.

When Aer Lingus celebrated its half century in 1986, it dominated aviation in Ireland. A year before, an upstart challenger had appeared on the scene. But with just one 15-seat aircraft, 25 staff and only a Waterford-London route, Ryanair was not giving Aer Lingus executives any sleepless nights. Much has changed since then.

The State holds a 25 per cent shareholding to prevent Ryanair gaining a controlling stake. Given the Government’s need to sell non-essential assets, however, retaining that share is hard to justify.

source: irishtimes.com

Passengers looking for more legroom can now opt for Germanwings‘ “‘comfort zone’” at the front of the aircraft.

Part of the Lufthansa group, the low cost airline has installed ten rows of seats with an extra three inches of legroom on all its 30 A319 aircraft. Also included in this ‘Best tariff’ is a seat reservation, one item of luggage, plus a snack and beverage onboard.

According to Germanwings, booking with the bundled ‘Best tariff’ means customers can save up to 35% compared with booking each extra individually.

source: abtn.co.uk

The world’s largest airlines collected an estimated $21.46 billion in passenger fees and other extra revenue last year, about double the amount collected in 2008, according to a new study.

For some airlines, revenue generated from extra fees, the sale of frequent flier points, and commissions for booking passengers into hotel rooms and rental cars now represents 15 percent to 30 percent of all airline revenue, according to the report by IdeaWorks Co., a Wisconsin consultant on airline fees, and Amadeus Corp., a Madrid technology company for the travel industry.

The annual report released Tuesday said 47 airlines worldwide reported some type of ancillary revenue last year, compared with only 23 airlines in 2007.

United Airlines and Continental Airlines, which have merged but operate as two airlines, reported a combined $5 billion in ancillary revenue in 2010, the most for any airline, followed by Delta Air Lines with $3.7 billion and American Airlines with $1.9 billion, according to the report.

source: vancouversun.com

easyJet, have marked becoming the world’s youngest and quickest airline to reach a fleet of 200 Airbus aircraft, at a ceremony in Toulouse.

easyJet already operates the world’s largest fleet of A319s with over 166 in service today. Including their A320s, which have recently joined the fleet, the airline has grown to be Europe’s largest A320 Family operator. Since easyJet took delivery of its first Airbus aircraft (an A319) in September 2003, Airbus has delivered an aircraft on average every 14 days over the last eight years.

source: eturbonews.com

Ryanair staff in Belgium are literally tearing their hair out at a sudden surge in testing for cannabis use.

“‘Every week, a nurse comes from Ireland and takes stewards and stewardesses into an office where they cut hair samples for drug tests,'” an employee reported.

The controls were bi-annual, but have been conducted three times in the past three weeks, Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara confirmed.

source: smh.com.au

Monarch Airlines has scrapped debit card surcharges in a bid to win business from budget rivals like Ryanair and Easyjet.

The British-based airline, which is currently undergoing a major rebrand, said there was ”no justification” for advertising one price and then stinging customers with hidden charges when they come to pay for their flights.

Monarch said it would no longer be charging extra for any bookings made  with debit cards, but that credit card payments would still incur a flat  fee of £10 per booking. However, the airline claims to be in  negotiations with credit card companies to reduce that fee further.

source: which.co.uk

The airline’s first flight took to the skies on 19 May 2004 from Katowice in Southern Poland. Since then, the airline has gone on to become the largest airline in Central and Eastern Europe operating from 15 bases, in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Lithuania.

Wizz Air has carried more than 10 million passengers in the past 12 months – up by more than 22% compared with the previous 12 months.

The airline has one of the youngest fleets in the world, consisting of 35 Airbus A320s with a further 104 aircraft on order, which will deliver the airline’s growth plans for many years to come.

source: Reuters

Thai Airways International is going ahead with plans to establish a new, full-service, short-haul carrier and hopes it will start operating early next year. The plan was approved by the airline’s board on Friday.

This new airline, which will be based in Bangkok and will operate under a new sub-brand, will be a business unit of Thai Airways and will operate domestically and on short-haul international routes using 11 aircraft, it says. The aim is for it to differentiate itself in the marketplace with a new image and price differentiation, says Thai.

Thai Airways Chairman Ampon Kittiampon told journalists in Bangkok Friday that the new carrier, tentatively named Thai Wings, would start flying in March or April and will operate 737s. But he stopped short of saying if these will be 737-400s or -800s.

source: aviationweek.com