news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Passengers could save ­hundreds of pounds by using private couriers to ship their luggage to their destination rather than paying baggage charges on budget airlines.

An investigation by Which? revealed the increasingly high costs of taking luggage in the hold could be cut by sending bags in advance rather than ­paying out to transport them on the plane.  The savings of using a courier are even greater, if  holidaymakers take sports equipment such as golf clubs, etc…

However, sending luggage by courier can take much longer than checking it in at the airport.

Scoot Airlines, a budget airline based in Singapore will start a no children zone on their air crafts.

The new product is called ‘ScootinSilence’ and takes up rows 21-25, located behind the ScootBiz cabin. All of the seats offer extended legroom of 35-inches – four more than economy – and are upholstered in yellow.

The cabin also has an age limit of 12 and over, a move which the airline hopes will create a quiet zone.

The price for a ScootinSilence seat is an additional S$18 (US$14) on top of the regular economy fare.

Malaysian budget carrier AirAsia has been named the world’s best low-cost airline by travelers around the world.

Both the regional and its long-haul subsidiary AirAsia X made the Skytrax World Airline Awards top 10 list this year in the category of best no-frills
airlines.

Here are the top 10 low-budget airlines for 2013:

1. AirAsia
2. Jetstar Airways
3. Virgin America
4. AirAsia X
5. Indigo
6. Norwegian
7. Jetstar Asia
8. easyJet
9. WestJet
10. Azul Airlines

At present, easyJet permits a bag with a volume of 63l, with no weight limit. When a high proportion of passengers take advantage of this, there is insufficient room in the overhead bins. This is particularly true on business flights and on routes such as domestic links in Italy.

Starting in the summer, a bag no bigger than 50x40x20cm (a volume of 40l) will be guaranteed to travel with its owner – because, if necessary, it can fit beneath the seat in front. Otherwise, the bag may be placed in the aircraft hold.

The passenger will not be asked to pay, but will have to wait at the carousel upon arrival.

The board of Spanish low-cost airline Vueling unanimously recommended shareholders accept an improved takeover offer of 9.25 euros per share from International Airline Group (IAG).

IAG, which already owns 45.85 percent of Vueling as well as British Airways and Spanish airline Iberia, last month raised its bid by almost one third after the Barcelona-based carrier rejected a previous offer.

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The desks will be replaced by bag-drop desks, for those fliers wishing to travel with checked luggage, from April 30.

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Passengers who forget to check in online will still be able to do so at the airport free of charge, but it is hoped the facility will only be used in “‘exceptional circumstances’.”

An easyJet spokesman said an unspecified “‘transition period’” would give passengers time to adapt to the new policy.

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A year after the failure of two low-cost airlines, Russia is preparing for the creation of a new budget carrier. This time around, the industry’s flagship, Aeroflot, will nurture the new discount airline.

According at Aeroflot, ticket prices for certain routes could be reduced by as much as 30 percent if the government takes a number of measures, such as allowing the sale of non-refundable tickets, introducing baggage fees, and hiring foreign pilots.

Air France has announced a revamp of its regional services, operating under the branding Hop.

Officially branded HOP! the new carrier will integrate the Air France group’s three existing regional airlines under the one brand, namely Brit Air, Regional and Airlinair.

From March 31 Hop will operate 530 daily flights to 136 destinations in France and Europe using a fleet of 98 aircraft with between 48 and 100 seats. Fares will start at €55 one way.

Ryanair has sought to explain its controversial one carry-on bag rule, insisting it is necessary for safety reasons.

The move was prompted “‘false claims’” made by a number of “‘poorly briefed’” members in the European Parliament, Ryanair said.

Ryanair argues because it operates with very high load factors and because it encourages its passengers to travel with free of charge carry-on bags in order to avoid checked in bag fees, most passengers carry ten kilograms of luggage onto the plane.

Do you believe it?

Ryanair has increased the number of seats passengers can reserve on its flights, in a further example of low-cost carriers adding premium services for customers willing to pay extra.

Ryanair’s move follows the decision by rival easyJet to roll out cabin-wide allocated seating across all flights – a change that has cost the company about £10m on IT systems but could significantly boost revenues.