news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

In a statement this week, Airbus said that Indian carrier IndiGo ordered 180 A320s from the carrier. Of the total, 150 will be A320neo’s and 30 will be A320s.

Airbus said that the order is the single largest order in commercial aviation history. A typical A320 goes for $81.7 million per, and tack on an additional $6 million per for the A320neo. Arithmetic brings us to a total purchase price of $14.89 billion.

Airbus claims that the A320neo has specially designed wing tip devices, named Sharklets, that will deliver up to 15% in fuel savings, among other engine and operational variants that add to efficiency. IndiGo is the first airline to make a purchase of the new model.

source: streetinsider.com

Budget airline Ryanair has announced today that record numbers of passengers travelled on its services during 2010.

In a statement today, Ryanair said its traffic grew by 10pc from 65 million passengers to 72 million.

In August, a monthly record was set when more than 7.7 million passengers flew with the airline. However, the company’s busiest day was recorded on July 30 when more than 1,400 flights carried over 255,000 people.

source: businessandleadership.com

Thirty passengers were ordered off an easyJet plane in Birmingham on Boxing Day because it had been loaded with too much fuel before take-off.

The flight, which was scheduled to fly to Geneva in Switzerland, had to lose weight before take-off so the company asked for volunteers to disembark. Following a lukewarm response – only seven people took up the offer – the last 30 passengers to board were then told to get off the easyJet plane.

source: traveldaily.co.uk

EasyJet has agreed to order 15 new planes from Airbus worth $1.1bn (£705m) as the low-cost airline seeks to expand its capacity in mainland Europe.

The company is to convert options on 15 A320s into firm orders with “‘substantial confidential price concessions'” secured with Airbus and the engine provider, CFM.

Options have also been agreed on a further 33 A320s, and easyJet has converted a contract for 20 A319s due for delivery from next January into the larger A320, increasing the number of seats by 480.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Southwest Airlines Co. is unveiling the first major update to its Rapid Rewards program since the airline launched the frequent-flier benefits nearly 24 years ago.

In Southwest’s new frequent-flier program, points earned go up with the price of the ticket.

The changes sweeten the rewards for people who pay more for tickets, since the points earned are directly linked to the ticket price. People who buy full-fare tickets will earn more points per dollar than those flying on advance-purchase fares.

But people who were used to flying a lot of short hops to get a free ticket may not like it so much.

source: dallasnews.com

The American economist credited with bringing about lower fares for airline passengers has died at the age of 93.

Alfred E Kahn was best known as the architect of airline deregulation in the United States, a process that started during President Carter’s administration in the late 1970s.

His reforms made it possible for budget airlines in the US, such as Southwest and Jetblue, to offer no-frills service at massively lower prices than traditional carriers.

This model has been widely copied elsewhere in the world, with the new generation no-frills low-price carriers now entrenched in Europe and Asia, as well as the US.

source: BBC News

easyJet could launch its new low-cost tour operation outside the UK in a bid to save millions in VAT. easyJet Holidays – a joint venture between easyJet and Lowcost Travel – is expected to be registered in Switzerland in a bid to sidestep VAT under the Tour Operator’s Margin Scheme.

Should the model prove successful it could pave the way for other tour operators to register overseas.

According to sources close to the deal say easyJet should save about £10 million in VAT over three years.

source: breakingtravelnews.com

Ryanair should be more like Tesco and won’t always offer the cheapest fares to consumers, its chief executive Michael O’Leary has said.

Speaking to the Irish Independent, Mr O’Leary said that there was no reason why Ryanair’s fares should always be significantly cheaper than those of rivals, but said the changes are unlikely to happen until after he leaves the airline within the next two to three years.

“‘There’s no reason why our average price should be 50pc cheaper than anybody else,'” he said. “‘I think it could easily be 25pc cheaper than everybody else, but that means a different kind of sales mission and a different kind of culture.'”

source: independent.ie

Ryanair has ruled itself out of the running as a possible bidder for Virgin Atlantic.

The European low fares giant dismissed rumours that it might bid for Virgin after Sir Richard Branson’s carrier started considering possible partnership options.

“‘While Ryanair is interested in a low fares transatlantic service it has no intention of bidding for a high fares airline,’” a statement said.

source: travelweekly.co.uk

The financier, famous for betting against the pound in the 1992 fiscal crisis, has acquired a 3.4pc stake that will have cost more than £7m.

With a 3.4pc holding it is understood that Mr Soros will become Flybe‘s fourth biggest investor behind the Walker family, which owns 49pc; British Airways, which holds 15pc; and management, led by chief executive Jim French, who own 7pc.

The company is Britain’s biggest domestic airline and raised £60m by offering 20.3m shares at 295p.

source: Telegraph.co.uk