news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Constantino de Oliveira, the founder of low-cost airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes S.A. was arrested in Brasília in connection with the attempted murder of his former son-in-law, the district court said Thursday.

Mr. Oliveira is no longer involved in the administration of Gol, Brazil’s second-biggest airline by market share. Constantino de Oliveira Jr., son of the accused executive, is currently Gol’s chief executive officer.

source: Wall Street Journal

Ryanair has made an unprecedented alliance with full-frills carriers Emirates and Etihad Airways to lobby for an extension of government  credit to airlines.

The budget carrier is among the leading members of a group of 10  airlines calling themselves the Aviation Alliance,  which is demanding an overhaul of Export Credit rules.

The Aviation Alliance wants no limit on the amount of export credits  extended to airlines, no increase in the fees for credit and no  reduction in the proportion of the cost of an aircraft that can be  financed.

The US and leading European Union governments, including the UK,  offer credit to overseas purchasers of expensive technology and  infrastructure, including aircraft, to encourage exports. Most overseas  airlines take advantage of these export credits to buy Airbus and Boeing  aircraft.

source: travelweekly.co.uk

Spanish low-cost carrier Vueling will next spring open a base at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport in France.

The new base will be Vueling’s first outside Spain since finalising its merger with Clickair last summer.

Vueling will base one aircraft at Toulouse from April 2011 and will operate flights to the following seven destinations: Amsterdam; Barcelona; Ibiza; Malaga; Paris; Pisa and Venice.

source: flightglobal.com

A low-fare Japanese airline plans to acquire six Airbus A380 superjumbos as it develops an international route network in competition with full-service rivals ANA and Japan Airlines.

Skymark is little known outside Japan, but its ambitious plans and a $2.8 billion commitment to the new Airbus fleet could help set it on a global footing at a time when low cost carriers like AirAsia X and Jetstar are starting to spread their wings on long-haul routes. Currently it flies just 16 Boeing 737-800s.

For the aviation industry, the news is significant: Airbus’ US rival Boeing has a near monopoly on Japanese airline fleets.

source: aviationrecord.com

On this 10th of November of 1995 the inaugural easyJet flight departed from London Luton for Glasgow Airport with the strap line ‘’making flying as affordable as a pair of jeans – £29 one way”.

Since its very first flight, the low-fares airline has transported more than 330 million passengers and operates over 500 routes to 123 airports in 29 countries. Today, more than 300m Europeans living within one hour’s drive of an easyJet airport.

Over the past 15 years easyJet has revolutionised travel by introducing  new destinations that previously were either inaccessible or  unaffordable and flying to the main airports at far more reasonable  fares.

source: travelio.net

European budget carrier Ryanair has once again invited controversy with the release of its ”Girls of Ryanair” calendar.

First launched in 2008, the annual calendar features female flight attendants from the airline posing in bikinis, often on board or beside Ryanair planes.

The initial launch of the calendar was greeted by anger from some, including the Spanish government, whose Women’s Institute sent letters of complaint to the airline.

source: smh.com.au

Ryanair announced it will cancel nine routes from Frankfurt-Hahn airport beginning next summer due to an air passenger tax agreed upon by the federal government this year.

The number of flights flying from Hahn will fall from 532 per week to 382, the Irish low-cost carrier said on Wednesday, as services to cities including Seville, Danzig, Prague and Gothenburg are slashed.

The controversial tax, or “‘ecological air travel levy,'” was included in a package of public spending cuts introduced by Chancellor Angela Merkel earlier this year.

source: dw-world.de

LAN has unveiled plans to acquire Colombian carrier Aires, only hours after it informed analysts of its plans to exercise its option to buy Colombian start-up AerOasis.

The Chile-based airline group in a statement issued late on 27 October says it has forged an agreement to acquire 99% of Aires for about $32.5 million. It says the deal is subject to regulatory approvals and due diligence, which it estimates will take 30 to 60 days.

source: flightglobal.com

AirAsia’s latest print advertisement inside two Singaporean newspapers has been interpreted as a competitive swipe at rival airline.

The full page ad in The Straits Times and Business Times was perceived as a dig at Thai Tiger Airways recent flight cancellations where hundreds of passengers were left stranded.

The ad featured a tiger cub crying accompanied with the tag line, ‘’If Tigers were meant to fly, they would be born with wings”.

The ad also said AirAsia ‘’guaranteed to fly every day”.

source: etravelblackboardasia.com

Disgruntled passenger Robert Tyler has been ordered to hand over his web creation, ihateryanair.co.uk, to the airline, after running commercial ads on the site.

He set up the site in February 2007, specifically to criticise the budget carrier, which he describes as “‘the world’s most hated airline'”.

Ryanair took Tyler to the domain name tribunal, after lodging a complaint about the site in April. The airline claimed that the ihateryanair site took unfair advantage of its name and held defamatory content.

source: marketingmagazine.co.uk