news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Germany’s second-largest airline says it will begin regular flights to Iraq from Saturday. The new route forms another link in the carrier’s expanding global network of destinations.

Low-cost air carrier Air Berlin said it will begin scheduled fortnightly passenger flights to Iraq as of Saturday, the first German airline to do so since the Iraq War.

The airline said connections would be offered from Munich to Erbil in northern Iraq and Sulaimaniya in northeastern Iraq, alternating every second week between the two destinations.

source: dw-world.de

Aer Lingus Group Plc aims to join a global airline alliance to add destinations and attract more passengers after dropping its “no-frills” business model, Chief Executive Officer Christoph Mueller said in an interview.

Aer Lingus pulled out of the Oneworld alliance, which includes British Airways Plc, in 2006, saying the revenue benefits weren’t sufficient. The carrier continues to codeshare with BA, meaning the pair sell tickets on each other’s flights, and has similar pacts with Air France’s Dutch unit KLM and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, members of the SkyTeam and Star groups.

Ryanair Holdings Plc, Aer Lingus’s biggest competitor and a 29 percent shareholder after two failed takeover bids, doesn’t have alliances with other airlines and operates its routes as point-to-point services without connections to other flights. The strategy has made it Europe’s biggest discount carrier.

source: BusinessWeek.com

EasyJet put its staff in French airports on British labour contracts in an attempt to avoid the costly welfare contributions required under Gallic employment legislation.

Prosecutors called for the low cost carrier to be fined €225,000 and be ordered to pay more than €10 million in outstanding social security charges as easyJet went on trial yesterday on charges of flouting French labour law. The case follows a lawsuit filed by unions and social security officials.

The company denied the claims and told the court in Creteil outside Paris it had no obligation to register employees under French labour contracts at the time of the alleged offences between 2003 and 2006.

source: Times Online

Germanwings, a German low-cost airline, will be basing three aircraft at Hanover-Langenhagen airport, making Hanover Germanwings’ sixth base in Germany.

One of the first destinations for Germanwings out of Hanover will be London Stansted. Germanwings will also be serving 14 other destinations in Europe, One of the first destinations for Germanwings out of Hanover will be London Stansted. Germanwings will also be serving 14 other destinations in Europe, including Stuttgart, Vienna, Milan, Budapest, Moscow, Palma de Mallorca, Rome, Barcelona, Split, Zagreb, Bastia, Dubrovnik, Heraklion
and Zadar.

source: travelagentcentral.com

Accountants chasing creditors of the failed airline FlyGlobespan have taken legal action against the company that was handling online ticket sales (E-Clear).

The administrators’ action comes on top of three other legal cases lodged against E-Clear. Finance Secretary John Swinney welcomed the move.

E-Clear has also been fighting an action raised by those winding up SkyEurope, a Slovakian airline. It is claimed E-Clear was withholding £13m in ticket sales when that company went under last summer.

FlyGlobespan’s collapse left thousands of holidaymakers stranded abroad.

source: BBC News

A battle for low-cost airline revenue in Asia intensified on Wednesday as Malaysia’s AirAsia and Jetstar, owned by Qantas Airways, finalised a passenger handling and aircraft maintenance deal they said would cut millions of dollars from annual costs.

The agreement signed by Jetstar and AirAsia stops short of equity participation, and will not involve code sharing – the revenue-generating arrangement under which airlines book passengers directly onto each other’s flights.

The deal also includes co-operation on airport passenger and ramp handling services, and reciprocal arrangements for switching passengers to available flights if one airline’s service is disrupted.

source: FT.com

Spanish airline Air Comet said on today it had suspended all its flights because of financial difficulties that are preventing it from paying its debts, ruining travel plans for thousands of passengers.

Air Comet, which specialises in flights to Latin America, attributed its problems to a decision on Friday by a commercial court in London that enabled Nord Bank of Germany to undertake a foreclosure procedure against the airline.

The airline said the court decision meant that the carrier was unable to operate its aircraft. The decision has also forced the airline to prepare staff lay-offs and to declare itself unable to meet its financial obligations, the company said.

source: channelnewsasia.com

Southwest, the only U.S. airline that lets passengers check two pieces of luggage for free, says the no-fee policy has helped the airline increase its share of the domestic market by about 1 percent, or $800 million to $900 million.

The no-fee policy can be a gamble. At a time fewer people are flying and airlines seek every dollar, checked-bag fees added up to $1.24 billion for airlines in the first half of 2009.

Southwest’s policy is “‘a smart marketing ploy, particularly given the economic circumstances most Americans are experiencing these days,”‘ says Lopo Rego, a University of Iowa marketing professor.

source: Sun Times

Scottish airline Flyglobespan is filing for bankruptcy and its fights have been grounded, administrators appointed to help salvage the company announced Wednesday.

Flyglobespan’s 10 aircraft served about a dozen destinations across Britain and Europe, as well as Orlando, Florida, and the Egyptian resort city of Sharm El Sheikh.

Flyglobespan was established in 1970 and provided flights and package vacations from Scotland’s major cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

A message on the airline’s Web site said “‘all flights have been cancelled and will not be rescheduled.'”

source: Business Week

Low-cost airline Ryanair has announced that it would stop waiving booking fees for customers paying by Visa Electron from the beginning of next year. The group currently charges £5 per passenger per journey for all flights booked using other credit or debit cards.

But from the beginning of next year, Ryanair will also levy these fees on people paying by Visa Electron, and it will instead offer free booking to people using MasterCard Prepaid cards.

fuente: Press Association