news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Southwest Airlines, which has bashed competitors for charging fees, said Friday that it will add new fees for passengers who bring small pets onboard and for unaccompanied minors.

It also will raise the charge for checking a third piece of luggage or an overweight bag from $25 to $50.

Other airlines have raised hundreds of millions of dollars since last year with new fees that include charges for checking one or two pieces of luggage and for talking to reservations agents on the phone.

source: Newsday.com

Budget airline easyJet will not be able to offer couples the chance to get married in the skies after a Bedfordshire council rejected the plan.

The company applied to Luton Borough Council for pilots to be authorised to officiate wedding ceremonies.

But a council spokeswoman said the law did not allow a civil partnership or marriage to take place on an aircraft.

The airline said it had received a number of requests from couples hoping to marry in the air and they had hoped to appeal to people looking to get married “‘somewhere out of the ordinary'”.

source: BBC

Moroccan low-cost carrier Air Arabia Maroc launches services from London Stansted today.

Roundtrip flights will operate four times per week between Stansted and Air Arabia Maroc’s hub in Mohamed V International Airport, Casablanca.

Launch flights from Casablanca to Marseille, Brussels, Milan, Lyon and Paris will start on May 10, 12, 14 and 16 respectively.

source: Travelmole

Budget airline Easyjet has asked council officials for permission for its pilots to marry couples on flights.

The Luton-based airline said it hopes to combine marriage proceedings with taking newlyweds on honeymoon.

Easyjet’s Paul Simmons said: “‘If our request is replied positively, then so-called ‘floating on cloud nine’ would get a new meaning for people in love.'”

source: BBC

Overweight passengers may soon have to pay a ‘fat tax‘ or even purchase a second ticket to fly with budget airline Ryanair.

The low-cost European carrier is considering an excess weight fee for very large customers after 30,000 people voted in favour of the measure on its website.

More than 100,000 passengers gave on-line feedback on various cost-cutting ideas put forward by Ryanair. Almost one in three people polled thought obese and overweight people should be charged more for tickets.

source: dailymail.co.uk

Germany’s second largest airline Air Berlin recorded moderate growth of only 1% over 2007. However, the airline remains committed to further growth in 2009 with new routes coming on line. Air Berlin will fly from Hanover to Stockholm Arlanda, as well as between Stuttgart and Nice. It will also boost its presence at Berlin Tegel with more frequencies to Nuremburg.

source: traveldailynews.com

Ambitious regional airline Air Southwest said its new direct air link from the Westcountry to the heart of the City of London could be the first in a string of new domestic and European flights.

The firm yesterday announced a recession-busting twice-daily service from Newquay and Plymouth to City Airport, near east London’s Docklands business district.

source: thisiswesternmorningnews.co.uk

Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary insisted Thursday he’s serious about making passengers pay for the right to relieve themselves on flights ” and is flush with interest in the idea of mounting credit card-operated toilets.

O’Leary, whose Dublin-based airline has pioneered the practice of filling air travel with extra charges, divided opinion last week by suggesting that his next target would be coin-operated toilets. Aviation analysts and the traveling public alike couldn’t tell whether O’Leary ” a cut-throat operator with an entertainingly bombastic style ” was poking fun at his own reputation.

source: iht.com

Virgin Atlantic will launch its first service over the Pacific this week, allowing passengers to fly around the world on Sir Richard Branson’s airline for the first time.

The V Australia service will connect Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane with Los Angeles. The first flight departs from Sydney on Friday and will break the Qantas and United Airlines duopoly on flights between Australia and the United States. Virgin Atlantic celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.

source: Times OnLine

Ryanair is to close all its airport check-in desks by the end of the year.  The Irish airline is making a move to 100% online check-in in a bid to cut costs. The airline would not confirm how many staff will be made redundant as a result of the change.

Baggage handlers at bag drop desks will be retained.