news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Britons wanting to enjoy the cultural attractions of the northern Spanish city of Bilbao will have a new low-cost flight option as clickair announces a new daily service from London Gatwick.

The new route will operate from March 30th, replacing a previous Iberia service, departing the UK at 09:55 GMT and returning from Bilbao at 11:35 GMT.

“‘We are very pleased to be adding another popular cultural destination to our network from London Gatwick,'” said clickair’s chief executive Alex Cruz, himself a native of Bilbao.

source: travelbite.co.uk

easyJet welcomed passengers onboard its inaugural flight from East Midlands to Palma, Mallorca thursday february 7th, providing travellers from the region with an even greater choice of destinations from their local airport.

source: Boarding.no

Jet Airways and American Airlines today launched their code share partnership which would benefit passengers and frequent flier members of both airlines.

The frequent flier members of both carriers would have the benefit of earning points as they travel on these code share flights, Jet Airways said in a statement. They would be able to redeem these points on the route network of either airline.

source: India Times

Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest discount airline, said profit declined for the first time in seven quarters as increased competition hurt ticket prices. Higher fuel costs and a possible European consumer slowdown may slash earnings next fiscal year.

Net income in the fiscal third-quarter through December fell to 35 million euros ($52 million), or 2.35 cents a share, from 48 million euros, or 3.09 cents, a year earlier, Dublin-based Ryanair said today by e-mail. Analysts had predicted a profit of 35.6 million euros. Sales rose 16 percent to 569 million euros.

source: Bloomberg

Aer Lingus has reached an agreement with a low-cost US carrier that will give the Irish airline’s passengers easier access to locations across the United States.

The agreement with Jet Blue means Aer Lingus customers will be able to book flights from Ireland to 40 US destinations from April of this year.

source: Belfast telegraph

It could be one of his most ambitious projects yet. Virgin Group chairman Sir Richard Branson, one of Britain’s most prominent entrepreneurs, said Thursday that his firm was in talks with local partners to establish a new Russian airline, one of several possible new ventures.

Virgin is in talks with “‘two or three'” local carriers and expects to make an announcement about a new partner in the next three months, Branson told reporters at an investment conference in Moscow.

source: The Moscow Times

German travel and transport group TUI and airline Lufthansa are working on creating a new low-cost carrier, the TUI Travel subsidiary said on Tuesday.

The partners have signed a letter of intent for a merger of TUI Travel, Hapag-Lloyd and Hapag-Lloyd Express with Lufthansa units Germanwings and Eurowings, a statement said.

source: AFP

Ryanair and easyJet were accused by budget hotel chain Travelodge of driving an £18bn “‘tourism deficit'” by drawing British holidaymakers away from the UK with low fares that are underpinned by state tax breaks.

In a hearing at the House of Commons select committee into tourism, Travelodge said inward tourism spending had declined by 16% between 1995 and 2002 while spending by British tourists abroad had climbed by nearly 50%. Greg Dawson, Travelodge director of communications, said no-frills carriers were “t’he single biggest cause of decline in traditional tourism resorts and we urge the inquiry and Government to investigate the airline’s unfair grip on holidaymakers that is squeezing the life out of British tourism.'”

source: Guardian Unlimited

Deutsche Lufthansa AG and TUI AG are planning to enter into official negotiations concerning the set up of a joint low-cost airline.

Following months of preliminary talks, TUI Travel head Peter Long is to announce this at an investors’ conference in London tomorrow, the paper said.

According to the report, Lufthansa and TUI are to each hold 40 pct in the new airline, while Germanwings co-owner Albrecht Knauf is to hold the remaining 20 pct.

source: Hemscott

Officials of Gary-bound Skybus Airlines are quick to compare their company to Ryanair, Europe’s fastest-growing carrier, touted as the “‘next generation'” of budget airline.

But its no-frills, take-it-or-leave-it attitude also has earned Ryanair the distinction of being Europe’s most-complained-about airline.

On March 13, Chicagoland will be introduced to the “‘next generation'” in ultra-low-fare flying, when Skybus flight 362 pulls up to the terminal at Gary/Chicago International Airport at 9:40 a.m

source: thetimesonline.com