news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

France’s top administrative court has told easyJet and Ryanair Plc to apply French labour laws for staff operating out of the country, dismissing a bid by the airlines to bypass local working norms.

The two low-cost carriers had appealed against a decree introduced last year that obliged foreign airlines to apply French labour laws for crews of aircraft based here.

Irish-based Ryanair said the decree contravened European laws on the free movement of labour and services.

source: Reuters

Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, today announces an exclusive deal with Wines4business.

The partnership signals the launch of Flybewines.com which, through a dedicated website, features exclusive content from the renowned wine expert and Sunday Express columnist, Jamie Goode. It will enable Flybe passengers to join an exclusive wine club that offers an extensive range of great value wines to suit everyone’s palate and pocket.

The Flybe Wine club sees the airline continuing to provide customers with an innovative and quality product range that adds value to its existing customer service offering thereby setting Flybe apart from other low cost carriers. The deal will bolster Flybe’s ancillary revenues which have over recent months seen new developments such as FlybeCruises.

source: Easier

The Flyglobespan airline has admitted letting its customers down, following the recent severe delay in bringing passengers back from New York to Ireland West Airport Knock.

In a detailed statement, the airline has apologised to all those caught up in the delay of six days in having its flight leave from New York, and say they have every right to criticise the airline.

They say it’s clear the performance of their ground handlers fell well below the standards expected by its passengers, and many of the instructions issued by the company to alleviate the situation seem to have been ignored.

source: Ocean fm

Flybe has come under fire after it emerged it has cancelled more than 170 flights from Birmingham International Airport in the last three months.

The number of flights cancelled by the budget operator is more than triple the number of British Airways cancellations when it operated the same routes in 2006.

Flybe’s German routes – the carrier flies to Stuttgart, Hannover, Hamburg and Dusseldorf – have been particularly badly hit.

easyJet today announced plans to commence operations at Birmingham International Airport with the introduction of two new routes connecting Birmingham with Geneva and Grenoble.

As the second largest city in the UK, Birmingham has a huge catchment area and a demand for low-fare services and as a result the airline expects to carry 45,000 passengers on these two new routes within the first season of operation.

source: Easier

BMI is more than doubling its fleet of long-haul aircraft as it prepares to launch its first services between London and the US.

The move into the lucrative transatlantic market from Heathrow will start in next spring, as BMI takes advantage of the “‘open skies’” agreement that was signed between the US and European Union (EU) earlier this year. The deal will allow European airlines for the first time to run transatlantic flights to any American city from any EU country, and not just their home country. In return, American carriers will have free access to European airports.

source: flightmapping.com

The Dallas-based low-cost airline, which is the largest carrier at Louisville International Airport based on passenger traffic, tacked on the $10 increase for select long-haul trips of more than 1,250 miles, said Southwest spokeswoman Paula Berg.

Some short- and medium-haul trips saw one-way increases of $1, $3 and $5, she said.

The fare increases are intended to offset high fuel costs.

The Spanish low cost airline, Vueling, is to open its fourth hub. The new centre will be in Sevilla and follows current centres in Madrid, Barcelona and Paris. Three Airbus A320’s will be based in Sevilla and used on routes to Valencia, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Brussels, Milan and Bilbao from the end of the October. Vueling is celebrating its 3rd birthday this month.

source: typicallyspanish.com

Ryanair maintained its barrage of complaints against governments and regulators, airport authorities and competitors with a blast against the European Commission on Tuesday morning.

Europe’s largest low-cost airline said it would sue the Commission for “‘its repeated failure to take action on a number of state aid complaints involving Air France-KLM, Lufthansa, Alitalia and Olympic Airways, which were submitted to the Commission over a year ago'”.

Ryanair alleges hundreds of millions of euros of illegal state aid has subsidised these airlines and that Brussels has failed to act.

source: MSNBC

Virgin America has asked regulators to let the start-up airline begin selling tickets, amid signs that market conditions in the US are more favourable than many industry executives had expected.

The San Francisco-based group could launch flights as early as August after finally securing approval to start domestic services following a 17-month battle with rivals and watchdogs over its ownership structure, which includes a 25 per cent stake held by Sir Richard Branson and the Virgin Group.

source: MSN