news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA on Tuesday announced an agreement to buy Finnair PLC’s subsidiary FlyNordic, a budget airline based in Stockholm, Sweden.

The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval, will be settled with shares and options. Finnair will receive about 5 percent of Norwegian’s shares with the option to increase its stake to 10 percent at 115 kroner (US$19.1, euro14.4) per share through 2008.

“‘This acquisition will strengthen our position in the Nordic region as well as in the European market,'” Norwegian chief executive Bjorn Kjos said in a statement.

source: Forbes

Jazeera Airways, the Middle East’s first private airline, Monday officially launched its non-stop flights between Kochi and Dubai. The airlines would operate its flights between the two cities thwice a week.

Though Jazeera has been operating flights from Kochi to Dubai from March 25, the official launch took place Monday.

source: monstersandcritics.com

Virgin Atlantic Airways today launched daily services between London Heathrow and Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. Chicago, which becomes Virgin Atlantic’s 27th destination worldwide, will be the airline’s tenth US gateway. Chicago is a key destination in its own right as well as a hub for the Mid West.

source: v-flyer

No-frills airline easyJet has said it welcomes the European Commission’s decision to limit the abuse of anti-competitive Public Service Obligation (PSO) routes in Italy.

The decision follows official complaints by easyJet and other airlines against an Italian decree that was imposed last year to create monopolies on the 16 most important routes between mainland Italy and Sardinia.

source: Forbes

Brazilian airline Gol Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes had net revenues of 1.041 billion Brazilian reais (US$ 499.2 million) in the first quarter of this year. The value represents an increase of 21% over the same period last year, 863 million reais (US$ 424 million at current exchange rates for comparison purposes). The company registered net profit of 117 million reais (US$ 57.6 million) in the first three months of the year.

source: ANBA

Southwest Airlines Co., the low- fare carrier famed for no-frills service, may add wireless Internet connections to its planes to attract more business fliers.

Southwest will seek proposals within a few weeks to outfit several jets to serve as prototypes, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said today in an interview. With such a system, passengers would have Internet access in flight, e-mail and “‘potentially delivery of entertainment services,'” Kelly said.

“‘We are very seriously exploring that,'” Kelly said. “‘We’d be acutely interested in the cost of doing that. It would be a very exciting development if we could make that work.'” Southwest is studying the idea as part of a broader review of ways to generate revenue apart from ticket sales. The Dallas- based airline offers only peanuts and other snacks and drinks on its flights so it can stay profitable at lower fares.

source: Denver Post

JetBlue Airways has been named Best Low Cost/No Frills Airline by OAG, the global travel and transport information company, as part of their 2007 OAG Airline of the Year Awards. This marks the second year running that JetBlue has been named top airline in this category. The New York-based low-fare, low-cost carrier was among 42 airlines and airports that received nominations in 15 regional and global categories during the 25th Anniversary ceremony this week in London.

source: Webwire

The Czech low-cost carrier Smart Wings will start a service between Prague and Dubai, the airline said Tuesday.

The airline will operate one flight a week from May 15, it said in a statement.

The airline, which flies regularly to several Mediterranean and European destinations, claims to have carried 1.8 million passengers last year.

source: iht

Virgin America Inc., based in Burlingame, said Monday a report in London’s Daily Mail newspaper incorrectly stated the upstart carrier plans flights between the United States and England. Virgin America is only planning domestic service, said spokesman Gareth Edmondson-Jones.

“‘Our focus is to bring more travel choices and fare competition to U.S. travelers, beginning with flights between San Francisco and New York,'” Edmondson-Jones said.

source: bizJournal.com

UK regional airline Flybe said it has closed one of the operating bases of BA Connect, the loss-making former UK regional operation of British Airways PLC that it purchased last month, as it announced the appointment of a new chief financial officer.

Flybe said last month that it plans to cut about 200 jobs as part of the integration of BA Connect, which will lead to the closures of BA Connect’s head office in Manchester and an engineering centre on the Isle of Man.

The reductions are part of a plan to make cost savings and revenue gains of more than 40 mln stg a year to staunch similar annual losses accumulated by BA Connect in its last 12 months of operations, the FT said.

source: Forbes