news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Ryanair announced today its 19th European base in Düsseldorf Weeze. From June 2007, Ryanair will invest €140m in two new aircraft and 10 routes. Ryanair will deliver 1 million passengers in its first full year, rising to 2 million p.a. from 2008. Europe’s largest low fares airline also today annoujnced 16 new routes across Europe.

These 2 million passengers will create 2,000 local jobs and enable passengers to fly for a fraction of the high fares charged at Düsseldorf International airport.

source: finfacts.com

The Houston-based regional airline will fly non-stop from Los Angeles/Ontario; Sacramento; San Diego; San Antonio; Austin, Texas; and New Orleans to 24 cities beginning in April.

As part of the new service, ExpressJet will offer its 50-seat Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft configured with no middle seat, as well as valet carry-on bag service and complimentary snacks, with full meal-service options available on longer flights.

source: Los Angeles Business

Jazeera Airways, the Middle East’s first private passenger airline, this weekend launched its direct flights between Kuwait and the resort destination Sharm El Sheikh.

The airline flies twice a week from Kuwait to the city every Thursday and Sunday, operating brand new Airbus A320s, all fitted with leather seats.

source: AMEinfo

Maldives can expect to see a rapid growth in the number of tourists from China, Hong Kong and Macau following the introduction of direct flights from the region with a new budget fare airline.

Viva Macau is the latest entrant in the fast-growing low-fare sector of the airline industry. Maldives is one of the new airline’s launch destinations and Viva Macau believe it will be an increasingly popular route.

It is the only airline in Greater China that offers non-stop direct flights to Maldives, offering customers an opportunity to enjoy the country’s renowned dive sites and beaches.

source: Minivannews

Already preparing to launch flights to four new cities this year, Spirit Airlines’ CEO says the carrier could add at least that number or more in 2007 as it continues its push into Latin America and the Caribbean.

Spirit plans to start service from Fort Lauderdale to St. Maarten, Port-au-Prince and Caracas, Venezuela, in April. Flights to Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, start in March. CEO Ben Baldanza told The DAILY he is in final discussions on more destinations, which he will unveil in the coming weeks.

The carrier’s focus on international spots from its Fort Lauderdale base to Latin and Central America, as well as the Caribbean, should move the carrier’s international capacity from 25% at the end of last year to 50% in 2007, Baldanza said. The airline is taking delivery of six Airbus aircraft in 2007 and three in 2008. Aircraft arriving in the next two years are part of a previous Airbus order. Earlier this week, Spirit tapped Airbus for 30 more A319s for delivery in 2009 through 2013.

source: Aviationweek.com

Jetstar, the low-cost unit of Australia’s Qantas Airways, will shift its focus from short-haul flights to long-haul services this year, the carrier’s chief executive said Tuesday, becoming the latest airline to turn its attention to the emerging market for cheap, long-distance flights.

Jetstar’s long-haul service, which includes flights from Melbourne and Sydney to destinations such as Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand, as well as Honolulu and Bali, Indonesia, broke even in December 2006 after one month of operations, Chief Executive Alan Joyce said at a conference on the Asia-Pacific budget airline industry.

source: Forbes

A second new airline for the Caribbean has been born. It is to be called “‘LIAT, The Star of the Caribbean'” and will start up operation at the crack of dawn on Thursday February 1, 2007 – one month after the other new carrier, Caribbean Airlines, took to the skies.

source:  Caribbean360.com

Monarch have this week announced the introduction of new low cost air fares for economy flights from London to Larnaca for 2007, pushing Cyprus further up the property hotspot list for 2007.

Cyprus is already tipped as being one of the top 3 investment opportunities in Europe for the overseas investor in 2007, and this news will add more fuel to the buying frenzy.

source: UKPRwire

American Airlines might have lost out on its bid to fly to Beijing, but the airline on Tuesday announced two deals to swap passengers with airlines in Hungary and the Ukraine.

American said it applied to the Transportation Department for permission to begin a code share service with Malev Hungarian Airlines, under which the carriers would sell each other’s seats. The code sharing would begin March 25.

American would place its AA designator code on Malev daily flights between Budapest and New York JFK, as well as on flights to Budapest to and from London Gatwick, Frankfurt, Paris de Gaulle, Brussels, Rome and Zurich. Also included are flights beyond Budapest to destinations in Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.

Malev would place its MA designator code on American’s trans-Atlantic flights between Malev’s European gateways and the United States, as well as on AA flights between New York and Toronto and other points in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and South America.

American and Malev also said they plan a reciprocal agreement allowing their frequent flyers to redeem their miles or points on each airline.

United Airlines won tentative approval Tuesday to operate the first nonstop daily flight between Washington and Beijing, a 14-hour trip that links the countries’ capitals as their economies become more intertwined.The Department of Transportation’s final OK would give UAL Corp.’s United a route coveted by executives and government officials and potentially worth $200 million a year.

Washington-based fliers who make regular trips to Beijing applauded the news.

source: Daily Southtown