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Budget airline Ryanair has again been accused of misleading claims by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

An national advert by the airline read “‘Robbed by Lastminute.com?'”, stating that people buying tickets via an online agent were being “‘ripped off'”.

The ASA said the advert, which implied online agents overcharged people 100%, could not run “‘in its current form'”.

The airline has been forced to withdraw other adverts for breaching ASA rules, including claims over emission levels.

source: BBC

The first A380 superjumbo delivered by Airbus has touched down in Singapore. A few dozen members of new owners Singapore Airlines, pilots and technicians made the overnight journey from Toulouse in the south west of France. The non-stop flight took roughly 13 hours.

source: EuroNews

Swiss has been voted “‘Europe’s Leading Airline'” in the 14th World Travel Awards. The distinctions, which are among the most prestigious within the travel industry, were presented in Newcastle, UK on October 9. “‘We are delighted to receive this award,'” says Christoph Beckmann, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at Swiss.

source: traveldailynews.com

Romanian low-cost airline Blue Air has started its new direct service between Stansted Airport and Bucharest.

Blue Air said return flights will start from £1.50 excluding tax, and will operate twice daily on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

“‘This is a new direct link and is the first of a number of new route launches set to start from here this month,'” Nick Barton, from Stansted, said.

source: BBC

Tony Ryan, the Irish co-founder of low-fares airline Ryanair, which helped to revolutionise air travel in Europe, died at his home on Wednesday aged 71, his family said.

Ryan, who suffered a lengthy, unspecified illness, had a family fortune worth an estimated 1.2 billion euros (1.6 billion dollars) and opened up cheap weekend breaks and short-haul flights to destinations across the continent.

source: smh

EasyJet is stepping up calls to scrap aviation tax in its present form by launching a campaign to encourage politicians to “‘adopt a more intelligent approach to air travel'”. It claims that its plans will also reduce carbon emissions and tackle climate change.

The low-cost carrier is launching an advertising push today (September 18) to inform consumers of its new tax proposal, which suggests that Air Passenger Duty (APD) should be replaced with a tax based on aircraft types and the distance travelled.

source: marketingweek.co.uk

Air France is showing its passengers satellite views of the countries, cities and terrain they are flying over, thanks to a new partnership with the European Space Agency (ESA).The French airline receives satellite images of varying resolutions from ESA on CD-ROMs and uses them to create a program lasting the full length of each flight on its services from Paris to Bangalore, Delhi, Mumbai and Singapore.

source: MSNBC

Airlines are offering an increasing number of ways for advertisers to reach travelers while they’re in the air. US Airways and AirTran both recently began selling ads on napkins and on stickers that can be found on open tray tables. European low-fare carrier Ryanair sells ads on the covers of the overhead baggage compartments and on the backs of closed tray tables, according to the International Herald Tribune.

The Ryanair tray table ads are sold by InviseoMedia, which also sells space on another low-cost airline, Germanwings. Advertisers such as Microsoft, DaimlerChrysler, HP and German travel website HRS have advertised on them. The ads on the overhead bins are sold by Fourth Edition, and have seen such advertisers as ING, Red Bull and Meteor Mobile.

source: mediabuyerplanner.com

Paper airline tickets will be consigned to history from next June, according to Iata, the trade body which conducts settlements between 60,000 travel agents and the airlines.

The organisation, which has used etickets for three years, yesterday said it had placed its last order for paper tickets. The move to etickets will reduce the processing cost to airlines from £4.50 a ticket to 50p, saving the industry £3bn. Three years ago 16% of ticketing was paper-free; the figure is now 84%. Iata said that airlines lost more than $40bn between 2001 and 2006, but are expected to turn a profit this year.

source: Guardian Unlimited

Lufthansa is the first European airline to introduce native Chinese flight attendants on board its flights from and to China. For over six years, Lufthansa has employed about 200 native Chinese flight attendants, providing Chinese-speaking passengers with in-flight services that are in their own language and sensitive to their cultural background.

fuente: China.org.cn