news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Nigeria’s flag carrier, Virgin Nigeria, has been voted Airline of the year. The honour was bestowed on the airline at the 12th annual ThisDay awards which was held at MUSON centre, Onikan, Lagos. Virgin Nigeria beat the other three competing airlines that were also nominated.

Virgin Nigeria’s Airline of the Year award is coming on the heels of the nomination of Virgin Nigeria as one of the three best African carriers by the Association of South African Travel Agents (ASATA). The South African awards come up on Friday, March 23, 2007 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

source: AllAfrica.com

Swedish budget airline FlyMe said Friday it would file for bankruptcy and seized operations immediately, affecting hundreds of passengers.

FlyMe Sweden AB had not been able to raise as much cash as it expected through a rights issue, the company said in a statement posted on its Web site. The airline started operations in 2004 and now has service from three Swedish cities to about a dozen European cities, including London, Nice and Prague.

source: International Herald Tribune

Northwest Airlines is considering becoming the first U.S. airline to switch over to a system in which only electronic tickets will be issued to customers.

With the airliner already enjoying a 99.9 percent issuance rate of electronic tickets to its U.S. customers as of December, the St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press reported, NWA’s top executives will likely soon make the operations entirely based on “‘e-tickets'” rather than their paper counterparts.

source: UPI

The European Commission is set to ban Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) from flying into the 27 EU member states amid safety concerns, EU sources have said.

Experts from EU nations made the proposal after meeting in Brussels and agreeing that most of its fleet falls short of European safety standards and should therefore be added to the European flight blacklist, the sources said.

The Pakistani international carrier flies to France, Britain, the Netherlands and Italy among European destinations.

source: Konkaniworld

Air Berlin has improved its market position and is well ahead of all other competitors at the airport of Palma de Mallorca. Already every third passenger embarking or disembarking in Palma de Mallorca uses an Air Berlin aircraft.

The German airline Air Berlin accounts for more than 36 per cent of passenger volume at the Spanish airport. The second largest airline there is Air Europe with a share of 17.9 per cent, and the third largest carrier is Iberia with 9.71 per cent. Easy jet, the UK airline, has a share of 5.87 per cent. These are the results of the airport’s statistics for January.

source: Boarding.no

Australia’s Virgin Blue has conceded it has moved away from being a pure low-cost carrier but adds it is now considering establishing an “ultra low-cost carrier”, a move that comes just weeks after Singapore-based low-cost carrier Tiger Airways disclosed it would be establishing a domestic operation in Australia.

Virgin Blue still operates aircraft in all-economy class configurations but in more recent years has, for example, tried to win over wealthier travellers such as businesspeople by offering loyalty programmes, more comfortable airport waiting lounges and extra legroom through the use of exit-row seating.

source: Flight Global

First airlines took away free food. Then blankets and pillows disappeared. And now checked luggage may be on the endangered list.

Spirit Airlines will become the first U.S. carrier to allow passengers to check only one piece of luggage for free. A second bag will cost passengers $10.

“‘I’m surprised it’s taken them this long to get around to doing this,'” aviation analyst Darryl Jenkins said.

Spirit says it’s a way to keep ticket prices low, but passengers worry about other airlines joining in.

source: ABC News

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics has again put Hawaii’s two biggest airlines at the top of its rankings for good service.

Aloha Airlines logged an on-time record of 93.7 percent for the December reporting period. It had the lowest complaint rate — none at all in December.

Hawaiian Airlines won the 2006 annual on-time tally, and also came in best in the nation on baggage handling. It was second for on-time arrivals in December.

source: Pacific Business News

Last year ranked among the worst for airline passengers, says a year-end report out Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

On-time arrivals in 2006 fell to their lowest levels since the pre-9-11 travel boom, and baggage handling reached its worst level in 16 years, the DOT says.

Airlines operated just over three-quarters of their flights on time, the worst since 2000, DOT figures show.

source: clarionledger.com

Continuing demand for corporate travel without a commensurate lift in supply will push costs higher across the board in 2007, according to the American Express Global Business Travel Forecast. Air fares worldwide are expected to increase – though at a slower pace than in 2006 –while hotels rates will remain at heightened 2006 levels and surge in key business centers.

“‘Keeping executives on the road while holding budgets in check will be a challenge for organizations in 2007,’” said Mike Streit, Vice President and Global Leader for American Express Business Travel, Advisory Services. “‘For instance, as compared to 2006, the Forecast indicates an average domestic North America trip inclusive of air fare, car rental and hotel stay will increase $46 USD or 4.5 percent in 2007, and an average international trip with its air fare and hotel stay will increase $180 USD or 4.6 percent.’”

source: Traveldailynews.com