news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

The latest A320 aircraft joins the two A318s, 33 A319s, 48 A320s and 16 A321s already operated by British Airways.

The 100th aircraft is also the 205th Airbus single-aisle delivered to International Airlines Group, which was formed in January this year with the merger of British Airways and Iberia.

Keith Williams, British Airways’ chief executive, said: “‘This milestone underlines British Airways’ commitment to continue to invest in new aircraft for the benefit of our customers. The average age of our short-haul Airbus fleet is just over seven years old, making it one of the youngest Airbus fleets of the European network carriers.’”

source: walesonline.co.uk

British Airways has agreed to pay $89.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit charging that it had conspired with other airlines to fix prices for hauling cargo.

Two Chilean carriers ” Lan Airlines and Lan Cargo ” and Aerolinhas Brasileiras of Brazil also agreed to pay $66 million to settle similar accusations. Other settlements were reached with Lufthansa for $85 million and Air France-KLM for $87 million.

In November, the European Union fined 11 airlines ” including British Airways ” a total of $1.1 billion for fixing prices on international cargo, leading to higher prices for businesses to move their goods. The European Commission, the European Union’s competition watchdog, said “‘the carriers coordinated their action on surcharges for fuel and security without discounts’” from December 1999 to February 2006.

source: The New York Times

The world’s largest airlines collected an estimated $21.46 billion in passenger fees and other extra revenue last year, about double the amount collected in 2008, according to a new study.

For some airlines, revenue generated from extra fees, the sale of frequent flier points, and commissions for booking passengers into hotel rooms and rental cars now represents 15 percent to 30 percent of all airline revenue, according to the report by IdeaWorks Co., a Wisconsin consultant on airline fees, and Amadeus Corp., a Madrid technology company for the travel industry.

The annual report released Tuesday said 47 airlines worldwide reported some type of ancillary revenue last year, compared with only 23 airlines in 2007.

United Airlines and Continental Airlines, which have merged but operate as two airlines, reported a combined $5 billion in ancillary revenue in 2010, the most for any airline, followed by Delta Air Lines with $3.7 billion and American Airlines with $1.9 billion, according to the report.

source: vancouversun.com

American Airlines was ordered by a judge to let Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW) resume ticket sales, the same day Sabre Holdings Inc. asked a federal court in Texas for permission to sue the carrier over access to flight data.

Illinois Circuit Court Judge Lee Preston in Chicago yesterday ordered AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American to reinstate Orbitz.com’s and Orbitz for Business’s ability to ticket its flights. Preston overturned a decision denying a request by Travelport LP for a preliminary injunction. Travelport owns about 48 percent of Chicago-based Orbitz.

“‘The court agreed with Travelport that an injunction should have been granted against AA in December which would have prevented AA from terminating its contracts with Orbitz,’” Travelport said in an e-mailed statement.

source: Bloomberg

Korean Air last week launched the world’s first duty-free onboard showcase, to be featured its new A380 aircraft at the Tax Free World Association Asia Pacific exhibition in Singapore. The airline also unveiled its onboard Celestial Bar during the exhibition.

The duty-free showcase has been designed and produced in partnership with L’Oréal Luxury Products and a variety of duty-free products such as cosmetics, perfumes, liquor and accessories will be displayed.

source: dfnionline.com

Thai Airways International is going ahead with plans to establish a new, full-service, short-haul carrier and hopes it will start operating early next year. The plan was approved by the airline’s board on Friday.

This new airline, which will be based in Bangkok and will operate under a new sub-brand, will be a business unit of Thai Airways and will operate domestically and on short-haul international routes using 11 aircraft, it says. The aim is for it to differentiate itself in the marketplace with a new image and price differentiation, says Thai.

Thai Airways Chairman Ampon Kittiampon told journalists in Bangkok Friday that the new carrier, tentatively named Thai Wings, would start flying in March or April and will operate 737s. But he stopped short of saying if these will be 737-400s or -800s.

source: aviationweek.com

Singapore Airlines has confirmed the imminent arrival of a new series of Airbus A380s with an extended business class cabin running the entire length of the upper deck.

The carrier has listed its second-gen A380 on the new Singapore Airlines website unveilled today and released a seatmap for the new-look superjumbo which shows the upper deck will be exclusive to business class passengers, with 86 seats spread over 22 rows.

This is sub-divided into four cabin areas, including the oddity of a single row cabin (row 96) with just four seats with the rearmost exit in front and the toilet, galley and stairs to the lower deck below.

United Airlines temporarily revived the flight numbers of two hijacked planes used in the September 11 attacks but said on Wednesday the move was inadvertent and they would not be used.

“‘We are taking immediate steps to remove them and apologize for the error,'” a United spokesman said.

Call numbers 93 and 175 were mistakenly assigned to two flights by Continental Airlines, which has merged with United.

United declined to explain how the numbers found their way back onto flights. Unionized flight attendants urged the company to permanently retire them, while pilots said the move was insensitive.

source: Reuters

U.S. airlines expect to carry a record number of international travelers from June through August, helping soften the effect of higher fuel prices, the Air Transport Association said.

The 26.3 million international travelers forecast for the period would top last summer’s record of 25.8 million, the Washington-based association, which represents carriers including AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American Airlines and Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL), said in a statement today. Total passenger count will rise 1.5 percent, the group estimated.

The forecast shows carriers are optimistic about increasing demand even after raising surcharges and fares to counter higher fuel expenses. Association figures showed jet-fuel costs climbed 30 percent to $11.4 billion in the first quarter from the same period a year earlier.

source: bloomberg.com

Lufthansa is standardising its free baggage allowance policy for all flights. The new rules, which come into force on 1 June 2011, will see Lufthansa adopt the ‘’piece concept”, enabling passengers to check in a specified number of baggage items free of charge. In economy class, passengers can check-in one item of baggage weighing up to 23kg. In business class passengers will be allowed two bags weighing up to 32kg each, while first class passengers will be allowed three bags weighing up to 32kg each.

source: traveldaily.co.uk