news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz on Wednesday launched the country’s new national airline, Mauritania Airlines, which will be entirely state funded.

Mauritania Airlines was created in 2009 as part of a national strategy of air transport development and the expansion of trade in Africa and Europe, including France and Spain, according to its leaders.

In 2008 Air Mauritania, owned by the state as well as private shareholders, was declared bankrupt. This company was followed by Mauritania Airways which halted operations in December 2010 after being banned from European airspace.

source: Independent.co.uk

Oil prices may have stayed close to their recent highs, but that failed to prevent International Airlines Group (IAG) flying to the top of the blue-chip index last night.

Ever since British Airways and Iberia merged and began trading under their new moniker in January, the airline has seen its share price plummet, falling by 20 per cent as the cost of the black stuff soared. Yet IAG rose by 9.9p to 229.6p yesterday after UBS chose the airline as its “‘top pick'” among the flagship carriers.

source: Independent.co.uk

A BBC radio presenter is allegedly considering suing Singapore Airlines after he suffered a heart attack mid-flight, according to reports.

The airline apparently refused to carry out an emergency landing so that presenter Max Pearson, aged 51, could be taken to hospital, forcing him to endure a 14-hour flight back to London.

Pearson had been covering the tsunami in Japan for the BBC World Service and later flew from Tokyo to Singapore, where he boarded a flight back to the UK.

source: travelmole.com

British Airways cabin crew will not strike over the Easter and royal wedding bank holidays, the airline and Unite union said in a joint statement yesterday. BA’s new chief executive Keith Williams and Unite boss Len McCluskey have agreed to extend a prior deadline of 15 April for any strikes to be announced, meaning crunch talks can continue and Unite will hold off from calling disruptive action over the holidays.

source: cityam.com

The nation’s third-biggest airline has filed suit against Orbitz Worldwide, the second-biggest online travel site, and Travelport, the company behind Orbitz’s reservation system, saying they’ve taken “‘unprecedented’” steps to discourage use of American’s preferred direct booking pipeline.

American’s push for travel agents to start using its direct link to find its fares and flights rather than the centralized systems that currently pool most airlines’ price information has set off a series of clashes.

Brian Hoyt, a spokesman for Orbitz, called the lawsuit “‘completely baseless. … Their goal is to make it harder for consumers, to make it harder to comparison shop.’”

source: USA Today

Canada’s largest airline wants the new discount carrier to be a competitive answer to its lowercost rivals, like WestJet Airlines Ltd., Air Transat and Sunwing Vacations, which have been growing at a faster pace than Air Canada in recent years and eroding its market share on certain routes.

It wouldn’t be the first time Air Canada entered the low-cost market. It launched two other low-cost carriers, Tango and Zip, in the past. Both ceased operations after two years.

source: vancouversun.com

US Airways Chief Executive Doug Parker said he wants the airline to be a strong stand-alone carrier but be ready to merge with another major carrier if the opportunity arises.

Speaking at a company media event, Parker, a long-time proponent of airline mergers, said consolidation has made the industry stronger.

source: Reuters

In what could be a thawing in a cold war over how airline tickets are sold, Expedia Inc. settled its dispute with American Airlines Inc. Monday and put the Fort Worth-based carrier’s fares and schedules back on its online travel site.

Expedia had pulled American’s inventory from its Expedia.com travel portal Jan. 1 after American yanked its fares from Expedia rival Orbitz.com. At issue was how the travel sites obtained American’s fare information.
The new agreement, its terms undisclosed, restores American’s flights to Expedia immediately.

In a joint statement, the two said Expedia will use Direct Connect, but by using technology provided by a traditional global distribution system, or GDS.

source: Dallasnews.com

Lufthansa has reintroduced its service to Tokyo following disruption caused by the earthquake and subsequent tsunami on March 11th.

Flights had been diverted away from Tokyo toward Osaka and Nagoya while Japan battled to overcome the impact of the disaster.

The German flag-carrier had previously stated it would diver flights until Sunday but will now return to normal ahead of schedule.

source: breakingtravelnews.com

BA and AA announced in the wake of a transatlantic alliance that flights between the UK’s main airport and the Big Apple will now depart every hour between 1pm and 8pm. Flights to Chicago and Miami will also be evenly spaced.

A BA spokesman said: “‘We are finally able to align all our flights and offer customers more frequent services. Previously, our services would depart at the same time as AA’s.'”

From the end of this month BA and AA will operate a total of 11 flights a day between Heathrow and JFK on a new timetable, thanks to a partnership that allows them to co-operate on schedules and pricing.

source: Guardian.co.uk