news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Australia’s Qantas Airways has grounded its A380 fleet for at least another three days as it investigates oil leaks as a possible cause of the explosion which tore apart one of the superjumbo’s engines last week.

Qantas shares fell as its reputation as one of the world’s safest airlines came under the spotlight and investors started counting the financial cost of grounding aircraft and compensating passengers.

The incident has rattled the global aviation industry which is recovering from heavy losses during the global economic downturn and has been damaging for Rolls-Royce  which is developing new engines for the next generation of commercial jets.

source: Reuters

LAN has unveiled plans to acquire Colombian carrier Aires, only hours after it informed analysts of its plans to exercise its option to buy Colombian start-up AerOasis.

The Chile-based airline group in a statement issued late on 27 October says it has forged an agreement to acquire 99% of Aires for about $32.5 million. It says the deal is subject to regulatory approvals and due diligence, which it estimates will take 30 to 60 days.

source: flightglobal.com

British Airways‘ top executives are poised to receive hefty pay rises once the airline’s planned merger with Iberia is finalised.

Willie Walsh, chief executive, will see his base pay rise from £735,000 to £825,000 ($1.3m) a year, according to merger documents released as part of the deal, which will be voted on by shareholders in each airline on November 29.

Mr Walsh is to leave BA to become chief executive of the new International Airlines Group holding company, which will own BA and Iberia

source: FT.com

Qatar Airways spelled out its commitment to the Spanish market helping strengthen commercial and economic ties with the recently-introduced flights to Barcelona, its second route in Spain.

Celebrating five years of flying to the capital Madrid, the addition of services to Barcelona in June acknowledges the importance Qatar Airways places in the Spanish market.

Since the June 7 launch of daily non-stop flights between Barcelona and the airline’s operational hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, Qatar Airways reports the new service proving to be strong. The route was introduced just in time for the busy summer holiday season.

Iberia is growing in Barcelona. In the next summer season, the Spanish airline will operate direct transatlantic flights from the city to Miami and São Paulo. To bring traffic to these flights, Iberia is transforming El Prat airport into a genuine hub for flights by Vueling and Iberia Regional Air Nostrum.

In addition, for passengers on the new flights from Barcelona to Miami and São Paulo, Iberia has a thick web of connections to distribute this traffic throughout the Americas: from Miami to other U.S. and Central American cities via code shares with American Airlines; and from São Paulo to the rest of Brazil and cites of the southern cone of South American with the Gol company, under a new code share agreement that is now being negotiated, and with other airlines in the region.

With the October 31 start of its winter timetable, Lufthansa will add destinations and frequencies to its network schedule. The airline will provide service to 197 destinations in 85 countries (previous year: 191 destinations in 78 countries), with the average number of flights per week increasing from 11,803 to 12,218 (+3.5 percent).

Lufthansa’s ongoing fleet renewal program, which replaces existing aircrafts with larger and more fuel efficient ones, and the addition of a fourth A380, the airline’s new flagship, are contributing to an overall 9.1 percent increase in seat capacity.

source: travelagentcentral.com

Dubai’s Emirates launched a double challenge to European airlines yesterday, setting out ambitions to own a fleet of more than 100 Airbus A380 superjumbos and stepping up a war of words over rivals’ subsidy claims.

Emirates, which surprised the aviation world by lifting its orders of the world’s largest airliner by a third to 90 aircraft in June, is only constrained by a shortage of space to park them, airline president Tim Clark said.

“‘120 was the baseline figure that the planners worked to get where we needed to be, but we couldn’t order that amount because it was too many for here, so 90 was a compromise.'” he added.

source: smh.com.au

British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia have launched their long-awaited transatlantic tie-up by adding four new routes to their combined network and pledging to create jobs and cut fares.

The revenue-sharing deal, dismissed as a “‘monster monopoly'” by Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson, will give passengers access to a joint network serving 433 destinations in 105 countries.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Continental is rolling out a new menu of snacks and meals coach passengers on most U.S. flights will be able to get for a price starting Oct. 12.

Customers in first-class cabins and on many international flights will still eat for free.

The Houston-based airline, which plans to combine with United Airlines, announced the menu and prices Monday. It said several months ago that it planned to join most other U.S. airlines in charging for food in coach.

source: Business Week

Sibir Airlines which operates under the S7 brand, will become a member of the Oneworld alliance from November 15.

S7 currently offers regularly scheduled flights to 90 destinations in 28 countries, including 45 in Russia and 25 in the CIS.

As a member of Oneworld, S7 will be able to offer flights to 750 destinations in 150 countries. The alliance members operate a combine total of 2,250 planes.

source: RT.com