news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Lufthansa is introducing a new strapline and rolling out a European advertising campaign to help capture a greater slice of the leisure market.

The German airline will now use the strapline “‘Nonstop you’” and is retiring its long-standing “‘There’s no better way to fly’” strapline.

Head of marketing Hubert Frach says that the old line, introduced in 2000, is more “‘service-focused and very corporate-driven.’”

source: marketingweek.co.uk

Deutsche Lufthansa on Thursday said it would consider selling its Austrian Airlines unit if it can’t turn the struggling carrier around amid a wide-ranging plan to cut costs to combat high fuel prices and sluggish growth in Europe.

“‘It isn’t possible to say when Austrian Airlines will break even,'” Chief Executive Christoph Franz said. “‘We will stick with Austrian Airlines until we no longer see prospect for profit,'” Mr. Franz said. “‘We still see this prospect,'” he said, though the business is in a critical condition and needs drastic restructuring.

Lufthansa has agreed to sell loss-making U.K. unit British Midland Ltd.”known as bmi“to British Airways and Iberia parent International Consolidated Airlines Group. It said Thursday it has signed a letter of intent to dispose of its 25% stake small Chinese unit Jade Cargo to China’s Unitop.

source: wsj.com

An American Airlines jet about to take off was halted after a flight attendant began “‘ranting'” about 9/11 and claiming that the plane was about to crash.

Chicago-bound Flight 2332 had departed the gate at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport this morning and was preparing for takeoff when, according to a law enforcement officer, a female flight attendant began talking on the plane’s public address system about mechanical problems. Her speech also included “‘ranting'” about 9/11.

source: cbsnews.com

Talks between Australia’s Qantas and Malaysia Airlines to establish a premium airline in Asia have broken down, in a setback for both carriers.

Qantas said the two sides could not agree on commercial terms. Qantas shares fell 4% in Sydney.

Qantas has announced plans to focus on the Asia region as a way to stem losses in its international business.

source: BBC.co.uk

American Airlines is offering another option to the passenger who is tired of jamming his knees into a fellow flier’s back. The carrier’s new “‘Main Cabin Extra'” seats in coach will offer four to six inches of additional legroom.

The airline will start installing the new seating configuration across its fleet this year, the airline said.

The roomier seating will be at the front of the main coach cabins to make boarding and deplaning easier for passengers who opt for the extra legroom. Prices for customers who purchase the roomier seating will range from $8 to $108 per segment, depending on length.

source: CNN

Passengers face higher fares and reduced services between Scottish airports and London Heathrow if British Airways succeeds in taking over rivals BMI, Virgin Atlantic has claimed.

The airline made the claim as it lodged a formal complaint on the proposed merger to the European Commission.

It said passengers would be left with a “‘choice of one'” on flights between Aberdeen and Edinburgh and Heathrow.

source: BBC.co.uk

According to the U.S. Deprartment of Transportation’s’ Air Tavel Consumer Report’, more than half of the pets that died on airplanes in 2011 flew Delta.

Delta claims the statistic is flawed since more pets fly Delta than any other airline. Delta has already banned certain breeds of dogs that have snub noses because they have a propensity for respiratory problems.

The airline who had the second-most pets die on the plane was American Airlines.

source: 9news.com

Russia may prohibit its airlines from carbon emission trading in protest against a European Union law it says is unfair, state carrier Aeroflot said on Monday.

A group of nations will gather in Moscow this week to debate possible retaliation to the law, which raises the risk of a trade war by forcing all airlines to pay for their carbon emissions.

Aeroflot said the law could cost it 800 million euros by 2025. It warned that the opposition could change its approach from “‘oral protestations'” to “‘various forms of trade wars with the EU'”.

source: Reuters

Ryanair has swooped in to take on 26 additional routes from the Budapest airport after Hungarian national carrier Malév suddenly ceased all flights Feb. 3 in response to an “‘unsustainable'” financial situation. Industry analysts say the Irish low-cost airline is just the first of a swarm of companies that will try to expand routes to Budapest now that Malév is out of the running.

On the heels of Ryanair’s announcement, several other European carriers, including Lufthansa and Air Berlin, have said they plan to increase services to Budapest to fill in the hole left by Malév’s services to the city, which accounted for nearly 40 percent of all the air traffic at the Budapest airport.

source: praguepost.com

The recent announcement that Alitalia plans to absorb fellow Italian carriers Blue Panorama and Wind Jet will help the national carrier to gain market share, while at the same time removing two domestic competitors. Last year saw Alitalia’s fleet of 144 aircraft transport almost 25 million passengers, while Blue Panorama carried around two million on its fleet of 12 Boeing aircraft. Wind Jet flew almost three million passengers on its 12 Airbus A320-series aircraft.