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Scandinavian airline SAS said on Friday group traffic (revenue passenger kilometres) rose 6.6 percent year-on-year in June after a rise of 1.7 percent the previous month.

The total load factor, a measure of how efficiently it filled planes, fell 0.1 percentage points to 76.4 percent in June.

The yield for May, the latest month available, was up 7.6 percent. The airline said it expected June yields to rise in line or slightly less than in May.

source: Reuters

Northwest Airlines is now offering PayPal as a way to pay for tickets at its Web site www.nwa.com. With PayPal, Northwest customers now have a new way to pay for tickets using debit cards, bank accounts, stored balances, or credit cards through their individual PayPal accounts.

Stephanie Tilenius, Vice President of Merchant Services for PayPal, said, “‘We are excited to add Northwest Airlines, one of the world’s largest airlines, as the first airline to accept PayPal. Many of our customers already book travel with Northwest Airlines and are eager to use their PayPal accounts to do so.'”

The Spanish airline Spanair cancelled 60 flights to 14 destinations Monday because of a strike by a part of its cabin personnel, media reported.

Most of the cancellations hit inland routes. International flights were cancelled on routes from Madrid to Frankfurt, Copenhagen, Zurich and Vienna.

Source: M & C

Aer Arann today launched a new service from Galway to Newcastle.

The flights will operate four days a week. departing Galway at 6.30pm on Monday, Thursday and Friday and 7.15pm on Sunday. The return flight will depart Newcastle at 8.25pm on Monday, Thursday and Friday and 9.10pm on Sunday with a flight time of one hour and 25 minutes.

source: IrishExaminer.com

Cabin staff working for KLM, the Dutch unit of Air France-KLM, have rejected the airline’s final offer in a dispute over their general workers agreement, the FNV Bondgenoten union said.

The union claims that cabin staff are overworked due to past cost-cutting measures and says KLM’s latest offer has not addressed the situation to their satisfaction.

An ultimatum will be issued next week and the union said that if its demands are not met, strikes may be called in the first labour action ever taken by cabin personnel.

source: hemscott.com

Chicago, which already loved the hot dogs, seems to have warmed up to the original Vienna.
Austrian Airlines’ non-stop service between O’Hare and this classic European city, just launched May 29, is already maintaining an 80 percent flight load, airline officials said at a news conference Wednesday in the Drake Hotel.

“Even from the start, it was a very good load,” said Rudolf Mertl, executive vice president of network and sales. “It normally takes a little bit longer.”

Austrian Airlines, a member of the Star Alliance, flies daily non-stops except Mondays between the two cities. Summer fares average about $1,100.

Even the winter holiday travel nightmares could not diminish JetBlue’s overall reputation among its peers. The J.D. Power and Associates 2007 North America Airline Satisfaction Study survey ranks Jet Blue the leading low-cost carrier for the third year in a row.

Continental Airlines holds the top-ranked slot among traditional carriers for the second consecutive year.

The survey measures overall customer satisfaction based on performance in cost and fees; flight crew; in-flight services; aircraft; boarding/deplaning/baggage; check-in and reservations.

Air Canada will double its daily Beijing-Vancouver service and increase its Shanghai-Toronto non-stop flights in July, the carrier’s Beijing Office said on Sunday.

“‘These added flights represent an increased capacity of nearly 50 percent for the growing Chinese market, which continues to thrive due to strength in both leisure and business travel,'” said Daniel Shurz, vice president of Network Planning of Air Canada.

The added Beijing-Vancouver daily flight will operate between July 2 and October 1, using a 211-seat Boeing 767-300 plane.

Effective on July 1, The Shanghai-Toronto service will increase to daily service starting for the summer peak and continue as a three-day-a-week service for the 2007-2008-winter schedule.

source: xinhuanet.com

British Airways increased its fuel surcharge again on Wednesday, the ninth rise since the levy was introduced in May 2004.

Three years ago, the first surcharge was £2.50, but this week the airline’s levy on long-haul flights of less than nine hours increased from £33 to £38, or £76 return. The surcharge on flights lasting more than nine hours has risen from £38 to £43, or £86 return. BA’s short-haul fuel surcharge remains at £8 one way.

Robert Boyle, BA’s commercial director, said the change was necessary because fuel costs had risen in recent weeks.

source: telegraph.co.uk

Northwest Airlines on Friday revealed a new service between Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport and New York’s LaGuardia International Airport beginning Sept. 5, 2007. The company noted that the new service would be operated with Northwest’s modern Airbus A319 aircraft. Northwest is a member of SkyTeam, an airline alliance that offers extensive global networks.

source: tradingmarkets.com