news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

The airport security union representing workers at Brussels South Charleroi Airport signed an agreement with the Wallonian regional government which guarantees a minimum level of service in the event of future strikes.

The agreement guarantees that, in the event of a grievance, all other avenues of dialogue will be exploited before a strike is called.

The agreement comes following reports last week that Irish low-cost carrier Ryanair was to suspend flights from the airport from November following a series of ‘wildcat’ strikes.

source: Reuters

From November 5th 2007 holidaymakers will be able to fly to Hamburg, Germany’s second city, from London Luton airport. The service will be daily, with return fares starting from £33.98 including taxes.

Also new are flights from East Midlands airport to Palma, the capital of the Spanish Balearics on the island of Mallorca.

The route will start from February 7th 2008 and will operate three times per week, increasing to a daily service for the summer season. Fares will start from £35.98 return.

source: travelbite.co.uk

Ryanair passengers will be charged £2 to check in at airport desks from next month as part of the airline’s latest ruse for slashing costs.

Europe’s largest low-cost airline denied that it was gouging passengers with its latest levy. Starting on September 20, passengers who want to check in at the airport must pay a further £2 alongside a charge of £5 to put bags in the hold.

source: Guardian.co.uk

City of Austin (USA) has approved the lease between Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and General Electric Commercial Aviation Services LLC for the construction, operation and maintenance of a low-cost airport terminal.

The new terminal will serve “‘ultra-low-cost'” airlines including a new Mexican airline vivaAeroBus, which has agreed to fly between Austin and five Mexican destinations. The airlines fares range as low as $5 to $30. The airline is aiming to operate flights by Thanksgiving.

source: BizJournals

easyJet would launch a further two new routes this winter, connecting East Midlands with Palma (Mallorca) and London Luton with Hamburg, bringing the total number of new routes to be launched by the airline this winter to 46 and representing a growth of 14% year on year.

source: Boarding.no

Red Hat, the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced that Virgin America, the newly launched American airline, has selected Red Hat Enterprise Linux as the platform on which to host its commercial website.  The airline chose Red Hat Enterprise Linux for its reputation for scalability and security. 

source: Irish dev

The Vatican is to set up its own charter airline service to fly pilgrims to shrines and holy sites.

The first flight, which is already sold out, takes off from Rome at the end of August and will fly to Lourdes.

Other routes to places of pilgrimage around the world are also expected to be introduced.

Scandinavian airline SAS said on Friday it had buried the hatchet with its Danish unions and that four organisations had pledged to work for a “‘no-strike situation'” after 2007 wage negotiations.

The carrier, hard hit by fierce competition from low-cost carriers and higher fuel costs in recent years, has had hundreds of flights grounded this year at a cost of millions of dollars due to strikes at its Danish and Swedish units.

SAS Chief Executive Mats Jansson said the airline should be able avoid new strikes through initiatives including profit-sharing programmes and share-ownership programmes.

source: Reuters

Southwest Airlines Co. is on pace to unseat American Airlines this year as the world’s biggest airline, measured by passenger traffic.

The domestic-only discount carrier already eclipsed American’s combined domestic and international traffic during the first five months of 2007, according to a government tally released last week.

Southwest carried 40.3 million passengers on domestic routes between January and May, an increase of 4.2 percent from last year.

source: Courierpost Online

The Airbus A380, the world’s biggest passenger plane, is to enter service on October 25 with launch client Singapore Airlines, the companies announced today.

After an 18-month delay to the delivery caused by manufacturing problems, the plane is to carry its first paying passengers on a longhaul route between Singapore and Sydney.

source: News.com.au