news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Frontier Airlines and the Frontier Airline Pilots Association (FAPA) announced that FAPA membership has ratified a new collective bargaining agreement by a vote of 289 (67%) for to 140 (33%) against, which represents 429 votes out of 553 eligible voters, or 78%. The new four-year agreement amends the previous five-year contract signed in May 2000. Implementation of the approved agreement will begin in March, 2007.

source: Yahoo!

As an ice storm stranded JetBlue airplanes for up to 10½ hours, passengers sat within sight of the terminal without food, adequate restrooms or a reasonable explanation as to why they weren’t moving.

They could have been evacuated much sooner if the airline hadn’t waited so long to ask airport officials for help. JetBlue acknowledged Thursday that it hesitated nearly five hours before calling in shuttle buses to unload 10 jets that spent much of Wednesday sitting on runways because of icy weather and gate congestion.

source: TheGlobe&Mail

Low-cost airline airline easyJet PLC said it today opened its 17th European base at Madrid’s Barajas airport.

The Luton-based airline says it expects to carry over 2 mln passengers from Madrid in 2007 on 18 routes – three domestic, 13 European and two to North Africa.

Last year easyJet launched 13 new routes to and from Spain and the airline has already announced a further 13 routes to and from Spain to be opened this year.

source: Forbes

Three new nonstop flights from European airports to Boston are starting from this March with Air Lingus opening Dublin-Boston route from March 25, Iberia flying from Madrid to Boston from May 6 and flyglobespan operating the Glasgow-Boston from May 25, 2007.

source: Traveldailynews

British Airways has lowered the cost of tickets on all Middle East routes and as Paul Starrs British Airways’ Commercial Manager, Middle East mentions “‘The tickets represent a substantial saving for  customers when comparing the prices with other airlines operating regionally. This sale will allow new customers to experience our renowned, industry-leading services at an appealingly low price.’”

The fares – which represent the lowest priced tickets the airline has put on the market since for five years – are available on all tickets bought before February 23rd 2007.

source: Traveldailynews

Uk low-cost airline Easyjet opened its 17th base at Madrid’s Barajas airport.

The airline said it expects to carry over 2 million passengers from Madrid this year on 18 routes.

Last year the airline said it carried 8.4 million passengers to and from Spain – a 15% increase on the previous year.

First airlines took away free food. Then blankets and pillows disappeared. And now checked luggage may be on the endangered list.

Spirit Airlines will become the first U.S. carrier to allow passengers to check only one piece of luggage for free. A second bag will cost passengers $10.

“‘I’m surprised it’s taken them this long to get around to doing this,'” aviation analyst Darryl Jenkins said.

Spirit says it’s a way to keep ticket prices low, but passengers worry about other airlines joining in.

source: ABC News

Iran’s national airline will begin direct flights to Venezuela next month in another sign of the two nations’ increasingly close ties.

Iran Air will operate a weekly, commercial flight linking Tehran and Caracas in March, the Venezuelan government said in a statement.

Flights leaving Tehran will stop in Syria’s capital of Damascus on their way to Caracas, it said.

Iran Air opened a new office at the headquarters of Venezuela’s state airline Conviasa in Caracas on Friday, and Convias will soon open a commercial office in Iran, the statement said.

Aer Lingus has signed a strategic partnership with JetBlue, a low-cost American airline, that will allow passengers access to 51 routes across the United States, Mexico and the Caribbean.

Set to launch in August, the deal is designed to give Aer Lingus passengers travelling to New York JFK and Boston the opportunity to connect with JetBlue flights to destinations across the US, to Cancun in Mexico and to the Caribbean islands of Aruba, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.

The deal comes against a backdrop of increased transatlantic competition. Delta and American Airlines are all adding capacity to their Irish routes while Flyglobespan last week agreed a deal to offer services to New York from Knock airport.

source: AMT online

The U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics has again put Hawaii’s two biggest airlines at the top of its rankings for good service.

Aloha Airlines logged an on-time record of 93.7 percent for the December reporting period. It had the lowest complaint rate — none at all in December.

Hawaiian Airlines won the 2006 annual on-time tally, and also came in best in the nation on baggage handling. It was second for on-time arrivals in December.

source: Pacific Business News