news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

The low-fares airline Ryanair has lost its battle to win control of an Internet domain name from a disgruntled former customer, according to a ruling issued by a United Nations panel Wednesday.

Michael Coulston of London, England, set up a Web site in July under the domain name http://www.ryanaircampaign.org which is critical of Ryanair’s business practices.

The Irish carrier complained to the World Intellectual Property Organization that the domain name infringed on its trademarks and should therefore be transferred into Ryanair’s possession.

source: International Herald Tribune

Hundreds of flights left Denver’s beleaguered airport on Christmas Eve with many passengers who had been stranded when a two-day blizzard shut down the runways last week.

The airport’s two biggest airlines, United and Frontier, said they flew full schedules of a combined 1,200 flights Sunday. They had a similar schedule Saturday as travelers around the country whose itineraries were wrecked by the storm raced to get home.

source: Forbes

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Virgin America Inc., the Burlingame-based brainchild of Sir Richard Branson, expects federal authorities to reject its application to start a low-cost U.S. airline. Competitors had raised concerns that foreigners such as Branson would wield too much influence in the venture.

U.S. law requires that Americans control domestic airlines flying within the country and that foreigners hold no more than 25 percent of a domestic airline’s stock.

AirAsia will be strengthening and enhancing its route network by connecting all the existing cities it flies to and expanding to new destinations, group chief executive officer Datuk Tony Fernandes said.

The budget carrier plans to expand further in Indochina, Indonesia, Southern China and India next year with the delivery of more new Airbus A320s.

source: the star online

Spirit Airlines has received approval from the U.S. government to fly to Haiti from Fort Lauderdale, the local low-cost carrier’s president and CEO said Friday.

Spirit plans to start daily flights to Port-au-Prince in April, Ben Baldanza said during an interview with The Miami Herald on Friday.

source: MiamiHerald.com

British Airways Plc canceled about 40 percent of its short-haul flying schedule at London Heathrow airport during a third day of disruption caused by dense fog, stranding thousands of passengers at Europe’s busiest airport.

British Airways, Europe’s third-biggest airline, is operating all long-haul flights, and is using twin-aisle planes to boost capacity on some short-haul routes from Heathrow. The three days of cancellations, including all U.K. domestic flights, will reduce earnings for the carrier this quarter, said Cathy West, a British Airways spokeswoman who declined to specify when an estimate will be released.

source: Bloomberg

No frills airline Ryanair yesterday withdrew its ambitious bid to take over Ireland’s national carrier Aer Lingus after the European Commission announced an “‘in-depth investigation'” into its plans.

Following the announcement Ryanair said the buyout automatically lapsed under takeover rules – but the company still intends to make a further offer for Aer Lingus if the EC review clears the way.

Dublin-based Ryanair launched its £1 billion bid in October – a takeover offer which Aer Lingus asked shareholders to reject.

source: The Birminghan Post

Italy’s Meridiana airline, owned by the Aga Khan, said it is buying a 29.9 pct stake in the quoted charter airline Eurofly SpA from Eurofly’s 44 pct shareholder Spinnaker.

The sale is subject to approval by Italy’s antitrust authority and cancellation of the lock-up on Spinnaker selling shares, it said.

source: Forbes

Baer Air, a mostly charter airline business based at Melbourne International Airport (Florida), said Wednesday it will begin offering regular non-stop service to Freeport, Bahamas, beginning next month.

The approximately one-hour flights to Freeport will cost about $400 roundtrip. Freeport is the second-largest city in the Bahamas.

Italian low-cost airline MyAir, which has been operating on the domestic market for around two years, plans to introduce some internal flights next year, being the first foreign airline to announce such intentions.

In the wake of EU integration and owing to the “open sky” regulation, foreign companies will be allowed to operate flights on any destinations inside the EU.

Thus, whereas so far an Italian airline could only operate flights from or to Italy, the “open sky” regulation will allow it to operate flights between any of the EU member states, as well as internal flights.