Skybus, a new low-cost/low-fare airline based in Columbus, Ohio, has signed a firm contract for the purchase of 65 Airbus A319 aircraft. In terms of number of Airbus aircraft, this is among the largest single orders ever by a U.S. carrier. The airline has not yet announced its engine selection for the single-aisle aircraft.
source: Techwhack
In a wide-ranging global survey of holidaymakers’ likes and dislikes, the Pammukkale in Turkey came out as the world’s top destination for 2007. This is the complete list:
1 – Pamukkale, Turkey
2 – Parga, Greece
3 – Ayr, Scotland
4 – Campeche, Mexico
5 – Marrakech, Morocco
6 – Naxos, Greece
7 – Puno, Peru
8 – Soller, Spain
9 – Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
10 – Fez, Morocco
source: Travelbite.co.uk
Ryanair has been voted the world’s least liked airline because of cramped seating, unfriendly staff and delays.
Online travel service TripAdvisor said it polled 4,000 of its users on a range of subjects from airlines and airports, to worries and holiday hotspots.
Ryanair was not the only low-cost carrier singled out for criticism, with Easyjet voted the second worst. British Airways was picked as the best airline.
Ryanair countered that it consistently topped customer-service indicators.
source: BBC News
Aer Lingus has warned staff that it will make job cuts as the airline attempts to fight off a hostile takeover bid from rival Ryanair.
Dermot Mannion, chief executive of the Dublin-based company, told employee representatives yesterday that cost-cutting plans will have to be stepped up after Ryanair pledged to slash Aer Lingus’s cost base in the event of a takeover.
source: Guardian Unlimited
US Airways Group Inc., formed last year from the merger of US Airways and American West Airlines, on Thursday posted a net loss for the third quarter after fuel hedging and merger-related costs.
The airline said the loss amounted to $78 million, or 88 cents per share, compared with a loss of $99 million, or $5.74 per share, for American West a year earlier. For accounting purposes, America West was treated as the acquiring company.
source: Reuters
In Marseille the first airport for the low-cost flights will open. It will be independent and will be built near the “Marseilles Provence”‘s airport. About 3,5 million passengers might pass every day. Ryanair wants to the new airport became its only hub in France, like base to launch its challenge to Air France-KLM, which has already provided to have recourse and threatens legal acts against the Irish airline with the accusation of social dumping.
source: AvioNews
Oasis Airlines, which promotes itself as the world’s first long-haul budget airline, is making its inaugural cut-price flight from Hong Kong today.
One of Oasis’ two leased Boeing 747 jumbos was due to be airborne at 1:00 pm with a full complement of more than 300 passengers bound for London’s Gatwick Airport.
source: lse.co.uk
Dusseldorf International`s winter schedule begins with 68 airlines heading to 165 destinations all over the world. Among the destinations are interesting vacation spots like Samana in the Dominican Republic or Aswan in Egypt. More connecting flights, including some to Southampton or Leipzig-Halle, and more frequent flights, for example at Lufthansa, make the largest airport in Nordrhein-Westfalen even more attractive for business travelers. The winter flight schedule begins next Sunday, October 29, and continues until March 24, 2007.
source: TravelDailyNews.com
Low cost airline Wizz Air has launched flights to Eastern Europe from the North East.
The flights to Warsaw, capital of Poland, from Durham Tees Valley will start from 28 July 2007 and will operate three times a week.
John Stephenson, Chief Commercial Officer of Wizz Air said: “We are very pleased to start flying from Durham Tees Valley. The airport is ideally placed to serve a large population area including Newcastle and provides excellent connectivity to the neighbouring cities.”
source: n-e-life
The load factor improved by 2.8 points compared to 2005, reaching 83.3%, a record level for this month. Traffic -measured in RPK (revenue passenger kilometre)- grew by 5.7%, while capacity -measured in ASK (available seat kilometre)- increased by 2.1%. The traffic growth in international flights (+8.9%), accompanied by a mix improvement; the load factor improved in all sectors. The average stage length increased by 5.9% due to the growing weight of long haul traffic.
source: Travel Daily News
