news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

While airlines opening new routes to Prague are making headlines, many have been compelled to limit their operations to the summer months â?? or to even close them down permanently.

Slovak low-cost airline SkyEurope is one of three airlines with a base in Prague after national air carrier Czech Airlines (ČSA) and Smart Wings (operated by Travel Service). It has 11 destinations, started since last spring, from the Czech capital â?? including its latest line, to begin this December, Prague-Grenoble, Italy. As of the winter schedule, starting Oct. 28, Sky Europe will reduce its Pragueâ??Amsterdam schedule from the current seven flights a week to three. Also, its Pragueâ??Barcelona, Spain route will be reduced to three times a week from its current four flights.

source: cbw.cz

Singapore Airlines, the world’s second-biggest airline by market value, said on Monday it was seeking court arbitration to settle a dispute with its pilots over pay and benefits for flying its new A380 superjumbo planes.Singapore Airlines has ordered 19 of Airbus’ double-decker A380 aircraft and will be the first airline to fly the new plane next year.

“The company is seeking to have some differences with Air Line Pilots Association-Singapore (Alpa-S) over proposed pay scales for A380 pilots adjudicated. We hope that the outstanding issues can be resolved quickly,” Singapore Airlines said in a statement.

Singapore daily The Straits Times said on Monday that Alpa-S, which it said represents 1,600 pilots, is upset because the airline is proposing to pay the pilots less than what a Boeing 747 captain makes, although the airline’s A380s, with just under 480 seats, will carry about 100 more passengers than its 747s.

source: Reuters

Four U.S. airlines this week are intensifying a contest to open the next non-stop route to China, the world’s hottest growth market.

On Monday, American, Continental, Northwest and United airlines will submit briefs to the U.S. Department of Transportation to boost their bids for the one China route to be approved this year.

The DOT decision is expected to give an economic boost to one of the four U.S. metro areas that would be linked to China by the new air service: Dallas-Fort Worth, Detroit, Washington, D.C., or New York City. Of the four, only the New York area now has a non-stop link to China.

The DOT is charged with choosing a route that will best serve the public interest. But that hasn’t stopped the airlines from waging intense public lobbying campaigns to try to influence the decision.

source: USATODAY.com

Alitalia SpA trade unions have called for a 24-hour strike on Oct 9 in addition to one already set for Sept 29, as talks with management on restructuring falter, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.

In talks Friday, the unions opposed plans for the airline to sell its information technology and administrative activities. Unions and management are due to meet again on Monday, while unions are also asking for intervention of prime minister Romano Prodi.

source: Forbes

60-year-old woman who says she was disfigured when a poisonous spider repeatedly bit her on an American Airlines flight is suing the carrier.The woman is seeking unspecified damages in a lawsuit filed earlier this month against American Airlines and its parent company, Fort Worth-based AMR Corp. The suit seeks damages for medical expenses, pain, suffering, physical impairment and lost wages.

American spokesman Tim Wagner said the company usually does not comment on pending litigation.

source: chron.com

The number of international passengers arriving in Spain with low-cost airlines such as easyJet and Ryanair during August jumped 13.2 percent from last year, government figures showed on Friday.

Spain’s crowded no-frills airline market accounted for nearly a third of flights into the country during the peak travel month.

The figures showed 1.8 million visitors traveled to Spain in August in flights operated by low-cost airlines — 30.2 percent of all international passengers.

Britain’s easyJet flew the most passengers, followed by Ireland’s Ryanair and Germany’s Air Berlin. Unlisted Spanish airline Vueling, a low-cost start-up that began flying in July 2004, was ranked fifth.

source: Airwise

BmiBaby is expanding its route network at Birmingham International from next January. The budget airline is going to base three more Boeing 737s at the Midlandâ??s largest airport, taking their Birmingham fleet to eight aircraft.

BmiBaby started operations at Birmingham in January 2005 and has since become the biggest carrier at the airport. The airline currently flies to Alicante, Amsterdam, Belfast International, Bordeaux, Cork, Edinburgh, Knock, Nice, Malaga, Palma and Prague from Birmingham.

source: flightmapping.com

Irish discount carrier Ryanair, Europe’s largest low-cost airline, is opening a second German hub. Ryanair, which also is investing about $128 million to buy a low-cost terminal facility at the Bremen airport, will begin by stationing three aircraft at the northern German field.

Moving into Bremen sharpens Ryanair’s rivalry with Germanwings, Lufthansa’s low-cost airline, which opened its fourth German hub in nearby Hamburg last November.

Meanwhile, Britain’s discount EasyJet also has opened two bases in Berlin-Schonefeld and Dortmund.

source: market-day.net

Lufthansa, Europe’s No. 2 airline, plans to order 35 aircraft valued at as much as $3.12 billion from Airbus, expanding the fleet to meet growing competition. The carrier plans a second purchase later this year.

The airline will buy five A319 models, 10 A320s and 15 A321s for short-haul services and five A330-300s for long-distance routes, with deliveries starting next year, Cologne, Germany-based Lufthansa said in a statement Wednesday. The carrier also plans to take an option for 30 additional A320-series aircraft and is still in talks about a long-haul plane order.

Lufthansa added routes and cut prices in Europe this year to counter low-cost carriers such as Dublin, Ireland-based Ryanair. The German airline has bought rivals and arranged routes to encourage connecting traffic through three hubs in central Europe, even as competitor Air France-KLM Group grows faster and wins trans-Atlantic market share.

source: Seattlepi.com

Brazilian no-frills airline Gol Linhas Aereas Inteligentes SA (GOL) has launched ticket sales for flights to and from Chile, it said late Tuesday. Chile will be Gol’s seventh foreign destination. According to Gol, Chile is the second biggest travel destination for Brazilians in South America behind Argentina.

Gol already flies to Argentina, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay. The company will daily connect Santiago and the Brazilian cities of Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo, and Florianopolis, with stops in Buenos Aires. Flights will debut on Sept. 25.

source: EasyBourse