news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Four airlines from the UK and Irish Republic are calling for the UK government to scrap ‘Air Passenger Duty (APD)’.

The tax, which is applied to almost every ticket on a flight originating in the UK, has risen sharply since it was introduced in 1994.

When APD was introduced, passengers whose journey originated in the UK paid between £5 and £40 per ticket. They now have to pay from £24 to £170.

It is opposed by Easyjet, Ryanair, Virgin Atlantic and British Airways.

The airlines say it penalises British holidaymakers and makes the UK a less attractive destination.

source: BBC.co.uk

Dutch airline KLM will start the installation of full flat beds in its Business Class long-haul fleets in May 2013.

The airline’s Boeing 747 fleet will be the first planes to be retrofitted with full flat beds, to be followed by B777s and Airbuses. Each full flat bed will be equipped with inflight entertainment (IFE) screens in portable tablets.

The new flat beds will allow passengers to fully recline their seats horizontally, mirroring the comfort of a real bed.

fuente: flightcentric.com

EasyJet is breaking with one of the key principles of low-cost airlines as it begins a trial of allocating seats on some routes.

Starting this spring, the budget carrier will allow passengers on some flights to pay a surcharge to choose a seat in advance. Carolyn McCall, chief executive, said it was too early to say how much this option would cost travellers, nor how many or which routes would be included in the trial. She added that “‘if it increases boarding time we won’t do it”.

source: FT.com

British airline passengers were forced to stage a giant whip-round and hand over £20,000 in cash after being ‘’held to ransom” by their airline.

More than 180 were left stranded on their Boeing 757 when cabin crew announced during a refuelling stop that the Austrian carrier Comtel Air had ‘’run out of money”.

The plane from Amritsar, in India, was on a stopover at Vienna en route to Birmingham. Passengers were told that the flight would continue only if 23,400 euros (£20,005) was handed over. Otherwise they and their luggage would be removed from the aircraft.

Police were called in when they refused to get off. A six-hour stand-off ended only when passengers were escorted to cashpoint machines. These eventually ran out of money and many of those on board had no funds anyway.

source: dailymail.co.uk

Airport workers are being paid bonuses to crack down on travellers with bulky hand luggage.

Ryanair passengers are among those who could face particularly eagle-eyed attention as a result, but other budget airlines are thought to use similar tactics.

Airlines often have contracts giving companies that provide check-in staff a financial incentive to detect passengers with excess baggage.

But yesterday it emerged that the firm providing baggage services for Ryanair at Liverpool John Lennon Airport is passing a cut directly to workers.

source: dailymail.co.uk

Tech-savvy travellers can now check flight statuses via Twitter with the new “tweet bot” service launched by Virgin Atlantic.

The “tweet bot” @VAAInfo, a first for any airline takes a customer query about a flight status and tweets back within seconds giving real-time flight departure and arrival information.

This new tool is perfect for passengers looking to check their flight status on the go as a quick, single line tweet will generate an immediate reply.

source: breakingtravelnews.com

AirAsia chief Tony Fernandes revealed Monday his plans to start a new super-premium regional airline in partnership with national carrier Malaysia Airlines.

Fernandes said the proposed short-haul carrier would cater largely to business travellers, among others, who need to travel across the region quickly.

Malaysia-based AirAsia has become one of the airline industry’s biggest success stories after Fernandes acquired the then-failing company a decade ago.

Its 2010 full-year net profit nearly doubled to 1.07 billion ringgit ($340 million) compared to 2009.

source: The Economic Times

German airline Lufthansa plans to boost passenger services to and from Berlin when the city’s new international airport opens next year.

The plans include expanding its fleet and passenger facilities, flying new routes and knocking down ticket prices amid fierce competition from no-frills airlines. The new airport, Berlin Brandenburg International, will be Germany’s third-largest once it opens its doors next year.

The move is likely to increase pressure on Lufthansa’s budget rivals. In addition to domestic player Air Berlin, the German capital is serviced by a number of no-frills carriers including Easyjet, Norwegian and Ryanair.

source: dw-world.de

French cabin crews have no right to tell Muslim women to remove their burqa aboard Air France flights – despite a nationwide ban on full face veils, the airline has ruled.

Islamic passengers can be ordered to remove the garment while waiting in French airports to board the plane at the gate. But once on board, they are free to put their burqa back on, according to an internal memo to staff from Air France’s legal department.

France’s controversial burqa ban which came into force in April makes it a criminal offence for for anyone to hide their face in public.

source: dailymail.co.uk

Embattled Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has become the butt of a joke used by low-cost carrier Ryanair to advertise one of its flight offers.

”Dear Berlusconi, another opportunity to escape with Ryanair,” the ad posted on the Irish carrier’s website said.

The ad was accompanied by a cartoon-like figure of the Italian premier, holding the latest edition of ”The Girls of Ryanair” – a calendar depicting several Ryanair female staff clad in bikinis.

source: skynews.com.au