Germanwings Chief Executive Officer Thomas Winkelmann plans to take over some of Air Berlin routes from the Cologne/Bonn airport.
Air Berlin, Germany’s second-biggest airline, said Aug. 18 it will cancel unprofitable routes, reduce flight frequencies and partially withdraw from regional airports to focus on its four main hubs.
source: bloomberg.com
UK regional carrier Flybe and Finnair have completed their joint acquisition of Finnish Commuter Airlines.
This will result in the creation of Finland-based carrier Flybe Nordic.
The two carriers formed a joint venture in July to acquire Finnish Commuter Airlines from owner Finncomm for a total of €25 million ($36 million).
source: flightglobal.com
SAS Group returned to profit in the second quarter after passenger traffic rose and the carrier cut costs.
“‘There are positive prospects for continued traffic growth during the second half of 2011, particularly on U.S. routes, but also on domestic and intra-Scandinavian routes,’†Chief Executive Officer Rickard Gustafson said in the statement.
SAS, part-owned by the governments of Sweden, Norway and Denmark, had been unprofitable in all but two of the previous 14 quarters as it struggled with a drop in travel and competition from discount carriers such as Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. SAS in May forecast a full-year 2011 pretax profit, and the carrier reaffirmed that prediction today.
source: bloomberg.com
Real Madrid fans may be more tempted to take flights to Dubai organised by Emirates after the airline began a sponsorship deal with the iconic Spanish club.
The carrier already supports a host of other teams worldwide, including Premier League side Arsenal.
Following the announcement, senior vice president of commercial operations for Europe and Russia Federation at Emirates Salem Obaidalla noted that it was one year ago almost to the day when it launched flights to Spanish capital.
“‘Getting away from it all'” may be a travel marketing cliché, but the phrase might take on a whole new meaning come 2016.
Russian firm Orbital Technologies plans to open the first space hotel in history in five year’s time. The space hotel, or “‘Commercial Space Station,'” as it’s officially called, will float 250 miles above Earth.
The hotel can accommodate a maximum of seven people at a time. To check in, tourists will have to undergo special training that can take up to three months, depending on the type of spacecraft they fly to the hotel. The firm says that stays can range from three days to six months.
All senior cabin crew at British Airways will be getting iPad devices to use in-flight following a successful dry-run, which saw 100 iPads in action aboard BA flights.
The devices will be pre-loaded with all kinds of useful material to make the lives of cabin crew staff that little bit easier.
BA recently completed a dry-run test of 100 iPads aboard its flights and has now decided to deploy the devices en masse to senior cabin crew in the coming months.
Ryanair has moved swiftly to capitalise on the drama surrounding actor Gerard Depardieu’s antics on a CityJet flight on Tuesday.
Not one to miss an opportunity, the homepage of Ryanair’s web booking site says, “‘Pissed off with high fare airlines …’†alongside newspaper cutouts announcing the actor’s controversy.
It is in keeping with Ryanair’s tradition of using the latest controversy to sell flights.
source: siliconrepublic.com
The veteran chief executive of Air Berlin has resigned after launching a sweeping package of cuts to routes and its fleet aimed at ensuring future profitability.
Mr Hunold’s departure highlighted the turmoil hitting European airlines, which have struggled to produce profits amid fierce competition and setbacks including Japan’s earthquake, unrest in the Middle East and north Africa and disruption caused by an Icelandic volcano.
source: FT.com
Heathrow Airport became the 42nd domestic sponsor of the London 2012 Games today.
It is expected that about 80% of all the people who will travel to the Games will go through the airport. This includes athletes, officials, sponsors, media and spectators.
The “‘first impression will reflect London 2012 in terms of branding but crucially by providing the warmest of welcomes to the city'”, London 2012’s commercial director Chris Townsend said.
The day after the Olympic closing ceremony – August 13 2012 – is set to be Heathrow’s busiest day ever.
source: independent.co.uk
Passengers on Virgin Atlantic flights will receive “‘weep warnings'” before they watch emotional films on board, after an airline survey found that passengers experienced emotions more acutely while flying.
The move comes after Richard Branson’s airline conducted a survey which found 55 percent of travelers agreed that their emotions became heightened during a flight.
s0urce: poconorecord.com
