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Business class flights for ministers and civil servants will be for the chop, as David Cameron seeks to rescue his government’s green credentials on Wednesday by announcing tougher energy efficiency targets – even as most of his MEPs defied his wishes by voting against more ambitious climate aims for Europe.

For the first time, travel by ministers and civil servants will be taken into account in judging central government’s greenhouse gas emissions – meaning flights that account for higher carbon dioxide emissions will have to be cut back.

source: guardian.co.uk

In future, Air Berlin and Iberia are offering selected flights under joint flight numbers.

The connection possibilities from and to Madrid will improve for Air Berlin passengers as a result of the agreement. Iberia in turn will benefit from the extensive domestic route network and the good connections to destinations in Germany and Scandinavia via the Air Berlin hub in Berlin.

In a further step, plans are underway to expand the codeshare agreement to the frequent flyer programs of both airlines, Air Berlin‘s topbonus as well as Iberia’s plus.

source: the FINANTIAL

U.S. airlines will step up their campaign against European Union climate policy next week, with a legal challenge at Europe’s highest court to their inclusion in the EU carbon market.

The EU aims to lead the world in fighting climate change, and says it needs to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions to guard against future climate impacts such as crop failures, droughts or flooding.

From January 2012, airlines flying to or from Europe will have to buy permits from the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme for 15 percent of the carbon emissions they produce. They join 11,000 factories and power plants already in the scheme.

source: Reuters

Virgin America has teamed up with Google to offer travelers access to a Chromebook, Google’s new laptop, when they fly with the US airline.

The carrier announced June 30 that some passengers will be able to pick up a Chromebook at the gate on select US domestic routes, to trial while they fly.

As the Chromebook is a cloud-based computer and requires an internet connection for almost all of its features, flyers who get their hands on the laptop will be given a free in-flight WiFi.

source: Independent.co.uk

In 2016, San Sebastian will join Wroclaw (Poland) as the ‘European Culture Capital’. San Sebastian was picked out of six other Spanish cities.

The “‘peace and co-existence’” slogan which caught the jury’s attention aims to “‘overcome violence and to have culture serve peace and cohabitation’”.  The whole Basque region is delighted with the decision.

The other European Culture Capitals are Guimarães and Maribor (2012), Marseille and Kosice (2013), Riga and Umeå (2014), Mons and Plzen (2015).

source: artmediaagency.com

Continental Airlines‘ ‘OnePass ‘loyalty program will be phased out and moved into United’s ‘Mileage Plus’ plan later this year, United Continental Holdings Inc. said Wednesday.

Continental’s ‘OnePass’ loyalty program will end on Dec. 31. United will automatically enroll OnePass members in ‘Mileage Plus ‘and deposit their miles into Mileage Plus accounts.

‘OnePass’ member activity this year will be fully recognized in ‘Mileage Plus’ next year. ‘OnePass’-branded credit cards will continue to earn miles and benefits in the ‘Mileage Plus’ program.

source: boston.com

Lufthansa will be offering a free mobile application (app) for all iPad users – with numerous functionalities and services centred on flying with Lufthansa. Individual  functions have been tailored to iPad specifics, giving iPad users a totally new experience.

The central feature of the iPad app is an interactive world map for users to finger-tap intuitively and explore the entire Lufthansa route network.

“‘Utilisation of these services and flight bookings on smartphones and tablet computers, like the iPad is coming increasingly to the fore in online sales'” emphasised Marcus Casey, Head of Online Sales at  Lufthansa.

source: webwire.com

Ryanair celebrated IATA confirmation that it is the world’s favourite airline after IATA stats for 2010 showed Ryanair carried more international passengers than any other airline.

Ryanair carried 71.2m international passengers last year, 62 million more than Aer Lingus,  almost 30m more than second placed Lufthansa (44.6m) and almost 10m more than easyjet (37m) and British Airways (26m) combined.

source: The FINANCIAL

Budget airline Flybe has laid down a marker in its quest to dominate Europe’s regional routes by acquiring a Finnish regional carrier in a €25m (£22.7m) deal.

Exeter-based Flybe has bought Finnish Commuter Airlines in a joint venture with Finnair, Finland’s national carrier.

The deal came a day after Flybe announced a pre-tax loss of £4.3m last year following last April’s Icelandic volcano eruption and severe winter weather.

source: Guardian.co.uk

Ryanair has rejected a ruling by the UK’s consumer and competition authority that it should stop imposing a £6 charge on flight bookings that appears only after customers log their credit and debit card details, even though the regulator has warned that it could take legal action.

Such fees should be included in the price from the beginning of the transaction, the authority said, although it urged the British government to pass legislation quickly to block the imposition of any charges on debit card payments.

source: irishtimes.com