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The world’s largest airlines collected an estimated $21.46 billion in passenger fees and other extra revenue last year, about double the amount collected in 2008, according to a new study.

For some airlines, revenue generated from extra fees, the sale of frequent flier points, and commissions for booking passengers into hotel rooms and rental cars now represents 15 percent to 30 percent of all airline revenue, according to the report by IdeaWorks Co., a Wisconsin consultant on airline fees, and Amadeus Corp., a Madrid technology company for the travel industry.

The annual report released Tuesday said 47 airlines worldwide reported some type of ancillary revenue last year, compared with only 23 airlines in 2007.

United Airlines and Continental Airlines, which have merged but operate as two airlines, reported a combined $5 billion in ancillary revenue in 2010, the most for any airline, followed by Delta Air Lines with $3.7 billion and American Airlines with $1.9 billion, according to the report.

source: vancouversun.com

easyJet, have marked becoming the world’s youngest and quickest airline to reach a fleet of 200 Airbus aircraft, at a ceremony in Toulouse.

easyJet already operates the world’s largest fleet of A319s with over 166 in service today. Including their A320s, which have recently joined the fleet, the airline has grown to be Europe’s largest A320 Family operator. Since easyJet took delivery of its first Airbus aircraft (an A319) in September 2003, Airbus has delivered an aircraft on average every 14 days over the last eight years.

source: eturbonews.com

American Airlines was ordered by a judge to let Orbitz Worldwide Inc. (OWW) resume ticket sales, the same day Sabre Holdings Inc. asked a federal court in Texas for permission to sue the carrier over access to flight data.

Illinois Circuit Court Judge Lee Preston in Chicago yesterday ordered AMR Corp. (AMR)’s American to reinstate Orbitz.com’s and Orbitz for Business’s ability to ticket its flights. Preston overturned a decision denying a request by Travelport LP for a preliminary injunction. Travelport owns about 48 percent of Chicago-based Orbitz.

“‘The court agreed with Travelport that an injunction should have been granted against AA in December which would have prevented AA from terminating its contracts with Orbitz,’” Travelport said in an e-mailed statement.

source: Bloomberg

Ryanair staff in Belgium are literally tearing their hair out at a sudden surge in testing for cannabis use.

“‘Every week, a nurse comes from Ireland and takes stewards and stewardesses into an office where they cut hair samples for drug tests,'” an employee reported.

The controls were bi-annual, but have been conducted three times in the past three weeks, Ryanair spokesman Stephen McNamara confirmed.

source: smh.com.au

Monarch Airlines has scrapped debit card surcharges in a bid to win business from budget rivals like Ryanair and Easyjet.

The British-based airline, which is currently undergoing a major rebrand, said there was ”no justification” for advertising one price and then stinging customers with hidden charges when they come to pay for their flights.

Monarch said it would no longer be charging extra for any bookings made  with debit cards, but that credit card payments would still incur a flat  fee of £10 per booking. However, the airline claims to be in  negotiations with credit card companies to reduce that fee further.

source: which.co.uk

Alaska Airlines is dumping paper flight manuals for its pilots in favor of electronic documents stored on company-issued iPads.

The Seattle-based carrier will be the first major U.S. airline to make the switch from paper to iPad when all its pilots receive a tablet by mid-June. Alaska is making the switch “as part of an ongoing effort to use technology to enhance flight safety, improve efficiency and protect the environment,” according to a statement from the airline.

Apparently the iPad was the first device to impress Alaska higher-ups enough to consider going digital.

source: PC World

The airline’s first flight took to the skies on 19 May 2004 from Katowice in Southern Poland. Since then, the airline has gone on to become the largest airline in Central and Eastern Europe operating from 15 bases, in Poland, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the Czech Republic, Serbia and Lithuania.

Wizz Air has carried more than 10 million passengers in the past 12 months – up by more than 22% compared with the previous 12 months.

The airline has one of the youngest fleets in the world, consisting of 35 Airbus A320s with a further 104 aircraft on order, which will deliver the airline’s growth plans for many years to come.

source: Reuters

Korean Air last week launched the world’s first duty-free onboard showcase, to be featured its new A380 aircraft at the Tax Free World Association Asia Pacific exhibition in Singapore. The airline also unveiled its onboard Celestial Bar during the exhibition.

The duty-free showcase has been designed and produced in partnership with L’Oréal Luxury Products and a variety of duty-free products such as cosmetics, perfumes, liquor and accessories will be displayed.

source: dfnionline.com

Airline passengers breathed a collective sigh of relief yesterday as a gap in the ash cloud from Iceland’s latest volcanic eruption allowed almost disruption-free travel.

Seismologists reported that Grimsvotn’s eruption had died down, with no ash plume seen since 3am GMT yesterday.

But there were warnings that clouds of ash already in the sky could return to Britain tomorrow in time for the start of any bank-holiday getaways.

Across Europe, just under 1,000 flights have been disrupted by the Grimsvotn eruption – a fraction of the chaos caused last year when Eyjafjallajokull erupted.

source: Independent.co.uk

Thai Airways International is going ahead with plans to establish a new, full-service, short-haul carrier and hopes it will start operating early next year. The plan was approved by the airline’s board on Friday.

This new airline, which will be based in Bangkok and will operate under a new sub-brand, will be a business unit of Thai Airways and will operate domestically and on short-haul international routes using 11 aircraft, it says. The aim is for it to differentiate itself in the marketplace with a new image and price differentiation, says Thai.

Thai Airways Chairman Ampon Kittiampon told journalists in Bangkok Friday that the new carrier, tentatively named Thai Wings, would start flying in March or April and will operate 737s. But he stopped short of saying if these will be 737-400s or -800s.

source: aviationweek.com