news about cheap fares and airlines from travel search engine Trabber

Southwest Airlines announced today that it will purchase AirTran Holdings in a $1.42-billion deal that will expand the nation’s largest low-cost airline to 37 new cities.

The merger, if approved by regulators, would create an airline with 685 aircraft that will serve about 100 million passengers annually in nearly 100 airports. The company will remain headquartered in Dallas and keep the Southwest name.

Southwest, the largest airline based on domestic passenger load, has grown quickly since it was founded in 1971, capitalizing on no-frills service, low fares, no first-class seating and no baggage fees.

source: Los Angeles Times

Lufthansa Group will be purchasing 48 new aircraft at a value of 3.5  billion Euros to add to the group’s fleet and to replace older aircraft.

Lufthansa Passenger Airlines will receive three Airbus A330-300s and  twenty Airbus of the A320-family, whilst Lufthansa Regional will receive  eight new Embraer 195 aircraft.

Asia-Pacific-based airlines recorded double-digit growth in both passenger and air freight demand in August, sending traffic past pre-recession highs, an industry group said Friday.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines said air carriers in the region transported a total of 16.8 million passengers in August, an increase of 12.4 per cent from the same month last year.

The growth reaffirmed the ”robustness” of the region’s economic recovery, it said.

source: monstersandcritics.com

Easyjet has become the first low cost carrier to protect passengers under the Package Travel Regulations by way of insurance.

On September 2 2010, Easyjet switched its financial security obligations provider from the Travel Trust Association to International Passenger Protection (IPP).

All passengers booking packages (flights plus other travel components) online with Easyjet will benefit from financial protection in the event of its insolvency.

Easyjet is the first low cost carrier to protect its passengers through insurance arranged with IPP.

source: postonline.co.uk

German low-cost airline Germanwings, a unit of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, said Friday it expects it will have to eliminate some routes  as a result of the country’s new air travel tax.

Germany introduced a levy on air travel included in an EUR80 billion package of budget cuts.

The low-cost carrier will therefore analyze which routes are still worth  being operated after taking account of the new tax, which according to the company management puts German airlines at a disadvantage compared with others.

source: wsj.com

Air France has unveiled its new business class cabin, saying that the new two-meter bed is one of the longest on the market.

The airline, which is investing some €110 million in its business class cabin, will offer the new seat on long-haul services from the end of this year.

Air France says that by investing in its business class cabins during  the economic crisis, it’s now in a perfect position to look after  premium passengers during the recovery – which the International Air  Transport Association (IATA) says is well underway.

source: independent.co.uk

Another 24-hour general strike over the Sarkozy government’s proposal to raise the state pension age will see French air and rail services severely affected on Thursday 23 September.

‘Direction Generale d’Aviation Civile ‘(DGAC), the country’s civil aviation authority, has asked airlines to reduce flights into and out of Paris’s Orly Airport by 50%. Flights to and from Charles de Gaulle and other French airports are to be cut by 40%.

Airlines are likely to try to keep long-haul services running so most of the disruption will probably affect short-haul services disproportionately.

source: publicsectortravel.org.uk

All-business class airline OpenSkies is offering a guarantee to customers that they will enjoy their flight – and a full refund if they don’t.

The airline announced its new “‘Love Everything or Pay Nothing'” guarantee saying that the offer was unprecedented in the airline sector.

It says that the deal was prompted by a survey of passengers that revealed 96.85 percent of its passengers would recommend the airline.

source: Independent.co.uk

From 1st September 2010, ‘Miles & More’ members will be able to collect miles on Germanwings flights, use Lufthansa lounges when travelling on a Germanwings ticket, and benefit from combinable airfares from the two airlines.

From 1st September, ‘Miles & More’ members can not only redeem all Germanwings flight miles on the ‘Miles & More’ programme, as previously, but will also now be able to collect award miles, applying for the same fixed mileage amounts for individual booking classes that currently apply to Miles & More members on all Lufthansa flights.

The Germanwings frequent flyer programme, the ‘Boomerang Club’, will continue to exist independently of the ‘Miles & More’ partnership. Before each flight, passengers who have both a ‘Miles & More’ and a ‘Boomerang Club’ card will be able to select the frequent flyer program from which they wish to collect miles.ç

source: traveldailynews.com

Madrid-based Amadeus is reported to have held initial talks with several investment banks about selling its 55% shareholding in Opodo, which was originally set up by airlines such as British Airways, Air France and Lufthansa in 2001.

Amadeus paid €62 million for the majority stake in Opodo in 2004 and would be expected to make several times this amount in any sale.

source: ttglive.com