Air Berlin: More Sylt in summer 2010

Non-stop from Nuremberg and Münster/Osnabrück to Westerland
Air Berlin, Germany’s second largest airline, is expanding its flight services to Sylt. The summer schedule will include the airline’s first non-stop flights from Nuremberg and Münster/Osnabrück to the island in the North Sea. From 27th March 2010 onwards, Air Berlin passengers can reach Westerland airport from both departure points every Saturday. Air Berlin will be offering other non-stop flights to Sylt from Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Munich and Stuttgart.

The new flights to Sylt can now be booked online (airberlin.com), by calling the airline’s Service Centre (Tel.: 01805-737 800) any time or through travel agents. Early bookers can snap up bargain fares from just 29 euros one way, including taxes, charges and miles.

Read here about Sylt Travel

Cheap Fares from Ryanair: Cheap Flights from London-Stansted

Cuneo
13.99Friedrichshafen
13.99Perugia
13.99Rimini
14.99Angoulême
14.99Bergerac
14.99Biarritz
14.99Brno
14.99Bydgoszcz
14.99Carcassonne
14.99Dinard
14.99Grenoble
14.99Kaunas
14.99La Rochelle
14.99Limoges
14.99Lourdes
14.99Milan (Bergamo)
14.99Perpignan
14.99Poitiers
14.99Pula
14.99Riga
14.99Rome (Ciampino)
14.99Rzeszów
14.99Toulon
14.99Zaragoza
15.00Aarhus
15.00Belfast (City)
15.00Berlin
15.00Billund
15.00Bratislava
15.00Bremen
15.00Cork
15.00Derry
15.00Dublin
15.00Düsseldorf (Weeze)
15.00Eindhoven

Ryanair low cost raised its annual profit forecast

Ryanair today raised its annual profit forecast after a major fall in fuel costs helped the budget airline reduce its losses in the last three months of 2009.

The airline reported a loss of 11 million euros (£9.6 million) for the October to December quarter - significantly down on the 102 million euros (£88.8 million) loss it posted in the same period during 2008.

Ryanair said the result was brought about by a 37 per cent reduction in fuel costs for the quarter, which helped offset a 12 per cent drop in fare revenues

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1247639/Ryanair-raises-profit-forecast-losses-ease.html#ixzz0eYbtiaFM

Air France clarifies new rules for overweight passengers

Clarifying the recent amendment to its policy, Air France noted that from 1 February it will offer refunds to anyone paying for a second seat provided their flight is not full.
On fully-booked flights the customer will still have to pay an additional 75 per cent for the second seat – equivalent to the price of a full-fare ticket excluding taxes and surcharges.
“Air France has never made it compulsory for obese passengers to purchase a second seat,” the company said. “The airline has merely offered this as an option since 2005.”
Its statement went on to explain: “The only new addition to Air France’s policy comes in to force from 1 February 2010. From this date, Air France will refund the cost of any second seat purchased by obese passengers in economy class if the cabin is not fully booked.”
The French flag carrier was forced to clarify its policy after reports began circulating that it had decided to make obese passengers pay double for “safety reasons”.
Previously, low-cost carrier Ryanair had enraged discrimination campaigners after announcing its own plans to implement a ‘fat tax’ for obese passengers.

NEW RYANAIR ROUTES FOR MALAGA

On May 5 the Irish airline Ryanair will begin flights from Malaga to Girona and Lille in northern France. Initially there will be two weekly flights which will increase to three from 28 June. The company said that the flights will be 'low cost'.
According to forecasts, the new routes will carry about 40,000 passengers a year. The flights will take place initially on Wednesdays and Saturdays and after June 28 also on Monday.

Air Berlin: new summer services to Rimini, Italy

Germany’s second largest airline is continuing to expand its services to Italy with four new non-stop connections. In summer 2010 Air Berlin will be flying to Rimini from Berlin-Tegel, Hamburg and Münster/Osnabrück (on Saturdays) and from Stuttgart (on Sundays). From 15th May 2010 Air Berlin passengers will be able to fly to the resort on the Adriatic coast from Hamburg and Münster/Osnabrück. The service from Stuttgart will start on 16th May, while the one from Berlin-Tegel will begin on 05th June 2010.

In addition to the direct flights from Cologne/Bonn to Rimini (every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday), the non-stop Saturday flights from Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden and Nuremberg will again be included in the timetable. These will also begin on 15th May 2010.

MALAGA AIRPORT ONE OF THE FEW PROFITABLE AIRPORTS IN SPAIN

Only nine out of the 48 airports made money last year

OF the 48 airports in Spain, only nine made a profit in 2009. Alicante is at the head with 30.58 million followed by: Palma de Mallorca (26.58 million); Girona (12.66 million); South Tenerife (13.9m); Malaga (12.8m); Gran Canaria (6.5m); Ibiza (3.9m); San Javier (Murcia) (1.5m) and Bilbao (0.11m). Lanzarote and Sevilla broke even.

Spain 2010: low cost flights Spain - UK review

Scheduled flights
Air Europa (0871 423 0717; www.aireuropa.com) Gatwick-Madrid, plus wide choice of domestic flights within Spain.
Aer Lingus (0871 718 5000; www.aerlingus.com) Gatwick to Lanzarote, Malaga, Tenerife.
bmibaby (0905 828 2828 – 65p per minute; www.bmibaby.com) Flies to Alicante, Almeria, Barcelona, Malaga, Menorca, Murcia, Palma Majorca. Flies from Birmingham, Cardiff, East Midlands, Manchester.
British Airways (0844 493 0787; www.ba.com) Flies to Barcelona, Gibraltar, Ibiza, Madrid, Malaga. Flies from Heathrow, Gatwick, London City. New services start in May from London City to Palma and Ibiza.
easyJet (0905 821 0905 – 65p per minute; www.easyjet.com) Flies to Alicante, Almeria, Asturias, Barcelona, Bilbao, Fuerteventura, Gibraltar, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Madrid, Malaga, Menorca, Murcia, Palma Majorca, Tenerife, Valencia. Flies from 10 UK airports.
Flybe (0871 700 2000; www.flybe.com) Flies to Alicante, Malaga and Palma (Majorca), from Exeter and Southampton.
Iberia (0870 609 0500; www.iberiaairlines.co.uk) Heathrow-Madrid, plus connections on to 35 regional airports.
Jet2.com (0871 226 1737; www.jet2.com) Flies to Alicante, Barcelona, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Malaga, Menorca, Murcia, Palma Majorca, Tenerife. Flies from Belfast, Blackpool, Edinburgh, Leeds-Bradford, Manchester, Newcastle.
Monarch (0871 940 5040; www.monarch.co.uk) Flies scheduled to Alicante, Almeria, Fuerteventura, Gibraltar, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Lanzarote, Malaga, Menorca, Murcia, Palma, Tenerife. Flies from Birmingham, Gatwick, Luton, Manchester.
Ryanair (0871 246 0000; www.ryanair.com) Flies to Alicante, Almeria, Girona, Granada, Gran Canaria, Ibiza, Jerez, Lanzarote, Madrid, Murcia, Palma Majorca, Reus, Santander, Santiago de Compostela, Seville, Tenerife, Valencia, Valladolid, Zaragoza. Flies from 15 UK airports.
Vueling (0906 754 7541 – 75p per minute; www.vueling.com) Heathrow to Bilbao, La Coruña, Seville. The airline recently merged with Clickair.

Ryanair Seeks Russians in Finland

Ryanair is in talks with Finnish airports near the Russian border on flights to help the airline attract more Russian customers, the carrier said Tuesday.

The addition of airports in Finland will depend on Dublin-based Ryanair’s ability to reach agreements that will compensate for high airport fees, Erik Elmsaeter, Ryanair’s Nordic marketing chief, said in an interview in Stockholm.

Lappeenranta Airport, currently Ryanair’s only airport in southeastern Finland, already gets about 70 percent of its clients from Russia, Elmsaeter said. The Finnish-Russian border lies 230 kilometers from St. Petersburg, a city with almost 5 million inhabitants.

Air Berlin: Sightseeing flights over Düsseldorf

This year visitors to the "7. ReiseSuperMarkt" travel fair (on 6th and 7th February 2010) at Düsseldorf International Airport can again look forward to sightseeing flights with Air Berlin. On Saturday and Sunday Germany’s second largest airline will be offering short trips in a Boeing 737-800 at 11:00 hours and 13:00 hours. Air Berlin passengers can then enjoy a bird’s eye of Düsseldorf, the Ruhr region and the Rhineland for about 45 minutes.

The sightseeing flight in the 186-seater Boeing costs 29 euros, including taxes and charges. Standard discounts apply to flights for children. Tickets can now be booked online (airberlin.com/reisesupermarkt) or by calling the airline’s Service Centre (Tel.: 01805-737 800) any time.

Wizz Air launches two new routes from Poland

Wizz Air announced that it would further expand its operations from Poland and launch two new routes; from Katowice to Weeze and from Warsaw to Turku. The flight from Katowice toWeeze/Dusseldorf will start on 13 June and initially operate 4 times a week, with fares starting from as low as EUR 17.49 (one way, all inclusive).

The flight from Warsaw to Turku will start on 10 April and initially operate 2 times a week, with fares also starting from as low as EUR 17.49 (one way, all inclusive).

‘Malev’ and ‘Emirates’ connection Belgrade

Request for temporary permit for flights to Belgrade by the Austrian low cost company ‘Fly Nicky’ forwarded to the Serbian Directorate of civil aviation is still in procedure. In case of positive outcome, ‘Fly Nicky’ would start flying to Belgrade as of February 1 six times a week. The price of one way ticket would be EUR 29.
The turning point for the arrival of foreign carriers to our country is by no means ratification of agreement on open sky but also no-visa regime which is to come in effect as of January 1, 2010.
Three low cost companies, ‘German Wings’, ‘Norwegian Air Shuttle’ and ‘Nordvic Airlink’ have got the flying permits from the Directorate until so far.

Germanwings is launching new Stansted route from Hanover, Germany

As of 29 April 2010 Germanwings, one of Germany’s leading low-cost airlines, will be basing three aircraft at Hanover-Langenhagen airport, the airline announced on Monday, making Hanover Germanwings’ sixth base in Germany.

One of the first destinations for Germanwings out of Hanover will be London Stansted. Providing morning and evening flights to the London hub, this new service should appeal to leisure and business travellers alike.

Germanwings will also be serving 14 other destinations in Europe directly from Hanover, including:
- Stuttgart (two flights per day)
- Vienna (two flights per day)
- Milan (six flights per week)
- Budapest (four flights per week)
- Moscow (four flights per week)
- Palma de Mallorca (four flights per week)
- Rome (four flights per week)
- Barcelona (four flights per week)
- Split (three flights per week)
- Zagreb (three flights per week)
- Bastia (one flight weekly)
- Dubrovnik (one flight weekly)
- Heraklion (one flight weekly), and
- Zadar (one flight weekly)

Travellers can now secure thousands of flight tickets to the new destinations served from Hanover from as little as 19.99 euros, including all taxes, fees and charges.

New Commercial by Germanwings

No-frills airlines 'better for environment’

Thanks to newer fleets, higher densities of seats and direct flights, no-frills airlines produce as little as 35 per cent of the carbon emissions, per passenger, of full-service airlines, according to analysis by Liligo.co.uk, a flight-comparison website.

A couple flying with Ryanair from London to Venice and returning a week later have a carbon footprint of 410kg, while the equivalent journey on Alitalia would produce 977kg. A flight from London to Zurich with easyJet has a carbon footprint of 277kg per couple, compared with 688kg with Aer Lingus.
No-frills airlines tend to fly with more seats occupied: in 2009, the average for an easyJet flight was 86 per cent and for Ryanair 82 per cent. This compares with an average of 68 per cent on Europe’s full-service airlines, according to the Association of European Airlines. British Airways’ flights were 73 per cent full, on average, during the same period. Read more from this item..

Low Cost Airlines: Yorkshire Air

MAD TV - Low Cost Airlines

Ryanair carried 65 million passengers last year; that’s 40% more than easyJet (46.1m)

The European low-cost airline market continued to evolve during 2009. After the demise of Sterling in 2008, last year saw the untimely end of operations for Flyglobespan, MyAir and SkyEurope. The clickair brand also disappeared as the airline completed its merger with fellow Spanish LCC Vueling. Meanwhile, airberlin (which will be removed from this analysis from 2010 as it really can no longer be considered an LCC by just about any definition), absorbed TUIfly.com’s “city centre” network. Among the real LCCs, passenger figures for 2009 show that Ryanair with 65.3 million passengers (+13.3%) extended its lead over easyJet with 46.1 million (+3.4%). Among the second-tier LCCs, Norwegian transported 10.8 million passengers, Aer Lingus (short-haul) 9.7 million, Vueling 8.2 million, Wizz Air 7.8 million (+33%) and germanwings 7.2 million (-6%).

EasyJet announces new holiday packages to Israel, Cyprus and Croatia

EasyJet, the largest UK airline, today announced the expansion of its package holiday destinations which allows travellers to simultaneously match up flights to more than 15,000 hotels across Europe, with savings of up to 50%, by combining flights and hotels.
From today, travellers can now book their beach or city break holiday up to the end of August 2010, with new destinations such as
cultural Tel Aviv, historic Dubrovnik and sun-soaked Larnaca.
Travellers booking with easyJet can be reassured that their booking is guaranteed and protected by the Travel Trust Association. For further information, visit: holidays.easyJet.com
£259pp, for two in Limassol, Cyprus, staying 7nts in the 3* Golden Arches – bed & breakfast. Departing London Gatwick on 5 May 2010
£266pp, for two in Dubrovnik, staying 6nts in the 3* Tonka Apartmani – room only. Departing Liverpool John Lennon on 11 May 2010
£289pp, for two in Dubrovnik, staying 7nts in the 3* Tonka Apartmani – room only. Departing London Gatwick on 11 May 2010
£409pp, for two in Tel Aviv, staying 6nts in the 3* Golden Beach Tel Aviv – bed & breakfast. Departing London Luton on 21 April 2010
Charles Martin, easyJet's Partnership Manager, said: "We're delighted to announce yet even more interesting and varied destinations for easyJet customers. Not only are travellers guaranteed great low-prices, but the combined security backing of the Travel Trust Association."

RYANAIR CELEBRATES ANOTHER VICTORY FOR GERMAN CONSUMERS

Ryanair, the world’s favourite airline, today (22nd Jan 10) celebrated a further victory for consumers after the Regional Court of Hamburg ruled that ‘screenscraping’ to resell Ryanair’s flights is unlawful and banned a German website, Vtours, from screenscraping Ryanair’s website.

Yesterday’s ruling against Vtours cements the decision handed down in Hamburg last May, which ruled that the scraping of Ryanair.com to resell Ryanair tickets is unlawful. Vtours is now permanently banned from reselling Ryanair flights to consumers.

Ryanair has taken several high profile cases against screenscrapers throughout Europe as part of its long running campaign to try to stop their anti-consumer practices. These online resellers access Ryanair’s website in breach of its Terms of Use, take its flight information and sell Ryanair tickets to consumers, with high additional charges, which are not made clear to the consumer.

Ryanair’s Stephen McNamara said:

“Ryanair celebrates today’s victory for German consumers as it once again confirms that European courts support Ryanair’s fight to protect consumers against overcharging screenscraping ticket-touts. Ryanair will continue its fight against screenscrapers in the interests of passengers until this practice of misleading consumers has been outlawed across Europe. Today’s result is a milestone achievement in that fight.

“All price comparison websites can enter into a licence agreement with Ryanair to allow them to legally provide consumers with genuine price comparisons and guarantee that passengers are not subjected to additional charges. If Vtours is interested in genuinely providing an honest comparison for consumers in Germany it is welcome to sign up to this licence”.