Cheap Airline Tickets / Airline News

US Airways Group Inc. is stepping up its Philadelphia operations this fall with more flights to and from three cities.

The company said Monday there will be one more flight per day to and from New Orleans and Wilmington, N.C. There will be two flights added per day to and from Buffalo, N.Y.

The change starts Sept. 6. US Airways (NYSE: LCC) said it is adding flights to meet demand for the markets. (more…)

Think your commute is bad? Try Wichita to New York, Vancouver, B.C., to Dallas or Panama to Miami.

For pilots and flight attendants, those commutes are not just routine but long-standing matters of choice, supported by two of the perks that make working for an airline special: They can hitch a ride on almost any airline with an empty seat, and they usually have to work only 15 to 18 days a month, making it easy for them to live anywhere they want.

But nowadays, they find it hard to get home because planes are so full. “Sometimes it takes me two days,” said Jason Miller, 36, an Airbus 320 captain for JetBlue Airways. (more…)

Air Canada is imposing stricter new weight limits on passengers’ carry-on luggage.

Like every carrier, Air Canada is battling to pare costs as the price of jet fuel has skyrocketed in recent months. In an effort to lighten each plane’s load, the airline has tried measures ranging from dumping empty wine bottles in the middle of a round trip and, in one high profile experiment, even stripped paint off the fuselage of one plane.

With the busy summer flying season now at hand, the ACE Aviation Ltd. unit has shifted its gaze to the check-in counter.
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GERMANY’S biggest airline is blocking a British plan to make passengers pay for the environmental damage caused by their flights.

Lufthansa has rejected proposals put forward by British Airways for an emissions-trading scheme, under which airlines would buy permits to cover their production of carbon dioxide.

Britain strongly supports the scheme and, with the backing of France and the Scandinavian countries, hopes to introduce it within Europe by 2008.

The scheme would add up to £6 to the cost of an airline ticket, depending on the length of the flight and the market price of permits. The European Commission is studying the idea and is expected to produce firm proposals in September. (more…)

MEMBER-nations of the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asean Growth Area (BIMP-Eaga) have forged a new agreement, which is expected to increase the load factor of airlines companies in the growth area.

The agreement was reached during the recently concluded BIMP-Eaga Transport Ministers Meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam.

Mindanao Business Council chair Romeo Serra said the granting of full fifth freedom traffic rights in the BIMP-Eaga region is a start to further smoothen air transport linkages in the region. (more…)

A worried Ulsterwoman last night told how she was able to carry a razor-sharp knife onto a packed Aer Lingus holiday jet.

Shocked Sally McManus, who uses the knife for work, only discovered the deadly blade in her hand-luggage once she had arrived at her hotel in Croatia.

Sally (42), who was travelling with her partner Johnny for a week’s holiday, hit out at Dublin Airport’s security scanners for not spotting the knife. (more…)

June 10 (Bloomberg) — Malaysian Airline System Bhd., the nation’s largest carrier, said 4,200 employees, or about 18 percent of its total workforce, have taken up an offer to quit, part of the airline’s plans to cut costs and return to profit.

In addition, 1,171 employees will retire within the next two years and there will be 2,761 staff whose short-term contracts will end between three months and five years, the company said on its Web site yesterday.

The airline, based in the Malaysian state of Selangor, said on May 22 it expected to spend as much as 850 million ringgit ($232 million) reducing its workforce by between 3,500 and 5,000 in the biggest round of job cuts in the Southeast Asian country. (more…)

Airports of Thailand Plc said today that five budget airlines have agreed to participate in tests of the overall systems at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi international airport on July 29, before its official opening about two months later, a senior official said Saturday.

Somchai Sawasdipol, director of Suvarnabhumi airport, said five low-cost airlines had agreed to join tests of the check-in system at both arrival and departure lounges. He indicated that his agency was also contacting Thai Airways International to participate in the test as well. (more…)

HONOLULU — New airline Go! began a schedule of interisland flights on Friday as an airfare war rages between the newcomer and its competitors.

Chris Barth and his family flew in one of Go!’s first flights from Maui on Friday morning. He said that it was an enjoyable trip because the price was right.

“Three-hundred dollars. The four of us got over here; normally it would cost us about $850 or $900. So, it’s great,” Barth said.
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Worldspan has signed a five-year global distribution and airline hosting partnership with MAXjet, the first all-business class airline offering everyday low fares on transatlantic flights.

To support MAXjet’s core operations, Worldspan developed, operates and maintains end-to-end reservations and departure control systems for the airline. (more…)