Low-cost airlines information center
By Budget Airline News
Ryanair has announced it will fly new routes from 8 European cities to Modlin Airport in Warsaw, Poland. Modlin Airport is a new passenger airport and scheduled to open on July 16, 2012.
Ryanair will offer direct flights between Warsaw-Modlin and Dublin, London, Milan, Oslo, Rome, Stockholm, Brussels, and Budapest. The new routes will come into effect from mid-July.
By Budget Airline News
Airberlin, the German budget airline, will become a full member of the Oneworld airline alliance with effect from March 20, 2012. Austrian budget airline NIKI, which is a member of the Airberlin group, will also join Oneworld as an affiliate member.
This means Airberlin will offer the full range of services, such as frequent flyer points, available to Oneworld members. The addition of Airberlin substantially expands the alliance’s network in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, and throughout South and Central Europe. It will add almost 70 destinations to the alliance’s map, extending Oneworld’s global coverage to some 840 destinations in 150 countries.
oneworld CEO Bruce Ashby said: “airberlin makes an ideal oneworld partner. It has an excellent reputation for customer service – right in line with oneworld’s focus on quality. oneworld already features five of Europe’s best airlines. Adding the continent’s sixth biggest carrier and the second largest airline based in the continent’s biggest economy will greatly enhance our coverage throughout this region and, with the other airlines joining us this year, position oneworld more strongly still as the alliance of choice, particularly for global business travellers.”
airberlin CEO Hartmut Mehdorn added: “Becoming a member of oneworld is one of the most significant departures so far for airberlin. It will strengthen our competitive position considerably, enabling us to offer our customers a truly global network together with our partners who include some of the best and biggest airlines in the world, while enabling us also to tap into all the financial benefits that come from being part of a global alliance, through additional passenger feed and participation in various efficiency programmes. We are very pleased and proud to be lining up to join what is clearly the world’s top quality airline grouping on 20 March.”
By Budget Airline News
Europe’s budget airlines have proven their reliability following the collapse of Spanair. To serve the 22,000 Spanair passengers were stranded by the sudden cancellation of their flights, EasyJet, Ryan and Vueling have responded with increased flights and special deals.
British budget airline EasyJet launched their new Madrod – Bilbao route 3 weeks early with special fares of €50 to assist stranded travelers. Similarly, Irish budget airline RyanAir is offering fares of just €49 on more than 20 domestic and international routes from Spain.
Spanair suddenly ceased all operations on Friday, January 27, 2012, and has filed for bankruptcy.
By Budget Airline News
Norwegian Air Shuttle, the Oslo based budget airline, has signed a record-setting deal with both Airbus and Boeing for delivery of 222 new aircrafts worth 127 billion Norwegian Kroner (21 billion USD).
The order includes 122 aircrafts from Boeing (100 of the new Boeing 737 MAX8 and 22 Next-Generation 737-800 aircrafts) plus an additional 100 Airbus A320neo aircrafts from Airbus. The total purchase is the largest in European aviation history.
“Today is a historic day for Norwegian,” said CEO Bjørn Kjos.”The order is the largest ever in European aviation history and marks a major milestone in the company’s 10 year history. We have secured our fleet renewal for years to come and are very pleased with the agreements with both Airbus and Boeing.”
“Norwegian has now reached a size where we will benefit from having two suppliers, both in terms of ensuring adequate flight capacity, flexibility and competition between two manufacturers,” said Kjos.
“International air traffic will keep on growing in the years ahead and Norwegian is determined to be a strong, stable and attractive player in the airline industry. We will continue to provide our customers with quality at a low fare and live up to our vision that everyone should afford to fly. The new aircraft are win-win for our passengers, the environment and the company’s costs. As we intend to replace every aircraft after seven years of operation, it is mandatory that we plan at least 10 to 20 years ahead. We will sell or rent out our older aircraft in order to keep a young fleet”.
“Norwegian’s order of 42 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft in 2007 was by many viewed as a bold investment. History has, however, shown that it was a necessary move to ensure our competitiveness and reduce costs. This order has been extended several times since 2007, proving that our need for aircraft has been far greater than we anticipated five years ago,” said Kjos.
By Budget Airline News
Starting in mid-January 2012, Ryanair will introduce a levy of 25 Euro cents on every seat to cover costs for carbon permits it needs under a new European Union emissions trading scheme.
Europe’s largest budget airline followed US Delta Air Lines and Lufthansa, Germany’s biggest carrier, in passing costs onto customers.
“We do not agree with it and we do not believe there will be any environmental benefit,” a Ryanair spokesman told Reuters.
Under plans to tackle climate change, airlines touching down or taking off in the 27-nation European Union and three neighbouring nations must account for their CO2 emissions as part of an expansion of the world’s largest carbon market.
Airlines and their associations have balked at the scheme and even challenged it in court, saying it further burdened an industry saddled with soaring fuel prices, fierce competition and national taxes.
Global airlines group IATA has estimated the annual industry-wide cost of the ETS will rise to 2.8 billion Euros by 2020, up from the 900 million Euros cost expected in 2012.
Europe’s highest court last month backed the scheme, meaning all airlines will have to pay for emissions permits, drawing anger from the United States and China.
By Budget Airline News
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways is increasing its stake in Air Berlin to 29%, making it the largest single shareholder in the German low-cost carrier.
Under the agreement, Etihad will invest up to $255 million in Air Berlin over five years to support its fleet development and future network growth. Air Berlin will move its Middle East operation from Dubai to Abu Dhabi and will operate four Airbus A330-200 flights a week between Berlin and Abu Dhabi from 15 January 2012.
The two carriers will begin an extensive codesharing partnership, and the airlines’ frequent flyer programmes will be integrated. They will seek antitrust immunity to enable them to co-ordinate their route networks and sales and marketing activities.
“The strategic partnership with Etihad Airways opens up enormous opportunities for the future of our company,” said Air Berlin chief executive Hartmut Mehdorn.
“This applies especially to future market development and the realisation of synergies. One of the key components of the new partnership is the launch of Air Berlin services to Abu Dhabi, which will become our new gateway to Asia and Australia.”
By Budget Airline News
Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA aims to become the first European budget airline to offer long-haul flights. The company’s chief executive has announced plans to operate flights to New York, USA, and Bangkok, Thailand, beginning in early 2013.
In the same way that low-cost carriers, including Ryanair, EasyJet and Norwegian, have put other airlines under pressure within Europe “we’re going to see the same shift in long haul,” CEO Bjoern Kjos, a former fighter pilot, told The Associated Press in an interview on Friday.
Norwegian — one of Europe’s fastest-growing airlines — has ordered six Boeing 787 Dreamliners for its planned intercontinental operations. Kjos noted that Malaysian budget carrier Air Asia X already has long-haul flights from Kuala Lumpur to European destinations.
“In 10-15 years, the number of passengers flying from the East to Europe will be significantly larger than that the total number of passengers flying within Europe,” Kjos told AP at Arlanda Airport, one of Norwegian’s four Nordic hubs. “Our future competition will be the Asian companies,” he added.
Norwegian is now the No. 2 airline in Scandinavia, and aggressively challenging tri-nation carrier SAS, the market leader, rather than trying to compete with other low-cost airlines.
By Budget Airline News
Germanwings has announced it will launch a new route between Manchester, UK, and Stuttgart, Germany, in July 2012. The budget carrier will fly to Stuttgart five times a week from Manchester, every day except Wednesday and Saturday, with flights taking less than two hours.
The airline will also increase the number of flights between Stuttgart and London Heathrow Airport starting in February 2012 and the new route will start in summer 2012. Germanwings said the changes have been made possible by working closely with its parent company Lufthansa. The new connection will allow passengers to connect to a number of other destinations via the Germanwings hub in Stuttgart.
By Budget Airline News
Flybe and its franchise partner Loganair have announced plans to operate a total of three new routes from Norwich International Airport. These three new routes will be to Exeter, Manchester and Newquay and service will be begin in March 2012.
Two new non-stop Flybe services will operate to the West Country: daily services between Norwich and Exeter will start on Sunday 25 March and a brand new summer service to Newquay will operate on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 5 May and 22 September. Both flights take just 75 minutes and offer huge time savings versus a five- or six-hour journey by road or rail. With one-way fares from just £39.99 including taxes and charges, the cost of air travel remains a convenient and highly competitive travel option.
The Norwich-based 31-seat fast Dornier 328 turboprop aircraft operated by Loganair will provide an increased schedule of Flybe flights to Manchester. From Monday 5 March, there will be three return flights on the route every weekday with prices starting from £49.99 one-way including all taxes. The new timetable will provide an enhanced choice of flight timings, starting and finishing the working day in Norwich and will improve the range of connections available via Manchester to destinations throughout the UK and worldwide.
Loganair’s Chief Operating Officer, Jonathan Hinkles, said: “We are delighted to be bringing our successful formula to Norwich of frequent flights, easy connections and a range of fares to suit both business and leisure travellers. The introduction of the 31-seat Dornier 328 aircraft will enable us to provide more Flybe flights to Manchester and to restore links between Norwich and the West Country. Both will save customers from arduous road or rail journeys and we believe will prove hugely popular throughout the year. Improved air links and creation of new jobs in the city is great news for Norwich.”
Andrew Strong, the managing director of Flybe UK, commented: “We are launching our new twice-weekly summer route to Newquay as a result of passenger demand. It will complement the re-introduced Norwich-Exeter route and together these new services will open up convenient and affordable travel between the West Country and East Anglia again.”
By Budget Airline News
A consumer watchdog has named budget airline Ryanair the second worst short-haul carrier.
Based on findings by Which?, a British consumer watchdog, Ryanair scored a customer satisfaction rating of just 38%. The results were compiled from an online panel of 8,227 members who answered questions about their most recent flight in the past year. Panel members gave Ryanair just one star out of five for its boarding process and two stars out of five for value for money.
This put the Ryanair just slightly ahead of Thomas Cook airlines which received a ranking of just 27% and the title of the worst short-haul carrier.
In spite of its low customer satisfaction levels, Ryanair continues to be the leading budget airline in Europe and flies to more than 160 destinations in 27 countries.
