British Airways expands flights to Rio de Janeiro

British Airways is increasing its services to Brazil by doubling its weekly frequency to Rio de Janeiro from three to six flights. Flights to Rio de Janeiro will now depart Heathrow for Rio every day, except Mondays. The departure time remains at 12.15pm, landing in Rio at 9.55pm local time. The flight will continue to be served by a three class B777, enabling customers to choose from 3- classes mentioned below:

1. World traveller-Economy class
2. World Traveller Plus-Premier Economy class
3. Airline's fully flat beds in club world- business class

Neil Cottrell, British Airways’ head of network planning, said: “We are experiencing a real increase in demand for Rio and by doubling the number of frequencies, we are able to offer our customers more choice and greater availability. Brazil is also experiencing strong economic growth and this capacity increase is a great opportunity for British Airways to be part of that growth.”

Holidays in Rio de Janeiro offer visitors white sandy beaches, rainforest clad mountains and cultural must-sees including the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. British Airways offers a choice of hotels including the 3 star Center for a comfortable stay or the 5 star InterContinental Rio next to the Gvea Golf Club and the Fashion Mall shopping centre. The 5 star Porto Bay Rio Internacional has a rooftop swimming pool and views of the beach while the 5 star Copacabana Palace offers luxurious accommodation opposite the famous Copacabana Beach.

World's largest model airport opensin knuffingen, Hamburg

The world's largest model airport opened this week in Hamburg. It's described in nearly every media account as a spectacular display with a stunning attention to detail. The model loosely based on Hamburg's airport -- took more than six years to build. And, the price tag? Around $5 million.

Australian's media report as the model -- dubbed the Knuffingen Airport -- "features 40 model aircraft and 90 vehicles that move and 'fly' around the airport, and 15,000 mini people. Not a single moment of air rage, however." The airport joins the broader exhibit at Germany's Miniatur Wunderland, where the Knuffingen joins a system of model railways and villages.

The incredible model is based on Hamburg Airport and features 40 planes and 90 vehicles that autonomously move around the airport. It took seven years to build and cost a staggering $4.8 million. The model includes a “carsystem” that manoeuvres the vehicles by computer. Meanwhile tiny wires move the planes, making them appear to fly. There are approximately 40,000 lights, 15,000 figurines, 500 cars, 10,000 trees, 50 trains, 1000 wagons, 100 signals, 200 switches and 300 buildings.

Second Air France Black Box Found

Brazil's northeast coast have recovered the second of two flight data recorders from the Air France aircraft that crashed into the Atlantic in 2009, investigators said on Tuesday.

The discovery of the audio recorder, two days after the flight data recorder was fished up, brings investigators even closer to the reason for the crash as it should hold recordings of cockpit conversations during the flight's final moments.

"The investigation team localised and identified the Cockpit Voice Recorder at (2150 GMT) on Monday 2 May, 2011," France's BEA air accident inquiry office said. The device was hauled up to the team's ship at 0240 GMT on Tuesday.

A photograph of the recorder on BEA's website shows a bright orange cylindrical device that looks scuffed and battered but otherwise intact. So-called black boxes are painted orange so that they can be spotted more easily in wreckage.

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United Begins Nonstop Service Between Los Angeles and Guadalajara, Mexico

United tomorrow begins daily nonstop service between Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and Guadalajara, Mexico (GDL). This service will be operated by Continental Airlines. "We're delighted to add this nonstop Los Angeles – Guadalajara flight, which connects the second-largest cities of two nations and demonstrates our commitment to Mexico," said John Slater, United's vice president Sales – Americas. "United serves 30 destinations in Mexico, more than any other airline from the U.S., and we offer more departures from the U.S. to Mexico than any other airline."

Flight CO672 departs Los Angeles at 8:20 a.m. daily, arriving in Guadalajara at 1:15 p.m. The return flight (CO673) departs Guadalajara at 2:10 p.m. daily, arriving in Los Angeles at 3:30 p.m. The Los Angeles – Guadalajara service is operated with a Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with seating for 160 customers.

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Flybe reports passenger increase on sun routes

Flybe, Europe’s leading regional airline and the UK’s Number One Domestic carrier, gives a snapshot on the travel trends emerging within the UK as a result of the Easter break.

Family friendly destinations key for British holidaymakers

Flybe’s seven routes into Paris Charles de Gaulle are particularly busy with passenger numbers up by 19% over Easter 2010, with travellers using them for convenient access to Disneyland Paris and the rest of the world through Flybe’s codeshare with Air France.

Sun routes soaring

Across its extensive network, Flybe’s sun routes, including its service between Exeter and Alicante, are up by 9% over the Easter period last year. In particular, Flybe’s passenger numbers to regional France have also been boosted 72%, enhanced by new routes to Nantes from London Gatwick and Manchester.

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JetBlue to ease booking flights to Europe, Cape Cod

JetBlue will make it easier for customers trying to book flights on some of its partner airlines to Europe, Asia, and South America and places in the Northeast, like Cape Cod. The New York carrier, the largest at Logan, says that its website will now offer connections to flights run by American Airlines, Aer Lingus and Cape Air.

In the past couple of years, JetBlue has cut agreements with various airlines to offer customers the convenience of arranging for connecting flights to destinations the airline doesn't serve. For instance a pact with American lets JetBlue customers connect to American flights to Europe, Asia and South America; one with Aer Lingus gives travelers access through Boston or New York's JFK to Ireland; and a third with Cape Air links passengers to Nantucket, Martha's Vineyard, Provincetown and Hyannis, Mass.

Air India Offers low cost Flights to India

Air India has announced its special flight fares for flights from London to various cities across the country.By using this offer, Air India customers can book flights to Mumbai from London Airport starting from fares between 220 to 250 GBP approx excl. taxes. Moreover, the national flagship carrier offers direct flights to Bombay hence making the journey more convenient and time saving. The other Indian cities included in this offer are Delhi, Bengaluru, Ahmadabad, Kochi, Trivandrum and Goa flights.

Vision airlines-launch more Florida routes

Vision Airlines, formerly Vision Air, is an airline headquartered in Georgia, United States. One of the fastest-growing airlines in the country is flying just below the radar, catering largely to customers bound for the beaches of northwest Florida.
Discount airline Vision is focusing on funneling flyers to the Florida Panhandle, to the exquisite Emerald Coast. In the wake of the BP oil spill, the beaches on these reaches of Florida are still sugar-sand white, still among the best anywhere.
Ten minutes away from those beaches is Northwest Florida Regional Airport. Problem is, Airport Director Greg Donovan says, “Only three percent of tourists fly to Destin/Fort. Walton Beach. The remainder has been forced to drive hundreds of miles to get here.”
Vision is helping change the equation with nonstop flights to an array of cities, places that haven’t had direct service to the region. Up until recently, air access to Northwest Florida Regional Airport has been via Delta Connection from Atlanta, US Airways Express from Charlotte, American Eagle from Dallas/Fort Worth, Continental Express form Houston, and Delta Connection from Memphis.

Southwest hypes frequent-flier revamp with 10M-point-giveaway

Southwest Airlines has launched a frequent-flier promotion this week in which the carrier would give as many as 100,000 Rapid Rewards points to 10 different clients.

The airline will give away the points 10 million in total if trick-shot artists "Dude Perfect" hit a stunt shot over a 737, The Arizona Republic reports

So, what's behind the giveaway?

"One of the objectives of this promotion is to drive fresh membership across all demographics," Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz tells Direct Marketing News. "But the promotion is also meant to reward current members."

The Republic adds Southwest is rolling out the promotion as an effort "to celebrate the launch of its revised frequent flier program," which was plagued by technical glitches as well as common discontent from some of the carrier's long-time customers.

Southwest raises fares $5 each way

Southwest Airlines increased fares on the bulk of its routes by $10 roundtrip Friday, encouraging competitors to quickly match prices.

United, American, US Airways, Continental, Delta, Frontier, JetBlue and AirTran followed and raised their fares Friday evening, according to Rick Seaney of FareCompare.com, which narrowly monitors fares.

"I don't expect this hike to fail," he says. "I don't ever recall an airfare hike in which Southwest participated that was not widely winning in raising ticket prices."

Southwest says rising fuel costs forced its move. "We implemented a modest systemwide fare raise of $5 one-way to offset higher fuel costs," says Southwest spokeswoman Ashley Dillon.

Delta Fined $2M For Violating Travel Rules For Disabled

The U.S. Department of Transportation levied a $2 million civil penalty against Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) for allegedly violating policy protecting air travelers with disabilities.

According to the agency, an investigation found "many violations of the requirement to provide assistance getting on and off the airplane." The airline carrier's complaint records also showed that it frequently "did not provide an adequate written response to disability complaints from passengers."

The Aviation Enforcement Office also found that Delta--the second biggest U.S. airline by revenue failed to properly report each disability complaint in reports filed with the department.

Of the $2 million penalty, $750,000 must be paid by the carrier and up to $1.25 million may be used to develop its service to passengers with disabilities beyond what is required by law. It is the largest civil penalty ever assessed against an airline by the Department of Transportation in a non-safety-related case.

American Airlines-Orbitz-Expedia feud may affect ticket prices

The recently sparked feud between American Airlines and the travel websites Orbitz and Expedia has business travel managers worried that the dispute may end up making plane tickets charge more money.

It all started previous year when American Airlines yanked its ticket sales from Orbitz to save on the commissions and fees it pays to sell tickets through travel sites. Expedia jumped into the fray by withholding American Airlines ticket information from its web site.

At the heart of the quarrel is a complicated revenue-sharing arrangement between the airline, the travel site and the global distribution systems that dole out ticket information.

Calm Twin Cities weather masks widespread travel disruption

Impact from the storm's early stages rolled all the way to Minnesota, where 125 Delta Airlines flights to different cities across the country about one-third of the airline's Twin Cities traffic were cancelled. Many more cancellations were expected Wednesday, said Delta spokesman Anthony Black.

5 flights to Chicago were diverted to Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, likely stranding those passengers for at least Tuesday night, said Patrick Hogan, Metropolitan Airports Commission spokesman.

But the airport was "relatively quiet and calm," Hogan said. That's most likely because airlines have been cancelling flights well ahead of their scheduled departure time, keeping people from showing up at the airport at all.

TUI Travel Finally Back on Track Despite a Very Difficult Start to the Year

TUI Travel has been proving that it has what it takes to make it in a hard travel industry. In fact, TUI has announced that it is back on track despite the very difficult start to 2011. The political uprising in Tunisia and even the snow have caused a lot of travel chaos for the UK this current year. However some companies, like TUI, have overcome the odds to come out on top.

TUI does remain on track to reach its target for winter bookings. However, it is the summer bookings that look actually good for the company. Apparently the summer bookings are very strong as customers seek value.

The company went on to say that bookings since its earlier trading statement in early December were down 1 percent as Arctic conditions led to the closure of a number of British airports. On top of this, the company had to cancel all flights to Tunisia on January 15, following a series of very violent demonstrations and riots across the country.

Fears of fragmented air travel market allayed

American Airlines and Sabre Holdings have agreed to suspend litigation surrounding their airfare distribution contract.

During the suspension, the organisations have agreed to operate as they had been prior to when the conflict between them began, while they work towards a fresh airfare distribution agreement.

The agreement means travel buyers will benefit from a totally transparent view of airline data on Sabre Holdings, one of the world’s largest global distribution systems, including American Airlines travel information.

Airlines' path for profits: Fly less, charge more

After a decade of multibillion-dollar losses, U.S. airlines appear to be on course to prosper for years to come for a simple reason: They fly less.

By grounding planes and eliminating flights, airlines have cut expenses and pushed fares higher. As the global economy rebounds, travel demand is rising and planes are as full as they've been in years.

Profit margins at big airlines are the highest in at least a decade, according to the government. The eight major U.S. airlines are forecast to earn more than $5 billion this year and $5.6 billion in 2012.

Orbitz vs. American Airlines: The traveler is the loser

Maybe you've heard about the little issue between American Airlines and several online travel agencies, including Orbitz and Expedia.

Maybe you've noticed that when you go fare-shopping on those travel websites, you aren't offered any American flights.

Maybe you've told to yourself, "So what?"

"It's truly an inside baseball kind of story," admits William Swelbar, a research engineer in MIT's International Center for Air Transportation.

British Airways strike: time to grow up

British Airways cabin crew will announce the result of yet another ballot for strike action tomorrow. Most commentators seem to think that they will again vote in favour ,but this time there will be less taking part in the ballot and possibly a smaller majority. There is also a widely held confidence in the management of the airline that they can ensure the majority of flights will operate throughout any action.

As a captain with BA, I have flown freshly with those cabin crew colleagues who trust they must fight on, those who have given up, those who never took up the strike and those who have volunteered from other parts of the airline to break the strike. Sometimes it was all of the above on the same crew – which is no basis for the calm and professional service on which my colleagues and the airline pride themselves.

AMR 4Q Loss Narrows Amid Improved Business Travel, Fare Trends

The parent of American Airlines on Wednesday reported a narrower fourth-quarter loss and pledged to keep costs flat current year in an effort to narrow the gap with rival U.S. carriers.

American also plans to expand capacity more than its network rivals in what is a crucial year for the country's third-largest airline as it tries to leverage expanded alliances with overseas partners, rejig its domestic network and secure fresh deals with labor and third-party ticket sellers.

"As we focus on the year ahead, we are cautiously optimistic that we will be able to build on our present momentum," told Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Arpey in a letter to staff. "The economic recovery is real, albeit fragile, and our network is much stronger than it was a year ago."

As American Airlines clashes with Sabre, travel agents suffer

A fight between the big boys is currently hurting the little guys.

With Sabre Holdings announcing previous week that it would drop American Airlines' fares from its system in August and in the meantime make those fares harder to find, some travel agents say their agencies are paying the price.

"I can't have an agent spending all day long checking airline websites for an airfare," told Debbie Stevenson, owner of Ridgmar Travel in Fort Worth. "I feel totally helpless. I'm at the mercy of two big companies, American and Sabre."