Payments Protection

With Alternative Airlines "Payments Protected" scheme you don’t need to purchase a separate Airline Failure Insurance Policy to safeguard your flight purchase. Neither do we force you to buy airline failure insurance to cover airlines that are unlikely to go bankrupt. With Alternative Airlines "Payments Protected" scheme you are automatically covered against the failure of many of the airlines bookable through this site. Our insurers won't cover all airlines and an up to date list of the airlines where your money is totally safe from airline failure can be found here, or you can see check whether the "Payments Protected" logo appears on the relevant page of your chosen airline. If you are in any doubt please give us a call and speak to one of our expert advisors

Book Flights with Confidence

To make it easy, we have entered into an arrangement with IGI insurance Company Limited, through Marcus Hearn as brokers, to pay up to GBP1500 (One thousand five hundred pounds sterling) in respect of each passenger whose scheduled air flights are necessarily and unavoidably cancelled prior to departure due to the bankruptcy or liquidation of any scheduled airline which has been designated by us as "Payment Protected".

These airlines are identified with the "Payments Protected" logo on our airline information pages, and are listed below. Booking a "Payments Protected" airline through Alternative Airlines costs you no extra, and guarantees that your fare will be fully refunded even if the airline goes bankrupt. In most cases if you were to book directly with these airlines your payment would be unprotected.

Which airlines are excluded?

There are two types of airline that currently we are unable to designate "Payment Protected":

(1) Low-cost airlines, where the costs of your flight tickets is paid directly to the airline and is not therefore covered by our insurance policy.

(2) Airlines which our insurance underwriters do not wish to cover in the event of financial failure. These include any airline which has filed for "bankruptcy protection" (equivalent to "Chapter 11" status in USA) as well as, as at 01st November 2008, Alitalia, Olympic Airlines and Air Zimbabwe.

Of course you may still book these non-protected airlines at your own risk, and customers paying with UK credit cards may be independently protected by their payment card issuer.

What if my Airline fails?

(1) If you’ve booked through us on a "Payments Protected" airline, just contact us and we will arrange a prompt refund of the fares, taxes, and service charges paid.

(2) If you’ve booked through us on an airline which is not "Payments Protected", and paid using a UK credit card, just contact your credit card issuers and request a full refund. Please also contact us and we will help you in any way we can to secure this payment as quickly as possible.

(3) If you’ve booked through us on a low cost carrier and used a debit or charge card, you will probably get nothing, but it is still worth claiming from the liquidators of the airline, please contact us and we will get their name and address for you.

This information is for your guidance only and whilst we will make every effort to keep it current it cannot be construed in anyway as representing anything other than our corporate opinion.

Airlines with "Payments Protected" include:

ADRIA AIRWAYS AEGEAN AIRLINES AEROFLOT AEROGAL GALAPAGOS AEROMAR AEROMEXICO AEROPOSTAL AEROSVIT AEROSUR AFRIQIYAH AIRWAYS AIR ALGERIE AIR ASTANA AIR AUSTRAL AIR BALTIC AIR BURKINA AIR BOTSWANA AIR CALIN AIR CANADA AIR CHINA AIR EUROPA AIR FRANCE AIR INDIA AIR IVOIRE AIR JAMAICA AIR MADAGASCAR AIR MALAWI AIR MALTA AIR MAURITIUS AIR MOLDOVA AIR NAMIBIA AIR NEW ZEALAND AIR ONE AIR PACIFIC AIR SEYCHELLES AIR TAHITI AIR TAHITI NUI AIR TANZANIA AIR TRANSAT AIR VALLEE AIR VANUATU ALASKA AIRLINES ALBANIAN AIRLIES ALL NIPPON AMERICA WEST AIRLINE AMERICAN AIRLINES ARKIA ISRAELI AIR ARMAVIA AIRCOMPANY ASERCA AIRLINES ASIANA AIRLINES AUSTRIAN AIRLINES ATLASJET AIRLINES AVIASECA AVIANCA AZERBAIJAN AIRLINES BAHAMASAIR BANGKOK AIRWAYS BELAVIA -BELARUSIAN BELLVIEW AIRLINES BERJAYA AIR BH AIRLINES BIMAN BANGLADESH BINTRE CANARIAS BMI BRITISH AIRWAYS BRUSSELS AIRLINES BULGARIA AIR CAMEROON AIRLINES CARIBBEAN AIRLINES CARPATAIR CATHAY PACIFIC CATOVAIR CAYMAN AIRWAYS CENTRAL CONNECT CHINA AIRLINES CHINA EASTERN

CHINA SOUTHERN CIMBER AIR CIRRUS AIRLINES CITY AIRLINE COMP. AER du MALI(CAM) COPA AIRLINES CONTINENTAL AIRLINES CONVIASA AIRLINES CROATIA AIRLINES CSA CZECH AIRLINES CUBANA AIRLINES CYPRUS AIRWAYS CYPRUS TURKISH AIRLINES DALLOO AIRLINES DELTA AIR LINES DNIPROAVIA DOMODEDOVO AIRLINES DRAGON AIR EASTERN AIRWAYS (UK) EGYPTAIR EL AL ISRAEL AIRLINE EMIRATES ESTONIAN AIR ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES ETIHAD AIRWAYS EUROFLY EVA AIR FINNAIR FIRST AIR FLYLAL GABON AIRLINES GARUDA INDONESIA GEORGIAN AIRWAYS GHANA AIRLINES GMG AIRLINES GOL AIRLINES GULF AIR HAINAN AIRLINES HAWAIIAN AIRLINES HEMUS AIR HONG KONG AIRLINES HONG KONG EXPRESS IBERIA ICELANDAIR INDIAN AIRLINES INTERAIR SOUTH AFRICA IRAN AIR ISLAND AIR (Hawaii) ISLAS AIRWAYS JAT AIRWAYS JET AIRWAYS INDIA KAVMINVODYAVIA AIR KD AVIA KENYA AIRWAYS KINGFISHER AIRLINES KLM KOREAN AIR KUWAIT AIRWAYS LAM MOZAMBIQUE LAN AIRLINES LAO AIRLINES LIAT LIBYAN ARAB AIRLINES LOT POLISH AIRLINES LUFTHANSA LUXAIR MALAYSIAN AIRLINES MALEV AIRLINES MALI AIRLINES (CAM) MANDARIN AIRLINES MARTINAIR MAT MACEDONIAN MEXICANA MIAT MONGOLIAN AIRLINES MIDDLE EAST AIRLINES

MOLDOVAN AIRLINES MONTENEGRO AIRLINES MYANMAR AIRWAYS NEPAL AIRLINES OLT OMAN AVIATION OPEN SKIES (BA) OUR AIRLINE PACIFIC WINGS AIRLINES PAKISTAN INTERNATIONAL PHILIPPINE AIRLINES PLUNA PRECISION AIR PULKOVO AIRLINES QANTAS QATAR AIRWAYS ROSSIYA-RUSSIAN AIRLINES ROYAL AIR MAROC ROYAL BRUNEI AIRLINES ROYAL JORDANIAN AIRLINES RWANDAIR EXPRESS S7 AIRLINES SAMARA AIRLINES SANTA BARBARA AIRLINES SAS SCANDINAVIAN SAT AIRLINES SATA INTERNATIONAL SCOTAIRWAYS SEVERASTAL AIRCOMPANY SHANDONG AIRLINES SHANGHAI AIRLINES SHENZHEN AIRLINES SILK AIR SINGAPORE AIRLINES SKY AIRLINES SKYWAYS EXPRESS SKYWEST AIRLINES SOLOMON AIRLINES SOUTH AFRICAN AIR SRI LANKAN AIRLINES SPANAIR SUDAN AIRLINES SURINAM AIRWAYS SWSS INTL AIRLINES SYLT AIR SYRIAN AIRLINES TAAG-ANGOLA AIRLINES TACA AIRLINES TACA REGIONAL AIRLINES TAM BRAZILIAN AIRLINES TAM MERCOSUR TAP PORTUGAL TAROM ROMANIAN TATARSTAN AIRCOMPANY TRANSAERO AIRLINES TUNIS AIR TURKISH AIRLINES TWIN JET UNITED AIRLINES URAINE INT AIRLINES URAL AIRLINES US AIRWAYS UTAIR UZBEKISTAN AIRWAYS VIETNAM AIRLINES VIM AIRLINES VIRGIN ATLANTIC VIRGIN NIGERIA AIRWAYS VLADIVOSTOK AIR VLM AIRLINES VRG LINHAS AEREAS WELCOME AIR WINAIR XIAMEN AIRLINES YEMENIA-YEMEN AIRWAY

British Airways Cabin Crew Christmas Strike Tuesday, 15 December 2009 17:57 |

Yesterday British Airways Cabin Staff announced formally what everyone in the UK airline was expecting but dreading, that is they were going to take strike action over Christmas 2009 in response to BA’s management demands for cuts and changes in working practices. This article examines the prospect of highly damaging flight cancellations and programme disruptions from an industry insider perspective.

British Airways: from the World’s Favourite to national embarrassment ?

The UK airline industry is reeling in response to yesterday’s announcement that British Airway’s cabin staff will go out on strike for 12 days over the peak Christmas 2009 travel period. There is total agreement that this action will severely damage the airline’s reputation – again – and even those alternative airlines which stand to gain from passengers switching onto their competing services do not believe that the disruption to the plans of up to one million travellers, at the most emotional time of year, can be good for the industry.

As with any dispute there is blame on both sides, British Airways have little good in the bank with the loyal staff who day in and day out face their customers on every flight. A succession of grievances and disputes stretch back over a number of Chief Executives and for many cabin staff this battle isn’t just about changes in working conditions, it’s about how the airline treats the vital staff who present the airline’s face to every passenger at the point of travel.

From the British Airways perspective, “goodwill in the bank” doesn’t pay pension fund deficits or escalating operating costs, so everyone must suffer some of the pain to pull the business model into a shape where the airline can initially survive and subsequently prosper.

So, assuming the strike goes ahead, who are the winners? Not British Airways. Which customer in their right mind would trust BA not to disrupt their next less important flight when they have just cancelled the one where family, relatives and children are involved. Not the cabin staff themselves, a smaller, brand-damaged BA will mean fewer flights, less jobs, a more difficult post recession. growth trajectory and consequently less opportunity for the career seeking steward or stewardess. As suggested above even the competing carriers who may pick up some short term passengers on routes which fail to operate will need to be aware that in the post recession economy passengers will inevitably be looking for proof that an airline will not fail to supply the flight it promises.

Possibly the on-line flight booking agencies such as alternativeairlines.com will gain as potential passengers look beyond the obvious choice s offered by an airline’s own web site and search for more information about each airline as well as a larger choice of alternative flights.

Whatever happens next it is clear the proposed “12 days of Christmas strike” from 22 December 2009 will, it goes ahead, will join the Peak summer 2005 catering staff strike and the Terminal 5 lost baggage disaster in leaving BA with a mountain to climb before it can ever again claim to anyone’s favourite airline.

Boom time for PNG Flights! Tuesday, 19 January 2010 10:11 |

When a country, which is only 35 years old, discovers an important natural resource which will give it a considerable new income source, way in excess of its current revenues, over at least the next 30 years, then you know something will have to change.
When that same small country, with less than 7 Million inhabitants, also has a rapidly growing tourist industry with visitors arriving from all parts of the world to experience one of the most culturally diverse nations on the planet, you know that the change will be reported worldwide.

Also when that same country is one of the poorest members of the British Commonwealth, with one third of the population earning less than £1.00 per day, but enjoying living in close traditional communities and with virtually no private land ownership allowed, then you know that the change will be both dramatic and systemic.

Papua New Guinea, PNG, is about to become the country built on LNG (Liquid Natural Gas).

Within the last decade three enormous Natural Gas Fields have been dicovered in the southern and western highlands of Papua New Guinea. Currently the investment in terms of field development, pipelines, deepwater port facilities and a brand new Natural Gas liquefaction facility near the capital, Port Moresby, is likely to exceed $9.5 Billion. It

is impossible to forecast what changes will occur to the social structures, economic factors or the fragile local environment, but it is clear that Papua New Guinean aviation will have to grow dramatically to keep pace with the development. Currently, flights to Papua New Guinea are the domain of the national carrier, Air Niugini.

This small, developing airline runs a fleet of turboprop aircraft, small jets and two large Boeings. Most aircraft are used for domestic hops and the two Boeings operate on international flights to Australia, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and the Philippines. Domestic competition comes from one indigenous private carrier, Airlines PNG, who, as well as serving many domestic airfields, also operate a single international service from Port Moresby to Cairns. Pacific Blue airlines complete the choice with a single international service connecting the capital with Brisbane.

Clearly this is not enough to satisfy the demand that will be created as the development proceeds. Our best guess at the changes that will result, is that there will be a roller coaster effect of increased airfares and a shortage of seats, followed by an increase in services plus larger aircraft, resulting in lower air fares and more competition. A high demand for lower priced seats will be split between local passengers and cost conscious leisure travellers. Business class cabins will be fully booked, particularly on peak flights in and out of Port Moresby for weekends back in Australia or other points in Asia.

In the long term supply and demand will even out, but for those looking for Flights To Papua New Guinea sometime in the next few years, be prepared to pay more or to be very, very flexible as to your dates of travel.

Rwanda "The Land of a Thousand Hills" Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:20 |

Rwanda is fast becoming the must-see country in the whole of Africa. Fully recovered from a decade of strife, Rwanda is now a tourist friendly destination which is still able to deliver a true African experience. Everyone has heard of the Rwandan Mountain Gorillas and they remain the country's prime attraction, however Rwanda has amazing natural scenic beauty plus unique flora and fauna in her three National Parks.

Classic African savannah is the main attraction of the Akagera National Park situated in the east of Rwanda. As well as free roaming Impala, Giraffes, Zebra, Elephants, buffalo and the statuesque Cape Eland (the world's largest antelope), the area is also a paradise for birds. With four unique endemic species plus 525 types of birds not including the many migrants, Akagera is becoming a year round mecca for international birdwatchers.

Smaller but with an equally diverse habitat, Nyungwe Forest National Park situated in the South East of Rwanda, is a pre-historic forest containing 13 different types of primates including human-kinds closest living relative the chimpanzee, as well as the handsome Lhoests monkey plus hundred strong troops of the delightfully acrobatic Angola Colobus. As you would expect the forest is a maze of different shades of green, moss covered barks, interspersed with numerous streams and waterfalls. An extensive network of well maintained walking trails leads to various viewing points, some of which allow one to look directly onto the rainforest canopy.

Finally there is the world famous Volcanoes National Park with its population of silver back gorillas. On the border with Uganda, this National Park has become a monument to work of Dian Fossey, who lived with the gorillas for eighteen years before being buried here. The lush rainforest slopes of the Virunga peaks create a dramatic natural setting for what is arguably the most poignant and memorable wild life experience in the world.

For non-nature lovers, Rwanda has cultural, historical and community activities covering traditional music, dancing, crafts and folklore. An essential part of a visit to the vibrant capital city, Kigali, is a stop at the modern and thought provoking, but undeniably world class, Genocide museum.

For fun and sun lovers, Lake Kivu provides water sports and the resort town of Gisenyi. Sitting within the 6000 kilometre long Great Rift, valley, Lake Kivu is a volcanic lake surrounded by spectacular peaks and with safe sandy beaches.

How to get to Rwanda

International flights to Rwanda arrive at Kigali International Airport which is 10 km from the city centre. The national carrier is the expanding, RwandAir which operates international services to DR Congo (Goma), Kenya (Nairobi), Burundi (Bujumburra), Tanzania (Dar es Salaam and Kilimanjaro), Uganda (Entebbe) and Johannesburg (South Africa). Domestic flights operate to Cyangugu and Gisenyi. There are direct flights to Kigali from Brussels with Brussels airlines plus international flights by Ethiopian Airlines from Addis Ababa and Kenya Airways from Nairobi.

Vietnam Airlines to Vietnam Tuesday, 19 January 2010 15:57 |

Why you should use Vietnam Airlines for flights to Vietnam… You’re going to book a flight to Vietnam for your vacation; to visit friends and relatives or for an interesting business trip, which airline do you choose ?

The cheapest?
“No!”

The one with the shortest journey time?
“Perhaps.”

The one you always fly with, because whilst they aren’t special but they’ve never let you down ?
“There is always a first time …”

Flights to Vietnam

As the range of international airlines with flights to Vietnam increases, so do the number of factors which need to be considered before finally booking your flights to Vietnam.

At the outset let me make it clear that we are biased, we love flying and we love trying alternative airlines. In particular we love flying with the airline which best represents the country we are visiting.

So it’s a natural choice that we would choose Vietnam Airlines for our flights to Vietnam, but why should you?

Here’s why ……

(1)You’re going to Vietnam, so start enjoying the unique culture of this charming country at the very start of your journey. It’s a cliché but much of the charm of Vietnam lies in the gentleness of the Vietnamese people and somehow western cabin crew just don’t have the calm, relaxing effect of a Vietnamese smiling face accompanied by elegant hand gestures and perfect, but lilting English.

(2) Vietnam Airlines dominate the cities and airports you are likely to be visiting. Your arrival in the country is likely to be through the international airports at Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh where Vietnam Airlines have their main bases but if you need to travel on to one of the 17 other seventeen domestic airports in Vietnam*, all served by Vietnam Airlines, then it makes sense to buy all you air travel on the same airline.

(3) We all love flying on new aircraft, no-one likes to fly on something manufactured decades ago. We recommend that you check out the average age of the aircraft of any airline with which you are considering booking your flights. Any airline with a fleet age less than British Airways, which we use as our benchmark, passes this test. In this case BA have an average fleet age of 11.4 years which is 3.5 years older than the fleet of Vietnam Airlines.

(4) It’s great to start your journey from your friendly local airport and a first shop hop to join an aircraft originating elsewhere in Europe for the longer leg is better (in our opinion) than a slog to Heathrow and a change of aircraft somewhere in the Far East for a final, luggage losing, short last sector. Vietnam Airlines currently have flights to Vietnam from Paris and Frankfurt with London coming soon.

(5) Finally, you can sit back and relax in the sound knowledge that you are not just following the unfortunate many who choose their airline based purely on the cheapest available air fare and then spend an interminable journey regretting their choice.

Remember “It’s the journey that’s important, not just the getting there.” Make your flight part of the experience, not just a boring bookend at the start and finish of your trip. We’ve used the modern, passenger friendly example of Vietnam Airlines for Flights to Vietnam, to illustrate the point, but there is always a choice of alternative airlines to make any flight, anywhere into a memorable experience

Flights to Tehran Friday, 22 January 2010 16:43 |

"Build and they shall come" Tehran's modern international airport named, the Imam Khomeini International Airport, after the leader of the revolution is attracting more and more international services despite the current problems with looming US sanctions. The airport was originally due to open in 2004 but operations in their current form began in April 2005 and passenger numbers have uncreased steadily ever since.

Tehran is a magnificent city and the great capital of an ancient country containing world renowned archaeological sites, fascinating museums, beautiful castles, majestic palaces, great forts and historical houses. Its a vibrant place with all the sounds, smells, sights and buzz you would expect from an old and modern Middle Eastern commercial centre.

Flights to Tehran

The newer International airport is the home of the National carrier, Iran Air, which also operates from the old airport at Mehrabad. From autumn 2007, all international flights, except some flying pilgrims to Mecca, use the new airport. Iranair operate extensively to European destinations including London Heathrow,Vienna, Copenhagen, Paris,Bonn, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Milan, Rome, Amsterdam, Moscow, Gothenburg, Stockholm, Geneva, Ankara and Istanbul.

Further afield the IranAir fleet reaches as far as Bangkok and Beijing. The other based airline is the privately owned Mahan Air, which whilst also proving flights to Tehran has built a successful business by providing connecting flights from European cities such as Birmingham (UK) through Tehran to Amritsar in Punjab, India. Flights by foreign carriers into Tehran are growing. For example in January 2010, Pegasus airlines of Turkey started new flights from Istanbul, whilst Lufthansa of Germany announced a new four times per week two class, scheduled service from Munich.

Other airlines with established operations into Tehran include bmi, from the UK; Aeroflot of Russia, Austrian Airlines, Alitalia, and Air France. From the Gulf, GulfAir, Emirates and Qatar Airways all have flights. Longer haul carriers stretch from Conviasa of political allies, Venezuala to China Southern based in Guangzhou Iran has an enormous variety of natural habitats including forests, parched deserts, snow capped mountains, fantastic beaches on the Caspian Sea and the enigmatic Persian Gulf., With more airlines, more flights and easier access comes lower flight prices and more visitors. Iran is a country where real travellers will enjoy the fascination of real travel.

The people are the undiscovered treasures of the country but the spectacular natural sights come a close second. Iran will continue to grow as a tourist destination for those who want to do more than sit on a beach and where the rewards of travel aren't a suntan and hangover but a lasting memory of a unique country and vibrant culture.

Flights to China for Expo 2010. Tuesday, 26 January 2010 13:39 | Written by Paul Argyle | PDF | | Print | | E-mail

If the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 defined China’s entry into the very top tier of International Sports, then the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010 will define China’s entry into the top tier of International business. The event is due to attract 70 Million visitors and will run for six months from May 01st to October 31st 2010. In scale, scope and commercial impact the Shanghai Expo 2010 will far exceed anything that Beijing Games achieved and is likely to exert a massive influence on the agenda of international trade for the next decade. With 192 countries and 50 international organisations participating the event is already guaranteed to be an unsurpassed showcase of architecture, technological innovation, new ideas for community development and urban living.

But how are Europeans booking their flights to Shanghai to ensure they don’t miss this once in a lifetime opportunity?

The good news is that the Expo will be served through both Shanghai’s two major airports: Hongqiao International Airport and Pudong International Airport where the dominant indigenous carriers are Air China and China Eastern Airlines, the latter of which is currently merging with Shanghai Airlines to form a new mega carrier.

Air China is China’s second largest carrier after China Southern and whilst its main hub is at Beijing Capital International Airport it has a very strong network of flights from Shanghai's Pudong.

Air China

Air China flies to China from 9 European departure points: London Heathrow, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Frankfurt, Munich, Milan, Rome, Moscow, St Petersburg, Madrid and Stockholm. North America is served from Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Vancouver. With a massive fleet of almost 250 aircraft, all western manufactured by Boeing or Airbus, Air China should feature in anyone’s research into the best ways of getting to Expo 2010.

China Eastern

China Eastern Airlines has the benefit of being based in Shanghai and whilst smaller than its rival, Air China, is rapidly developing in size through its merger with Shanghai Airlines. By adding its fleet of 240 aircraft to Shanghai’s 33, China Eastern is building into itself into a formidable force in Chinese aviation. Currently its presence in Europe is small with established schedules services operating to Paris and Frankfurt but from March 28th 2010 the airline will add departures to Shanghai’s Ruding airport from London Heathrow and Moscow.

China Southern

China’s largest airline,

China Southern operates European services only to Amsterdam, Paris (Charles de Gaulle) and three airports in Russia. European carriers operating into Pudong include Virgin Atlantic, Air France, British Airways, Finnair, KLM, Lufthansa, Swiss and Turkish Airlines.

10 Chinese carriers serve Hongqaio Airport from many domestic destinations as well as All Nippon and Japan Airlines from Tokyo plus Asiana and Korean from Seoul.

Two things are clear, one is that demand for Air travel to Shanghai during Expo 2010 will be high and secondly, that the choice of different routes to get there and alternative airlines to try is enormous. This is a combination that will inevitably reward the savvy traveller who is willing to spend time researching different options and who consider their travel time as a valuable part of their Expo experience.

Flying in East Africa Thursday, 28 January 2010 13:15 | Written by Paul Argyle | PDF | | Print | | E-mail

If East Africa can be defined by membership of the intergovernmental organisation EAC (East African Community) that constitutes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, then we are looking at some of the most exciting countries with respect to the development of regional aviation anywhere in the world. Whilst these five countries cover a vast area of over 700,000 square miles and an estimated population of over 125 million people, the current infrastructure for land transport is poor and the demand for quick regional travel is growing rapidly as the individual national economies grow.

There are two distinct segments of opportunity.

The first is for flights into the region and here the traditional hub of Nairobi (Kenya) is under threat internally from planned developments at Kigali (Rwanda) and externally from the rise of Ethiopian airlines services through Addis Ababa.

The second opportunity is for intra regional flights as the commercial cities of Arusha (Tanzania – for Kilimanjaro), Dar es Salaam (Tanzania for Zanzibar), Mombasa (Kenya’s second city), Entebbe (capital of Uganda), Bujumbura (Burundi’s political centre) and the fast growing Kigali, all require more frequent and more regular connecting air services.

As well as business traffic growth, leisure traffic is also growing and secondary airports used as entry points for local game parks and tourists resorts are becoming increasingly important. These include Lamu, Malindi, Kisumu, Masai Mara, Lodwar and Kitale in Kenya; Mwanza, Kilimanjaro Airport, Serengeti, Arusha and Lake Manyara in Tanzania,; Cyangugu and Gisenyi in Rwanda.

Currently the only East African based airline with significant long haul flights into the region is Kenya Airways, based in Nairobi. This airline was one of the successes on the 1990’s, which with help from Dutch airline KLM has established a network of flights throughout Africa, much of Asia and into Paris, Amsterdam and London, Heathrow for European traffic. Within the region there are a number of very good regional airlines with their own development plans for growth.

Based in Kenya, at Nairobi’s second airport, Wilson is Air Kenya whose twin engined aircraft are frequent visitors to the airfields of the Masai Mara. The expanding low cost regional carrier, Fly540, based at Nairobi primary airport, Jomo Kenyatta international, serves the whole region with regular flights to Entebbe, Bujumbura and Arusha as well as eight airports within Kenya.

From Rwanda, the national carrier Rwandair is being backed for growth by the National Government and as well as regional flights it has a strong North South connection to the South African markets through Johannesburg.

Tanzania’s principal airline is the wonderfully named Precision Air, based I Dar es Salaam it operates internationally to Mombassa, Nairobi and Entebbe plus eight domestic destinations within Tanzania.

Finally Air Uganda is an airline to watch, as it is now owned by the Aga Khan, with expertise arriving form his European airline Meridiana. Currently Air Uganda flies to Nairobi (Twice Daily), Juba in Sudan, Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Mombassa.

It is clear that East African Aviation is set for a period of growth and as the region becomes more consolidated, economically and politically, so these airlines may merge together. Meanwhile it can be expected that the established carriers mentioned above; the smaller airlines, which operate in specific niches, and the new airlines that have yet to be launched will continue to grow and prosper in a fertile trading environment.

Cheap Flights to New York, What to look for.. Tuesday, 02 February 2010 18:19 | Written by Paul Argyle | PDF | | Print | | E-mail

According to the Civil Aviation Authority during 2008, just over 4 million people flew from a London Airport to New York. They departed from four different airports (Heathrow, Gatwick, Luton and Stansted) and flew to JFK and Newark airports in the US. It is one of the busiest international routes in the world and forms a major link between Europe and North America.

So, if just over 4 Million people actually flew the route, then it follows that airlines provided seats for many more than 4 Million and that’s equates to over 11,000 seats each and every day of the year. If you take an average British Airways Boeing 747-400 as capable of carrying 299 passengers in First, Club and Business then you get at least 36 flights a day, or one every 40 minutes around the clock.

With that enormous number of flights available, you would think that it would be easy to find a cheap flight, within your budget and when you want it, but the vagaries of the airline industry make it impossible to ever know if you got the best deal available. So what should you look for?

Two trends have combined to change the process of booking a flight dramatically:
(1) On-line Booking Engines show the cheapest flights at the top of the price/availability flight display
(2) In the ever tightening, post-credit crunch economy people will increasingly swap more research time for a better-informed decision.

So you now get three categories of on-line flight bookers:
(1) Lazy Bookers, who check one possibly two sites; probably one airline and one on-line agency site (A) look at the obvious options and book the best that is immediately available. This usually leads to a direct (B), non-stop (C) flight on a national carrier, say British Airways or American Airlines, leaving from the primary airport in the UK (Heathrow) and flying to the primary airport in New York (JFK).
(2) Canny Bookers, who check probably four or five sites, (two airlines, two on-line agencies and one flight comparison site (D) and book the best that their research reveals. This is most likely to be again on a non-stop flight but possibly with a lesser known US or UK carrier (Virgin not BA, Delta not American) and possibly either from or into on one the secondary airports (Gatwick or Newark rather than Heathrow or JFK).
(3) Informed Bookers, who check not just the obvious flight booking sites, but also research which airlines fly the route before starting their quest for the best. These people start with the airport web sites, in the case of London (Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Luton Airports .com) which quickly reveals who flies where. Then they progress to the airline own sites; plus at least three on-line agencies and two price comparison sites, also probably using Google news to check if any new have announced any plans to fly the route recently. This is likely to lead to an alternative choice, still direct and non-stop but with a unlikely carrier, for example, Air India, Kuwait Airways who both fly directly from Heathrow to New York or even more likely with a carrier which has a direct flight, but stops en route, for example Icelandair who fly Heathrow to JKF via Iceland or low cost competitor Iceland Express who have recently launched Gatwick to Newark also via Iceland or even more likely on an airline, say United Airlines, with a non-direct flight including an intermediate stop in Washington, but the same airline for both the transatlantic and domestic legs. It is clear that the power of the consumer is growing as choices become more transparent but even canny bookers can make better choices with a better understanding of how the market works.

This article is written to help provide a little more understanding and hopefully can lead to better choices and cheaper flights.

Definitions:
(A) On line agency site: a site where the booking process is transacted by the agency operating the site. (E.g. Alternative Airlines)
(B) Direct Flights: where the passenger remains on the same aircraft throughout the journey but the aircraft may have one or more stops en-route.
(C) Non-stop: where there are no intermediary stops for either aircraft or passenger en route.
(D) Flight Comparison Site: (e.g. Skyscanner.net) where the purchaser is transferred to the airline or an on-line agency site (see A) to make the booking having looked initially at the selection chosen by the Flight Comparison site. (Note some flight comparison sites give preference to those airlines and agencies which pay for preferential positions or labelling rather than offering an unbiased selection

Wednesday, February 24, 2010 Lufthansa is about to have a grandchild

Well, that's kind of what it looks like. If your child has a child -right? It appears that Brussels is about to do a deal with Forrest Group to create a regional airline based in Congo. The company will initially fly a single scheduled service between Lubumbashi and Kinshasa and then extend to other regional routes.

This, in our view, is a good move by Brussels. The airline is a new name, but there are distinct links harking back to Sabena and Belgium's colonial past in Africa. Brussels could create something truly interesting if this airline works well. Having a regional hub to gather traffic means making Brussels (the city) an effective hub. Transfers to the rest of the EU via high speed rail are excellent. Transfers to North America are taken care of. Transfers to Asia, ditto. Plugging in small African markets to the rest of the global economy is very smart - especially when one considers the demand for resources growing. Congo is huge and mostly undeveloped. Opportunity knocks. Lufthansa should watch this and feel rather proud.

In other news:

• Remember the name Avient?


• BA gets customer support- as Unite loses it.


• Conference Board's downer


• South Africa's airlines - a view from Airbus

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Tuesday, February 23, 2010 The Greek merger

The drama continues. Aegean Airlines and Olympic Air announced their shareholders reached an agreement to merge the two airlines, and create a new company to be listed on the Athens Stock Exchange.

The agreement, which is subject to the approval of the European Competition Commission, will see the main shareholder of Aegean (Vassilakis Group) and the sole shareholder of Olympic (Marfin Investment Group) take an equal shareholding in the combined entity. The combined company will carry the name and logos of Olympic Air, with Chairman Mr Vassilakis of Aegean and Chairman Vgenopoulos of Olympic to lead the company.

The merger, which will create one dominant carrier in the domestic market, also involves Olympic Ground Handling and Olympic Engineering becoming 100% subsidiaries of the new company. The two carriers announced they were in talks on a possible cooperation in a stock exchange filing on February 11 2010. The two carriers operate a combined fleet of 64 aircraft and employ 5,850 workers. Aegean operates 24 domestic and 26 international routes, while Olympic serves 41 domestic and 15 international destinations. Aegean has been accepted into and is in the process of joining Star Alliance by June 2010.

“Since the first day of Aegean’s operations, we have been pursuing our vision for innovative, high quality services, through significant investments. The relative size of our competitors within the European Union necessitates the joining of the two main Greek airlines, to achieve increased autonomy in serving the needs of our country’s tourism, increase route options for consumers, ensure the long-term development and viability of the two airlines and protect the levels of employment in the sector.” Mr Vassilakis, Chairman of Aegean Airlines.

“The prevailing conditions in the Greek economy, as well as in the aviation sector, dictate the combination of forces in order to maintain competitive customer prices, protect levels of employment and increase our competitiveness at a European level. The merger of OLYMPIC with AEGEAN serves all of those objectives and at the same time preserves and strengthens the OLYMPIC brand name, an inherent piece of our national tradition making all Greeks very proud.” Mr A Vgenopoulos, Chairman of Olympic Air.

So that much maligned brand is back. At least we can have some fun going forward.
In other news:

• Air France and the A380


• BAA - shopping mall operator?


• Daimler selling its EADS stake


• Lufthansa's strike off - for now, but who blinked?

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Monday, February 22, 2010 Another good bye...

Finnair operated the final scheduled passenger service of its MD-11 aircraft (Delhi-Helsinki) on February 22 2010. Its two MD-11s are for sale, with the carrier stating there was a "possibility" of using them for Finnair's cargo services. And so ends another era of commercial flight - the last of the big triple engined jets goes away. Finnair operated MD-11s for almost 20 years, handling almost 14m passengers and conducting approximately 400,000 flying hours and more than 50,000 flights.

The first MD-11 was delivered to Finnair on December 7, 1990 and also made the first revenue service on December 20, 1990, carrying passengers from Helsinki to Tenerife in the Canary Islands. The airplane was beset with issues of being unable to meet its range performance due to higher drag and fuel burn. Though the airplane had a bumpy life, and was killed off by the A340 and 777, it still continues as a good freighter. But it will never match its siblings, the DC-8 and DC-9, for longevity.

In other news:

• The big strike


• An interesting cocktail - BA & Kingfisher


• SAS and a recipe for change


• The other side of Brazil's airline growth

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Friday, February 19, 2010 Air France likes Jo'burg

Air France confirmed plans to deploy A380s initially on three of ten weekly services to Johannesburg, before increasing A380 frequencies to seven per week in May (and suspending the remaining three frequencies), following the delivery of a third A380.

This means two of the airline's three A380s will be serving South Africa. New York gets one and Jo'burg gets two. We will see how long this lasts after the World Cup. But certainly this move tells us something. AF must be doing a lot of business.

Lufthansa has already stated it plans to fly an A380 to South Africa as well. Lufthansa has SAA as an alliance partner. It may be that SAA and Lufthansa code share these flights. BA will also put an A380 into Jo'burg when its planes start arriving.

For us the decision at SAA to buy A380s is not hard to see coming. They could use the plane to London for sure. If traffic grows and slots cannot accommodate more service then bigger is the only solution. Though a 747i would serve SAA's needs well with lower risk, its present management is under the sway of and enamored with Toulouse. It used to be a Seattle focused place once upon a time.

In other news:

• American quietly grows JFK
  


• Lufthansa pilot strike - a self fulfilling prophesy
  


• Airport research - no surprises
  


• IATA's 2009 safety stats
  

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Thursday, February 18, 2010 Flying Luftie? No you're not

Dear valued Lufthansa customer, Information on pilots' strike for Lufthansa passengers

The Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union has called on Lufthansa pilots to participate in a four-day strike from February 22 to 25. Lufthansa regrets any inconvenience that the industrial action may cause our passengers.

Lufthansa has a toll-free number in the U.S. and Canada for you and your clients to obtain information about their flight bookings, and for any re-bookings or cancellations.

The U.S. number is: 1-800-645-3880* The Canadian number is: 1-800-563-5954*

Information about ongoing flight operations can also be found at lufthansa.com.

Passengers who are already booked on a Lufthansa flight during February 22 to 25, 2010, and wish to change their travel plans can rebook once free of charge to another Lufthansa flight - provided their ticket is issued before February 18, 2010 and their new travel date is before March 31, 2010. Their departure and arrival destinations must also remain the same. For additional information on the Lufthansa Goodwill Policy please click here.

Applicable rules for flight cancellations caused by strike action: Should the purpose of a journey become null and void because of a flight cancellation, passengers can annul their flight booking free of charge.

Lufthansa regrets any inconvenience the industry action may cause your clients. Please continue to check the website for more updates.

More information can be found here.

Sincerely, Lufthansa

In other news:

• Delta's outlandish request
  


• Air Berlin grows Niki stake
  


• Germany steps in with A400M help
  


• The coming strikes
  

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Tuesday, February 16, 2010 Boeing's quiet moves in India

Don't be surprised if there's another upset in fighter sales. Brazil saw the Gipen lose to the Rafale because of totally unrelated issues. The F-18 might yet win in India for totally unrelated issues, too.

The news is that Boeing may respond within two weeks to initial requests for information from India for six refueling tankers, according to a company executive. In addition, Boeing begins field trials for the C-17 in spring. The Indian Air Force had earlier submitted a request to the U.S. government for the potential acquisition of 10 C-17s. This is on top of the fighter competition and the sale of P-8s. Boeing has a lot of chess pieces on the table.

Boeing is quietly doing a very big sales campaign in India. However, being India, they will have heard that the EADS tanker has won every competition it has had against Boeing's tanker. No doubt there will be an attempt by EADS to have a competition. Its a pity that EADS' large military freighter is not ready for a competition against the C-17. Such a competition would ensure India gets the deal of a lifetime.

In other news:

• Qantas sees green shoots
  


• Boeing tidbits increase - and the pendulum may be shifting
  


• London trash=bio fuel; advantage WW over SRB
  


• Tilton back on merger wagon
  

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Friday, February 12, 2010 Pressure grows on Qantas

The Gulf carriers keep pushing deeper into Australia. Etihad secured seven additional weekly frequencies from Abu Dhabi to any entry point in Australia, including current destinations Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, effective March 2011. The additional frequencies were awarded following bilateral negotiations between the UAE and Australia this week.

A further seven weekly frequencies have been granted to Etihad on the condition that the service operates via or to a regional airport. You can imagine the fight over those slots. Etihad currently operates 21 times weekly between Abu Dhabi and Australia, including 11 times weekly to Sydney, daily to Melbourne and three times weekly to Brisbane.

"The announcement that Etihad Airways has been granted up to 14 additional flights each week is an indication of the airline’s deepening bond with Australia. We are committed to this important market and look forward to carrying greater numbers of business and leisure travelers from destinations across Etihad’s expanding network to Australia. Etihad’s presence in Australia continues to grow considerably," James Hogan, CEO. Now wait and see what Emirates asks for. (Emirates has been denied plans to increase its number of services to Australia. The carrier had been lobbying to increase services from its current cap of 84 services a week.)

It should be clear these traffic rights are not to grow business to Abu Dhabi - few Australians want to spend more than an hour in the place. The traffic rights really are to serve the UK. Australians will like low fares and relatively higher levels of service. Qantas and BA therefore are seeing the traffic grow around and away from them. In order to keep the highest yielding traffic, Qantas and BA will have to come up with a code-shared non stop flight. That is all they have left to work with. And you know that Boeing and Airbus know this too. Now watch and see what happens.

In other news:

• Turkish is hot
  


• Koito fallout grows - Airbus leads
  


• Capacity is coming back outside the US
  


• The re-engine debate
  

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Thursday, February 11, 2010 Interesting AirAsia move

AirAsia acquired a 30% equity stake in VietJet Aviation Joint Stock Company (VietJet Air), to establish a Vietnam-based JV LCC, which will carry the name VietJet AirAsia, following an agreement with VietJet owner, SOVICO Holdings.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Transportation approved the share acquisition. VietJet AirAsia will be operating both domestic and international flights, with AirAsia to "provide technical, operational and commercial support on an arms length basis to ensure commercial, operational, branding and service level uniformity throughout AirAsia’s operations".

It is currently finalizing details regarding routes, frequencies and launch of flights, and is expected to commence operations between April and June, subject to relevant approvals. Following the completion of the share transfer, the shareholding structure in the carrier shall be AirAsia with 30%, SOVICO Holdings with 51% and Nguyen Thanh Hung (SOVICO Chairman) with 19%.

This is a slick move. Vietnam is a high growth market and its labor costs are very low. By creating a franchise AirAsia guarantees itself access to both opportunities and simultaneously opens up new markets under another flag. Of course customers will no doubt be able to change airlines, but remain within the franchise, at KL for example. This could enable a traveler (one of these days) to fly from Vietnam to Oakland, California over KL for probably under $500. AirAsia can make money with an A340 using this low cost model and high load factors.

In other news:

• BA hedges labor bets
  


• More Koito fallout
  


• US domestic January numbers
  


• Brazil keeps roaring ahead
  

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Wednesday, February 10, 2010 Remember OpenSkies, the airline?

The much maligned airline has been quietly doing its thing. Watching its peers disappear. OpenSkies, the all-Business Class subsidiary BA, announced plans to launch Paris Orly-Washington Dulles service, effective May 3. Services will initially operate five times weekly using 72-seat 757-200s. OpenSkies also offers 17 weekly services between Paris Orly and New York. You can imagine that United and Air France will not take kindly to this news. United, in particular, is an unpleasant and rough competitor.

In other news:

• BA reveals new First Class
  


• Delta/US Airways slot swap going wobbly
  


• Green shoots growing
  


• Bombardier wins nice order
  

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Tuesday, February 09, 2010 Koito - reality starts to bite

Koito Industries will repair approximately 150,000 seats, fitted primarily to Airbus and Boeing aircraft, after Japanese and European aviation authorities stated the company had falsified test results and made unauthorized design changes to their products. Initially the thought was that perhaps the problem was not so big. But reality is striking at the industry hard. 150,000 seats!

Seats on 1,000 aircraft, covering 32 carriers in 24 countries are affected. Koito has been instructed to halt shipments of new seats that have not been tested properly. Since September 2009, Airbus has been prevented from delivering aircraft fitted with Koito seats. All Nippon Airways, Singapore Airlines and Continental Airlines have all been forced to delay the introduction of new aircraft due to delays in seat deliveries from the manufacturer. Japan Airlines is also reportedly affected.

This now explains a number of planes that seemingly are ready for delivery but have not been delivered - Singapore's newest A380 for example. Clearly Koito is going to pay compensation of terrifying proportions. Moreover one has to wonder if it can survive a hit like this. Its management cheated and lied for a long time - and where were safety inspections by the Japanese government? Each airplane seat has to be certified as passing tests. So who was watching this? Does nobody own the responsibility?

The downstream impact has to be huge. Essentially the question is this - can you trust the Japanese aviation safety regulatory authority? Right now, absent any further information, the answer is no. Sweeping this problem under the rug of convenience by the Japanese, Koito or even airlines is inappropriate. For an industry whose mantra is and always has been safety first - where is the "sturm und drang"? This is, in our view, a very big and serious problem.

In other news:

• JAL does another 180
  


• Odd Thai news
  


• 747-8 First Flight - a couple of thoughts
  


• Cathay's legacy talk
  

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Monday, February 08, 2010 Gatwick gets more attention

The world's largest sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), acquired a 15% Gatwick stake from Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for a £125m as it moves to increase its exposure to infrastructure assets.

Earlier South Korea's National Pension Service agreed to pay around £100m for a 12% state in Gatwick, suggesting similar terms had been reached by Abu Dhabi. GIP, led by Credit Suisse and General Electric, paid £1.51bn for Gatwick last year (slightly below its regulated asset base of £1.57bn). GIP, which is seen to be planning to sell up to 50% of its stake in Gatwick, has been seeking long-term investors for the asset.

In other news:

• LCC story from two ends
  


• Ryanair pushes back longhaul idea
  


• 747-8 First Flight today
  


• JAL dances again
  

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Friday, February 05, 2010 EU to see rising faresEU to see rising fares?

We suspect that the EU will see rising air fares from this spring. Why? Because the floor is going to rise - Ryanair is planning to increase fares. As they do this, we expect to see the entire system rise in sympathy.

As a result of revenue deterioration (plus slower future growth profile), Ryanair is planning to increase fares for the first time in four years. CFO Howard Millar stated the LCC is likely to raise fares from April 1, adding, “We’ve had a lot of discounting of fares as we’ve grown the business. We expect to increase profits by the combination of reducing costs and we think average fares will probably rise”.

If Ryanair is seeing its revenues plateau then what can this mean for its competitors? Just as Southwest grew to be the biggest US domestic carrier, and therefore had a huge influence on fares, Ryanair is now the biggest airline in the EU and has the same level of influence. Having this much critical mass means treading more deliberately because growth cannot come from the same places. MOL frequently speaks about more airlines going out of business. He hopes so because that is where the next growth spurts will have to come from.

Consequently Ryanair has to do the logical thing - push up fares. Now conveniently forgotten are MOL's words about flying for free with revenues coming from advertising and other non-traditional sources.

In other news:

• F-35 fantasy stymies Boeing's F-18 stop gap idea
  


• CSeries opportunities coming
  


• Republic makes fleet move
  


• BA's monstrous loss
  

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Thursday, February 04, 2010 Let us introduce you to KOITO

For most people this is not a household name. But you are about to get to know this name very well. Let's start with this. ANA just put out this seemingly innocuous press release.

Notice it starts with the word Apology. Then it talks about "Delay in Flight Commencement of the New Boeing 777-300ER Aircraft and Change of Launch Date for New Brand and Service". Really not quite sure what this is going on about? Here are the key words "We deeply regret to inform you that the new Boeing 777-300ER aircraft will not commence operation on Saturday, February 20, 2010 as scheduled, due to delay in development of Premium Economy seats." We added the underline.

ANA goes on to explain "Premium Economy seats scheduled to be installed will be tentatively replaced with Economy Class seats.
·Configuration Boeing 777-300ER aircraft
- First Class (8 seats) - Business Class (68 seats) - Premium Economy (24 seats⇒0 seats) - Economy Class (112 seats⇒139 seats) -Total: 212 seats⇒215 seats
*Reason for changes in above(1)and(2): Delay in development of Premium Economy seats (Koito Industries, Ltd.: Headquarter located in Yokohama)."

Seems there's a problem with the premium economy seat. But, wait there's more. It turns out the problem is possibly bigger than it seems. Koito's customers are worth noting: Japan Airlines Corporation, All Nippon Airways Co.,Ltd., Singapore Airlines, Ltd., Continental Airlines, Inc., Virgin Atlantic Airways, Ltd. Koito is a rather big supplier of airplane seats.

It appears that Koito's seats may have a problem. There is word the seats do not really meet the specs they are supposed to. As there is nothing official yet, words have to be carefully used. But as we can see, ANA is scrambling to replace one seat type. Another Koito customer has a plane waiting for delivery - its parked and there is no official word why the plane is not being delivered. A customer waiting for a delivery is a sign of something serious. Very serious.

The slowness of this story getting out shows that not only Koito, but also the airlines involved are either not informed yet, or are equally frantic to control the news. People are not going to be happy when they realize the seat they are sitting in for many hours may not be as safe as required. Indeed if the seat is known to not meet the safety requirements for airline use, the plane could be regarded as not meeting basic safety regulations. From what we hear, the size of the problem is estimated at thousands of seats.

If the airlines listed above have to park planes to replace seats, taking thousands of seats out the system, you can imagine the mayhem. If, for example, you have to park an A380 to replace 75 seats, all ~500 the plane has are not producing revenue. So its a big problem.

As this news creeps out, you might expect to see airlines blocking off cabins where these seats are located. The planes can keep flying until a fix is found. But a portion of the cabin will now probably depend on Koito providing compensation until the fix is complete. Lots of red faces coming soon.

In other news:

• Israel's RJ ambitions
  


• GE talks (a bit) about its UDF
  


• Ryanair had a good January
  


• Airbus sees huge Asia-Pacific market
  

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Wednesday, February 03, 2010 Coming to America

US Travel Association urged the US Government to more widely promote its new Electronic System for Travel Authorization. The system is used foreign tourists who are not required to obtain a visa to travel to the US. They will be required to register with the system.

Few foreign tourists appear to be aware of the program. From March 20 2010 carriers will face large fines if they allow tourists to board without registering.

So if you plan to visit the US, just register here. Then the DHS and TSA can do their homework, get to know in a digital sense, and the rest of us Americans can welcome you on the other side of the FIS at our airports.

In other news:

• More Russian consolidation
  


• GP7200 milestone
  


• 787-3 is dead, but...
  


• Watch out New York
  

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Tuesday, February 02, 2010 Would Ryanair move to Gatwick?

As usual, in this little aviation world, it matters how you treat people. People enter the industry and float around it all their lives. So treat somebody badly and you will have to pay for it - sooner or later. The folks at Ryanair understand that. So the relationship they had with a certain Stewart Wingate, while perhaps fractious when he was paid by BAA, now might become a whole lot more congenial.

The policy of separating London airports from BAA's monopoly might be working. If Gatwick's new owners are able to bring Ryanair out of Stansted there would be a substantial change in travel around London. Stansted has created its own little industry of transportation from London to get people to the airport. Take Ryanair away from there and the transportation industry dries up a lot. Bring Ryanair into Gatwick and we will have heightened fare wars between easyJet and Ryanair - a wonderful thing for Londoners and visitors. Indeed, only the neighbors will be irritated - but they were that way to start with.

Competition is a wonderful thing. BAA will have to respond to the market. Let's see if it can. Meanwhile Gatwick Airport owner, Global Infrastructure Partners, plans to sell a 12% equity stake in the airport to South Korea’s National Pension Service, for just under £100m.

In other news:

• IAE fumbling?
  


• AA learns from BA
  


• Russia news from United Aero
  


• DoT budget numbers
  

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Monday, February 01, 2010 New Report on Boeing

The AirInsight team has published a new report on The Boeing Co. This follows previous reports on Airbus, the emerging competitors to Airbus and Boeing and Re-Engining the A320 and 737 families all published since August 2009. The reports are produced with Ernest Arvai of The Arvai Group and Scott Hamilton of Leeham & Co. The Boeing report contains a competitive assessment vis-a-vis Airbus, updating our Airbus report published in August; a close look at Boeing’s programs; its relationship with labor; the prospect for replacing the 737 and 777 to meet Airbus competition; the KC-7A7 and

Monday, February 01, 2010 Air AsiaX blinks

AirAsia X plans to suspend Kuala Lumpur-Abu Dhabi A340 service from February 21 2010 for “commercial reasons”, citing “underwhelming” demand. The carrier reduced frequency to three times weekly in January 2010. AirAsia X stated it hoped the move was only temporary, with flights up to October 2010 so far canceled, and aims to resume the service with smaller A330 aircraft. "We are not going to be flying, period, to Abu Dhabi until we figure out what’s the right strategy, the right hub, the right aircraft and we’ll probably come back again,” Azran Osman-Rani, CEO.

This move is going to attract all sorts of punditry with one essential message; the Gulf is no place for a long haul LCC. The Gulf is home to airlines with the most grandiose of fleet plans and whose airlines are aimed at offering the industry's highest levels of service. These same airlines do not offer the most transparent financial results and are statelet owned.

The reality is that the UAE used to be the go-go part of the world with Dubai at the top of the pile. Things are rather different now. But those people still living there continue to require low cost labor to do the work of cleaning, building and offering otherwise menial labor. Nations across the Gulf have turned to SE Asia for the low cost labor and flying people between these two regions is going to be the domain of LCCs.

Consequently, we do not count out Air AsiaX yet. The A340 may have been the wrong plane for the task. But their business model is able to provide the market what it needs. The smug smiles at Abu Dhabi with the departure of Air AsiaX may be short lived.

In other news:

• Ryanair looks at Brazil?
  


• Air Seychelles to serve the Falklands?
  


• Qantas trims first class
  


• Asia-Pacific the biggest market - IATA
  

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United fined for price advertising violationJanuary 15, 2010 4:03 p.m. EST

The Department of Transportation imposed a $30,000 penalty on United Airlines for breaking price advertising rules.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Under DOT rules, airlines must disclose the full price of air travel to consumers
  
• United violated price advertising rules twice in five months
  
• Government taxes and fees per passenger are the only exception to the rules
  

RELATED TOPICS

(CNN) -- The U.S. Department of Transportation slapped United Airlines with a $30,000 fine Friday for violating price advertising rules, and the airline also will have to pay the balance for a previous infraction.

Under DOT rules, airlines must disclose the full price of air travel to consumers.

"Our fare advertising rules are designed to ensure that consumers know how much they will pay for a ticket and are able to compare prices when choosing which carrier to fly," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.

The department found that United failed to disclose a 7.5 percent federal excise tax for 60 hours on the initial results page of its Web site.

United said it is committed to advertising its fares clearly.

"In this unique case, due to a programming error, the initial fare display inadvertently placed the 7.5 percent federal excise tax in the 'taxes and fees' section, rather than in the base fare," said spokeswoman Sarah Massier in an e-mail.

"Immediately upon learning of the programming error United took action to move the tax to the base fare."

Government taxes and fees per passenger are the only charges that are not required to be included in the published fare, according to the DOT.

The new penalty means United also will have to pay the balance on a fine for a violation over the summer.

In August, the DOT fined United $75,000 for not disclosing taxes and fees in the initial advertised fares on its Web site and for showing one-way fares that were only applicable for round-trip travel.

The airline was required to pay $37,500 of that penalty, with the understanding that half would be forgiven if it had no further violations within the next 12 months.

United now is required to pay the other half of the $75,000 fine