Qantas Airways Offers Free Flights for Stranded Tourists

Qantas Airways offers free flights to passengers who were left stranded by the fleet grounding in a desperate bid to win them back. The Australian carrier and union workers meet today for talks.

Qantas Airways, one of the world’s biggest carriers, is giving away free air tickets to apologize to travellers who were left high and dry when airline’s entire fleet was grounded for two days in October.

Australia-based airline says that passengers whose travels were disrupted by the grounding are entitled to a free return economy flight within Australia or to New Zealand over a two-year period from Dec. 14.

The offer of free flights will reportedly cost the carrier which is not exactly known for its cheap flights somewhere around A $20 million.

“This ticket offer is one of a range of initiatives we will be launching as a way of saying sorry as we move forward into this period of stability,” said Alan Joyce, Qantas Chief Executive Officer in a statement.

“Throughout the long period of industrial activity we have been acutely aware of the impact on our customers,” Alan Joyce added. He also said that this was the airline’s way of winning back customer loyalty.

It has been reported that approximately 80,000 passengers were impacted when Australia’s flag carrier grounded all of its aircraft all over the world on Oct. 29 for about 48 hours. The move was made by the airline to counter long continuing industrial action.

Fair Work Australia intervened and ordered an end to the halt. The airline and the unions, representing engineers, long-haul pilots and baggage handlers, were given 21 days to reach a new contract or face obligatory arbitration.

As per the airline, the disruption cost Qantas A$68 million ($71 million).

Customers to be Compensated

Qantas says that passengers will be compensated for all reasonable losses ensuing from the fleet grounding. Alan Joyce said that the airline regrets the inconvenience caused by the long-standing dispute and by the grounding specifically.

“Now that no more industrial action can take place and the cloud of further strike action has lifted, we are 100 percent focused on what matters to customers, getting them to their destinations, safely, on time and in comfort, and in rewarding their loyalty to Qantas,” Alan Joyce was quoted in several news sources.

The airline also said that announcements in regards to overseas customers and frequent fliers will be made soon. Cheap flights tickets and other incentives can be expected.

Qantas Resumes Talks With Union

Qantas Airways and union members met for negotiations. This was the first meeting of the parties after the Australian airline halted its entire operations late last month over the labour dispute.

Secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association, Steve Purvinas said another negotiating session was scheduled for Thursday.

“By today (Monday), we’ll know whether Qantas are interested in negotiating an outcome or whether they’ll continue to stonewall – which has been the case up until now,” Purvinas was quoted as saying in news reports.

On condition of anonymity, a Qantas spokesman said, “We are committed to the negotiations … and believe that we should be able to reach an agreement within the 21-day period.”

Norwegian Air Shuttle Provides Cheap Flights to Scandinavia with Boeing 787 Aircraft

You might not have heard of Norwegian Air Shuttle—they usually just do their flying under the Norwegian name—but you might want to add them to your airline “to-do” list. Right now the carrier kind of does mostly domestic routes here and there around Norway along with some international options to spots like Stockholm and Copenhagen. However, it’s the future we’re most interested in, because it sounds like as soon as they get some 787s, they’ll be headed to New York City.

Unfortunately the airline is a little ways down on the Boeing 787 delivery list, but once they do arrive there are already plans in place to link both Stockholm and Oslo with New York-JFK as early as two years from now. Scandinavia is perpetually on the travel to-do list, so maybe we’ll be checking that off over and over come 2013.

Not only will the new routes be served thanks to some assistance from Boeing’s newest birds, but these flights aboard Norwegian Air Shuttle will also be quite affordable—which is good news since stuff on the ground isn’t too cheap in Sweden and Norway. Assuming oil prices remain steady along with a bunch of other airline math, we could be looking at roundtrip flights as low as $350 or so. Flights could even go on sale as early as 2012 in advance of the following year, so get those credit cards ready.

Of course there’s plenty of uncertainly, and a lot of it depends on when Boeing actually delivers these plans to Norwegian—they’re actually leasing them through another company just in case you cared. Anyway, there’s even the possibility that Oslo and Stockholm could also be linked directly with nonstop flights to Bangkok rather than the Big Apple. Even if these proposed fares double in price it will still be quite a deal—especially on a 787—so we’ll definitely be following this over the next few months.

Private Carrier Kingfisher Airlines Full-Services Flight with Low Fares Ticket

After exiting the low-cost segment, private carrier Kingfisher Airlines has now unveiled new ‘low’ fares on its full-service flights, which is expected to trigger off a price war among full-service carriers.

For instance, a Bangalore-Delhi economy seat on the airline can now be bought for Rs 5,191, normally sold at Rs 6,900.

Although these fares are available for a limited period, this could trigger a price war in the sector, where most full-service airlines are already making losses. “In the current scenario, most of these airlines are making losses and will continue to do so with such pricing strategies,” an aviation analyst told Business Line. It’s important for airlines to sell the first 70 per cent of their seats, and earn money, he said.

Most airlines sell a bulk of their seats in advance to big agents and consolidators, especially during the travel season (usually the third quarter of the fiscal), and a miniscule 20 per cent is what they sell at a premium. Margins take a hit with these strategies.

However, with Kingfisher Airlines deciding to exit the low-cost segment and the Government of India asking national carrier Air India to increase their fares, “a structural change is starting to happen in the industry”, he said. And if airlines discontinue such (low) pricing strategies, “they could even break even or make profits in the fourth quarter of this fiscal and the first quarter of the next fiscal”, he added.

However, Mr Mohan Kumar, another analyst and a former chief financial officer of a low-cost carrier, pointed out that if costs are low, airlines can leverage it to attract customers. But when costs are not low, whatever strategy, including low fares, might not give the desired results. With air travel growing about 15 per cent every year, the industry could witness better times ahead, but keeping costs under control is essential, he added.

Yields, which were around Rs 2,600-2,800 for a low-cost airline, have now gone up to about Rs 4,000. “In the long run, it is these low-cost carriers that can sustain in the short-haul domestic routes. Full-service carriers will play a key role in a hub-and-spoke model offering international connectivity in India as in the West,” he added.

Southwest Airlines, AirTran Airways Announce 72-hr Low Fare Sale

Southwest Airlines Co. and its subsidiary AirTran Airways Tuesday reported parallely launching low-fares in the range of $35 to $125 for a period of 72 hours. The deals are valid on travel between November 30, 2011 to December 14, 2011 and January 4, 2012 to February15, 2012.

The price of the ticket varies with the length of the journey, the company elaborated, with travel between 451 miles and 1 thousand miles costing $65 one-way. Kevin Krone, Southwest Airlines’ Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Distribution commented “Southwest Airlines is kicking off the winter travel season by offering even lower fares. We love the excitement our Customers have for our sales, and we are proud that Southwest remains committed to providing low fares to Customers across the nation.”

Strategic Airlines Launches New Flight Route Melbourne-Hawaii

Low-cost carrier Strategic Airlines is launching its new route from Melbourne to Hawaii on Monday, with the promise of cheap flights.

The airline will also launch its first flights between Melbourne and Brisbane from December. It has flown from Melbourne to Phuket since February.

Strategic said it would offer hundreds of bargain fares on the new route.

It has also gained approval for flights between Australia and China.

Michael James said the company was assessing potential opportunities with the destination and working on regulatory requirements with Chinese regulators.

Frontier Airline Announce Cheap Flights in Celebration of Colorado Day

The other day Cheapflights clued you in on discount airline Southwest’s cheap flights in celebration of Colorado Day – the 135th anniversary of Colorado statehood. Now it’s Frontier’s turn. Denver’s hometown airline is selling one-way seats as low as $9.99. Really.

Buy these Frontier Airline tickets no later than 11:59pm Eastern Time Wednesday Aug. 3, and make a 14-day advance purchase. Fly through Dec. 15 – excluding some blackout dates. The lowest fares are for off-peal travel: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays. Taxes and fees are not included.

- Denver flights to Albuquerque (usually $125) are $9.99.
- Kansas City flights to New Orleans (usually $108) are $44.
- Denver flights to Houston (usually $199) are $54.
- Denver flights to Las Vegas (usually $170) are $59.
- Denver flights to Boston (usually $103) are $74.
- Kansas City flights to Los Angeles (usually $137) are $79.
- Denver flights to Orange County (usually $199) are $84.

Loganair Launch Sale Promotion Cheap flights to Western Isles

Loganair is offering a summer bonus for its customers this weekend with a seat-sale on flights to and from the Western Isles.

Passengers traveling on the flights, which the airline operates under its franchise agreement with Flybe, will be able to enjoy a 25% discount from the fare for every seat on every flight if they book online between 0001hrs on Friday 22nd July and 2359hrs on Sunday 24th July.

Air Discount Scheme (ADS) members will be eligible for the discount in addition to their existing 40% reduction. Neither the ADS nor the sale discounts apply to the mandatory airport taxes and Air Passenger Duty elements applicable on each journey.

Similar sales in recent times have generated an enthusiastic response from customers, leading to the decision to offer another weekend discount across the Western Isles routes.

Loganair’s Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Hinkles said: “The 72-hour sale promotion over the coming weekend is designed to help those still planning a getaway over the Summer Holidays and beyond to take advantage of great deals on flights between Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Benbecula. We’re expecting that this will be an incredibly busy weekend online as everyone logs onto www.flybe.com/ads to take advantage of this fantastic deal.”

Bookings can be made via www.flybe.com/ads or by calling the Loganair Air Discount Scheme Reservations line on 0844 800 2855.

Lufthansa Announce New Cheap Flights to Frankfurt from Aberdeen Airport

German flag carrier Lufthansa has recently announced plans for new cheap flights to Frankfurt from Aberdeen Airport this autumn.

Starting on 30 October, Lufthansa will begin flying three times a day between Aberdeen and Frankfurt. This is part of the airline’s plans to expand the number of services that it offers to the UK and the number of cheap flights to Germany’s cities from British airports.

The new Aberdeen-Frankfurt route will link the major oil port on Scotland’s east coast with the Frankfurt transport hub – and thus to the rest of the extensive global Lufthansa network, the carrier pointed out. The service will be operated by its regional subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine, which will utilise up-to-date Embraer 190 aircraft, which have the capacity to seat 100 passengers in business and economy-class cabins.

Lufthansa said it was particularly pleased to be opening up a route to Aberdeen, due to its status as a centre of the international oil industry, close as it is to the offshore North Sea oil fields.

“With this new connection to the Scottish port and ‘Europe’s oil capital’, we are incorporating a new Oil & Energy destination in the array of cities we serve, which are highly important in the energy industry,” said Lufthansa German Airlines Board Member Kay Kratky. “The Scottish city is also an attractive destination for leisure travellers and Scotland fans. With Aberdeen, we are additionally expanding our services between Germany and Great Britain.”

After 30 October, Lufthansa will operate some 434 cheap flights a week, serving Heathrow, London City, Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh airports.

Alitalia Launched Cheap Flight From Lamezia Terme, Reggio Calalabria and Crotone Airport

Alitalia has launched cheap flights to and from the airports of Lamezia Terme, Reggio Calalabria and Crotone.

On the Fiumicino-Lamezia Terme route, Alitalia has increased the number of seats available at cheaper prices also for last minute bookings. Moreover, Alitalia has increased daily flights from 7 to 8 introducing on July 23rd an additional flight. On the Reggio Calabria route until August 4th there will be 11,000 seats available at 59 euros, one way from Rome, that can be bought up to 7 days before leaving until October 31st. For Crotone Alitalia is offering 1,100 seats at 74 euro.

Etihad Airways Launches Cheap Flight Price For Summer Family Fares

Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, will match the First or Business Class fare of any other airline over the summer months for families flying together on almost all of the routes it operates from the UAE.

The Family Fares promotion, which is launched on Thursday, June 2nd, will also see twenty percent discounts offered to families making outbound journeys in all classes – including Economy – from Abu Dhabi before June 24, and returning before September 15.

A minimum of two family members must fly together to take advantage of the deal, one of whom must be an adult.

Peter Baumgartner, Etihad Airways Chief Commercial Officer, said: “Etihad Airways is committed to offering our Guests the very best quality service at the right price – unbeatable value. We are always looking for ways to tailor our product to guests’ needs. The summer months are an extremely popular time for families to fly together, and we are happy to be able to offer them a deal with the Family Fares promotion that potentially reduces the expense of a holiday.”

Under the Family Fares promotion, Etihad Airways will only match the published ticket price of airlines which operate non-stop to destinations served by the Abu Dhabi-based carrier.

Etihad currently serves 68 destinations in Europe, the Americas, Africa, the Middle East and the Asia Pacific region.

Cheap Flights Airline Jet2 Success Inaugural at East Midlands Airport

Cheap flights airline Jet2.com has made a success of its inaugural year at East Midlands Airport by providing approximately 100,000 passengers with flights to Europe.

The airline used to only have one aircraft based at the airport which serviced 7 different destinations. Now, with the addition of an extra aircraft, Jet2.com has two planes which give their customers the options for cheap flights to Europe servicing 12 popular holiday hot spots.

Jet2.com managing director Ian Doubtfire said: “We’re delighted with our first year of operation at East Midlands Airport. The growth we’ve already seen, combined with the growth planned, means we can fly more and more people living in the region where they want to go directly from their local airport. Also, with the airport benefiting from great motorway access, we are finding that our flights are drawing passengers further afield from areas including Lincolnshire and the South.”

He added that the expansion of flight routes from East Midlands Airport had led to a significant increase in cheap flights being sold in preparation for summer holidays next year. Tenerife holidays have been the most popular thus far, closely followed by flights to Paphos in Cyprus.

Jet2.com has plenty more in store for its East Midlands Airport base in terms of new flight routes. By the end of the year, Jet2.com passengers will be able to choose flights to Turkey (Bodrum), Alicante for Spain holidays, Rhodes, Majorca and Portugal.

In addition, lovers of Christmas shopping can look forward to some specially chartered cheap flights to New York at the end of the year. The airline said that it enjoyed such success with the promotion of these flights last year that felt it simply had to offer them again.

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