Lufthansa – Germany’s biggest airline may be setting up a new budget airline “Direct 4 You” to take over the company’s European flights for as low as €49 one way.

Lufthansa Budget Airline

The new airline would be up and running by the beginning of 2013 and by 2015, another of Lufthansa’s subsidiaries, Eurowings, could be merged into the new fleet.

Lufthansa’s financial woes have been in the media recently, with reports suggesting that it plans on making cuts of up to €1.5 billion as it faces increasing competition.

According to the news, the new company has not been given the final go-ahead from the Lufthansa board, and the airline is yet to release any official information about the venture.

Cebu Pacific, the Philippines’ largest flag carrier and low-fare industry leader was named the 2012 Low-Cost Carrier of the year and its CEO, Lance Gokongwei, as the Low-Cost Carrier CEO of the year during the prestigious Budgie$ & Travel Awards 2012.

Best Low-Cost Carrier

CEB, one of Asia’s fastest-growing airlines, beat other leading names in the low-fare airline industry, including Air Asia, Jetstar, IndiGo, and Spring Airlines, to win first place in the two categories. The Budgie$ & Travel Awards, held in conjunction with Low Cost Airlines World Asia Pacific and Travel Distribution World Asia, reward innovation and leadership in Asia’s low cost airline industry. Continue Reading

Recently, Cebu Pacific launched new routes from Manila (MNL) to Hanoi and Xiamen. Now, Cebu Pacific continues to grow and is now offering direct flights to Siem Reap in Cambodia.

Cebu Pacific Flights to Siem Reap

The Philippines second-largest international airline will offer three weekly flights on the pioneering route to the Cambodian city, which serves as the jump-off point to the Angkor region where temples are located.

Cebu Pacific is the first to offer non-stop connection between the Philippines and Cambodia. The airline’s fleet of 150-seat A319s will be deployed on the 1,900-kilometre route.

South Korea’s Incheon International Airport has been voted the best in the world for the seventh consecutive year in 2011, the government said Tuesday.

Incheon airport, the international gateway to South Korea, ranked first in the annual Airport Service Quality passenger survey carried out by the Airports Council International, according to a statement from the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs.

It is the first airport to scoop the world’s best airport title for seven years in a row, the ministry said. “It would have been impossible to set a record by ranking first for seven straight years without the constant efforts by about 35,000 workers at the airport and the government’s full support,” a ministry official said in the statement.

South Korea’s Gimpo International Airport, located in the west of Seoul, also ranked the best among mid-sized airports with annual passengers between 15 million and 25 million, the ministry said.

(Source : PNA/Xinhua)

As of March 2010, 488,000 passengers flew with Tiger Airways, a 51% increase over the same month in 2009.

Average Load Factors – the number of seats sold as a percentage of total seats available – increased 3 percentage points to 84%.

For the financial year ended 31 March 2010, total passenger numbers grew to a record breaking 4.9 million, an increase of 54% over the preceding twelve months.  Average Load Factors increased 6 percentage points to 85%.

Tiger Airways Holdings Limited will release its full year financial results for the year ended 31 March 2010 on 13 May 2010, its first full year financial results announcement as a listed company.

The Philippines’s low-fare airline pioneer, Cebu Pacific (CEB) announces a P999 ‘Go Lite’ seat sale for all domestic destinations from April 7-8, 2010, for travel this June 1 to August 31, 2010.

The airline’s 33 domestic destinations include Boracay (Caticlan), Coron (Busuanga), Puerto Princesa (Palawan), Iloilo, Bacolod, Laoag, Tacloban, Cebu, Davao, Pagadian and Cagayan de Oro.

Routes usually serviced by buses and ferries are also included in the seat sale, such as direct flights from Cebu to Dumaguete, Butuan, Dipolog, Surigao, Siargao, Ozamiz and Pagadian, or from Davao to Cagayan de Oro, Zamboanga, Iloilo and Cebu.

Those with check-in luggage will just add P100 to ‘Go Lite’ fares upon booking.

Meanwhile, CEB also offers the ‘Go Lite’ seat sale fare of P2,999 for Incheon flights from Manila and Cebu to Incheon, and Cebu-Pusan flights. Manila-Osaka ‘Go’ seats are also available for only P2,499. This is for travel from September 1 to November 30, 2010.

“CEB remains consistent with its vision of ‘It’s Time Every Juan Flies.’ With this seat sale, more first-timers and frequent travelers are given the opportunity to travel not only locally but also to Korea and Japan.

“Leisure and business travelers also get the chance to visit various destinations more often with CEB’s trademark low fares,” said CEB VP for Marketing and Distribution Candice Iyog. Continue Reading

India’s Jet Airways will inaugurate its first-ever daily non-stop service from Mumbai to Johannesburg on 14 April 2010.

Passengers travelling on Jet Airways’ flights can also book onward connections to other South African destinations like Cape Town, Durban, Port Elizabeth, the famed Kruger National Park and East London. Additionally, in conjunction with its daily non-stop service to Johannesburg, the airline has also created South African JetEscapes packages, which will enable tourists to explore the Rainbow Nation.

The Jet Airways’ flight into Johannesburg will also provide convenient onwards connections to other destinations in the African region, to cities like Harare, Victoria Falls, Windhoek, Livingstone, Mauritius, Lilongwe, Blantyre, Bulawayo, Gaborone, Maputo, Kinshasa, Lagos, Luanda and Lusaka, making Jet Airways India’s first private carrier to provide its passengers with the dual benefits of seamless connectivity and significant savings for travel within the African continent.

Apart from tourism, the African Continent offers trade opportunities in areas like machinery and transport equipment, petroleum products, paper and wood products, textiles, iron and steel, plastic and linoleum products as also agro, chemicals and pharmaceutical products. The region has been attracting global attention because of its phenomenal investment potential in sectors like tourism, pharmaceuticals, electronics, IT, financial services and textiles.

India’s Kingfisher Airlines has launched flights between New Delhi and Hong Kong. This is the second international destination to be served by Kingfisher Airlines out of New Delhi, flights on this route will operate six times a week.

Kingfisher Airlines’ flight IT 031 will take-off from New Delhi at 23:45 and arrive at Hong Kong at 07:40 local time. From Hong Kong, flight IT 032 will leave at 18:15 and arrive the same day at 21:45 in New Delhi, local time. The flights from Delhi-Hong Kong will operate daily (except on Tuesday’s) and daily from Hong Kong-New Delhi (except Wednesday’s).

Commenting on the launch of this new international route, Dr. Vijay Mallya, Chairman and CEO, Kingfisher Airlines Limited said, “We have set new standards in international travel with the unique Kingfisher experience that has earned us a 5 Star rating from Skytrax. Given the strong linkages between India and Hong Kong, we believe that there is untapped potential and these new routes promise to serve the unmet needs of discerning corporate and leisure flyers. Within a very short time since launch, Kingfisher Airlines emerged as the market leader on the Mumbai – Hong Kong route and we expect to consolidate our leadership position further by being the preferred airline on the New Delhi – Hong Kong route too, very soon.” Continue Reading

Jetstar Singapore-Manila services to more than double over 12 months

Low fares leader Jetstar will add an additional seven weekly services between Singapore and Manila by July, boosting its existing 10 times weekly offering to a 17 return flights per week schedule.

This new capacity follows the introduction of three new services in October last year on the route and represents more than doubling of Jetstar’s capacity between Singapore and Manila over the last 12 months.

Jetstar will initially add four additional weekly services from 1 June 2010 with three additional services coming on line from 7 July 2010.

The new services will be operated by Jetstar’s ninth A320 aircraft to be based in Singapore as part of its planned operational capacity growth of 46% over a year. Continue Reading

Etihad Airways has launched non-stop flights from its home base in Abu Dhabi to Tokyo, Japan. Etihad will operate five non-stop flights per week to Tokyo, in addition to the five flights per week it offers to Nagoya.

The flights are being operated by three-class Airbus A330-200 aircraft and will feature in-flight services dedicated to the Japanese market, including a tailored menu, local in-flight entertainment content and cabin crew consisting of a number of Japanese speakers and nationals.

“We believe the variety of high profile attractions opening in Abu Dhabi in the coming years, including Ferrari World, The Louvre Abu Dhabi and Guggenheim Abu Dhabi, will be very attractive to Japanese leisure travellers,” said James Hogan, Etihad Airways’ Chief Executive Officer. “Japan is a key market for Etihad and will be an important focus in 2010. We have worked closely with the Japanese Government to enable us to commence services between our two capital cities, and we thank them for their support.”

Etihad’s Tokyo services follow the commencement of the airline’s flights to Nagoya in February this year and codeshare services with ANA this month.

Current trading relationships between UAE and Japan are strong, with trade between the countries reaching US$29.21 billion (AED 107.2 billion) annually. Currently, there are approximately 350 Japanese companies operating and over 3,500 Japanese expatriates living in UAE.

On March 29th 2010, Air China will launch its first non-stop flight between Beijing and Manila. Round-trip tickets will be available to PhoenixMiles members for only RMB 1,666. In addition, from March 16th to May 31st PhoenixMiles members paying for round-trip tickets with PhoenixMiles will only have to pay half the normal mileage.

Flights to Manila will depart from Beijing Capital Airport at 8:00 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday and arrive at 00:55 AM the next day. Flights to Beijing from Manila will depart at 06:30 AM local time on Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday and arrive at Beijing at 11:10 AM. A Boeing 738 will be deployed for all flights on the Beijing-Manila route.

This new route will greatly increase the number of Filipino tourists visiting China. The Philippine Tourism Authority already has a Beijing office, and they believe that there is great potential for more Filipinos to visit China. Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou are currently the most popular destinations for Filipino tourists, who are interested in Chinese history and culture, as well as Chinese cuisine.

Air China passengers flying from the Americas and Europe can use Beijing as a hub for their flights on to the Philippines.

EL AL, Israel’s National Airline, landed in Haiti this past Thursday with dozens of medical teams and tons of emergency supplies to assist with rescue and salvage efforts. Two EL AL aircraft, a jumbo 747-400 and one 777, carried more than 80 tons of supplies along with 229 passengers consisting of medical personnel, search-and-rescue teams as well as a K9 rescue squad. The medical teams are prepared to spend at least two weeks in Haiti to care for thousands of earthquake victims. The Israel Ministry of Defense initiated this humanitarian mission.

EL AL CEO Elyezer Shkedy commented, “EL AL immediately responded to the request of the Israeli government and will do anything necessary to assist in this time of tragedy. In our view, as the national airline, it is of top national importance to help these earthquake victims.”

As the national airline of Israel, EL AL proudly and consistently provides support anywhere in the world during times of need, as evidenced by assistance to victims of Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami relief efforts in Indonesia and the rescue mission during the war between Georgia and Russia.