According to British Airway spokesperson, Cathy West, “BA has been in talks with American Airlines and Iberia for some time, but no decisions have been reached.”

This would not be the first attempt for British Airways and American Airlines to attempt antitrust immunity. Their bid for immunity was rejected largely impart because the two have a combined control of around half of the capacity between the United States.

The EU-US Open Skies Agreement which went in to effective this March allows any airline from the United States to fly to anywhere in the European Union and any airline from the European Union can fly to anywhere in the United States. It is because of this new agreement between the EU and the US that some think that British Airways, American Airlines, and Iberia may now be able to successfully argue their case for antitrust immunity because the agreement has forever changed the competition between the airlines.

www.virgin-atlantic.com
www.britishairways.com
www.aa.com
www.iberia.com

The test is conducted by using a Noise and Flight Path Monitoring System, or NFPMS that measured the noise at several different locations over the course of several months by placing microphones on extended poles. Testing was done at the Sydney Airport as it was the first airport to establish itself as a destination for the A380.

Adding to their fleet of four, Singapore Airlines will welcome delivery of a fifth super jumbo A380. This will allow them to increase their flights from Singapore to London. There has already been an order for fourteen additional A380s by the airline and the possibility to increase that order does exist. Singapore Airlines is currently the only air carrier that lists any A380 in its commercial fleet. This will change in October as Quantas airlines will add its first A380 to their fleet.

Singapore Airlines offers unique features on its new Airbus super jumbo A380. With the addition of a whole new class of flying customers can purchase a cabin on the plane as part of Singapore airlines suites. The cabin functions like a bedroom or office and is equipped with its own TV so you can relax and enjoy the extended flights served by this plane.

www.singaporeair.com
www.quantas.com

“Holiday travel can be stressful, especially when you battery runs out before you can call or email your loved ones,” said Bill Ogle, chief marketing officer for Samsung Mobile. “We hope the Samsung Mobile Charging Stations will make traveling more enjoyable for everyone this holiday weekend.”

The charging stations feature four outlets on each station tower, making it possible for as many travelers to re-charge their electronic devices simultaneously. The service is free of charge, and built for re-charging devices at U.S. voltage (120 volts).

“The new charging stations will help meet a growing number of travelers needs. As we have opened new restaurants and renovated food courts, we have integrated power outlets into the seating-area design,” noted Jeff Maniel, executive director of the Metropolitan Airports Commission. “The new Samsung Mobile Charging Stations extend that service into gate areas at MSP, making it easier for travelers to recharge laptops, cell phones and other electronic devices there as well.”

Samsung Mobile had previously installed charging station towers at several other U.S. airports - including 54 at JFK, 51 at Los Angeles International Airport, 12 at LaGuardia and 18 stations at the Orlando Airport. In addition, there are eight Samsung Mobile Travel Centers providing service to customers at the Dallas-Fort Worth Airport.

www.samsung.com

The latest report issued by the Association of European Airlines shows that almost half of all flights into and out of Heathrow Airport experience delays, making it Europe’s worst performing airport.

The Association’s report figures to substantiate the claim that Heathrow was the worst-performing airport, include data indicating that 44.1 per cent of all outbound flights to the continent were at least 15 minutes delayed, and that 45.1 per cent of all inbound flights were held up.

The performance data for Heathrow demonstrate that the average delay for departing flights has increased from 35 minutes at the end of 2007 to 39.5 minutes for the first quarter of 2008.

In contrast, flights at the Munich airport experienced the smallest percentage of delays, with only 17.6 per cent of the airport’s departures held up.

In May, Willie Walsh, the British Airways boss, commented that Heathrow had been a ‘national embarrassment for years.’

The report issued by the Association of European Airlines follows closely on the damage to Heathrow’s reputation surrounding the chaotic opening of its Terminal 5. Hundreds of flights were cancelled, thousands of bags were misplaced and thousands of passengers experienced travel delays.

www.britishairways.com

“We still see several opportunities for further growth in Germany,” noted Peter Fankhauser, in a recent interview. The company hopes to reap economies of scale and will focus on targeted client groups,” he continued.

In the six month period ending 30 April, Thomas Cook narrowed its overall losses by 15 percent, to 178 million pounds on sales of nearly 3 billion pounds - up 7 percent.

Fankhauser commented, however, that he was concerned the surge in energy prices, which were responsible for increased air fares.

“Consumers already have less money in their pockets, given higher energy and food prices. If prices for holidays also rise strongly, certain demographic groups will not travel any more,” he added.

Fankhauser reported that the company is currently able to offset higher flight costs by negotiating for lower prices with hotels. The euro’s strength has also been helpful in keeping a measure of control on prices for long-distance holidays.

Thomas Cook is a unit of Arcandor, and plans for additional franchise partners in Germany as the brand becomes more popular with travel agents.

“We want to anchor the brand more strongly in cities,” he commented.

www.thomascook.com

The rental car company Avis Budget Group Inc. reported this week that it expects both second-quarter and full-year earnings to drop below last year’s results, largely due to the rising cost of fuel and the slowdown in commercial air travel in the U.S.

In 2007 the company recorded a profit for the second-quarter of $24 million (23 cents per share), and a loss for the fiscal year of $916 million ($8.88 per share), due to a $1.1 billion charge.

Analysts are anticipating a second-quarter profit of 20 cents per share this year, according to a recent Thomson Financial poll, and $1.25 per share full-year earnings.

Avis Budget is predicting that summer rental car demand may outpace the supply and actually drive up prices. However, reductions in airline capacity are expected to hurt fourth-quarter results. In 2007, the company reported on its website that approximately 81 percent of its revenue came from airport car rental sales.

Avis Budget expects that full-year pretax income will be around $140 million, excluding any one-time losses or gains.

The company is expected to release its second-quarter results on August 6.

www.avisbudgetgroup.com

The system places user search facilities for more than 10 million holiday travel deals and hotels on partner sites.

Merchants that are part of the AffiliateFuture network, such as AirTours, Direct Holidays, Jet2 Holidays, Monarch Holidays, MyTravel, Olympic Holidays and XL Holidays will all benefit from the technology.

Users can enter date and location parameters and then are sent to a dedicated page where results are listed by the supplier of the holiday package or hotel.

All host sites will continue to earn commissions on the basis of cost-per-acquisition basis, and on whether the user then books a product.

Giles Parnwell, head of travel marketing for AffiliateFuture, said: “Affiliates can now customise and host a search box which covers the world’s top holiday destinations and represents the UK’s leading travel companies.

“Participating affiliates will be presenting their consumers with the greatest possible choice of holidays and importantly will see a larger increase in conversions.”

Earlier in the week AffiliateFuture signed Guoman Hotels and Thistle Hotels as new merchants on its network.

AffiliateFuture’s meta-search project, known as Henoo.com, is likely to be given a major boost shortly when the new search technology is added to its existing search engine.

www.affiliatefuture.co.uk

The International Expedited Traveler Initiative combines the elements of the United States Global Entry Program with the British Registered Traveler Program.

W. Ralph Basham, Commissioner of the Customs and Border Protection Agency stated “This agreement is an important step in fortifying our international cooperation between the United States and the United Kingdom” and that “We look forward to building the pilot that will extend the benefits of expedited and automated CBP processing to low-risk British travelers, while at the same time providing reciprocal benefits for U.S. citizens traveling to the United Kingdom.”

The Global Entry Program was just announced in the United States and will require those coming into the United States to preregister with the government before arrival in the country creating an easier travel environment for visitors. The global entry program is currently limited to three airports, JFK in New York, Washington Dulles, and George Bush Intercontinental in Texas. By taking part in the program it is expected that you will save time during customs stops at the airport by using kiosks to check in. There is a non refundable fee of one hundred US dollars to participate in the program.

This is good news for those already familiar with the Orbitz and Ebookers platform. Just like you already can on both sites you will be able to purchase vacation packages, air fare, and cruise packages. Users will also be able to rent a car through msn.com’s travel portal as well as book their stay at a hotel.

Customers already familiar with Orbtiz.com’s “Price Assurance” program will be pleased to know that when using the travel.msn.com portal the unique service will still be applied. What the Price Assurance program does is ensure that users who book an itinerary are guaranteed the lowest price available. What this means is that if someone books the exact itinerary two months after you for hundreds less, Orbitz.com will refund the difference. The OrbitzTLC service will also be available through the msn.com travel portal as well which allows the user to receive alerts regarding their itinerary. Customers can choose how they receive these alerts such as by phone, email, or text message.

Customers in the UK that will use the travel portal from msn.com will also recognize the price guarantee program offered by ebookers.com. Similar to Orbitz.com, this program will refund the difference in the customer finds a cheaper flight.

www.orbitz.com
www.ebookers.com
www.msn.com

The newest members giving a major boost to the membership roster include the 45 agencies of Worldchoice Cruise Club – as well as a number of other independent agents, such as Global Cruising, Global Professionals, White Star Cruises, and five of GoCruise’s franchisees.

New cruise lines have also opted for membership in the association: these include Amadeus Waterways, Azamara Cruises, Orion Expedition Cruises and Star Clippers.

Worldchoice members have made a commitment for two years, and constitute 7% of the bookings. Members are offered exclusive deals by the association offers.

Clare Dudley, a spokesperson for LCA, said: “Our increasing membership and associate membership offers greater opportunities for cruise lines to work more closely with specialist independent agents.”

The surge in memberships follows on the simplification by LCA of the subscription process, opening it up to a greater number of cruise specialists. Beginning this month, theirs is a set membership fee of £250, regardless of the member company’s turnover. Previously, a two-tiered scheme was in place, with different guidelines for small and large agencies.

LCA has also introduced a new membership fee structure for agencies have more than one location. After the initial payment of the £250 membership fee, each additional location is charged at £45.

www.thelca.com

Those planning on attending Game Fair can book online in advance by logging onto Gamefair.co.uk and searching through Hotelopia’s selection of hotels. With a range from budget to five-star, the hotels featured by Hotelopia have been hand-picked for the Game Fair event.

The hotels available range from small independent properties to large hotel chains, located in the vicinity of Blenheim Palace, and priced beginning at £34.50 per person, per night. This price is for the Days Inn, in Oxford. For a higher-standard of luxury, the four-star Oxford Belfry Hotel is priced at £61 per person, including breakfast.

A new feature for 2008 is Hotelopia’s free insurance covering travel and event cancellation, of a value up to £500, with all rooms booked for Game Fair. Europ Assistance is the insurance underwriter.

The insurance will protect customers if the event is cancelled, and is meant to cover the hotel booking and other travel-related incidentals, such as pre-booked transportation, up to a value of £500.

The Sales and Marketing Director for Hotelopia, Sotiris Damianos, said: “We are delighted to partner as exclusive accommodation providers with the UK’s largest outdoor sporting fair, while being able to offer visitors to the region the largest choice of accommodation at lowest prices guaranteed.”

www.hotelopia.com

Silverjet, which was offering service between London and Newark (New Jersey) closed its operations in May, citing staggering fuel prices and the lack of capital as the reasons.

Two other carriers offering all-premium seating, Eos Airlines and MAXjet Airways, also went out of business over the last several months.

Some foreign carriers, such as Singapore Airlines, however, still consider the all-premium concept to be viable. Singapore Airlines initiated three-times-a-week non-stop, business-class-only flights to Newark – and the frequency has been increased to daily service.

Lufthansa, which for a number of years has offered daily business-class-only non-stop service between Dusseldorf and Newark, is planning to add a similar service on the Munich-Boston route, in October.

A new subsidiary of British Airways, OpenSkies, has launched a service between Paris Orly and JFK Airport in New York. This represents the first of several direct, trans-Atlantic routes that previously were not available to the British carrier.

It seems that plenty of travellers are willing to pay thousands of dollars for comfortable seats, extra room, and good food and wine.

“We really think the all-premium product has a lot of legs,” said Ron DiLeo, the senior vice president for marketing and sales at OpenSkies.

www.flyopenskies.com

It was decided that this re-direction could help foster closer working relationships with agents, supplemented with additional dedicated and over-branded brochures for the larger-volume retailers.

Up to this point, 35% of Cosmos sales have come directly from consumers. This will change, with the products now to be sold through new Monarch Holidays branding - Monarch Hotels and Monarch Flights.

Earlier last week, Travel Weekly revealed that the Cosmo group was reviewing its brands overall, including Archers Direct, Avro, Cosmos Holidays, Cosmos Tourama, Monarch Airlines and somewhere2stay.com.

The group is planning to operate separate direct and trade brands, after it determined that unprompted awareness of the Monarch brand was significantly higher than the Cosmos brand. Avro Flights and somewhere2stay.com will also become trade-only.

Stuart Jackson, the product and commercial director for Cosmos, denied that the decision was related to declining package sales. “We are not seeing a decline in package holidays. Agents will still come back to operators to sell packages, whether it’s for Luxor, the Gambia or villa holidays.”

Jackson agreed that the move could lead to closer ties with agents. He commented: “If it turns into more working relationships and business that’s fantastic.”

He suggested that the move would eliminate the ongoing agent complaint that operators were selling cheaper holidays directly, under the same brand.

He added: “Distrust was generated between agents and operators because of different prices. From now, the best Cosmos prices will be through the agent.

“Cosmos will only be marketed in the retail sector and prices will be dedicated to that sector. We will not compete with the trade in the direct arena.”

www.cosmos.com

The ‘Sabre Car eVoucher’ service works in a similar way to electronic airline ticketing, representing a quick and easy process for payment that facilitates account management for corporate customers and travel operators as well. The new offering is integral to Europcar’s ‘paperless programme,’ and reflects a trend in travel industry to reduce the amount of paper used in issuing travel documents.

The electronic vouchers simplify the customer experience when they turn up at the rental counter, as they will only need to present a driver’s licence if they have used the eVoucher service. Europcar and Sabre is launching the programme throughout the Europcar network, in 160 countries.

Ann-Mari Dalon, International Reservation Datacenter Director for Europcar, commented: “As the European leader in the industry, we are always on the lookout for opportunities to enhance customer service and the car rental experience. ‘Sabre’s Car eVoucher’ is an innovative way to make life easier both for our customers and for our travel industry partners.”

The Corporate Department Manager for Plus Voyages in Paris, Sandrine Bizeuil, said: “Sabre Car eVoucher allows us to support all the services associated with the car rental through a single Sabre record locator. With Europcar being our preferred supplier, we are very happy to offer the feature to our customers. The Car eVoucher entry is easy and was adopted immediately by our agents.

“The voucher reference is obtained in one second and all voucher details are available through the ‘VirtuallyThere’ itinerary accessible via the Internet or PDAs. Our customers enjoy the comfort and flexibility of the electronic payment as they simply pick up the car without having to complete any paperwork.”

www.europcar.com

Heathrow Airport recently unveiled its Terminal five which cost over four billion pounds to construct. Instead of easing congestion for the airport it has done little more than add to the already lengthy delays. Currently the average delay a passenger can expect at Heathrow Airport is almost 47 minutes.

15 per cent of delays were caused by air traffic control which is already operating at full capacity. Another 11 per cent of delays were caused by the handling or loading of each plane. A spokesman for Heathrow Airport claims that “Heathrow’s two runways are operating at capacity, which means small events such as adverse weather, can cause major delays and disruption.” And that “Other airports, which have plenty of spare runway capacity, do not suffer these problems.”

There are proposals to build a third runway and a sixth terminal during the next decade at Heathrow Airport but many protest the concept. With an already overloaded airport, adding more flights will only compound the problem and create additional chaos claim opponents. Any proposal that will be accepted will have to pass pollution and noise tests as Heathrow is located in a highly populated area.

www.heathrowairport.com

Philip Meeson’s response was simply that “Jet2.com has bought all its fuel for this summer, this coming winter and next summer at attractive rates” and that “Our passengers can rely upon on us for many, many years to come.”

After the comments by Philip Meeson it might come as a surprise that Jet2.com has added a fuel surcharge to their flights. This surcharge however was hidden on the last page of the booking process. Customers thought that they were purchasing tickets at one price that included tax and noted surcharges but on the last page where the payment method would be entered a new higher price appeared. It was at this point in the booking process that customers were made aware of the new surcharge.

Jet2.com has now come under harsh criticism for what some consider to be hiding the surcharge from customers. A spokesman for Jet2.com has said that flights have been changed to “now included all taxes and charges.” These changes have apparently been made by company on its own free will and not because of pressure.

The fuel surcharge for each flight varies depending on the duration of the flight.

www.jet2.com

With the credit crunch that’s affecting many UK travellers and the summer holiday season well underway, the new prices for Gatwick Airport parking should be a welcome relief.

Midweek rates for the period from 23rd June until 17th July are now priced starting from £49.95 for 8 days of parking, and from £89.95 for 15 days.

The Airparks Gatwick facility is located convenient to both Gatwick terminals, with shuttle transfers operating round the clock, with a travel time of 10 minutes to the airport’s North Terminal and 15 minutes to the airport’s South Terminal.

Airparks Gatwick provides safe and secure parking, featuring CCTV surveillance and schedule security staff patrols.

Optional extras that are available to travellers using Airparks Gatwick include secure undercover parking and a Meet and Greet valet service for people who are seeking that added time saver.

Holiday Extras operates nine Airparks at major UK airports. In addition to Gatwick, the company operates from Luton, Birmingham, East Midlands, Glasgow and Manchester as well.

Along with airport parking, Holiday Extras also provides UK travellers with other important services such as conveniently-located airport hotels and access to airport departure lounges.

Alitalia recorded an operating loss in 2007 of Euro310 million and has calculated the cost of its loss of reputation at an additional Euro150 million. Airline chairman Aristide Police commented last week that the airline was facing its last chance for survival. He is the carrier’s fourth chairman is the past two years.

The Italian airline has not shown a profit since 2002, and in April of this year, its debts reached Euro1.36 billion. The carrier is still half-owned by the Italian government, as talks concerning privatisation drag on.

In April Air France KLM pulled out of its takeover bid, after it failed to win union support on projected job losses. Incoming Silvio Berlusconi had opposed the takeover, insisting that it was essential for Alitalia to remain under Italian ownership.

The Italian banking advisor is reviewing financial records as it prepares a new rescue plan for the carrier - that is likely to see the break-up of the airline. Smaller Italian airline, Air One, is likely to be allowed to take over Alitalia’s profitable operations.

The new charge will be £4 per person per night, levied on the first two passengers booked into a cabin, with a maximum charge of £80 per cruise, per passenger. Third and fourth passengers in a cabin will pay £2 per person per night, with a maximum charge of £40 per cruise. The new charges will apply to bookings made from July 1, and is an increase on the previous charge of £3.50 per passenger.

This hike in fuel supplement charges applies to all cruises featured in Fred Olsen Cruises Worldwide first-edition brochure for 2009/2010, with the exception of those cruises that were also featured in the third-edition brochure for 2008/2009. On those cruises, a £5 per person per night supplement is being maintained.

The reason for the higher fuel supplement charges listed in the third-edition 2008/2009 brochure is that fuel costs were calculated in a different way.

On launching the 2009/2010 brochure, Nigel Lingard, the company’s marketing director said that the entire cruise industry is challenged by “fuel prices that are exponentially growing”. The cost of oil has reached US$142 per barrel, and fuel costs continue to increase.

This is the cruise line’s fourth recent fuel charges change announcement. In December of 2007, a £2.50 supplement was introduced across all cruises. On 1 May it was then increased to £3.50 and on 1 June it was increased on third-edition brochure cruises to £5.

Southwest Airlines has been hedging fuel costs since 1999 – a practice which has saved the carrier $3.5 billion. At times the hedging has meant the difference between operating at a profit or a loss. In the first quarter of this year, the airline enjoyed hedging gains of $291 million.

Hedging is a strategy that allows a company to protect itself against rising prices for commodities, by locking in pre-set prices.

From trades it has made over the years, Southwest has managed to hedge 70 percent of its anticipated fuel requirements for 2008, at $51 per barrel rather than the current market price of over $140 per barrel.

“We view our program as insurance,” noted Paul Jacobson, Delta Air Lines Inc. treasurer. “Our goal is to minimize the volatility of fuel expenses. To do that, you’ve got to be in the market actively without an opinion as to what energy prices will do.”

Hedging carries risks, however. If fuel prices drop, airlines stand to lose money, and their options will expire.

During the 1990s, most of the major U.S. carriers hedged some of fuel costs, commented Peter Fusaro, chairman of hedge fund advisor Global Change Associates.

The practice changed after the recession of the late 1990s and the terror attacks of 2001, when airlines were plunged into huge losses.

Southwest Airlines was the only major U.S. carrier that remained profitable through the downturn. It was able to keep hedging in they days when oil was at bargain prices.