British Airways in merger talks with Qantas

LONDON — British Airways announced today that it is in merger talks with Australia’s Qantas Airways, according to the Associated Press. The potential merger would be added to a list of airlines BA is pursuing, including a revenue-sharing deal with American Airlines and Iberia.

AP quotes BA in statement to the London Stock Exchange as saying “There is no guarantee that any transaction will be forthcoming and a further announcement will be made in due course, if appropriate.”

 

source: USA today

British Airways New Year Sale

Fly to New York for as low as £259 in the British Airways New Year sale that started on Tuesday, December 23.

Over 75 destinations are included in the sale with the USA high on the list with Boston, Philadelphia and Washington from £279. Los Angeles and San Francisco are on sale from £339 and Chicago is available from £289.

Other great savings include Delhi from £359  and Mumbai from £329.

The Middle East is also on offer with Dubai starting from £299, Abu Dhabi from £329, Muscat from £339, Riyadh from £369 and Jeddah from £329.

Caribbean islands Antigua, Barbados and St Lucia start from £479.

Singapore and Bangkok are on sale from £589 each  and Sydney is available from £699.

Shorthaul destinations include Dubrovnik from £59 one-way, Thessaloniki from £65 one-way and Helsinki and Istanbul from £79 one-way. Berlin and Rome are on offer from £55 one-way .

 

source: THE FINANCIAL

Delta adding flights to Australia, Brazil

Delta Air Lines Inc. said Thursday it will add international routes from Los Angeles supported by a recent partnership with Alaska Air Group.

In July 2009 from Los Angeles International Airport, Delta (NYSE: DAL) will launch its first-ever daily nonstop service between Los Angeles and Sydney, Australia. With the addition of Sydney, Delta will become the only U.S. airline to fly to six continents. It also will add three-times weekly service between Los Angeles and Sao Paulo, Brazil beginning May 21.

Delta said the agreement will make Sydney, Sao Paulo, and existing flights to Latin America, Tokyo-Narita, Seoul-Inchon, Guangzhou, Amsterdam, Paris-Charles De Gaulle and other U.S. destinations more accessible to travelers from points throughout the West Coast through connections with Alaska Airlines and Horizon Air.

Beginning in March, Delta also will increase nonstop service between Los Angeles and New York-JFK from seven to eight daily flights to improve connections for New York and Northeast customers on long-haul international flights via Los Angeles.

Delta said customers in the Southeast will benefit from same-plane service between Atlanta and Sydney via Los Angeles.

source: Atlanta Business Chronicle

EU clears KLM’s planned purchase of Martinair

Brussels - Air France unit KLM won permission from EU competition regulators on Wednesday to buy airline Martinair Holland. “I was very conscious of the need to safeguard the interests of consumers flying to long-haul holiday destinations,” EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in a statement.

“After a thorough investigation, I am now satisfied that consumers will continue to have a competitive choice of airline services after the acquisition of Martinair by KLM“. The European Commission had opened an in-depth investigation in September because of concerns regarding the deal’s potential impact on transport in particular between Amsterdam and Curacao and Aruba in the Dutch Antilles.

However, it said the investigation, which included a consumer survey at Amsterdam airport, showed that the transaction would have only a limited market impact. KLM owns 50 percent of Martinair — an operator of charter flights and freight services — and is seeking to buy the other 50 percent from sea and land transport company Maersk

source: Reuters ( http://www.reuters.com/ )

British Airways cutting fuel surcharge

LONDON (AP) — British Airways is cutting its fuel surcharges because of the falling price of oil, the company said Wednesday.

The reduction applies on tickets purchased beginning Thursday, and the company is not offering refunds to customers who booked flights earlier at the higher price.

The airline is reducing the charge on world traveler class flights of nine hours or longer from 96 pounds ($147) to 66 pounds. For first class and club class passengers on those long-haul flights, the surcharge will be reduced 30 pounds to 85 pounds.

Surcharges on domestic and European flights are being cut by 25 percent, the airline said.

source: The Associated Press

Air France cancels flights as pilots strike

French airline’s services are severely disrupted after pilots begin four-day walk out in a row over retirement age. Passengers are facing severe delays today after Air France announced the cancellation of around half of all its medium-haul and long-haul flights following the start of strike action.

Around a fifth of services at partner airlines Brit Air, CMM, CityJet and Airlinair will be out of operation. Pilots began a four-day walk out late last night in protest at proposals to raise the age of retirement age for French pilots from 60 to 65 years.

The move is likely to cost the carrier around £85 million, according to the airline, while further cancellations are possible. “Air France is expecting very significant disruptions to its activities and apologises to all passengers for this situation, which it strongly deplores," said Jean-Cyril Spinetta, chief executive of Air France-KLM. He added that the pilots’ strike was both “useless” and “dangerous”.

Hundred of flights will be cut this weekend before the strike ends on Monday night. Air France’s daily schedule features 760 medium-haul flights from all airports and 73 long-haul services from Paris. The airline has guaranteed compensation to any customers affected by the disruption.

Passengers should contact Air France or visit www.airfrance.com for the latest flight information

source: www.telegraph.co.uk

Emirates Airline lands in L.A. with a splash

The Dubai carrier kicks off nonstop service to the Middle East with a lavish party befitting its opulent accommodations.

The world’s fastest-growing airline — and one of the most extravagant — began nonstop flights between Los Angeles and Dubai this week, and tonight it will throw one of the more lavish Hollywood parties of the season. Despite global economic turmoil, Emirates Airline, based in the hyper-developing Persian Gulf city of Dubai, is expected to spend more than $3 million for the bash at the Kodak Theatre, hosted by Hilary Swank and featuring an hourlong concert by Ricky Martin. A four-course dinner is being prepared by Wolfgang Puck.  The start of flights to Los Angeles International Airport is the latest link in a growing Dubai connection that has included an investment fund controlled by Dubai’s ruling family taking a 45% stake in Eli Broad’s multibillion-dollar Grand Avenue project in downtown Los Angeles.

A Dubai firm also now owns Newport Beach-based John Laing Homes, which was the nation’s second-largest privately held home builder when it was acquired in 2006. Dubai investors have been quietly buying into Southland projects since a political firestorm two years ago killed a Dubai-based company’s plans to operate some of the United States’ largest seaports.

More recently, Dubai has been courting Hollywood in a big way. DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. is helping build the world’s largest entertainment complex in Dubai, a 107-square-mile play zone that will include 40 theme parks and 50 hotels. It would be more than twice the size of Disney World in Florida and would involve park designers from Universal Studios and Six Flags Inc. Last weekend, the airline was a major sponsor of the Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita, where three horses owned by the ruling family won races. The horses arrived at LAX in a private Boeing 747 jumbo jet that has 20 specially built stalls.
Dubai is one of seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates.
A tiny fishing village at the turn of the 20th century, Dubai has grown rapidly and is now home to many superlatives, including the world’s largest indoor ski slope, biggest shopping mall and tallest building. There are so many construction cranes crowding the landscape, residents jokingly call them Dubai’s national bird. But the global downturn may be cooling Dubai’s building boom. After years of double-digit growth, passenger volume among Middle Eastern carriers declined nearly 3% in September compared with a year ago, the first drop since the 2003 Asian bird-flu epidemic that hurt air travel. Despite a general decrease in global traffic, Emirates officials said the airline was still "seeing strong demand in forward bookings."
"We’re really bullish" about the Los Angeles service, said Keith Longstaff, Emirates’ senior vice president for commercial operations. The airline plans to increase service from three flights a week to daily as soon as it gets another new plane that has been delayed by the Boeing strike.
The 16-hour nonstop flight is particularly appealing to Los Angeles business travelers because it’s at least six hours shorter than what they’re used to. "We can’t wait to start daily service," Longstaff said. The Emirates gala tonight is part of the airline’s usual promotional fanfare whenever it starts new service to a city.
Last year, Emirates celebrated the start of Dubai-to-Houston service with a bash at the Houston Astros’ Minute Maid Park, at which Cindy Crawford was host and Kenny Rogers the singer. Tom Jones headlined the start of Dubai-to-New York service, and Bryan Adams rocked the crowd in Toronto.

source: www.latimes.com

Emirates steps up operations in Terminal 3

Emirates is stepping up its operations from Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International by launching flights to its European network, from Tuesday, October 28, at 14:30. From this date, all Emirates’ flights to Europe, Americas, the GCC, Middle East and Africa will operate from Emirates Terminal 3, escalating operations to 168 daily flights or 60 per cent of all the airline’s services.

The first flights to depart from the new terminal in this new phase will be EK003 Dubai-London Heathrow and EK047 Dubai-Frankfurt, both at 14:30. EK008 London Heathrow-Dubai scheduled at 19:45 will be the first Emirates European flight to arrive at the new terminal.

All flight numbers in the 000, 100, 200, 700, 800, 900 series and any extra flights on these routes will now depart and arrive at Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International.
Emirates Terminal 3 is buzzing with activity as passengers are eager to experience and explore the new terminal and its facilities. In the first 12 days of operations, Emirates Terminal 3 handled 336 flight departures, 345 arrivals and nearly 150,000 passengers.

Customers are advised to check their departure terminal before setting off for Dubai International. The correct terminal number is printed on the flight tickets, but if in doubt, passengers can visit www.emirates.com or call on 04-214.4444.

source: www.xpress4me.com

British Airways launched Daily Gatwick to New York flights

Daily wide-body British Airways flights between JFK International Airport and London Gatwick Airport will begin on Sunday, Oct. 26, 2008.

British Airways will operate a daily B777 in each direction in a four-class seat configuration: 14 First class; 48 Club World (business class); 40 World Traveller Plus (premium economy) and 124 World Traveller (economy).

Flights to London Gatwick will depart JFK’s Terminal 7 each evening at 6 p.m. and arrive the following morning at 6:05 a.m. Westbound flights will depart Gatwick at 11:20 a.m. and arrive at JFK Terminal 7 the same afternoon at 2:15 p.m.

The new flights mean that British Airways will fly 62 times each week from JFK to London as the Gatwick flights will operate in additional to 55 flights to Heathrow.

"The new JFK-Gatwick flight will give our customers even more choice when flying between New York and London," said Simon Talling-Smith, Executive Vice President Americas, British Airways. "Not only does British Airways already have an extensive schedule from both JFK and Newark to London Heathrow, but next year we plan to launch business-only flights between JFK and London City Airport."

Customers planning travel to the European continent via Gatwick have a choice of excellent connections to a wide range of continental destinations in Italy, France, Ireland and numerous other countries.

Further information on flight schedules, airfares and British Airways Holidays is available from travel agents, or by visiting British Airways web site.

source: www.marketwatch.com

British Airways’ move to terminal 5 complete

British Airways has completed its move into Heathrow’s Terminal 5 with the transfer yesterday of services to 12 destinations from Terminal 4. The move affects passengers to Boston, Dubai, Calgary, Chennai, Kolkata, Delhi, Montreal, Denver, Seattle, Dhaka and Shanghai. Flights to Islamabad, currently suspended after the bomb blast in the city in late September, will also operate from terminal 5 when they resume.

A BA spokesman said the move had “gone well”, in contrast to the botched opening of the terminal in March. The transfer of long-haul services to the terminal were phased in a effort to avoid a repetition of the chaos. Some 500 flights operated from the terminal yesterday, carrying 64,000 passengers.

The latest move now means that just a handful of BA services now operate from other terminals. Flights to Bangkok, Singapore and Sydney will continue to operate from terminal 4 until next year, when they move to a dedicated check-in zone in terminal 3. These flights are run in conjunction with BA’s oneworld partner Qantas, which will move its services to terminal 3 next year.

BA also plans to move its Barcelona, Helsinki, Lisbon, Madrid and Nice services, currently operating from terminal 1, to terminal 3 on 27 January 2009.

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