Airline war heats up with dirt-cheap fares

The airline war has reached a new low, with AirAsia offering return flights to London for $217 from the Gold Coast or $240 from Melbourne.

If the booking confusion doesn’t deter your search for the ultimate fare (all legs need to be booked separately and through Kuala Lumpur), you may be rewarded with an unprecedented discount flight.

AirAsia has been a dominant player in the ultra-cheap flight sector, recently making headlines for offering free flights to Bangkok from Asian ports, to help restore tourism after the recent political unrest. Earlier last month, it excited travel enthusiasts with $378 Australia-London flights.

The current discount-basket fare is part of a sale which started at 2am this morning and will run for 48 hours, for travel only between October 11 and November 14, 2010.

Although the base flights are some of the cheapest in Australian history, don’t expect to indulge in the normally free benefits of international travel – the low-cost airline will charge you for meals, beverages, in-flight entertainment and extra baggage.

AirAsia recently reported a net profit after tax of $A81.23 million for the first quarter of the year. The airline sources 16 per cent of its revenue from their extra charges, referred to as the “unbundling of services”.

Source  :  www.thewest.com.au

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AirAsia welcomes 2010 with a Big Regional Sale!

Skytrax World’s Best Low Cost airline, AirAsia welcomes 2010 with a BIG Regional Sale! The leading airline makes flying more affordable by offering airfares from as low as *RM19 for its domestic and international routes (excluding Thailand domestic routes and London).

The sale will run from 19 – 25 October 2009 for the travel period from 11 January 2010 – 30 April 2010. The incredible low fares offered by AirAsia are available to all of its Asia destinations including the Middle East departing from its hub from Kuala Lumpur, Kota Kinabalu, Bangkok, Bandung, Jakarta, Surabaya and Bali including Penang and Johor.

To make the deal sweeter, Go Holiday, AirAsia’s own online travel portal is also offering attractive holiday packages in conjunction with the 2010 Sale Campaign. Guests can book their packages via http://goholiday.airasia.com, from as low as RM112 per person for domestic packages (with flight, 3 days 2 nights hotel stay inclusive of breakfast) and from as low as RM199 per person for international packages (with flight, 3 days 2 nights hotel stay).

Exciting holiday packages on offer under the heritage sights include destinations to Seam Reap, Hanoi, Guilin, Yogyakarta, and Hangzhou. Those opting for a domestic vacation may book holiday packages to Langkawi, Penang, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu and Johor Bahru. For our shopaholic enthusiast, guests may opt for a shopping spree holiday package deals in Bandung, Bangkok, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taipei and those who are all for city sights, Dhaka, Tianjin, Perth, Melbourne and Abu Dhabi package deals are on offer.

For the Sun-Sand-Sea lovers, dream no more as holiday packages to Bali, Phuket, Krabi and Colombo are also available. Check out our online travel portal as there are more exciting holiday packages to many exciting destinations available.

Promotional seats are limited and available on first-come, first-served basis and made exclusively available online via www.airasia.com and mobile.airasia.com.

Source  :  www.etravelblackboardasia.com

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BA teams up with Australian radio stars

British Airways has teamed up with Australian radio station Nova 969 to launch a special promotion.

The airline announced that it would be carrying the popular radio presenting trio Merrick & Rosso & Kate Richie to the UK for a week in September.

Every day during the week, listeners will have the chance to win a pair of World Traveller tickets to London.

The competition is part of an initiative being launched by BA to promote its offer of a trip from Sydney to the UK with a free European break thrown in.

BA previously worked with the radio presenters to launch a competition giving listeners the chance to win holidays in Bangkok.

Sam Heine, the airline’s commercial manager in the south-west Pacific region, said: ‘After our best ever result, off the back of the 2008 consumer promotion Mile Thai Club, it meant that we once again turned to Nova to produce an integrated solution that would spread awareness of the exciting fare deal British Airways has to offer and also to let Australians experience everything that’s fantastic about the UK.’

BA operates flights to Sydney via Singapore and Bangkok, as well as connections to Melbourne, Perth and other Australian cities as part of a codeshare deal with Qantas.

Source  :  http://news.opodo.co.uk/NewsDetails/2009-08-26/BA_teams_up_with_Australian_radio_stars

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Qantas jet hit by lightning… again

Qantas Airbus operating the QF72 Singapore to Perth flight was struck by lightning soon after departure from Changi Airport, the airline confirmed.

A spokesman for the airline said the incident had not presented any safety issue to the aircraft or passengers.               

The plane landed safely in Perth at its scheduled arrival time of 2.20pm, where it will now be inspected.

“The A330-300 aircraft will be inspected by engineers after landing,” the spokesman said.

“It is too soon to say if any maintenance will be required.”

To allow the necessary checks to be undertaken, the return QF71 flight to Singapore will be delayed by about two-and-a-half hours.

It will now depart Perth at 6pm.

Qantas said passengers booked on QF71 would be provided with refreshment vouchers.

“We will be keeping them informed of developments in the lead up to the departure,” the spokesman said.

Source  :  www.watoday.com.au

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New animal-friendly airline Pet Airways a hit

PEOPLE love their pets, sometimes more than they love other people.

So it is not a surprise that a start-up company, Pet Airways, has had a massive response since offering to transport dogs and cats in a much more caring way.

Precious pets won’t be left to fend for themselves in cages in a freezing cargo hold – an experience that so scared a Jack Russell terrier owned by husband-and-wife team Alysa Binder and Dan Wiesel that they decided to launch Pet Airways.

All of the passengers using the new airline’s cargo plane get to travel in the front of the plane in special carriers installed instead of seats.

They are escorted to the plane by pet-loving attendants who check on their precious cargo every 15 minutes.

The pets are given pre-boarding walks and bathroom breaks and also have access to a “Pet Lounge” where future fliers can wait and sniff the furniture before flights.

The demand for the service has been staggering, with flights rapidly booked out for the first two months.

Operating between regional airports in New York, Washington, Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles, Pet Airways charges about $315 per trip, which is comparable with charges on less pet-friendly airlines.

The company is already looking to add more flights and cities soon, and hopes to fly to 25 destinations within three years.

Betsy Saul, co-founder of Petfinder.com which ranks the pet-friendliness of various airlines, said she was excited about the expected impact Pet Airways would have on pet travel across major airlines.

”The entire industry will stretch because of Pet Airways,” Betsy told the Associated Press.

Source : www.news.com.au

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Flights ‘cheaper than a carton of beer’

TRAVELLERS can fly to destinations around Australia for less than the price of carton of beer thanks to cut-price airline Tiger Airways. 

As part of its latest discount assault on rivals Qantas, Jetstar and Virgin Blue, Tiger Airways has aggressively cut the cost of some of its airfares.

For a limited time some of Tiger’s one-way flights from Sydney to Melbourne cost as little as $25.51, the Gold Coast to Melbourne from $23.33, or Adelaide to Perth costs $22.78, including taxes, The Advertiser reports.

But there is a catch. While there are 30,000 seats available for various destinations, the price is for a one-way flight which must be taken on a Tuesday or a Wednesday between August 4 and March 24.

The discount flights aren’t available during the summer school holidays, from December 15 to January 27, or on March 9 and 10.

Tiger Airways says the fares include all fees and taxes, so in essence, it is giving away the seat on the plane.

The fares include up to 7kg of carry-on luggage, but passengers are charged $10 for up to 15kg and $35 for up to 25kg of check-in luggage. The one-way discount fares include Adelaide to Sydney for $28.76 and to Melbourne for $25.14.

“For the price of a couple of movie tickets or a few beers you can travel some of Tiger Airways’ most popular routes midweek,” Tiger commercial director Steve Burns said.

“While everyone’s tightening their belts in the current economic climate, it’s nice to know you can still take a short break or get that work-life balance back on track with incredible deals like this.”

Comparable airfares from Adelaide to Perth aboard Jetstar during the same period currently cost $79, with Virgin Blue’s from $89 and Qantas’s from $129.

King William Travel manager Sandra Cosic said people needed to be wary of what they received for a low fare, taking into account extra charges for luggage and other services.

“But there are some great deals out there,” she said.

Tiger’s 30,000-seat “Just Pay Taxes and Charges” sale is on until midnight tomorrow.

HOW TO PAY FOR YOUR FARE

Don’t buy that carton of Platinum Pure Blonde for the weekend. SAVE $37.98.

Instead of heading out for dinner, stay at home and eat in. SAVE $20-$30.

Wait for that new movie to hit the DVD shelves instead of catching it on opening night. SAVE $34.

Give up that manicure. Your nails can wait a little longer. SAVE $40.

Bring instant coffee to work for a week instead of buying two a day. SAVE $35.

Catch public transport to work for a week instead of driving. SAVE $40.

Source  :  www.news.com.au

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New screening could shorten airport waiting

A new way of luggage screening could reduce waiting for frustrated passengers at Perth International Airport, its proponents say.                                                  

The company contracted to screen international passenger baggage says it is testing a system which helps overcome problems caused when luggage is loaded on to a plane but the passenger fails to board.

Unisys, which was recently granted a five-year extension to its contract, says the new technology will allow its existing barcode tracking system to link passengers to bags.

Currently at Perth Airport, the barcode is linked only to the bag, meaning substantial delays can often result as staff try to find and remove baggage should a passenger fail to board.

A Unisys spokeswoman said the new system would be implemented in Perth “in the near future” once testing had finished.

The new technology was part of the requirment of the renewal of the contract with the Board of Airline Representatives of Australia, the peak aviation industry body.

Source  :  www.watoday.com.au

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