A spokesperson on behalf of the Air Transport Users Council, James Fremantle, has condemned the charge as being far too high but agreed with the airline’s decision to do away with airport check-ins. He commented:

“We think generally airlines bringing in online check in is a good thing for consumers. It puts the ball in their court, they are now in charge of their own booking, their own check in online, their own bags drop with some airlines as well. So I think this is here to stay we probably will see more of it in the future.”

No more queuing must surely reduce the amount of Ryanair complaints and also give the airline another way to slash costs. This way the airline can focus on its key selling point which is cheap fares.

In addition to this change of policy, Ryanair will start charging for any luggage except hand luggage. Charges for one piece of luggage will rise from £15 to £20 if booked online and rise from £20 to £30 if booked at the airport. This is an attempt to encourage passengers to bring only hand luggage which reduces plane turnaround times and ultimately costs.

To check out whether you’re chosen airline has the cheapest fares and charges don’t forget to refer to airline reviews.

There are currently nine flights per day leaving the airport by easyJet affecting 33,000 passengers every month. So if you’ve already booked flights, where does that leave you?

Although easyJet says they haven’t made any final decisions about their future at the airport the Chief Executive is quoted on their website as saying:

“We cannot see a growing long-term future and we have decided to move our assets to markets with better long-term potential.”

easyJet says that if these flights do cease then those customers who have booked flights after the New Year will have the option of getting a refund or transferring to another airport. However they are unable to offer this service now.

This could cause huge problems if another airport is less convenient or you find your business trip dates don’t tally with the flights available.
The closet airport to East Midlands is 37 miles away at Birmingham International. This is a good hour’s drive and most easyJet flights leave from London Luton Airport taking an hour and half to get to by car.

easyJet advised that they were still evaluating their position with East Midlands after launching a 90 day consultation period with staff. They went on to say:

“We will contact those affected customers at the end of the 90 days and inform them of the outcome of the consultation. This will be in early December 2009. If any decision is made to close the East Midlands operation, we will offer customers the opportunity to transfer their booking to a different easyJet flight at an alternative airport, or a full refund.”

This type of break to service is likely to increase easyJet complaints. If you are looking to book tickets with an airline it can be a sensible idea to check out airline reviews for flights for business so you know what to expect and are aware of any disruption to flight schedules.

Auctions are taking place on the eBay.fr website and during the initial auction period there is likely to be 100 seats put on sale at a reserve price of E380.

There will be staggered auctions with auctions lasting three, five, seven and ten days and there will be 380 seats available on return flights and outbound flights.

Seats are being sold for both business class and economy and when Air France receives the final bid they will contact the winner confirming flight details.

A one-way flight aboard the A380 inaugural flight and a return flight via a scheduled flight on Air France will be received by each lucky winner. There will be a special itinerary for both Paris and New York including shopping and an itinerary of cultural activities.
Winners can also make use of extra hold baggage which allows up to 23 kg on economy and 32 kg for business travellers.

For those who are members of Flying Blue there will be the chance to earn miles on the flights and they can reserve their tickets under another name than that of the auction winner.

The monies are being raised to support the Air France Foundation which takes part in projects giving aid to sick and disabled children.

These allowances in economy, business travel and first class will take effect from 1st October and will increase luggage allowance by 10kg for each class. This is following the Emirates announcement earlier in the year which means both these airlines have some of the most generous luggage allowances in the world.

A further 15 kg luggage allowance will be allowed to those silver members of the Gulf Air frequent flyer programme. Gold members will be allowed to take an extra 20kg over and above the new limits equating to a total luggage allowance of 70kg.

When talking about the announcement, the Gulf Air chief commercial officer, Willy Boulet said:

“Our decision to increase the allowance is in direct response to feedback from our customers who are looking for greater flexibility in the amount of free checked luggage they can carry when flying. Many of our customers travel to destinations on the Gulf Air network for extended periods to visit friends and family as well as for work related commitments and therefore need to carry more luggage than the standard allowance provides for.”

This new technology means that passengers will no longer have to take laptops out of bags to be security checked.
Philip Bowman was talking in Brussels at the European Security Forum and commented:

“Smiths Detection has now developed the kit that we believe can securely screen laptops without first removing them from passengers’ bags. Lifting the laptop restriction could make an early, practical improvement to the lives of the travelling public – perhaps halving the length of Europe’s airport queues. That’s why I believe we should be making faster progress on testing the technology to ensure it meets the right levels of security assurance and to allow it to be used.”

He went on to say that airport security policies in practice relating to laptop security and liquids did a great deal to restrict passenger’s freedom of movement. He continued to say it was understood by everyone that there were important reasons for taking this action highlighting the case of three men imprisoned earlier in September for their part in conspiring to blow up aircraft mid-Atlantic.

However he believed travellers should be allowed to question these restraints, “when, given the developments in screening technology we have seen in recent years, these restrictions will be lifted”.

This is great news for business travel and hopefully it won’t be long before this technology is used across airports.

The airline currently has three existing A330-200 aircraft and two more will be delivered before the end of this year. The Envoy Suite design for US Airways’ A330-300s is still being developed and is expected to be introduced in summer 2012.

These newly designed seats have in-flight entertainment fitted which includes a 12.1 inch touchscreen, satellite telephone, a power outlet of 110-volt and a USB port making these suites perfect for business travel.

A herringbone configuration will be used which was introduced by Virgin Atlantic when it launched its Upper Class suite. However, unlike their rivals, the US Airways suites will be facing forward at another angle. The seating has seats that face the window and centre seats face inward rather than out towards the aisle.

Flat bed seating has been introduced by other US airlines but this is the first with four seats across in the herringbone formation. The seats as the name suggests recline flat and come in a variety of lengths. There are drop down arm rests which provide extra room for sleeping.

A further 20 of the Airbus super jumbos have been ordered and are expected to be aquired fully in 2014.

Another two A380s will arrive later this year and will be used on the Sydney-Los Angeles and Sydney-London routes. These will operate daily and the Melbourne-Los Angeles service will increase from two flights to three per week.

The CEO of Qantas, Allan Joyce said:

“People are seeking out this aircraft. From our customer research, we have seen exceptional ratings in terms of the vehicle’s performance, and passengers are extremely happy with the product. We have never seen such ratings before.”

He went on to say that these high ratings were echoed across all classes but particularly so in the Business Class and First Class groups.

In 2010 the airline will launch three more of the A380 super jumbos enabling business travel on these aircraft on the Melbourne-Hong Kong-London routes. Currently passengers fly via a Boeing 747.

The BBC were one of the outlets to report in July that the air carrier was due to pick up these flights after BMI pulled out from the Heathrow-Durham route earlier in the year.

The airline has released limited information on the new route on its website www.excelsisairways.com and the BBC reported that the airline is planning to start up three flights per day between the two cities commencing this month. The Bombardier Q400 turbotrop will be used for the flights.

On the airline’s website it states that all passengers will get free access to the lounge at Durham Tees Valley airport. This will include complementary wine, beer and soft drinks during the flight. There is also a chance to design the outside of the airline’s aircraft. The deadline is 19th September for all entries.

However there are no solid dates for when this service will start and Excelsis Airways has commented that there aren’t any interview opportunities available currently.

The addition of a new airline has created quite a stir in the business travel industry however it still remains to be confirmed if Durham will eventually link to the UK capital.

Until the end of this year flights to and from the East Midlands airport will remain unchanged. This remains the same for Christmas and New Year flights. Flights in Luton will remain as they are until further notice.

The airline held Luton at most fault for the changes accounting the cuts to airport costs rising by 25 per cent in the last three years.

In response London Luton airport said:

“We regret that Easyjet has chosen not to take up the improved commercial terms on offer from the airport, which are highly competitive and which reflect the external cost pressures London Luton airport has had to face over recent years. We will continue to work closely with easyJet in what remains a substantial and important business partnership.”

At East Midlands Easyjet says they prefer to move the three aircraft there to ‘higher priority markets’.

However East Midlands are confident that other low cost airlines will fill this gap ensuring business travel remains unaffected.

This fare is ideal for business travel and can be used on ANA, Air China, Shanghai Airlines nad Asiana. The travel path must cover Japan, China and Korea and have at least three stop overs on route. Travel should start and end in the same country but allows travellers to journey within the same region on one single ticket.

First flight reservations are made a week in advance and then the following flights can be booked last minute and swapped at no extra cost. The ticket is then valid for three months from the first booking.

The following travel classes can buy the ticket – business, first and economy and the range of miles travelled will vary according to the travellers needs. On a 4,800 mile journey for economy starting out at Hong Kong you can expect a charge of £667 and a business class ticket will cost £1,065 for the same mileage.

There are a total of 13 Star Alliance fares on offer which includes the Africa Airpass, Europe Airpass and the Round the World far.