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Tags: Airlines / Air Berlin / Emirates / What Recession / → All Tags

Some Airlines Say, "What Crisis?"

We thought it's all doom and gloom for airlines. We were wrong. There are airlines out there who haven't heard the words global economic recession.

German low-cost carrier Air Berlin is one of them. They're out there trying to hire three to four hundred new flight attendants, while tons of other airlines are getting rid of them (so there should be plenty of good candidates).

And perennial over-achiever Emirates is thinking along the same lines. They've announced they'll increase capacity by 14% this year, although they do concede that this increase is lower than it's been in other years. At least we know a couple of more-likely-to-be-recession-safe airlines we can book some flights with.

Related Stories:
· Capacity Increase of 14% For Emirates [eTravel]
· Air Berlin Recruiting More Cabin Crew [Peanuts]
· Thousands to Get the Shaft From Limping Airlines [Jaunted]

[Photos: Andrei Dimofte & caribb]

Tags: Air Berlin / Low Cost Carriers / LCCs / Europe Travel / → All Tags

Air Berlin Makes You Pay More Just to Pay Them

German low cost carrier Air Berlin has added its name to the growing list of airlines who think it's a fun idea to make passengers pay extra for stuff.

That's airline life these days, and we're getting used to it. But that doesn't mean we're going to like paying Air Berlin's €10 (more than $15) charge for booking online. We're pretty sure online booking is the cheapest way for Air Berlin to actually get customers, making this seem like one of the most unfair fees we've heard about lately.

Air Berlin also thinks that answering telephone calls is a costly affair and is increasing the surcharge added to phone bookings from €16 up to €20 ($32). With a bunch of flights going for just €29, we really feel these extra charges are a kick in the stomach... or a reason to fly another airline.

Related Stories:
· Air Berlin [Official Site]
· Air Berlin to Introduce 10 Euro Booking Fee [Peanuts]
· Air Berlin Goes (Almost) Everywhere [Jaunted]

[Photo: Andrei Dimofte]

Tags: Air Berlin / Germanwings / Airlines / LCCs / Low Cost Carriers / → All Tags

Air Berlin Goes (Almost) Everywhere

German-based European LCC Air Berlin is also unashamedly pushing the new truth-in-advertising deal: their top-of-the-web-page motto now reads "Incl. taxes. Charges. And a smile." Like rival Germanwings, they also now have a frequent flyer program and are constantly announcing new routes, like the recent news that twice-daily London Stansted to Munich flights will start in November.

Air Berlin has a pretty extensive network already, servicing 97 different destinations, including 20 different cities in Germany. And they're not afraid to go where the sunburnt holidaymakers go, either: their website boasts 360 flights a week from various European cities to the Spanish island of Mallorca.

They also fly to the usually-less-serviced regions of Scandinavia and Russia, which gets the thumbs-up from us. Thumbs-down for ignoring Poland and all those other bits between western Europe and Russia, but with a run-of-the-mill name like Air Berlin they probably didn't want to compete with Wizz Air.

Related Stories:
· Air Berlin [Official Site]
· Site Scramble: Air Berlin [Jaunted]
· Germanwings' 5th Birthday Means Cheap Tickets [Jaunted]

[Photo: MarS]