Tag: Airline News

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Virgin Atlantic's Big News: Sexy New Clubhouse, Sexy New Seats, Sexy New S & P Shakers

February 8, 2012 at 12:20 PM | by | Comments (0)

When some sweet airline news comes down the pipeline, we get a little shiver of a thrill. The latest carrier to give us those goosebumps of expectation is Virgin Atlantic, as they've got a slew of updates hitting the sky later this year:

· New Upper Class seats, coming Spring 2012.

100 million GBP. That's how much Virgin Atlantic is laying out to get you all laid out in "enhanced" Upper Class seats and enjoying all their spring 2012 upgrades. While we don't yet know specifics like seat width, gadgets or even the design, we do know that the seats will debut on the airline's London-New York route in just a few months. Following this, VS planes will get the Upper Class refresh throughout the world, over a period of three years. Stay tuned, since details can't be kept secret much longer.

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No Naan for You: Air India Ditches Some Free In-Flight Meals

Where: India
February 8, 2012 at 10:23 AM | by | Comments (0)

There’s bad news for those who enjoy the in-flight catering aboard Air India flights, and that’s because it’s going away. Just like many of the airlines in the United States, Air India has decided to ditch in-flight meals for some of its passengers on some of its flights. Of course the blame falls squarely on the cost, but at least they still might throw a granola bar or something your way.

As of February 1, short-haul domestic flights received this new revised in-flight menu, and that means no more freebie meals for those in the economy cabin. For flights less than 90 minutes the typical breakfast, lunch, or dinner selections are gone, but in their place the airline is promising “heavy snacks and soft drinks.” Honestly, for less than 90 minutes we’d be happy with some in-flight Naan and a Diet Coke, but still, clearly this is an overall bummer.

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Alaska Airlines Takes Their Seattle Love to the Sky with Starbucks Coffee

February 8, 2012 at 8:55 AM | by | Comment (1)

A couple years ago United decided to ditch Starbucks as the preferred supplier of their in-flight java, but now Starbucks is coming back with another airline buddy. Alaska Airlines just announced that they’re bringing some improved in-flight coffee to the skies above the nifty fifty.

Starbucks might not be brewed in Alaska, but both Alaska and Starbucks sure enjoy spending time in and around Seattle. The coffee machines were flowing with the new brew as of last week, so if you’re flying anytime soon aboard an Alaska Airlines flight you might just want to wait until 35,000 feet before getting your caffeine fix. Alaska Airlines’ airline partner Horizon Air has been serving Starbucks since like 1990, so it was only a matter of time before both carriers shared the same coffee supplier. So what if it took 20 years.

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Get Lei'd: Hawaiian Airlines is Hiring Flight Attendants

February 7, 2012 at 8:45 AM | by | Comments (0)

It might not be quite as luxurious or exciting as it is on television, but if you’ve always thought of being a flight attendant then now’s the time to do so. Hawaiian Airlines—the unofficial airline of paradise—is now looking for flight attendants to help them expand across the islands and the world.

There's already plans for a New York City-to-Honolulu flight, and who knows where else they might be headed to in the future. In total there are around 175 new flight attendant positions available, but you better get that resume ready as the deadline is February 14.

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Check Out JetBlue's Very First Website, from 2001...

February 6, 2012 at 6:19 PM | by | Comments (0)

Okay so JetBlue just finally launched their very first iPhone app, but at the same time, they also pushed out a new mobile of their website, and a new website all around. To prove how far they've come, JetBlue shared with us the above—their first functioning website, from 2001. Wow. Throwback. Now compare it to 2012, below...

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Hungary's Malev Shuts Down after 66 Years, LCCs Rush In

February 6, 2012 at 1:56 PM | by | Comments (0)

Hey, remember when journalists started weirdly declaring that everything was fine with the airline industry? And then travelers took that to mean that good times were here again while the government swooped in with expensive new regulations? And then remember how American Airlines went bankrupt and then Spanair shut down and then Hungary's Malev shut down? Good times.

There's not much to say about this latest casualty of the global economic crunch. Hungary really, really wanted to keep Malev operating, with the government declaring the airline to be a "priority objective." But they just couldn't make the carrier viable—specifically, they couldn't convince suppliers that the government would be able to pay them for services—and thus ended the Malev's 66 years of almost continuous service. Sad.

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Finally! JetBlue Releases Its First iPhone App: The Full Review

February 3, 2012 at 11:11 AM | by | Comments (0)

Alright. What's the one thing you've been waiting forever for from JetBlue? Duh, in-flight WiFi...besides that. Yes, a freaking iPhone app!

Well, late last night while thoughts of Terra Blue Chips and direct flights to Santo Domingo danced through your heads, the airline's very first iPhone app quietly snuck out into the iTunes app store. It's free of course, and blue and orange, but is it any good?

To keep our opinions short and sweet, yes—it's sooooo good. Like, spread-the-word good. Even if you've never flown JetBlue and don't have any upcoming flights booked, we'd say get the thing for its well-designed flight search and booking (wanderlust fodder right there) and cute little extras, like the ability to use your iPhone photos to create funky postcards, shared straight from the app.

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New Planes and New Seats Making Southwest Feel So Fresh, So Clean for 2012

February 3, 2012 at 10:04 AM | by | Comments (0)

We were just talking about Southwest Airlines and their plans to “evolve” their planes with new seats, and now it looks like the carrier is already prepared to go all-in. Southwest is starting to get those fresh birds, and they’re shifting around the schedule here and there to make room for the increased seats and different configurations.

They’re pretty excited about that this evolve-o-lution, but we kind of wonder how our knees will feel about all these changes.

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United, WestJet and Copa Airlines Plan New Routes to Here and There

February 3, 2012 at 7:52 AM | by | Comments (0)

Sometimes it’s hard to stay on top of all the new route announcements that come our way, so we’ve complied a little bit of a rundown below. As long as you can afford the fares, this should definitely help add to your passport stamp collection.

· WestJet:
If you haven’t had the opportunity to check out what WestJet has to offer, this may change in 2012 as they bring new flights down to the nifty fifty. Of course they already have cheap flights to here, there, and everywhere in and around Canada, but now they're prepping to take on New York-LaGuardia.

Live, in-flight television will be yours to enjoy on seven new nonstop flights between NYC-LaGuardia and Toronto beginning June 4. A couple weeks later they’ll be boosting the flight frequency up to eight flights, so they definitely mean business when it comes to serving the flying public between New York City and Toronto. They even just launched a codeshare deal with Delta, so you can continue on aboard Delta until your final destination.

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Flying Down Under? Prepare to Shell Out Even More Cash

Where: Australia
February 2, 2012 at 10:34 AM | by | Comments (0)

Flights over the Pacific will be tapping your pockets just a bit more. In response to a carbon tax in Australia and carbon trading schemes in Europe, Qantas has announced their fares will creap up in the near future. Do not fret, as there is still time to enjoy some world-class beaches and pet a koala or kangaroo before the change.

The red roo has announced an increase of no more than 24% in fuel surcharges for international and domestic flights. International itineraries increase by flat rate, while the domestic charge depends on the length of the flight. Unfortunately, with the high cost of jet fuel and taxes, Qantas is not alone in airfare hikes.

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All Sorts of South America Travel News from LAN Airlines

February 1, 2012 at 4:53 PM | by | Comments (0)

Okay everyone, ready for some serious South America travel news? So LAN—which is really a group of airlines including LAN Chile, LAN Ecuador, LAN Argentina, LAN Express and LAN Colombia—made all kinds of changes, for the better, to their routes and in-flight service today, February 1.

· First off, LAN Colombia (which only really started as an airline in December 2012 after LAN took over Colombian airline AIRES) is now flying direct from Miami to Bogota. The inaugural hit the skies earlier today, complete with a visit from Juan Valdez, who served the passengers their in-flight coffees. Fares for this new route, which runs four times weekly on Airbus A320s, are $400 roundtrip, including taxes & fees, if booked by February 6. Of course, you can go straight through to booking via their Facebook page.

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Alaska Airlines Stops Handing Out Prayer Cards, but They're Not the Only Airline with Them

February 1, 2012 at 9:32 AM | by | Comments (0)

By now you've probably already heard the news that Alaska Airlines is doing away with dispensing mealtime prayer cards onboard. For many travelers, the fact that an airline would do this in the first place is surprising. Like flyer need to be reminded that their lives are in the hands of a few people sitting up front, and the buttons and switches they're operating to keep the plane aloft and on course.

Well, while Alaska Airlines sends all those prayer cards to the recycling bin, at least one other airline is continuing the practice. Twitter user @Jonathan_Liem tipped us off that Lion Air, an Indonesian carrier that flies around SE Asia, includes "invocation pamphlets," printed with prayers for several religions, in your seatback pocket. "Please do not remove from aircraft." Ay yai yai.

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