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A New Year Brings a New Fee For Those Looking To Fly With easyJet

Just when you thought you had mastered the system of European travel aboard the vast network of low cost carriers, one of the major players throws a wrench in the works. Easyjet is changing up the way it charges for certain stuff, so you’re going to need a few more euros for your next trip—and maybe a calculator and notebook.

Honestly, it’s half the airline’s fault and half the government’s fault, since much like here in the U.S, the UK is changing the rules and regulations about airlines and their fees. If you're thinking about easyJet the biggest change is a new £9 administration fee—that's like $14—that more or less replaces the former £8 booking fee forced upon most everyone using debit cards to pay for the tickets.

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Sir Stelios and 'FastJet' Scheduled to Depart Soon from Africa

When we least heard from Sir Stelios there was news about a potential new low-cost carrier that would focus on more long-haul routes. We guess the potential for cheap flights between London and New York is still there, but now it sounds like his low-cost model is shifting to a different continent altogether.

The founder of easyJet is thinking that the next great success in the airline industry will take place in Africa. He’s already working to get funding in place, and there are some deals being done between his group and Rubicon Diversified Investments in hopes of creating a new low-frills, low-cost airline. The placeholder name—FastJet—is now apparently the working name of the new air venture.

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EasyJet Buzzes Above Active Volcanoes to Test Anti-Ash Technology

Has it already been nearly two years since the massive, international air travel mess that was the eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano? We suppose it's awesome that the world hasn't ended in the meantime, but now when the holiday travel season rolls around, we get a little anxious. Any weird Earth-spewing activity can throw a wrench into the whole delicate system, but not if EasyJet has anything to say about it.

In June 2010, the European low-cost carrier announced that they'd had enough of this volcano nonsense and would take it into their own hands (and US government laboratories) to develop a system to detect ash in the air in the plane's flightpath. It's called AVOID—airborne volcanic object imaging detector—and that's exactly the idea, to avoid ash so it doesn't gum up the engine and crash or cause malfunctions in planes.

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EasyJet Will Assign You That Seat, Thank You Very Much

On one hand, EasyJet shows all the signs of being an ultra-budget LCC. The airline isn't as obnoxious about their exorbitant fees and/or lack of services as Spirit Airlines or Ryanair, but they did pointedly ring up Prince Harry on a bunch of fees the last time he flew with them. They even charged him extra for checking through his green army bag, which was issued to him while he was serving in Afghanistan, among other places. Thoroughly charming.

On the other hand, the British airline has made a number of moves implying that they want to be something more than a "frugal LCC" also-ran. They've led the way on genuinely innovative features like offering in-flight trip insurance, and they were the first UK commercial airline to coat their planes with nano-paint so they could fly more efficiently.

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'FastJet' Might Be the World's Next Low-cost Carrier

Everyone knows there’s plenty of low-cost carriers doing their thing on the shorter flights, but there are only a handful of LCCs able to compete on the long-haul stage. EasyJet founder Sir Stelios Haji–Ioannou is looking to change that, and hopefully "FastJet" will soon be connecting passengers to far off destinations at rock bottom prices.

EasyJet’s founder still owns a slice of the airline, and he recently let the airline know that he’s planning to do something bigger and better. Right now FastJet seems to be the leading contender for a new airline brand, but there have been reports that he might just simply go with "Stelios" as something to slap on the side of the planes. There’s already a placeholder at FastJet.com, so only time will reveal the true name.

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Five Airlines Serving Starbucks Coffee in the Skies

There may be a Starbucks around every corner, but that’s not always the case when you’re stuck flying around the globe. Don’t worry—airlines know that you need your caffeine fix, so there’s plenty of airplanes where you can grab a cup of caffeine from the comfort of 12B. Here’s just five airlines where you can get a little bit of Starbucks up in the air:

· United Airlines:
They might be merging into the world’s biggest and baddest airline, but that doesn’t mean that they are forgetting about the small stuff. United has been offering up Starbucks coffee aboard pretty much every one of their flights for a few years now, and we hear that Continental will also be getting the new brew once the whole merger and transition is complete. Unfortunately there’s no lattes or fancy stuff, but when you’re stuck at 35,000-feet above the ground you take what you can get—especially since it’s one of the free beverage options.

· Porter Airlines:
Clearly we haven’t hid our love for Porter Airlines, and their coffee selection is just another reason why we are ready to join their fan club as soon as it includes an official membership card. Both in their free-for-all lounges—at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport and Ottawa International Airport—and in the air Starbucks is an option. They just began brewing Starbucks Pike Place Roast up in the skies a few weeks ago, and apparently they’re the only one in the world to do so—no generic Starbucks flavors for these guys.

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China, Hungary and Jordan All Get Shiny New Routes

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.

· American Airlines:
Sure you’ve been all over Europe, but you probably haven’t been to Budapest yet. American Airlines knows you want to go, so they started a new nonstop option between Hungary and JFK earlier this month. Like most European destinations, the flight leaves later in the day—6:40pm to be exact—so you can try to get some sleep before your arrival in Budapest at 9:30am the next day. Boeing 767-300s will work their magic on the new route filled with 30 business class seats and just shy of 200 seats in the back. If you do end up going be sure to register for some bonus frequent flyer miles, as American is offering up to 15,000 bonus miles depending on your ticket type.

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'Come Fly With Me': A New Comedy TV Show That Takes 'Little Britain' into the Airport

Britain gets all the good TV shows. *pout*

Okay, so this isn't always the case, but hey—did they have the 124-episode, EasyJet-stalking series Airline, which later spun-off for one season of Southwest Airlines hijinks in Airline USA. But now, the UK is back at the top of the travel show world, as they are about to debut a comedy show about air travel from the people of Little Britain. It will be called, simply, Come Fly With Me.

The first episode of Come Fly With Me is set to be a small Christmas present to UK viewers, as it airs December 25 at 10pm on BBC One. The series is set to focus, as Little Britain did, on a cast of motley characters, who work for the fictional low-cost airlines FlyLo and Our Lady Air. It's quite obvious that the former mocks EasyJet, and the latter, Ryanair, but as a whole, it's a social commentary on the state of modern budget air travel. We already call TSA antics "security theater"; well, this is "airline theater" and we can't wait to watch.

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EasyJet Now Asking if You'd Like Some Trip Insurance with That In-Flight Soda

Nothing reminds you that you're flying on a low-cost carrier more than encountering extra charges throughout the flight—soda, Pringles chips, pillows...you name it, it has a price tag. Oh wait, that's most airlines these days, anyways! Well, there is one new extra in-flight fee we totally support, and we're shocked to hear it coming from easyJet first: trip insurance.

You can now buy your trip insurance while already flying to your destination onboard EasyJet. That may be as last-minute as it gets, but at least the option exists, just in case you were too busy before finally taking off on your vacay to bother with it. Easyjet says it's offering this service because "it found that one in five holidaymakers from the UK were jetting off uninsured."

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British Airways, American and Iberia Pile on the New Routes

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.

· American Airlines:
Teaming up with its buddies in the oneworld alliance this week, American Airlines announced a couple new options for escaping from the United States in search of fun overseas. The first is JFK to Budapest, and this new option will begin to fly next April along with the help of some Boeing 767s. The other is from Chicago to Helsinki which will also start next spring. Prices haven’t been announced for these new routes yet, but don’t expect any crazy deals anytime soon.

· British Airways:
Not to be outdone by American Airlines, British Airways also got into the new route announcement fun this week. The carrier will start new nonstop service between San Diego and London-Heathrow beginning next April. The airline already offers nonstop service between London and Los Angeles, so now Brits on holiday are free to fly into LA and fly out of San Diego after visiting Disneyland, Legoland, and SeaWorld.

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Allegiant, Air Canada, and easyJet Have Already Planned New Routes for Fall

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.

· Allegiant Air:
Things at Allegiant Air have been somewhat quiet over the last few months after they announced future plans to Hawaii, but now they’re back to business and looking to increase their presence across the nifty fifty. The airline announced service from Colorado Springs to both Phoenix-Mesa and Long Beach. The new flights will run just twice a week—on Wednesdays and Saturdays starting September 15—with one-way fares starting at just $30. As is the case with most low cost carriers, watch out for those extra fees before getting all caught up with the cheapo fares.

· Air Canada:
We think it’s a little too soon to start planning for next year’s Mardi Gras, but Air Canada thinks otherwise. They’re looking to expand the options from their base in Toronto with new service to New Orleans. The flights will start at the end of October and take place daily. Air Canada will utilize their Jazz branch to operate the flights with CRJ 705 planes. At first we were concerned about a long regional jet flight, but the airline promises seatback audio-visual entertainment, so we can suck it up.

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Airlines Fight Iceland's Erupting Volcano with New Ash-Detection Technology

While updates of tornadoes in the Midwest and the BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico dominate news in North America, the volcanic ash situation in Iceland is still very much a hot topic in Europe. And, since Eyjafjallajokull volcano continues to erupt, ash cloud issues could continue delaying and canceling flights through the rest of the summer and into fall. To combat this, one low-cost airline is going on the offensive by testing new technology.

easyJet, a British-based airline that flies all over Europe and ranks slightly better than competitor Ryanair, is spending almost $1.5 million to equip some of their planes not with in-flight WiFi, but with AVOID. AVOID stands for "Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector," gadgets designed to work similar to weather detection systems for thunderstorms, but specifically targeting ash clouds. A little more detail, thanks to MSNBC:

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