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

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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Which Airlines Will Be Getting Which Upgrades in 2012

It seems that a good number of airlines have decided to use this brand-spanking new year to freshen up their cabins and revamp service offerings. With a few recent announcements from various global carriers such as Cathay Pacific, Brussels Airlines and Virgin Australia, 2012 will be the year to make air travel look snappy and smell fresh...again. Here's who's doing what:

· AirBerlin:
As the second largest German air carrier and a member of Oneworld, Air Berlin will be upgrading the entire long-haul fleet of Airbus 330s. New business class seats that recline to just about flat and thinner, more user friendly economy seats will be aboard their planes. The new interiors will be ready for the summer travel season.

· British Airways:
With all our hoopla from recent BA flights, it seems that the airline is not only upgrading service. Starting at the front of the plane a few years ago, overhauls have finally made it to World Traveler Plus and World Traveler. That's premium economy and economy for the uninitiated.

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What's Up with the Oneworld Alliance in 2012

After a challenging year for some of the founding members of the Oneworld alliance, 2012 will surely be brighter. In 2011, the alliance saw American Airlines file for bankruptcy and Qantas' chief grounding the entire network to challenge labor disputes, plus Iberia closing out the year with rounds of employee strikes.

There were some shining stars, however, with the finalization of International Airline Group (the conglomerate that combines British Airways and Iberia), Cathay Pacific offering overhauled cabins and in-flight amenities, and Japan Airlines emerging from bankruptcy stronger and more stable.

As we get going with 2012, we can't help but notice the huge changes happening amongst these airline buddies. Oneworld is the world's smallest of the major airline alliances, yet consistently hits the high marks in passenger ratings. With the addition of 3 new carriers, Oneworld will gain a fighting chance to excel in years to come. Here's what's happening meanwhile:

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New Routes from British Airways, United, and Air Berlin Get You Where You Want to Be

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.

· British Airways:
It seems like South America is getting more and more attention each year, and now British Airways is getting in on the potential for some business and tourism action. The airline is starting service from London-Heathrow to Buenos Aires beginning March 27 of next year. It seems like they’re still working out the specifics, as we’re not totally sure if this will be a few times a week flight or a daily flight. However, what matters is that there’s easy access from the UK to Argentina.

· US Airways:
We’re sometimes hard on US Airways, but we still get excited when an airline is eager to expand their overseas options. US Airways is launching not one, but two, nonstop international routes from their base in Charlotte beginning next May. There will be daily summer service to Madrid and Dublin. The Dublin flights will run through the end of September, but the Madrid flights will last a little bit longer and won’t end until October 29. If you miss out on the seasonal options there’s always flights from Philadelphia.

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Washington, London and Cork Rake in 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.

· Turkish Airlines:
It’s a little bit easier to get to Istanbul now because Turkish Airlines is adding nonstop flights from Washington, DC and Los Angeles. These routes from Obama’s backyard will begin on November 7, and the LAX routes will start up in March of 2011. The flights won’t operate every day, but pretty close—five times a week from DC and four times per week from LA.

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New Dreamliner Destinations, Missions to Mexico, and More New Route News

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.

· Air Berlin:
Düsseldorf International Airport is looking to make a name for itself when it comes to foreign travel, and Air Berlin is certainly helping them reach that goal. The airline plans 77 nonstop destinations from the airport this summer. Some of the new routes for the warmer months include San Francisco, Skiathos, and Tel Aviv. Other new routes began a few months ago—like Naples—and continue to go strong. Now might be a good time to visit Germany, and to hit up some European side trips thanks to Air Berlin.

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The Boeing 787 Almost Breaks the Sound Barrier, and More Dreamliner News

We’ve been checking in on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner every so often, and for the most part things have been going pretty well. Obviously they've been delayed quite a bit since the initial timelines and delivery dates were revealed, but at least there doesn’t look to be any more surprise delays. However, all this relative good news still isn’t enough for Air Berlin.

The airline is cutting its order of the new bird down to 15—it was originally looking for 25—and Air Berlin also reduced their option for additional planes down to five from ten. It’s not just the delays, but the airline is kind of worried that even a fancy new plane won’t bring an increase to long-haul travel. We don’t blame them, as the 787 isn't the ideal choice if they are looking to boost their services in the shorter flight department.

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Air Berlin's Very Own 'Deltalina'

True to our promise, we've gone and jetted off to Berlin for a week with thoughts of currywurst and cycling over cobblestones dancing in our head.

We safely arrived early this morning to Berlin's Tegel airport via Delta's non-stop flight 78 from New York-JFK, an experience we'd rather not repeat due to a decrepit terminal, mass confusion at the gate, and the horribly cramped seats of an older plane. And remember that jazz about Delta being tops in terms of tarmac waits? They aren't kidding; we had read through our guidebook before even hitting the skies.

Beyond the terminal's hot pretzel stand and the vending machine stocked with Ritter Sport chocolate and Haribo Gummi-Bären, we spotted this carry-on luggage measuring rack and its image of a perky Air Berlin representative.

Is this frisky-looking lass the German version of Deltalina? Sadly we didn't book the Air Berlin direct from JFK, but next time we just might have to if she promises to help us latch the overhead bins.

Related Stories:
· Delta Takes the Cake for Ridiculous Tarmac Waits [Jaunted]
· Berlin Travel Coverage [Jaunted]

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]

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]

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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]